Good Morning my fellow Mets fans – Yesterday while driving home from work I had one of those ” Oh My Goodness” moments. You see I was listening to 52nd St by Fellow New York Mets fan Billy Joel when one of his best “and most overlooked ” songs Stiletto came on and I thought – ” Jeez he must of had his fellow Mets fans in mind when he wrote that song( I know bear with me here!) The album came out in ’78 when the Mets were already in their late ’70′s free fall into obscurity but the lyrics are as relevant now as it was then when it comes to our relationship with the team and it’s ownership!
” She cuts you once, she cuts you twice! But still you believe! The wound is still fresh that you taste the blood but you don’t have the strength to leave!
You’ve been bought ! You’ve been sold ! You’ve been locked outside the door !! But you stand there pleadin with your insides bleedin because deep down you want some more
Then she says she wants forgiveness. It’s such a clever masquerade ! She’s so good with her stiletto ! You don’t ever see the blade !!
It kinda makes you wonder if Fred and Jeff Wilpon are big Billy Joel fans huh? Anyway it is time for another fact packed edition of “This Day In Mets Infamy With Rusty”
Birthday greetings go out to journeyman pitcher Barry ” I’m Not Jerry !” Manuel (1965)
New York Mets traded Willie Montanez to the Texas Rangers for pitcher( and future Chicago Cubs G.M.) Ed Lynch and utility-man Mike Jorgensen on August 12, 1979. – This turned to be a good move for the Mets because Lynch turned out to be a more than serviceable spot starter and reliever during the ’84 – mid ’86 season before he was traded to the Chicago Cubs.
New York Mets signed free agent Shingo Takatsu on August 12, 2005. Shingo went 1-0 with a e.r.a in the mid 2′s in 11 games but we let him go after the ’05 season.
And lastly Mo Vaughn’s favorite Billy Joel song is “Easy Money” – He said it kinda summed up his tenure with the Mets – especially since he spent a majority of the time on the D.L.
15 comments
prismo
8/12/2009-7:19am at 7:19 am (UTC -4)
You know, for as bad of a rap as Mo gets from Mets fans…any of us would love to have a player with his (OFFENSIVE) stats from his first season with the team. 26 HR and 72 RBI in 139 games with an .805 OPS. His 18 errors and overall poor fielding at first base was another story though…
rustyjr
8/12/2009-7:33am at 7:33 am (UTC -4)
he he he Prismo unfortunatly for Mo ( good for me) he is a easy target . But I concede even though I am still Murph supporter I would love to have all of Mo’s homers from that season – hell i wish we went after Dunn – and id be ready to bring back David Segui Rico Brogana , Kingman and Frank Thomas – but its obvious we are not going to make a trade wqaiver deal for a power bat and if the wilpons do slash the payroll – i think it would be the equivelant of commiting suicide because us mets fans will be chasing after them with torches pitchforks and nooses – i think the grace period to come clean about their finances has past and the good will is over cuz they made money hand over fist in parking concessions and ticket sales and to cut payroll is absurd
udontmesswthejohan
8/12/2009-9:27am at 9:27 am (UTC -4)
Well done, only problem is that I’ve always associated Billy as being a Yankee fan.
“They sent a carrier out from Norfolk-
And picked the Yankees up for free.
They said that Queens could stay,
They blew the Bronx away-
And sank Manhattan out at sea….”
-Miami 2017
sabermetrician
8/12/2009-9:29am at 9:29 am (UTC -4)
We really suck. The Wilpons cannot slash payroll. If they do, we are doomed next year. What a farce, new stadium, the network is doing great and we go back to being a third rate franchise.
sabermetrician
8/12/2009-9:33am at 9:33 am (UTC -4)
Now if the Wilpons will go over slot money for our top 10 draft pick we’d have something to cheer about when the DBacks pass us in the standings tonight.
prismo
8/12/2009-9:34am at 9:34 am (UTC -4)
Open up a new stadium, dramatically increase ticket prices…but lower payroll. How does that add up? I’d love to see the media’s reaction if the Wilpon’s pulled that off, which I don’t think they will.
whataputz
8/12/2009-10:35am at 10:35 am (UTC -4)
Not only a new stadium, but a stadium that was built for the Brooklyn dodgers and their fan base. Not only a stadium built for the Dodgers, but a stadium with the worst dimensions and wall size combination in modern baseball history. But luckily we made our FA acquisitions for the stadium and have a completely competent staff loaded with quality pitchers.
sabermetrician
8/12/2009-10:38am at 10:38 am (UTC -4)
I sense some bitterness…
mrbill
8/12/2009-10:03am at 10:03 am (UTC -4)
I stopped watching the metsis about a week and a half ago… this team is so boring and seeing how the FO doesn’t (or didn’t) do anything to make it better, makes me not want to go to any games or even watch them on tv. There is nothing to watch!
The worst part is 2010 is not looking good either. It will take at least 1-2 years to build a competitive team.
sabermetrician
8/12/2009-10:24am at 10:24 am (UTC -4)
Sadly you’re probably right Mr. Bill. I still watch (except these west coast games, not worth staying up this year), but it’s a pathetic situation right now.
stickguy
8/12/2009-9:56am at 9:56 am (UTC -4)
here is a scary thought (copied from a blurb in the Post today). And another reasn that Jerry must go! Hoepfully Omar is too smart (or his relacement is) to actually spend serious money on this next year.
•Count in Mets manager Jerry Manuel as a proponent of bringing back Gary Sheffield next year, says Bart Hubbuch at the New York Post. We learned earlier today Sheffield would prefer not to be traded.
Especially since they won’t be gettin ghim for 400K next year!
CaseStreet
8/12/2009-11:15am at 11:15 am (UTC -4)
what’s Jerry supposed to say? How’s he going to say he doesn’t want Shef back when Shef is playing for the team and an important part of the team?
metsfan4decades
8/12/2009-9:59am at 9:59 am (UTC -4)
This truly is ‘The Lost Season’….
Here’s hoping the FO does what needs to be done to make this team competitive come 2010.
steveo
8/12/2009-10:53am at 10:53 am (UTC -4)
I think a lot of this payroll reduction talk is exactly that talk.I think that the mets want to get the word out right now about how they won’t be big spenders like most other teams so as to keep the prices down on this weak crop of free agents so that we don’t get another 20 plus million dollar barry zito type deal due to lack of talent out there as well as teams like the mets sitting idle on manny thinking they were going to give more money then the dodgers were offering.I believe that just getting the word out there that they won’t be big spenders let’s the free agents know that the mets a big market team won’t be doling out the cash and that lessins the market it also tells teams like the braves that will be looking at guys like holiday bay and dye that the mets won’t be in on these guys so they will offer less thus making them the guys to make fist offers I use the braves as an example only because of the lowe thing, but any way making a statement to the free agent market the the recently big spending mets are reducing payroll changes the market slightly if the red sox yankees dodgers angels and whitesox follow suit then this changes spending patterns league wide.
trs86
8/12/2009-11:45am at 11:45 am (UTC -4)
I don’t think there is any way in hell the Mets reduce payroll, especially on the MLB level. It would be suicide.