link - Looking to make a good first impression in his inaugural year in Boston, Cameron played through serious pain in a constant effort to stay on the field. But he was never right. He looked slow on balls in the outfield from the first week on. Regardless, with the Red Sox short on outfielders, he played at half-strength or worse whenever he could. Cameron went through a pregame routine that befit an Olympic gymnast –– contorting and stretching imself in intricate ways to loosen his body up enough to play a decent center field at age 37. To tell the truth, he surprised himself somewhat. “If anything, looking back, what amazed me was to still be able to run out there and play center field and still run around a little bit,” Cameron said. “To set aside that [pain] threshold and still run around a little bit, and be considered as everyone says, ‘an old center fielder’ or ‘hurt,’ I think I did pretty damn good.” ...Cameron expects to be fine by Thanksgiving, and to begin baseball-related workouts soon after. “I’ve got plenty of time,” he said. “It’ll come. I’m looking forward to it, though. Looking forward to feeling pain-free and let the gates open. I can’t wait to go out. I’ll probably play spring training as hard as I’ve ever played in my life.” The surgery itself, Cameron said, was miserable. Afterward, a groggy Cameron picked up the phone to call his manager, Terry Francona. He wasn’t quite ready to talk –– and Francona said he was shocked by how bad his delirious outfielder sounded.
link - Johan Santana (strained pectoral, ERD 9/12) - The news surrounding Santana's strained pectoral is pretty good. If you look beyond the simple fact that he'll be skipped next turn, there's mostly good news. There's simply no reason for the Mets to push Santana at all and with even a minor strain near his shoulder, it's smart to make sure he's not going to set himself up for a cascade injury. Over the weekend, there was some indication that the Mets were considering shutting Santana down, but a positive workout quieted that talk, at least for now. The Mets will continue to monitor Santana this week as he continues to throw. His normal side day if he would have been able to start tomorrow would have been Friday, so look for some indication then. People in weekly moves would be smart to use another option, since even if Santana does make the weekend start, he's likely to be on a very low pitch limit.
link - Since Bonilla was shipped out of town, the Mets have not had a player hold down RF for more than two years at a time. And even those times, the player in question did not top 109 games played. In a 20-year stretch, the best the Mets got was the 136 games from Derek Bell and the 120 OPS+ in 74 games from Francoeur. And so we have the curse of Bobby Bonilla. It’s just a remarkable stretch of ineptitude; made even more mind-boggling by the fact the Mets have made the playoffs three times in this period, so it is not like this is coming from the expansion Mets or the current Pirates, who haven’t had a winning season since Bush the elder was in office.
link - When Mets COO Jeff Wilpon rescued Backman from baseball oblivion last November, hiring him to run the high-profile Cyclones, the contract featured a "significant clause," as executive vice president Dave Howard described it at the time, protecting the Mets against any off-field behavioral issues. There have been no such off-field issues. Just on-field passion and success, at a juncture when the Mets are set to dismiss Jerry Manuel and begin a search for a new manager. Backman declined to discuss details of his disagreement with DiStefano. But exhibiting his trademark fire while controlling his personal life hasn't been a problem, he said.
http://networkedblogs.com/7xM1r - The first thing you notice about the crowd at MCU Park is the diversity. I know the bashing of Citi Field for its Ebbets Field look and Brooklyn Dodger influence is en vogue amongst Mets fans and I feel sorry for those of you that hate the Brooklyn feel of the ballpark because it’s obvious you didn’t grow up or ever live in Brooklyn. On any given night at a Cyclones game there are more different races and ethnic groups represented than the ” It’s A Small World “ride at Disney World. Where else but Brooklyn can you sit in a row with a couple of families from Crown Heights, one Orthodox Jewish, the other African-American and next to them a family with the women wearing the traditional Muslim Hijab ? You see Asian’s, Irish, Italians, Latinos , Poles you name the ethnic group and I guarantee they have been in attendance at a Cyclones game. I’ve been going to Cyclones games from the very first year they were in business in 2001 so in ten years I’ve gone to well over 100 games, I have never seen any kind of fighting, physical or verbal anytime . Just a bunch of fans rooting for Brooklyn to win. See, we all can get along as long as a baseball game is involved.
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