Mack’s Morning Report – 2-17-14 – Danny Anderson, (Exclusive) St. Lucie, A-Rod to Bo-Sox, D-1 Stats

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Coming up Later Today - 

    11 AM - Christopher Soto - Mack's Mets Top 25 - #16 - P Jack Leathersich

    2 pm  -  Craig Mitchell - The Curly Fry Incident

     4 pm  - D Whit  -  Ralpn, Lindsay, Murph and My Misspent Mets Childhood



Danny Anderson, who was the clubhouse manager for the St. Lucie Mets since 2006. died on Friday of an undisclosed form of cancer. He was 48-years old. Danny was the kind of person that was loved by anyone that came in contact with him. He first began his Mets career as the visitor’s clubhouse manager, then moved on to managing both the minor league complex during spring training, and the St. Lucie Mets home clubhouse. He became ill in November and entered the hospital in December.

Danny’s last entry on his Facebook page was to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

(Exclusive)  -  In other news out of St. Lucie, there will be no radio broadcast of either the home or away games in 2014. Last year, they here heard on WPSL-AM 1590; however, it was team officials that decided not to continue their relationship. I attempted to reach last year’s media contact, but was told he no longer is with the organization.

My first contact with the St. Lucie Mets were in 2007 and, I have to say, drawing media information out from them has, at time, been close to working with North Korea. It did get better these past few years when they hired  a new media contact, but it’s my understanding that his position have been eliminated from the budget.

Yes, that’s right… another Met cutback, the return of no information coming out of Lucy and now, not even a game to listen to. As of right now, I’m not sure there will be anyone sending press releases out and it looks like the organization will return once again to the Dark Ages.

Look, I understand the lack of media releases from the GCL Mets and even nothing coming out of Kingsport is alright with me, but I’ve never understood why the boys down in Florida don’t seem to understand that Toby Hyde and I aren’t the only two people on earth that follow the minor league teams of this organization.

You have to have someone in that front office that punches out a daily release on how the game turned out. We’ve all turned to the TC Palm newspaper during the season and we’ve seen how miserable they’ve covered the Mets. Hell, they haven’t even assigned a reporter to the team since I began going there in 2007.

Now, there isn’t any arrangement worked out with one of the local or regional radio stations (remember… I come out of radio… the broadcast is something produced by the radio station and it is they that pay the play-by-play announcer that is in the booth. This hasn’t been the way St. Lucie operated. They chose to fully employ the person in the broadcast booth which, as I say, isn’t the norm for either industry).

There has been one constant throughout this period… the same General Manager. Decisions like these do not come from Queens and, for whatever reason, the St. Lucie Mets have been allowed to operate outside the boundaries of how other teams run their organizations both in the same league and within the same organization.

It’s pitiful that the Mets now have two minor league teams, their extended camp, and their entire minor league brain trust complex operating in a media fog, all because of the actions of one man being paid to punch out the best product in 2014.

The listening to St. Lucie Mets baseball games is a very important part of the retirement community of Pt. St. Lucie and it’s a shame they don’t even realize at this point that that privilege has been taken away from them.

I’m actually sickened by this development and find more reasons every day to direct my last professional efforts to other directions other than writing about this organization.

D-1 Sunday Stats - 

           #1 Cal State Fullerton - 3B Matt Chapman - 2-3, 1-R

             #5 Florida State – SS Justin Gonzalez – 3-3, 2-R, 1-RBI, 2-BB, .700

                                            3B Jose Brizuela – 2-3, 1-R, 1-RBI, .462

            #7 Indiana -   C Kyle Schwarber – 0-3, .200

             #9 UCLA  -  SP Cody Poteet - 4-1-IP, 1-ER, 4-H, 3-K, 2-BB

            #12 South Carolina -      LF Joey Pankake – 3-5, 3-R, 1-HR, 1-RBI, .400

                                                CF Tanner English – 2-4, 1-R, .455

                                                C Grayson Greiner – 1-4, HR, 1-R, 3-RBI, .417

            #14 Louisville -       P Cole Sturgeon – 2.0-IP, 0-H, 0-R, 2-K, 2-5, 2-R

            #16 Clemson -        C Garrett Boulware – 2-4, 1-R, 2-RBI, 1-BB

            #21 Florida -           SP Karston Whitson – 2.0-IP, 3-ER, 2-K, 2-BB

                                                C Taylor Gushue – 1-3, 3-RBI, Sac, .364

            #22 TCU -                 1B Kevin Cron – 0-3

             #31 Stanford -       3B Alex Blandino - 1-4, 1-R

Mike Puma -  Mike Harvey is unhappy having to watch things from afar...

  http://nypost.com/2014/02/17/harvey-unhappy-having-to-watch-mets-from-afar/ 


Anthony DiComo - Wilpons funds are steadily improving -      

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/nym/mets-coo-jeff-wilpon-the-mets-fortunes-are-steadily-improving-on-and-off-the-field?ymd=20140217&content_id=67831958&vkey=news_nym         

   

Rany Jazayerli –

After three seasons, Rangers owner Tom Hicks had apparently grown tired of Rodriguez’s consistent excellence, and decided it was time to trade him.7 The Red Sox, who had just lost Game 7 of the ALCS to the Yankees on Aaron Boone’s 11th-inning homer in the Grady Little game, and who were in the process of trading for Curt Schilling in their ongoing game of nuclear proliferation with the Yankees, were interested. And so was Rodriguez.

A deal was reached, and all sides were amenable: The Rangers would trade Rodriguez to Boston in exchange for Manny Ramirez and a prospect named Jon Lester. The Red Sox would then trade incumbent shortstop Nomar Garciaparra to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez and a prospect named Brandon McCarthy.  http://grantland.com/features/alex-rodriguez-alternate-career-history-red-sox-yankees/

Mack – Everybody forgets when A-Rod offered to take a pay cut and pay part of Manny’s contract  so he could become a Red Sox. Read this story for a catch up…