Watching the Mets play yet another freezing night game on a Monday night, 41 degrees and windy, this one in far-north Minneapolis, it got me to thinking…
When was the Mets’ first night game in Shea Stadium in the stadium’s inaugural season in 1964?
April 15? No. April 20? No. April 30? No.
If you guessed May 6, you win the prize.
1967? First Shea night game was May 2.
The normal nighttime low temperature on May 2 is 52 degrees, and on May 6, 53 degrees. Which, to me, is still cold to sit for hours to watch a game in person.
This year? April 5, but only because the first 6 season games were on the road, then game 7 was the daytime home opener, but game 8, April 5, was a Saturday night special. 45 and cloudy.
In 2024, the first home night game was April Fools Day. The average nighttime low on April 1 is 40 degrees.
Baseball needs TV revenues to pay players’ enormous salaries. So, the Mets and every other team play earlier and earlier in openers.
My suggestion? Start baseball night games as soon as the ball drops in Time Square on January 1. It’s cold? So what? PLAY!
Normal daytime temperatures, of course, are about 15 degrees warmer than nighttime lows, and at night, there is no warming sun for the players, either.
So I say…
Play ball in the daytime until early May…that’s my opinion.
GAME FUNK RAILROAD
The Mets’ abysmal hitting has slowed their express train into a GAME FUNK RAILROAD.
You see, they lost 6-3 Tuesday and 4-3 in 10 on Wednesday, scoring a skimpy 3 runs in each game. Down 3-0 Wednesday, they rallied for 3 to tie in the 8th. But their offense froze up like a seized engine in the 9th and 10th.
Juan Soto was clearly exposed to kryptonite, so on Wednesday, with his super powers gone, he was 0-5 with 3 Ks. Goat of the Game.
Butto was brutal, too. "Co-Goat."
Home vs. St Louis today. Will they hit like real men, or girly men?
BTW...
The 1962 Mets scored 76 runs in their first 18 games. This year, the Soto-Mets have plated 72 runs in their first 18 games. Somewhere, Choo Choo Coleman is giggling.
DREW GILBERT
A hot prospect not in Mack's list today is Drew Gilbert. His last 4 games in his St Lucie rehab through Sunday, he was FUEGO:
8 for 15, 3 walks, no Ks, and obvious power. It is "just St Lucie", you might counter, but Francisco Alvarez was 1 for 10 in his rehab games there last week, so let's not minimize Drew's last 4 excellent game accomplishments.
Drew would have been Siri's replacement call up, except he is not ready due to his having been injury-prone in his career, especially in 2024 and early 2025.
In 2022, 2023, 2024, and so far in 2025, he's been up just 848 times.
Pete Alonso by comparison was up 1,090 times in the minors before he was called up. Despite two broken hand injuries from HBPs in 2016 and 2017 in the minors, which are unavoidable, non-reckless injuries, he accomplished his 1,090 plate appearances in his short 2016 pro debut season and the next two seasons.
One less season than Drew, with 2 broken bone injuries, but Pete still had 242 more plate appearances. Because Pete had zero reckless injuries. And HATES AND DESPISES SITTING OUT GAMES.
After he healed up from his second broken hand injury in early 2017, he just never missed games. He was too hungry for the Big Show to allow himself to miss any games. Heck, despite shorter minor league seasons, in 2018, in the minors and Arizona Fall Ball games, he played in 159 games! And had 42 HRs and 146 RBIs.
You allow yourself to get hurt, though, and you miss golden opportunities (like Siri's major injury) due to lack of accumulated playing time.
Memo to Drew:
Miss no more games, and you'll reach the Big Show quicker. (Gilbert just headed to AAA for Wednesday’s game).
WHAT MAKES BASEBALL SPECIAL
So, I’m looking at Facebook on Wednesday, and those little videos pop up. So I click on a few.
One of them was regarding a coach, Hunter Hoopes. With his team gathering around him, T muscular, athletic-looking coach got clocked throwing 100 MPH.
The Minnesota Twins must have seen the video and then signed him. In low A ball, the just-turned-25 year old as of Tuesday had thrown his first 5 pro innings, allowing 1 hit, with 8 Ks.
I love those kinds of baseball stories.
MINORS TIDBITS
It is SO GOOD to see some Mets minor leaguers HITTING. Binghamton, Brooklyn, and St Lucie overall had substandard hitting.
AJ Ewing is officially to a tremendous start. .459/.533/.730 in St Lucie.
Already better than flailing Jett?
I dunno, but Jett is 2 for 9 and 5 Ks in his last two games. OK, in AA.
Chris Suero is cooking, as Mack noted. 5 HRs, 13 RBI, .353 in 9 games…for BROOKLYN? Wow. No one rocks HRslike that in Cyclones City in April.
Jacob Reimer is hot, too.(.345)
Nick Morabito had an awful season start, but is up over .200 now, so I expect him to soar - and steal.
Kevin Parada, though…ishitting….worse? Yep. Maybe he doesn’t like cold either.
Most of Binghamton's hitters, except for some dude named Francisco Alvarez, are close to, or under, .200.
But the next 3 games for them in Hartford will be much milder. Shake it off, fellas. HIT like you mean it.
2 comments:
Tom, nice to have you back. Got some good looking prospects in the minors. EJ is only 20.
Thanks, Ray. Hopefully AJ Ewing will eventually be far better than JD Davis and on a par with DJ Lemahieu in his prime. He sure seens to have more potential than JT Schwartz.
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