Mike's Mets - Believing in the 2022 Mets

 

By Mike Steffanos

Things have really gone the way of the Braves and Phillies lately, but I still love the Mets' chances to come out on top.

It's been a tough stretch for the New York Mets. Although they had a respectable road trip out west against the Dodgers, Padres, and Angels, breaking even for the ten-game swing, it came at a time when the Braves and Phillies were winning almost every game they played. Since dropping the first two games of a road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Braves have run off 12 straight wins against second-rate opponents. Meanwhile, the Phillies have won 9 of 10. Their opponents have been stronger than Atlanta's, but they were fortunate to catch the Brewers and Angels amid long losing streaks.

Consequently, a Divisional lead that seemed almost insurmountable at the beginning of the trip has been whittled down to 5 games over Atlanta and 8.5 over the Phillies. While that was quite a bite out of the Mets' cushion, their lead over those two challengers is something any Mets fan would have gladly signed up for before the season started in April. It's all about perspective, I guess.

The Mets, under the leadership of veteran manager Buck Showalter, seem to have a good perspective on how things have gone. They understand they have no control over what their opponents do when they are not playing those teams. The Mets will be facing the Brewers starting tonight. Milwaukee recently ended their 8-game skid with a victory in their final game against the Nationals. While they have been scuffling, the Brewers' great starting pitching always makes them a formidable opponent.

Home and road series against the Houston Astros and Miami Marlins fill out the month of June for the Mets. The Astros are currently 37-24 and lead the AL West. While the Marlins languish at 27-32, they possess starting pitching that is always a threat to shut a team down. Being a spoiler is a role that the Marlins have excelled at for many years. When they have nothing to lose, the Marlins would like nothing more than to take some games from a first-place challenger. The Mets will have to keep their focus to take games from all 3 of these teams.

The Braves will play road series against the Nationals and Cubs next. To their credit, these are the sort of teams Atlanta has been fattening up on during their streak. The Mets will need to follow suit again when they hit the softer part of their schedule. While I don't see the Marlins as an easy opponent, I think it's important for the Mets to win those series against Miami. It's the only losing team the Mets will face in the last two weeks of June.

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The LTJ Editorial: “The best memory Mike Piazza gave me”

“The LTJ Editorial”
Author: Luis Tirado Jr.
Date: 9-27-13
Twitter: @LTJ81
Website: http://www.TheNYExpress.com

“The best memory Mike Piazza gave me”

I will have the privilege of attending the final NY Mets game this coming Sunday, September 29^th, 2013 at Citi Field and it won't just be another baseball game for me. This will be the day the Mets will induct Mike Piazza into their own Hall of Fame and will honor him in a pre-game ceremony tribute. I have plenty of memories about Pizza especially a huge one that I'll never forget to this very day. More on that later in this article but for now, let us take a look at some of the accolades Piazza earned wearing a Mets uniform.

Piazza is a 12-time All-Star and in the eyes of most baseball enthusiasts, easily one of the best catchers to ever play the game. When you look at professional baseball as a whole, he holds the most home runs hit by a catcher at the amazing number of 427. The last time the Mets went to the World Series back in 2000, one of the biggest reasons they were able to get there in the first place was because of the hot bat of Piazza. I remember he had a hitting streak of 15 straight games where he at least got one run batted in. During his tenure with the Mets, he honored every single game in the contract he signed back in 1998 and played for about 7 years. During that stretch, he played in 972 games, had 532 runs, 1028 hits, 193 doubles, two triples, 220 home runs, 655 runs batted in, 7 stolen bases, a batting average of .296, and a .373 on base percentage. Absolutely incredible stats and many say that the trade the Mets made to acquire Piazza was one of the best in baseball history to turn a franchise into the right direction. A winning direction at that.

When you look at his career, he has not only been quite the class act, but he's been a phenomenal superstar no matter where he ended up playing. Even though he debuted for the Los Angeles Dodgers and played for teams like the Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, and the Oakland A's, he will almost always be remembered for his tenure with the Mets. He even said when his time comes to get into the MLB Hall of Fame, he wants to be inducted as a Met. Before his professional baseball debut, ever since he was a little boy, baseball was his world. Did you know when Piazza was just five years old, his Dad was working on his arm strength by making him throw baseballs and practice catching? Another fun fact is that when he was just twelve years old in his custom-made backyard batting cage, he had a very special instructor. One who showed him what kind of batting stance he should always use. It was Boston Red Sox legend Ted Williams! It was Williams who actually showed him how to bat and made sure to teach Piazza that no matter what any coach ever told him, to never change his batting stance.

Many baseball fans, especially Mets fans, cherish every memory he brought to this team. I remember one very big memory though because it helped distract me during a difficult time not only in my life but in the lives of millions. I will never forget the terrorist attacks that struck this nation, especially in New York with the September 11^th, 2001 attacks. I remember just a huge sadness that hit me the day it happened that lasted that entire week and still bothers me to this day. Everything in New York was on lock down, every night I went to bed I would worry if in the news the next day more attacks would occur. The sports world stopped and you couldn't even watch TV or even listen to Sports Radio because everyone was focusing on the coverage of what would be another upcoming war this country would face. After the week was over, some kind of sports returned that weekend I remember. It was another NL East game featuring the Atlanta Braves coming to Shea Stadium to take on the Mets. Everyone was sad, crying, it was really emotional since all the players wore NYPD/FDNY caps to honor New York. It was the first sporting event held after the 9/11 attacks, so it meant a lot to a ton of people, regardless if you followed baseball or not. What's my all-time favorite Piazza memory? That at-bat where Piazza hit a ball for a home run that even though I wasn't physically at the game, I heard the Shea Stadium crowd from my home in Queens. It was huge and gives me goosebumps every single time I see that hit. At the time, it lifted the entire city to forget just for a little bit of what occurred earlier that week.

Mike Piazza stands for a lot of things. Integrity, loyalty, and of course, doing things the right way. I know a number of years ago he admitted to using something called Androstenedione but at the time it wasn't anything banned by MLB. Piazza used it for muscle mass and it really isn't any kind of Performance Enhancing Drug when you think about it. It's not like he was a horrible player, took Andro, and starting to hit 10 home runs a game thereafter. As far as I'm concerned, he has brought nothing but great memories and will be remembered as an incredible player. Does he belong in the MLB Hall of Fame? Absolutely! No catcher in the history of the game has made as much an impact as Piazza did and while he didn't get enough votes the last time he was eligible, he will eventually get in. This time though, in Cooperstown.