Tom Brennan - THE FINAL TWO YOUNG ARMS OF THE 1969 METS

THE FINAL TWO YOUNG ARMS OF THE 1969 METS

In my 4 recent articles that outlined the remarkable convergence of amazing young pitchers on the 1969 world champ NY Mets... Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, and Tug McGraw...those 4 were still not enough to make it all happen.

Thankfully, two more fine young arms joined the fray:

Jim McAndrew and Gary Gentry.

Jim McAndrew was an 11th round righty who kicked it into high gear in 1967,  after a fine 14-9 minors season in 1966.

In 1967, Jimmy Mac had a 13-10 minors record despite a microscopic 1.43 ERA...at which point he had earned a Mets No Support Badge of Honor.

In 1968 in AAA, he was 8-3, 2.54 and got a call up. He felt that no support pain, as he went 4-7 with the Mets the rest of the way in 1968 despite a 2.28 ERA. But he proved to be another piece ready to turn the Chumps into Champs in 1969.

MacAndrew went 6-7, with a fine 3.47 ERA, in 135 innings as a starter and reliever in 1969.  And was a vital cog for these World Champeen Mets.

Thereafter, he had very solid seasons in both 1970 and 1972 as well, but went 4-12 in 1973 and 1974 and was done at age 30.  He ended his Mets career with a 36-49 losing record despite a fine 3.54 ERA.  And, as I occasionally have to remind the reader, when he compiled most of that ERA, he did not have the advantage of pitching against the weak hitting Queens kids.

Gary the Great Gentry was a 3rd round selection of the Mets who, in his very first minor league campaign in AA...yes, AA...he went 4-4 In 79 innings, with an incredible 1.59 ERA.

In 1968, at age 21, Gentry watched Seaver and Koosman emerge as Mets co-aces as he finished his minors tutelage - Gentry went 12-8, 2.91 in 198 innings and 30 starts in AAA.

A Mets rookie at age 22 in 1969, after less than 280 minor league innings, Gentry gentrified and electrified the Shea Faithful, going 13-12, 3.43 in 35 starts and 233 innings!

He (over) pitched from 1969-72 with the Mets, and probably due to that workload, the slender righty broke down physically, and was done at 28, going 46-49, 3.57 for his career.

One could wonder how much better the hard throwing righty's career might have gone with current baseball era innings limits and the improved medical skills of the present.

Suffice it to say, though...the Mets likely miss the 1969 playoffs without the 19-19, 3.47 pitching of these two oh-so-timely pitchers, Jim McAndrew and Gary Gentry.

To recap the last several articles, with a focus on 1969, through a remarkable convergence of talent:

Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, McGraw, McAndrew and Gentry - at an average age in 1969 of slightly under 24 years of age, went:

76-41 (.650)

2.76 ERA 

1,073 innings 

47 CG

16 Shutouts.

Amazing! Simply Amazing!

Tom Brennan - THE AMAZING TUG MCGRAW

Tom Brennan - THE AMAZING TUG MCGRAW

What is the answer of what Met was the first to beat the legendary Sandy Koufax, who was 17-2, 1.44 ERA lifetime vs. Casey Stengel's motley Queens Crew? 

It's the same answer as to: what undrafted left hander made his 1965 pitching debut with the Mets?

And the same answer as to: which Mets pitcher was just 4-19 with the Mets from 1965 to 1967, and then didn't pitch in the bigs at all in 1968, but who never gave up?

And the same answer as to: who is it that BELIEVED IN HIMSELF SO MUCH that after that 4 year stretch of misery, he went 9-4, 2.28 for the Mets in 4 starts and 38 relief appearances, with 12 saves, in the very next magical Mets season of 1969?

And the same answer as to:which Mets pitcher went 19-10 with a 1.70 ERA in both 1971 and 1972, with 35 saves?

And, lastly, the same answer as to: who was the reliever who pitched like crap through late August in 1973, then let out a YA GOTTA BELIEVE cry to rally a dead-in-the-water Mets team to a pennant and within one game of winning the World Series, while suddenly pitching like it was 1971-72 all over again?

That's right:

THE TUGGER, TUG MCGRAW.  

The "slapping that glove on the thigh, scroogie-tossing" Tug McGraw we Mets fans all loved.

In 1969, he was part of the miracle World Series-winning squad that included Seaver, Koosman, Gentry, and MacAndrew, suddenly coalescing into a super pitching staff that posted an insane 2.99 team ERA.

Tug regressed a bit in 1974 with what turned out to be a correctable arm problem - and the Mets, as they had in the 1970s with Seaver, Ryan, and Koosman, also made the similarly huge mistake of trading McGraw.

Post-trade, Tug threw a "mere" 463 games with the Phils, to the tune of a 3.10 ERA, going 49-37 with 94 saves.  

And threw the final pitch to win a World Series for the Phils one season.

But Tug was so much more than his stats.

Some players - not to be critical, just thinking like a team owner - exude zero charisma on the field, like a Lucas Duda.

Lucas likely is a truly nice guy in person - but Tug was a charismatic, smiling, huge Mets fan favorite - starting with the day that the unheralded 21 year old Tugboat took down the great and mighty Koufax in 1965.

Tug truly was a huge historical part of why so many local baseball aficionados became - and stayed - Mets fans.

The wonderful Tug McGraw died far too soon at age 58 - but amazingly, his son Tim McGraw became a huge country music singer.  

Simply Amazin'.    

        

Reese Kaplan -- Baseball is Back (for Better or Worse)

Injuries are a part of life and even more so a part of professional sports when pushing one’s body to the maximum can eventually reach a breaking point.  Already in camp the Mets have heard about issues with Jed Lowrie, Brandon Nimmo and there were even whispers about Juan Lagares’ less-than-impressive throws to the infield in Saturday’s game before claiming that outfielders are being instructed to hit the cutoff man regardless of the game situation. 

Brodie Van Wagenen -- Picture by Ed Delaney

In the past the Mets would be reaching out for either AAAA players or sign castoffs from other major league teams that can’t find a job anywhere else.  This spring due to the depth created on the roster by Brodie Van Wagenen no one is pushing the panic button just yet. 

J.D. Davis -- Picture by Ernest Dove

No third base reps for Jed Lowrie?  Well, that just means more opportunities to look at J.D. Davis, TJ Rivera and others.  No Brandon Nimmo?  Well, that just means more innings for Keon Broxton and Jeff McNeil to show what they can do out there (not to mention the NRIs like Rajai Davis and Gregor Blanco).  Oh yeah, then there’s some guy named Tim something or other who I hear used to play football.  I think they can withstand some loss of playing time for Juan Lagares as well due to the number of bodies in camp.  Remember that J.D. Davis also plays the outfield, too. 

Corey Oswalt -- Picture by Ernest Dove

Where there is a definite area of concern is the starting rotation.  Assuming you go into 2019 with the ending rotation from 2018, you’re still looking at the likes of Walker Lockett, Hector Santiago, Chris Flexen, Corey Oswalt and Drew Gagnon as the backups.  While it’s possible one of them can morph into a respectable MLB starter, most fans and pundits are whining for BVW to sign another proven arm like Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Keuchel or even to take a flyer on oft-injured Clay Buchholz.  I’m not demeaning the AAA rotation, but a team that claims to be in it to win it must put the best team possible on the field and some of the available FAs are markedly better at the MLB level. 

Of course with a few outfielders ailing there are many renewed calls for Bryce Harper to take one of the available outfield positions, but with multiple reports of him having turned down deals in excess of what Manny Machado just got from San Diego, there are also a great many folks who realize it would simply be bad business to tie up that much money in one player for such a long period of time.  When you factor in the horrific track record the Mets have had with free agent signings, it’s almost understandable that they never even made any serious efforts to make him a Met. 

Of course, the best thing to come out of this spring training opening weekend was not the victories or losses, but simply the fact that guys in Mets uniforms were once again playing games.  For many of us we go through varying stages of withdrawal all winter long in anticipation of the rites of spring.  Even though 7 or so pitchers may appear and at least 1 or 2 position players will have you scratching your head as to their identity, the truth is it’s baseball, the game we love and have missed so dearly since it ended last September.  Play ball!

From The Desk – Tony Dibrell, Andres Gimenez, 5 Best Off-Seasons, Free Agency, Tim Tebow

Good morning.

MLB Pipeline  Top Mets Prospects –

          

PC - Ed Delany

  Tony Dibrell | Rank: 27 (Preseason: NR)  Team: Columbia Fireflies (A) ETA: 2021

Position: RHP Age: 23 DOB: 11/08/1995   Bats: R Throws: R        Height: 6' 3" Weight: 190 lb.

Drafted: 2017, 4th (127) - NYM

Scouting grades:

Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45

After two nondescript years at Kennesaw State, Dibrell jumped on the radar with a strong junior season, building off an All-Star campaign in the Cape Cod League the previous summer. The top college prospect in Georgia in the 2017 Draft class, he was taken by the Mets in the fourth round and given a slightly above-pick value bonus to sign. Pitching in relief in the short-season New York-Penn League during his debut, Dibrell struck out 12.8 per nine innings, then followed it up with a solid first full year in the South Atlantic League, once again striking out better than 10 per nine.

With a quick arm and a strong frame, Dibrell can run his fastball up to 96 mph and sit at 93-94 and while his velocity had dipped after heavy use in his last college season, he proved durable and effective over his first full season, finishing with 131 innings pitched. He's fiddled with different versions of a breaking ball in the past, but now features a hard slider/cutter that has good, late life.

Dibrell can spin a curveball with good depth and has aptitude for throwing a changeup. His fastball, slider and changeup all can be plus pitches at their best, so he has the ingredients to start. In order to succeed in that role as he moves up the Mets' ladder, he will have to continue to refine his overall control and command (3.7 BB/9 through 2018).

Fangraphs  top 100 prospects -

         

PC - Ed Delany 

   # 52 – SS Andres Gimenez - More skilled and polished than he is toolsy, Gimenez has been pushed up the minor league ladder aggressively and performed. He perceived ceiling is not that high.

While evaluations of his defense are universally strong, assessments of Gimenez’s bat vary significantly depending on when he was seen. He looked like a well-rounded, first-division player while he was hitting with pleasantly surprising power (.282/.343/.432 with 30 extra-base hits in 85 games) at Hi-A St. Lucie during the season’s first half, but like much less of one during a rough six weeks in the Arizona Fall League. In Fall League, Gimenez looked physically overmatched at the plate, likely due to exhaustion. He was still 19 when the Mets promoted him to Double-A for the season’s final six weeks, and his sophomoric body had endured a 122-game season against older, more physically developed athletes before he had even set foot in Arizona.

It’s fair to project Gimenez to add strength, but because his frame is small, it’ll probably be just the kind of strength that gives him season-long stamina, not huge raw power. But while big raw power is unlikely, if his feel for contact is refined in a way that prioritizes lift, it’s possible that Gimenez will end up hitting for more power than we project in the same way Ozzie Albies has. Gimenez has excellent natural bat control and can pull his hands in to get the barrel on pitches that would jam other hitters, and he has feel for fully extending on balls away from him and roping them into the opposite-field gap. If he does, he might end up hitting a ton of doubles and out-slug our projections without hitting a lot of home runs, or he may naturally start lifting the ball like Albies did.

In general, we like Gimenez as an above-average defensive middle infielder with advanced contact skills. We think he’ll be a solid-average everyday player, and while we think it’s unlikely, we can see a developmental path that leads to better production than that.

Ranking the   five best   off-seasons –

         

  2. New York Mets - We're putting the Mets here because it was nice to see them act like a big-market team for a bit.

The Mets added plenty of star power this winter, in Robinson Cano, Jed Lowrie, Wilson Ramos, Edwin Diaz, and Jeurys Familia. But they also addressed some of their depth concerns through small trades and signings. Justin Wilson came cheaper than his late-inning experience and high velocity and spin rate suggested he would, while J.D. Davis and Keon Broxton both have hit-tool concerns but could provide some utility off the bench -- Broxton with his speed and glove, and Davis with his pop (he's essentially the Matt Davidson starter kit, down to his pitching past).

Could this winter go wrong in typical Mets fashion? Absolutely. Lord knows Ramos hasn't been a bastion of good health; Lowrie looked done as recently as 2016; Cano has been outstanding forever, but he's coming off a season in which he was popped for a masking agent; and so on. Even Diaz could stumble, the way so many great closers seem to at random.

Still, give the Mets credit for making the offseason fun. That's more than most teams did.

Baseball’s Shifting Financial Equation:  Long-Term Security Over Free Agency –

            Proof that baseball’s financial equation has fundamentally changed isn’t in the number of free agents still available, or Bryce Harper and Manny Machado’s continuing unemployment. The most telling sign is in the behavior of the young talent that isn’t yet on the market.

Tim Tebow  was asked about people not liking him –

       

    

         "You’re always going to have critics and naysayers and people that are going to tell you that you won’t, that you can’t, that you shouldn’t. Most of those people are the people that didn’t, that wouldn’t, that couldn’t."

From The Desk – Francisco Alvarez, Franklyn Kilome, Max Scherzer, Peanuts & Cracker Jax, Peter Alonso

Good morning.

Fangraphs https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-25-prospects-new-york-mets/  Top 25 Mets Prospects –

11. Francisco Alvarez, C 

Signed: July 2nd Period, 2018 from Venezuela (NYM)

Age     16.6    Height 5′ 11″  Weight            220     Bat / Thr         R / R    FV       40+

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Hit       Raw Power     Game Power  Run     Fielding          Throw

25/55        50/50                 20/45       45/35      40/50             55/55

Alvarez received one of the top bonuses in the most recent July 2nd class, signing for $2.7 million with the Mets. He’s a physically-mature Venezuelan catcher, a demographic with a solid track record, even more so when you consider that Alvarez himself has a long track record of hitting in games and some present raw power. He projects to stick behind the plate with solid defensive tools and enough athleticism, though some scouts are tougher on the finer points of his framing and throwing technique, which is pretty typical for a catching prospect this age. There isn’t a plus tool, but the now skills and hit tool, all at a premium position, makes Alvarez one of the safer bets in his class and among all prospects of this age.

Fangraphs https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-25-prospects-new-york-mets/   Top 25 Mets Prospects –

12. Franklyn Kilome, RHP 

Signed: July 2nd Period, 2012 from Dominican Republic (PHI)

Age     23.5    Height 6′ 6″    Weight            215     Bat / Thr         R / R    FV       40

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Fastball          Curveball       Changeup      Command      Sits/Tops

   60/60               55/55              45/50               40/40           92-94 / 96

PC - Ernest Dove

           Kilome was markedly better after the Mets acquired him from Philadelphia for Asdrubal Cabrera ahead of the deadline. In seven starts with Binghamton, Kilome halved his walk rate (his strike % was up six percentage points), flashed a better changeup than he had earlier in the year, and turned in his best performance of the season, striking out 10 former Reading teammates on August 3rd. After things had plateaued for so long with Philly, he seemed to be improving. Then he broke, and at an unfortunate time. Tommy John in late October means Kilome, who’s already relatively raw for a prospect his age, may not throw another professional pitch until mid-2020, when he’s 25. We think this makes it significantly more likely that Kilome ends up in relief and while we think he could be a dominant three-pitch reliever, it has also delayed his timeline to the big leagues by perhaps two years, putting him in line to debut near the same time as similar talents who just wrapped a season in A-ball.

           

Max Scherzer   says baseball’s free agency lull ‘poisons the game. –

            For 40 years, baseball free agency was always described as "an auction," with teams bidding against each other, sometimes wildly, for players. Fans egged their teams on. Agents fed rumors about mega-contracts. Then, a few years ago, that long trend began to change. Max Scherzer was among the first to experience it four years ago as a free agent.

MLB teams, he thought, were learning to flip the marketplace into a kind of reverse auction in which rich teams publicly identified themselves as not interested in specific free agents while poor or “rebuilding” teams just tanked and refused to compete for free agents at all. Supply and demand were turned upside down. Scherzer saw this whole winter coming. And he called it.

 Peanuts, Cracker Jack   won’t be sold at Connecticut Double-A baseball stadium –

           The Hartford Yard Goats announced on their website earlier this month that Dunkin’ Donuts Park would become “peanut-free” – cutting ties with two baseball mainstays: shelled peanuts and Cracker Jack – in order to accommodate visitors with allergies. The team is the Double-A Eastern League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

 Fangraphs top 100 prospects-

       

    #48 – Peter Alonso - Alonso has elite raw power and lead the minors in homers last year. He is not a good defensive first baseman and may be the primary beneficiary if the universal DH is instituted.

Alonso followed up a breakout 2017 with a minor league leading 36-home run 2018 campaign split between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A launching pad Las Vegas. In addition to clubbing the most home runs, Alonso hit some of 2018’s loudest individual blasts. He had the most prolific batting practice session at the Futures Game, then threatened a passing satellite with a titanic seventh-inning homer off of a grooved, 95 mph Adonis Medina fastball. He exceeded Mets Statcast-era records on a ball in play in the Arizona Fall League, out-hit Vlad Guerrero, Jr. during Fall Stars BP, then homered the opposite way off a 103 mph Nate Pearson fastball in the game.

This is what top-of-the-scale, strength-driven raw power looks like, and it drives an excellent version of a profile we’re typically quite bearish on: the heavy-bodied, right/right first baseman. Alonso is tough to beat with velocity because his swing is compact and even when he’s a little late, he’s capable of muscling mis-hit balls out the other way. After some adjustment, Fall League pitching chose to attack him beneath the knees, and well-located pitches down there were successful, but Alonso crushes mistake breaking balls that catch too much of the zone. We think a typical Alonso season will look like something between what C.J. Cron and Jesus Aguilar did last year, depending on whether the 2018 uptick in Alonso’s walk rate holds water or not. He makes some nice effort-based plays at first base, but as a feet and hands athlete, Alonso is well below average.

Perhaps more notable than what we anticipate will be several years of mashing in the heart of the Mets lineup, Alonso is a favorite to become the poster child for player compensation reform. Already near the center of public discourse regarding teams’ suppression of prospect promotion, Alonso is 24 years old and has a skillset and body type at heightened risk to enter physical decline relatively early. With his early-career earning power stifled by his parent club, Alonso might start to show signs of physical regression during his arbitration years and also struggle to find a lucrative market in free agency. His free agency is timed awkwardly between what will probably be the next two CBA negotiations, but otherwise the circumstances indicate his situation could one day be a focal point for change.

Tom Brennan - THOUGHTS ON KEON BROXTON

Tom Brennan - THOUGHTS ON KEON BROXTON 

One might ask, "The Mets already have Juan Lagares.  Isn't Keon Broxton just his outfield clone?  Isn't he surplus?"

IMO  -  Not a clone...not surplus.

Interestingly, in what can be considered charismatic Keon's last full season in the majors in 2017, Broxton had offensive numbers remarkably similar to 2018 Dominic Smith:

Smith in 2018 was .210/.259/.420 in 149 plate appearances., with a K every 3.15 times up.

Broxton in 2017 was .220/.299/.420 in 463 PAs, with a K every 2.65 times up.

Now, of course, let's not ignore Broxton Circa 2018.

Broxton for the Brewers was .179/.281/.410 in about 90 plate appearances.  In AAA, he was .254/.323/.421 in 82 games, with 119 Ks in 334 PAs.  Not overwhelming in 2018.

Offensively, we can conclude this much: 

His K rate is crazy high, and that leads to low batting averages and his marginalization as a major leaguer.

His speed, though, is stellar and sizzling: 

34 of 39 steals in sporadic playing time in 2018 in the minors and majors.  

And his on base % career-wise shows that his low average is less than a true indicator of his ability to put that speed to good use by getting on base:

Majors: .313 OBP (lower lately)

Minors: .335 OBP

Reaching for comparisons, the 2009 Arizona 3rd rounder seems like a better version of former high K Mets minor leaguer Champ Stuart, with more power and hitting ability. Or Travis Taijeron, but a whole lot faster and better defensively.  

All 3 have a real K flaw, but "K Brox" has offsetting tools to make him a major league consideration.

Most folks see K Brox as a platoon guy and late inning pinch runner and defensive replacement.

As a platoon player, how would he hit lefties?  Let's look at his major league career, spanning 246 PAs.

Yep, lefty or righty, minors or majors, he strikes out a lot - but his MLB career vs. lefties has been surprisingly pretty decent: .234/.350/.440.  A guy who has slugged .440 vs. lefties and gotten on base 35% of the time, and who has superior speed, is someone to not underestimate.

Defensively, folks say he is good or better than prime time Juan Lagares.  Which certainly helps keep him in the majors as much as he has been to date despite the Ks (2.038 service years).

That said, he seems to be a worthwhile addition as a 5th OF reserve.  The idea of Broxton and Lagares in the outfield in the 8th and 9th inning of games where the Mets lead by a run or two and have Familia and Diaz in relief seems, to me, to be quite comforting and solid.

And...maybe Chili Davis can get Broxton to cut down on his Ks.  

Given Broxton's power and speed, a substantial reduction in Ks (a big if, and easier said than done) could propel Broxton into being a good major league starting outfielder.

Overall, I like trying him as a 5th outfielder.  But not as a frequent contributor, unless his K rate can move closer to a major league norm.

Reese Kaplan -- Musings on a Mets Motorcycle Trip

Some of you may know that I reside in El Paso, TX, most recently in the news at the center of the border wall controversy.  I moved here in 2006 to escape cold weather and enjoy the environment for more than just a few months of the year when it wasn’t literally raining on my parade outdoors.   

A few years after arriving I picked up a long-lost passion for motorbikes.  Given the normally mild temperatures and the desert climate it seemed that this area would be one for year-round riding pleasure.  I started off on scooter type bikes and graduated to a wide variety of options, some of which were not suitable for anyone with a propensity to have a heavy hand on the throttle.

Today was an unseasonably cold day by El Paso standards and people claimed to have seen white stuff falling from the sky, though outside my office window I think they were having Frosty the Snowman hallucinations.  Still, the biting temperatures got me to thinking about how best to enjoy the warmth once it returns.

That set of thoughts coincided with another collection which centered around a medical mishap of mine from back in December.  I’d gone in for outpatient surgery that was frankly mostly cosmetic in nature – correcting a hammertoe that was ugly but not causing me any pain.  I’ve had similar operations in the past.  They break the toe, insert a wire, you wear a boot for 5-6 weeks, they yank out the wire and you’re back to your normal life. 

Prior to any operation you’re presented with a sheaf of documents to sign which all essentially say, “Don’t sue us if anything goes wrong!”  Of course, they present it to you once you’re already half in the bag from anesthesia, but I dutifully affixed my John Hancock on the dotted lines and off I went to dreamland, awakening later in the recovery room wearing the big boot on my right foot.

This time around things did not proceed exactly as planned.  Instead of a wire this new doctor wanted to use a metal plate and screws to hold my cut and reshaped big toe together.  On the second visit to the podiatrist to have the bandage changed I was told to head directly to the hospital because there was indication of infection (that stuff they warned you about on those forms you signed).

I went into the ER as instructed, figuring they’ll shoot me full of antibiotics and send me on my merry way. 

Ummm, no…

I wound up in the hospital for nine days, endured two more surgeries to try to clean out the infection, was put on an IV drip of antibiotics and when discharged needed to continue twice daily IV injections of the antibiotics the clear up the infection.  In addition, they attached me to something called a wound vacuum that essentially is a big suction cup over a dual layer of sponges to suck the fluids from the open wound into a canister in the machine to facilitate healing from the inside. 

I’ll spare you the rather disgusting visuals as I’ve been keeping a photo diary of the progress of the healing, but healing it is, albeit much more slowly than I would have hoped.  Had it been my left foot it would have made life immeasurably easier as I would be able to drive.  Since it’s my right foot, I haven’t been behind the wheel of a vehicle since December 12^th.

Last week I went to see the surgeon who did the post-operative cleanup surgeries in the hospital for a progress report.  She looked at the wound and was very pleased with the effectiveness of the wound vacuum, but kind of broke my heart when she said, “Plan on another 6 weeks or so of using it.” 

So what all does this medical whining have to do with motorcycles, cold weather and the Mets?  Well, I got to thinking that I could combine my four months or so off the bikes into a long road trip to see a live Mets game.  The first thought was the Arizona Diamondbacks, about 6.5 hours away in Phoenix.  Then there’s the Colorado Rockies about 9.5 hours away in Denver.  The Mets are not playing AL games in Arlington or Houston, so that left the Texas options out this year. 

I checked the schedule and see that the Mets are indeed playing a weekend series in Arizona on May 31^st through June 2^nd.  While it’s a lot of time in the saddle, an 8:00 AM departure from El Paso would get me into Phoenix around 4:00 PM (allowing some time for rest stops and gas).  That would give me time to check into a hotel, shower, rest up and hit the 7:10 game.  Then it would be the reverse on Sunday morning back to Texas. 

It was a relatively easy decision on the Diamondbacks rather than the Rockies.  It wasn't just the extra three hours of travel.  The Colorado series is mid-week which would necessitate taking time off from work (many days of which were already used on the hospital stay).  It’s not until September and there’s no telling how far in front or behind the team will be by then.  More importantly if I chose Arizona, I could head there a month or two after resuming normal shoes and I’m kind of chomping at the bit to get riding again.  Going to Denver would be more picturesque for sure, plus I’d get to see Daniel Murphy.  Instead I’ll have to settle for seeing Wilmer Flores in Phoenix. 

The logistical problem for a June 1^st game would be the opposite of the weather situation right now.  It will be HOT in El Paso, through New Mexico and into Arizona.  Fortunately, even when fully laden in protective gear you’re not suffering too badly from the heat so long as the bike stays in motion.  It’s traffic and stop lights that are the killer in hot weather. 

The next decision would be which bike to use.  I had acquired a 4^th bike in advance of selling two of the three I had when the proverbial offer too good to pass up happened upon me.  So now I’ve got two up for sale on consignment and two in my garage teasing me every time I limp past them.  One is a little-known bike by Honda called the NM4 which usually gets dubbed the Batmobile bike.  

Then there is the dual sport, primitive technology dinosaur called a Kawaski KLR650.  Comfort tells me to ride the Honda.  The Mets fan in me says the blue Kawi with an orange helmet is more in keeping with the spirit of the trip. 

Anyway, is riding for over 13 hours in two days to see a Mets game stupid or a sign of being a fanatic (the root word from which fan is derived)?