Rumble Ponies Season Postponed Until At Least May 10

Binghamton, NY – The Rumble Ponies in accordance with CDC guidelines and the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, have postponed all Home Games before May 10.

We will continue to work with state, county, and local officials as well as the health experts to monitor this ever evolving situation. As soon as any updates in regards to baseball being played at NYSEG Stadium can be made we will update fans through social media and team website.

“Our first priority is the safety and well-being of our fans, staff, players, and coaches. Although we are saddened to postpone the first 17 games of the 2020 season, we understand the severity of the situation and look forward to providing a safe and healthy fan experience once we are able to play baseball at NYSEG Stadium,” said John “JB” Bayne.

Any ticket purchased for a game before May 10^th will be treated as a rain check and will be redeemable for any 2020 Regular Season Home Game (excluding July 4^th). Tickets will be exchangeable once the Box Office opens back up.

Our staff remains working remotely, but are accessible through email. For all general inquiries, please email info@bingrp.com.

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are the Double-A Affiliate of the New York Mets. For more information follow along with the Ponies on Facebook facebook.com/RumblePoniesBB, or on Twitter at @RumblePoniesBB.

Mack – FWIW – Daily Thoughts

Monday, 3-30:

Nothing continues to change in the baseball world. The Commish says he expects us to return to the fields around the same time our government is telling us this will be all over. My problem with this is the fact that I woke up this morning and found out 1,000 more Floridians tested positive, while one of my heroes, singer-songwriter John Prine was put on life support with this disease that ‘is going to be over in June’.

I know in my aging bones that none of our lives will ever be the same. And, as for the game we love, what happens if we don’t find a cure for this by the time it wakes up again next spring? Another season of this shit? What are we going to be eating by then? Soylent Green?

I talked last night with someone whose name you would instantly recognize. He agreed with me that he thinks baseball will not return this year, but no one is ready to write that yet. Even sportswriters are holding out for a miracle.

I was trying to fill up the site with posts about things that we wrote here in the past and lists of the greatest this and the greatest that. They call this ‘filler’,

I stopped, not because I thought you were uninspired to read them, but the fact that I was uninspired to print them.

Instead, let’s be real here and deal with what’s on our TV screen 24/7 and relate it as much as we can to the sport we love and miss.

I will do this daily around this time each day.

I invite your participation.

Reese Kaplan -- The Wilpon Stench Is Fomenting

Everywhere you turn on the news, websites, blog spots and in print, it seems all you can find is some variation on the standard daily coverage of the coronavirus.  There is nothing wrong with that since none of us have experienced a pandemic of this magnitude before with six figures of inspections and four figures of death already recorded.  No, this is indeed the primary focus (or it should be for the folks in charge).

What’s really different is how sports are handling the unexpected termination of their daily schedule, their opening day festivities and the massive amount of revenue that would otherwise be coming into their hands via ticket sales, refreshments, parking and souvenirs.  For the business owners, it’s a major challenge that’s going to impact their profitability and perhaps even their ability to retain stewardship of their teams.

Now it’s no mystery to anyone with even a passing interest in the Mets knows that the club is in negotiation to be sold to the highest bidder.  This action was taken before the pandemic hit with such gravity, and no matter what the financial circumstances caused by the shutdown the Mets are still out there on the open market.

The issues that make an already less-than-popular set of team owners appear a bit on the “It’s all about us” side of things is that the Wilpons have actively engaged their brokers to find a new buyer right now.  

Hmmn...so when others are concerned about whether or not their businesses will survive or (to a lesser extent) their employees will survive, the Wilpons’ primary focus is to find someone else to inherit the prospective nightmare of heading up the Mets.  It’s certainly not a good business scenario in that the folks wealthy enough to approach the $2.6 billion not accepted from Steve Cohen have lost millions and millions of dollars in the stock market implosion. Consequently, the pool of available buyers has likely shrunk considerably with that $2.6 billion looking more like a fantasy figure that may never see the light of day again in this current business environment.  Now is the time investors are looking to capitalize on the bargains that have evolved rather than pushing them to spend even more money. We all hope the Wilpons can find a buyer but perhaps the timing is a bit off, to say the least.

To add a whipped cream topping to the beginning distasteful course of the Wilpon entree is the Daily News article that came out late in the day on Friday concerning the manner in which the club is supporting its employees that don’t wear player uniforms.  If they are accurate in their news sources, it appears that the Wilpons have not issued a single paycheck to the stadium personnel who do things like serve food, take tickets, clean bathrooms or provide security.  By contrast the owners at the Barclays Center paid their employees on March 12th when the NBA season shut down. Apparently not all businesses are run alike.

Now, far be it from me to pick on the Wilpons unfairly, but the major league baseball commissioner was all over the media himself bragging on his team owners and how they were working to ensure all people were cared for financially and with proper health protection during this difficult time.  Apparently Fred and Jeff never got that memo. Either that, or the financial hardships and disorganization facing the Mets are actually far worse than they seem. People saw red when they encountered the article in question. It’s not the first time the Mets fans have been disappointed by the team owners (and in this business environment it’s far from likely to be the last). 

John From Albany – Mets Breakfast Links 3/30/2020

Good morning.  Alex Rodriguez talks to Pete Alonso, more reactions to the draft reduction, and Mike Francesa looks forward to a Sports Shangri-La.

  

Reactions to MLB’s changes to the Amateur Draft continue to be in the news.

USA Today: Agent Scott Boras believes MLB’s new agreement will greatly damage future draft classes. “It is amazing to me when our nation is in a position of peril,’’ Boras told USA TODAY Sports, “that one of the attack points always continues to be the poor drafted players…You’re sending a message to drafted players you are major league baseball’s step-child. It’s unconscionable to me for that small amount of money…We’re talking about a whopping $6 million savings over the whole damn draft.”

Bill Madden NY Daily News: Future draft prospects get short end of stick in league’s new coronavirus agreement. Those kids are about to find themselves in baseball limbo. If they want to play pro baseball this year, they’ll have to settle for a token $20,000. As one player advisor/rep told me: “The amateur players are being railroaded. They get to be the only Americans who can be paid less than the minimum wage.”

Mack had this take: You know we won't win at this. The Yankees will eat this up. Is this baseball’s equivalent to running to the toilet paper isle when your local store opens?

Mike Vaccaro NY Post: Pete Alonso lifting spirits everywhere during coronavirus crisis.  Mike talked about Pete’s recent video message that he sent to an 82-year-old lifelong Mets fan suffering from small-cell cancer and personalized video to an array of doctors and nurses with this quote from Pete: “I have an awesome platform to do something great,” Alonso says. “I want to be known as a great ball player and a great guy. I want to help as many people as I can. I am in the position to help so many people, it would be a shame if I didn’t use my platform for good.”

SNY.TV: Mets 1B Pete Alonso joined former Yankee and current MLB analyst Alex Rodriguez on the latter's Instagram Live on Sunday to jump into a bunch of different topics. For example - Pete has been kayaking during self-isolation; Alonso is also finding more time for another passion of his: cooking; Pete was a big Piazza fan growing up; Pete knew he made it when... "I think it was the last day of opening weekend. Anthony Rendon said, 'Alright, there's no moon league. You're not going to get a call and go up to Mars. This is it,' "Alonso said.

The Score: Mets' Alonso tells A-Rod he wants to play until 40, be a good dad.

Matthew Cerrone of SNY.TV Mets Mailbag: On a potential Matt Harvey return, prospect Andres Gimenez, and more.  About Matt Harvey he said – “I would love to see Harvey come home, but in no way can he be guaranteed a role. He'll need to earn his way into the rotation (or bullpen). If he could do it, and do it with hunger and focus, it would be an incredible redemption story and something that would captivate baseball and Mets fans.”

Brian Joura Mets 360: More historical comps for Amed Rosario. Brian looked at other shortstops who had at least 1,000 PA in the majors by their age-23 season, played at least 80% of their games at shortstop and produced at least a 90 OPS+ in their career to that age. This included Alan Trammell, Jose Reyes, Troy Tulowitzki, and Starlin Castro.

Mike’s Mets talked about the unwanted arrival of Coronavirus in Spring Interrupted. 

Metstradamus had the results of the Mets-Nationals simulated game.

Metsmerized Online: Michael Wacha Embracing Analytics with Some Help From Dad.

Empire Sports Media: Should The New York Mets Sign Matt Harvey?

Metsmerized Online: Mets Video Vault: Sept. 8, 2015 at Nationals.  Classic game where Mets came back from 7-1 deficit capped off by Kirk Nieuwenhuis homer off Jonathan Papelbon.

Centerfieldmaz: Remembering Mets History (1996) Alex Ochoa Hits For the Cycle.

Rising Apple: Mets Clover Park Charms: A 2020 spring training tour in St. Lucie.

Yahoo Sports: If 2020 season is cancelled, which teams would be hurt the most?  Dodgers, Reds and Phillies.

Bill Madden in the NY Daily News: 8 MLB teams that might not mind a coronavirus-canceled season.  Bill goes into detail about the 8 teams listed – Astros, Giants, Orioles, Marlins, Rockies, Red Sox, Padres and Pirates.  About the Orioles he notes: “The GM, Mike Elias, who was Jeff Luhnow’s right-hand man in Houston and right in the middle of the cheating scandal but never charged, is way over his shoes. One of the new minor league coaches he hired reportedly had to be moved to the sidelines in spring training, when he couldn’t hit fungoes and, in attempting to throw batting practice, threw a bunch of pitches in the dirt before hitting the batter in the head. Ah, those analytics guys who never played the game. But at least there was that spirited competition in which the analytical hitting coaches were rewarding the hitters who hit the highest pop-ups. Ah, those uppercut swings.”

  

NBC Sports Chicago: “Two Cubs employees test positive for COVID-19. The two employees attended the same March 8 training session…One is recovering at home; the other hospitalized receiving treatment, the team said.”

USA Today: Longtime Athletics minor league coach, manager Webster Garrison hospitalized with coronavirus.

USA Today: Former MLB All-Star Jim Edmonds hospitalized, tested for coronavirus.

NY Post: Mike Francesa eyes sports utopia when coronavirus abates. “Think of the positives of this, none of these leagues are going away,” Francesa, 66, said in a clip captured by the Big Lead. “Baseball is going to come back, football is hopefully going to start untouched. Basketball and hockey are going to figure out how to finish their seasons… it’s going to happen. The Majors are going to get played in tennis and golf. You’re going to have the Masters, you’re going to have the U.S. Open, you’re going to have the PGA and the British Open. All these events, when we come out of this, whenever the date is we come out of this, all these events are going to get jammed into a couple of months, where we are going to have sports Shangri-La.”

Phil Mushnick NY Post: TV bills are the same even without games. MLB and DirectTV, knowing they have no games to provide, have nonetheless sent notices to last season’s subscribers informing them they they’ve been unilaterally renewed and billed — in the neighborhood of $125 for this season, same as last season — for this season’s unknown but abridged out-of-market package.

Bob Raissman NY Daily News: Will baseball limit who can broadcast the games when and if the season starts? For safety sake, and as a precaution, Major League Baseball may want to limit the broadcast crews working games. Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network Bombers analyst Ken Singleton, on a recent edition of WFAN’s “Moose & Maggie Show,” said several scenarios have been discussed, including one where fans in the visiting team market would only get the hometown feed of baseball games. For example, YES voices would not travel to Chicago to work a Yankees-White Sox game. They would work the game from the YES studio.

NBC Sports Chicago: Baseball America names Cubs’ Miguel Amaya as breakthrough catching prospect.

This past weekend at Mack’s Mets:

Reese Kaplan -- Shortened Season 26-Man Roster Prediction.

Minor League Baseball Offering Fans Free Preview of MiLB.TV.

Mack – A Draft Editorial.

Tom Brennan - BASEBALL ATTENDANCE IN 2020.

Mack’s Blast From The Past comes from 3-29-18 – Gary McDonald – Goodbye Rusty.

Today in Mets History Per Ultimatemets.com:

Belated Birthdays for 3/29:

• Tommy Holmes (1917)
• Billy Beane (1962)
• Eric Gunderson (1966)
• Alex Ochoa (1972)
• Scott Atchison (1976)

Died on this date:

• Rusty Staub (2018)

Transactions:

New York Mets traded J. C. Martin to the Chicago Cubs for Randy Bobb on March 29, 1970.

New York Mets traded Leo Foster to the Boston Red Sox for Jim Burton on March 29, 1978.

New York Mets released Lenny Randle on March 29, 1979.

New York Mets traded Jody Johnston and Steve Walker to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mark Bradley on March 29, 1983.

New York Mets traded Juan Acevedo to the St. Louis Cardinals for Rigo Beltran on March 29, 1998.

New York Mets released Joe Orsulak on March 29, 1998.

New York Mets released Rich Rodriguez on March 29, 2001.

New York Mets signed free agent Kelly Stinnett on March 29, 2005.

New York Mets traded Eddie Kunz to the San Diego Padres for Allan Dykstra on March 29, 2011.

Born 3/30:

• Terry Bross (1966)

Transactions:

New York Mets traded Bill Denehy and Dean Chance to the Detroit Tigers for Jerry Robertson on March 30, 1971.

New York Mets released Jesus Alou on March 30, 1976.

New York Mets traded Benny Ayala to the St. Louis Cardinals for Doug Clarey on March 30, 1977.

New York Mets traded Ken Reed and Gene Autry to the Chicago White Sox for Randy Niemann on March 30, 1985.

New York Mets traded Terry Bross to the San Diego Padres for Craig Bullock on March 30, 1992.

New York Mets traded Steve Long to the Florida Marlins for Robert Person on March 30, 1994.

New York Mets traded Anthony Young and Ottis Smith to the Chicago Cubs for Jose Vizcaino on March 30, 1994.

New York Mets traded Endy Chavez to the Kansas City Royals for Mike Curry on March 30, 2001.

New York Mets claimed Wilson Valdez on waivers from the Chicago White Sox on March 30, 2005.

New York Mets signed free agent Ken Takahashi on March 30, 2009.

New York Mets claimed Manny Acosta on waivers from the Atlanta Braves on March 30, 2010.

New York Mets released Danny Herrera on March 30, 2013.

New York Mets traded Cory Mazzoni to the San Diego Padres for Alex Torres on March 30, 2015.

New York Mets traded Matt den Dekker to the Washington Nationals for Jerry Blevins on March 30, 2015.

National Pastime.com:

2001

Choosing to end his career as a member of a World Champion team, 36 year-old Dwight Gooden announces his retirement from baseball. 'Doc,' who compiles a 194-112 record in 16 seasons playing for the Mets, Yankees, Indians, Astros, and Devil Rays, will remain on the Bronx Bombers' payroll and will have a position within the organization.

2003

Major League baseball returns to Brooklyn for a day when the Mets appear at KeySpan Park, the Coney Island home of the short-season single-A Cyclones, for the team's final preseason workout. Although the practice session is rained out, fans enjoy meeting the players and collecting autographs, with the profits made from beverage and other sales being donated to charities in the NYC area serving children.

Baseball Reference:

2000 - At the Tokyo Dome, the New York Mets defeat the Chicago Cubs in 11 innings, 5 - 1, on Benny Agbayani's pinch-hit grand slam. Rey Ordóñez commits an error in the game, ending his major league record streak of 101 consecutive errorless games at shortstop. With a swipe of second base, Rickey Henderson joins Ted Williams as the only major league players to steal a base in four different decades.

2001 - The New York Mets' #3 prospect, Brian Cole, aged 22, is killed when the SUV he is driving home to Mississippi from spring training flips over. Cole, who stole 69 bases the previous year, was voted the organization's player of the year in 2000.

Want more?  Check out https://sportspyder.com/mlb/new-york-mets/news. 

Want something else tracked here each day?  Please leave a comment below.

Tom Brennan - BASEBALL ATTENDANCE IN 2020

”HEY! WHERE IS EVERYBODY?”

The Mets are used to drawing 2.5 million fans annually.

But now the Corona virus has arrived and set everything topsy turvy.

All you hear about in NY is people getting sick by the tens of thousands, dying, sheltering in place, and social distancing.  

Living in Suffolk County, I went out in my car around 5 PM yesterday - to my surprise, Sunrise Highway still seemed close to half the normal volume.

I am sure, with restaurants, theaters and gathering places closed, once rush hour passes, the roads get very, very quiet.  Mostly health care workers heading home, patients heading to hospitals or testing sites.

It is hard for me to believe that the NY metro area will get its arms around this until June the earliest, in terms of life returning to any semblance of normalcy here.

The virus is likely still to be with us this summer, even if tamped down.

Baseball, like lots of businesses, is all about revenues, and revenues have to be destroyed no matter what for 2020.

Alternatives:

1) Season could be cancelled.

2) Season eventually starts, but with lots of social distancing.

3) Season returns to normal sometime in the summer.

#1 seems like a real possibility - but if the virus returns in 2021, what do you do?  Kill 2 seasons in a row?

#3 seems unlikely - but I am not an epidemiologist.  If this thing could spread so much in the space of 4 weeks in the U.S., I am puzzled as to how it suddenly becomes perfectly hunky dory to sit shoulder to shoulder with 35,000 fans.

#2 might be most likely - which could mean playing games with a maximum of 5,000 to 10,000 fans per game, to keep distance.

Perhaps there is a #4 - play games with no fans in the stands.  Simplify things. TV revenues would have to carry the day.

Back in 1979, the Mets officially drew just 788,905 fans (source: Baseball Almanac), a far cry from recent years.  But those 1981 attendance numbers will almost undoubtedly not be reached in 2020.

New and perilous times.  Box seat tix?  Nah.  I’ll watch on TV, thanks.

Mack – A Draft Editorial

I am known as that draft guy on this site. Every year, I feature posts on Sunday about high school and college highlights and I offer up bio’s on certain top prospects that the Mets might get their hands on in the draft.

Lack of readership show they have a limited appeal, but I still offer them up because, one, it is an area that no other writer here covers, and two, I love doing it.

I threaten every year of not doing it again, but, like Al Pacino, it keeps drawing me back.

On Friday, I woke up that my favorite subject has become the talk of the industry. Reese Kaplan blogged earlier this week the details of this new agreement that the league and player’s association have agreed to, but they still make no sense to me.

Five rounds in the draft?

Really?  REALLY?

This couldn't be happening at a worst time in the history of the draft. There is more talent depth in this draft than 150 players.

The coronavirus (there really is a word for this now and spellcheck doesn’t kick in when you write this word… amazing) has made many of us, or people we know, sick.

The lack of baseball being played right now adds to this sickness. And the loss of maybe 1000 draft prospects being denied a chance to play organized ball just sets me over the top.

And what happens after five rounds? Do teams take all their scouts and front office personnel and put them on a phone ready to instantly call an undrafted person the micro-second the last pick is made in the draft?

In a morose sense, this could turn the rest into a "first come, first serve" availability like the International draft is each year.

You know we won't win at this. The Yankees will eat this up.

And another question. If there are only 5 picks per team, how many do the Astros get?

Is this baseball’s equivalent to running to the toilet paper isle when your local store opens?

I am not sure how I am going to handle this on the blog this season. My hopes remain that all of baseball takes a 1-year push here. The stars would align so much easier this way.

For now, I will sit back and concentrate on my family during this mess; however, I will post a Sunday 8 AM weekly post on my thoughts and research on the next draft, whenever that will be and whatever form it will take.

I invite your readership.

Mack