September 22, 2008

Home games: every Shea game counts for Mets

NewYorkology contributor Scott Ross keeps you abreast of upcoming Mets and Yankees home games in New York City. Jack Donaghy convinced Ross to join the GE family in the summer of 2008. Here’s your look at major league baseball in New York City this week:

Most Mets fans would agree that the demise of Shea is a matter that evokes little in the way of nostalgia. This is not to say that the park hasn’t seen its share of great players and teams, but the most significant event in the park’s 44-year history was the Beatles concert in 1965. The stadium is a charmless concrete ashtray at the end of an airport runway. As long as Mr. Met and the top hat make the trip, whatever the new Citi Field offers is sure to be an epic improvement.

So while Yankee fans mourn the 2008 season and The House That Ruth Built, the Mets will try to keep the lights on at Shea deep into October while looking forward to their new home.

Rather than beating up on the weak sisters of the NL East last week to pad their lead over the Phillies, the Mets lost four of seven to the Braves and Nationals and now sit one game out of first.

Lucky for the Mets, the Milwaukee Brewers are in the midst of a tailspin reminiscent of the 2007 Mets, having lost 15 of their last 20 games. Things are so bad that Milwaukee fired manager Ned Yost on Sept. 15, a late-season dismissal with no precedent. With a week left in the season, the Brew Crew sits 1 ½ behind the Mets in the wild card race.

But luck is a fickle mistress. The Mets must battle the NL’s best team, the lovable Cubbies, and the league’s hottest team, the Florida Marlins. Tuesday’s match up is easily the best of the week with Rich Harden — a wildly talented if maddeningly fragile young man — going against Johan Santana, who is also slated to pitch the season finale. But every game is crucial, so get out to Shea to watch them try to exorcise last year’s demons.

And while the Mets fight for their playoff lives, consider how different things might have been if ownership had had the guts to sign Barry Bonds? As John Brittain of The Hardball Times notes, when one considers the known “abusers of women, statutory rapists, racists, steroid users, alcoholics, drug addicts, felons, men who threaten their own children with death, etc.” who have found work in the Major Leagues, it’s shocking that no one signed him. Bonds, who had the sixth-best OPS in the NL last year, was willing to work for the league minimum, $390,000. But the Mets, who managed to look past Guillermo Mota’s proven steroid use, were scared off by the suspicion of Bonds’ steroid use.

Chicago Cubs at New York Mets
Monday @ 7:10 p.m., Jason Marquis (10-9) vs. Jonathon Niese (1-0), rally towel night
Tuesday @ 7:10, Rich Harden (10-2) vs. Johan Santana (14-7)
Wednesday @ 7:10, Carlos Zambrano (14-6) vs. Oliver Perez (10-7)
Thursday @ 7:10, Ted Lily (16-9) vs. Pedro Martinez (5-6)

Florida Marlins at New York Mets
Friday @ 7:10, Chris Volstad (5-3) vs. Mike Pelfry (13-10), pennant night
Saturday @ 1:10, Ricky Nolasco (15-7) vs. Jonathon Niese (1-0)
Sunday @ 1:10, Scott Olsen (8-10) vs. Johan Santana (14-7), Shea Goodbye ticket and lanyard

Next Week: The Yankees will be on the outside looking in on the playoffs for the first time since 1994, while the Mets hope to play host to the Dodgers or head off to Chicago to play the Cubbies. We’ll see.

Tickets to Mets games can be purchased here, while directions for getting to and around the stadium are also available. Rocks Off Concert Cruises and Seastreak provides ferry service to some games.

Image source: Sports Images New York Mets 5 Pack of MLB Birthday Cards: Mets Birthday Card Big Apple Hope your Birthday’s a Home Run

September 22, 2008 11:19 AM in Kids, Out of Manhattan, Sports

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