Mets Join GOYA for Hispanic Heritage Night

The Mets have announced they will be joining forces with GOYA to host Hispanic Heritage Night at Citi Field this
Thursday, September 1. According to the press release, there will be entertainment in the form of music and salsa dancers. The players will be wearing their blue Los Mets jerseys again for this event.

Here is the list of entertainment you can expect from the Mets press release:

The night’s festivities will feature New York salsa band “La Evidencia” performing on Mets Plaza before the game with the Kips Bay dancers of the Boys & Girls Club. An authentic Mariachi band will perform at the top of the Jackie Robinson Rotunda [before the game].

Fans will be entertained by a pre-game on-field performance by The Goya All-Star Dancers, a team of professional salsa dancers including Ismael Otero, Eleanee Jimenez, Cesar Carrasco, Ron Prokopez, Omar Ayala, Miriam Arenas, Franck Muhel, Tina Torres, Carlos Borges and choreographed and lead by MC Joey Corsica.

Mets Injury Report: Reyes and Davis

So thank you to Hurricane Irene for giving me a three day weekend. Much appreciated even if that meant no Mets games. At least it gave me peace for some time.

We are the start of a new week and a continued series between the Mets and Marlins today. You will see a wonderful sight on the field during Game 2 which will be Jose Reyes. He will be activated to play in tonight’s game. Let’s see how Terry Collins will handle Reyes for the duration of the season.

A decision for surgery on the ankle of Ike Davis will be made by Friday.

http://twitter.com/#!/SI_JonHeyman/status/108213456469098496

The Mets are hoping to avoid surgery. However, should surgery be required, the Mets will have it done immediately. Makes sense considering we would like Davis back and in 100 percent health by the time Spring Training 2012 rolls around.

RA Dickey will take the mound in Game 1 followed by Dillon Gee in Game 2. We can thank Hurricane Irene for giving the players some extra rest. The pitchers certainly need it, especially since they lost Jon Niese to a strained right oblique last week Wednesday.

Those are your injury updates. Let’s Go Mets!

Launch of “The 5 Tool Show” featuring two Mets bloggers

Tonight was the launch of “The 5 Tool Show” featuring myself and Kerel Cooper from On The Black as the hosts. I would like to thank those of you who listened to the show live like Neil Botman.

In case you were not aware, it is not just a Mets baseball podcast. We decided to do an all baseball show. It is being done with the attitude and knowledge you have come to expect from the both of us.

I have been a guest on his video blogs twice and thought it would be great if we did a podcast together. You all left us great feedback on how well we do together.

The  topics discussed were Mike Pelfrey’s comments about the Mets, preventing injuries to Jose Reyes, Carlos Zambrano and the danger he poses, AJ Burnett, A-Rod’s gambling and so much more.

Click here to listen to the show.

Mets Uniforms To Get Updates

Mets fans you have been wanting this for a long time and you are going to get it. The Mets uniforms are going to get a little bit of a new, or rather old?, look next year and in 2013. As if the uniforms have not gone through extensive evolution already. Let’s add some more.

According to Dave Howard, executive VP for business operations, the blue jersey’s that most Mets fans went crazy over will make their way into the extensive Mets jersey collection the team will wear in 2013. It could also be used sporadically throughout the 2012 season. Even the Mets players, like David Wright, have said they would prefer the blue jersey to the black one.

Now, as for 2012, the Mets are going to be unveiling a new uniform to commemorate the Mets 50th anniversary celebration. Howard told Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, those uniforms will be resembling the 1962 uniforms. It makes sense since they are being made for the 50th anniversary. You can check out pictures of both away and home uniforms on Metsblog.

Carter and Reyes Not Ready, But Johan Is

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Let’s just get the bad news over with. I would rather have
someone tell me bad news first and end things on a good note.

So the bad news is Gary Carter is not ready for the next round of chemotherapy which, according to reports, is the strongest round. His daughter stated on the family website Carter’s white blood cell count is too low. So he will just be resting for right now until Monday when he has another appointment.

These things are always hard to hear. Yet it is not like the tumors have grown again. So, just like the family, you just have to pray his white blood cell count gets higher.

Second piece of bad news is regarding Jose Reyes. He is no better than he was when he went down on the DL. It does not look like he will be able to be reactivated on August 23rd. Reyes has not done any working out and is not even scheduled to start baseball activities. Look for a September return. Terry Collins is more optimistic feeling Reyes will begin working out soon.

Now that you are as depressed as I am, here is the good news:

http://twitter.com/#!/SI_JonHeyman/status/103107178340167680

There is your good news for the day. Santana is hoping to still make a return to the majors this year. Personally, I feel he should just shut it down and focus on next year. He is no good to us now.

Silence on Pelfrey’s Comments Broken

You can thank the New York Post for once again making the Mets look ridiculous. I’m sure you have all heard about Pelfrey’s comments regarding the team’s chances going into this season. Here is the direct quote:

It’s unrealistic for anybody at the end of last year to come in and say, ‘The Mets, this is a one-year thing, next year we’re going to win it all’.

Now, you really cannot blame him for what he said. You all were thinking the same thing. Right or wrong? You can say “I believe” all you want, but you were right there thinking, “We haven’t got a prayer” once you started thinking about the Philadelphia Phillies rotation and what the Atlanta Braves front office put together in the offseason.

Pelfrey was speaking the truth. It was “unrealistic” coming into the season thinking this team was going to win a World Series. Pelfrey did not say they would not make it to the playoffs. He did not say this team was not going to do anything. He only said:

It’s unrealistic for anybody at the end of last year to come in and say, ‘The Mets, this is a one-year thing, next year we’re going to win it all‘.

You all know that at this point, you would give your right arm, left arm, and your legs just to get into the playoffs again. Since 2007, Mets fans have been teased with chances to make it via the wildcard by just one game. Thank you Florida Marlins for killing those chances.

Everyone is quick to kill Pelfrey for what he said. Even I was like, “Oh hell no! His ass needs to go”. Yet after reading everything in the article, then I started thinking something else. I found myself thinking I had to defend him.

If there is one thing about the media, they will do anything to create a story. This is what happened here. Why did the Post feel the need to share that comment with another player knowing that it would probably create turmoil in the clubhouse? To make a bigger story. It is what the media does.

Fans of any sport wish the players would be more honest during interviews. Right or wrong? Yet why should they? Anything they say can be misinterpreted to make something out of nothing. I agree with Brian Costa at the Wall Street Journal when he said:

This is the kind of episode teams remind players of during media training sessions, in which they are taught, essentially, to keep their answers short and bland. And it’s the kind of thing that makes players afraid to say anything blunt or even (gasp!) entertaining.

Nobody said anything about how Pelfrey was saying the front office is heading in the right direction. There were no comments on what he said about the organization heading in the direction to make the playoffs every year.

Oh you didn’t know he said that? Well then you didn’t read the whole article.

Pelfrey was not being a negative Nellie. He was being honest. He said what most of you have been saying all year. (Do not deny it because I can pull up all of your quotes from Facebook and Twitter.) You cannot kill him for that. What you can do is kill the media for trying, or rather succeeding, to make something out of nothing.

I am not going to demand a gag order for Pelfrey. This is the one time I actually will give him a free pass. That is saying a lot since I do not give out free passes unless they are to get out of Flushing. You can expect “bland” interviews from now on. Of this you can be certain.

Oh and to the anonymous player who said, “He’s supposed to be the ace of the [bleeping] staff. Why don’t you go and win 12 or 13 games?”. I would like to know who you are and see what your numbers are. What have you done to help when he has pitched well enough to win a game? Do you pitch well enough out of the bullpen? Did you hit enough to help win? I’d like to know who you are.

Bleeding Mets Orange and Blue + Rangers Blue

Most fans of the New York Mets are fans of the New York Rangers. Well I am pleased to announce that CitiField
of Dreams and Ranger Nation have joined forces to give you all a special treat.

Jonathan Ragus, founder of Ranger Nation, has decided to give a 10 percent discount just for readers of CFoD, for these New York Ranger t-shirts.

The sizes go from Small to XXXL.

To purchase and receive the discount go to the NYRNation.net shop, pick out your size and enter the code: citifieldofdreams. So grab them while they last.

Everyone loved the jersey’s from last nights game. They were a HUGE hit. Well here is all of the information you need to get yours.

You can go to Mets.com to order them. They are only available with “Los Mets” on it. In 2009, they had it without the “Los”. You can no longer get it that way. So, if the “Los” bothers you, sucks to be you. Just sayin’!

I love the jersey as is. I would get one and put Reyes or Santana on it,  if he ever comes back. Like CFoD reader Joey put it: ” i want it if its a spanish player lol, makes sense 🙂 … Los Mets and a wright jersey lame hahaha”.

His words.

Links: Front Office Jitters, Bob Murphy Tribute, New Show, Los Mets

So here we are the end of another work week. It is FRIDAY! It is also the beginning of a crucial series for the 2011 New York Mets for they play against the current leader in the Wildcard race: Atlanta Braves. Then again, every game is a crucial game at this point in the season.

Here are some things for you to enjoy:

Andy Martino of the New York Daily News talked about the front office being nervous about the upcoming contract negotiations with Jose Reyes. I gave my own opinion on this topic in my new article for Mets360.com. Reyes will need to give the Mets a hometown discount even though Alderson has dumped payroll.

For all of you Bob Murphy fans, make sure you check out Jason Bornstein’s tribute to Murphy on his Remembering Shea blog.

As announced earlier this week on Facebook, I will be hosting an all baseball podcast with my friend, Kerel Cooper from On The Black. We have done two video blogs about the Mets on his site. The show is called “The 5 Tool Show“. It will broadcast live every Tuesday at 9pm EST/6pm PST. Check out the first test run where we talked about Reyes, Johan Santana, and Carlos Beltran.

The Mets are wearing their Los Mets jersey’s tonight. I like the all blue jersey. It is so much better than the black. I think they should stick with that as an alternate. What do you think? We’ve all heard the complaints with the black jersey’s. So I think this is the perfect opportunity to switch things up. They’ll make a lot of money.

Vamos Mets! Enjoy the weekend series against the Braves. I would be happy with a 2-3 Mets over the Braves series. You?