Bleacher Report - Articles by Mark Handelman

The 2009 Mets Put the Champagne on Ice (Again)

Mark Handelman — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 08:26:54 -0400

So we are past the All-Star Break, and while there are still a lot of games to be played, it's starting to become apparent that the team you have rooted hard for is not all they are cracked up to be.

Maybe you busted out your football jersey a little early this year, or took up a new hobby in the summertime.

Most fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates or San Diego Padres understood this back in April. Otherwise, you are probably a New York Mets fan who did not expect to spend the summer of 2009 dreading most games.

When the season started, most pundits (rightfully) picked the Mets to have the best bullpen in the National League, along with high rankings in just about every other category.

David Wright, Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran were expected to anchor the offense, and Jose Reyes was supposed to be a solid and disruptive force at the top of the order. John Maine and Oliver Perez were supposed to be solid starting pitchers behind ace Johan Santana, and the tandem of JJ Putz and Francisco Rodriguez were supposed to turn the season into 162 seven-inning games.

One look at the standings will paint a much different picture.

After tonight’s beating in Atlanta, the Mets are 43-48, "good" for fourth place in the National League East and nine games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

Many of those names mentioned above are missing in action. Combined with David Wright's meager home run total (five), and the inconsistent play of backup players filling in for the patients of Citi Field, the Mets surefire contention for the playoffs has turned from very possible to very mortifying.

With injuries to the team's best source of power (Delgado), five-tool player (Beltran), speed (Reyes), setup man (Putz), and two-fifths of their rotation (Maine and Perez), the Mets have turned into a skeleton crew incapable of matching the Phillies' balanced threat.

For some fans, this unexpected reality may be starting to sink in.

All the hype and all the certainty from spring training has blown by the wayside, and the inherent flaws in the way of the 2009 Mets were built, have been exposed.

Could anyone have rightfully expected Oliver Perez to suddenly stop walking batters this season? Or for Jose Reyes' legs to remain invulnerable?

As a fan, are you supposed to have the urge to walk away from the TV, unless you have a stronger urge to throw something at the TV? Do you tend to talk more negatively about your favorite team amongst fellow fans and (even worse) fans of rival teams? Are you like me and have shirts or hats of other teams that you begin to wear a little more than you used to? Don’t you feel the least bit ashamed of yourself?

Most fans, rather than feel ashamed of themselves for perhaps turning against their team in some fashion, feel ashamed of the people who assembled the team that, in turn, let them down.

That’s not to say that most fans feel they could play or manage better than the people paid to do those tasks, though many in the blogosphere may feel differently. But you have to believe that some of the fans who felt Delgado’s previous hip instability, or Putz’ elbow troubles last season would not go away, feel a little more validated now than they did during spring training.

Manager Jerry Manuel might be a little more “gangsta” than his predecessor Willie Randolph, but the same sort of laid-back, "we’ll work on it" and "we'll get 'em next time" mentality still exists in Manuel.

Owner Fred Wilpon, in contrast to George Steinbrenner in his prime, is a hands-off owner content with leaving his general manager most of the power. One has to wonder how much longer this arrangement will last. Two consecutive late-season collapses, followed by a poor showing this season should at least cause some damage to the existing power structure with the Mets.

Besides anyone affiliated with the team's medical staff and hitting coach Howard Johnson may be an unfortunate, but necessary casualty.

While the Mets are third in the league in batting average after Saturday’s game (.267), which is probably more indicative of problems in the entire National League, they are also last in home runs (52), second-to-last in total bases (1,168) and slugging percentage (.386). But the Mets are also third in on base percentage (.343), which is somewhat peculiar until you discover that they are 12th in runs batted in.

So while batters find a way to get on base, they usually end up getting stranded there.

This makes the Mets passing over current Texas Rangers hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo look even worse, when Jaramillo’s Rangers contract expired after the 2007 season. Jaramillo, widely considered the best hitting coach in the majors, even consults with other hitters to fix their mechanics.

Instead of hiring a proven and successful coach from outside the organization, GM Omar Minaya at the time passed on him because Jaramillo previously interviewed for the managerial role that became Randolph's.

Minaya did not want to seemingly have his manager on high alert the entire year, with the team's No. 2 option ready to take over at a moment's notice. Instead, then-bench coach Jerry Manuel was named manager after Randolph's unemployment vacation out West. Rather than instill a manager with new vision and values, more of the same organizational philosophy took hold of the Mets.

The results are well-known and have led to this point.

With the trade deadline at the end of next week, it may already be too late for the Mets to make any sort of last-minute push to win a playoff spot. They may even end up being sellers, with Gary Sheffield surprisingly a possible option to help a team in need of power and veteran leadership. Bullpen arms like Pedro Feliciano and Bobby Parnell are improvements in most bullpens, and Minaya might have to listen to offers that include good young talent to restock the horrendously compiled minor league system.

With the opening of a brand new ballpark and the arrival of an elite closer, the Mets had reasons to brag and even expect a contentious, if not completely guaranteed, battle for a playoff spot this season. But an otherwise-flawed game plan is keeping that 2007 bottle of champagne on ice for another year.

Mets fans everywhere, some already used to the pain and others duped the spin zone emanating from Citi Field, will have to turn somewhere for August excitement, let alone October.

MLB Network Provides Required Viewing, Hopefully Not Required Trashing, For Fans

Mark Handelman — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:16:51 -0500

The timing for the debut of the MLB Network could not have been any stranger. With no meaningful baseball to be played for a few more months, coupled with a struggling economy where people and businesses are scaling back, the debut of the "official network of Major League Baseball" sure is curious.

At the same time, a dedicated showcase to the sport that has acted as a distraction from real-world troubles (The Great Depression and the events of 9/11, to name a few) may be just what we need right now.

Launching on New Year's Day, MLB Network pulled out all the stops in grabbing for the attention of baseball fans nationwide. With one highly-digital studio for discussion and analysis, and a larger set with a baseball stadium theme for demonstrations and studio audiences, and a group of experienced broadcasters, insiders, and former players, this was no local access cable show. With a multitude of displays and cameras in every ballpark, just imagine the amount of information being presented at any given time.

And no, there will be no break for basketball scores or the latest scandal to hit women's synchronized swimming.

One other area that gives the MLB Network instant credibility is their programming. The depth of programs and documentaries produced by MLB Productions, on top of the footage that MLB already owns, could provide viewers with new programming year-round. Along with productions such as the Ken Burns documentary Baseball, features on past World Series, the history of the Negro Leagues, and memorable seasons over the years, all areas and eras of the game are represented.

Until the start of play, it will be hard to actually see how the MLB Network will come together. By looking at the mistakes (buzzwords and catchphrases, Scooter, and Joe Buck, to name a few) and innovations (viewer interaction, detailed strike zones) made by other networks, the new-kid-on-the-block should have a clear idea of where they should go and what to avoid.

And other than former players like Harold Reynolds, Al Leiter, and Mitch Williams, the cast of anchors are fairly unknown to national baseball viewers. Do they have what it takes to shine under the larger microscope of national television?

Along with the full weight of financial backing from Major League Baseball and cable partners and a starting subscriber base of over 50 million households, the high-profile launch of MLB Network has started off on the right foot. Time will tell—namely, the start of the baseball season, whether it will be a trend-setter or a follower.

A Game Immortalized: The National Baseball Hall Of Fame and Museum

Mark Handelman — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:13:36 -0500

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum sits in the middle of Cooperstown, a cozy town in the middle of New York State. Being so far removed from civilization (sorry, upstate New Yorkers) could hurt the viability and appeal of any landmark or sacred ground. But the Hall is different.

On the outside, the building doesn't look very special. While it occupies a good deal of property on Main Street, upon first inspection the exterior of the building looked a little underwhelming.

The charm of Cooperstown, I suppose, is that it is a bit sleepy. If you're constantly looking for something to do, this may not be the trip for you. But, if you want to take a break from the usual fast-pace life and take in some beautiful sights, I recommend you plan a trip to Cooperstown. Upstate New York is beautiful this time of year, with the leaves changing color, but Cooperstown thrives on tourists. Without them, it feels like there is something missing during your stay. Therefore, it might be best to visit in the spring or summer. You'll have to deal with bigger crowds and less parking, on the other hand.

One of the first things you see after purchasing your ticket and entering the Hall is a life-sized bronze statue of Negro League great and former Major League Baseball manager Buck O'Neil. Behind him is a beautiful display of pictures and quotes referring to O'Neil's character and leadership skills. While he isn't the most famous player in the Hall, this display might be one of the most memorable you will see during your visit.

Obviously, the big attraction are the many plaques in honor of those enshrined by the Hall. These are sorted by year, and a directory near the entrance guides fans towards the player they are looking for.

The spacious, marble-covered architecture of the wing can leave you breathless upon entering. As a younger fan, I don't know many of these names, but I can appreciate what they accomplished during their time. These players all helped shape the game of baseball for today's players, and that alone should demand respect.

While studying the plaques, I overheard an older man describing some of the players and memories they invoked to what looked to be his adult daughter. As a reflex, I felt like making fun of the man (in my head, of course); however, I soon realized that dialogues similar to the one he had with his daughter were probably typical for many visitors to the Hall. As someone who enjoys listening to his grandfather describe the players and teams of his era, it would have been hypocritical to scoff at this man.

Younger visitors or more casual baseball fans may not feel a strong attachment to the older exhibits, so many of them will want to spend much of their time in the "Today's Game" exhibit, located on the second floor.

Each major league team is represented with lockers displaying various historical elements from each team's games over the past ten years. This part is slightly underwhelming, however the more interesting displays commemorating various league-wide milestones are located across from this section. You will be able to pick out plenty of today's stars, along with a good share of players that will leave you wondering what happened to them.

The Grandstand Theater, also located on the second floor, is host to a short feature called "The Baseball Experience," a video presentation about baseball. The film uses clips from games, as well as from famous baseball movies, to convey the all-around power and beauty of baseball. The theater is outfitted with replica ballpark seating, and is painted and designed to replicate an old-time ballpark.

No matter where you are in the building, you're constantly looking at something historical. Each item or display has a plate or card describing the origin or significance of the item. Other exhibits, such as the Negro Leagues display, or the section dedicated to Babe Ruth (the only player to have his own section), are literally covered in history, with detailed history surrounding the subject. They are all well worth reading.

While this may come with a touch of arrogance, I do think that one cannot be a baseball fan until they visit the Hall of Fame. Many fans my age enjoy a unique closeness to today's game of baseball, thanks to increasing media access and the added glamor of the sport and its players, but the sights and sounds of the National Baseball Hall of Fame bring younger fans closer to a more innocent and fan-friendlier era of baseball.

No matter where you are coming from, it is worth the visit. You will leave with an increased knowledge and respect of the game.

Caught With Another Hat On: "Baby, It's Not What You Think!"

Mark Handelman — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:27:37 -0400

For some baseball fans, supporting one's team is a year-round effort. Despite the cries and scoffs of the fashion police, it's not strange to see fans wearing baseball gear in January.

It's doubtful that any of Major League Baseball's apparel partners (New Era, Majestic, and Nike, to name a few) are in danger of closing anytime soon. Most baseball fans probably spend a good amount of money on team apparel over their natural lives.

By no means do I stand out from other New York Mets fans. I own the jerseys, the shirts, the hats. If you were to ask my friends to name one quality about me, being a Mets fan would probably be one of the more common ones (and no, I am not desperate or predictable enough to joke around that the other qualities are smart, sexy, generous, and funny. There's no joking around when it comes to the truth).

But what happens when one discovers the world of baseball around them? Let me put it in less romantic terms: What happens when you also support another team?

I happen to be a Mets fan who subscribes to the philosophy that Mets fans cannot root for the Yankees. You can't be "for the city." It's one or the other, and you are damned to an eternity of taunting from the other side. There's a rivalry there, no matter what your opinion is on the idea of inter-league play. If I were to wear a Yankees hat, people would be affected.

My first non-Mets piece of fan apparel was an Arizona Diamondbacks hat, shortly after they beat the Yankees in the 2001 World Series. I'll be honest and admit that this was mostly to get a reaction out of Yankees fans around me.

However, during that World Series, I also grew an appreciation for the Diamondbacks. They were a team of hard-nosed players and were still relatively new in the Major Leagues. Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson were gritty and dominating, and any baseball fan had to respect that. I was sold.

I only wore that hat a few times. Part of the problem was that the hat was purple (now they're a much cooler-looking red, and I wish I had that hat). But the bigger problem is, do the Diamondbacks take precedence over my main team, the Mets? I knew the answer was "no" before I even asked. So at what point does wearing the hat become unreasonable?

Similarly, I also purchased an Oakland Athletics cap. This is a little easier to admit to, since I remember the team from my childhood. I liked the elephant they used as a logo and their team colors. I remember watching the 1989 World Series on television when the earthquake happened.

But at the time, the A's and the Yankees always seemed destined to play each other in the playoffs. And I could not avoid that fact. However, much like the Diamondbacks hat, I barely wore my A's hat.

Was I afraid of an actual fan attempting to commiserate with me on A's history, or information I was nowhere near qualified to know about the team? The few times I wore it, I did enjoy the puzzled looks I received from Yankee fans. Even though their team won every series against the Athletics.

Now I know what you're thinking. "This guy's a front-runner! He probably likes the Red Sox too!" And I do, even though I don't own a hat (Josh Beckett jersey shirt, though). But facing the Yankees isn't the only vain reason I have for liking a team.

Fantasy baseball has turned baseball into a year-round activity for me. I have discovered more teams, more players and a better understanding of the game as a result. And at the end of May, my last-place team discovered Ryan Braun.

Since his call-up by the Milwaukee Brewers on May 24, Braun tore up baseball and became a sensation. I was lucky enough to pick him up shortly after he arrived, and he provided a great deal of help for my team.

As a result of following Braun's daily activities, I grew an appreciation for some of the other Brewer players. Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, and Corey Hart completed a group that, for me, couldn't be beat. And in order for my fantasy teams to succeed, the Brewers had to succeed too.

So, at that point, I became a "fan." Do I use the quotation marks? I obviously wasn't born in or near Wisconsin, nor did I know anyone affiliated with the team. But when the Brewers did well, so did I. It was the same with my Mets, of course, with the Mets affecting me on a deeper level than an imaginary trophy.

I was probably one of the first people in New Jersey to own a Ryan Braun jersey shirt when Majestic first released them. Unlike my affairs with the Diamondbacks and Athletics, I wore my Braun shirt a lot.

People noticed, and I gladly informed them of my fantasy baseball battle. People got a kick out of it, though they also probably considered me a lifeless nerd for thinking about a world of baseball outside of the New York area. Or by thinking about baseball at all.

I also recently purchased a Brewers hat. This process took some time, because I was very picky with choosing a hat. In my area, the retro logo is the only hat stores will carry. But it's not a logo I care for. This is 2008.

Whenever I came close to purchasing a hat with the current logo on it, I balked at the price. And I don't just mean financially. I started to wonder about my allegiances. Am I cheating on the Mets with yet another younger, sexier, newer, more exotic team?

Last week, I finally broke down and purchased the hat. It was a compromise. It's a slightly-lighter blue, with the new logo on the front, old logo placed askew on the back, and "BREWERS" stitched over yellow underneath the bill of the hat. The tags are still on it, not because I come from the mean streets of suburban North New Jersey, but because of the timing.

The Brewers are no longer in the playoffs, bested (or thrashed) by the Phillies. But the Brewers also won the Wild Card spot, one which the Mets were vying for. This can be a big deal to some Mets fans. Would I give off the wrong impression by wearing this hat? Will people think I enjoyed the Brewers making the playoffs over (but not beating) the Mets?

I eventually would like to see the Brewers in person, preferably in their own ballpark. There's no way I could see them at Shea, however. Maybe when they visit the Phillies again next year. I've gone in and out of their ballpark in Mets gear without so much as a bead of spit on me, so their fans are no problem.

What if I wore my new Brewers hat with a Mets jersey? Or my Braun shirt with a dark Mets hat? Would people understand that I just happen to like two teams?

I have not yet worked out an answer to these questions. The Mets being my favorite team, my main squeeze, will never change (that losing-on-the-last-day thing, hopefully, is another story). However, she'll have to get used to seeing someone else's lipstick on my collar from time-to-time.

Three Weeks Later: The New York Mets Are Still Out of the Playoffs

Mark Handelman — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:49:30 -0400

The weekend of Sept. 29 was one New York-area baseball fans will forget.

The Yankees, New York's (and, seemingly, the rest of the nation's) darlings of baseball had been out of the A.L. playoff race for some time.

Tears flowed on Wall Street, long before the current peak of our nation's economic crisis. Beautiful women often found in some form of Yankees gear stopped wearing them—and looked even better. Newspaper sales declined, as the Yankees no longer dominated the majority of headlines in the back of the city's tabloids.

New York's "other" team—and that "other" tag will eventually wear off—again played meaningful baseball late into September. Unlike last year's inexplicable collapse, the Mets spread out their bouts of might and mediocrity across much of the season, making the end of this season slightly more dramatic.

There was no commanding lead to squander this late in the season, as the Mets somehow kept up in a tight race with the Phillies and Marlins in the N.L. East.

Heading into that final weekend, the Marlins resigned themselves to another fruitless offseason (we'll get to that in a bit), while the Brewers filled their place as postseason hopefuls. The other N.L. playoff races were decided, leaving the Mets, Phillies, and Brewers fighting for two playoff spots.

All three teams had comparable schedules with potential challenges and potential cakewalks. The last two weeks of games for the Mets had them playing the Nationals, Braves, Cubs, and Marlins. The Phillies were set against the Brewers, Braves, Marlins, and Nationals. And the Brewers saw the Phillies, Cubs, Reds, and Pirates. I won't go over everything that happened over that weekend, so I'll just sum it up with numbers.

The Mets went 6-9 over that stretch; the Brewers 7-6; and the Phillies 11-3.

In a close race, the Mets did an excellent job of killing their own momentum and allowing the ghosts of last season to carry over into Citi Field.

Much of the blame was put on the inept bullpen, where each pitcher basically put on a performance of Jekyll and Hyde every night. After Billy Wagner decided he had enough of blowing games while in pain, it was time for everyone else to step it up. They didn't.

Aaron Heilman pitched more like he did during his ill-fated starting gig a few years back. Scott Schoenweis was very mixed. And any time the Mets' broadcasters would tout Joe Smith or Pedro Feliciano and their stats with inherited runners, rest assured a run or two would score. Luis Ayala, acquired from the Nationals in an attempt to stabilize the bullpen, never found a rhythm.

How bad was the bullpen, you might ask? Thanks to the people at Stat Fox, they've taken care of digesting the awful news for Mets fans. A team that only saves 60 percent of its opportunities doesn't belong in the playoffs.

The team offense weren't exactly victims at every loss because of the bullpen, either. According to the same site, they left an average of seven runners on base per game, batted .266, and struck out six times per game. While no one expects perfect numbers, these aren't so desirable for a team expected to win (and pays to do so).

Let's look at that Sept. 29 game, the last of the regular season. It was against the same Marlins, who, one year prior, made Tom Glavine pack all the gifts from his 300th win into a U-HAUL truck back to Atlanta (or two or three).

A few things weighed in the Mets' favor. First was the absence of the Marlins' star shortstop, Hanley Ramirez. That takes a good chunk of the team offense out right at the start. Secondly, Scott Olsen was set to pitch. The Mets have had no problem throwing him around in games past.

Finally: They were facing the Marlins. While 2007 still hangs over everyone's heads, and the fact the Marlins cake-walked over the Mets, you're still dealing with one of the worst teams in the league with nothing to play for.

Of course, no one told the Marlins this was a meaningless game for them. All they had to do was look across the field into the home dugout. For whatever reason, the Mets spent the season ticking off other teams. The Phillies became the Mets' top rivals, with the Braves falling into obscurity and Jeff Francouer's black-hole-like batting average. And the Marlins, for whatever reason, felt they had every reason to hate the Mets.

In other words, the Marlins had something to play for. Something the Mets should have had to play for as well: pride.

While Final Game 2008 was no blowout like the previous year, the Mets wasted opportunities, again, in the one game they could not afford to. A team synonymous with leaving runners on base (eight during the game) held to old habits. Oddly enough, the Marlins left 16 runners on base. Draw your own conclusions from that.

An underachieving team in a major market can leave its fans feeling like members of a cult: Loyal to the cause and used to bad news, while outsiders either are clueless to the allure or ready to rip you to shreds over your allegiance.

Returning to work and school the next day probably felt like a chore to Mets fans, as it usually does for a fan of a team that lost a big game the night before. Erring on the side of caution, "car trouble" did in fact keep me home that day. Countless news stories, headlines, and bloggers (hello!) recapping and dissecting the game's points would eventually ring hollow over time. Late-night talk shows or radio shows in the New York area should have been avoided at all costs.

Whether your season ended in July or September, the offseason is a long, empty space where you can hear the joyous screams of winning teams in the next room. But when you also hear your girlfriend screaming in that room with them after spending much of the year with you—well, that just hurts.

Captivating Baseball On The Throes Of Elimination: ALCS Game Five

Mark Handelman — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:31:46 -0400

"Boo-hoo, my team is out."

The fans of 27 other baseball teams have now said that (or a variation of) phrase at some point this season. For me, it was on September 28, when the Mets hit the proverbial 'snooze' button and choked their way out of the playoffs on the last day of the season yet again.

But for my first article at Bleacher Report, I will abstain from the streaming of complaints and the I-would-have-done-different-lies.

If you consider yourself a fan of at least one MLB team, that's a great start to what I am about to write. If you tune away from the sport when your team does the same, I guess you'll not care much when you hear other people or broadcasters go on about tonight's Tampa Bay Rays/Boston Red Sox game. If you fall into the latter category, then you missed a great game that only religious deities (or all-powerful television executives) could have scripted.

Facing elimination in tonight's ALCS Game Five (and knowing Boston, the bottom of many alcoholic drink bottles), the Red Sox quickly fell into a 2-0 hole. The Rays pretty much played better baseball throughout much of the night, at one point building a 7-0 lead and looking nothing like the (Devil) Rays of old.

The Sox finally scored their first run in the seventh inning, and rather than greet their team with a mocking roar, Boston fans came back from the exits and cheered their team on. David Ortiz then lived up to his nickname (and it would be a terrible, predictable trick if I dropped that name here) and belted a three-run home run down the right-field line, netting four runs for the Sox and putting them back in the game.

The Rays bullpen, a group which much of America is discovering as a force to be reckoned with, was given seven runs to play with. Even after the home run by Ortiz, you still have to like the Rays' chances here.

But as it has been proved in many upset games in sports over the years, seven runs were not enough to stave off a hungry, professional, and dare I say it, entitled team like the Red Sox.

J.D. Drew, now in a lineup sans-Manny Ramirez and without the reliable performance of Ortiz, hit a two-run shot to pull the Sox up to 7-6. Mark Kotsay and Coco Crisp (again, no cheap jokes with names) tag-teamed and notched the Sox even in the eighth inning.

Poor Evan Longoria. The new poster-boy for the all-American, young, talented, five-tool third baseman finally performed closer to his mortal peers when he threw high to first on a two-out Kevin Youkilis grounder.

Buy two, get one free.

That's what Drew did, after he drove in Youkilis with the winning run to finish the comeback and keep Boston's bars a little more jolly tonight.

What was played out in Fenway Park and on our television sets on this night was baseball magic. Fans of perennially-losing teams know what it's like to be down seven runs, or to not even have a chance to mount an offense.

But the Red Sox, shorn of their underdog prestige and full of an entitlement to win (along with the talent to do just that), pulled off what usually falls victim to an ill-timed strikeout, or being jammed inside, or yet another throwing error.

They staged a rally.

They staged a story.

They staged one more game.