FOUR POINTS FLUSHING.

Four Points Flushing. The Official Hotel of the Queens Baseball Convention and The MediaGoon.com

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Game Used Jerry Blevins Jersey for sale.

 


Since the Mets signed Jerry Blevins to a minor league deal, I figured I would put this Game Used Jerry Blevins Jersey up for sale at a sale price. I got it for $250 but I want to move it. $150 shipped. I know there are some of you who are Jerry Blevins fans and you don't want to pass this up. Email me at mediagoon@gmail.com if interested. Or hit me up on twitter @mediagoon.


















Tuesday, December 29, 2020

The River Fund receives $500,000 from The Steve and Alex Cohen Foundation


 

RIVER FUND NEW YORK ANNOUNCES RECEIPT OF $500,000 GRANT FROM THE STEVEN & ALEXANDRA COHEN FOUNDATION


This is from the New York Mets “Blog” on Medium.com. It’s cool to see that they are so philanthropically.

FLUSHING, N.Y., December 28, 2020 — The RIVER FUND New York has announced the receipt of a $500,000 donation from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation presented as a gift in honor of the their new Mets family as well as re-launch of the Mets Foundation and their ties to the Queens community.

The RIVER FUND New York’s mission is “to feed and empower those we serve to move beyond the lines of poverty.” This organization supported over 15,000 working poor families from all five boroughs prior to 2020. As a result of the pandemic and the economic crisis for so many, the number of families in need grew to 33,000 by Thanksgiving of 2020.

This donation by the Cohen Foundation will help the charity navigate through the next three to four months and will enable them to continue feeding more than 33,000 families. The charitable effort will provide for the cost of warehousing, trucking, purchasing and packaging of food to help feed the area’s most vulnerable.

“Since the inception of our family’s Foundation, we’ve worked to help so many charities and causes over the years. With so many suffering due to the pandemic, our foundation has selected The RIVER FUND New York, as they are leaders in feeding families that are the most vulnerable,” said Alex Cohen, President, Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation. “One of our main missions as the Mets Ownership group is to make a substantial impact in our communities. We are grateful to be in the position to be able to make a donation that will provide food for so many, especially during these challenging times.”

“The Cohen Foundation and Alex and Steve Cohen have embraced the RIVER FUND over the years in so many meaningful ways and have allowed our work to continue,” said Swami Durga Das, Founder and Executive Director of RIVER FUND. “In this extremely difficult and devastating year, they have supported our RIVER FUND families by helping to keep food on their tables and provide the essentials to survive this moment. Our gratitude is enormous. Thank you sincerely for your support of our neighbors in desperate need.”

“With this incredible $500,000 grant from the Cohen Foundation, RIVER FUND will continue to provide families with their weekly groceries, in sufficient volume and balance, to prepare nutritious meals every week for the next several months,” added Otto Starzmann, Chief Production Officer of RIVER FUND. “This commitment from philanthropic leaders like Alex and Steve, solidifies the Cohen Foundation’s partnership with RIVER FUND in addressing the constantly increasing demand for food in our City’s poverty arena.”

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation and the Mets Foundation both have long standing relationships with The RIVER FUND New York. Since 2015, both foundations have combined to donate more than $335,000 to help the Queens organization fight poverty. That financial support went towards this year’s Thanksgiving Program which delivered 6,000 turkeys to families. Additionally, the Cohen Foundation drove in-kind donations toward the organization’s annual Christmas Toy Giveaway Program. That endeavor delivered more than 5,000 toys to children who otherwise would not have received a present.

Monday, December 28, 2020

Old Grouch with another email to the Mets about "No Alcohol" Sections.

 

Here is an email to the Mets from Old Grouch. Believe it or not Old Grouch is not Shannon Shark of Metspolice.com but a fan of our blogs.

Hello Mets employees,

I think you should have a no alcohol section at Citi field. You had one at Shea. It was a very pleasant place to sit. There were no screaming beer vendors and no sloppy drunks. A bad drunk can ruin the game for a lot of people. Nobody wants their kids around a sloppy drunk.

In 2009 I had two 15 game plans, but I also bought tickets on Stubhub. I went to a lot of games that year. One Sunday day game I bought 5 tickets from Stubhub in a low row in section 524. The guy sitting behind us threw up on us. Mainly on me. When we turned around we saw a guy in a drunken stupor. This was the third inning of a Sunday day game. We always try to be nice people so we did not say much to the guy. He was really out of it. The five of us went down to customer service after I asked where it was. I had puke in my hair and on my shirt and we could not stay. The woman at the rotunda customer service did not want to give us tickets to another game but she relented and agreed to after I said look at me, are you kidding me. She was in her mid to late 50's and Irish looking. She was not very friendly. I told her you had an alcohol compliance security guard behind my section, how could he miss this guy? This incident should be verifiable in your records. My brother was also with me. Somebody there probably knows him. You can ask him. He has bought blocks of tickets for transportation agency workers at Citi and huge blocks of tickets for transportation agency workers at Cyclones games. 

My tickets for another game arrive and I get upset. They are in 536 near the top. I call the lady up and complain. She to told me to mail them back. I did and 5 nice tickets in a low row in 515 arrived. We were happy. Can't make a long story short at this point, but this is why you need a no alcohol section.

In April 2012 I was upgrading my seats in my ticket plan. Mike P. told me to come to the office and bring my tickets. He would give me the new ones. The season was a couple of weeks old. Mike told me what parking lot to park in. When I arrived the parking security guard acted like I was an intruder. Then when I arrived in the building the security guard there was a gruff jerk. Telling both of them I had an appointment with Mike Parsons seemed to mean nothing. When Mike arrived I tell him his security guards need retraining, that they were not friendly. Mike does not respond to that and changes the subject. That I was there should be verifiable. Maybe Mike remembers if he still works there. I am a clean cut guy that people say looks like a cop. Now an ex cop. I should have been treated in a more friendly way.

Keep trying to turn out those super sales people. Don't worry about anything else or how other Mets employees do their job. Sales and retention is all that matters. That is sarcasm if you don't know. Meanwhile attendance goes down every year. Go to Met life and see how the Jets do it. Go to Disney. My wife is tired of having to open her wallet in her pocketbook at the request of your unprofessional security. The bad feeling this gives us cannot be downplayed or minimized. We are customers not suspects. Customers make pay days possible. We want to spend money with the Mets. Between the bad ticket plans and your employees it is a hard thing to do.

Thank you for reading and stay safe.

Old Grouch

I get where he is coming from with a No Alcohol section. There should be a spot you don't have to worry about having an instance that happened to him. As far as security, after the 2019 season I had enough with the way they treated me as a fan and watched the way they treated others as fans too. I gave up my half season tickets after the season because of the way interactions were going.

Found my banner file from the return of Banner Day.

 


I was straightening up the old homestead I came across a thumb drive. Checking it out and the only file on it was the file from the return of Banner Day in 2012. The "Thanks Dave" was a shout out to Dave Howard for helping to bring it back. The return of Banner Days was short lived as participation in it dwindled over the next couple of years and the Mets stopped hosting it.

When will Mets Fan's patience run out?



 I am watching Mets twitter to see how patient Mets fans are being this off season. I have seen some fans spending Steve Cohen's money without thinking about future team implications.Some fans have forgotten that Robinson Cano comes back next year with his 20 million dollar salary from the Mets(plus 4 million from Seattle). That's a significant chunk of money there for a player that fans want to push out of his position by signing a DJ LeMahieu to play third base which would knock Jeff McNeil out of a position in the infield with Cano playing second. This will also then knock out an left fielder out of a position whether it be Nimmo or Smith(if there is no DH in the NL). Now you are knocking off playing time from Nimmo, Smith, and JD Davis. Does someone get sent in a trade then?

Other fans want Steve Cohen and the Mets to eat 40 plus million dollars by buying out Cano's contract. That's a waste of money there also. You could easily use that money for other players. "Well Cohen has the money!" has been a rallying cry from these fans. Stop spending other peoples money for them. I don't care how much they have in the bank. It's not your money to spend. I can't wait for fans to start getting pissed off when the money they think should have been spent on certain players isn't.

Take for example the James McCann signing. Folks are saying that the Mets once again went for a second choice instead of going out and getting JT Realmuto. The Mets have some great pitchers that need a solid defensive catcher that can frame pitches and call a good game. He also has some pop in his bat. The Mets don't need a killer at every position. They need a balanced team. 

I though am really shocked that Mets Twitter's patience hasn't started to erode. They are a very we want what we want now kind of folks. Let's see when the goodwill of a new owner wears off.

Saturday, December 26, 2020

Another bad Mets cap.

 


Rep your New York Mets so well that no one will ever question your fandom. It's easy when you grab this New Era Ligature Low Profile 59FIFTY Fitted Hat. Everyone will know where you stand on game days when you rock this awesome cap.


Awesome cap? Really? This looks like something that you buy from a Times Square souvenir shop if you were going to bring back something to a neighbor in the Midwest. This sucks.


Friday, December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas!

 



I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I know it is a weird one this year and we will get through it and more than likely return to somewhat normal in 2021.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

@SharkandGoon - Star Wars: The Mandalorian Chapter 13 - The Jedi (recap)

 



Star Wars: The Mandalorian Chapter 13 - The Jedi (recap)

Live action Ahsoka Tano finally happens!  Is it good?  Yes.  Plus some cool pseudo-samurai action.

Click here to listen to it on Apple Podcasts or find it where you listen to all your favorite podcasts.

Monday, December 21, 2020

Should we do a virtual @QBConvention in early 2021?

 


Dan and I have been throwing back and forth the idea of having a virtual QBC event early in the 2021. We were thinking about having some of the usual fan panels such as Uni Panel, State of the Mets, a Mets authors panel, and maybe a Mets artists panel. When it comes to former/current player panels, we have to pay them to appear even if it is via Zoom or some other streaming service. We might have to charge a very small fee to be a part for folks to be a part of the players panel Q/A. Would you guys be cool with that? Should we just do the other panels without a player panel? We wouldn't do any autographs because the logistics would be rough and especially shipping and receiving the autos.

Dan and myself would be cool with doing something but we want to make sure it is something folks want to see/watch before we started investing out time and energy into it. We always want our fellow fans to gave the best experience whenever we do a QBC.

Hit us up at @mediagoon@QBConvention or mediagoon@gmail.com with your thoughts.

Last week Mets Manager Luis Rojas Press Conference

 

Thursday, December 17, 2020

MLB Finally Upgrades the Negro Leagues to Major league Status

 

@The7line is doing deliveries within 7 miles of their Warehouse.



 Christmas is just days away, and we decided to summons the help of a professional to deliver your holiday cheer. We're still packing your orders with the lightning speed you're used to, but once the parcels leave our hands, we're then at the mercy of the post office. 

If you're located within 7 miles of our warehouse in Hauppauge NY, and spend $60 or more, Buddy or one of the other elves from our workshop will personally deliver your package FOR FREE. 

When you get to the checkout page, click SHIP in the delivery method. You'll then see the option for DELIVERY if you're within our radius. 

If you'd rather pick your order up, we also have that option still active

Our inventory is really low, and we won't be restocking before the big man comes sliding down the chimney on the 25th. 

Don't be a cotton headed ninny muggins, get your order in ASAP while supplies last!


Wednesday, December 16, 2020

METS NAME DAVE JAUSS BENCH COACH




It was nice to get a press release again from the Mets/


 METS NAME DAVE JAUSS BENCH COACH

 

FLUSHING, N.Y., December 16, 2020 – The New York Mets announced today that the team has hired Dave Jauss to serve as the club’s bench coach.

 

Jauss, 63, makes his return to Queens for what will be his third season with the organization. He previously worked with the Mets as the team’s bench coach in 2010 and was New York’s coordinator of staff development in 2011.

 

“I want to thank Steve Cohen, Sandy Alderson, Jared Porter and Luis Rojas for the opportunity to be a part of what this organization can accomplish in the coming years,” Jauss said. “I’m thrilled to be a part of Luis’ staff in addition to helping him grow as a manager, just as his father, Felipe, helped me throughout my career.”

 

The Chicago native is entering his 34th season in professional baseball and joins the Mets’ coaching staff from The Bronx, where he spent last season as a professional scout for the Yankees. Prior to this year, Jauss was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates coaching staff under manager Clint Hurdle from October 2012 through the 2019 season, including one campaign (2016) as the club’s bench coach.

 

In addition to serving as the bench coach for Jerry Manuel in New York and Clint Hurdle in Pittsburgh, Jauss held the same role in Baltimore (2008-2009) and Los Angeles-NL (2006-2007).  He spent 10 years working in various roles as a coach, scout and administrator in the Red Sox organization from 1996-2005 and began his major league career in 1995 as Baltimore’s coordinator of instruction.

 

Jauss began his professional career as a minor league manager for the GCL Expos in 1988. He then spent three seasons as the Single-A West Palm Beach Expos' third base coach under manager Felipe Alou for three years before succeeding Alou as manager in 1992. He managed one more season in the Expos’ system, winning Eastern League Manager of the Year honors in 1994 in Harrisburg (AA).

 

Jauss resides in Naples, Florida with his wife, Billie. Together, they have three sons.

Monday, December 14, 2020

The Mets wish you Happy Holidays

 


This was a well done video and I guess it proves that Mr and Mrs Met live and work in Citi Field.

Someone randomly brought up Mercury Mets for 2021 on twitter.




 


 


I'm ready. I have my Piazza and Izzy retail jerseys from 1999.




 

Edgardo Alfonzo on Cameo.

 


I was scrolling through Cameo the other day and I was shocked to see that this is the pic Edgardo Alfonzo is using for he his profile page. Not shocked in a bad way but shocked as in that Cameo let branding of other companies get through their screening. I am hoping that this would make folks think about the QBC when they see this photo. I am not above free publicity at all. 

Since we have a still of Fonzie at the Queens Baseball Convention, maybe you guys would like to see Fonzie's Panel from QBC 2019.


Queens Baseball Convention 2019: Edgardo Alfonzo from TheMediaGoon.com on Vimeo.

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Come out to the @Bluelinedeli719 and help raise money for a good cause.



This is when a Rangers Fan(Me) get together with Islanders fans to help raise money for a good cause. 

I picked up my Bobbleheads at Citi Field today and....

 


I picked up my Bobbleheads at Citi Field today and it went super smoothly. The staff was all super friendly and I couldn't believe how well set up this was. This isn't the Mets customer experience that I am used to. I pulled up on line early. I was supposed to be there between noon and 12:15 but got there at 11;45 fully expecting to hear something like, "Sorry. You are too early, you need to leave and come back later" or something to that effect. We didn't get that at all. Every one, even security waved us on with a smile. You can tell they were smiling with their eyes even with everyone wearing masks. It didn't seemed forced either. They had proper signage up to let you know where to go and to wear a mask and also where to pull over to the bays. They even had tablets to look up you account to see how many seats you had. After you got your bobbleheads and proceeded out of the road outside for the ballpark back out to of the parking area, it was coned off and easy to get out.

They even emailed you a clear cut map of where to go. Amazing.

THIS IS THE TYPE OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE THAT WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GETTING FOR YEARS!!!!

I am thinking maybe for season ticket plan holders that the Mets can do something like this for there bobbleheads in the future at the end of each month on non game days. There is logistics to be figured out but this is something that could really be used in the future.

Saturday, December 12, 2020

James McCann seems to be a NY Met



From SNY

 The Mets are finalizing a deal with catcher James McCann, reportedly for four years, $40 million.

SNY's Andy Martino reported Thursday that McCann and the Mets had reached the five-yard line in negotiations as of Wednesday night and that it wouldn't take much more negotiating for the sides to close a deal.

McCann, 30, was viewed as the second-best free agent catcher on the market behind J.T. Realmuto, and the Mets had been targeting McCann over Realmuto, per Martino.

Read more here.

Thursday, December 10, 2020

Former Mets Pitcher Chris Flexen signs with the Seattle Mariners


I am so happy for my buddy Chris Flexen getting this deal with the Seattle Mariners after having a tremendous season in the KBO. Mets fans were unfairly giving up on Chris during his run with the Mets. He was called up too early from the minors, kept getting shuttled up and down between Vegas/Syracuse, they wouldn't use him for some of the time they brought him up and sent him back down, and then bring him back up again. He worked his ass off and got a great deal especially since he doesn't have to go back down to the minors without his consent. Chris was also a great guest at the QBC a few years ago. You can see the video down below.

From the NY Post 

Chris Flexen, the former Mets draft pick who spent the 2020 season in Korea, will return to the major leagues on a two-year, $4.75-million deal with the Mariners, The Post has learned. Michael Mayer of Metsmerized first reported that Flexen would sign with the Mariners.

The 26-year-old, selected by the Mets in the 14th round of the 2012 draft, tallied an 8.07 ERA in 27 games, 11 of them starts, with the Mets from 2017 through 2019. A year ago, during the Winter Meetings, Flexen (who is represented by Tom O’Connell) opted to head to Asia, signing a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Association. That turned out to be a master stroke for more reasons than simply getting Flexen regular reps.

Read more here



QBC 2018 NY Met Chris Flexen Panel from TheMediaGoon.com on Vimeo.

Brooklyn Cyclones Holiday Party Zoom




 Article By: BrooklynCyclones.com Reports

It’s no secret that 2020 has been a challenging year, but the Cyclones are excited to spread some Holiday cheer!

 Our annual Holiday Celebration is going virtual! In partnership with Trio Productions, we will be bringing you a fun event, great for the entire family! 

 

When: Sunday, December 13th

Time: 12:00PM

Where: ZOOM (a link will be emailed to you the morning of the event)

Cost: $10 per houshold  

What to expect:

  • Holiday Musical BINGO! Each household will be emailed 2 BINGO cards. Winners will receive a surprise Cyclones Promo Pack! Don’t worry, we’ll go over the rules LIVE during the ZOOM event. 
  • Holiday Book Read with one of Santa’s Elves!
  • Music! Sing Along! And a very special appearance from Santa!

Register HERE ! 

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

FDNY Mets and Yankees New Era Caps

 New Era with these caps shows that there is no licensing problems for the Yankees and Mets to wear the first responder cops on 9/11/21


@The7line now has order pick up option at their warehouse.



 


Live/work near the7line Warehouse located in Hauppauge, Long Island? You now have the option of picking up your orders there. Darren explains it all in the video below. 

Monday, December 7, 2020

Want to buy a brick at the Syracuse Mets Stadium?




 4x8 Bricks are $150 and 8x* are $200. 

I could be wrong but doesn't look like you get a replica brick like if you bought one at Citi Field a few years ago.

Cement your place in Syracuse Mets history with a commemorative brick to be featured in the entry way of historic NBT Bank Stadium! Customer will be contacted after purchase to finalize brick text personalization.

  • 4x8 Bricks include 14 characters/line (including spaces & symbols) with 1-2 lines available
  • 8x8 Bricks include 14 characters/line (including spaces & symbols) with 3-5 lines available
  • Please be aware that lead times for brick production & installation vary greatly (approx. 12-16 weeks) & is greatly influenced by weather and the baseball schedule. Bricks will not be installed during the months of November-March.
  • The Syracuse Mets cannot guarantee location or placement of bricks
  • The Syracuse Mets reserve the right to review all text & deny any inappropriate messages
  • No logos or images can be engraved on bricks (brick displayed in picture cannot be engraved for purchase)
  • Brick sales will benefit the New York Mets Foundation & will be donated throughout the Central New York community
  • Click here to buy your brick

Mets Old Timers Day. Who could/would play?

 

I have no idea why I was thinking about this over the weekend but I was trying to think who could/would play if the Mets have an Old Timer's Day. I try to break it down with who might play, those who can still "play" and I didn't know what kind of shape some of the older Mets are in. So I tried to stay within the last 20-30 yrs.


Let's start with the Catchers.

Mike Piazza. Todd Hundley. John Buck, Alberto Castillo. Mike DiFelice.

I know that isn't the who's who of catchers. But I was thinking about those who could still "catch" and hit. Now there is no reason that the Mets can't bring in older players to hang out and sign autographs and take pics with fans.

First Base.

Ike Davis.Carlos Delgado. Lucas Duda(if he retires). Todd Zeile.Doug Mientkiewicz. Mo Vaughn. 

I don't know if Keith Hernandez or John Olerud would br up for playing in the game.

Second Base

Edgardo Alfonzo. Greg Jeffries. Jeff Kent. Carlos Baerga. Fernando Tatis. Joe McEwing(probably can't because of MLB Schedule)

Short Stop

Kevin Elster, Howard Johnson, Rey Ordonez, Jose Reyes. Tim Bogar.

Third Base

David Wright, Howard Johnson. Dave Magadan. Robin Ventura. Ty Wigginton.

Outfield

Mookie Wilson. Darryl Strawberry. Kevin McReynolds. Bobby Bonilla. Bernard Gilkey. Lenny Harris. Benny Agbayani. Jay Payton. Derek Bell. Timo Perez. Cliff Floyd. Carlos Beltran, Endy Chavez. Angel Pagan. Curtis Granderson.Mike Baxter

Pitchers

Dwight Gooden, Johan Santana, John Franco, Frank Viola, Pedro Martinez. Mike Pelfrey. Jesse Orosco. Armando Benitez

Pitchers you can keep filling this out with various starters and relievers. I got tired of filling this out when I hit short stop. I know there are plenty of guys I forget.

Friday, December 4, 2020

New Met Trevor May Co-Owner of the FCF Zappers


This Arena Football style league has a lot of stuff going on with it. I can't figure it all out but it will be on Twitch.

From Sportslogos.net

With kickoff of its inaugural season just two months away, the Fan Controlled Football league recently unveiled the logos for its four new franchises. Naturally, the logos were designed and chosen by fans, with the winners receiving a $1,000 prize, team gear and a shoutout on social media from their team’s owners.



The logo for Zappers – which are run by Minnesota Twins pitcher Trevor May and sports broadcasting personality Bob Menery – includes a simple lightning bolt placed in front of a “Z” with a red, orange, gold and yellow color scheme. 




“Champion has a long and storied history in sports and developing innovations in athletic apparel, and Fan Controlled Football is creating an innovative vision for the future of professional sports and fan immersion,” Fan Controlled Football chief marketing officer Jennifer Rottenberg said in a statement. “Together, we will create a never-before-seen football experience. It’s both an honor and a privilege to collaborate with a brand that shares our vision, and we’re excited to welcome Champion to the Fan Controlled Football family.”

Photos courtesy of Fan Controlled Football.

Read more here


Check out the FCF here.


Here are some of the other team owners.

Trevor May talks about Signing with the Mets

 

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

MLB Fan Survey Part 2




MLB want to know what sports you like. Which one is your favorite and where MLB stacks up to the others.


Why did you choose what you chose? Was it more exciting?


We really want to know what you like. And what we can take from them so you can like us better.


That could be troubling questions.


Is it better than other leagues? And another loaded question in the wrong hands.


Faster pace. That's an easy one.

You need good announcers or it is unbearable.

Straight forward.


Another straight forward one.



No idea what this is.