9/11 Memorial Exhibit: How Sports Healed the Nation

From SILive.com

The exhibit, which opens to the public on June 27, uses historic artifacts, multimedia and first-person testimony from athletes, coaches and 9/11 family members to provide unique insight into American sports culture following the 2001 attacks.
"Sports did play in the healing process," said John Franco. "They say sports players are the heroes. We're not the heroes, police and firemen are the heroes."

Of course the Mets were right in the middle of the healing process in 2001 in more ways than one.
First they helped stock and deliver food and water to the first responders at Ground Zero and then they played the MLB's first game since the Twin Towers fell when they faced the Atlanta Braves a few days after 9/11 at Shea Stadium. 

Read more here. 
We all know the rest of the story with Mike Piazza hitting that HR Blast out of the park.  Then last year there was the whole kerfluffle with the Piazza Jersey and the Mets messing that up. You can read about that here.
There was a special opening event  for the Donors last night. One of the Donor’s was my buddy Livio who was the person who had the Piazza Jersey up for auction last year. He made a deal with the folks who bought the Piazza Jersey that it will be rotated between Cooperstown, The Mets Museum, and The 9/11 Memorial. Saying that, Livio also has the catchers helmet that Piazza has worn that same game. 
I have never been to the 9/11 Memorial and I don’t know if I will ever be able to go there. I am still not ready yet mentally to go. Maybe one day I’ll go check it out.

Get Ready for the Game Used "Bass" Drop (Jersey)

What? I like making bad jokes..... Sorry I’m not sorry.


NEW YORK METS ALL STAR OUTFIELDER KEVIN BASS GAME WORN 1992 ROAD JERSEY WITH WILLIAM SHEA MEMORIAL PATCH. This is a simply PERFECT thick grey knit road button-down jersey featuring the classic NEW YORK sewn on front in blue material, outlined in orange and white. Reverse features much larger matching sewn 21 with individual matching letters sewn above, BASS. Left sleeve has the round S patch sewn, in memory of the passing of William Shea. Right sleeve has the Russell logo embroidered in white. Thick blue, orange and white elastic sewn on the shoulders and down the body.

TAGGING: The standard Russell tag is sewn on the front left tail area (size 44) with an additional white knit tag sewn below with blue screening: 1992. The collar features the Intera fabric tag.

This jersey is in PERFECT shape showing very nice use and also appears to be in the same 100% original condition as worn by Bass on the road during the 1992 season. This is easily the nicest Kevin Bass jersey we have offered and you'll be hard pressed to find a nicer Kevin Bass jersey in this stunning Mets road style with original Shea memorial patch. If you collect classic Mets gamers, Kevin Bass game worn jerseys or jerseys with rare one year memorial patches, this will make a fine addition to your collection.

Mets Post Game Notes 6/25/18

Man are they in total suck mode. I have a new puppy and he’s taking a lot of my attention away from the Mets right now(Thank God) and I didn’t even turn on the game last night because of him.
Anyway, here are last night’s post game notes
Mets Notes

Metscellaneous: New York has lost seven-consecutive games, is 4-19 in its last 23 games and 6-24 in its last 30 games...The seven-game losing streak is the second-longest of the season...The Mets are a season-low 14 games below .500 and 4-18 in June.

Mets at Home: The Mets are 1-14 in their last 15 home games and 13-25 overall at Citi Field this season.

Home Runs Allowed: Mets pitching allowed two homers tonight and has surrendered 21 home runs in the team’s last seven games.

Wilmer Flores (1-1, HR, 3 RBI, R): Belted a three-run, pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning...His three RBI tonight are a season-high...Has driven in a run in three-straight games and in five of his last six games overall.
• Was his fourth-career pinch-hit home run (last, July 20, 2017 vs. St. Louis) and the third by a Mets batter this season (last, Devin Mesoraco, May 27 at Milwaukee).
• Has three pinch-hit home runs since 2017, tied for the third-most in the majors in the last two seasons...The Mets’ nine pinch-hit homers since 2017 are tied for the fifth-most in the majors.

Kevin Plawecki (1-4, 2B, RBI, R): Plated the Mets’ first run with a seventh-inning RBI double...Has driven in a run in consecutive games for the fifth time in his career (first time since May 13-14, 2016).
• Over his last six games, Plawecki is batting .364 (8-22) with three doubles, one triple, one homer, six RBI and four runs scored.

José Bautista (0-4, BB): Has reached in each of his last 11 games with a .600 OBP.

Seth Lugo (5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R/1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K): Has a 0.30 ERA (one earned run/30.0 innings) in 10 games (three starts) at home since
May 1...That is the lowest home ERA in the majors during that span (min. 30.0 innings).
• Allowed a run (unearned) in the first inning, snapping a 25.0-inning scoreless streak at home...Was the second-longest single-season scoreless streak in Citi Field history (R.A. Dickey had a 28.1-inning home scoreless streak from May 17-June 24, 2012)...Also ended a run of four-straight scoreless starts at home dating to September 8 of last season, tied for the longest streak in Mets history (also, Craig Swan, September 18, 1977-May 12, 1978).
• Since May 1, Lugo has allowed 17 hits and four walks in 30.0 innings at Citi Field with 29 punchouts...His 0.70 WHIP at home in that span paces the majors (min. 30 home IP).

Tyler Bashlor (2.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R/2 ER, 1 BB): Made his major league debut...The Mets have had a player make his major league debut in three-consecutive games for the first time since Jeremy Hefner, Jordany Valdespin and Zach Lutz all debuted in succession from April 23-24 (including a doubleheader on April 23).

Pirates Notes

Pirates: Snapped its season-high tying five-game losing streak with tonight's win.
• In the Pirates' last four games at Citi Field dating to last season, they are hitting .302 (45-149) with eight doubles and seven homers...Improved to 11-5 in their last 16 games at Citi Field after going 3-13 in their first 16 contests here.

Josh Bell (1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R): Connected on a two-run homer in the sixth inning...Has reached base safely in 15-straight games and has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games in which he has had an at bat (13-41/.317).
• Was his first home run since May 31...Has now homered three times in four-career games at Citi Field.
• All five of his home runs this season have come batting lefthanded.

Gregory Polanco (1-3, HR, RBI, R, BB): Belted his 10th homer of the season in the second inning...Has three homers in his last six games vs. the Mets.
• Is the first Pirates player to reach the 10-homer plateau this season...The Pirates were the last remaining MLB team without a player with double-digit homers.

Josh Harrison (1-4, RBI, R): Has hit safely in 17 of his last 18 games played against the Mets...Is hitting .389 (28-72) with six doubles, one triple, one home run and seven RBI...In his last seven games at Citi Field, Harrison is hitting .370 (10-27).

Jameson Taillon (6.0+ IP, 4 H, 2 R/2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K): Has a 1.29 ERA (two earned runs/14.0 innings) in two-career starts at Citi Field.
• Had thrown 14.0-consecutive scoreless innings vs. the Mets dating to the last inning of his MLB debut on June 8, 2016 before surrendering two runs in the sixth inning tonight.

Felipe Vásquez (1.0 IP, 3 K): Saved his 36th-career game for the Pirates (15th this season), tying him with Grant Jackson for the second-most saves by a Pittsburgh lefthander...Ramon Hernandez has the most with 39 saves.

Upcoming Pitching vs. Pittsburgh

Tues., June 26 RHP Chad Kuhl (5-5, 4.56) vs. LHP Steven Matz (3-5, 3.68) 7:10 p.m. (SNY, WOR 710 AM, 104.3 FM HD, ESPN 1050)
Wed., June 27 RHP Ivan Nova (4-5, 3.98) vs. RHP Zack Wheeler (2-6, 4.85) 7:10 p.m. (PIX11, WOR 710 AM, 104.3 FM HD, ESPN 1050)

Mets Roster Moves

FLUSHING, N.Y., June 25, 2018 – The New York Mets today announced that they have recalled righthanded pitcher Tyler Bashlor from Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League and optioned RHP Chris Flexen to Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League. Bashlor will wear #49 and is active for tonight’s game. Bashlor’s first appearance would be his major league debut.

Bashlor, 25, was 0-3 with seven saves, a 2.63 ERA (seven earned runs/24.0 innings) and 30 strikeouts in 20 games for Binghamton this season. Opponents were batting .177 (14-79) versus Bashlor with the Rumble Ponies. Over his last seven appearances, the 25-year-old has allowed two earned runs over 8.2 innings (2.08 ERA) with 11 strikeouts.

In 117 career minor league games (all relief appearances), Bashlor is 7-9 with a 3.29 ERA (53 earned runs/145.0 innings) with 23 saves and 205 strikeouts. The 6-0, 195-pounder was the Mets 11th-round pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of South Georgia State.

Flexen, 23, was 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA (four earned runs/3.1 innings) in three relief appearances with the Mets this season.

Ban The Shift!

Joe here makes some good points. It reminds me of when the NJ Devils employee the trap for years. That was some of the most boring years of hockey.


Hello MLB executives,

I just read an article in the Wall Street journal that MLB attendance is down 8 percent in 2018. This is more then bad April weather. The game is now boring.

Dear MLB

You have to eliminate shifts. It will bring back ground ball singles and more like drive singles. It will bring back more baserunners and more baserunners going first to third. It will bring back watching outfielders trying to throw out runners on the bases. They will need to play more fundamental baseball and hit the cut off man. This is the beauty and charm of the game. The joy and excitement of the game has been ruined by launch angles and shifts. Take back and save the game and save the salaries of these analytic experts who have ruined the game.
The game is now launch angles and shifts. Pete Rose would not get even 3,000 hits if he played today because he would try to hit home runs. He would strike out more and hit in to the shift. This game of home run or strike out is boring. What was more exciting than watching Roberto Clemente display his strong arm and try to throw a runner out at third? Largely gone from todays game.
The time to save the game I love is this off season. To see it being slowly destroyed hurts. Make shifts illegal. Reward hard hit ground balls and line drives, There will be more action and excitement.
If you want to speed up the game don't let the catcher look in the dugout after every pitch, Make the catcher call his own pitches like they always did for a hundred years. This would save 2 or 3 seconds a pitch. If the manger or pitching coach is calling the pitches how far away are we that an analytic nerd will call them with a buzzer in the managers hand?
Thank you for reading,
Joe S