Twitter Poll: If you could have dinner with any Met...

I'm trying a new thing out here on the blog. I've fully embraced Twitter, and I'm going to be occasionally throwing out some questions or polls about the Mets on Twitter, and posting the responses here.

Last night, I asked my Twitter followers: If you could have dinner with any Met, past or present, who would it be and why? Here are the answers...

• letsgoduke said: keith. He's the funniest.
• metschick said: D-Wright because I'm bad
• kierankelly said: Lenny Dykstra, because he was better as a Phillie. :-) haha (ed. note: He's a Phillies fan!)
• mets_geekette said: Pelf. He's a goof-ball.
• ProctorsArm said: Carlos Delgado so I could teach him a thing or two about patriotism. (ed. note: He's a Yankees fan!)
• cselland said: Keith Hernandez - no one else even close. Just a brilliant guy - and he was there for the fun parts
• JD1877 said: Todd Hundley. Always wanted to hear his side of the Bobby V incident, his dad was on the 69 cubs, & he was one of my faves.
• Retire31 said: Jose Lima or Dae-Sung Koo. Why? Just having a conversation with either of them is going to be hilarious, let alone dinner.
• charlieryczek said: Gary Carter because he just seems like such a nice personable guy who could talk about anything at anytime
• MetsGal said: Keith Hernandez. Because he's Keith Hernandez.

It seems Keith Hernandez was the most popular choice, and why not? The man was around for some of the Mets best years, was the leader, the best player and now he's on SNY and he's hilarious and wonderful. I'd pick Hernandez, no doubt.

What about you?

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Game Recap: Mets 9 -- Cardinals 5

A rough start for John Maine turned into a decent appearance, coupled with a seven run inning, led to a Mets win over the Cardinals.

On The Mound

Maine made his first start since Dan Warthen tweaked his mechanics. His first inning was a bit rocky, as he gave up two runs on two hits and a walk. Ryan Church did not help matters with a throwing error. From there though, Maine recovered and shut out the Cardinals until the fifth, his final inning.

Maine's final line: 5 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs (1 earned), 3 BB, 5 K.

Pretty good. I wish the walks were down and the play in the field was a bit better, but it's only spring. If Maine felt good out there, I'm more than happy with his performance.

J.J. Putz and Bobby Parnell each logged a hitless inning. Putz picked up a strikeout while Parnell issued a walk.

I don't think Parnell will make the bullpen, but he's still with the team so he must be impressing someone.

Nelson Figueroa pitched one inning, allowing one run on two hits. Carlos Muniz pitched the 9th inning, also allowing one run. He let up a hit, walked one and struck out two.

Figueroa was the forgotten candidate for the fifth starter, but it looks like it's Livan Hernandez's for the taking. I still don't like Muniz.

At The Plate

Jose Reyes picked up three RBIs, going 2-4 with a double and a walk.

He seems to be in midseason form.

Jose Valentin and Carlos Beltran each picked up a double among their two hits on the day. Omir Santos drove in two runs. Brian Schneider, Carlos Delgado and Mike Nickeas each picked up one RBI.

On Deck

The Mets will welcome the Washington Nationals to Tradition Field for a night game on Friday. The game will be on SNY and will feature only Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez in the booth. No Gary Cohen. This is a must see/listen.

Make Opening Night become Opening Day

The Mets Police are spearheading a movement to switch the 7:10 p.m. game against the San Diego Padres, the first real game in Citi Field, switched to a 1:05 p.m. start.

You might ask: Why? Here's their explanation...

It's a new stadium, a new beginning and it's already annoying. If you're interested enough to read my dopey blog then I'm sure you had been to Shea in April for a night game. It's miserable. Even if it's 81 degrees at noon, it will be in the 40s at 8:30.

The Mets are selling "Opening Day" packages. Sunset for Monday April 13, 2009 is scheduled for 7:32pm. Unless the Mets have a deal with God worked out, or they plan to get the game in in under 22 minutes, I think they lie.

Funny stuff. I'm avoiding Opening Day Night, but if anyone is up for this, head over to MetsPolice.com to check out what they have to say.

Evans might make team...for now

Nick Evans has had a hot spring, which I've chronicled on this blog. It's a tough call for the Mets on what to do with him -- he's a young player who needs everyday at bats, but he has no starting position on the team.

Well here's a quote from Jerry Manuel which pretty much lays it out for Evans' future:

"We'd probably like to see [Evans] defend a little better in the outfield," Manuel said after the Mets' 10-6 exhibition loss to the Tigers. "We have to try to create as much versatility for him as possible, [but] he'll probably come with us at this point."

That may be true and congrats to Evans for working his butt off to make the team. But, Evans would likely be the first player sent down once the Mets add on Livan Hernandez as the fifth starter.

The team likely won't need Hernandez until a few games into the season the way the schedule is laid out, so he probably won't be on the Opening Day roster. Evans will be, and will stay with the team for the first handful of games. After that, it will be Hernandez's spot on the roster and Evans will likely head down to Triple-A Buffalo.

Twitter Poll: If the Mets had to retire one number this year, which one and why?

I'm trying a new thing out here on the blog. I've fully embraced Twitter, and I'm going to be occasionally throwing out some questions or polls about the Mets on Twitter, and posting the responses here.

Last night I asked: If the Mets had to retire one number this year, which one and why? Here are the answers...

• @fscker said: keith hernandez or gary carter. I'm going to lean towards carter becuase he's in the HOF.
• @JD1877 said: Piazza. The 90's were sooo bad but he carried them to the WS. Perhaps the greatest position player in team history.
• @sdn16182 said: #31 mike piazza because he made them respectable again and carried them for years and to a world series
• @letsgoduke said: 17 for good old keith. or 31 for obvious reasons.
• @jrobelen said: Mets should retire Gary Carter's 8 before any other, considering so many NY fans believed he earned his HOF cap here.
• @Mike_Peters said: ...31 duh
• @metgirl4ever said: i'm biased but pick # 31-fell in luv w/baseball & b/came Mets fan n late 90s & he was/is my fav-despite going blonde
• @BkCyclones said: 17, of course, for Keith Hernandez, the best defensive player ever for the Mets, a great clutch hitter, and THE captain!
  

I can't say I don't agree with all of these sentiments. 8, 17, 31.

Game Recap: Tigers 10 -- Mets 6

The Mets were down early, came back, then let the lead slip away again.

On The Mound

Oliver Perez was roughed up by the Tigers today at Tradition Field. Tagged for six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, Perez allowed five hits and walked six while on the bump. He did strike out four.

Yeesh. Hopefully it's just Perez adjusting his mechanics under Dan Warthen.

Ron Villone, making a play for the bullpen, also struggled. Four earned runs in only one inning, as he gave up four hits and walked one.

Double yeesh.

Elmer Dessens and Bobby Parnell each threw a scoreless inning, with Brian Stokes tallying two innings of hitless baseball. Carlos Muniz tallied one-third of an inning in relief of Perez, allowing one hit.

At The Plate

Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Jeremy Reed and Jonathan Malo each picked up two hits, with Reyes and Beltran picking up a double each. Fernando Tatis went 3-3 on the day, also with a double.

Beltran, Tatis and Malo each had one RBI, with Schnieder driving in two runs.

Just not enough, but it's only spring training. The Mets put together a nice string of hits in the fifth inning, picking up five runs in that frame.

On Deck

The Mets will take on the St. Louis Cardinals on the road tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. The game will not be on TV.

Minor notes

The Mets released Valerio De Los Santos and Rocky Cherry signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox.

Carry on...nothing to see here...

Repairing John Maine

"Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology..."

While Dan Warthen won't exactly be rebuilding John Maine (retooling might be a better word), there was an emergency bullpen session and some changes have been made to Maine's delivery.

Warthen lengthened Maine's stride, among a few other things.

Joe Janish, of MetsToday.com and more recently web editor of BaseballDigest.com, has been a catcher for 30 years -- if there is someone to ask about pitching problems, he's your guy.

The three things Janish pointed out that Warthen changed are: Allowing the arm to “catch up” to the body, and time the release closer to the hip rotation / explosion, increase the amount of force applied to the ball, and shorten the distance between the release point and home plate.

Janish wrote:

By lengthening the stride, you also release the ball further away from the rubber, and decrease the distance the ball needs to go. Again, this is simple physics — by decreasing the distance, the batter has less time to react to the pitch — even if the velocity stays the same.

Interesting. Hope it works.

Twitter Poll: How many Mets hats do you own?

I'm trying a new thing out here on the blog. I've fully embraced Twitter, and I'm going to be occasionally throwing out some questions or polls about the Mets on Twitter, and posting the responses here.

Last night, I asked: How many Mets hats do you own? Here are the responses...

• @metgirl4ever said: 1 hat...but i have Mets jewelry, shirts, jersey, shot glasses, key fobs, & coffee mugs...does that compensate??
• @ByronBrewer said: 5
• @metschick said: 6: 3 blue, 1 pink (from Mother's Day), 1 black, and 1 orange visor.
• @dpcurrier said: Currently I think I have 5: 2 blue, 1 white/blue, 1 orange, 1 green
• @kerelcoop said: 3. All Blue, All Black, Black with the Blue Bill. And for extra measure a Brooklyn Cyclones hat :) All fitted.
• @jrobelen said: I have counted eight Met hats but they are scattered throughout the house. And probably some in luggage, equipment bags, etc.
• @Retire31 said: Overall, I think 6. 2 fitteds (one autographed, you know which one) and 4 adjustable ones.
• @samtpage said: 5, I think. Two have subway series patches. Only one still fits.
• @willrmc said: Too many. 5 I think. But only 2 in regular rotation.
• @Mike_Peters said: 5 Mets hats in my dorm: blue fitted, adj. blue, adj. black, Citifield/Dominos, blue/white. Total owned is over 20
• @Almodovar said: No more than 5...i believe

For me personally, I have only three Mets hats with me in my dorm room, but upwards of 15 back at home.

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K-Rod is a little grumpy

Francisco Rodriguez was back in camp today, and one of the beat writers asked him a fairly harmless question about the four-out save. K-Rod went a little cuckoo.

Here's how it went down, according to Steve Popper:

"Why should you tell me that I'm not ready to get back," K-Rod countered. "I think I put a lot of work into it. I prepared myself really good before every game. So I don't think it's going to take me 10 days or two months to get my energy back. It's going to be right back the next day.

"I don't know what you're honestly trying to tell me or what the point is you're trying to get at. A four-out save is like a three-out save. To me, it's the same. I know people have made a big deal about four-out saves. I want to have the same opportunity here, too. I don't know why it's such a big deal."

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bullpen this morning.