Tag Archives: New York Mets

Sep30

Welcome MLB Playoff Fans

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Welcome MLB playoff fans! Come on in and sit yourself down. Someone get them a beer and a dog.

For you Dodger fans, we have the classic Dodger Dogs.

For those enjoying the Cubs, we have the best version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

Here is a quick bio of Harry Caray. Do not go to WRIGLEY FIELD and not know Harry Caray.

Baseball playoff season is upon us. In the NL, the Cardinals are already in. The Dodgers are in, thanks to Clayton Kershaw. The Mets are coming in from the East.  A battle for the wild card is going on between the Cubs and the Pirates. Will this finally be the Cubs’ year? In the AL, the Blue Jays are in, as are the Royals, who have been dominant this year. There is a battle in the West for who will go on to win the division, who will play the Yankees in a one-game winner-take-all and who will just go home.

Now here come the FANS. You know the fair-weather fans, the ones who about the end of August realize that people are playing baseball. They flip on the channel and suddenly become fans, watching the teams get better and better.

The fair-weather fan comes into our house. For the die-hard fans, it feels like an invasion of privacy, and honestly, there’s a little bit of jealously. We suddenly become bitter girlfriends.

“Oh no, you cannot come in here. This is my team. You just need to step off. I have been cheering for them all season. You think you can just come in here and think you are as good of a fan as me!”

I have always been a die-hard Rangers fan. But last year, with the Rangers nowhere near the playoffs, I turned my attention to my favorite player Jayson Nix. He was picked up by the Royals, and so I picked up my fandom and became a Royals fan. For the first time, I was a fair-weather fan. Social media and fandom can be a wonderful combination. I was embraced by the Royals fans online, forgiving me for being a Nix fan once they found out I met him and that’s why I cheered for him.

The Royals went on an impressive streak, and the fair-weather and die-hard fans were sent into a frenzy. And I was so excited I even bought a shirt and had it customized for Nix. I like being unique. I wore my shirt proudly and was again embraced by the real Royals fans. High-fives and”love your shirt.” They made me a real fan, while the Rangers still have my heart. The Royals brought me back to baseball.

Baseball can be an elitist sport sometimes. We have our own jargon and rules and no real reason of why we do things. Our job as the die-hards is to show the fair-weather fans what they have been missing, encourage and teach them all about what makes the team great. Let’s embrace the fair-weather fans, and maybe they will become real fans.

 

Jul21

MLB Predictions: The Surprise Factor

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I hate making predictions. It’s a hard thing to do. You take a roster of men, and based on stats and previous performance and/or scouting reports, you make a prediction.  There is an element in baseball that no one talks about but everyone knows: The Surprise Factor. While self-explanatory, it has many examples: the 1951 Giants — “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” — a dream when on the bottom that you can work your way to the top of the standings.

 

In more recent years, the 2004 Red Sox, during the ALCS, down three games to none, came back to beat the Yankees ( which you know I am always happy about) and later win the World Series against the Cardinals.

This year, I tried my hand at predicting the winners and wildcards. My NL Predictions and  AL Predictions.  I admit fully that I was blinded by Cub fandom. I just really want to see the Cubs in the World Series.  I was surprised at Lester. I thought he had a pickoff move. This is essential in small ball in the NL.  No one could have guessed what the Astros have done. I mean, if I weren’t a huge Ranger fan, I would be cheering for these Texas boys. The Astros have made the AL West a real division, with some real competition.

Who would I pick to win now? Well, being a glutton for punishments, I would say this:

My new AL predictions:

West: I would like to see the Astros beat the Angels, and I predict Astros will win the division. I think that if they make some trades, there could be real Wild West fun. I see the Angels being the wild card again, like last year.

Central:  Royals Royals Royals. They still have the magic from last year, and, no surprise, what make a great team great: camaraderie.

East: If you going to spend some money, you might as well get something for it. The Yankees should be on top, for all they put into the team.

My new NL predictions:

West: I love the Dodgers, where pitching is king. There is going to be some back-and-forth in the standings with the Giants, Dodgers will prevail.

Central: I think we will see The Surprise Factor at work. The Pirates are coming back in a big way. It’s going to make for some fun baseball.

East: Chocolate sauce all around. The Nationals have this in the bag. That being said, I see the Mets coming in as the wild card.

 

 

 

Jul3

Fun Fact Friday: 1st on the 4th of July

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While binge watching MASH the episode A War for All Seasons comes on. As I watch, Klinger and Potter bet on baseball, Potter asks Klinger a question, “Isn’t true that whoever is leading in the standings on July 4th wins the division?” This piqued my interest. For today Fun Fact Friday, I went through all the stats from 1905 to 2014.

Thanks to baseball-reference.com, I was able to go through all the standings.

In the MASH episode the year is 1951, I start my research from 1905-1950. If you go through the standing who is leading on July 4th will be leading the division at the end of the year.  Television is often wrong, but for once it is right. a whopping 70% of the time from 1905-1950 whoever was in 1st on the 4th was 1st at the end of the season.

After that time, the figure drops dramatically to 34% from 1951 to 2014 and the last time it was done was in 2006, by the New York Mets.