Trying something new with the podcast player. I’m not sure how many pro athletes I’ll be able to convince to do this, but I figure every one that’s willing is worth hearing from. And what better first guest for the Mostly Mets Sandwich Show than knuckleballer extraordinaire R.A. Dickey:
The Mostly Mets Podcast is on iTunes here. There’s some more on his namesake sandwich, The Dickster, here and here.
This is a weird and awesome niche I’ve carved out for myself.
I wanted to make this “Tim Byrdak postgame videobombs” but that’s a difficult thing to track.
Context: Lefty specialist Tim Byrdak appeared in 72 games for the Mets in 2011. He pitched 64 times for the Astros in 2010 and 76 times in 2009. The Mets have lefties Danny Herrera, Chuck James, Garrett Olson and Rob Carson in Major League camp, but none is a lock to make the Major League roster.
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Johan Santana played catch with Mike Nickeas this morning on Field 2 at the Mets’ complex in Port St. Lucie, then moved over to the bullpen outside the Mets’ clubhouse, made some throws from the back of the mound, then took his rightful place atop it for some proper pitching practice.
About halfway through the session, pitching coach Dan Warthen stepped into the batter’s box to simulate a hitter. From my perspective, about 10 feet to Santana’s left and maybe five feet behind him, I could see the signs Nickeas threw down and watch as Santana manipulated the ball in his glove, wound up and fired.
After one well-placed changeup at Warthen’s knees, Santana shouted, “What’re you going to do with that?”
Later, after the Mets’ one-time ace put a slider on the inside corner to Warthen in the lefty hitter’s box, the pitching coach laughed. “Can you start today?” He called out.
Near the end of the session, Santana announced, “two more hitters.”
“Do you want a lefty first, or a righty?” a coach asked.
Santana turned, shrugged and smirked. “Doesn’t matter.”
I’m just going to post the video now because it’s hard to keep typing with my fingers crossed:
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With Toby, Patrick and Miguel Batista.
On iTunes here.
I misstated something near the end for the sake of (attempted) humor that I should probably clarify: I do care about team ownership when it affects the teams, obviously. And I’m not so ignorant to believe ownership isn’t a factor in the decisions many GMs make, and I know I’ve been burned in the past by blaming general managers for moves supposedly forced on them by owners.
I was fresh off writing this thing yesterday when we recorded the podcast. While writing the part about sports being entertainment, I got sidetracked thinking about the Wilpons’ legal and financial issues, which Mets fans want to talk about all the time these days. They’re just not all that entertaining to me.
I still pay attention to what happens because I want to know how it all continues to affect my favorite baseball team. And I have opinions, of course, but they are: a) mostly uninformed and based on reporting from various sources that constantly contradict one another; b) without any legal or financial expertise whatsoever; c) due to my employment likely to be interpreted as some direct message from someone up the chain at SNY, which is endlessly frustrating. So they’re kind of useless, and nowhere near as exciting to write about as even a Spring Training bullpen session from Johan Santana.
For what it’s worth: Upon request, I’ve added all of these to the right column of this site for future reference.
Context: The Mets used nine starting pitchers in 2011. They used 12 in 2010, 11 in 2009, 11 in 2008 and 12 in 2007. They have Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Dillon Gee slated to start the rotation, with Miguel Batista and Chris Schwinden likely behind them and Jeurys Familia and Matt Harvey coming up the pike.
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“[Reyes] said, ‘I really want to play in Miami as long as you pay me $1 more than anyone else. … I really want to make the most money I can,'” team president David Samson told Miami businessmen during a speech Tuesday, according to Miami Today.
According to the report, Samson also bragged about securing taxpayer dollars to get a new Marlins stadium built.
“I don’t have to hold back now that the stadium is built — not that I ever have,” Samson reportedly said. “We’re not the smartest people in Miami. If you’re in this room, you’re instantly in the top 1 percent.”
Oof, everything about this. And I know it’s nothing surprising. It’s just the bluntness.
Context: Ronny Cedeno appears set to be the Mets’ primary backup at shortstop and an occasional defensive replacement at second. He was a regular shortstop for the Pirates in 2010 and 2011. For what it’s worth, the Mets have encouraged him to work on his plate discipline this offseason, and yesterday Terry Collins praised Cedeno’s work in that area. But Cedeno is a lifetime .246/.286/.353 hitter and the Mets have both righty-hitting Scott Hairston and Justin Turner also set for the bench, so it would take some dramatic improvement or a rash of injuries for him to merit any pinch-hitting opportunities.
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Johan Santana pitched two shutout innings to open today’s Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals at Digital Domain Park in Port St. Lucie, Fla. He threw 29 pitches, 17 of them strikes. He walked Shane Robinson and allowed a single to Mark Hamilton.
Santana’s command wasn’t there yet: He bounced a changeup, threw a couple sliders in the dirt and some fastballs way out of the strike zone. But the rest of it was: The cocky shimmy on the mound as he leaned in, the perfectly manicured Van Dyke, the athleticism he used to start a double play in the first.
The stadium gun even registered his fastball in the high 80s, topping out at 90 — a very positive sign for March 6. And Dan Warthen said that on the Mets’ gun, Santana hit 92 and sat at 90 for most of his outing. Seems crazy, I know.
Catcher Josh Thole said Santana was willing to throw all of his pitches in every situation. “It was fun,” he said. “There was no uncertainty.
“He said to me, ‘hey, be ready: I’ve got a second gear.”
Santana said this:
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“This has been a great camp so far,” Terry Collins said. “But this has been the most positive day we’ve had.
“We take enough body blows as it is… enjoy it for once.”
It’s March 6, so it’s important not to get carried away. But then, it’s March 6 and Johan Santana is pitching in vaguely competitive baseball games, throwing fastballs at least in the high 80s, and looking and acting and sounding like Johan Santana.
So screw it: Get carried away. Go all Twitter on this and take it seven steps down the road. Let your imaginations run wild. It’s Johan Santana and he’s doing stuff and his arm still appears to be intact.
It’s hard to believe it’s for real, and that there won’t be speedbumps or roadblocks along the way for Santana. I get that. But as a fan, I want to roll the windows down and put the pedal to the floor until the next one arrives, since it has kind of been a while since I’ve enjoyed the thrill of the open road.
Really I just need this to last until tomorrow at midnight when the Doritos Locos Taco comes out. Is that too much to ask?
Our video guys had to cut this down some for length, but later in the interview Jay Hook told me about his successful foray into the engineering business — including work for contractors that worked on the Apollo program — which led to a job as a professor at Northwestern. Doesn’t seem like a typical post-baseball career. Space!
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Tedquarters 