The Rangers let head coach Tom Renney go earlier this week.  I thought Renney was a class guy and did a good job getting the Rangers back to the playoffs.  However, the Rangers have sputtered recently.  Unfortunately, someone has to pay the price and it's usually the coach.  The only bright spot is it might inspire the Rangers to play better before going to Plan Z of bringing Sean Avery back which I am against. 

As for the Rangers fellow Garden tenants, the Knicks finally resolved Stephon Marbury's contract issue.  He was then prompted sent to the Celtics.  This would normally be a cardinal sin for a player to transfer within a division in any sport.  But, every team that Stephon leaves gets better.  Minnesota got better after he left.  After Starbury left Phoenix, the Suns went from 29 wins to 63 wins.  The Knicks can only hope for similar results.

The Tank's Bottom Line: Will the Knicks improve after Starbury goes to Boston?  I can only hope.  Only time will tell.

Posted by a cautiously optimistic Tank in NY.

We arrived at Tradition Field early, to hopefully catch a glimpse of the Mets v Italy game and score a Mike Piazza autograph. Instead we were treated to about 20 Mets prospects lined up and signing autographs. Some of the futures were Ike Davis, Wilmer Flores, Reese Havens, Brad Holt and Jenry Mejia. I asked them all if they were going to be playing for the Brooklyn Cyclones, some where, so we plan on visiting them this summer.

We then got to throw some pitches and clock ourselves. Kathleen got to 38 mph after 3 pitches and I got to 50pmh after 3 pitches. I am sure if I warmed up I could have toped out at 65pmph.

 

We got to watch BP. As a treat we got to see Albert Pujols from 3 feet away. Here is the video

After some photo ops we settled in and watched the game. The game was not that eventful but the Mets did jump out to an early lead. Fernando Martinez did make a plate appearance, so hopefully he is no longer on the mend. All the Mets starters were there getting ready for the WBC.

We spy Ron Darling in the house, the next section over. Kathleen is too wimpy to ask for an autograph (Steve has a ball with all the ‘86 Mets on it already.)

We did spy Omar Minaya right behind Ronnie. Kathleen did go talk to Steve and the Tank buddy Omar. We got his autograph and she asked him if he was confident in the team this year and Omar said he felt pretty good about the team. Omar, always looking to see what the customer wants, asked Kathleen if she was confident. She said yes but that she loved Davie Wright. Omar replied: “Well, I love Davie Wright too, and also Jose Reyes.”

I thanked him for fixing the bullpen and we moved on. The Mets 4 run bottom of the 9th rally was in vein. the Mets did lose 9-8.

Posted by Steve in Spring Training at Port St. Lucie Florida

I have been waiting for Spring Training for a while now. Can’t believe that is it finally here. Land in Miami and drive on up, what a beautiful day for baseball. We get to Tradition Field at about 12:30am and admire the palm trees and then go inside and get some hot dogs and settle in. I start to get excited about going to a Mets game in February.

Immediately I spy Kevin Burchart interviewing Johan Santana. Spring Training is so relaxed, we get right on up to the players.

The lineup is definitely a Spring one, Oliver Perez is starting and batting second.

I scouted out tickets right on 3rd base and we took a few dozen photos of David Wright. Kathleen says that she is taking the photos for me, I am not so sure.

 

All the Mets regulars are playing, the Mets hit the ball hard, and win 9-0 on a Jose Reyes grand slam, 2 run shot, and a Carlos Beltran 2-run shot.

Posted by Steve in Port St. Lucie (Detailed updates this weekend.)

As Steve and Kathleen are about to head down to Florida, I was thinking of some questions for the Mets to answer:

(1) Should Jose Reyes be the #3 hitter?  No.  The Mets score more runs when Jose leads off.  More importantly, Luis Castillo is 17 pounds lighter according to ESPN 1050 AM.  He'll be able to get on base more often beating out bunts or double plays.  Castillo is a great bunter.  Let Jose get on, steal second, and then let Castillo sacrifice him to third.  That sets up one out and a man in scoring position at third.  Let DW, Beltran, and Delgado get him home.   

(2) Who should be the fifth Starter?  Good question.  There is some competition and that's a good thing.  If Jonathan Niese isn't the fifth starter, he can do extended spring training and then get more innings in AAA.  You can never have enough arms and I'm sure Niese will get some time at CitiField.

(3) Should K-Rod stop saying the Mets are "the team to beat"?  Absolutely, especially since Phillies are defending World Champions.  It hurts to write that. 

Let K-Rod's arm do the talking.  The Mets blew 29 saves last season and K-Rod and JJ Putz should be the difference.

(4) Is Ryan Church a 100 percent healthy?  Let's hope so.

Posted by The Tank in a Spring Training frame of mind.

John Maine pitched to live batters yesterday for the first time since my last game at Shea. Pitching two scoreless innings, Maine said “My arm feels great. My body feels great. I just feel like it’s been such a long time. The mechanics are a little off and I was rusty a little bit, but other than that, and more importantly, my arm feels good.”

This is great for Mets fans, considering that the #5 slot is still up in the air, the Mets need 1-4 to be solid.

I head down to Port St. Lucie to take in two days of Spring Training. Stay tuned for the posts and photos. Hopefully the WBC will not limit my ability to mingle with the stars.

Posted by Steve in New York

Daniel Murphy, the 23 year old rookie (to be 24 on opening day), who has only 131 major league at-bats was announced to be the Mets starting Right Fielder. Mets manager Jerry Manuel said that Murphy is the every day left fielder after only 2 weeks of spring training. This officially closes the door on the Manny Ramirez speculation.

While I love to go with youth, Murphy may not be ready. He was very impressive when he came up last year but the scouts have not really gotten their heads around Murphy. Once Murphy gets around the league a little more, the pitchers will get to know him better,  Murphy may be less impressive. Also Murphy is not proven against lefthanders, he has only 10 at-bats against lefties (but does have a .400 average thus far.)

This is a risk. The smart thing to do is bring in Manny Ramirez for 1 year and let Murphy mature in AAA and come up mid-season or in September. The Mets have other plans. Hopefully Murphy has a rookie of the year season….

Posted by Steve in New York

Though meeting Tina Fey was exciting and comforting just hours after the recent plane crash landing into the Hudson River, I nervously left LaGuardia the next morning.  This is a photo from my plane taking off from LaGuardia.

 

We thankfully heard the safety briefing and had no issues landing at O'Hare, knock wood.

I received some media calls enroute. Little did I know it was the beginning of a media frenzy which would await me in Winnipeg.  The restroom on the flight from O'Hare to Winnipeg didn't work which immediately put me in a Everest Base Camp state of mind. Anyway, there were thankfully no other issues and I landed safely in Winnipeg.

"Why are you coming to Winnipeg?" the Canadian Customs Guard asked. 

"To train for the North Pole Marathon," I replied.

"You know it was colder here than at the North and South Pole," he said as he glared at me.  I brought the warm weather with me to Winnipeg.  Only days prior to my arrival, it was about -50 Celsius (about -55 Fahrenheit) or colder including wind chill.  Both Fahrenheit and Celsius are equal at -40, absolute zero.  When I landed, it was a "balmy" -25 Celsius.   

"That's why I'm here," I said. 

He grumbled as he stamped my passport and let me in.  I greeted Joel who was seated in the reception area. 

"It's time to run," Joel said as he and his public relations rep, Deb, lined up several interviews. 

"Just like Lukla," I told him as we had to get off the plane, take Diomox, drink tea, and start hiking.   

There was media gathered at the hotel where I was staying.  I was going to stay at a hotel near the hotel but the Inn at the Forks was perfect because it was central to downtown and by the rivers.  I can't thank Joel and Rod for sponsoring me there. 

Joel had some media interviews lined up.  By the time I did the CBC Radio interview, it dropped to about -35 Celsius.  It was fun ice fishing which I had never done before.  One of the guys caught a fish.

I did more TV, radio, and newspaper interviews on Saturday which "warmed" up to about -20 Celsius.  I did a total of nine interviews.  The tenth would have been awesome as an exclusive on CBC's Saturday night national program which would have been ten minutes long.  But, an aborted school shooting took precedence.  Thank God the Mounties caught those crazy kids! 

Deb and her husband Steve were kind enough to run with me on the river.  It was great training on the river.  It is as close as I can to running on the frozen water of the North Pole.  Since there are many SATT "Steves" (Antarctica, Buffalo, California, DC, Ohio, etc.), Deb's husband Steve is now known as Winnipeg Steve.  :-)

After training, it was time to take in Winnipeg.  Joel and I went to the Manitoba Museum.  My main objective is to finish the marathon and to be faster than the slowest runner.  I guess things were the same in ancient times in Winnipeg just trying to stay ahead of the polar bears, knock wood.  :-)

 

Joel and I then went to another part of the museum where the Hudson Bay Company's ship from the 1700s, Nonsuch, now resides.  Joel took the command of the ship as a latter day captain.

After a fire drill, we enjoyed touring the rest of the museum. 

I met Joel's family later that evening.  We watched the Canadiens win in a shootout on Hockey Night in Canada.  Boo yeah!

The next day was fun watching the AFC and NFC Championship games after my predictions.  Larry Fitzgerald was unbelievable against the Eagles even though I thought the Eagles would win.  It was also great catching up with Rod who had some previous family commitments. 

I was grateful for my time in Winnipeg hanging out with Joel, Rod, Deb, and Winnipeg Steve.  It was time to take a taxi to the airport to go back home.  I am looking forward to returning to Winnipeg in the future.

Posted by a grateful Tank reporting live from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Our Shea Stadium vendor friend had to visit CitiField the other day to fill out some paperwork. He said that the place is not ready for baseball yet with only a month to go. I guess the Mets agree, according to a press release, the Mets will not be the first team to play in CitiField, St. Johns University will play Georgetown on March 29th. This trial run will be great for the local team (St. Johns) and great for the Mets, to make sure the place is running in tip top shape for the home openers.  Stinks for all the people who shelled out for opening day tickets, and then shelled out more for the exhibition games. But as a software engineer, I support the need a dry run “beta test.”

Posted by Steve in New York, T-3 until I go to Spring Training

Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun lost recently lost his cool during a recent press conference when asked about his $1.6 million annual salary as University of Connecticut Head Men's Basketball Coach.

Given the state of the Connecticut economy, it was a legitimate question.  Coach Calhoun unfortunately chose to tell the reporter to "shut up."  Coach Calhoun should have answered the question as follows:

(A) Tell the reporter that he is a "bargain" given the revenue he generates for the university and state.

OR

(B) Tell the reporter that he'll answer the question at another time in another place.

Bottom Line: Connecticut has had a bad week as they lost to Pittsburgh.  Coach Calhoun have have hit his "tipping point" with the salary question.

Welcome to March Madness Coach Calhoun.

Posted by The Tank getting ready for March Madness.

Sports stars are not immune from the nation's economic woes. 

Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady of the Yankees and Mike Pelfrey of the Mets are reported victims of the most recent Ponzi Scheme.  This one is not run by Bernie Madoff, but by Robert Stanford. 

Steroids?  Scams?  When will the bad news ever end?   

Posted by a worried Tank in NY.