The Tank’s Note: Proud Papa Chris checks in with an update for Chris, my little step-brother.

The team finished out the season strong.  Chris shared time between SS, 1B, and 3B.  He likes playing first, but he has a really good arm so they put him at short.  I need to work with him on grounders, and throwing to first.  Unfortunately at this age they don't have summer ball, but I am starting to get some of his teammates together on the weekends. He should be ready to move up next year.  I have some good photos here.

Chris's team finished strong.  They don't keep standings in this league, but I think they were probably 7 - 3.  We've already started
practicing for next year with some of the kids.  We had our first practice today.  We also switched to regular hard balls (I had to go
out and get a new mitt, Chris has worn through mine).  If anyone wants to come by and be a human target....er I mean a batter, Chris needs to
practice his pitching. :)

Written by Proud Papa Adam and posted by The Tank in NY.

Mariano Rivera notched his 500th career save at Citi Field on Sunday night.  He helped his own cause when K-Rod walked him with the bases loaded to make the score 4-2.  It was his first career RBI. 

Mariano is arguably the greatest reliever of all time.  He is only 71 behind Trevor Hoffman of the Tigers.  If Mariano stays healthy, he’ll pass Hoffman.  Even if he doesn’t, Hoffman doesn’t have four World Series rings.  Sports Illustrated insulted me and others baseball fans by saying that Hoffman was the best reliever of all time earlier this decade.  I was so offended that I haven’t bought SI since then; I even boycott the Swimsuit Issue. 

500 saves is a great milestone.  I was lucky to witness his 300th save on Memorial Day Weekend 2004 in Saint Petersburg against the D-Rays.  I was grateful that Robert invited me.  I met his friend Roy who needed a liver.  Roy fought valiantly until the end a couple of years ago.  Life is about special moments like 2004 and tonight.  Enjoy every moment.  Congratulations Mariano!  R.I.P. Roy. 

Posted by a grateful Tank in NY.  

The Tank’s Note: Adam is not only the Proud Papa of future big leaguer Chris.  Like Steve, Adam is also an Islanders fan.  This year’s draft was held in Montreal, home of the Canadiens.  Without further ado, here’s Adam!  

In case you missed it the Islanders had the first pick in last night's NHL draft.  Most people around hockey all agreed that John Tavares was
the #1 pick. He scored 72 as a 16 year old in Canada and holds numerous scoring records. But this being the Islanders there was the
possibility that they could take Victor Hedman a defenseman. Hedman is very good, but it takes defenseman a few years to mature both
physically and mentally in the NHL. Chris and I decided that if the Isles didn't take Tavares we'd have to consider abandoning the
Islanders and switching our allegiance to the The Whalers (aka The Carolina Hurricanes).

Fortunately Charles Wang...er I mean Garth Snow did the right thing and chose Tavares. He's not the savior, but the Isles have a very good
young group of players. They also traded up for the 12th pick and took a very good defenseman in Calvin De Hann. At a time when Charles Wang is trying to get the $3.5 Billion Lighthouse project pushed through and the team threatening to move, they couldn't afford to screw this draft up.

This was very similar to Pittsburgh's situation a few years back when they signed Crosby (who I hate btw, Ovechkin is a much better player).
The Rangers first pick was at 19 and they chose a center form Boston, Chris Kreider. At 20 the Devils took a center from Sweeden, Jacob Josefson (I've really had it with soft European defenseman).  I was originally planning on heading out to the Coliseum for the draft, but I was able to get Mets/Yanks tickets at the last minute.  I was in 416.  These are close to The Tank’s and Jack’s seats are very close to where their
seats are at Yankee stadium.

Written by Adam and posted by The Tank in NY.  BTW, I agree totally with Adam that Ovechkin is better than Crosby.  The only non-Canadiens jersey I have is Ovechkin’s t-shirt that I got at the NHL Store on sale a few months ago.  He’s that good. 

Thursday was a very emotional night.  I was sad as I was mourning the loss of Mila’s sister Mara, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, and the Iranian demonstrators.

Life goes on and it was a thrill meeting David Wright, Steve and Kathleen’s favorite player, at DW’s annual charity event. 

It was also great meeting fellow American Idol David Cook.  I told David that I had sung karaoke on every continent except South America and the North Pole.  He replied that he had only done it on TV.  We enjoyed a lighter moment below.

Steve was telling me a story about Ron Darling on the way back from the Baracklyn Cyclones game.  Ron and I are pictured below.

The Tank’s Bottom Line: Enjoy every day like it’s your last.  Keep the Faith!

Posted by The Tank reporting live from Bridgewaters at the South Street Seaport in NYC. 

I am sure you know my now that Cleveland traded for Shaq. The question is what does this do for LeBron James free agent rumors. The Knicks think that they can get him, the Nets think that they can get him, as do about 4 other teams. LeBron, the Akron native, has indicated that he wants to stay in his home state. But what LeBron wants more than anything else is a title. Cleveland has made a move to try to get a title, a title that will help keep LeBron.

Bottom line, LeBron is going to make a lot of money in 2010 and beyond. He is not going to go to a team that is not a contender. So the Knicks and Nets are out.

Posted by Steve in New York

The NBA Draft is tonight in NYC.  The dreams of a few dozen young men will be made and broken.

Who will be drafted first?  Will the Knicks and Nets needs be addressed?  Some but not all.  In the meantime, the Nets appear to have cleared another hurdle to move to Brooklyn.  This will help them get LeBron next year as Jay-Z is a minority owner of the Nets.  More on LeBron in a future post.

Fingers crossed that Syracuse’s Johnny Flynn lands with a team and is able to contribute right away.  I’ll miss him at the Cuse but wish him well.  Let’s go Orange!

Posted by an excited Tank in NY.

Last night, Kathleen, the Tank, and I went to visit good old Coney Island and see the Baracklyn Cyclones take on the Hudson Valley Renegades. The Brooklyn Cyclones decided to rename themselves for one night and and pay tribute to our new president. They also were giving away 2,500 bobble heads of Barak Obama. According to the news, the line was around the block all the way down surf and down to the boardwalk well before the game. Steve and Kathleen arrived about 20 minutes late so we missed the first ball by Obama Girl and did not get the bobble head since it was a complete sellout, actually they oversold the tickets by 1200 tickets.

As we waited for the tank, a member of the Renegades was named Burt Reynolds. I kid you not.

The Cyclones jumped to a 3-0 lead by the bottom of the second and we decided not to go to our foul pole seats but rather hang out behind the seats on the 3rd base line near the picnic tables and BBQ stand. We found the tank around the bottom of the 3rd and hung there for the rest of the game. Most of the single A ball players were the Mets prospects Steve and Kathleen met in spring training.

The game goes fast since most of the kids jump on the first pitch or two, and the Cyclones ace Brandon Moore pitched a 4 hit 7 inning shutout. At the bottom of the 7th Steve and Kathleen sang “Take me out to the ballgame.”

We decided to get a jump on the super slow N or Q train and left with 2 outs to go in the 9th (seeing Burt Reynolds one last time). On the way out we took a photo of the President himself (well, sort of. :) ) The Cyclones did win 7-3….

Reported live from Keyspan Park in Coney Island by Steve (and the Tank).

Editor in Chief and Perma Guest Outlaw Jack and his girlfriend Michelle attended their first game at Citi Field.  Without further ado, thanks to Jack for the following analysis:

Thanks to The Tank, Michelle and I had our first experience at CitiField on Friday Night.

Differences between Citi and Yankee. . .

1. The Uppers, I think are even steeper than at Shea or Yankee 2.

2. The RF Uppers. . . . require a hat and/or sunglasses for evening games. Man that Sun was bright!

3. Citi totally beats Yankee in regards to burgers & bbq!  I would SOOOO take Blue smoke and Shake Shack over Johnny Rockets & Brother Jimmy's any day of the week.

4. I have to say that I think it's about a ton easier to walk around Yankee than Citi.  The concourses seem a LOT smaller. It’s that or the Mets fans just have no clue as to where the hell they are walking.  It was like rush hour at Union Square most of the game.

5. Citi has better views. You can’t beat the site lines of Manhattan from Flushing.  Granted When Yankee 1 was built the area was sheep meadows and the tallest thing was the Bronx County Court House.

6. Citi has cool Euro style Urinals.  But Yankee's bathrooms are bigger and much much cleaner as far as my one time at Citi shows.

7. Yankee will always smell better than Citi, unless Bloomie actually gets around to de-polluting Flushing Bay and that river North of the Van Wyck. Let me tell you. Having vended at Shea with a hang over on a hot summer day at low tide. . . . . I'm lucky I didn't take a fall down the Upper Deck several times. Hell just driving by would knock you out most days. (and they want to make co-ops/condos here?!)

8. I'm sad that the Mets went with an old school jumbotron. That Centerfield thing is grainy at best. The one behind it is just the same. Honestly I thought going forward all new stadiums wound have HD LCDs. The Cowboys new stadium I think takes the cake in the US when it opens.

All in all. We I have to say, Congrats. The Mets FINALLY have a park to be proud of. It's a great place to see a game.

Written by Editor in Chief and Perma Guest Outlaw Jack reporting live from Citi Field in Flushing.  Posted by The Tank hoping to see the sun the next time he attends Citi Field as it’s been overcast and/or cloudy when I’ve been there.

Last night, just after Jose Reyes was in a car accident (he was rear ended by a fire truck, but is ok), Carlos Beltran was put on the DL with an injured knee, he is suspected to be back about the time of the all-star break. The back up Mets were able to get defeat the Cardinals 6-4. Currently the Mets have three all-stars on the DL: Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and now Carlos Beltran. Add in JJ Putz and two starters: Maine and Perez (the real injury is his brain) plus backups Pagan (who is desperately needed with Beltran’s absence) and Remon Martinez.

This will be my last post on Mets injuries, it is almost comical at this point. But the reason why I bring it up today is that we are 5 weeks from the trade deadline and the Mets are still getting great efforts from their bench and are 1.5 games out. I re ask my question, what will Omar do?

Johan Santana was rumored to be injured after giving up a record nine runs in 3+ innings last Sunday against the Yankees.  Former Mets pitching coach theorized that Johan had knee issues.  Johan put those rumors to rest by pitching great over the weekend.

Across town, CC Sabbathia was pulled from Sunday’s game at Florida with stiffness in his arm.  CC thinks that he will make his next on Friday against the Mets at Citi Field.  But, Brian Cashman said the decision isn’t solely CC’s according to ESPN 1050 AM.  We’ll see what the week brings. 

Posted by a concerned Tank in NY.