Longtime Mets Catcher Ron Hodges Passes Away at 74

24 Nov

Ron Hodges

ESPN.com:

Ron Hodges, a catcher who spent his entire 12-season major league career with the Mets, died Friday. He was 74. Hodges died at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital after a short illness, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said.

Selected by the Mets in the second round of the second phase of the January 1972 amateur draft, Hodges finished with a .240 batting average, 19 home runs and 147 RBIs during a big league career that ran from 1973 to 1984. Hodges had a .342 on-base percentage with 224 walks and 217 strikeouts.

He played under seven managers with the Mets: Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan, Joe Torre, George Bamberger, Frank Howard and Davey Johnson.

Hodges was a mainstay who played on a lot of bad Met teams. RIP.

Straight Up, Gregg Popovich Is a Total Lame

24 Nov

What a lame move by a guy who’s always been a self-righteous prick. Great coach, but can we all agree that telling fans who pay thousands of dollars (hat include overpriced food and drinks) not to boo an opposing player is beyond absurd? Especially a guy in Kawhi Leonard who literally forced his way out of San Antonio. Good thing the fans not only continued to boo after Popovich grabbed the mic, but the booing got louder too…f–k Popovich.

RELATED: ‘I Spoke English! I Just Told You!’ Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich Snaps at Reporter After Viral Incident Where He Scolded His Own Fans Mid-Game

Francisco Lindor Finally Gets Jeff McNeil His Car

20 Nov

Jeff McNeil
CBSSports.com:

One year after promising to give his teammate a car if he won the National League batting title, New York Mets All-Star Francisco Lindor finally made good on his bet with Jeff McNeil, resulting in McNeil getting a new set of wheels.

On Monday, Tim Healey of Newsday shared that McNeil is now the owner of a new Ford Bronco courtesy of Lindor, who in May of 2022 stated that he would buy a car for his teammate if he won the league’s batting title. McNeil would go on to lead the MLB with a .326 batting average, though Lindor dragged his feet on delivering his end of the bargain until the 2023 offseason.

Hey, better late than never and Jeff looks happy, so hopefully now he can relax, concentrate and have a great 2024 season.

Kodai Senga Wants New York Mets to Sign Japanese Ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto

15 Nov

Yoshinobu Yamamoto
SI.com:

The desire is evident.

According to SNY insider Andy Martino, New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga has made it clear to his club that he wants superstar free agent Japanese phenom hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto as his teammate.

As Martino also reported, Yamamoto will be posted by his team, the Orix Buffaloes, “any day” now. But the Mets will face immense competition in trying to land one of the top starters on the market.

The Mets signed Senga to a five-year, $75 million deal last offseason, and he proceeded to finish as the runner up for National League Rookie of the Year in his first season in the major leagues.

Yamamoto is projected to receive a long-term deal in the $200 million range, and will likely land this type of contract.

RELATED: Who is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Japanese pitching ace bound for MLB next season?

Robert Saleh’s Refusal to Bench Zach Wilson Reminds Us of What an Inept Head Coach He Is

13 Nov

After their 16-12 loss to the Raiders this past weekend, the Jets are now 4-5 and 3rd in the AFC East. Zach Wilson has the lowest TD % in NFL history and leads the NFL in Q4 turnovers. Two of the Jets victory’s this season occurred through luck: a Bills team in week 1 that’s really underachieved so far in OT and of course, against a crippled Giants teams (again in OT) playing with their 3rd-string QB. The Jets are also one of the most penalized teams this year, their defense is carrying them and Wilson hasn’t shown any sign of growth. Yet, with all those factors Robert Saleh refuses to bench his inept QB..and like Josh McDaniels, some coaches are only meant to be coordinators.

Jacob DeGrom and the Texas Rangers Win the World Series

2 Nov



injured almost the entire year, actually deGrom did very little to help the Rangers win it all. But hey, the former Mets ace did state very clearly, that part of the reason he left NY for Texas so quick was to be with a ‘winning’ organization. And now that he’s already gotten a ring, his reasoning has proven to be very profound.

That said, because of the way deGrom left the Mets and still being sore over Max Schezer’s playoff failings against the Padres in the playoffs last year, I was rooting for the D’Backs to win (not that I watched a single game) he championship in a World Series that no one outside of Arizona and Texas truly cared about. Either way, congrats to the Rangers on earning their first trophy.

Josh McDaniels’ Firing Strengthens the Legacy of Tom Brady

1 Nov

Josh McDaniels

Yesterday’s firing of overrated Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels (marking the second time he’s faced such a swift, mid-season exit), embodies a peculiar irony in the world of professional football. It underscores the ephemeral nature of success in the sport, where just being associated with eminence can both elevate a defensive or offensive coordinator to God-like status (‘Hey, he worked under Bill Belichick, therefore he must be great too!’) and cast them down as mere mortals, their hubris exposed. It’s also a reminder that even in a game known for its strategic intricacies, the art of leadership remains a delicate balance, where hubris can turn a celebrated guru into a fleeting comet in the gridiron’s ever-shifting constellation and where we don’t appreciate the greatness that was Tom Brady enough.

Media Gets Their Wish as Mets Granted Permission to Interview Craig Counsell

25 Oct

Craig Counsell
NYPost.com:

The Mets and David Stearns can finally speak with Craig Counsell again.

Less than a week before Counsell’s contract with the Brewers expires, the Mets have received permission from Milwaukee to talk with Counsell about their open manager position, The Post’s Joel Sherman confirmed Wednesday.

SNY first reported the development.

Counsell’s contract with the Brewers is set to expire Tuesday and the Mets were initially expected to have to wait until then to speak with him about potentially following Stearns from Milwaukee to Queens.

But they can now get a jump start on the interview process to find the manager who will succeed Buck Showalter.

I honestly don’t care if Counsell ends up getting the job. It’s just the unwarranted hype that bothers me and the fact that these scribes are so dismissive of other legitimate candidates like Ron Washington.

The Astros Are The Latest Championship Team Who Failed To Repeat

24 Oct

Blue Jays

The Astros loss in Game 7 last night of the ALCS makes them the 23rd straight championship team who failed to repeat the following year and to me that sucks for baseball. A sport that has already tossed away all of its traditional core can’t even put together a dynasty anymore in a world that values parity over greatness. And before anyone dares state that because the Astros have been in 4 of the last 7 World Series (winning two of them), they should still be given the ‘dynasty’ title…well, you just don’t know baseball. Real dynasties like the 1998-2000 Yankees, the ’92-’93 Blue Jays, the ’77-’78 Yankees, the ’75-’76 Reds and the ”72-’74 A’s win back-to-back, no exceptions. Those teams were great, they wanted it every year, they were consistent and you remembered who they were (quick, name the last 23 WS winners off the top of your head). But with so much player’s changing teams nowadays, extended playoffs, dumb new rules and player’s who care more about money than winning, the era of the repeat champion may just about be over.

Why Has The Media Not Mentioned Ron Washington as a Possible Candidate for Mets Manager?

21 Oct

Ron Washington

Of course, considering the makeup of most sports journalists, there’s one obvious answer. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. The Mets are looking for a manager and every baseball scribe out there seems to think that Brewers manager Craig Counsell, a guy with a pretty good resume, but who never even managed a team to the World Series,is the one and only answer. And that’s where Ron Washington comes in. You see, the former Rangers manager also has a pretty good resume, having managed a team to the WS…twice. And his overall record as a manager (664 wins – 611 losses) is on par with Counsell’s (707-625). Yet Washington (who’s loved by every player out there) doesn’t even make the ‘Honorable Mention’ list when it comes to possible candidates. This despite the fact that Washington (the current Braves 3rd base coach) is on record stating that he still wants to manage and his resume demands that he at least get an interview.

RELATED: Could the Atlanta Braves lose Ron Washington to a managerial position?