Spring Training Tidbits

It's here! The smell of the grass, the crack of the bat, the creaking of little-used joints (oh wait, that's just me getting off the couch, sorry)...it's that time of year. Finally! After an anti-climatic off-season, where most of the action came not from the Mets front office but from the Mets blog-o-sphere (honestly, people, can we stop dumping on each other and focus on the team? Please? Who cares how people RT? Don't like it, don't follow!!) But I digress.


If you're a female Mets fan, there is no better sight than this picture.





This signifies the official start of the season. David Wright, always the first to arrive, in workout gear, newly buffed and polished. Ahhhh.

Spring training is a time to analyze, discuss, project and plan for the season ahead, and for our beloveds, there is much to discuss. Questions about the pitching staff, the cast of a thousand catchers, the state of hamstrings (see Reyes, J; Nieve, F; Neise, J; among others) and thumbs (see Francouer, J and Cora, A). As usual, however, we will leave such analysis to other, smarter folks. We are so giddy about the start of Spring Training that we are going to celebrate the good stuff. The fun stuff.

Stuff like Nelson Figurea providing John Maine with his very own parking spot. That Nelson! Such a card! He may not be the answer to our pitching woes, but he has proven himself to be a teammate par excellent. Can't a spot be found for him on the team? Perhaps as starting cheerleader/personality coordinator.

We also have our Jerry, with his soundbites already in mid-season form. According to our fearless leader, David Wright arrived in camp "spirtually and physically lighter" Oh Jerry, you wacky existentialist you! David Wright's mental state is essential to the success of this team, of course, but there is someone else who may be more qualified to testify (as she herself noted during the concussion crisis - the girlfriend knows all).

Finally we have our newest love - Jason Bay. By all accounts, this Canadian is a first-class teamate and player and immediately improves the team with his presence. More importantly, however, Jason Bay knows curling. What else do you need from a ballplayer?

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the spring training ride. The stress and chaos of the season will be upon us soon enough.

Kisses!!!

LM

The Diagnosis of Mike Francesa

Hi all! I've missed you!

There will be a post coming soon recapping this off-season's fun and frivolity, I promise you. Right now, however, we are suffering from a severe case of Jets fever (which differs from our children's cases of bronchitis-caused fever, but that's another story) and are not tuned in to Mets drama at the moment. I am going to give you all something to ponder, however, which spans both Mets and Jets fandom. As some of you know, I am employed in the mental health field (insert your own joke here) and have come to a conclusion about our favorite NY sports radio host after listening to his anti-Jets bluster all week. Check out the official DSM-IV-TR diagnosis criteria for Narcisstic Personality Disorder, and tell me he isn't a poster child for this condition:

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

requires excessive admiration

has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations

is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends

lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others

is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes


Help is available, Mike. Contact me for a referral.


Kisses!

LadyMet

The Curse of Ed Hardy

Putz, Maine, Wright - all spent significant time on the DL

Pelfrey - Sophomore season less than stellar

Reed - Got less playing time than trainer Ray Ramirez

Coincidence? You decide.

Kisses!!

Goodbye, '09, Goodbye...

It has finally come. The day when I am able to slam the door on '09. Put it behind me, lock away the pain, only to taken out the first time in '10 I hear those dreaded words, "15 day DL" (God and Kiner willing, they will be uttered infrequently next year).
What? You mean everyone else already has moved on? Hot Stove action already begun? OK, so sue me for being psychologically behind the times. The grief process takes longer for some than others.

In any case, I have helped this process along by thinking back to the good times of '09. Yes, there were some. Let's revisit a few, shall we?

Walking into Citifield for the first time (good one, @ms_tinamarie)

Seeing Frenchy's smile - the pure joy of playing the game written all over his face.

One word: Metstradamus

Johan's proclamations about his gender (I'm a man!!)

Luis Castillo's OBP. I can't believe it either, but the numbers don't lie. Nice comeback, Luis.

Press conferences. C'mon, admit it, they were entertaining. You never knew who was next to be thrown under the bus!

The opportunity to get to know Ray Ramirez and Dr. David Altchek on a more intimate basis

The hyper-activity of the Mets twittersphere during a winning streak - especially @Coopz22 and @ohmurph at their finest.

Leaving work at 9pm and realizing Howie and Wayne are on the radio to keep me company on the way home

Shake Shack!

And finally...the knowledge that the season would not last forever, no matter how much it seems like it at times.

What are your favorite memories?

Kisses!

Do I Smell Gossip?

During these quiet baseball days (I continue to live in denial about the Yankees, preferring instead to cheer the demise of the Phillies) I, and other bloggers also,apparently, have noticed a spike in David Wright-related blog traffic. Since I am too lazy/busy/disinterested to do any digging on my own, I will throw out this challenge to our dear readers: Is there something going on us bloggers have missed? Let us know, and do your gossip duty. No tidbit is too small. While you all are frantically searching for jucy stuff to share, I will be preparing a new post, and won't take any easy shortcuts (like asking readers to do all the work). Promise.

Kisses!

And the Winner is...

TexasPolarBear23!!!

(courtesy of Random.org, random number 1)

Congrats, sweetie. Watch your e-mail for details.

Kisses to all who participated!

Giveaway!

Hello, my fellow Mets sweeties! How's the post-season treating you? Are you hoping the Phillies get lost on the way to CBP and forfeit the game like I am? Cause that seems to be the only way they're gonna lose, the bastards. Assuming there's gonna be a Phillies/Yankees WS, who do you root for? Or do you do what some tweeters suggested and focus on football? Maybe crawl under the covers and sleep till it's over? That's what I'm planning on doing, anyway.

So enough about the post-season blues. Let's focus on our beloved boys in blue-and-orange. The pitiful season is over, and we can go back to being fans without the daily beat-downs we were receiving at the hands of teams like the Nats. So to celebrate the end of the injury-plagued, drama-filled, press-conferenced season, I feel a reward is in order. How about we play the ever-popular, frou-frou giveaway game?

Here's what you'll get:

A lovely Mets short sleeve t-shirt, size men's XL

A blue Mets winter knit hat, to keep your head toasty warm this winter

A Mr Met car magnet. He is lonely, and wants to be on your car

A Mets logo button, which lights up!

Here's how it works: Leave your (screen)name and e-mail address in the comments section (just once, please!). The winner will be chosen at random using some sort of randomization program that exists somewhere on the Net. Deadline is this Friday, October 23.

Good luck, and kisses!

LadyMet