Coming Soon

I was hoping I'd get to write about how awesome Joe Smith is. I mean, I finally met him tonight. Unfortunately, I got distracted. I'll have the story up by the weekend. It is actually pretty cool.

One More Thing

Can umpires realize they are not bigger than the game? That they are there to officiate, not change the momentum during a crucial play? That the players are the ones who are supposed to make the game exciting?

Is that too much to ask?

What I Can't Express

. . . How much I hate umpires. And how much I wish they would be held accountable. And how much I wish they didn't just have to say "Whoops! I guess the replay shows I was wrong!" to move on with their lives. And how much I want some consequence, any consequence, for the umpiring I have seen just tonight between the Mets and Indians games. And how I wish I could do as poorly in school as some of them do at their jobs and still get away with it.

I just . . . I can't think straight right now so I guess I'm done.

I Have A Silver Lining

Mike Nickeas had two hits (including a double) and blocked numerous pitches in the dirt while the rest of the game fell apart.

Anytime he plays well I am happy.

Go Mike!
Let's Go Mets!

Excuses Excuses

Imagine any night that you have gotten home late or just been up late working. The next day you are sluggish because you didn't get as much sleep as you would have liked. If you aren't as productive you blame it on your lack-of-sleep or exhaustion. It's a go-to excuse for an everyday person working in an office or any student on the face of the earth.

Yet, when some people bring it up about the Mets tonight others shoot it down. The Mets did not get into Chicago until 4 AM. Terry Collins admitted they are exhausted. They have every right to be exhausted. Just because they are professional athletes it doesn't mean they aren't human beings.

Everybody has days when they are less productive and today is that day for the Mets. The difference is, the entire world can see when the Mets or any other professional team doesn't produce as much as they'd like. It's not as if they all called in sick. They are at the park, playing baseball, doing their job as best they can on a few hours of sleep.

Don't pretend you're as productive on four hours of sleep as you are on eight. Nobody is. Not even the Mets.

Let's Go Mets!

Phew!

You can disregard the previous post. The Mike Nickeas postgame reaction has been found and I have resumed breathing.

I can also go back to enjoying his awesome game. An RBI and a nice game catching an up-and-down pitcher. He also made some nice blocks in the ninth inning that saved the Mets.

Mike Nickeas . . . perfect human being.

Let's Go Mets!

P.S.
I think I have to give myself a writing curfew. Things get weird at Mr. Met Is My Brother After Dark.

Tough As Nails

During the marathon bottom of the ninth Mike Nickeas took a foul ball under his mask. He fell onto the home plate umpire, who called the trainer out of the dugout. Mike ultimately stayed in and finished out the game.

But now here I go worrying. At the end of the postgame show Chris Carlin said Mike's reaction would be on SNY's general recap show. I have nothing else to do so I've been watching for over an hour and there hasn't been anything. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I also wouldn't expect Nickeas to skip out on his postgame interview unless he really couldn't be there.

Hopefully the foul ball didn't hurt him too much. He stayed in the game so I thought he was okay.

I'm probably the only one worried about this/the only one who cares. I'm also probably turning this into something bigger than it is.

I just worry, okay? I want Mike to be healthy.

Am I Going To Have To Buy It?

The Mets are selling Johan Santana's no-hitter. Take that statement wherever you want and you'll most likely end up in the same place as the organization. One place you could go is to the uniforms of players that did not even play in the game. The Mets are there. What about coaches and other uniformed members of the club? They are there too.

The Mets are so far in those strange directions that the jersey of bullpen catcher Dave Racaniello is garnering more interest than that of some players. One of those players is Mike Nickeas. The jerseys only have about half a day before the bidding ends and Rac's jersey would sell for $10 more than Nickeas's.

I know Mike said it's not over yet and I seem to be the easy candidate to swoop in and buy the jersey, but it won't be happening. The only way I would spend every cent of my graduation money on a jersey would be if Mike Nickeas personally handed it to me. I worked far too hard to spend all of my graduation money on one thing that I can barely pretend to wear. I love Nickeas, but even I have boundaries.

On the other hand, I would buy a hat in the blink of an eye. So if anyone has a Mike Nickeas hat they would like off their hands, I'm your girl.

Let's Go Mets!

They Will Never Let You Quit

The ninth inning was a model of the Mets season. It started off with a quick out. But it got interesting after that. There was a wild pitch after a couple of hits, a couple of ill-timed walks, a long at-bat resulting in a pop out and it all eventually resulted in a Mets victory. Some were preparing to throw in the towel. Accept this as another blown save from Frank Francisco. Luckily, it never came to that.

This season, and especially the recent stretch of alternating series sweeps, has tested the Mets. Interleague plate is going to be tough no matter what, yet the Mets have swept the Rays and Orioles. However, both of the sweeps have come right after the Mets have been swept, first by the Yankees and then by the Reds. Both times the Mets were swept people questioned whether we had witnessed the downturn of the season. On the other hand, with both sweeps, the Mets have shown people they can fight with the big boys.

One way to look at the alternating sweeps as inconsistency. Another way to look at the sweeps is as resiliency. I see them as resiliency. The Mets are not going to beat every team in the league and they don't have to. The ability to come back from tough losses is not something every young team has. It is awesome that this team has it. If Kirk Nieuwenhuis strikes out a few times in one game, he will come back the next day and get two hits. If the defense decides to disappear behind Bobby Parnell for like a week, next time he'll strike out the side and wait for the his infielders to come back from the dead.

This team fights. They don't get too down after losses and they don't let one series win mean they've proven themselves for the season. Terry Collins deserves credit for sticking with his guns and not letting this team get ahead of itself. He doesn't give up when a reliever has a rough game or two or three and he gives every young player the opportunity to succeed.

These players never quit, therefore the fans cannot quit. Even when the team seems to have hit rock bottom they pop back up and are back on their game in the blink of an eye. It makes the season interesting and fun.

Let's Go Mets!

I Can't Say It Enough

I am proud to be a Mike Nickeas fan.

Right there.

That's it.

That feeling is something nobody can ever take away from me. It's easy to be a fan of a big name player, one that is featured in magazines and on TV. There is nothing easy about rooting for a player most people haven't heard of and one who isn't highly regarded by most of those that have heard of him. But I do my best to not let that bother me. Mike Nickeas is my favorite baseball player no matter what his batting average is or how many home runs he hits.

Rooting for Mike Nickeas is the coolest thing I have ever done. I was completely devoted to following his career through AA to AAA and back to AA to almost being out of baseball and finally to the major leagues. It is one thing to follow Minor League Baseball teams as a whole, it is an entirely different story when you feel attached to one player. Then add in that you know he is there to help others get to the majors and you don't really know if he'll ever make it. Every player takes a different path to the big leagues and Mike's was more unique than ever.

Everything about his career has proven he will never stop working to improve. He has always been known as a defensive catcher but that's not enough. He has to work to be more than just a backstop and he becomes a mentor for the pitchers the Mets see as the future of the organization. He is almost like another coach on the team because he is spending the season in AA yet again and he's older than the rest of the team. But he's still a player and he is still working on his offense because he deserves a chance in the majors.

Mike Nickeas mentored Josh Thole in AA. He helped Josh improve defensively and ultimately watched Josh shoot up to the majors. That makes watching this season with Mike and Josh so much sweeter. Mike's hard work with Josh paid off in 2009 when Josh was called up. Mike's hard work in its entirety paid off first in 2010 when he was called up and then this season when he earned his spot as the backup catcher.

His stats aren't flashy. His spot on the depth chart is nothing to brag about. But his work-ethic is second to none. That is what I love. I will never be able to compare my success to superstar players because they are the best at what they do. I hope I'll be able to say I worked as hard and put in as much effort as Mike Nickeas, though. Then I'll know I've succeeded.

The Mets backup catcher is my favorite player. It doesn't sound flashy. It almost sounds desperate. Yet, it is also perfect.

Mike Nickeas is my idol.

That is all.