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The Mets’ catching story in the 2000s begins with Mike Piazza, the face of the position and one of the defining hitters in franchise history. By the time the decade opened, Piazza was already the centerpiece of the Mets’ lineup, but the 2000 season turned that status into something larger. He was not merely a productive catcher. He was the emotional and offensive anchor of a pennant-winning team. In 2000, Piazza gave the Mets one of the great offensive seasons in club history

This week's edition of Minor League Mondays focuses on Mets' shortstop prospect Elian Peña, who could become an untouchable player quickly.

Diamondbacks 5 Mets 1 (Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ) Mets record: 15-25 Mets streak: Lost 2 WP -Eduardo Rodriguez (4-0) LP-Huascar Brazoban (2-1) Seat on the Korner: Eduardo Rodriguez We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets. Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Mai

There are baseball players who think they’re legends. There are baseball players who act like legends. And then there are baseball players who apparently believe Cooperstown is just waiting for them to pull into the parking lot while the valet shines the bronze plaque. Which brings us to Pete Alonso. According to a recently surfaced report about his negotiations with Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns during the 2025 offseason, Alonso allegedly said: “When m

Last week in Forgotten Faces of Flushing, we talked about Derek Bell, a man who once famously said baseball “is a business” and somehow managed to make Mets fans simultaneously laugh, groan, and reach for antacids. This week’s Forgotten Face isn’t a face at all. It’s a place. And for me, beginning sometime around 1968, it was sacred ground. Long before the first pitch. Long before I understood batting averages, earned run averages, or why my father occasionally yelled things

Longtime readers of mine know exactly where my baseball obsession came from. It came from my father, Morris Rosenman — something I’ve also chronicled in my book Glove Story: Fathers, Sons and the American Pastime., co-written with fellow KinersKorner.com staff writer A.J. Carter. My dad took me to what felt like approximately 7.3 million baseball games beginning in 1968. Shea Stadium was our home away from home. Jerry Koosman was probably more familiar to me than several blo

Diamondbacks 2 Mets 1 (Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ) Mets record: 15-24 Mets streak: Lost 1 WP - Merrill Kelly (2-3) LP - Clay Holmes (4-3) SV - Paul Sewald (8) Seat on the Korner: Merrill Kelly We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets. Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented

There are baseball lifers, and then there was Bobby Cox. The second group is much smaller. Cox, who passed away this week at the age of 84, never carried himself like a legend, even though the numbers practically screamed at you from the back of a baseball card. More than 2,500 managerial wins. Fourteen straight division titles with the Braves. A Hall of Fame plaque. Enough ejections to make Earl Weaver nod in approval from baseball heaven. Yet somehow, Bobby Cox always came

The 2021 Mets season featured a new owner, a new/old head of baseball operations, two general managers (neither of whom would last the season), a roster overhaul, a trade that will be ranked as one of the best in team history only to be followed by one of the worst and one of those epic collapses that always seem to have the word Mets attached to them. Oh, yes, and a player revolt against the fans that forced management into some serious damage control.

Mets 3 Diamondbacks 1 in 10 innings (Chase Field, Phoenix, AZ) Mets record: 15-23 Mets streak: Won 1 WP - Devin Williams (2-1) LP - Kevin Ginkel (1-2) SV - Tobias Myers (1) Seat on the Korner: Mark Vientos We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets. Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is pro

Rockies 6, Mets 2 (Coors Field, Denver, CO) Mets record: 14-23 Mets streak: Lost 1 WP - Antonio Senzatela (2-0) LP - Craig Kimbrel (0-2) Seat on the Korner: Jake McCarthy We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets. Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Re

If Day One of our “New York Upstate of Mind” Mets prospect tour was a stop in Syracuse with Triple-A pace, bigger stadium energy, and the reminder that the finish line is never as close as it feels, then Day Two in Binghamton brought things a little closer to the ground. Mirabito Stadium has a way of doing that. It’s a Double-A ballpark that puts you right on top of the action, where you can hear every glove pop, every dugout comment, and every pitcher trying to figure out wh

The next stop on our two-day New York Upstate of Mind tour took us from Syracuse down the winding roads of Central New York to Binghamton, where the baseball feels a little grittier, the coffee tastes a little stronger, the air a little colder (ok a lot colder) and every kid in uniform still looks like he’s one phone call away from either Citi Field or selling insurance. There is something wonderfully romantic about minor league baseball in Binghamton. Maybe it’s the way the

The history between the Mets and White Sox includes World Champions, Hall of Famers, and key bench pieces. However, the most interesting transactions weren't exactly between the teams, but players who signed with one or the other. The most impactful deal between the two, the Tommie Agee deal, was previously detailed in another piece on December trades. Tom Seaver famously was claimed by the White Sox in 1984, as compensation for losing Dennis Lamp to free agency. The Mets and

There’s something wonderfully unpolished about minor league baseball on a cold, damp night in Syracuse. Maybe it’s the smell of wet concrete mixing with ballpark hot dogs. Maybe it’s the handful of fans huddled under hoodies and blankets like they’re reenacting a Civil War encampment instead of watching Triple-A baseball. Or maybe it’s the simple beauty of watching young players stand one step away from the major leagues, carrying all the hope, nerves, swagger, and uncertaint

Mets 10, Rockies 5 (Coors Field, Denver, CO) Mets record: 14-22 Mets streak: Won 3 WP - Freddy Peralta (2-3) LP - Michael Lorenzen (2-4) SV- Devin Williams (5) Seat on the Korner: Freddy Peralta We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets. Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presen

If you hang around enough minor league bullpens long enough, you start to realize they are a lot like college dorm rooms, except with radar guns, higher stakes, and a stronger likelihood that someone can throw a baseball through a brick wall. That pretty much sums up Syracuse Mets relievers Alex Carrillo and Ryan Lambert, two guys whose journeys intersected long enough for me to sit down with them and let the conversation roam from international glory to viral fame to the sim

Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood But I'm taking a Greyhound on the Hudson River Line I'm in a New York upstate of mind... Billy Joel sort of. While others might jet off to the beach or head out to the Hamptons, I once again found myself doing what has apparently become an annual tradition—packing up the car and heading north for a good old-fashioned baseball double-dip. Year two of the upstate swing.

The story of Mets catchers in the 1990s is really two stories that collided. The first is Todd Hundley’s: a homegrown catcher, defensively trusted before he was feared, who slowly became one of the most powerful catchers baseball had ever seen. The second is Mike Piazza’s: a superstar dropped into Queens in midstream, instantly changing what the Mets looked like, what they expected from the catcher’s spot, and how the franchise imagined itself. Everyone else who caught for th

Mets 4 Rockies 2 (Coors Field, Denver CO) Mets record: 13-22 Mets streak: Won 2 WP -David Peterson (1-4) LP - Tomoyuki Sugano (3-2) SV - Devin Williams (4) Seat on the Korner: Carson Benge We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets. Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented