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Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where we brush the dust off the bubble gum cards, flip through curling yearbooks, and rediscover the names that once made you stop mid knish and say, “Hold on… he was a Met, right?” Last week we stood, removed our caps, and revisited the voices that opened Mets games long before the first pitch and the first second guessing of the bullpen. From Pearl Bailey setting the tone

The day is almost upon us. Players can finally 'argue' balls and strikes without getting tossed and making a shameful appearance on every highlight show later that night. It's called the 'Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System' (ABS), and players will be able to use it during the entire 2026 season. They teased us last year during spring training, making us wait an entire season, while screaming all kinds of creative language at our televisions. But will this be a 'be careful

Even before analytics baseball has always been a numbers game. Not the kind that requires spreadsheets and algorithms, but the kind where a handful of digits become shorthand for a life’s work. Say 60 or 714 and the mind drifts automatically to immortality. Mention 56, .406, or 511 and you don’t even need to attach the names. Numbers in this sport have a way of sticking to players like pine tar. Some careers are defined by one unforgettable line on a stat sheet. For Elroy “Ro

The Mets were trying to put the disappointing finishes of the previous two seasons at Shea Stadium behind them as they approached the 2009 season with new hope and a new ballpark. The season would be defined by the new venue (3rd in franchise history) and a mind boggling spate of devastating injuries. General Manager Omar Minaya made some changes during the off season to improve the bullpen. With Billy Wagner undergoing Tommy John surgery in September, 2008, Minaya signed fre

There are certain sites and sounds in spring training that signal baseball is officially alive again, the pop of a fastball in a catcher’s mitt, the sound of a fungo bat, and the unmistakable cadence of a manager standing at a podium explaining, in calm baseball speak, why everything is both encouraging and cautiously monitored. On Friday, Carlos Mendoza stepped into that role, delivering a wide-ranging briefing that touched on pitching health, roster development, defensive p

There are a handful of rites of spring that never change. The sun comes up over the back fields, someone insists this is the best shape of their life, and reporters ask a newly arrived star how it feels to be somewhere new. On Thursday afternoon, that star was Bo Bichette the Mets’ freshly imported infielder with the family pedigree and an All-Star résumé, and now, a new glove destined for third base. And if you were expecting grand pronouncements, chest-thumping or a Power

Super Bowl Sunday marks the end of the football season, and more importantly, the start of spring training. Just seeing simple video of the Mets walking from their cars, maybe they are wearing headphones, maybe they are in sweats, and maybe their thoughts are a million miles away. Baseball is back. Bring it on. Honoring the Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks, 14-2 in the regular seaon, seems warranted. Their Seattle brethren, the Mariners, have had many little uninteresting

If you’re anything like me and my wife insists there is no one like me (I’m still not sure if she meant that as a compliment), you can remember exactly when and where you bought your very first pack of baseball cards. Just reading this probably has your sense of smell kicking into gear right now. (Is that… that smell?) That unmistakable aroma of cardboard, ink, and gum, or what passed for gum in the 1960s, especially when you peeled back that last card in the pack, hoping for

There are days early in camp when the biggest story is which reliever showed up with a new haircut, and then there are days when the president of baseball operations steps to the microphone and casually drops enough news to make everyone in the room reach for their phones at the same time to post to Twitter. Tuesday was firmly in the latter category. David Stearns opened his media availability with what could best be described as a one-two punch: one that caused Mets fans to

The 1990s saw the end of an era for a beloved Mets third baseman, and the beginning of an era that still hasn't ended. That era is still shelling out just over $1 million a year until 2035, so we still got a ways to go. The decade ended with a legendary bat, who came through NYC and provided one of the best walk offs in team history. The Early 90s started the way the 80s ended, with the speed and the pop from the fan-favorite, Howard Johnson. In '90 he hit 23 HR and drove in

Full Disclosure: I have been a big fan of Ken Davidoff for a long, long time. He was a frequent guest on my SportsTalkNY radio show, over the years I’ve always enjoyed spending time with him in the press box where conversations range from pitch sequencing to the identity of the mystery meat that’s been sitting under a heat lamp since Dave Kingman last played for the Mets. So when 101 Lessons From the Dugout, the book he co-authored with nationally renowned pediatrician and

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where we brush off the dust, squint at old photos, and rediscover the people, places, and moments that once made Mets baseball feel new, hopeful, and occasionally sunburned. Last week, we were in St. Petersburg, Florida, the Mets’ original spring home. Before Shea. Before Port St. Lucie. Before winning seasons were anything more than a rumor. Back when baseballs occasionall

Terrance Gore was never the guy whose baseball card you bought for the home runs or batting titles. He was the guy managers quietly looked for when October tightened and ninety feet suddenly felt like a mile. And now, far too soon, he’s gone. News broke this weekend that Gore passed away Friday evening at the age of 34. Tributes quickly followed from across baseball — from organizations he suited up for and teammates who knew him — but the words that mattered most came from t

The Mets began 2008 with Willie Randolph on the hot seat, but by midseason, Jerry Manuel would be warming the manager’s chair. And no matter who was at the helm, the ending would be the same as 2007: a September collapse (although not of 2007’s magnitude) leading to a win-or-go-home final game that ended with the resurgent Florida Marlins breaking Mets’ fan’s hearts. General manager Omar Minaya had once again put together a veteran team in win-now mode. While,

The Mets and the Diamondbacks may not have the most history as trade partners over the relatively few years, but they have had impactful players change sides. Their history came to a boil when they met in the 1999 Division Series, which the Mets won in four games. The first game of that series was given an 11:00 PM starting time! And since this was the first Mets playoff appearance since the 1988 Orel Hershisers, we were all going to stay up late. It was tied going to the top

There are Hall of Famers, and then there are baseball lifers—guys who looked like they could’ve been sitting two stools down from you at the bar, but instead went out every fifth day and took the ball like it owed them money. Mickey Lolich was that guy. Lolich, who passed away on February 4, 2026 at the age of 85, described himself as “the beer-drinker’s idol,” and nobody ever accused him of false advertising. With his sturdy frame, soft belly (which he insisted was “all musc

In the early 1980s, Shea Stadium was a place of echoes — echoes of past glory, echoes of empty seats, echoes of a fan base waiting for something to believe in again. The New York Mets were rebuilding not just a roster, but an identity. Nowhere was that transformation more clearly reflected than at third base. Over the course of the decade, the Mets’ hot corner evolved from a position of stopgaps and hard-nosed placeholders into one of the most productive and symbolic spots on

If the Kollector’s Korner Hall of Fame handed out scouting reports, this month’s inductee would come with something like this: position, relentless; tools, patience, research, memory, and phone numbers nobody else has; weakness, none detected; ceiling, every Met who ever appeared in a game. This month’s inductee is not just a collector. He is a tracker, a historian, a networking department, and occasionally a private investigator who just happens to wear Mets blue. Meet Steve

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly stroll through Mets history, where we dust off the forgotten, squint at the overlooked, and remind ourselves that Mets lore is about far more than box scores and batting averages. The last couple of lessons wandered slightly off the basepaths. First, we tipped our cap to Kathy Kersch, Miss Rheingold 1962, the smiling face of the Mets’ first major sponsor and the most photogenic rookie of their inaugural se

Much could be written about the first five months of the 2007 baseball season: About how the Mets were determined to erase the bad taste they left in fans’ mouths when Carlos Beltran took a called third strike to end game seven of the 2006 NLCS with the winning runs on base; About how the team once again was built to win, with a veteran squad that, while having its question marks involving the health and quality of the bullpen and the rotation, h