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If you’ve followed the first ten installments of our Kollectors Hall of Fame series, you already know this is where we celebrate the diehards — the fans whose devotion to the orange and blue doesn’t stop at the final out. These are the people who live Mets baseball, preserve its history, and build their lives around the memories the team has given them. This month, we induct a collector whose dedication to the Amazins predates Shea Stadium, predates Seaver, and goes all the w

The way the Mets began 1998, it looked like they would be playing a long season. They ended it much shorter than they hoped.                In-between, they made some key acquisitions – including perhaps the biggest acquisition in their history (the jury remains out on Juan Soto, long-term) –won 88 games, the same as in 1997 – and fell a single game short of what would have been a three-way tie for what was then the only wild card spot.                The first key acquisitio

The Dodgers landed the first haymakers. In the bottom of the third, the Brooklyn–Hollywood hybrid unleashed a historical mashup that only a strat-o-matic simulation could produce. Corey Seager, who never sniffed a trolley car, blasted a two-run homer. Then Duke Snider, who practically owned the trolley line, added a two-run shot of his own. Just like that, the Mets trailed 4–0, and Doc Gooden—who had racked up strikeouts like it was 1985—saw his ERA on the afternoon jump fast

Baseball lost one of its great travelers this week. And I don’t mean the “Edwin Jackson played for fourteen different teams” kind of traveler. I mean the “he basically was the poster child for TSA PreCheck for three different baseball worlds” variety traveler. George Altman — Negro Leaguer, Major Leaguer, Japanese baseball star, two-time All-Star, and possessor of enough passport stamps to make Rick Steves ask for travel advise, passed away at 92. Bob Kendrick of the Negro L

The Mets’ newest second baseman, former Rangers star, Gold Glover, father of five, and now owner of the Most Spoken Words in a Zoom Call Since 2020, Marcus Semien met the New York media today for the first time. And if first impressions matter… well, Mets fans, start stretching now because this guy plays like he expects you to run out every grounder too. From the jump, Semien was vintage Semien: direct, thoughtful, polished, and sneakily funny in that “I’m a dad of five and

The Texas Rangers spent the Monday before Thanksgiving talking about the kind of move that shakes organizations, fan bases, and group chats from Arlington to Queens: trading Marcus Semien, the durable All-Star second baseman and cornerstone of their 2023 championship, to the New York Mets in exchange for longtime Met Brandon Nimmo and cash considerations. On Monday, Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young and GM Ross Fenstermaker met with the media to explain one

On a gray November morning, with Thanksgiving somehow both days away and already weighing heavily on the stomachs of Mets fans, David Stearns stepped onto a Zoom call and did something no Mets executive ever enjoys doing: explaining why he just traded Brandon Nimmo. And not just traded him… traded him to Texas, for a 35-year-old second baseman whose best years “may or may not be” be behind him depending on how optimistic you are this holiday season. Stearns opened the call th

I’ve had the privilege of covering Brandon Nimmo for his entire Mets career, and let me tell you, the guy has been more gracious with his time than any ballplayer has a right to be. On-field interviews, appearances on my radio show, random chats in the dugout—Brandon always showed up with that trademark smile that made you wonder if he knew something wonderful about the world that the rest of us Mets fans didn’t. And it’s not just me; he’s exactly the kind of player an organi

Former Mets reliever Adam Ottavino recently went on the offensive against his former team during an episode of his Baseball & Coffee podcast, criticizing manager Carlos Mendoza and the Mets organization for what he called “haphazard” bullpen management and a lack of communication that allegedly led to numerous injuries during the 2025 season. Ottavino didn’t mince words. He claimed Mendoza “has no idea what he’s doing when it comes to bullpen guys and how to keep them healthy

Randy Jones never threw a pitch that frightened a radar gun, but he built a career that could humble even the most electrified arms of his era. He grew up in southern California, a left-hander whose fastball wasn’t exactly the sort of thing scouts sprinted to see twice. What he did have—and what would eventually make him one of the great artisans of 1970s pitching—was a stubborn belief that there were other ways to get hitters out. When he talked about it, even decades later,

By the time the conga lines hit the third-base line, the flags were waving like a United Nations parade on double espresso, and the temperature dipped to a wind-chill-enhanced 47 degrees, Citi Field felt less like early-winter Queens and more like a giant Caribbean block party sponsored by LIDOM, the LBPRC, and maybe a little by the New York Mets themselves. And yes — this was absolutely a Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico showdown. But make no mistake: it also had a tremend

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where we dust off the bubble-gum cards and game-used jerseys of the guys who made you squint and go, “Wait… didn’t he play for us?” Last week, we looked back at Brent Gaff — the Indiana right-hander who quietly became a dependable arm in the early ’80s Mets bullpen and now builds some of the finest fishing rods this side of the Midwest. This week, we stay closer to home — a

Let the record show, I’ve been driving the Max Kranick bandwagon since Day One. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and check the KinersKorner.com Facebook group archives. As the kids say, I’ve got the receipts. And why not? The guy’s got that mix every Mets fan dreams of: lifelong Mets fan ,he even attended a baseball clinic run by Al Leiter as a kid and fifteen years later caught the ceremonial first pitch from Leiter on Opening Day in 2025 — hometown roots, bulldog mentality, and a

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where we dust off the bubble-gum cards and game-used jerseys of the guys who made you squint and go, “Wait… didn’t he play for us?” Last week, we looked back at Brian Cole, the five-tool comet who blazed through the Mets’ system before tragedy cut his story short. This week, we go back to the early ’80s before Doc, before Darryl, before the Home Run Apple even knew how to

If you’ve been a loyal reader of Kiner’s Korner over the years, you probably know I’m usually all in on most things the Mets do. I take a wait-and-see approach to most moves, rarely critical, because let’s face it anyone sitting in that chair at Citi Field making Major League hires has more baseball smarts in their pinky fingernail than I do in my entire body. That being said, this is one of the first moves in a long, long time that has me scratching my head. Time will tell,

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where we dust off the bubble-gum cards and game-used jerseys of the guys who made you squint and go, “Wait… didn’t he play for us?” Last week, we looked back at Chuck Hiller and Harvey Haddix , two men who helped shape a young franchise with fundamentals, grit, and good humor. This week, we shift gears to someone who never made it to Shea but whose name still makes longtime

Not hitting much lately? Grab a Snitker. You’re not you when you’re slumping and Mets fans know that better than anyone. After too many nights of runners stranded and warning-track fly balls, this lineup has been hungry for something or someone to finally satisfy. Enter Troy Snitker, the new Mets hitting coach, here to feed an offense that’s been living off empty calories. He’s not a candy bar, though his last name sounds like one. He’s a data-loving, launch-angle-tracking

On July 5, 1981 , as Major League Baseball sat still in silence, the diamond’s disputes found their way to the Sunday morning airwaves. On Face the Nation, one of television’s most respected public affairs programs, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and New York Mets first baseman Rusty Staub joined CBS News to publicly discuss the game’s crippling labor strike — a rare and fascinating crossover between America’s pastime and America’s political discourse. For fans ac

Welcome back to Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing, our weekly rummage through the Mets’ attic, where the dust smells like pine tar and nostalgia, and where we occasionally find something we forgot we ever owned. Last week, we wandered off the basepaths entirely and into the barnyard, revisiting Homer the Beagle and Mettle the Mule , the two mascots who barked, brayed, and did their best to distract us from box scores that sometimes made you want to cover your eyes. T

Baseball lost one of its quiet constants yesterday. Sandy Alomar Sr. the slick-fielding infielder, devoted baseball lifer, proud father, and one-time Mets coach passed away Monday in his native Puerto Rico at the age of 81. To most fans, the Alomar name brings to mind his two remarkable sons , Roberto, the Hall of Famer, and Sandy Jr., the six-time All-Star but before either of them was turning double plays or catching big league fastballs, there was the original: a 5-foot-9