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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

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

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

Mets and A's history has to begin with the 1973 World Series. Seaver, Matlack, Koosman, Rusty, and Cleon against Reggie, Campaneris, Rudi, Catfish, and Fingers. Should Yogi Berra have started George Stone in Game 6 so he'd have a rested Franchise in Game 7? Should the GOAT, Willie Mays, have even been on the roster at age 42? Should Wayne Garrett have been allowed to hit against fellow lefty Darold Knowles, who was appearing in his record-breaking seventh game? Can you imagin

Some transactions exist purely to help a Triple-A roster survive the dog days. Others exist to give a manager a spring training body who can play short, second, third, and probably sell peanuts if needed. And then there are the rare ones that exist almost entirely to poke the baseball gods in the ribs and say, remember 1969? The Mets’ minor-league agreement with Grae Kessinger, complete with a non-roster invitation to spring training, fits squarely into that last category. On

By now, Mets fans have learned a new daily routine for January: breakfast, walk the dogm check email, Zoom press conference, repeat. This month has featured so many introductory media availabilities that it’s starting to feel less like Hot Stove season and more like baseball speed dating . Today’s installment brought us the newest face in that familiar little Zoom rectangle — Freddy Peralta — and if the Mets were hoping to introduce someone who sounds unfazed by bright lights

The 1969 Miracle Mets hangover seemed to come in and out through the next decade for the franchise, trying to hold onto relevance, identity, and winning baseball in the 1970s. It was indeed a decade marked by transition, grit, and improvisation. No position reflected that reality more clearly than third base — the hot corner — where a rotating cast of players mirrored the Mets’ shifting fortunes throughout the decade. At the center of it all was Wayne Garrett, the most endu

There was a time when Craig Kimbrel entered a baseball game and opposing hitters immediately started thinking about their families. They wondered if they had said I love you enough. They wondered if this was how it ended. That Craig Kimbrel was a menace. A right armed horror movie with a bent over stance, a fastball that hissed, and a breaking ball that vanished like socks in a dryer. He piled up saves the way the Mets used to pile up injuries. Four hundred and forty of them.

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?”                This week’s installment is a logical follow-up to last week's, when we focused on Kathy Kersch, the first woman crowned Miss Rheingold during the Mets era. And, actually, this wee

Mets fans, let’s take the blue-and-orange tinted glasses off for a minute. Vidal Bruján is not the next José Reyes, hell he isn't even the next Pablo Reyes. He’s not a secret All-Star hiding in plain sight. He’s not about to steal 60 bases and force the Mets to install a speed limit at Citi Field. So who is Vidal Bruján ? If your reaction to the question, “Is that a new member of the Queens Crew — congratulations, you’re normal. He’s basically baseball’s version of the guy w

The Mets' flurry of activity this past week has awakened our two curmudgeons from their winter hibernation and prompted them to weigh in: John Coppinger:  So we were told there was a plan, and that we needed to wait for it to take shape. Well in three days, we have a definite shape with the additions of Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr. and Freddy Peralta.  I guess we can start chronologically with Bichette, and I’ll jump in by saying that I really like this move. Bichette was the

There are two truths in life: The sun rises in the east. Mets fandom much like today's political climate is a house divided, with the dividing line usually running straight through Thanksgiving dinner. I know this because I run KinersKorner.com, a digital family room where Mets fans gather daily to agree on one thing that everyone else is wrong. Which brings us to David Stearns. Let me preface this by saying I have been a believer in David Stearns’ long-term vision for this

It finally happened. After two full seasons of me nagging, pleading, and borderline stalking the Mets front office via my keyboard, Luis Robert Jr. is a Met. That’s right the same Luis Robert Jr. who put up a , MVP-caliber season a few years back, making us all dream of 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases from center field, is now heading to Citi Field.”And yet, as is tradition in New York, some fans are pouting about the trade. Why? Because Luisangel Acuña was included. Let’s t

If you were looking for subtlety at Citi Field on Monday afternoon, you were very much in the wrong building. This was not a depth signing. This was not a hedge. This was the Mets standing at the podium and telling you exactly who they think they are right now. Bo Bichette is a New York Met, and from the opening remarks to the final breakout session, the message stayed remarkably consistent. This was about winning, work, and a willingness to embrace change in pursuit of somet

Hey Mets fans, consider this a reality check. A wake-up call. A figurative slap across the cheek designed to snap us out of our collective, group-text-level despair. Edwin Díaz is gone. Pete Alonso is gone. Brandon Nimmo is gone. And for good measure, let’s toss Jeff McNeil into the emotional blender as well. These were real Mets. Long term Mets. Homegrown Mets. “They were here when times were bad” Mets. The kind of guys you don’t just watch—you invest in. Jerseys were purcha

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’s lesson took a slight detour from the usual roll call of orange-and-blue alumni. Instead of Mets who were, we studied Mets who almost were, a half-dozen draft picks whose names were o

Rescued from the purgatory of running a team in baseball receivership working its way out of Montreal and into Washington, Omar Minaya hit the ground running after being hired as the Mets’ director of baseball operations at the end of the 2004 season.                He overhauled the coaching staff and the roster, making splashes on both counts and letting it be known that his Mets were intent on doing what needed to be done to turn around a franchise that had put up three co