CityCynic.com

Jerry Seinfeld was in the SNY broadcast booth for the Mets game against the Detroit Tigers today, calling the game and reminiscing about Seinfeld and Lady Gaga’s recent antics with Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez.

Not only was Jerry Seinfeld absolutely hilarious, but he also was really good at calling the game AND providing color comedy commentary!

Seinfeld also discussed Keith Hernandez’ memorable guest appearance on Seinfeld, as SNY came back from break with a couple of clips.

Here are some choice exchanges between the trio from the event:

SEINFELD: “This is the greatest booth in baseball… 1-2 on Johnny Damon…. Gary Cohen is the greatest broadcaster… the best booth”

“I don’t want to do play-by-play. I’m here for the color Mets comedy.”

ME: “Wow, Jerry Seinfeld actually does some great play-by-play. Ron Darling better watch out! His seat is in danger! LOL”

SEINFELD: “Speaking of innovative at first base… Who was more innovative at first base than Keith Hernandez?”

“I dont think there’s anything more fun than being a Mets fan.They have 2 World Championships but they are two of the most exciting a team can have.”

“When are we going to talk about Lady Gaga, that’s why I’m here.”

“Well we don’t understand the kids today & the music business. Maybe, I’m sure we’ll all be bigger fans now that she cursed us out.”

“She should make a nice apology to the Mets fans… then I’m willing to forget the whole thing.”

“Is that Johnny Damon in center?!? What is he doing out there? He can’t cover THAT much ground!”

“Why are the Tigers EVEN HERE?!?”

And when Mets on-field reporter Kevin Burkhardt made a reference to wearing a shirt to the game from the J. Peterman catalog in Seinfeld’s honor (a Seinfeld reference), Jerry replied right back:

“Don’t do my stuff, Kevin.”

I think Gary, Keith, and Ron should have Jerry Seinfeld on once (or twice) EVERY season and make it a yearly Seinfeld Night! So hilarious!

Major League Baseball has always had bad umpire calls. Managers running out of the dugouts and arguing seemingly blown calls is a part of the game, just as much as batting gloves or wooden bats.

And I have seen many, many (too many) blown calls against my Mets in recent games, a few of which have essentially cost them the game.

But absolutely none of this compares to the egregious call by umpire Jim Joyce today to steal away what should have been a perfect game (the third in one season!) by Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galaragga.

I think it would be hard to argue that this was the worst blown call in MLB history:

The Mets have agreed to sign All-Star outfielder Jason Bay to a four-year, $66 million contract, pending a physical, improving their chances of making the playoffs in 2010.

Now while I could go into the next moves the team needs to make to get back to World Series shape, I’d much rather share something I found in the comments section of MLB.com… a poem from a Mets fan (different, right?):

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE METS’ NEXT SEASON

Twas the night before new years / and all through the town / a slight smile was forming / from an uncomfortable frown /

The Mets and J Bay have come come up with a deal / hopefully jumpstarting the teams offseason wheel /

But there is still “quite” an opening / on the teams starting rotation / With an emphasis on quite / which i have in quotation /

There is plenty of room / for the arm of Piniero / But his agent and him / want too much dinero /

We don’t need an ace / we need an arm with no cuts /  a starter with heart / some brains and some guts /

How about Brett Myers from Philly / his teams lookin full / maybe Bedard, Smoltz or Pedro / one or two would be cool /

So on David, on Carlos, on Jose, and John Maine / On Luis, and on Frenchy / I’m not tryin to complain /

You guys need some help / and some Vitamin C / To contend in the East / with the team from Philly /

So rest up this winter / and get ready for Spring /

And keep your fingers crossed / for a World Series Ring

[Originally written and posted on MLB.com by user hudge36. I added the title and formatting for better readability.]

While I definitely don’t agree that John Smoltz or Pedro Martinez are viable options for the Mets future, I do like the effort put into that Mets poetry.

Hopefully the Mets will make the necessary moves and the 2010 season will flow just as smoothly as the above prose, getting our Metsies to the playoffs.

The Mets announced that the team will wear a new pinstriped home uniform in the 2010 season that is inspired by the early years of the franchise:

The design combines new and old elements of Mets uniforms.

The Mets created the retro uniform following research and positive responses to the jerseys the 1969 World Champion Mets wore during their 40th anniversary celebration in August.

The natural color and pinstripes were staples of the original Mets uniform when the team debuted in 1962. The Mets will also continue to wear their white uniform at home with the black jerseys as an alternate.

The new jerseys will go on sale this Friday, November 27 at mets.com.

I’ve always liked the Mets pinstripes (reminds me of the ’86 team), so this announcement has got me pretty excited. Now let’s pick up a couple of key trades for next season.

And let’s hope the retro nod to the Mets past will help them win in the near future!

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about my New York Mets Christmas tree, I proudly present my list of the Top 10 Mets Christmas Ornaments I don’t (yet) have on my tree:

#1 – Mets Nutcrackers [link]: While watching the Nutcracker Suite, I never imagined the Nutcracker prince watching Mets games, but he had to be doing something while hiding around in that giant present.

#2 – Mets Hat: This ornament is cool because it has the actual Mets hat texture. I might just have to pick one of these up.

#3 – Homemade Mets Sweater: Jennifer from Major Knitter knitted up this homemade beauty.

#4 – Mets Christmas Tree with Santa [link]: The best part of this ornament is the Santa putting the Mets star on top of the Christmas tree. Told you Santa was a Mets fan!

#5 – Mets Santa Bear with Mets Santa Hat: No Christmas tree is complete without a Santa bear and no Santa Bear is complete without a Mets Santa hat!

#6 – Mets Snowman with Scarf: There are many Mets snowman ornaments out there, but this one has the large Mets logo and matching orange and blue scarf and hat.

#7 – David Wright and Pedro Martinez team up with Santa: Okay, fine. Pedro isn’t exactly a Met anymore, and we’d rather see a Wright and Santana team up with Santa ornament, but the spirit behind this ornament is in the right place, so it made the list. Not sure which position Santa plays though…

#8 – David Wright: Okay, so if you couldn’t stomach the Pedro part of the last ornament after his turn to the dark side (ahem, Philadelphia), then this David Wright ornament is for you. Too bad none of the player ornaments actually look anything like the players they are supposed to represent.

#9 – Mike Piazza Shiny Christmas: This ornament kicks it old school in a I-didn’t-just-jump-on-the-Mets-bandwagon sort of way. Plus, Piazza is one of my favorite Mets ever… too bad this ornament can only be found in baseball card packs from the 90′s.

#10 – Mets mini stocking: Jennifer from Major Knitter is at it again. Am I happy she uses her knitting skills for good and not Yankees stuff evil.

What other Mets Christmas ornaments have you found that you think should be on this list? If you take a look, there are actually many more around than you would ever think of around the web or on your neighbor’s Christmas tree.

At least they can keep our minds off of the injury debacle of 2009 and allow us to focus on the presents waiting for us in the 2010 season!

I had some free time today so I decided to set up my New York Mets Christmas tree!

The idea for the tree came about on a recent trip to Marshall’s, where I found a Mets logo tree skirt and a dozen Mets ornaments that came in plastic candy cane-shaped packaging.

And from there, a few trips to CVS, Target, and Walmart allowed me to add orange and blue lights, several baseball-themed ornaments, and even Mets candy canes to the tree.

So tonight I set it all up, complete with a real Mets baseball tree topper. What do you think?

As a diehard Mets fan, I’m super excited with how it turned out. I really was able to get creative putting it all together and it’s the perfect off-season tribute to my beloved Metsies!

I don’t know how I can top this next year… unless I decorate a full-size Mets tree! Uh oh… now I really want to!

Sometimes it’s nice to express a feeling through photographs. Here’s my latest.

Happiness is…

Happiness comes in many forms… I’m just lucky I get to capture some of it in my photographs.

Sometimes when I walk by my dad sitting on the couch watching TV, I wish he had the game on.

Or maybe more accurately, I wish he called in to me from the other room and asked me if I was going to watch the World Series with him.

Its a strange position to be in. I mean, my dad is who originally got me into baseball when I was 5.

It was a sunny afternoon in 1985, the Mets were taking on the Cubs, and I was sitting in the upper deck “red seats” at Shea Stadium as airplanes roared overhead.

He could have taken me to a movie. He could have taken me to the local park and pushed me on the swings. But he decided to take me to a baseball game at the age of 5 and that decision has shaped many aspects of my life ever since.

Not only did that $9 ticket and hot dog experience give me an amazing baseball team to root for over all these years in the Mets, but it gave me something I thought would be a common connection between me and my dad.

But that connection isn’t here in 2009 and I don’t know why.

That’s not to say my dad and I don’t discuss baseball. I’ve given him World Series updates throughout the Fall Classic and Mets injury updates throughout the 2009 season. But that’s not the same as experiencing the ups and downs of a game and bonding over trade rumors and the latest stats.

I don’t really take all of this personally — my dad really doesn’t follow any sports these days. And maybe he never really did. Instead, maybe that day in the mid-80′s wasn’t a vote for baseball, but rather a vote for father-son bonding. I don’t really know, but the effect it had on me is evident in the license plate frame on my car and the multi-pack of Mets tickets I buy and use each season and the drive to visit Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame, which I finally accomplished with Melissa at the beginning of October.

It made me a diehard Mets fan — I bleed orange and blue — and I just don’t understand why my dad doesn’t also.

Its not like we don’t have things that we bond over. We can talk Obama and politics like nobodies business. Or bring up a sociological principle evident in today’s society and we’re off running, often talking for hours. Bring up the economy and the pros and cons of the death tax, the rise and the fall of the stock market, and the strength of the dollar are sure to follow. And there are other things we both seem to “get” enough to discuss.

Its just that none of these things are baseball. None of them involve rooting on a team through a 162 game season. None of them involve believing in something so much that not making the playoffs makes you cry.

I know other people’s fathers watch every baseball game they can, the big game every Sunday, and any other assortment of sports events that come along. They curse at the television, throw back a couple beers, and quote baseball history like the gospel.

So yeah, sometimes I wish my dad had the game on.

But maybe, just maybe, our shared baseball experience almost 25 years ago was supposed to be only an example of how much my dad loves me.

And baseball is supposed to be a gift I share and enjoy with others in my life to show them how much I love them. Hey, I like the sound of that.

It sure could have been worse though… he could have taken me to a *gasp* Yankees game all those years ago.

Well baseball fans, it’s that time of the year again… the playoffs!

And despite watching my Mets fall to injury after injury, I’m still a huge baseball fan and I’m excited about the 2009 postseason.

Watching the Dodgers clinch was amazing this year and seeing the Yankees win 103 times just boggles my mind. Who can stop the Phillies from repeating (with Pedro Martinez onboard this time around) and are the Cardinals really unstoppable with slugger Albert Pujols on fire? The Angels looked good all season long and the Red Sox never stopped fighting. Do the Twins or the Rockies even stand a chance? Its gonna be exciting!

Not to mention that this is my first baseball postseason following along on Twitter (and tweeting at @citycynic, check it out!).

And like every year since running this site, I’m back with my picks. So here we go…

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rockies vs. Phillies - Rockies in 4.

The Phillies are a very strong team, but the Rockies have the added drive to win their first ever World Series. Look for them to come on ultra strong and find a way around the Phillies’ homerun sluggers and defense. The Rockies are a younger team that always seems to dig deep to win.

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Cardinals vs. Dodgers - Dodgers in 5.

The Cardinals have been as hot as Pujols’ bat all season, but even with a slowdown at the end, the Dodgers, led by Ethier and Kemp, have always found a way, even with some shaky bullpen pitching. While the Cards’ starting pitching may make this series a bit bumpy for LA, they’ve proved they can power through any obstacle this season.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Twins vs. Yankees – Yankees in 3.

While the Twins could certainly put something together with the great talents of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, the Yankees have been chomping at the bit to put in a good playoff bid, after missing the playoffs last season, and will likely run right over Minnesota, who seemingly put it all out there in their AL Tiebreaker game against the Tigers.

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Red Sox vs. Angels – Red Sox in 4.

The Red Sox may have the most-feared starting pitching in the playoffs this year. The Angels’ running game is something they will have to contend with, as they haven’t thrown out so many runners on the basepaths this year. If the Red Sox can keep their bats swinging away and avoid making any costly mistakes, they will take this series from the Angels.

WHO I’M ROOTING FOR

With the absence of the Mets again this postseason (sorry, had to plug my team again), I am looking towards the most exciting team in the National League this season to win it all. That would be none other than the Los Angeles Dodgers with my buddy Joe Torre at the helm. Won’t that just burn the Yankees brass! They have looked great all season and have just been rolling along. Keep on rolling, Blue!

As for the American League, I would love to see the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim get past both Boston and the Yankees to bring a no-holds barred super Freeway Series (much like the 2000 Subway Series) to California this year. Heck, they can certainly use the tourism revenue, right Arnold? But this Angels team is certainly not the strongest team they’ve brought to the playoffs, so I’m going with the Red Sox to outlast the Yankees and bring a “We have Manny and you don’t” matchup in the Fall Classic.

And of course, the team with Manny is the team that wins. Silly, yes. But just as a matter of fact. :P

ALSO INTERESTING

Also interesting is to see that TBS’ postseason coverage includes the Mets’ SNY’s Ron Darling for color commentary. After suffering through ESPN’s and FOX’s terrible coverage this baseball season (Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Joe Morgan, I’m looking at you!), it will be nice to enjoy a division series reprieve until we get back to FOX’s dry and boring coverage of the league championship series and World Series. Not sure how much insight David Wells will add, but I always enjoy Cal Ripken Jr. onboard as well.

Now let’s play some baseball!

I’m a diehard lifelong Mets fan. However, I’ve always been partial to the Chicago Cubs.

Allow me to explain.

When you think about it, the Cubs are similar to the Mets in a number of ways.

As I watch the Mets play the Cubs at Wrigley Field, I am watching two teams that came into the 2009 season with great expectations, but which are both now far out of playoff contention.

The fans in Chicago are definitely upset with how the team has performed, but they’re still there in the stands. Mets fans are the same way, even if this year’s arrival of Citi Field means Blue Smoke ribs and Shake Shackburgers as an extra bonus for filling the seats.

And both teams are traditionally viewed as underdogs in a big city setting. As a New Yorker, I could see myself living a similar lifestyle in Chicago, purchasing a partial ticket plan as I have at Citi Field to watch the Cubs play at Wrigley.

And they are both underdog teams, which means that as a fan it becomes a super-exciting event when our teams make it to the playoffs. Unlike other teams that seemingly make it to the playoffs year after year where it is just part of the routine, I’d like to point out.

Both Cubs and Mets fans are shameless in expressing their dissatisfaction with underperforming players. Cubs fans today are booing their own outfielder Milton Bradley who has been very outspoken in letting everyone know he wants out of Chicago, despite having two years left on his contract. Then he commited the additonal sin of dropping a routine fly ball in rightfield. Fans in Chicago booed him just as loudly as us fans booed Luis Castillo’s dropped pop up that cost us the game against the Yankees earlier in the season. I could see myself continuing the booing in Chicago. Well, at least until the players get the team to the playoffs.

There’s just the same amount of cheering in both stadiums, as there should be. But the unapologetic booing is really what sets Cubs and Mets fans apart.

And then there’s the team colors. The Cubs have a very familiar shade of blue… called Cubbie Blue in Chicago. But I’m pretty sure its Mets blue in disguise. It looks very much like the blue I’ve been rooting on my whole life. And while its true that the Cubs other color isn’t orange, red happens to be my favorite color.

And I guess history has something to do with it too. The very first Mets game I attended back in 1985 when I was just a little kid was way up in the red seats at Shea Stadium against the Chicago Cubs. I watched Darryl Strawberry and Keith Hernandez play Chicago that day. Mets won, by the way.

So I’m partial to the Cubbies. And that doesn’t mean I don’t love my Metsies any less. It just means that as a Mets fan, I also follow what’s going on in Wrigleyville, whereas I really have no idea what’s going on in, say, Houston or Pittsburgh these days.

But then again, who really does?