images/slider_image_01.jpg

NEW YORK METS MANIA

Top Banner Ads

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive
 

For all of the Mets historians out there...does anyone recall how the 1969 World Series got underway? Bottom of the first inning? Tom Seaver...The Franchise...pitching? Does anyone remember the name "Don Buford?" Any of this remind anyone of anything?

As I recall, Buford was the Orioles leadoff batter and he lofted a Seaver pitch deep to rightfield. Ron Swoboda, not the most graceful of outfielders, backpedalled...backpedalled...and backpedalled...right into the rightfield fence. And the ball just managed to clear the fence for a leadoff home run which set the stage for a Game 1 Orioles win. The truth is, had Swoboda run straight back to the fence, braced himself, and just jumped ever so slightly, he could have caught the ball. Not the easiest play, but one a good rightfielder would have made. And hey, Swoboda more than made up for that in Game 4 with his famous diving catch.

WorldSeriesGame1Fast forward to 2015. Bottom of the first inning. Matt Harvey...The Dark Knight...pitching. Alcides Escobar lofts a fly ball to left centerfield. Yoenis Cespedes misplays the ball...doesn't catch it...then kicks it...and it turns into what is ruled an inside-the-park home run. NO WAY was it an inside-the-parker. A double and a two-base error...maybe. A triple and an error...perhaps. But that ball...especially given Cespedes' prowess for playing centerfield...should have been caught. And for anyone to say that Juan Lagares WOULD have caught the ball...is not really accurate. Because while Lagares won a gold glove last year and is definitely a wonderful centerfielder, he has been playing injured and is but a shell of himself while Cespedes has looked All-World out there.

The point is...Game 1 of 2015 began with a ball misplayed into a home run just like the Buford shot in 1969. And much like Swoboda came back to do something special, it is more than likely Cespedes will do the same.

The coverage on Fox is so disappointing. Of course the power outage could not have been more ridiculous...showing how unprepared the network was. And what is so absurd about it is that the only reason it actually affected the game was because the managers were concerned that they would not have access to the instant replay in the event that they would need to challenge a call on the field. How the game has changed since the last time these two teams won this thing (Royals 1985, Mets 1986).

And watching the Fox broadcasts just makes you appreciate the broadcast team of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling. And, of course, Howie Rose on the radio side. Listening to Joe Buck, Harold Reynolds, and Tom Verducci is unpleasant. I respect Buck as a broadcaster but if he is not teamed up with a good analyst his weaknesses are exposed. And while Reynolds is a good studio analyst, his in-game analysis is horrible and annoying. And why is Verducci in the booth? With all of the former players available, why is a news columnist in there? It is a total misfit.

What happened to the days of a neutral broacaster for the play-by-play with a member of each team's broadcast team? Wouldn't that make a lot more sense? It would also bring a lot more to the broadcast.

And why does the network need so many others to sit at a table and add their two cents? There are just too many people involved who just don't seem to fit. It is just (as my mother would call it) a mishmosh.

Game 1 went to Orioles in 1969...and what happened? Game 1 went to the Red Sox in 1986...and what happened? Losing Game 1 may just not be so bad.

 

Leave your comments

Post comment as a guest

0
Your comments are subjected to administrator's moderation.
  • No comments found
I once wrote a paper in high school titled “What’s Wrong with the Mets?” My 11th grade English teacher, Mrs. Baumann, was not happy about it, ...
[READ MORE]
Two men who are loved by New York Mets fans, enjoyed similar successes, and suffered similar frustrations. But each, eventually, received the respect ...
[READ MORE]
It was only a matter of time…and not long…before someone pulled out the “card” with regard to Marcus Stroman’s departure from the New York ...
[READ MORE]
Not even 24 hours after the final out of the final game of the 2021 New York Mets season, when the misery finally ended, manager Luis Rojas was cut ...
[READ MORE]
I have two tickets for the Friday night game on September 10 for the next Subway Series between the Mets and the Yankees at Citifield. Mets-Yankees. ...
[READ MORE]
Remember when you were a little kid and you would brag to your friends and claim that your father was better than someone else’s father? “My ...
[READ MORE]
I just saw a headline that read “MLB Celebrating the Greatest of All” in regards to the 2021 Major League Baseball All Star Game. Greatest of ...
[READ MORE]
Decimated by injuries, the New York Mets seem like they are playing spring training games rather than the regular season – young players who have ...
[READ MORE]
Sometimes there are Mets memories that you have from childhood that just stick with you. It had been gnawing at me that I had a recollection that the ...
[READ MORE]
They were going to be the best rotation the Mets ever had. They were going to be the best rotation in Major League history. Flamethrowers…long, ...
[READ MORE]
The Mets have been victims of the pandemic…and the epidemic. The Mets had the start of their season postponed due to the effects of the pandemic ...
[READ MORE]
Okay…stop…it’s ONLY ONE GAME. There are 161 more games to go. But the very first game of the season gives some real insight into what is ...
[READ MORE]
Prev Next

New York Mets Logo

About New York Mets Mania

Alan Karmin is an award-winning journalist and author. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and spent most of his life growing up in the New Jersey suburbs. Alan's family were avid Brooklyn Dodgers fans and when the Dodgers moved west, the Mets became the team to root for. The Mets have always been a true focal point, Alan even wrote a term paper in high school to analyze what was wrong with the Mets. While at the University of Miami, Alan honed his craft covering the, gulp, Yankees during spring trainings in Fort Lauderdale for a local NBC affiliate, as well as the Associated Press and UPI. He broadcasted baseball games for the University of Miami, and spring training games for the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos. New York Mets Mania is a forum for Alan to write about his favorite team and for baseball fans to chime in and provide their thoughts and ideas about New York's Amazin' Mets.