>>>>>>>>>>2019 MFC Mets Opening Day Lineup

Let the season begin!

 Here is your 2019 New York Mets Opening Day Lineup

>>>>>This Weekend in Mets Baseball!

What a weekend! It started out great as New York ended a 6 game skid to start off the Washington Nationals series. The Mets beat super ace Max Scherzer and the Nats in amazing fashion in Friday nights game. Jacob deGrom had an interesting outing that started kinda messy but then ended super strong. Jacob wound up striking out 12 in 7 innings in his third consecutive double-digit strikeout game and the 13th of his career. After a rocky second frame the right-hander was magnificent retiring 15 of his last 19 batters, striking out nine. 

Travis d'Arnaud had a career best 2 home runs and 5 RBI in the opener. A breakout game for d'Arnaud, who is starting to look like the hard hitting catcher we had hoped for when we received him in the R.A.Dickey trade. Travis leads all MLB catchers with 15 RBI in April. The young Metropolitan catcher only drove in 15 runs total for his entire 2016 Mets season.

In what to me has been the most dramatic and magical moment of the season so far, Josh Edgin saved the day when he relived Mets closer Jeurys Familia with one out in the ninth and bases loaded vs. the nasty Nats. Terry Collins went with Edgin because hot Bryce Harper was batting and he preferred the matchup.

 I was pretty surprised Collins pulled Fammy, and if we lost that game it would have been a sharp kick in the groin. I felt positive that Washington was going to AT LEAST tie the game in the ninth. But Edgin pulled off somewhat of a miracle as he got Harper to hit a grounder back to him on the mound. Edgin threw home for one, d'Arnaud threw a bee-bee to first for the 1-2-3 double play and the game was over!

*Exhale*

Edgin made TC look like a genius!

New York also took game two of the series in fine style, this time Mets wunderkind Michael Conforto doing the honors by launching two homers on Saturday.  Jose Reyes also connected, leading the Mets over the Nationals 5-3 Saturday over Stephen Strasburg. Looks like Reyes might be out of his funk. Good, we need everyone contributing. Grandy, you're next! We need you!

As usual Zack Wheeler nitpicked at the corners too much, throwing 96 pitches in 4.2 innings of work, but he danced around danger and kept us in the game. The bullpen came on to do the rest, holding the lead through the remaining 5.1 frames.

And then todays game....GAH!

So we go from a magical moment on Friday night to a nightmarish moment on Sunday afternoon. Noah Syndergaard had just returned from a biceps injury having skipped one start. He threw a bullpen session without a problem and was reportedly ready to go.

And he went. And now he's gone.

Syndergaard had not pitched since April 20, ten days ago. He looked fine at the games start as far as velocity goes, hitting 100 on the gun consistently, but there was no movement on his fastball. I think he was a bit rusty, overthrowing the ball. The Nats plated five runs on five hits in the first inning swatting the ball around the field at will. In the second, Noah threw a strike to Harper on his 38th pitch and grimaced while reaching for his right armpit. Mets manager Terry Collins and the team trainer immediately came out, and Collins summoned reliever Sean Gilmartin.

What an awful end to this series. First, the exaltation brought by Friday nights scary down to the wire win, followed up by Saturdays victory and Confortos 2 bombs. I didn't think anything could bring me down after the first two games. And it's not the loss, that's just one game. Or the shellacking we took. Hell, we took the series. It's, of course, that Syndergaard went down again, this time in visible pain. Woe is me.

Lot of fans coming down on the Mets medical personnel, namely Ray Ramirez, because that's the only name they know. Well, I've been questioning their competence for years. But this time it was all on Noah. The whole MRI situation has been overblown IMO. This is a different injury. ''The preliminary diagnosis is possible lat strain,'' general manager Sandy Alderson said, ''which may or may not be related to his previous complaint, which was in the biceps. So we'll just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow.''

He came out today throwing too hard. He was rusty with no movement on the fastball, which he was hurling at a healthy 100mph. But in the bigs a flat fastball, no matter what the speed, ain't gonna get it done. They teed off on Noah. 

But still, the only thing that really bothered me was seeing him out there in pain. A Met fans worst nightmare. We need Syndergaard and we need him healthy. So it's April and we are already in recovery mode. Not good.

But it is extremely early.

2017mfc Season Highlight cards-Mets win in 16!

What a week for the Mets! 

Its only April, only a little over a week into the season, and the Mets are hotter than July. New York leads the majors in home runs and sits atop the eastern division with a 7-3 record. 

Cespedes is just ridiculous

They swept the Phils and then last nights marathon 16 inning victory over the Fish gives them a five game winning streak. The extra inning game was the longest in the history of Marlins Park lasting five and a half hours. 

From the 2016 mfc Mets Set

Gsellman had a rough night but the Mets bullpen was aces. Especially Josh Smoker and Hansel Robles who covered the final five innings. Blevins and Reed blanked Miami for 2 innings a each. Edgin, Montero and Blevins all did their jobs.

From the 2015 mfc Mets Set

And New York's offense is doing more than just launching long balls. 

d'Arnaud ripped a bases loaded triple. Granderson singled in a run. And Conforto came off the bench to tie the game with an R.B.I. double.

Travis d'Arnaud led off the 16th inning with a home run, giving him a career-high four hits. D'Arnaud's homer came on the 475th pitch of the night. 

                             Travis caught all 16 innings and took the crown.

New York has had a string of great games this week, baseball at it's best and a very nice way to start the season.

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Photographs by

Mark Brown

Lynne Sladky 

Joe Warner

Drew Hallowell

mfc Season Set Highlight Card: Thor fries Fish

Great performance by everyone involved.

Bruce hit a homer(*grabs chest*)!

Conforto blasted one that almost hit the Shea bridge.

Rene Rivera showed why he's Thor's personal catcher, gunning down two Marlin runners in the 3rd inning. 

Thor went a full seven and Salas and Reed out of the pen closed the deal in style.

Great game. Lets see some more of these.

Yo Mets, you need to more than just blast home runs. Mix in some small ball. Like the first inning tonight.

Cabrera drops a beautiful bunt single, Yo follows with a single moving Asdrubal to third. A fielders choice and Fish error plates Cabrera, leaving Cespedes at 3rd and Bruce on first. Walker singles, driving in Yoenis. Bruce takes second. Duda singles, loading the bases. CONFORTO WALKS in a run! 

That made it 3-0 Mets. And we almost scored more but Walker was thrown out at the plate.

I want to see more of that. We can not survive by the long ball alone.

LETS GO METS!

72/82mfc IN ACTION! cards

The mfc Mets 2017 Season Set will include IN ACTION cards, a tribute to both the 1972 and 1982 Topps designs. And lets showcase the player having the hottest spring training, Michael Conforto, on one of each.

Conforto has 5 hits in 7 at-bats, 2 kaBOOMS, 3 RBI. He's batting .714 and slugging 1.571 with an OPS of 2.286! It's been just three games but still, nice to see Michael off to such a hot start. And he made this great catch too!

This Week In Mets Fantasy Cards Cards-& a Three Amigos mfc Pocket poster!

The Three Amigos!
mfc's new 2016 Pocket Poster!

Inspired by Greg Prince of Faith and Fear in Flushing. 

Motivated by Asdrubal Cabrera.

Greg suggested it before the walk-off, and if Cabrera didn't do what he did

I doubt very much if this would exist. I would have been bummed.

What a colossal homer! What a freakin' awesome bat flip!

That was the high point. Lets backtrack.

Remember this?!

Hey folks, I think we got us some playahs!

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From the Ultimate Mets Database Facebook page

The Mets just completed a 17-0 victory over the Phillies at Citi Field, in their last home game of the regular season. Here are some fun facts inspired by the final score of the game:

>Today's game was the 12th time that the Mets have scored 17 or more runs in a game, and the fifth time that the Mets scored exactly that amount. Before today, the last time the Mets scored this many runs was in a 17-1 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on June 27, 2012.

>It's the most lopsided shutout win in Mets history, but not the biggest margin of victory that the Mets have ever had. That record was set on May 26, 1964, when the Mets beat the Cubs 19-1, also at Wrigley Field.

>The biggest previous shutout wins were 14-0, which happened twice: July 29, 1965 against the Cubs (at Wrigley Field!) and April 19, 1998 against the Reds at Riverfront Stadium.

>This ties the record for most runs ever scored by the Mets in a home game. On July 8, 2006 they defeated the Marlins 17-3 at Shea Stadium.

>The Mets are 12-0 in games in which they've scored 17 or more runs.

Cards for this game will be added shortly

Sunset sky version.
This is the sky over NY as broadcast by SNY last week.
What an awesome and beautiful sunset.

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I was going to write up this post today while watching the game. But when I heard the news about Jose Fernandez I just couldn't get into it. It's very rare when I see an opposing player and decide that I can be a fan. There must be a certain level of respect involved, and watching Jose pitch he got that from me. But there must be more, and he was so much more. What I noticed the most was how much fun he was having out there. Always smiling. His enthusiasm for the game was on display on his sleeve every time I saw Fernandez on the mound. The thought actually occurred to me once, as it usually does when I covet another teams player : I hope the Mets can get this guy someday. He has such a promising future.

Only 24 years old.

Like Keith said, "Kiss your loved ones, call your loved ones, because life can be cutoff."
"Cutoff" might have been a harsh word to have used, but that's the reality of it.

I will complete this post over the next few days as well as make some additions later tonight. Some text/info and some cards for todays record setting shellackin' of the Phils. That was so incredible. I had a hard time getting into the game, but I had no problem enjoying it.

LETS GO METS!

Bring it home on the road!

Another gigantic loss.
Aside from our Mets
this has been a horrible day.

I discovered Arnold Palmer long before I discovered golf.

Arnold Palmer photo by the great Neil Leifer