A few thoughts about the Mets, and some baseball cards you probably haven’t seen

The Mets split the Subway Series last week, then went on to lose two out of three in Washington to a Nationals’ team weakened by injuries to many of its stars.

The #FreeLagares movement captured the momentary attention of baseball fans across the nation, and caused a Terry Collins blowup when he had to face a rare tough question from the Mets beat reporters.

And the subject of Citi Field’s dimensions came up again when the Mets were shut out in back-to-back games at home after scoring 21 runs in two games at Yankee Stadium. Folks, it’s not the ballpark (which seems fairly neutral to me at this point), it’s the Mets’ lineup.

Of 30 home runs hit in Queens this year, 13 were hit by Mets players and 17 were hit by opponents – including noted Washington Nationals “slugger” Gio Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, there have been just 27 home runs at Nationals Park this season (in three more games than the Mets have played at home) and I’ve yet to hear any serious talk about adjusting the dimensions to make it more “hitter-friendly.” Maybe it’s because the Nationals hit 17 of those 27 home runs, but I suspect that it’s because the Nationals actually win home games (a 13-11 record in 2014 compared to the Mets’ 9-12 mark.)

I’m not sure why the Mets win more games on the road than they do at Citi Field, but I’m positive that changing the field dimensions again won’t have the impact people are hoping for. The Mets need better players, and they may need a different hitting philosophy.

But for now, we have the players that are currently on the Mets. And thanks to a set of playing cards distributed as a promotional item during spring training, the Opening Day roster has all received recognition on cardboard.

Sponsored by Geico and produced by CoyotePromotions.com, the 2014 New York Mets playing cards feature all of the team’s stars (including Matt Harvey) as well as new additions and role players who have yet to appear on a Topps card (like Scott Rice.)

Spades

• A- Bartolo Colon
• 2- Wilmer Flores
• 3- Curtis Granderson
• 4- Josh Edgin
• 5- David Wright
• 6- John Lannan
• 7- Gonzalez Germen
• 8- Vic Black
• 9- Lucas Duda
• 10- Zack Wheeler
• J- Jay Horwitz
• Q- Mrs. Met
• K- Terry Collins

Hearts

• A- Matt Harvey
• 2- Andrew Brown
• 3- Curtis Granderson
• 4- Kirk Nieuwenhuis
• 5- David Wright
• 6- Kyle Farnsworth
• 7- Jenrry Mejia
• 8- Ruben Tejada
• 9- Travis d’Arnaud
• 10- Ike Davis
• J- Jay Horwitz
• Q- Mrs. Met
• K- Terry Collins

Clubs

• A- Dillon Gee
• 2- Anthony Recker
• 3- Curtis Granderson
• 4- Omar Quintanilla
• 5- David Wright
• 6- Jose Valverde
• 7- Scott Rice
• 8- Josh Satin
• 9- Eric Young
• 10- Daniel Murphy
• J- Jay Horwitz
• Q- Mrs. Met
• K- Terry Collins

Diamonds

• A- Jon Niese
• 2- Matt den Dekker
• 3- Curtis Granderson
• 4- Carlos Torres
• 5- David Wright
• 6- Daisuke Matsuzaka
• 7- Jeurys Familia
• 8- Bobby Parnell
• 9- Juan Lagares
• 10- Chris Young
• J- Jay Horwitz
• Q- Mrs. Met
• K- Terry Collins

Jokers

• Red- Mr. Met
• Black – Mr. Met

When subjects are repeated, they have different photos on each card.

 

You can follow Paul’s Random Baseball Stuff on Facebook or Google+, see my photos on Flickr and Instagram, and follow @Paul_Hadsall on Twitter, where I talk about about a variety of things in addition to baseball.