Marlon Byrd – PaulHadsall.com

Marlon Byrd takes batting practice at Citi Field before a game earlier this year (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

Marlon Byrd deal likely bad news for Mets’ outfield upgrade plans

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Paul

If you were hoping Marlon Byrd would return to the Mets in 2014, you got some bad news on Tuesday.

Likewise, if you are a Phillies fan who wants to see the team get younger, Tuesday wasn’t a banner day for you, either.

In another sign that baseball salaries are ascending to new levels of ridiculousness, the Phillies agreed to a 2-year, $16 million contract with a vesting option for 2016 with the 36-year-old outfielder.

Yes, Byrd had a nice year with the Mets and Pirates, but the odds of him duplicating it at age 37 are not great. But I guess the Phillies figured he’s going to be better than Delmon Young, and Byrd is younger than Raul Ibanez.

Hunter Pence‘s five-year, $90 million contract extension with the San Francisco Giants is starting to look a bit less like an aberration… who knows, maybe Scott Boras can get a Jayson Werth-type deal for Shin-Soo Choo after all. There are not a lot of power-hitting corner outfielders on the market, and they seem to be in demand.

That’s not good news for a team like the Mets that really could use an upgrade in both corner outfield spots, and has fairly limited resources to work with.

Hopefully Sandy Alderson will not be left looking at options like Manny Ramirez in his quest to add power to the Mets’ lineup.

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Some 2013 Topps Update Series Mets baseball cards

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Paul

I have not been in a store that sells baseball cards in a few weeks, so I had more or less overlooked the release of this year’s Topps Update series.

Fortunately, one of my friends gave me most of the Mets cards that are included in the basic series.

David Wright's Home Run Derby card — David Wright’s Home Run Derby card

I think this is the first year I’ve ever cared about any of the All-Star Game Home Run Derby cards Topps throws into the update series. (Then again, this summer was the first time in years I actually watched any portion of the Home Run Derby.)

The mandatory All-Star Game cards are a bit cooler this year because of the game’s location, too. (Not cool enough for me to worry about chasing down the short-print variations, though.)

Juan Lagares and Zack Wheeler both get official “Rookie Cards,” though I was hoping Lagares would get a cooler photo on his.

Although he’s now a Pittsburgh Pirate (for a few more days, anyway), Marlon Byrd finally gets his first (not counting an online-distribution only relic card featuring a piece of a Chicago Cubs jersey)

The Target-exclusive parallel version of Eric Young Jr.‘s first Mets baseball card. Young did get a cool photo, probably from his walk-off home run against the Kansas City Royals.

There are two more Mets cards in the update series base set: a second one for Zack Wheeler and one for Shaun Marcum. I suppose I need to track them down at some point for completeness, along with the regular version of Young’s card.

Note: if you’re seeing the baseball card images with rounded corners, that’s because of the display theme of the blog – they have standard corners and have not been trimmed.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis, seen here taking a lead off third base in Saturday's game, got to be the hero on Father's Day with a walk-off home run (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

Baseball, Uncategorized

A last-minute reprieve

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Paul

When I tuned in today’s Mets game and saw that they’d managed just one hit off of Matt Garza in the first four innings and the Cubs had a 1-0 lead, I expected to be writing about another loss today.

This Keystone Cops routine in the fifth by the Mets’ infield did little to change that impression.

Zero runs on three hits after eight innings? Well, at least the Mets are a reassuring constant that you can depend on.

But that script went out the window in the bottom of the ninth inning, thanks to Dale Sveum’s decision to bring Carlos Marmol into the game.

Marlon Byrd homered, and I texted my friend that it would have been nice if he did that back in the sixth inning when he came up with two men on base.

Lucas Duda walked for the 9000th time this year.

John Buck singled, his second hit of the game.

I thought the Mets might have a shot, until I remembered that Omar Quintanilla, Kirk Niewenhuis and the pitcher’s spot were due up next.

When Terry Collins wasted an out by having Quintanilla bunt for Nieuwenhuis and Collin Cowgill, I figured this was probably going to be a “too little, too late” rally.

I underestimated Marmol.

Maybe they can build on this victory and put together a mini winning streak with Dillon Gee on the mound tomorrow in Atlanta – he did win both of the Mets’ previous June victories. Maybe not.

But today’s game was a reminder that anything can happen and sometimes a team that looked horrible for eight innings can pull things together in the ninth.

Baseball, Uncategorized

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Paul

“If I’m on here looking at my swing,” Byrd said pointing to his iPad, “and I’m looking at everybody else’s swing, we can fix something quicker than someone else going off of feel. Because we can pinpoint right away, go back in there and fix it. It’s all about preparation every single day.”

“Obsession with hitting is paying off for Mets’ Marlon Byrd” by Jorge Castillo / The Star-Ledger

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Photos from Mets Banner Day 2013

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Paul

Well, the less said about this weekend’s Mets games, the better. But I do want to share photos of some of my favorite Banner Day entries:

This was the winning entry in the Banner Day contest. It’s a simple, well-crafted and well-executed idea – the home run apple even raises and lowers – but I thought that the other finalists (and some that didn’t make it to that stage) showed more cleverness.

Continue reading “Photos from Mets Banner Day 2013” →