A Tradition No More
If you haven’t yet heard, the Mets’ stadium in Port St. Lucie will no longer be called “Tradition Field”.
Turns out that the stadium’s naming rights were previously owned by a real estate development company based in Tradition (a town near PSL), and they’re having some financial difficulties. I KNOW as a rabid Mets fan and blogger I should have known that, and I DID know that, but somewhere along the way I kind of forgot — probably because “Tradition Field” doesn’t sound like a corporate-named ballpark, and has a nice ring to it. It also sounded similar to the old name of that other New York team’s spring training facility (Legends Field).
According to reports, the company that now owns the naming rights is, um, “Digital Domain Holdings” (hmm … sounds like a website name squatter). Not quite the ring of “Tradition Field”, but at least it will be very clear to all that the stadium is named for a corporate entity.
Post your comments and snarky jokes below.
About the Author
Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers.
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Digital domain holdings stadium sounds pretty badass, no?
yeah, badass … LOL!
Frank, where the heck have you been? Missed your comments over the past many many months … good to hear from you again!
How’s this for your 2010 New York Mets Opening Day Roster?
Starting Rotation:
1. Johan Santana
2. Mike Pelfrey
3. Oliver Perez
4. John Maine
5. Hisanori Takahashi
Bullpen:
LRP – Nelson Figueroa
MRP – Pat Misch
MRP – Fernando Nieve
MRP – Pedro Feliciano
SU – Ryota Igarashi
SU – Kiko Calero
CP – Francisco Rodriguez
Lineup:
1. Gary Matthews Jr. – CF
2. Luis Castillo – 2B
3. Jose Reyes – SS
4. Jason Bay – LF
5. David Wright – 3B
6. Jeff Francoeur – RF
7. Daniel Murphy – 1B
8. Rod Barajas – C
Bench:
C – Henry Blanco
2B/SS – Alex Cora
OF – Angel Pagan
Utility – Fernando Tatis
1B – Mike Jacobs
- The only reason I excluded Jon Niese, Sean Green, and Bobby Parnell from the opening day roster is that they still have options available. In a time of such indecisiveness and ineffectiveness with the Mets, I think they need to keep all their options open, meaning that Figgy, Nieve, Misch, and Takahashi make the roster because of the fact that they are out of options and probably would not clear waivers because they have had all had impressive or respectable springs. As far as the lineup goes, I hate Wright batting third, just for the fact that he has been such a good hitter in the fifth spot. I also love the idea of batting Murphy 7th because the pressure if off of him and he can probably produce some power from that spot. Can’t wait till Beltran comes back; then their outfield will be beast. When Escobar comes back, then I have no f’ing clue what they will do with the bullpen. If they stay healthy, which is a big if, they will be a pretty decent team that can compete for the wild card, if not the division.
Kev:
1. Whatever happy pills you’re taking, please send some in the mail to me. If you’re honestly looking at the above roster, along with the disabled Beltran and Escobar, and envisioning a playoff contending team, then you must be on some type of upper. The rotation is a joke, the bullpen is a conglomeration of mediocrity, and the offense will do nothing to strike fear in the heart of any opponent. You are also assuming Reyes will be ready by opening day, and all signs point to him not getting back into the fold until mid to late April at the earliest. I envy your optimism. I really do. But realism speaks so much louder to me.
2. Do you really want Gary Matthews Jr getting the most at bats in your lineup? Do you really think he’s a better table setter than Jose Reyes? Regardless if you see Wright more as a #5 than a #3, if it comes at the expense of Reyes moving from leadoff to third, I don’t think you have any argument. Wright is more of a #3 than Reyes, and Reyes is more of a #1 than Matthews. Stop trying to force square pegs into round holes.
3. I think you are very accurate with your pitching analysis. But those 12 pitchers you listed above are getting this team nowhere. If we were projecting those same 12 pitchers for the Nationals’ staff, we’d say that Johan is a good ace, and KRod is a good closer, but other than that the pitching blows. Starters who will routinely bow out by the 5th inning, relievers who can’t cross over, and a plethora of AAAA’ers with one-pitch repertoires and no set roles. IMHO, this is no more than a 70 win team, and I don’t think we’ll have to wait long before that prediction will appear painfully evident.
Not to jump down anybody’s throat, but (in the honor of full disclosure) here are Wright’s career splits batting 3rd and 5th:
3rd: 1,285 ABs, .311/.398/.511, 190 BB/251 K
5th: 1,041 ABs, .304/.382/.514, 130 BB/219 K
So, reviewing these statistics, how exactly is Wright “a much better hitter” batting 5th as opposed to 3rd?
‘dude, just another reason why fans lack any real idea of how to run a team. The idea that Wright, your best and most consistent hitter, would not be in the prime production spot in the lineup (4th) is ridiculous. The 4th spot in the lineup appears the most times with runners on base than any other spot in the lineup. There is no other place the Mets best hitter should be.
Mike – I have to agree that your best hitter has to be guaranteed at-bat in the first inning, and should be somewhere near the top of the lineup so that he gets the most at-bats over the course of a game and a season.
The fourth spot in the lineup is only the “prime production spot” if the three people ahead are getting on base more often than everyone else on the team. However, in the Mets’ case, David Wright has been and continues to be their top OBP guy. Even with both Reyes and Beltran in the lineup, I’d be inclined to keep Wright at #3, because he is one of the people creating those productive opportunities.