Rockies 9 Mets 4

After Terry Collins said last night that the team needed to go 9-2 in their next 11 games, I’m assuming the plan is to rip off a nine-game winning streak.

Good luck with that.

Breaking news: Mets AAA pitcher Boof Bonser is undergoing Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2011 season.

Not a huge loss from this blogger’s perspective, since I didn’t think Bonser had much value anyway. This elbow surgery comes almost exactly a year after returning from reconstructive shoulder surgery.

What do you think? Are these injuries just dumb luck or maybe his horrendous mechanics had something to do with it? Some day MLB clubs will factor in the delivery when they evaluate — and train — a pitcher.

Rockies 6 Mets 5

Ooof. Punch in the gut.

The Mets grab an early lead, lose it, fall further behind, then mount a riveting comeback in the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded, two outs, and a full count, David Wright swats a long fly to right that gets swallowed by cavernous Citi Field. Game over, Mets lose. Sigh.

Jose Reyes – SS
Daniel Murphy – 2B
David Wright – 3B
Ike Davis – 1B
Angel Pagan – CF
Willie Harris – LF
Scott Hairston – RF
Josh Thole – C
R.A. Dickey – P

During my time at Citi Field yesterday, I had the chance to speak with former Mets catcher Jerry Grote. A big thrill for me, since he, Thurman Munson, John Stearns, and Johnny Bench were the four men who inspired me to play baseball and play the catching position during my childhood. My “interview” with Grote was a complete surprise — I had no idea he would be at the park nor that I’d have the opportunity to speak with him — so it took me a minute or two to think of a good question.

My first question was (which isn’t on the recording below): “How do you feel about the catching position today compared to 20 or 30 years ago? Are catchers improved, the same, or worse, and why?

My second question, which you should be able to hear, was in regard to the catcher’s role in pitch-calling.

It’s only about two minutes in length, and there’s a bunch of background noise from autograph seekers and other sounds from inside the stadium, so please excuse the informality and unprofessional quality of the recording. Enjoy.

Jerry Grote On Catching

As part of my “all-access pass” yesterday, I was able to speak with Matt Franco — though informally and briefly. He was constantly smiling and genuinely happy to be in Citi Field and connecting with the fans. Just about every fan mentioned “the hit” against Mariano Rivera that beat the Yankees in that Subway Series game on July 10, 1999 — and Matt seemed to get more of a kick out of rekindling the memory with each person mentioning it.

While Matt was discussing it with a fan, I mentioned to Kerel Cooper that