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Now that the sport with the non-round ball is over, we can all exhale and start thinking and talking about real sports like Baseball (and Cycling, but that's another post).

My favorite team, the NY Mets, have a lot of question marks surrounding their lineup this season. They have several players coming back from off-season surgery, including their nameplate player, Johann Santana.

Many people are criticising them for not attempting to acquire more free-agents in the off season, but considering that the talent pool wasn't that great this winter, I am not holding it against them. They did sign Jason Bay, one of the few true impact-players that were available in the off-season. Bay should provide a lot of power, and protection for other people in the lineup, which is good, since Carlos Delgado will not be returning.

With Delgado not returning, there has been a lot of discussion about what the Mets will do at First Base, this coming season. Most people were hoping that they would go out and sign a veteran, and relegate Daniel Murphy to either a trade, or riding the bench. I am actually a Murphy fan, and was hoping that they would give him a shot as the starting First Baseman, and at this point it looks like that is exactly what is going to happen, with Fernando Tatis backing him up.

I would like to see Murphy play every day, regardless of who is pitching against the Mets. I am not a fan of platooning at any position in baseball. When you have two guys playing one position, and neither gets to play full time, I don't feel like either player has a chance to get in a groove, and really achieve any sort of pattern of success.

In addition to three pitchers, and several position players returning from various levels of surgery in the off-season, Jose Reyes, the premiere shortstop, is returning from am injury that required surgery, and kept him out for almost all of last season.

The state of sports medicine today is nothing short of amazing, and players usually are able to recover from these sorts of injuries, but it is never guaranteed. I guess we're just going to have to wail until April to see how things play out.

I'm crossing my fingers!

It seems the subject of steroids in professional baseball has popped up again. This most recent flurry of activity came about when Mark McGwire admitted to having used steroids in his career, after initially implying that he did not use them, in front of Congress, several years ago.

There are so many things so say regarding this topic, that I really don't even know where to begin.

First, I will state my opinion on the matter. I feel that anyone who has admitted to having used steroids, or who can be shown to have used steroids in their careers, should automatically be banned from ever being able to get into the Hall Of Fame, and all of their records of note (Home Runs, RBIs, etc...) should be expunged from the professional record. Yes, that means that Bonds', McGwire's, and Sosa's numbers should be removed from any and every book that also has the name Roger Maris in it. Should their numbers be permanently removed from every record? No. I am not saying that we should delete them from history. Their numbers should be kept as a matter of record, but they should certainly be removed from any "All-Time" lists. In other words, Roger Maris is still the single-season, home-run record holder.

Second, I can not believe how some of the media is covering this. I am a regular watcher of a TV program on SNY called Loud Mouths. Some time ago I remember the hosts talking about steroids in baseball, and they took a phone call from a viewer. The caller cracked a joke about steroid use, and the hosts really yelled at him. They made it clear that this was deadly-serious subject-matter, not to be dealt with, in any way other than seriously.

I remember thinking that I agreed with the hosts' general point, but that they needed to lighten up a little bit. Humour is a good thing.

Fast forward to yesterday, and I am watching Loud Mouths, and steroids is the topic-du-jour, as one would expect. Hosts Adam Schein and Chris Carlin are saying that they think that guys like McGwire and Bonds should get into the Hall Of Fame, despite their steroid abuse.

Huh? What did I just hear??

We should treat the subject of steroid abuse in sports with the kind of deadly seriousness that doesn't include actual consequences for this bad behaviour?

What planet are these guys from? They are quick to assign blame for the steroid-era, and its subsequent cover-up by Commissioner Selig, but apparently want no consequences for the actual offenders.

How exactly will this kind of performance-enhancing drug-abuse stop, if there aren't real consequences?

Baseball did not handle this properly when it all came to light over the last decade or so, but they have the opportunity now, to do so. Let's hope they do.

For me, Winter begins today because the NY Mets did not make the playoffs, and in a word, the 2009 season for the Mets, sucked. In my entire life I have never seen a team suffer as many injuries as the Mets did, this season. If you were going to script a bad season for a team, and had to pick the four most important players to go down, it would have been the four that actually did go down for part of, or most of the season. In addition to the four major injuries, the Mets almost seemed to be cursed with little fluke injuries as well. For example one day when Luis Castillo was walking into the dugout after being on the field, he tripped on the stairs and twisted his ankle. A minor injury to be sure, and he was back in a few days, but very emblematic of the kind of season the Mets were having.

Despite the terrible season, there were plenty of things to be positive about, as well. Due to all of the injuries, the Mets ended up having to bring up lots of guys from their farm-system, to fill those holes. We got to see their super-prospect Fernando Martinez, and when they expanded the rosters in September, a talented young catching prospect named Josh Thole. One interesting little factoid about Josh is that he was actually born the day after the Mets won the World Series in 1986. For the record, that little factoid makes me feel old!

The injuries also meant that many veterans like Gary Sheffield and Nelson Figueroa got second chances, and took full advantage of them. While not a veteran, Daniel Murphy, who was expected to play left field all season, ended up filling in at first base brilliantly after he did not perform well in outfield.  The Mets also made a quick trade to acquire Jeff Francoeur from the Atlanta Braves. This was one of those classic 'change-of-venue' trades where each player traded hadn't been fitting in on their team, and management has hoped new venues would benefit both players. From the looks of it so far, the Mets got the best of the deal, and I expect Jeff Francoeur to be patrolling right field for a long time. Also, veteran backup shortstop Alex Cora showed us just how tough he was playing for months with a torn ligament in each thumb.

The Mets front office definitely has some work to do in the off-season, but I believe that Mets fans have much to look forward to next season, and I fully expect that they will reach the playoffs. After all, how can they not? Karma owes them an injury-free season.   :-)

I am not really a fan of these "weekly update" type posts, but I have some thoughts on a few things, that I don't think quite require their own posts.

Everyone that I know who is a Mets fan is still screaming for them to make a deal to get a bat.  At this point, I think it is too late.  I would rather that they not mortgage the future to get a bat that probably won't help them this season, anyway.  As I said in a previous post, they need three bats, not just one.

This year's Tour de France was an amazing event, because it gave us the return of Lance Armstrong.  As I write this, I am sitting in my easy chair watching the Peloton cruise into Paris, and barring anything catastrophic, Lance will come in 3rd, putting him on the podium.  This is an incredible achievement considering that he took four years off from cycling, and in his comeback this year, suffered a crash and broke his collarbone.  This took three to four weeks out of his training schedule, so his form probably wasn't quite as good as it could have been.

The big announcement at this year's Tour was that Lance Armstrong has partnered with Radio Shack to form Team Radio Shack, a new cycling team.  Lance will be racing for them, and has promised to sign a world class cadre of riders so that they can go to next year's Tour and be competitive.  Additional sponsors will include Nike and Trek Bikes which should come as no surprise to anyone.

The relationship between Radio Shack and the Livestrong Foundation will be reciprocal wherein they cross promote for one another.  Don't be surprised if when you walk into a Radio Shack in the future to buy a cell phone, you see Livestrong paraphernalia.

I was excited when I learned of this partnership because as a child, I was an electronic hobbyist who used to build little electronics projects, and kits that the various magazines published.  At that time you could go into your local radio shack and buy components to build projects such as these, and I have many fond memories of being in their stores and buying components like the 555 Timer (electronics hobbyists will be able to relate).  In addition to the bits and pieces that you could buy there, Radio Shack also had one of the early Microcomputers called the TRS-80 Model One, and I spent many an hour there playing with it.

Next year should be another exciting year in cycling, particularly for U.S. cycling since Team Radio Shack will be America's 3rd team, along with Team Garmin and Team Columbia.

Can't wait!

OK, two things... sorta.

I got a text message the other day asking me why the Mets don't trade for a bat, and I'm of the belief that it won't help.  Right now with Delgado, Reyes, and Beltran still on the DL, the Mets need THREE BATS.  It seems to me that one bat won't help that much, and to trade away our best prospects to get a guy who may or may not help until the Cavalry returns, seems reckless.  Maybe it means that 2009 is done for the Mets... who knows.

The other thing that was a big topic of discussion (in MY circles, anyway) was the decision by the people who run the Tour de France to not allow radios in two stages this year.  In case you don't know, all of the riders wear small two-way radios so that they can talk to their team director, riding behind them in the team car.  To me this seems silly.  Sure, the race went off without a hitch for eighty years without radios, but why get rid of them now?  It seems to me that there are other areas of technology that have affected bike racing far more profoundly than radios.  Once upon a time bikes were made of steel.  Now if you can find a METAL bike frame in the Tour, you're doing well.  Most Tour bikes are carbon fiber with components that are made from other cool materials like aluminum, titanium, and ceramic.  Why not go back to steel bikes as long as we're reversing this technology trend??

And while we're on the topic of devolving technology trends, has anyone seen how stupid the F1 cars look this season???

Not that I'm a technology apologist, but let's move FORWARD.

** Update, 7/16/09

The Tour de France organizers have canceled the second scheduled day of riding with no radios.