Justice John Paul Stevens made big political news this week when he informed President Obama that he’d be retiring from the Supreme Court this summer at the age of 90. But he recently weighed in on an age-old baseball controversy: Babe Ruth’s semi-mythical “called shot” in the 1932 World Series at Wrigley Field. And Justice Stevens didn’t give his opinion as a baseball academic – he took sides as an eyewitness. Turns out little Johnny Stevens saw Ruth hit that homer off Charlie Root, and I think you have to believe the distinguished jurist’s testimony: “Ruth did point to the center-field scoreboard. And he did hit the ball out of the park after he pointed with his bat. So it really happened.”
***
Worse than the Mets’ so-so start at 2-3 – at least to Fred and Junior Wilpon – has got to be the paltry attendance figures at $800 million Citi Field. Opening Day was a near sell-out of over 41,000 and Wednesday’s tilt with the Marlins – with evening temps in the mid-70s – draw 39,000 as well. Then the bottom fell out. The last three games – two cold nights and one gorgeous Saturday – drew these figures:
25,982
28,055
33,044
That’s an average attendance of less than 70 percent in a stadium built to sell out virtually every night. Tomorrow should be a bounce-back date – a nice Sunday with Johan Santana on the hill. Still, the low numbers and obviously empty seats have to give ownership pause. Last year, the Mets set a record in concession revenue. It’s hard to see them matching that feat, even with the new crabcake sandwiches out in rightfield.
***
Ah, the transparency the Mets medical communications operation. A thing of beauty. The latest non-information black hole surrounds Carlos Beltran and his, er, non-running in the Florida sun. First he supposed to begin running this week. Then the Mets changed the script: no, Mr. Beltran would not be running. Other than that, no news. I’m thinking Pagan-Matthews is permanent. Better news: Daniel Murphy is running.
***
So the Wright-Reyes reunion wasn’t exactly Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park. Jose looked nervous and out of synch, and David seems bent on another big strikeout season. Oliver Perez wasn’t as horrible as he can be, and the Mets left runners on in what has to be a disappointing 4-3 loss to the Nats – and let’s face it, Willie Harris made an incredible catch to save the game. Bright spot: the bullpen continues to look very solid indeed.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Buzz: Carlos Beltran will Run this Weekend (metsblog.com)
- Beltran Update (citifieldofdreams.com)
- Realistic New York Mets Expectations (bleacherreport.com)
- Reyes returns to Mets lineup (cbssports.com)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_b.png?x-id=c6ef6b28-329a-429d-b5d6-c7724bfe06d6)
Recent Comments