Category Archives: TSR

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The Mets handed out free t-shirts commemorating the Johan no-no as fans walked into the ballpark Tuesday night.  It was Santana’s first start at home since his historic June 1 performance that finally broke the franchise’s 51-year no-hit drought.

The t-shirt is nice.  It has a depiction of Johan in celebration mode on the front and that game’s famous line score printed on the back.  Unlike most giveaways, t contains no corporate advertising.  Many fans immediately donned them over whatever they wore to the game that night.

A surprising number of fans were seen wearing a different t-shirt hand-made by Met fan Darren Meenan at his Flushing warehouse specializing in creative non-MLB licensed team-ware.  It’s clear Meenan’s work has caught on in a big way.  His special $20 Johan shirt rolled off the presses a few days after the no-no and it was omnipresent Tuesday night.

The Mets won five-nil.  Ukrainian heritage was celebrated with an on-field song and dance routine after BP. The Stony Brook baseball team was honored before the ceremonial first pitch thrown by that team’s head coach Matt Senk.  I bought a $20 seat (cheapest available) at the box office before the game.  The clerk said the advance sale was abut 29-thousand.  The announced attendance was 32587.  Lots of Orioles fans were sprinkled in and mingled nicely with the home crowd.

After a couple $8.50 Czechvars early in the contest, I met up with Steelers Fan Mike and his pal up in section 327.  The game moved quickly and was over in 2 hours, 29 minutes.  We spent the latter half of the contest schmoozing in the plaza beyond center field.  A cool, bay-scented summer breeze blew the entire evening.  It was really pleasant

Santana pitched six scoreless.  I still don’t understand how Johan’s 90 mph fastball so effectively sets up his 75 mph change but O’s hitters looked stumped throughout.

The Duda two-run homer to right field in the sixth barely cleared the wall.  I can’t find firm confirmation of this, but WFAN’s Joe and Evan quoted Gary Cohen as saying 11 of the 28 Met home runs at Citi Field this season wouldn’t have gotten out had it not been for the team’s decision before the season to shrink the park’s expansive dimensions.  Joe and Evan said opponents have benefited 9 times for the same reason in 2012.

Santana’s solid outing came one night after R-A Dickey pitched his second straight one-hitter.  This prompted Steelers Fan Mike to say:  “Spahn, Sain and pray for rain has become Dickey, Santana and hope they slip on a banana.”

Dickey’s run of dominance prompted ’FAN caller Mel from Bayside (a Dodger fan) to suggest a scouting tool that would enable opponents to better crack R-A’s knuckleball.  Click below to hear Mel’s suggestion and Francesa’s reaction.  It’s inane, yes, but I found it really funny as I listened to Mel’s bright idea.

-What does it say about hockey in Lipstick City that LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa failed to show for his city’s big parade honoring the Kings’ first-ever Stanley Cup?   Villaraigosa blamed his absence on a Florida meeting of the US Conference of Mayors.  Lame excuse, Tony.

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Off the strength of the great record Paravista Social Club, I went out to see the band Scott and Charlene’s Wedding at Cake Shop Wednesday night.

Scott and Charlene’s Wedding is the project of Craig Dermody, a young Australian living in Brooklyn.  Dermody gets a hand from others but he’s the main force.  Social Club is his lone full length.

The thirty-minute Wedding set was a bit sloppy as Dermody relied on a brand new guitar player to supplement his sound.  Many of the great hooks lacing the recorded versions of the songs Epping Line and Footscray Station failed to emerge as Dermody and his helper struggled to find chemistry.

The first band of the evening was a pleasant surprise.  Lame Drivers from Brooklyn played an energetic handful of catchy songs in the twenty minutes allotted them.

Drivers bassist Joe Posner had the line of the night when he sarcastically thanked the packed house for “sticking around.”  Most of those assembled had come early to gain entry for the buzzed-about headliner Royal Headache.

It was announced last month by Cake Shop’s operators that a sudden, larger-than-expected tax obligation sought by the property owner and an unanticipated state-issued fine for noise and underage drinking violations have put the club’s future in peril.  Rather than raise the white flag as so many other independently-run venues are forced to do around here, Cake Shop has initiated an internet campaign to raise quick cash to erase a debt that’s at least $78-thousand according to a Times story printed late last month.

I didn’t stick around for Royal Headache.  I rushed home to catch the end of the baseball games and was able to see MLB Network’s bonus coverage of the Giants telecast as Matt Cain finished his perfecto.

Working the final innings solo in the KNBR radio booth, 36-year-old Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming was solid and unusually calm as he described history.  Here’s his call of the game’s final out:

And check out the immediate reaction to Cain’s gem by blogger El Lefty Malo who has been publishing baseball thoughts on his website for a decade.

-Eleven months after his demotion from the big leagues, Aaron Heilman is plugging away and playing baseball at the triple-A level.  Wearing uniform #35 for the Round Rock Express, Heilman pitched a scoreless ninth in Albuquerque Wednesday night to notch a save and bring his season ERA down to 4.40.  The former Met, Cub, Mariner and Diamondback toiled for the triple-A clubs of the Phils and Pirates last summer.  Heilman was cut loose after spending 2012’s spring training in Mariners camp.  He was promptly picked up by the Rangers and assigned to Round Rock as the regular season started.  Round Rock plays in the Pacific Coast League at a ballpark north of Austin, TX.  At 33 years old, Heilman is the oldest pitcher on the Round Rock roster.  I’d guess he’ll be asked to plug a hole in the Rangers bullpen at some point this long, hot Texas summer.

-Mike Francesa says he and his wife sat at the bride and groom’s table for the reception celebrating the wedding of his broadcasting pal Jim Nantz last Saturday in Pebble Beach, CA.  Francesa says he engaged reception tablemate Phil Mickelson in lengthy conversation.  He also admitted to following the progress of Saturday’s Mets/Yanks game while sitting in the church.  Francesa says he snuck peaks at his I-Phone while waiting for Nantz’s new bride to walk down the aisle.

-While I remain proud and supportive of how Mets fans reacted to the franchise’s first ever no-hitter, I am embarrassed by the team’s decision to sell duplicate tickets for that game after the fact.  The Mets are selling authentic-looking reproductions of ducats (with actual section, row and seat numbers) dated the night of Santana’s no-no for $50 per.  The Mets say they’re doing so “to ensure (fans) have a memento that can be passed on for generations.”  Yeah, but they’re fake!  And what about the people who were actually there that night?  Their stubs are devalued or potentially confused as phonies because the Mets are advancing an unethical, misguided effort to cash in on the achievement.  Sell a t-shirt or a poster but please don’t manipulate what is considered a form of currency for the baseball fan.