Lots of interesting, funny, idiotic, and insightful things were said by the Mets—and about them—recently. Here are some of our favorites.
In case anyone has been away for the past week and were wondering if the Mets played well.
"I thought we played well in Philadelphia. Here things just didn’t click for us. We didn’t pitch all that well. We didn’t hit all that well. We didn’t field all that well. It’s just the recipe for getting swept. That’s what happened. They played better than us in pretty much every area of the game. We didn’t play well at all." —David Wright [ESPN]
Wright continued, ‘come on us, it’s not so bad, all of us are playing a kids game for way above the median income, plus a bunch of us got married over the offseason, and maybe I’ll buy some extra packs of Head Up for the plane ride back.’
"It's easy to play the woe-as-me card and get some negativity to creep up in here," Wright said. "And it wasn't so much a meeting, per se. It was kind of reminding everybody that we're four or five games out of first place. Going into tonight we were -- what? -- 4-5 on the road trip. So although we've played pretty poorly these last four or five days, overall on this road trip it's not the end of the world, and that our best baseball is ahead of us." —David Wright [ESPN]
Nice of TC to show some patience...
"When you get to the big leagues and you have a huge buildup and you go through a rough time, everybody is, ‘How come? What’s wrong? What’s wrong? What’s wrong?’ It’s nothing more than trying to battle through some tough times. [d’Arnaud’s] got 120 at-bats. It’s not like he’s got 400. He’s trying to learn how to hit here. He got 150 at-bats last year (actually 99). You have to show some patience a little bit." —Terry Collins [ESPN]
...or not.
"As I told him last night, 'You're not the reason we're not scoring, but right now the fingers are being pointed in your direction, which I don't think is necessarily fair. So right now you've got to go get your swing, come back and tear it up like everybody expected.’" —Terry Collins [ESPN]
Feels bad, man.
"I just have work to do, man. That's all I really know. I don't know if I'm allowed to say anything, but like I said, I have work to do." —Travis d’Arnaud [ESPN]
Might not want to get on the ‘same page’ as this team.
"It's not like I'm coming into a brand-new team where I hadn't seen these guys at all. Hopefully it won't take too much to get acclimated with these guys and get on the same page." —Taylor Teagarden [ESPN]
So dumb, for real…what, is this a dated reference?
"Just a stupid play by me. I fielded the ball, was going to go to first, and then changed my mind at the last second and tried to throw it to second. Just dumb. Just flat-out dumb." —David Wright [ESPN]
No worries, I hear he's not a star.
"There's a reason why he's David Wright. I just said, 'Hey, look, we certainly didn't plan on losing five in a row. But we've been planning this for a while that this was going to be a time off, coinciding with tomorrow (team off-day), where you can really rest up.' The homestand is going to be huge for us. It still is. And I said, 'I know it's a tough time for you, but I'm not sure there's ever a good time to take the star out of your lineup.'" —Terry Collins [ESPN]
Oh good, two days should do it.
"As I told [Wright] last night, 'The only thing I'm not going to have happen is what happened last year, and that's overextend you and then lose you for a month.'" —Terry Collins [ESPN]
Plus-plus commute.
"He pitched fairly close to my house. He's about 20 minutes from my house. He was just up at our workout recently. Our area supervisor Mike Pesce has been on Duff quite a bit this year. A big kid. A strike thrower. A lot of ground balls. Anywhere from 86-90 mph. A really reliable kid. A strike thrower at that size (6-foot-6). So kind of an interesting kid." —Tommy Tanous [ESPN]
Must be fun to read about who might draft you.
"I kept an open mind coming into the draft. I knew there were a lot of different things that could happen, just depending on the way things went. I know there were a few surprises there in the beginning. So I just kept an open mind. I had heard from a couple of sources and just online that maybe I was going to New York. Obviously that was very, very exciting to see that."— Michael Conforto [ESPN]
Feels like every year, DePo needs to explain that the team went BPA.
"We were just really hopeful that we would have a chance to call his name. I wouldn't say we were optimistic, but we were hopeful. ... We don't go into any draft and say, 'We want a college player here.' Or, 'We want a pitcher here.' We need to see what the draft is going to offer us. The last few years we really felt, at least the spot where we were in the draft, that the high school position player was the best option on the board and the best bet to take. This year, even as we got into the last week or two and the top four, five, six picks started taking shape ... we really thought, 'You know what? This looks like a college player for us. The best-available player at 10 is going to be a college player, whether it's a position player or pitcher.'" —Paul DePodesta [ESPN]
Sad stuff but I’m glad that we’re starting to hear more about the post-football career health of former players.
"I had a great future started in baseball and I could see the way football affected my dad later on in life." —Michael Conforto who was recruited to play college football and baseball by some Division I schools, and football only at some Ivy League schools, but went exclusively in the baseball direction in part because of the toll football took on his father, who needs double-knee replacement surgery and is having difficulty walking. [ESPN].
Let’s hear from a dumb former Mets catcher desperate to be relevant.
"I could hit better left-handed than the schmucks they’ve got there now… "Now, listen, Bartolo Colon? Great sign. He had an unbelievable year. But, for me, what does he serve for you as a Mets fan? So you can go 78-85? Why not bring up a kid from Double-A and give a kid some experience and try to find lightning in a bottle? They've never done that… And then they go build this ballpark that's mammoth, and your franchise player is a hitting star who has four home runs." —Paul LoDuca [ESPN]
To even it out, let’s hear from the greatest former Mets catcher.
"As a player, I played in some really tough hitters’ ballparks. I understand that [Citi Field] might not be a great hitters’ ballpark. But, to me, just take a step back, just hit the ball hard. Doubles and singles and walks are good, too. If you get the home run, you get the home run. There has to be a synergy, there has to be a plan offensively. It’s a tough game, and I’ve been there. You hit a ball into the wind and a guy catches it, then you're ticked off. It’s easier said than done, but you've got to find a way to push through it." —Mike Piazza [New York Daily News]
Sad news, thank you once again for June 1, 2012.
"The tendon is severed, and it will in effect end [Johan Santana’s] season. We'll have to get with him and speak to him. But he won't be able to pitch for the Orioles this season." —Dan Duquette [ESPN]