New York Mets

Another former Brooklyn Cyclone, Dillon Gee, made his Major League debut for the Mets tonight against the Washington Nationals. He was opposed by Cuban defector Yunesky Maya, who also made his Major League debut.

Before he even threw his first pitch in the big leagues, Gee was staked to an early 3-0 lead on a three-run first inning homer by Ike Davis. Davis crushed Maya's offering deep into the center field bleachers for his 18th home run of the year.

You can't get off to a much more auspicious start to your Major League career than Dillon Gee did tonight. In his debut, Gee held the Washington Nationals hitless through the first five innings. Though the baseball gods and the bat of Willie Harris would not allow Dillon to flirt with history beyond out number fifteen, he nonetheless posted one of the best debuts in recent memory.

In my years as a Mets fan, I have been constantly scrutinized by members of the Evil Empire a.k.a. Yankees' fans. The "27-to-2" comparison of World Series titles is always flaunted around in claims that the Yankees are much better than the Mets.

While as a baseball fan I cannot argue that the Yankees are not a storied franchise, I can defend the "27-2" comparison as a Mets' fan, and here is why:

Former New York Mets’ pitcher and all-around phenom Dwight Gooden was recently inducted into the Mets' Hall of Fame. Earlier this year he was also arrested by Franklin Lakes Township police in New Jersey for driving under the influence with his 5-year-old son in the car, among other charges and is awaiting his day in court.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Mets will try to even their series with the Washington Nationals tonight, in a game pitched by two first-timers.

Originally, Johan Santana was supposed to start tonight's game for the Mets, but he strained a pectoral muscle in his last start on Thursday and was scratched.

Therefore, taking his spot in the rotation will be 24-year-old minor leaguer Dillon Gee. This is Gee's fourth season in the Mets organization since they drafted him in the 21st round of the 2007 amateur draft.

What makes a premier closer in Major League Baseball?

Let's start with a simple, but elusive attribute. Control. As entertaining as Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn was in the movie Major League, a guy that fails to pin point his pitches is murder on the nerves of fans. A Mr. Francisco Rodriguez comes to mind here.

Most closers only have two pitches. Having the ability to control where those pitches wind up is paramount to success.

Perhaps negative emotions like spite consume our love for sports too much. "Anyone but Philly" is the clean version of a reply I'll give to anyone who might ask me, "If it's not going to be the Mets, who's it going to be?"

When Johan Santana was brought to New York in the winter of 2008, it was with much fanfare that he would be the savior that brought the Mets some respectability after the collapse of 2007.

During Santana’s tenure as a Met so far, they have not won anything, in fact they are actually a worse performing team than they were in 2007. 

Finally. It is about time that the Mets' front office did something right this season.

After inexplicably having Jenrry Mejia start the season on the Mets' major league roster as a reliever, the situation has finally been fixed. Mejia is a starter, and he will be able to help the Mets in the future in that capacity.

When the Mets let Rod Barajas move across the country to Los Angeles, they effectively handed the everyday job to Josh Thole, the team’s top catching prospect. 

The final few weeks of the season will operate as a test of sorts.  The Mets need to determine if Thole has what it takes to handle the everyday job in 2011 or if they need to shop in free agency again.