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While the Mets fans shout,
Buck's new book sells out
of TheColumnists.com
Start spreading the news: The New York Mets are the best damn team in baseball.
Amazin’? Not like in 1969, when they contended with the moon landing for that year’s top miracle.
This year’s Mets shoulda been a contender all along. In this space two months ago, I picked them to reach the World Series. Plenty of others caught Mets Mania after an off-season of landing relief whiz Billy Wagner, slugging stud Carlos Delgado and catching rock Paul Lo Duca.
Now the Mets are sizzling in time for summer. They hit Los Angeles this past weekend with the National League’s hottest record. Their lineup is blistering enemy pitchers. David Wright keeps smoking doubles. And the Carlos twins--Beltran and Delgado--double the home run fun.
Good timing for me. I’ve been a Mets fan four decades--from Casey Stengel to Tom Seaver to Darryl Strawberry to Bennie Agbayani to Cliff Floyd.
Also: My new Mets book just hit the field. It’s called “The Mets Fan’s Little Book of Wisdom” (Taylor, $7.95) and it’s scoring big time. Thanks to the Mets’ fast start, the book is already sprinting through a second printing.
After they swing through the World Series, I might update the book with these two chapters:
For Something Lastings, Look for Milledge
His first name alone leaves a Lastings impression. Then there are the dreadlocks, the enthusiasm and the power.
Milledge moved fast-rising from his hometown of Brandenton, Florida, to New York at a pace that left Mets officials reeling. They couldn’t even fill his biography on their website in time for the team’s arrival in Los Angeles in early June.
The day before hitting the West Coast, he hit his first major league homer. It came in the 10th inning to tie the game 6-6 at Shea Stadium, where 48,000 went wild. Milledge said thanks by slapping hands with fans as he jogged out to his right-field position.
The problem: The Mets went on to lose that game 7-6 to the San Francisco Giants. And New York manager Willie Randolph slapped Milledge’s move by saying, "I made sure he understood not to do it again."
You can bet Lastings will do it again. His flame flies as high as his knickers. That glow continued at Dodger Stadium, where he drove in a run in Game 1 of the series, this time leading to a 4-1 victory. Two days later he homered, tripled and gunned down a runner in a 9-7 triumph over the Dodgers.
The New York Daily News’ headline had it right: “Built to Last.”
Need Energy? Pitch Soler
He’s huge. He’s a Cuban defector. He was the Mets’ newest mound weapon in mid-2006.
His name is Alay Soler: standing 6-1, weighing 240, with a bazooka of a right arm.
He blew through the enemy at Dodger Stadium for his first victory in early June. He also produced his first big-league hit and laid down two deadly bunts to make his 4-1 triumph easier.
Five days later, Soler stayed hot in the
West. This time he scorched the Arizona Diamondbacks with a two-hit
shutout.
As soon as Soler’s 5-0 complete game ended, Orlando Hernandez
threw his arms around his big fellow islander.
"That's the Cuban connection, man," said El Duque.
As for the current-running version of “The Mets Fan’s Little Book of Wisdom,” here’s how it opens and ends:
Let’s Get Our Priorities Straight
“The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets. Before that, I think you have to go back to the Red Sea.” Who said it? God in the 1977 movie “Oh, God!”
Leadership at the Top Sure
Helps
"God is living in New York City and he's a Mets fan."
That religious thought came from Tom Seaver, who had something
to say about those 1969 Miracle Mets.
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Speaking of heaven, the National Baseball Hall of Fame recently
ordered “The Mets Fan’s Little Book of Wisdom”
for its gift shop. As a loyal pal said, I landed in Cooperstown
before Pete Rose.
©2006 by Bucky Fox. This column first posted June 26, 2006.
You can visit Bucky Fox's website at www.BuckyFox.com
Want to order Bucky's Book?
Then click here for a link
to Amazon.com: BUY
BUCKY BOOK
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