The National League’s two worst teams are slogging their way through lost seasons on philosophically divergent tacksOne of the happiest moments of this lost summer for the New York Mets came last week, when Jeff McNeil made his major-league debut as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres and lined a single to center field.McNeil, a 12th-round draft pick in 2013, grinded his way through the farm system to get to the majors, but even his success in making it to the top could not be a universally feel-good story because of the way the Mets handled him, claiming publicly through manager Mickey Callaway that he was “purely a second baseman”. McNeil...
The one-time football sensation was derided when he signed a minor-league contract with the Mets to chase a new dream, but Tebow’s improbable if modest success deserves our appreciationFor all the gifs and memes and fragments of an Internet broken by his prodigious swings, Tim Tebow turned out to be a decent baseball player. Probably not a great prospect at 30 years old, but good enough to show that his second sports career wasn’t a joke. His best shot at a cup of coffee in the major leagues most likely ended with Monday’s diagnosis of a broken wrist. At the time he had been playing for the New York Mets Class-AA team, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, two levels below the...
David Lengel puts MLB’s 30 local telecasts to the test as he takes a tour round baseball’s broadcast boothsWith baseball’s lengthy regular season stretching from April to October, it’s not uncommon for fans to have the game on every night. Naturally, with 162 games, the broadcasters themselves become an enormous part of the fan experience.The hyper-local model which defines Major League Baseball also means that most fans have little idea what other local broadcasts are like outside their baseball bubble. Luckily MLB Advanced Media are the owners of what is probably the most comprehensive live streaming service on the planet, and I took a tour of all 30 commentary teams. Related: What's wrong with the Cubs? A backslide to mediocrity...
The New York Mets have been ravaged by injuries. But who is to blame when a team’s chances are ruined by players forced on to the sidelines?Death, taxes and injuries to Mets starters – a few of life’s certainties. Just when the furor over the Mets’ parade of injuries had seemingly reached a climax with news that Yoenis Cespedes’ strained hamstring would put him on the 10-day disabled list, Noah Syndergaard was pulled from Sunday’s game after lasting only 1 1/3 innings. In an era when arm problems frequently shelve baseball’s best young pitchers – often those that throw the hardest – this is troubling news, especially given Syndergaard’s record of past resilience.But while the Mets appeared to have poorly...