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At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

themetfairy Mar 03 2010 10:34 AM

The Trials of Mr. Met

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 03 2010 11:14 AM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

So THAT's why the bullpen catcher didn't want to talk to Rubin about his trip.

metsguyinmichigan Mar 03 2010 11:16 AM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

Damn good story. I'm glad Lee Jenkins wrote it. I'm an optimist, but I'm excited about this season.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 03 2010 11:23 AM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Mar 03 2010 11:56 AM

The catcher story was kinda sewn on in front there, though, no? I like Jenkins-- and most of the story-- a lot, but the intro seems of a slightly different piece than the rest of it, and the connection to the story's meat pretty tenuous. (I'm judging Jenkins by his own high standards here, of course.) (Also: When his team lost 12 of its last 17 games to blow the National League East title in '07, Wright was exempt from blame because he hit .352 in September. When the Mets lost 10 of their last 17 to blow the wild-card berth in '08, Wright was absolved again because he hit .340 over the final month. "He had never really failed," says hitting coach Howard Johnson. Lee obviously doesn't read the tabloids, cruise Metsblog or listen to 'FAN. Which is probably good, because his headaches would be worse. That should read, "should have been exempt... should have been absolved.")

metsguyinmichigan Mar 03 2010 11:56 AM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

You're right about the intro. He never gets back to it, and goes on for a long time before even getting to the point of the story. But had this been a Verducci piece, the first 10 inches would have been following Derek Jeter grocery shopping -- with a transition being something along the lines of "all this while the man who is the face of the city's lesser-loved franchise....," followed by a recap of how the Mets "failed" to sign any free agents except one rumored to rather play in Beirut and Beltran's surgery and even an aside about the shoulder patch and a cheap joke about the home run apple -- instead of a Mets back-up catcher.

dgwphotography Mar 03 2010 12:14 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

That's the first thing I've read that actually has me excited for this season. It's about time.

themetfairy Mar 03 2010 01:34 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

Here's how it looks in print -

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Mar 03 2010 01:54 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

A little upper-lip glisten, to convey the proper amount of effort... just before the photograph was taken... in the dead of winter? That's some clutch perspiration.

G-Fafif Mar 03 2010 04:51 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

The scary part is the organizational edict that everybody had to hit to right. Geez. I attended close to half of all home games last year and I do not recall Wright being booed on any kind of regular basis, which is something Jenkins suggests was the norm. There was less booing in general than at Shea, perhaps from numbness to the terrible season, perhaps because Citi Field keeps fans otherwise distracted, perhaps because David is still the people's choice. He may have had his halo tarnished, but there was no vocal WrightLash at the ballpark. I heard more boos for him on the final day at Shea in the ninth (when he popped up to lead off the ninth) than I did at point in 2009. The whole team has rallied behind the bullpen catcher? I hope to hear that in seven months when there are myriad articles dissecting what it was that galvanized these N.L. East champion Mets. "It all began with Dave Racianello's bike trip...and continues here in October." Jenkins presumably didn't write the subhed, but I could've done without that "New York's Other Franchise" bit.

Frayed Knot Mar 03 2010 04:54 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

[quote="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]So THAT's why the bullpen catcher didn't want to talk to Rubin about his trip.

Yup! Seems like he gave SI a semi-exclusive and didn't want to leak any details prior to pub date.
Although I still want to hear more and think this thing is worthy of a segment on 'Mets Weekly'

Think about this:
- 1,000 or so miles at around 90/day is impressive enough, but to do it in January, while toting your own gear via a mountain bike (not the best model for either longer-range rides or speed) and reportedly with almost no money makes it half crazy.
Fortunately for him the latter half of January was about the only warm stretch in the mid-Atlantic states for the entire winter so once out of Jersey he probably ran into a string of 50+ and even 60 degree days thru Md & Virginia before hitting the normally reasonable Carolinas & Georgia. Starting out two weeks later he would have smacked right up against the multiple snow storms which would have certainly ended his trek.

I'd still like to know more about which route(s) he took - especially when it comes to getting over those major bodies of water (Del Riv, Chesapeake Bay, etc.) where highway bridges don't normally accommodate bikes.

Valadius Mar 03 2010 05:26 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

[quote="G-Fafif":2tmpe4g8]I attended close to half of all home games last year and I do not recall Wright being booed on any kind of regular basis, which is something Jenkins suggests was the norm.[/quote:2tmpe4g8] See Blair, Jayson.

Chad Ochoseis Mar 03 2010 07:14 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

[quote="Frayed Knot"]I'd still like to know more about which route(s) he took - especially when it comes to getting over those major bodies of water (Del Riv, Chesapeake Bay, etc.) where highway bridges don't normally accommodate bikes.

That was the first question that came to my mind. It looks like there are only three major bodies of water that have to be crossed to get from Newark to PSL - the Delaware River, the Susquehanna River, and the Potomac River. Chesapeake Bay isn't really on the way.

You can cross the Delaware River from downtown Trenton - a friend of mine who works for the state government sometimes walks across the bridge on her lunch hour.

The Potomac's easy - many of the DC bridges accommodate pedestrians and bikes.

The Susquehanna (which is narrow in central Pennsylvania out by coobyland, but wide in Maryland) is the tough one. The easiest and most direct way to do it looks like giving Biller's Bikes in Havre de Grace, Maryland a call. They offer a "bikemobile" across the Hatem Bridge on US 40 which, yeah, would be cheating. Or, you can do what this guy did and go a little out of your way to the Conowingo Bridge on US 1, and get a police escort. And then you can tell your friends you biked across the Conowingo Bridge.

Conowingo. It's just fun to say it.

Nymr83 Mar 03 2010 08:03 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

The Potomac's easy Not if you're George McClellan. Impressive story and the guy was lucky to miss the snow. Temperature wise I'd rather try it now than in the summer, the 40's don't feel cold when you're sweating.

Edgy DC Mar 03 2010 08:06 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

But not so much when you're tenting.

Frayed Knot Mar 03 2010 08:29 PM Re: At Least They Didn't Put Him On The Cover

Biking while it's in the 40s is cold; cold on the hands, on the face, on the feet - especially for the long term plus you've always got a 15mph (or so) wind in your face. And, yeah, 40 degree days means 20 degree nights in the tent. Plus there's so much less daylight hours to ride. Now he did get lucky as it was probably in 50s or better during 2/3 of the trek and, yeah, that beats Georgia in July, but it's still freakin January. The problem with finding ways over water where typically only highways cross directly is that the alternatives often make a long trip even longer. Sometimes the way around that is jumping on a ferry; it solves the bridge without bike lanes problem, often let's you avoid the crowded city, and it gives a nice break to the day (it's the best way to go on bike from L.I. to Conn for instance). But that's where the only starting out with $20 problem jumps up and bites you.