When the New York Mets selected 6-foot-6 right-hander Brant Rustich (pictured, left/Photo by UCLA Sports Department) out
of UCLA with the 93rd pick in this past year’s first player draft, it's
pretty safe to assume that he didn't expect this quick of a move
through the club's farm system. Rustich was a college reliever coming off a poor statistical year at
UCLA, but if you watch him pitch, you know why he was the 93rd
selection. His main issue has been control, but a lot of people
attribute the control issues to a finger surgery he had in college (the
same surgery that Phillies pitcher Adam Eaton had).
(Editor's Note) Every year around this time, Mets fans used to gather ouside Shea Stadium, hours, days, even a week before single game tickets went on sale. For the last seven years, Newbergh's Matt Hoey (pictured, center) was at the head of the line, gaining a folliowing as one of the Mets' biggest fans. After hearing from from our friends Kathy Foronjy & Joseph Coburn that Matt's been in an accident, we wanted to share with our readers i hopes that you'll join us in sending our thoughts and prayers to Matt and his family for a speedy recovery - MH
The first week of Mets camp has been filled with much optimism
considering the collapse of 2007. Johan Santana has certainly helped
clean the stench of September and bring exactly what this team needed
going into 2008. You have also heard a lot of something else this first
week: trash talk. Despite the contention of the media and fan base I do
not view this talk as a positive for this team.
Months of speculation ended at about 4:30 PM EST on Tuesday as the Mets
finally acquired ace LHP Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins. Since
the great collapse, we have debated on Gotham Baseball Live potential
packages for Johan Santana. Throughout the ordeal, I have been skeptical
about the chances of Santana landing in Flushing. With names like Phil
Hughes, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholtz, and Jacoby Ellsbury, how could the
Mets compete?