Past, Present, And Future

It's rare that the Mets can celebrate all three phases of time on the same day. The Mets haven't been the most diligent in honoring the past. During the Omar Minaya years, the future was only guaranteed because the calendar says so. The present? The Mets really haven't had a present since 2008.

But as the Mets head into the All-Star Break, whose festivities will be showcased at our happy humble home in Flushing 11368, for one day Mets fans can look fondly on all three … past, present, and future. The past was celebrated as it was announced that Mike Piazza would be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame on September 29th, the last day of the season. The Mets will probably wait until Piazza is inducted into the Baseball Hall to retire number 31, unless they have some surprise planned to retire it that day. But if there's one thing the Mets don't seem to have in their playbook, it's forward thinking and pleasant surprises. In other words, don't hold your breath. But if there's something about number retiring that I believe to be true, is that it should have as much to do with the feelings of the fans towards a player than it does towards statistics and accomplishments.

I always go back to Adam Graves of the Rangers when it comes to that. (And forgive me if you've heard this from me before.) Will Graves ever be a Hall of Famer? No. And there was a pretty intense conversation about whether #9 should be raised to the Garden rafters for Graves. But when Brian Leetch announced during his own number retirement that next season would feature Graves' number retirement, the roar that went up from the crowd was on another level than the roars you usually hear. And that convinced me that 9 belonged up there. As for Piazza, he has the stats to justify the Hall. But with the feelings that Mets fans had and still have for him, my point is this: why wait? I understand waiting for the actual Hall to retire 31, but the fans should be part of this equation, and that part should put 31 on the wall without the Hall of Fame.

The Mets can also celebrate the present after a 4-2 victory over the Pirates on Sunday as Dillon Gee was solid once again, John Buck seemed to find his stroke with two hits and two RBI, and Scott Atchison actually came off the DL and pitched in a game without hurting himself. All good developments for the here and now. And Atchison's return forced the Mets to make a move which may turn out to force a complicated piece of the Mets present into the Mets past once and for all, as Jordany Valdespin was sent down to Las Vegas to make room. How did Jordany take the news?

Was told Valdespin had a confrontation with Terry Collins and called the manager a "c – – ksucker" and demanded to be placed on the DL.

— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) July 15, 2013

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Well, that's mature.

Last thing on topic because I don't want to pile on, but you won't believe the stories that will come out if there's ever a trade/release.

— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) July 15, 2013

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

He kicked Ralph Kiner in the nuts. I knew it.

But enough with that, because I have a feeling we've seen the very last of Valdespin in a Mets uniform … and I wouldn't be surprised if he never plays a game for the 51's (probably because Wally Backman will just murder him and use his bones for toothpicks). Let's move on to the future, as the Futures Game at Citi Field kicked off with Mets pitchers starting for both the USA and the World teams. And Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero both kicked off the game with a scoreless inning, with one hit given up between them. The future, while far from guaranteed, certainly looks promising, and more tangible to people like myself who don't get to see them all the time in the minors. Hopefully what this means is that the Mets aren't going to go into too many more All-Star breaks at nine games under .500 wondering how much better the season would look if they could have only been 8-3 against the Marlins instead of 3-8. That's a good way to hope for the future while celebrating the past and not being completely pissed off at the present. That's as close to clicking on all phases as the Mets will probably get this year. And to think we get four days to enjoy it.