At 5:00 am today I made my way to Central Park for the NIKE 1/2 Marathon.  What an amazing race.  After a full loop of Central Park, the course takes you down 7th Avenue right into the heart of New York City, Times Square.  From here we banged a right onto 42nd Street to the West Side Highway where we made a left to finish the final 4 miles to Battery Park City.  This was just another day of training until the November 2nd Marathon.  Right now I am sitting on my couch watching Johan pitch an amazing game.

Anyway, the Mets tie-in is two fold.  First, this race almost didn't happen for me.  You'll notice my last game review came on Tuesday night against the Phillies.  Well, at this game I had one of those great Shea sausages.  As it turns out something did not agree with me.  The next day I had full food poisoning, low grade fever and just some nasty stuff going on (I'll spare the details).   I ended up  feeling pretty bad until Friday morning, when I had my first real meal of the week.  So, thanks to the Shea sausage I almost didn't make it to this race.  Also, as we were crossing the start line the MC of the event from channel 7 gave some well deserved props the "first place Mets".  It was a nice little thing to hear as I started a 13.1 mile run.

Let's Go Mets!!!!

By the way, I finished in 1 hour and 56 minutes, just a bit over my goal, but was happy with the result, a nice warm-up for November.

Terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible loss.  I really don't know what else to say.  Johan rose to the challenge tonight, he had been called out by fans and reporters, and he pitched one hell of a game.  I question the Manuel move, I thought Johan had enough gas left in the tank to finish out the game.  Did he really want it, especially knowing Wagner was unavailable.  If the Mets had gotten a rally started in the bottom of the 8th, then I definitely see pinch hitting for Johan, but brining up Argenis Reyes in that position to pinch hit was a waste.  In my opinion, Johan is your $20 million man, you throw his ass out there to close out the win and secure first place for the Mets.  Yes, Johan pitched like an Ace tonight.  Yes, he may have had nothing left in the tank.  Yes, the Mets bullpen needed only three outs.  Yes, Endy was thrown out twice at home with no outs.  From this fans point of view there was some terrible decisions made tonight, but hindsight is 20/20.

What a fantastic crowd on hand tonight, almost a sell-out.  Great to see this for an August Tuesday night game.  The crowd was into it, and I felt a little stadium bounce when David Wright hit his RBI double in the LF corner.  I've been waiting for the Shea faithful to show up this year.  Wagner kinda called out the Mets fans earlier in the week, and I do think we responded.  The Mets totally outplayed the Phillies tonight, it is a shame that it didn't show in the final score.  I had my Yankee fan friend Jason with me, and he was even into this game.  Johan, dominant.  Mets offense was clicking.  Manuel, questionable move.  Mets bullpen, disgraceful. 

Let's take the final 2 of this series, the pitching match-ups look great. 

I was lucky to score tickets to the Home Run Derby this week.  I have only been to Yankee Stadium three times, and here are my memories:

- Sitting behind home plate to see Roger Clemens pitch against the Yankees as a member of the Red Sox.  I went with a childhood friend, Jeff, and we had great seats, 10 rows behind home plate.  This was my first experience watching pro baseball outside of Shea Stadium as a kid, and I remember that I felt "icky". 
- Going to a game with a few childhood friends that I played baseball with and our fathers.  Again, I remember not feeling so comfortable being at Yankee Stadium, no matter how much everyone talked about the history of the stadium.  I was just never that excited to go see the Yankees play, well not nearly as excited as going to Shea Stadium to see my Mets.
- Sitting first row along the RF line with my brother Dave in 2004 for a Mets 9-3 over the Yankees.  I remember thinking how deadly the Yankees line-up was then, and how horrible Al Leiter pitched in the first inning. 

So, back to the Home Run Derby.  This blog entry starts and finishes with Josh Hamilton.  What an amazing story, where he came from, what he has battled back from, just amazing.  Man, he was hitting absolute BOMBS.  By the 9th or 10th moon shot, the crowd started chanting "Hamilton, Hamilton, Hamilton", he won over Yankee Stadium in about 20 minutes.  I have three videos that I put on You Tube part 1 part 2 part 3 (I suggest you select under "views" watch in high quality) .

Overall it was a good experience.  I still get the same icky feeling when I go to Yankee Stadium.  I have to admit that history aside, I like Shea Stadium infinitely more.  Can't wait to get back to Queens next week to watch the red hot mets square off against the Phillies, bring it on!

One of Catherine's clients threw out the first pitch tonight.  A few text messages and phone calls later we were sitting first row behind home plate in what I can only describe as the best seats I have ever sat in for a professional baseball game.  If you get a chance to watch the highlights online, you can see us sitting there the entire game.  And yes, I did flinch like a little bitch when a foul ball came off and back to the screen.  I always thought to myself that I would never flinch if I ever had the chance to sit behind home plate, but being first row it is quite a different experience.  It was funny, we had text messages and phone calls from people who saw us on TV, but I tried very hard to "act like I have been there before" and not be the guy who is on his phone all game and waving at the camera.

On top of these great seats, we sell one hell of a game.  Ollie walked a bunch of guys, but he pitched fantastic.  It is amazing to sit behind the plate and see how hard these guys throw and what sick movement they get.  I thought it was difficult to follow the game from these vantage point.  It was hard to see feel the development of plays and see the positioning of the defense.  What can you say about Damion Easley, the Mets bench players continue to produce in big situations.  Billy Wagner, lights out, he is also getting back on a nice little roll.  This whole team is clicking at the right time. I really can not explain the energy and the experience from sitting right on top of the field, just amazing.

Great crowd, electric.  Another win, 8 in a row.  It has been a pleasure to watch the Mets over the past week.  I look forward to the second half of the season and keeping this roll going. 

Well, we are on a nice little roll right now.  I will be going to the game tonight and I have to admit it is the first time since Opening Day that I have looked forward to going to a game.  There is life back at Shea.  I read the comments by Billy Wagner this morning and it definitely seems like there is a breath of fresh air in the Mets locker room, thanks to Jerry Manuel. 

I was out with a bunch of Mets fans last night and we were talking about potential directions Omar takes the team before the deadline.  It was almost unanimous that they don't bring in Bonds, however, as big of a critic I have been of his, I wouldn't mind seeing him in the lineup.  Disastrous on defense but would add a nice bat to the middle of the order.  My friend Steve wondered if the big Sexy, Richie Sexson was worth picking up.  Should the Mets go after Adam Dunn.  How much would the X-man cost in prospects?  This much is true, the Mets will not win the Pennant with Fernando Tatis in LF. As much as I am on the Tatis bandwagon and as clutch as he has been, I just don't see him as a season long option as a starter and continuing to be productive.  If we are counting on Tatis to win games for us in September, then something had gone very wrong.

Hope everyone who can make it to Shea tonight can.  I have a feeling it will be a great crowd full of energy to help push the Mets closer to first place.  Now we just pray that Ollie shows up!

Welcome home boys.  Hard to believe that only a few weeks ago every Mets fan, myself included, was ripping this team apart.  I noticed tonight at the game that there was definitely a different buzz in the crowd.  First of all there was actually a great crowd on hand, not the typical "no-shows" which have inaccurately inflated attendance all year long.  You could feel that the Shea faithful was happy to see its Mets come home, in support of a strong road trip.  Can you believe where we are sitting right now in the standings?  What the Mets need to do is continue to get stronger and sting as many wins together as possible before the All Star break (which I may be getting tickets for, fingers crossed).

Rick and I went to the game tonight and we were excited to see a good match-up between two young pitchers, Tim Lincecum and Mike Pelfrey.  Thanks to a Carlos Beltran first inning three run home run, the Mets went out to an early lead.  Pelfrey looked absolutely dominant over his 7 innings pitched.  He finally looks like he is comfortable, and I am wondering how much that has to do with Peterson being gone.  Pelfrey was hitting the zone all night long and was working rather quickly.  Is this our future potential number 1? Fernando Tatis, what can you say about this guy, he continues to get hits in big spots and is doing the little things (like breaking up a double play to keep a big inning going in Philly).  I like the Jerry Manuel reward system, if you are playing well you are going to start.  Manuel has done a good job mixing things up and putting the Mets in a position to win. 

Well, I don't know what else to say other than the Mets played a very "clean" game and won 7-0.  Clutch hitting.  Strong pitching.  Solid defense.  Keep it up guys. 

On November 2nd I will be running in the ING New York City Marathon.  I've been training since January and my first test will be the NYC Nike 1/2 Marathon on July 27th. 

I will be running as a member of Team for Kids Charity.  This organization helps NYRR deliver running-based fitness programs to 25,000 at-risk school children each week in New York and a handful of other cities.  These programs are run by trained volunteers who help kids learn to run, eat well, and set and achieve fitness and health goals.

There are a few things that I want to get across with this blog entry:

1) If the Mets win the Pennant this year, I will run the Marathon with a Mr. Met doll (or other Mets product) strapped to my hip.

2) I am half-way to my donation goal, but If you choose to donate money to Team for Kids in support of me, I will provide you with 2 tickets to a Mets game (limited number and select games available).  If you do decide to donate, here are the details:

Follow the link to the TFK page on the ING New York City Marathon 2008 page:
https://www.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/start.cgi/mar-programs/nyrrf/team/2008/donations.htm

Be sure to have all donations list my ING NYC Marathon entry number (273835) and last name (Miles). All contributions are tax-deductible; you'll receive acknowledgment from NYRR in the mail.

3) If you simply want to follow my progress, you can join my public Facebook group.