National League Town: Recent Episodes
National League Town
Should he have stayed or should he have been told to go? Jeff discusses the decision to retain Carlos Mendoza with Greg Prince, who sorts through the clashing rationales regarding the manager of the Mets continuing to steer a ship that essentially sank in the second half. The fellas also try to figure out why the Mets never win as many games in the seasons after they’ve gone to the playoffs; whether a case can be made for bidding the Polar Bear adieu; and what their personal best moments at Citi Field were in 2025. There are no Phillies left in the postseason, and there are no Yankees, but there is National League Town.
There are numerous reasons why the Mets didn't make the playoffs. Kevin Chapman joins the show to discuss what happened. Join us! #Mets #LGM
The Mets season is over and we're deep in our feelings! Jeff Cohen (from the Baseball & BBQ podcast) joins the show to help explain what happened. Join us! #Mets #LGM
The Mets edge closer to a playoff spot with a big win over the Cubs. We talk about it and find something else that Rob Manfred has messed up. Join us for this "express version" of the show. #Mets #LGM
After two painful losses by the Mets, we see the shadows but still try to practice radical optimism. We also review a new production of "Damn Yankees". There are references to David Letterman and Anna Greenberg (Peloton). Join us! #LGM #Mets
We report back after seeing the Mets in person on Wednesday and Thursday. We draw inspiration from Dua Lipa. Join us! #Mets #LGM
We discuss the Mets finally winning and somehow holding onto a playoff spot. Then, we talk about what it’s like to sing the Anthem at Citi Field with Mets fan, Broadway star, and recording star, Liz Callaway (2:15). Join us! #LGM #Mets
We preview the upcoming Mets Alumni Classic with Greg Prince and discuss the 11 lawyers who are in Cooperstown with Former Judge Louis H. Schiff (14:00). Join us! #LGM
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On a jam-packed episode, Greg Prince remembers Davey Johnson (3:20). We find solace in the last two losses while looking ahead to the next series with Rich Glass, a Phillies fan (no, he won't try to take the ball from you) (20:10). Join us! #Mets #LGM
Ryan Helsley might not want to listen to this one. We talk about the Mets taking 2 of 3 in Detroit, and we open the NLT Mailbag. Join us #LGM #Mets
These Mets are day-to-day. We talk about it and blast the non-rookie starting pitchers. Plus, there's another of "Jeff's Brilliant Ideas." Join us for Oasis and "Step Brothers" references! #LGM #Mets
Jeffrey Bellone of "Mets Fix" joins the show to discuss some of the reasons why the Mets have been so inconsistent. Jeffrey gives us a reason to hope--beyond just being Mets fans. Join us! #Mets #LGM
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A frustrated Jeff recaps his three games in Washington, which included Mets fans who kept their cool and Mets fans who booed a Met. Jeff also discusses the latest from Rob Manfred and we open the NLT Mailbag! Join us! #LGM #Mets
Jeff gives himself, and us, a pep-talk after the Mets won their second in a row. Plus, we open the NLT Mailbag! The David Wright Fathead is mentioned again. Join us! #LGM #Mets
What's it like to be on a reality show and lose all contact with the Mets? Mets fan and Hoboken resident Mike Turner from Survivor 42 is here to tell us. We also discuss which Met would do well on Survivor and which Met would be voted out first. #LGM #Mets
Two hundred episodes of National League Town are in the books! Jeff reunites with Greg for this special occasion, so special that our original co-hosts decided to focus on five good things apiece about the Mets. That took a while to come up with (have you seen this team lately?), but they’re here, as is all the love the pod has for its listeners for being with us on our ride. #LGM #Mets
Here is a link to the song "NLT 200": https://ilovesong.ai/work/5974140-191f4c2d-3569-4c55-a5c7-fd089564b472
After another sleepy loss, Jeff Cohen (from the "Baseball & BBQ" podcast) joins the show to discuss the Mets' problems. The David Wright FatHead is discussed again, and the show ends on a high note with a nice story about Alex Cohen. Join us! #LGM #Mets
Did the Mets do enough? Jeff and Guest Co-Host Dylan Hysen talk about the trade deadline on an all-new NLT. A David Wright Fathead is mentioned. Join us! #Mets #LGM
The Mets are in first place, but are they good? We discuss this along with the trade deadline, David Wright, "Number 8", and a favorite Mets game with Joe Buccino (who you might know from Fox News). And yes, we have pie! Join us! #Mets #LGM
We review the All-Star Game, discuss your Mets quirks, and open the NLT Mailbag! Join us! #LGM #Mets
Are the Mets back? Jeff has some thoughts. Then, Jeff unveils a Brilliant Idea to improve the All-Star Game, and we open the NLT Mailbag! Join us! #LGM #Mets
Just because the Mets held a team meeting and lost in yet another blowout, it didn’t mean National League Town wouldn’t try its luck at meeting. Here, we have Jeff Hysen getting together with original co-host Greg Prince to try and figure out why the f-word (frustrating) is so gosh darn prevalent in Mets fans’ thoughts these days. NLT has no good answers to the club’s pitching and hitting woes, but at least nobody’s ERA rose or OPS sagged while this episode was being recorded.
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Two wins out of twelve will put you in a bad #Mets mood, and Jeff is there (but he's sorry). Also, we open the NLT Mailbag. Join us! #LGM
The #Mets are not playing well, but maybe the upcoming series against Atlanta will turn things around. Plus, we talk to author John T. Williams about his book "We'll Call You Mr. Met!" Join us! #LGM
Website:mrmetbook.com
Instagram: @mrmetbook
The #Mets are not playing well right now, but at least we have Mr. Met! We talk about the Mets' poor play and debate Mr. Met vs. The Philly Phanatic with a Phillies fan. Join us! #LGM
Guest Co-Host Kerby Valladares joins Jeff to discuss the #Mets' lost weekend and the upcoming 10 games. Also, Jeff and Kerby talk about All-Star Voting, the Alumni Softball game, and "Get Metsmerized". Join us! #LGM
The #Mets swept the Nationals and Rockies because that is what good teams do. We talk about the Senga injury, Jeff's trip to Denver, and ask, "What is your Mets quirk?" Join us! #LGM
After a frustrating loss, the Mets will be in Denver (and so will NLT). We talk about the games with the Dodgers, what Rob Manfred did right, and what Rob Manfred did wrong. We also comment on an ongoing mistake at Mets HQ. Join us!
The #Mets have passed the one-third point of the season. We talk about the State of the Mets as well as MLB's "temporary" move to Sacramento with Guest Co-Host Kevin G. Chapman. Join us! #LGM
We're feeling better about the #Mets after taking 2 of 3 from the Dodgers. We discuss the importance of Tyrone Taylor, preview the White Sox series with author Dave Bagdade, and Jeff has a commentary about the Yankees (20:05). Join us! #LGM
The #Mets won a big game as we try to turn out the noise. We talk to the co-author of "More Amazin' Mets Trivia" and open the NLT Mailbag.
The Mets looked terrible on Sunday and Jeff was there. He tells you if there was anything good about his trip and more. #LGM
Mets fans, you've heard of "Must See TV" but these Mets are "Must See ABs". Plus, Rob Manfred has sunk even further by reinstating Pete Rose. Jeff also tells us what we should stop doing and explains "Foot Long Hot Dogs" at Blue Jays games. Join us! #LGM
It's been a frustrating week for the Mets and we discuss how the rotation revolves around one player. Plus, we visited the Rogers Centre and recommend "Fight For Glory". Join us! #LGM
Mets fans: Call it the Brandon Nimmo Game, call it a Unicorn--it was a great Met win after a horrible loss. Jeff was there for 3 of the games and tells you about it on today's show. #LGM
How can a #Mets fan not be in a great mood after sweeping Philadelphia and St. Louis? We talked about as well as the latest nonsense from Rob Manfred. We also open the NLT Mailbag! Join us #LGM
The Mets lost their 2nd in a row which put Jeff in a Bad Mets Mood but guest Co-Host Kerby Valladares brought positive vibes as we talked about Soto, Alonso, Acuna, Baty, and more. Join us!
We'll take a 5 and 1 homestand, although we're worried about Brett Baty. We also equate Yankees fans with Nationals fans and open the NLT Mailbag!
The Mets come home at 3 and 3. It could have been better, but it could have been worse. Speaking of worse, Rob Manfred handled yet another situation poorly, and Jeff tells you what he did this time.
Some folks like to get away, take a holiday from the neighborhood. National League Town likes to think out loud about the Mets season ahead. For our Opening Day Spectacular, Jeff invites Old Friend (TM) Greg Prince onto the show to talk about where Mets fans’ heads oughta be in 2025 (besides under Mets caps) and where the Mets oughta finish this year (in a ticker-tape parade, hopefully).
On the season finale of GLT, the Mets won and we reflect on what we've learned about the Mets this spring.
The Mets tied and Soto hit a HR. We have Spring Training tips and open the "NLT Mailbag"!
The #Mets lost but Tylor Megill looked good and Donovan Walton hit a Grand Slam. Also, it's the return of "Jeff's Brilliant Ideas", and we open the "NLT Mailbag".
It was a great night at Clover Park: the Mets won, I was on the field, and I met a father & son from NC. Also, we have a commentary on the lack of Spring Training broadcasts.
Another Mets loss but another good beer. We also discuss the departure of Jose Iglesias and we open the NLT Mailbag!
On this Special Episode of NLT we talk to Matthew Silverman, the co-author of Art Shamsky's New Book, "Mets Stories I Only Tell My Friends".
Another snoozer as the Mets lost. I discuss Yankees' fans and my encounter with another Mets fan.
The Mets pitched well but didn't hit well. I was a member of the press, and I can tell you what that was like.
The Mets lost, a minor league catcher looked good, the ABS system fixed many calls, and we had some good beer. We also open the NLT Mailbag!
The rain held off but the Mets lost. We talk about the state of the rotation, parking, and "Never Gonna Give You Up".
My first game of the spring. The Mets lost but I met Steve Cohen and a players' father. I also describe the play where the Mets lost Nick Madrigal.
Welcome to Season 2 of "Grapefruit League Town"! Here, we set the stage for future episodes and open the "NLT Mailbag".
Finally, the Mets are back. We talk about Carlos' press conference, expectations for 2025, and open the NLT Mailbag.
Jeff is symmetrical and uses "established fairness standards" when discussing Pete Alonso, Carlos Beltran, and (ugh) Chase Utley.
NLT bemoans the fact that the Mets still haven't signed Pete. We also recommend a new internet game and we open the "NLT Mailbag".
NLT is back for Season 4, and we're talking about Pete Alonso: why the Mets need him and why he needs the Mets. Plus, Jeff remembers Lenny Randle from Fantasy Camp in 2009.
We say hello again to Sean Manaea, coming back to the Mets after dabbling in free agency. We say goodbye to Rickey Henderson, the leadoff legend for all time (15:00). We say hello to Curtis Granderson’s name on the Hall of Fame ballot and remember what made him such a special player in Flushing. And we say goodbye to 2024 on National League Town by noting a change to our lineup for 2025 (38:15). Happy new year to all NLT listeners from Greg and Jeff...and as always, Let’s Go Mets.
A fifteen-year contract suggests Juan Soto will be spending the rest of his baseball-playing life as a New York Met. The number 5 in the Citi Field rafters confirms David Wright has been, is and will always be a Met for life. The way he’s conducted himself tells us Art Shamsky has devoted much of his life to the legacy of the 1969 Mets. National League Town hopes you’ll have the time of your life listening to Greg and Jeff talking about each of them.
Juan Soto is a New York Met. What else is there to say? Whatever it is, Greg and Jeff couldn’t be happier to say it.
We welcome Frankie Montas to the New York Mets. We welcome Jose Siri to the New York Mets. Given the chance, we will welcome Juan Soto to the New York Mets. The so-called “golden at-bat” Rob Manfred is reportedly buzzing about? We show that concept to the door.
It’s Thanksgiving week, so let’s be thankful that as lifelong baseball fans, we’ve been fortunate enough to experience quite a few ballplayers still around to be reminded by fans that they’ll never be forgotten. Join Greg and Jeff in appreciation of some legendary players, Met and otherwise, who made indelible marks on the game we love.
National League Town looks back at three baseball legends who’ve recently passed: the most prolific hitter of all time; the pitcher who generated a mania all his own; and a cat we couldn’t hear enough about. Join Greg and Jeff as they remember Pete Rose, Fernando Valenzuela and, yes, Hadji.
Click and refresh all you like. Juan Soto is not yet a Met. Whether or not he will be is the steamiest Remains To Be Seen component of this Hot Stove season, but there are other matters to preoccupy Mets fans everywhere, including the ones at National League Town. Will Pete Alonso stay? Will most of our rotation go? Who will move to new positions? What heretofore total stranger will play his way into our hearts next year? Greg and Jeff have no conclusive answers, but that won’t stop them from thinking out loud. Also, they remain very high on the value of Francisco Lindor.
How great was 2024 to be a Mets fan? That’s one of the questions Greg and Jeff ponder as they conclude their reflections on a year they didn’t see coming, yet are grateful to have lived through.
Greg and Jeff always believed in the 2024 Mets, especially once they gave up on giving up on them. National League Town retroactively pieces together its realization that — despite some stubborn cynicism that beset each of our co-hosts — the Mets were slowly but surely forging an unforgettable season.
Congratulations to whoever won the World Series, specifically for ensuring who didn’t win the World Series. Mostly, in the wake of a fifteenth consecutive joyous Elimination Day, we look forward to what could be a year from now. You never know, but it’s enough at this point to think of the Metsian possibilities.
With the NLCS over, we’re wearing black, but like the Mets on Fridays, only for a day. Mostly we’re celebrating the 2024 club taking us through the postseason as far as they could. We’re sorry to leave it all behind, but we’re oh so glad to have been as immersed in it as we were.
Did we give up after falling down three games to one in the National League Championship Series? Don’t feel compelled to answer that. The important thing is the Mets won Game Five, the NCLS extends to a sixth game, and Greg and Jeff are filled with hope. Mets fans couldn’t ask to be filled with much more.
The bases were loaded. Mark Vientos was up. Then the bases were unloaded and the Mets were soon on their way to tying the National League Championship Series at one game apiece. Sound familiar? A Mets fan could get used to clutch postseason grand slams when not squirming uncomfortably while crossing fingers, toes and everything else that a sizable lead doesn’t shrink, let alone vanish. The emotional whirlwind is all part of the rich tapestry of October baseball that continues to make for a month like few others in Mets history. Greg and Jeff come up for air long enough to savor it before going back to alternately high-fiving and worrying their heads off.
The bases were loaded. Francisco Lindor was up. Then the bases were unloaded and the Mets were soon on their way to the National League Championship Series. Greg and Jeff relive the latest Greatest Moment in New York Mets History; discern among excitement, anxiety and this strange thing that must be confidence; and say goodbye to a team of rivals by pointing them to the ever-expanding couch of vanquished postseason opponents.
Atlanta to Milwaukee to Atlanta to Milwaukee to Philadelphia to, at last, Citi Field. The New York Mets are coming home to play Games Three and Four of the National League Division Series with one win in their pockets and two on the table for the taking. The NLDS in progress, featuring two intensely familiar rivals, has represented gripping baseball, and sure enough, Greg and Jeff are holding on for a helluva ride the rest of the way.
The Mets being in the postseason is an all too rare phenomenon that no Mets fan wants to end. Good thing Pete Alonso made sure this feeling like no other would continue. Greg and Jeff marvel at the Polar Bear’s “most memorable” moment and the vital contributions of several key teammates in overcoming Milwaukee in the Wild Card Series and bringing on Philadelphia for the Division Series.
Greg and Jeff put on the Champagne goggles and toast the 2024 postseason-bound New York Mets.
Backs and other anatomy up against the wall, the Mets had to win their final game in Milwaukee to have a reason to go to Atlanta with their heads held high and their playoff chances better than slim, and they did it. Greg and Jeff revel in the revival of Met fortunes, featuring much love for Francisco Lindor, Francisco Alvarez, David Peterson and J.D. Martinez. Not so much love for Rob Manfred, but what else is new?
On a show where parallels to 1969 are invoked repeatedly, Greg and Jeff conclude it’s quite possible the 2024 Mets aren’t miraculous so much as they are good. Whatever they are, they have entered the final week of their season positioned to do Amazin’ things, and when set against how this season began, we can understand why we just brought the word “miracle” into the conversation.
National League Town remembers Ed Kranepool, a Met presence like no other. We also look ahead to the next steps of a playoff chase that couldn’t be much tighter; share a few things we learned from an afternoon at the library; and toast a very happy couple
We’re in the month that matters with games that matter, assuming you’re the kind of person who aligns your shirts or your thoughts to bring your team luck. The Mets are making September matter deeply thanks to, among other things, airtight defense, which Greg and Jeff salute...as they do Francisco Lindor (something that’s become a habit). The question ultimately permeating National League Town’s discourse most this week is less “how will Jeff McNeil’s absence impact the depth of the lineup?” and more “how could a wonderful young couple plan their wedding without consulting the Mets’ schedule?”
August encompassed a heckuva schedule, yet the Mets survived it quite well. After two West Coast road trips, the club finds itself in the thick of a September playoff race, which means Greg and Jeff find themselves on the edge of their seats rather than nodding off on the couch.
After a month of running in place, do the Mets have what it takes to get it in gear and go after a postseason berth in earnest? That, as they say, is why they play the games. Greg and Jeff try to sort through the particulars of a team that wins one, loses one, rinses, and repeats a little too often. National League Town also pauses to remember a coach who served five Mets managers and ran the show himself for a week when one season ended, the late Mike Cubbage.
The Mets hit the road and, by the time they got through in Seattle, the road hit back. Fortunately, three losses 3,000 miles away, no matter how offensively inept, count only as three losses, and the Wild Card is still very much within reach. Mets fans will never retrieve the sleep they lost staying awake across time zones, but that’s how following baseball works. Greg and Jeff attempt to sort it all out. Plus the problem with the appeal play; the Met who never drove in another Met; and much more!
Greg and Jeff call the Francisco Lindor Appreciation Society to order, but first clear away other business, namely how much fun tracking the Mets through a playoff race has become and how much better the Mets might be as a result of their trade-deadline machinations. As for our superstar shortstop, how much more can one Met do? Lucky for us, we’ll have a bunch of years to find out.
Virtually unstoppable team gets stopped by the only two National League opponents who aren’t trying to make the playoffs. High-charged offense wins only when it scores one run. A roster we’ve come to serenade (“OMG”) is simultaneously a group we’re anxious to see change somewhat in the coming days. Yes, the New York Mets are a hard team to figure out, but Greg and Jeff do their best as the trade deadline approaches. They also do their best to watch the Hall of Fame ceremonies while a game is on; make sense of the rest of the 2024 never mind 2025 schedule; and invoke a trio of past Mets who share what has suddenly become a highly newsworthy name.
Jeff tuned into Peacock so Greg didn’t have to watch a baseball documentary he probably wouldn’t have enjoyed as much as he did the 1990 Mets. In honor of the AM start the Nats schedule every year on the Fourth of July, Greg gets clockwise with Jeff. And Jeff pulls three vintage Mets from a stack of baseball cards so Greg can articulate what made them at least a little memorable.
With the Mets in town, Jeff availed himself of Nationals Park for a trio of games, inspiring Greg to ask how he survived the onslaught of Screech and utter immersion into Washington’s baseball scene, particularly a couple of different star turns he (Jeff, not the Nats’ mascot) took on camera.
When did these Mets, dismal in May, get so freaking good? June. How did these Mets get so freaking good? We’re not sure and we’re not that worried about it. Will they stay this good? That’s for July and the other months to figure out. In the meantime, following a Subway Series sweep, Greg and Jeff welcome their favorite baseball team back into National League Town’s good graces. Mighty magnanimous of us, don’t you think?
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Baseball fans everywhere are better off for having experienced the career and life of Willie Mays, however they experienced it, whenever they experienced. We remember the greatest player who ever lived.
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The Mets finished their series in London with a victory they didn’t turn into defeat, leaving Greg and Jeff tolerant of the whole idea of uprooting the baseball season, flying it across an ocean and depositing it in a soccer stadium for a routine-disrupting weekend. We delve into the 1-1 split with the Phillies, the national broadcasts that didn’t captivate us and the bullpen that continues to need patching. We also realize there’s going to be an All-Star Game (whether we need one or not) and think about who the Mets might send (whether they deserve to or not).
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Darryl Strawberry always did know how to knock a pitch out of a park, and on Saturday at Citi Field, he metaphorically did exactly that on the occasion of his number retirement, coming through with a grand slam of a gratitude-laden acceptance speech. Greg and Jeff were on hand and in awe over the thrill of watching No. 18 go deep yet again. Less scintillating for them have been the Mets of the present day, but our co-hosts are still watching them, too, allowing National League Town to take the club’s pulse and determine if its players continue to have one
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The Mets sent out a survey, so National League Town tries to answer it, with Greg and Jeff realizing no matter how down they might be on the Mets of the moment, their emotional bond with the team is stronger than oak. Our co-hosts also think about what it takes for them to want to read a baseball book that has little or nothing to do with the Mets.
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Spring is still in full swing, yet Greg and Jeff are already feeling the summertime blues where the 2024 Mets are concerned. Our National League Town co-hosts probe each other’s case of the orange and blue blahs, then (yet again) try to make sense of the nonsensical rules that put a runner on second with nobody out to start extra innings. In between things, there’s a couple of nice things to be said about the people we’re trusting to put our best team forward, and Greg and Jeff say them.
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The Mets went to St. Petersburg and St. Louis. If you were planning on making a trip to see them in one of the Saint cities, and you wanted to see them win, St. Louis was the right choice...and the one Jeff made. Fortunately, he brought some good National League Town karma to “the Lou” and reports back on the ballpark and its environs, including a Hall of Fame that includes seven Mets. Can Greg name them? Find out in an episode in which we see red and don’t mind at all.
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Baseball hits different here, you might have heard, but how does “Baseball Hits Different Here” hit the ear? Greg and Jeff dissect the Mets’ 2024 marketing theme and try to make sense of how other teams are advertising to their potential customers.
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The Mets have begun the season as more or less a .500 ballclub. Do they have what it takes to exceed that level? To avoid slipping below it? Greg and Jeff talk about what’s been pretty good and what could be better. Then they attempt to connect with the Mets’ newest uniforms from the perspective of fans who grew up not so much in NYC but very much in the Metropolitan Area. Finally, the next time a fair ball bounces over a fence, a brilliant idea might very well occur to you (38:00).
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Jeff gives us his initial opinion of the City Connect uniform and then: wouldn’t it be great to be given something by the Mets team store just because you were wandering through there? That rhetorical question leads to another question with a Met angle: who are you wearing, provided price is no object...which it wouldn’t be if someone was just giving player jerseys away? Listen to this National League Town bonus episode to get in on the hypothetical.
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Doc Gooden was honored at Citi Field, and National League Town is honored to be to be able to share some insights about what the day was like in Flushing. Greg and Jeff are also glad that the Mets’ wretched start has morphed into a decent run, though that doesn’t mean they don’t question the timing of at least one preseason personnel move. Finally, we remember a catcher who set the defensive standard for all who followed him, and a pitcher who made the best of an undesirable situation (32:30).
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Opening Day’s arrival has us dreaming a little dream. The 2024 Mets have won the World Series. A platform is set up for the presentation of the Commissioner’s Trophy. Your new world champions make sure one player holds the hardware aloft before anybody else can touch it. Who should that player be? Greg and Jeff aren’t beyond speculating wildly and nominating their Met of Mets to do the honor. Listen in as they clearly get ahead of themselves.
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It’s a new season, and we’re on board with Tom Boswell’s assertion that time begins on Opening Day. We are excited. We are (cautiously) optimistic. We are building up a thirst for crafty baseball and craft beers. We hope to be dancing in the aisles during innings, while an entity called the Queens Crew dances on the field between innings. The ballpark beckons once more, and it’s got fans like us in its thrall. We also try to decide if we don’t mind the Mets Hall of Fame relocating, and we remember one of the mainstays of Met pitching from when miracles were performed.
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"Great Scott", Scott was great! That's a wrap on Grapefruit League Town.
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The Mets won and I had a unique perspective on the game.
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The fries were hot, the Mets were not, and one of the people I went with went home happy. Find out in a weirder-than-normal episode.
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"The Mets scored a run" and "Down in front!" are two things that weren't said at today's game.
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Jose Quintana was great, the Mets offense was not, and the home team played a song that you shouldn't play at night.
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Another 3-1 Mets win, another hot dog to talk about, and free parking.
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No matter what side of the aisle you are on we can all agree that Thursday was a great night for the Mets, despite a bad vegan hot dog.
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The game was delayed. The game was rained out. We answered listener mail.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nationalleaguetown/message
With today's day off, Jeff gives advice about buying tickets during Spring Training and explains why Steve Cohen can buy a dead shark but he won't sign Jordan Montgomery.
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The Mets lost but Jeff found something that everyone, whether you wear blue or red, can agree on.
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It was a great day at Clover Park as the Mets won... other than my chicken tender and fries.
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The Mets win, Max Kranick and Trayce Thompson stand out, and Jeff hugs it out with Screech.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nationalleaguetown/message
Jeff is in Florida for a month for various reasons but let's face it, the Mets are the biggest reason. This is the "Trailer" for this show and Jeff explains what you will hear as he watches the Mets during Spring Training.
Music: The Royal Arctic Institute
Cover Art: John Newcomer
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“Baseball is back!” says it all, and what it doesn’t say, National League Town’s first episode of 2024 will. Greg and Jeff are ready to turn their attention toward Port St. Lucie, cheering the players who show up early, figuring out who might play where, and wondering whether a Polar Bear can be kept in captivity beyond this year. We also preview a special Spring Training podcast series we think you’ll enjoy and look back lovingly on the life of a true über-Met we lost this winter.
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Having passed the 100-episode milestone, National League Town pauses to reflect on two years of podcasting and how these seasons have intertwined with two lifetimes of Mets fandom. Mostly, Greg and Jeff say thank you to all who have accompanied this program on its trip around the bases...and, as always, Let’s Go Mets.
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’Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the pod, hosts Greg and Jeff craved Yamamoto’s nod; free agents, alas, decide on their own time, not paying heed to our recording deadline. All this is our merry way of saying that when National League Town put together this episode, the Mets had yet to sign their main free agent target. Thus, rather than dwelling on the uncertain, we devote the bulk of our holiday episode (28:00) to a replay of our golden-anniversary salute to the 1973 season — who was going, who was coming and how the Mets came on late to go from last place to first and ultimately the pennant. It was the year we were told, “You Gotta Believe,” and a half-century later, that’s a sentiment we still take to heart. We also share a few fresh words on third base possibilities, bullpen construction, a welcome Spring Training innovation and the only Met pitcher who won more than he lost during the first three years of the franchise (17:30).
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Superstars are landing elsewhere or have yet to decide their destinations. A top prospect is injured. No player acquired to date is what you’d call a “get”. What kind of Mets offseason is this? It’s one that requires a little more waiting and a lot more hoping. In the meantime, Greg and Jeff salute the legacy of Mrs. Joan Payson, without whom there wouldn’t be Mets seasons (17:00), and remember Joe Hicks, one of those Mets who came up from the minors and lit up the majors for an incandescent moment (36:30).--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nationalleaguetown/message
National League Town returns this week to some of Jeff’s Brilliant Ideas, thoughtful concepts and suggestions guaranteed to make baseball better. More doubleheaders and day games? Adjustments to the ghost runner rule and the WBC? Breathing new life into the All-Star Game? Jeff’s mulled these and more over and shares the thinking behind his always intriguing notions.
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Our provincial take on the 2024 Hall of Fame election is Vote for David Wright...and maybe some or all of the other nine Mets on the writers’ ballot. The Captain is eligible for consideration for the first time after his fourteen-season career as a Met and only a Met, a span when he earned multiple honors, made multiple All-Star teams and created myriad memories. As far as National League Town is concerned, that’s worthy of serious Cooperstown conversation. We also remember the dozen seasons when the late Ron Hodges was a part of our lives, from his rookie highlight reel exploits to the distinct role he carved out as a constant of the Met catching corps across a baseball generation (44:05).
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Greg and Jeff are happy this Thanksgiving over the presence of a mascot and the absence of a narrative. They’re perfectly fine with the return of a few coaches while they sort out their feelings over the comings and goings of several players. When it comes to the prospective Las Vegas A’s, they have a hard time imagining that team succeeding as a box office attraction in an event-driven market. And if National League Town could turn back time, which World Series trophy would our hosts add to the Mets’ not exactly brimming collection? We take a trip down Almost Avenue to provide a couple of answers.
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Did you have any idea what Carlos Mendoza sounded like before his introductory press conference? Neither did we, but now we do. That was the primary National League Town takeaway from the introduction of the Mets’ latest manager at the Mets’ latest press conference as he sat alongside the Mets’ latest general manager and told us the Mets’ latest plan is to be competitive. Now that we’ve acquainted ourselves with both Mendoza and David Stearns, Greg and Jeff wonder what the tandem might do in the months ahead to make the Mets more than competitive (15:25). We also look back at the least known remarkable pitching performance in franchise history: The Rob Gardner Game (25:49).
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Long Island’s Own Jeff Hysen blows out a few candles and shares his birthday with Ed Kranepool and Edgardo Alfonzo, but the real November celebration could be for the hiring of Carlos Mendoza as new Mets manager. If his tenure turns into a ticker-tape party, Mets fans may be talking about him someday like Greg and Jeff are talking about Davey Johnson this week, as a Hall of Fame candidate on the latest iteration of the veterans committee ballot. National League Town also remembers the baseball life and Met times of another of our skippers, Frank Howard, a man of many nicknames and monster home runs.
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We know we couldn’t get from the 2023 Mets season what we wanted most, yet we carry away from this baseball year gone by a few moments that really resonated with us. Greg and Jeff each single out five games when they found being a Mets fan took on a little extra special meaning — win, lose or draw.
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The National League Town monthly series “It Happens in Threes” pulls into the garage after zooming ahead one more decade, to remember 2023 (75-87) in a segment short on long-term perspective, but no doubt fortified by recency bias. As could be said of 1963 (51-11), 1983 (68-94), 1993 (59-103), 2003 (66-95) and 2013 (74-88), these were not the best the best of times, but they’re the only times we got to know in Met years that ended in “3” (you gotta believe pennant-winning 1973 remains the exception to that rule of threes). Also, we thank the Phillies’ backup catcher for thinking of us at a highly unlikely moment.
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BONUS EPISODE! National League Town pauses from its stare out the window/wait for spring to revel briefly in the ouster of the hated Atlanta Braves from the 2023 postseason, even if it took the hated Philadelphia Phillies to do the ousting. October hat tips are issued as well to the Diamondbacks, Astros and Rangers because, honestly, what else do we have to do other than stare out the window and wait for spring?
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One week after they framed Billy Eppler’s forthcoming role in the Mets’ decision-making hierarchy; railed against Major League Baseball for endless indecisiveness regarding the outcome of a suspended game; and wished the Miami Marlins ill in their postseason endeavors, Greg and Jeff return to square some circles (Eppler’s out; the suspended game was resolved; and the Marlins swam off to sea with nary a playoff peep), and then pick over some of the scabs of a 2023 campaign that left all family business unsettled (10:25). National League Town also remembers an early Met idol who inspired allegiance that lasted a mighty long time (28:30).
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The Mets showed their manager the door and welcomed aboard a new president of baseball operations. National League Town therefore wishes Buck Showalter a fond (if ultimately necessary) adieu while hoping their fellow Mets fan David Stearns will know what he’s doing for a long time to come. Greg and Jeff also try to figure out how a person could have snuck into Shea Stadium and wonder whatever became of that Mets-Marlins game whose final outcome apparently got washed away in the rain.
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The 2023 Mets did it their way, and ain’t that a shame? Greg and Jeff pull up a mic and discuss not so much what went wrong, but what it was like to live through all of it going wrong. You know what they say, though: whatever lousy Mets season doesn’t kill you makes you strongly aggravated you just sat through so much dismal baseball. On the other hand, what else were we gonna do?
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Expectations were raised, expectations were dashed. In a nutshell, that’s been 2023 for the Mets. Still, hope springs eternal, even in the last days of a season about to end with no sign our most recent spasm of hope transformed into the success we dared expect. We can’t control what the players accomplish, yet we’ll be back to look forward to a collection of them next year doing better than they did this year. One decade ago, we had only one day in five to really look forward to, and we rode that Day for all it was worth. The “It Happens in Threes” series lands in 2013, a.k.a. Harvey Year (11:15). National League Town also takes a moment to remember the Mets fan author who preserved for us every Met day of the franchise’s first twenty years (37:45).
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In 2023, everybody played everybody in the major leagues, which meant the Mets spent 46 games involved with opponents from the American League. Greg and Jeff delve into what it was like for National League fans like them to divert their focus more than ever from what they were used to. And what do the hosts of National League Town think about when they think about American League teams? We relive the entire Interleague journey of the past six months, from Oakland to Minneapolis, and everywhere in between.
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Darryl Strawberry’s 18 and Dwight Gooden’s 16 will rise to Citi Field’s rafters in 2024, rafters being one of those terms we can’t necessarily define, yet we know what it means. It means two of the players whose pictures you see in the proverbial dictionary when you look up the greatest era in New York Mets history are getting the recognition they’ve long deserved, and National League Town couldn’t be more delighted. Well, maybe we could be if we knew perennial 40-plus home run man Pete Alonso will have every opportunity to be a “forever Met” and maybe join them someday high above Flushing.
Current News: 00:15
Doc and Darryl: 22:45
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Jeff is solo this week and he explains how he is dealing with this season, looks at the schedule for next season, gives his opinion of Rob Manfred’s job status, tells everybody to stop clapping their hands, and brings back one of Greg’s finest moments.
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Of every angle that tends to entangle a team that has fallen short of great expectations, you can usually count on the future of the manager to generate a din of discourse. Yet since the trade deadline clarified that the Mets were not going to make a playoff run, all’s been quiet on the Showalter front. National League Town attempts to penetrate the silence while withstanding the stiff breeze generated by a surfeit of draft position speculation. Then Greg and Jeff open the ol’ mailbag and try to avoid paper cuts (27:40).
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Ever have your team sign an accomplished quarterback, a pedigreed coach, a dazzling shooter or a reliable lefty reliever and you weren’t thrilled because, quite frankly, you didn’t like the idea of rooting for that particular person? Funny we should ask, as Greg and Jeff are talking about the kind of adjustment a fan sometimes makes in the name of hoping your team wins more games. In 2003, the Mets constituted something of a test case in this regard, and didn’t win many games, but they left behind some intriguing memories, which National League Town explores this week in It Happens in Threes (14:50).
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The Mets have played dead, and National League Town can’t bring them back to life, but Greg and Jeff are more than happy to talk each other (and their siblings) through the dog days of this most brutal summer. Are we having any seller’s remorse? Are we rewriting history on the fly to suggest that if only we’d stood pat, we’d be coming on strong in the Wild Card scramble? Are we still going to the ballpark? And are we not entertained? We have few definitive answers, but we’re always willing to pose a few questions.
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Greg and Jeff get together in the post-trade deadline world and exchange ideas over where the Mets are going now that they’ve made deal after deal after deal. What legacy does Max Scherzer leave behind? What was Justin Verlander even doing here? How successful will the Steve Cohen Draft turn out to be? And how many euphemisms do baseball people throw around? National League Town puzzles out some answers that might prove right, might prove wrong, and will definitely take a while to prove either way.
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Run. Field. Throw. Hit. Hit with power. You know them as the five tools, or what we want to see out of every ballplayer for whom we root. But what about us? How’s our game? National League Town considers what it takes to be a Five-Tool Fan, with Greg and Jeff asking themselves if they have enough of the right stuff to excel at baseball, albeit in the stands or on the couch. Our co-hosts identify the skills they think they bring to the proverbial table and identify areas where they think they could be doing a better job. Hey, if we’re gonna ask the Mets to the be the best they can be, we oughta try to do the same.
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National League Town heads out to the ballpark and looks to commend fellow fans for doing things the right way...but winds up doing a little more tut-tutting than planned. C’mon, people: get your acts together! Greg and Jeff have a few things to say about section captains, foul ball peer pressure, and plate appearance decorum. One team that had its own ideas about suitable conduct was the 1993 Mets; sadly, they chose to conduct their season in seventh place. We look back thirty years in our “It Happens In Threes” series and try to glean the fine amid the fetid (19:20).
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Going into the All-Star break, the Mets’ season looked broken. Can they put it back together in the 72 games remaining? National League Town will accept any glint of light that will allow them to discern a hint of hope. Maybe inspiration is to be had from Pete Alonso’s and Kodai Senga’s team winning the All-Star Game, a big boost for all fans of the NL (a.k.a. the ones in the dark pants). Maybe a long-term solution will emerge from a pitching-rich draft or a clever deadline acquisition. Or maybe our minds will wander to Odd Couple allusions.
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Although Pete Alonso is the Mets’ only All-Star in 2023, National League Town salutes Steve Cohen’s stellar performance in his recent press conference, where he made himself available and positioned himself as accountable, even if concrete answers to what ailed the Mets in June were hard to articulate. On the sunnier side of Seaver Way, the Black Cat is spotted; not even Gabe Kapler can delay the next train to London; and what’s all this fuss about daft picks? Isn’t it hard enough to be daft without being picked on? (Sorry, that’s DRAFT picks — never mind!)
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For all the Mets we’ve loved before despite their never having made an All-Star team as Mets, we present the National League Town Retroactive All-Star Ballot, going back in time and selecting nearly two dozen Mets to be the All-Stars we’ve always believed they truly were. If you’re a Mets fan who’s wanted to right decades-old wrongs, this is the show for you.
In this Special Commentary, Jeff explains why Buck must be fired as the Manager of the New York Mets.
“Play better” covers most of what Greg and Jeff have to say to the thus far flailing 2023 Mets, but because they’re fans, they take apart the pitching, the hitting, the fielding, the thinking, the managing and everything that has contributed to this monstrosity of a disappointment and try to figure out if there’s any hope in there. But mostly, Mets: play better.
If it was the worst of times, it wouldn’t have been much different from what had been going on for a while. If it was the best of times, it had a funny way of showing it in the standings. From the perspective of 40 years later, it was probably more than a little of each. Welcome to 1983, when Met past, Met present and Met future blended. We remember one of the most pivotal seasons in Mets history in our series It Happens in Threes, focusing on a campaign when the Mets were both pretty lousy and extremely promising, and the characters who populated the team still stand out in memory. National League Town also tries to fill the NL All-Star team with Mets and attempts to make the MLB All-Star Game watchable.
All-Star Game: 00:15
"Jeff's Brilliant Idea": 13:15
1983: 18:35
NLT Mailbag: 51:15
National League Town is up on its feet and joining Citi Field in a standing ovation for the New York Mets Hall of Fame ceremonies, even furtively clapping inside the press conference room and press box where we otherwise maintain professional decorum (00:20). So happy are Greg and Jeff to have watched Gary Cohen, Howie Rose, Al Leiter and Howard Johnson inducted into the Met Hall in 2023, they are getting ahead of the crowd and announcing their own nominations for the Class of 2024 — two players National League Town has talked up before, two players National League Town could have mentioned sooner (47:30). We also pay tribute to the franchise’s very first pitcher; remember one of The Franchise’s first very first catchers; and bump into the brother of another Met of yore while waiting for a train (1:10:00).
Now batting, now pitching, now broadcasting for the New York Mets: human beings. It might be helpful to remember those are people on the mound, at the plate or behind the mic. You are not legally required to bring empathy to a ballgame, but National League Town believes it doesn’t hurt to pack a little and keep it within reach, especially as a given season’s frustrations mount. And if you are going to a ballgame, it would be hard to pick a more glorious venue than Coors Field, regardless of inglorious results (14:15). Grab a beverage and take in our on-site report from Denver...then grab another and join us in toasting the incoming New York Mets Hall of Fame Class of 2023 — Howard Johnson, Al Leiter, Howie Rose and Gary Cohen (20:30).
There’s nothing quite like a Mets team emerging from its morass just in time for summer. Some years, a late May/early June turnaround will catapult the club clear to October. Other years, it simply makes for an enduring, joyful, perhaps Magical memory. Where will the 2023 Mets and their recent spate of pulse-quickening victories land? That’s to be determined — much as every night’s game story waits to be written and every off-day’s delivery of the Pancake Triple Play waits to be devoured (32:00). Hope you brought a hearty appetite for baseball talk to National League Town.
National League Town could come up with more than few choice words to describe the first quarter of the season, and Greg and Jeff surely do (4:30), but when a year like 2023 starts getting us down, we turn our attention to a year that can’t help but lift our spirits. In the latest edition of our series It Happens in Threes (18:00), we direct our attention to 1973, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of perhaps the most improbable pennant run any team anywhere has stitched together. By the time you’re done listening, you’ll be convinced those Mets won it all. Also, we deliver an on-site report from the Mets’ recent visit to Washington, featuring an endless rain delay, ample stocks of food and drink, and an unexpected celebrity cameo.
Each was the talk of baseball. Each gripped the attention of New York. Each was on the mound in the ninth inning of the deciding game of the World Series. Neither appeared to be ever quite the same after his most glaring moment in the spotlight. Both were Mets pitchers whose stories were captured in movie form. One was Matt Harvey, the subject of a 2015 ESPN documentary (and so much more) at the height of his fame (11:20). The other was Diego Vasquez, a figure invented for the Metscentric 2023 Hallmark Channel film Hearts in the Game (29:40) Harvey recently ended his meteoric major league career by retiring. Vasquez recently found true love — it is the Hallmark Channel, after all. National League Town brings out both larger-than-life pitchers for a well-deserved curtain call.
When the Mets reached .500 in May of 1969, it was cause to take heart in how far the ballclub had come. When the Mets reached .500 in May of 2023, it was cause to wonder what’s gone wrong. It’s a different time with different expectations, a state of affairs coloring National League Town’s discussion of the currently not great, not terrible (but lately more terrible than great) Mets. What’s Comerica Park like, besides not so good for Max Scherzer suddenly? An eyewitness report indicates the Tigers are gracious hosts when they’re not rudely sweeping the visiting team off the field. National League Town also shares a few thoughts in response to a national columnist who scoffs at Mets fans’ admittedly nervous nature; revisits a few observations that are now old enough to vote; and remembers the first truly promising young pitcher to light up Shea.
We’re a little dissatisfied with an above-average road trip. We’re a touch impatient with an inconsistent offense. We’re underwhelmed with the starting pitching depth that has thus far presented its shallower side. We’re prone to bouts of moodiness and misery. We lack faith in the governing body of baseball and its appointed agents. We’re aghast at how much it costs to park at a ballgame and can’t blame anybody who doesn’t want to sit and shiver outside in April. We can’t even fondly remember one of the slugging icons of our youth without explicitly identifying his shortcomings. Yet we love our Mets. Sometimes this is how we express it.
[Expansion, 20:30; Dave Kingman, 35:50]
Max Scherzer was ejected from the Mets’ final game in Los Angeles for having on his right hand what the pitcher said was perfectly legal sweat and rosin. Perhaps next time he’ll see if spit and vinegar meets with the umpires’ approval. Whatever substances were involved, the Mets got their California adventure off to an excellent start, running up a 17-6 score in Oakland, which is something you don’t see every day (even if you can’t help but see that horrible uniform advertising patch). In case 2023 isn’t eventful enough for you, National League Town introduces the "It Happens in Threes" anniversary segment that this week will take you back 60 years to the days of banners, placards and Jimmy Breslin.
For a week, 2023 loomed as the Year of the Pitch Clock. After two weeks, maybe we started getting used to it. Baseball’s ability to inject a foreign object into the game’s bloodstream and make you think there’s nothing unusual about it is unsurpassed. Before we know it, perhaps we won’t notice those enormous advertising patches on the Met uniform sleeves, either (yet somehow be overcome by an uncontrollable urge to visit a certain hospital). Greg and Jeff also share their thoughts on the historical bookends of Mets catching, Francisco Alvarez and Hobie Landrith (26:06)
The first seven days of the Mets’ season have been put in the books, with four of them preferably printed on perforated paper. Alas, National League Town knows that onto every year a little rain must fall (and that was before this podcast’s hosts learned the Home Opener would be postponed by impending precipitation). Wet or dry, the starting pitching needs to wring itself out; reservations run rampant regarding bullpen usage; and what happened to all the hitting en route from Miami to Milwaukee? On the plus side, Greg and Jeff find an excuse to talk about both Bob Murphy and Daniel Murphy, which for us is like finding the afikoman. Happy Passover, Happy Easter and Happy Recaps to all.
Happy New Year from National League Town! Next season is now this season with the first of many games getting played, so no wonder Greg and Jeff are bubbling over with excitement. We look all over the diamond at the Mets we expect to see soon and a few of the Mets we expect to see eventually; we deliver, broadly and specifically, a sense of where we think the Mets are heading in 2023; and we even let the spirit of the Ol’ Perfesser inhabit the show for a spell. It’s Opening Day, followed by the next days, all of them with Mets baseball. Who could ask for anything more?
The World Baseball Classic was played to wide acclaim, but forgive National League Town if we’re not joining the chorus of media voices insisting the 2023 WBC was the greatest thing since sliced pepperoni. With Edwin Diaz’s patellar tendon a casualty of a postgame celebration we can’t imagine having taken place amid players going through admittedly humdrum Grapefruit League routines, let’s just say a little humdrum goes a long way in setting up your ninth innings. Greg and Jeff take their stab at ironing out WBC’s kinks; wonder how the closing of Mets games is going to proceed when there won’t be any trumpets blowing; and, as always, hope for the best. NL Town also cranes its neck for a peek inside Citi Field’s ritzy new club and pauses (36:00) to remember the late Jesus Alou.
Change is in the baseball air this spring, and some of it is no doubt daunting to lifelong fans who fell in love with what seemed like a perfect game as kids. Then again, as Greg and Jeff will attest, change has always loomed over the game we’ve thought of as “ours,” and we’ve never necessarily welcomed it with open arms. Yet somehow, some changes set in to our satisfaction. On this episode of National League Town, we remember what was once new and a little scary and consider how a good bit of it made the sport we love better.
What can a Mets fan tell from one night at one Grapefruit League game? Jeff made the trek to West Palm Beach to take in the Mets who weren’t off to the WBC as they faced members of the defending World Champion Astros. The National League Town scouting report says some Mets are better than no Mets, and baseball being played right in front of you is always a welcome sight. Jeff also shares his thoughts on the Mets' failure to broadcast every spring game.
As we grapple with the permanent implementation of the unnatural placement of a runner on second to start the tenth inning (and any inning that accidentally occurs thereafter), we look for ways to make the rule designed to cut games off at their knees more palatable — and we pay homage to what life was like in “real” extra innings, when you had no idea when a game might reach resolution. You know, before the “Manfred Man” began trampling on intermittent marathon madness. National League Town also fondly remembers one of the most influential voices in Mets and baseball history, Tim McCarver (20:09)
There’s always something there to remind us baseball season is on its way: Spring Training. These National League Town guys are in love with the Mets’ chances on the cusp of 2023. What our world needs now is every player in camp focused on learning the new rules, but the WBC is a magnet that will pull some far away from home. Wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’ won’t get us back all our arms until that tournament is over, so we say a little prayer for good Met health, because come October, we long to be close to a championship.
In our previous episode, we shared National League Town’s Favorite Baseball Movies. In the sequel, we talk about the films that constitute our viewing experience’s bench strength. They’re the baseball movies we like a lot if don’t wholly love; the baseball movies we like enough to keep watching as long as a game isn’t on; the movies with just enough baseball in them to merit our attention; and maybe a baseball movie we don’t ever need to see again.
With Pitchers & Catchers still a little ways away, that means it’s time for Directors & Actors. National League Town turns its attention to its Favorite Baseball Movies, as Greg and Jeff take turns counting down the five films that most put them in the mood to bolt from the theater and toward the ballpark. Like baseball itself, these are movies that make us laugh, make us cry, make us think and make us want to keep watching.
National League Town celebrates the announcement of a quintet of new entries for the Mets Hall of Fame: Inductees Al Leiter, Howard Johnson, Gary Cohen and Howie Rose along with Hall of Fame Achievement Award Winner Jay Horwitz. Greg and Jeff recall what made Al of the most important pitchers the Mets have ever had; how Hojo made himself into a superstar; why Gary and Howie emerged as the ideal heirs to legacy established by the franchise’s original announcers; all that Jay has done to elevate the organization; and consider the role Steve Cohen continues to play in putting Met history front and center.
Al Leiter: 4:48
Howard Johnson: 12:17
Gary Cohen: 20:24
Howie Rose: 28:31
Jay Horwitz: 39:29
As if signing Tommy Pham isn’t enough to get a Mets fan through the January doldrums, National League Town presents an invitation for Scott Boras to grab a bite; some timeless advice regarding audio cassettes and ticket stubs; a call for day baseball every day; and a couple of voices from Jersey determined to set us straight about baseball in the Garden State. We also pay tribute to a true Met legend, the Original Frank Thomas.
"The Greg Commandments": 3:42
"Jeff's Brilliant Idea": 19:39
We remember Frank Thomas: 22:08
Listener Mail: 33:47
It’s been 25 years since Major League Baseball added any teams. Perhaps we’re overdue for some new company. National League Town thinks out loud about what modern expansion might look like, where relocation might come to pass, what we want out of a bigger MLB and, ultimately, how any seismic changes might affect us as Mets fans. New franchises? New cities? New divisions? A new league? For the sake of conversation, it’s all within the realm of possibility.
No deal got done, no games were played and only questions are left in his wake, but the Carlos Correa Era in Flushing was a heckuva time for every Mets fan who lived through it. Greg and Jeff get together to remember it as well as they can, from that day in December it was reported Correa was about to become a Met (physical pending), to that day in January it was reported Correa was instead about to resume being a Twin (physical pending). What happened? What happens next? Who knows anything anymore — other than somebody who’s not Carlos Correa will be playing third base for the New York Mets in 2023. Of that we’re sure...we think.
The year we just lived in has suddenly become history. How will we remember 2022? We start 2023 by taking our first shot at putting last season in a little historical perspective. Greg and Jeff pick their bests and not-so-goods from the year that came up something short of satisfying yet has to rank as one of the ten best a Mets team has ever put in the books. Also, we hear what a few of the Mets who’ve been coming and going have had to say as the doorway to our near future opens wide.
Have you ever been or thought about going to a New York Mets fantasy camp? Mets fan Kerby Valladares just went and he joins National League Town to tell Greg and Jeff what it’s all about down in Port St. Lucie. Kerby takes listeners through the entire process of trying to become a better hitter and a better fielder while trying not to be starstruck that he is learning his craft from coaches who, in the course of an unforgettable week, morph into more than pictures on baseball cards or names from box scores.
Just in time for the holidays, National League Town reconvenes its New York Mets Hall of Fame review process and confirms its previous verdict that a lot — A LOT — more Mets and Mets figures deserve plaques in that charming room off the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Greg and Jeff revive their initial 2022 discussions on the Mets HOF with a fresh introduction and the hope that in the new year, we will see more Mets inducted where they belong.
THE NOMINEES (and time stamps):
Early Mets: Ron Hunt, Frank Thomas, Jay Hook, Roger Craig, Joe Christopher, 6:21
Ron Hunt, 12:31
Ron Swoboda, 14:30
Felix Millan, 17:09
Jesse Orosco, 20:00
Sid Fernandez, 21:16
David Wright, 23:09
Bobby Valentine, 25:45
Tim McCarver, 27:54
Gary Cohen & Howie Rose, 29:50
Carlos Beltran, 37:31
John Olerud, 43:28
Daniel Murphy, 45:26
Howard Johnson, 49:26
Benny Agbayani, 52:39
Lee Mazzilli, 55:41
Jose Reyes, 58:16
Al Leiter, 1:06:29
Donn Clendenon, 1:09:31
Ray Knight, 1:12:16
David Cone, 1:17:50
R.A. Dickey, 1:21:38
Just when you think one of the free agent apples of Steve Cohen’s eye has eluded his grasp, the owner of the New York Mets swoops in and grabs Carlos Correa, the multifaceted star shortstop the San Francisco Giants had all but signed to an enormous contract. “All but” is the key phrase here, which is why Correa is headed to the Flushing Bay area instead of the one out west. Is Correa fully physically fit? Is a dozen-year commitment wise? Can he master third base despite never having played it before? Greg and Jeff attempt to blend ecstasy with reality in an episode they didn’t realize was going to be necessary.
When Steve Cohen owns your favorite baseball team, you come to expect moves will be made in the offseason. Still, expectations are getting surpassed all the time this offseason, with free agent contracts for — deep breath — Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, Brandon Nimmo, David Robertson and Kodai Senga having fallen into place between a Monday and a Saturday (on the seventh day, Steve rested). National League Town approves this barrage. Greg and Jeff also tip a cap to a former Met closer making his Hall of Fame ballot debut (23:21) and wonder what to do with their erstwhile ace swag (33:23).
Jacob who? National League Town is suddenly all about likely Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. And former All-Star Jose Quintana. And lefty reliever Brooks Raley, even. The Mets are stocking up on pitchers who weren’t here last year now that Jacob deGrom has departed and Taijuan Walker has walked. Greg and Jeff are rolling out the welcome wagon for all of them. Also welcome: the opportunity to honor the memory of Gil Hodges and the great alumni relations work of Jay Horwitz at this winter’s Queens Baseball Convention. NLT has a special report from QBC (18:30).
UPDATED with the Justin Verlander signing! For better (which you can rationalize) or worse (which you can feel in your bones), Jacob deGrom is no longer a New York Met. National League Town processes the news; remembers the highlights of an unparalleled nine-year run in Flushing; wonders if there were more than 185 million reasons the Simple Man decided to move on; and tries to think about who could replace one of the greatest starting pitchers the Mets have ever called their own.
December’s arrival indicates the Baseball Equinox is nigh. How nigh? Listen in and find out how soon we will reach the exact midpoint between the end of the previous season and the beginning of the forthcoming season — or when “next” year becomes “this” year (19:19) Also, Greg and Jeff attempt to put the Met career of non-tendered Dom Smith in perspective; wonder who besides Drew Smith will fill most of the bullpen roles (00:30); take apart the Manfredian machinations of the 2023 schedule (24:07); and salute Dave Hillman, the Met who lived longer than any other (36:31).
Kevin Chapman, author of the Mike Stoneman series of thrillers, joins National League Town (30:23) to a offer glimpse inside his latest book, Dead Winner, and respond to speculation about why Detective Stoneman conveniently happens to be a Mets fan. Might it have something to do with Kevin being the same? Greg and Jeff also celebrate National League Manager of the Year Buck Showalter (00:27); revel in the new documentary examining the life of Willie Mays (12:48); and remember a ballplayer like few others of his time, the late Chuck Carr (22:08).
The Mets wasted no time securing the services of Edwin Diaz as their closer for several more years, and Greg and Jeff waste no time exchanging verbal high-fives over the club’s decision to act quickly. Now, they ask, what about their starter of starters Jacob deGrom? If Jake’s opt-out leads to the almost unthinkable, you’re not gonna believe what that does to one particular category within the annals of Met starting pitching. With pitching so much on our minds, it’s no wonder we also wonder aloud who’s gonna do the bulk of the catching in 2023.
The same postseason that once included the Mets plows ahead to the Fall Classic, where a team the Mets beat 14 of 19 times and finished 14 games behind the Mets will represent the National League — not that we’re hung up on all that feels off this autumn. Nevertheless, Greg and Jeff attempt to make sense of the aftermath of the Mets’ October shortfall; decide whether the trade for Edwin Diaz was absolutely worth it; compile Steve Cohen’s immediate agenda items; and preview the World Series through the prism of ex-Mets pitchers who are now Phillies and Astros.
Ah, 2022, the year the Mets won 101 games and made the playoffs with ease. Ah, 2022, the year the Mets blew the division title and were bounced from the postseason almost as soon as they got there. Each of the preceding sentences is true. Which sentiment resonates most? Greg and Jeff retrace the Mets’ steps as well as their own and try to discern how they and perhaps Mets fans en masse will eventually recall this inarguably unforgettable season. No matter how you choose to slice it, 2022 was a year to remember.
The Mets shifted from postseason to offseason in two blinks of an L. A great year gets lost in a lousy finish, but that possibility resides within the fine print any time your team clinches something. Greg and Jeff talk each other through the disappointment, hoping their conversation provides their fellow Mets fans some solace...or perhaps simply something to do for a few minutes until Spring Training approaches anew.
Jacob deGrom was himself. The Met offense was itself. The 2022 postseason is still in progress. Greg and Jeff process all that went right in Game Two of the National League Wild Card Series; get past all that is wrong with MLB’s broadcasting protocols; and cross their fingers that the Mets will have the chance to reign in Southern California. But never mind what may or may not await in L.A. For Game Three, it’s all about keeping the runs coming and elbowing aside San Diego in Queens.
Game One pitched by a high-priced ace didn’t exactly hit the jackpot, yet we’ll try it again, hoping Jacob deGrom can bring the Mets back from the edge of the abyss that Max Scherzer (and a sleepwalking offense) pushed the Mets toward in the National League Wild Card Series. Greg and Jeff work through their frustrations, their uncertainties and their residual faith, all of it leading to their usual conclusion of “Let’s Go Mets!”
The Mets’ regular season was wildly successful, eventually disappointing and ultimately inconclusive. Greg and Jeff are ready to get over the loss of the Eastern Division title and squeeze in at the children’s table, a.k.a. the Wild Card Series versus the Padres. Before making a meal of San Diego, they grab one last bite from Closing Day; drink toasts to batting champion Jeff McNeil and Frick Award nominee Gary Cohen; and unleash a wholehearted “LFGM!” to anyone within the sound of their voice.
As the Mets face potentially rainy nights in Georgia, National League Town lets the sun shine in, reminding us that however we get there, we are all soon to be in playoff mode — and that includes this very podcast. Greg and Jeff try to make the best of the final week of the season, break down what their lives will be like in the week(s) to follow and clue listeners in to why they’ll want to keep their pod dial right where it is.
National League Town celebrates the 2022 Mets joining the franchise’s circle of postseason qualifiers, popping a cork over making the playoffs for the first time in six years, if not yet spraying champagne while the division title remains up for grabs. Later, Greg and Jeff bid a fond farewell to several cherished members of the Mets family (30:00).
Pennant race pressure affects us all when the Mets are actively engaged in pursuit of playoff positioning. It makes for a stressful September, but Greg and Jeff agree it’s far preferable to a month of looking ahead to next year. Also, National League town shifts to cover upcoming rules changes; attempts to give the most famous of Mets fans a trumpet lesson; and takes a scintilla of credit for making Luis Guillorme eligible for Gold Glove consideration.
Baseball fans are perfectly logical creatures at least until they start to think about the next game, and when aren’t we thinking about the next game? Greg and Jeff cop to their impulses and rituals regarding what they do to help the Mets along and, even more importantly, not wreck their chances. Yes, it’s true: we have that much influence over the action. Also, we try to discern bullpen patterns; we attempt to readjust geography to make Atlanta return to the Western Division; and we only sort of care that football is starting.
National League Town provides on-the-scene commentary and reflections from the first Mets Old Timers Day in 28 years, which is to say Greg and Jeff went to game together and had as Amazin’ an experience as they’d imagined. All the fans! All the players! Number 24! And a Mets win thrown in for good measure. Relive a Citi Field day like no other with the podcast that will always say “Hey!” to Old Timers Day.
National League Town pencils in Endy Chavez, Edgardo Alfonzo and Eddie Kranepool for our final pre-Old Timers Day celebration because we’ll never erase the indelible memories each of these three E-Mets provided. In the present, Greg and Jeff rationalize the bumpy road trip through Atlanta, Philadelphia and the Bronx as more or less just one of those things even a first-place team encounters (though it would be nice if a catcher would hit sometimes). Finally, when a bedroom wall needs painting, we learn what happens to the Captain of all Fatheads.
After three seasons of trying to manage with first-timers, the Mets turned to an old hand in 2022, and Buck Showalter has surely provided a winning hand in the dugout. National League Town expresses delight at all Buck has done with the players and the media and, because no scenario is perfect, contemplates what could possibly go wrong. And speaking of old hands, Greg and Jeff continue to get excited for Old Timers Day, processing the dozens of alumni invited back and saluting three Met icons in particular (14:30).
The best Mets team since 1986 has National League Town thinking October in August, though with August going as well as it is, savoring this summer’s steamy pace might be the most advisable course of action. Once Greg and Jeff praise the 2022 Mets to the high heavens, they offer thanks for the return of Old Timers Day (21:00) and begin their three-part preview of the franchise’s 60th-anniversary reunion by focusing on a trio whose biggest swings will forever resonate in franchise lore.
National League Town fondly remembers the greatest baseball announcer who ever lived, Vin Scully, particularly how he started in Brooklyn and described a momentous night in Queens. Later (15:20), we balance satisfaction with discontent in assessing the Mets’ trade deadline activity (or lack thereof); Jeff “settles” for witnessing two Mets wins plus the return of Jacob deGrom up close and personal at Nationals Park; and Greg gets Le Grand Orange flashbacks from what might be considered an unlikely source.
National League Town didn’t wait for the Mets to play the Yankees before letting you know how their two-game set MIGHT have gone down. Also, as long as Greg and Jeff are bending time to their will, our hosts revisit 2005 for more Fan Commandments; swing by a concert that could have taken place in 1998; and try to figure out how a properly clad fan in 2022 doesn’t know from a self-explanatory acronym. LFGM? LFGNLT!
Despite forging National League Solidarity with the temporary teammates of Alonso, Diaz, Marte and McNeil, the senior circuit lost another All-Star Game, so we turn our attention to the process of making the entire week surrounding the Midsummer Classic better, with one Brilliant Idea after another offered free of charge to MLB. Also, we pay our respects to a pitcher who served as a bridge between Met ballparks; and a voice who brought Mets baseball to an audience yearning to revel in the joys of the game in a language they could understand (23:15).
With the All-Star Game approaching, we got to thinking that as NL fans, we’ll be rooting for players from teams we normally can’t stand. Thus, to make common cause with those who will be teammates of some of our favorite Mets for one night, Greg and Jeff come up with something nice to say about each of the Mets’ National League opponents. (Don’t worry, we won’t make a habit of it.) Also, the Mets take two of three from the Braves and we don’t mind a bit.
Keith Hernandez is so much more than a number and so much more than his statistics. As 17 goes up into the rafters at Citi Field, Greg and Jeff fondly revisit (11:17) the most intense Met either of them can remember, recall his transformative effect on the franchise and make common cause with the lady who wouldn’t extend George Costanza’s unemployment benefits. We also mull a possible trade the contemporary Mets might make and whether it could be a gamechanger on the order of what Frank Cashen executed on June 15, 1983.
Greg from Long Beach and Jeff from Great Neck explore the Mets’ connection to the counties east of Queens, including the rationale for building Shea Stadium where it rose; the owners, players and professors who left an orange and blue imprint on Nassau and Suffolk; and their own memories of playing ball when surrounded on all sides by water. Also, Jeff asks Greg a question with no good answer (28:45).
National League Town concludes its trip through the decades by naming its UtilityMet for the 2020s (to date) and discussing the role versatility plays in the current game (8:50). Greg and Jeff also attempt to shake off the wrong-way sweep in Houston and offer MLB Jeff’s Brilliant Idea to make national holidays twice as good (13:50).
What’s at least as good as the Mets being in first place? Getting to watch them at a decent hour. After a long West Coast road trip, Greg and Jeff are grateful for 7:10 PM starts; banged-up players coming home in one piece; fellow fans who know the score no later than the next morning; the most valuable UtilityMets of the 2010s (17:55); and a letter written in the 1950s. National League Town wishes a happy Father’s Day week to all the Mets fans out there (35:20).
Eduardo Escobar is dashing for third base and we’re right there with him as we celebrate the eleventh cycle in Mets history. We also explore the circle of life that surrounds “old friends” — players we loved as our own but then have mixed feelings about in other uniforms — as we prepare to process Noah Syndergaard pitching for the Angels against the Mets. Our Deep Bench series moves into the first decade of the 21st century (22:20), and, speaking of the 2000s, Greg and Jeff toast a National League Town numerical milestone (38:53).
When the Mets packed for their ten-game West Coast road trip, they made sure to take along plenty of momentum. Following a perfect homestand, Greg and Jeff revel a little in the Mets’ enormous division lead; fret not too much about the challenge awaiting them in California; and take this dream season one day at a time. Also, the Deep Bench series introduces the best Met role players of the 1990s (12:40) and we open the National League Town mailbag to learn about some of your Favorite Things (29:50).
We dubbed them Commandments, but you can think of them as friendly suggestions — Greg and Jeff share a few time-tested guidelines intended to optimize your Mets fandom. Also, we withstand the loss of Max Scherzer; cross paths with Mark Canha’s relatives; catch a couple of Perks Patrol t-shirts; and offer the fondest of farewells to longtime bullpen coach Joe Pignatano (29:00) and baseball writer extraordinaire Roger Angell (34:50).
Don’t ya love when you discover an unknown player five minutes before everybody else does? When you connect with a total stranger just because you’re each wearing a Mets cap? Experiencing one of those seasons nobody sees coming before it turns into a year that stays in your heart forever? Greg and Jeff ruminate further on the moments and emotions that make baseball special. (This episode was recorded before the current homestand began.)
How confident are we in the 2022 Mets? Confident enough to spotlight the 1962 Mets, with National League Town’s first-ever guest, Dave Bagdade, author of A Year in Mudville, the definitive opus on the Original Mets, that eternally lovable collection of characters nobody will mistake for the current incarnation (though today’s Mets are pretty lovable, too) (26:40). Elsewhere, we toast the latest comeback of a lifetime; Jeff has fun at the Nationals’ expense; and Greg directs our historical attention toward the understated steadiness of the best UtilityMet of the 1980s.
April showered Mets fans with wins. With May underway, Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen wonder whether we can stop and smell the roses of first place — or is it our nature to wait for the other shoe to drop? Also, Deep Bench continues with a salute to Met utilitymen of the 1970s; Nationals Park comes under the National League Town microscope; and Mets fan Nora Ephron has us thinking about Mother’s Day.
The first combined no-hitter in New York Mets history is cause for the first emergency...we mean celebratory podcast in the long and storied annals of National League Town. Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen get positively giddy over Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Joely Rodriguez, Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz combining to blank the Philadelphia Phillies in not one but two columns of the line score. It’s the happiest Black Friday Citi Field has ever known.
With the Mets having won the vast majority of their first few weeks’ worth of games, Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen contemplate whether a good start means a good season is in progress. National League Town also introduces Deep Bench, a 60th-anniversary celebration of the Mets’ most useful utility players, and stands to applaud most (if not all) members of the 3,000 Hit Club.
What’s that ten-foot high presence looming over the entrance to Citi Field? None other than the Tom Seaver statue, at last. National League Town celebrates the unveiling of the LONG overdue tribute to the Franchise and applauds the return of Nancy Seaver to the greater Shea Stadium vicinity. Plus Greg Prince explains his overalls and Jeff Hysen has had it up to here (his hand his under his chin) with a couple of nonsensical rules.
Met-aphorically we sit at the Woodside station, with Mets-Willets Point as our destination. After a rousing road trip to start the season, the Mets are indeed coming home. Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen welcome them back to town by sharing a few thoughts regarding Citi Field, a ballpark that’s suddenly entering its 14th summer as the place we call our own.
One ace’s troublesome scapula notwithstanding, we brim with measured excitement for the season at hand. Take a trip around the diamond with Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen as they persuade one another every Met who wasn’t here last year is an upgrade over every Met who was; every Met who’s still here from last year will only get better; and if too much doesn’t go wrong, plenty is bound to go right in 2022.
We’re looking forward to Mets baseball because we love the Mets and we love baseball. What exactly do we love about our team and the game they play? In an episode conspicuously devoid of gripes, Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen swap reason after reason they keep coming back season after season.
The Mets were born in a National League Town. Does that place still exist? As a podcast, absolutely. As a state of mind, eternally. As an identity that speaks to our baseball DNA, evocatively. As an operative phrase describing New York in the present day...that may be another story. Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen delve into what exactly is in a name.
As Julie Andrews might put it, St. Lucie's alive with the sound of baseball, the game they have played for a thousand years...or 60 in the Mets' case. The sport and the team we missed are indeed back, and National League Town dives right into picking both of them apart. Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen grudgingly contemplate some new rules; cautiously welcome a couple of new arms; and wish a longtime reliever as well as they can considering he’ll be wearing a Phillies uniform, thus how well can he be wished? Our hosts also take credit for bringing the lockout to an end. (Better us than Rob Manfred.)
Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen were eager to be assaulted by the annual onslaught of reassuring Spring Training rituals, routines, and clichés. Rob Manfred had other ideas. St. Lucie stays eerily quiet, but our hosts make plenty of noise regarding what Mets fans are missing in March of 2022. In search of solace, we close with a refreshing constitutional through the first-ever National League Town Mailbag.
Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen discuss Buck Showalter, the new Mets manager, and then celebrate the election of Gil Hodges to the Baseball Hall of Fame. (This episode was recorded prior to the cancellation of Spring Training and the first week of the regular season.)
Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen celebrate the announcement that the Mets will retire "17" in honor of Keith Hernandez and then discuss whether "8", "24", and "5" should also be retired. Jeff even manages to make a reference to Great Neck.
Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen talk about six more players worthy of the Mets Hall of Fame: Jose Reyes, Al Leiter, Donn Clendenon, Ray Knight, David Cone, and R.A. Dickey.
Greg Prince and Jeff Hysen continue their discussion of possibilities for the Mets Hall of Fame as they talk about Tim McCarver, Gary Cohen, Howie Rose, Carlos Beltran, John Olerud, Daniel Murphy, Howard Johnson, Benny Agbayani, and Lee Mazzilli. Plus, Greg remembers Jeff Innis and the show ends with Jeff mentioning a Met that no one wants to talk about.
Greg and Jeff begin with the four players who wore the Mets uniform that were not elected to Cooperstown in the latest election (Billy Wagner, Gary Sheffield, Jeff Kent, Bobby Abreu) and then discuss candidates for the Mets Hall of Fame (the ‘62 Mets, Ron Hunt, Ron Swoboda, Felix Millan, Jesse Orosco, Sid Fernandez, David Wright, and Bobby Valentine).
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Greg Prince (Faith & Fear In Flushing) and Jeff Hysen, two life-long Mets fans from Long Island, are here to talk about the Mets: Mets fandom, Mets history, Mets LIfe. Please join us!
Music provided by The Royal Arctic Institute.
Logo created by John Newcomer.