These guys kicked butt back in ’53!

And, now, he’s quoted in every news article that mentions the Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman.

He should be on the Yankees 40-man roster any day now…

Since taking over the LoHud Mets Blog in March 2011, I have been credentialed numerous times by the New York Mets-100 percent of the time my editor here, Sean Mayer, has requested credentials. This is nothing new. In my years covering sports, I have been credentialed by every major sports team in the New York area, writing for ESPN.com, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The New York Observer, and many other outlets.

So it was odd that last week, Sean received a call from Jay Horwitz, the Director of Media Relations for the New York Mets, telling him that while the Journal News can continue to receive credentials, the Mets would not be credentialing me.

Sean asked why that was, and Jay responded that the Mets “don’t like my reporting”. The team declined to respond to my multiple attempts to reach them for a fuller explanation.

But I don’t think much investigation is required. As of the final game of last season, I was credentialed. I participated in a conference call with Sandy Alderson in December.

Later in December, Wilpon’s Folly published. The book details the financial and legal problems facing Met ownership due to their investments with Bernie Madoff. The book was no surprise to the Mets- I reached out to them once I was asked to write the book by Bloomsbury, and spoke many times on background to multiple people within the organization about all specific reporting within the book.

The book’s reporting, incidentally, has not been challenged. It has been reinforced by subsequent articles in The New York Times, Adam Rubin at ESPN.com, and numerous other places. The only response the Mets have provided is to attack me personally.

The Mets can’t very well keep out Adam Rubin, whose right to be in the clubhouse is guaranteed by his membership in the Baseball Writers Association of America. Though I am a full-time sportswriter as my profession, I am ineligible for the BBWAA because I make my living through regular, part-time gigs, not a single, full-time one. So the team is lashing out where it can.

Say what you want about George Steinbrenner, but, I don’t think he ever pulled a stunt like this…

Watching it almost makes you feel dirty…

Every decade and/or era in baseball has these guys – great players and/or stories that most baseball fans don’t know. 

I’ve said this about basebal in the past, and I still feel that’s true: Everything there is to the game of baseball, and I use “everything” in the purest definition of the word, has a quicksand nature to it. Just when you believe you’ve made some progress digging into it, along comes the realization that there’s just as much still out there as when you first started.

Gosh, I love this game!

Squad 1:  Jorge Posada, Tino Martinez, Chuck Knoblauch, Scott Brosius, Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill, El Duque Hernandez and Andy Pettitte.

Squad 2: Russell Martin, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes.

Vladimir Guerrero and Jon Garland probably feel the same way.