Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil was the 2022 National League batting champion. Judging from fan reaction and his stats since then, those heady days for McNeil feel like a decade ago, and not just two years removed.Theories for his drop-off in…

The Mets’ comeback to respectability in June was a happy story few saw coming. The Mets were 11 games under .500 in late May. After a rough series against the Dodgers at Citi Field, the team held a players meeting, and that sparked them. Yes,…

Regular listeners to WFAN’s afternoon drivetime show, “Evan & Tiki,” know Evan Roberts is an obsessive Mets fan, and his on-air partner, former Giants running back Tiki Barber, has fun with that.Roberts, now 40, has followed the Flushing …

The Mets returned to Citi Field from London last week after splitting a pair of weekend games with the Philadelphia Phillies. I spoke with some of the players to get their recollections of their time across the pond.Jet lag was, not surprisin…

After being soundly beaten by the Phillies 7-2 in London last Saturday, the Mets flipped the script on Sunday by winning a thrilling 6-5 nail-biter, rallying twice from deficits, including scoring three runs in the ninth inning to take the le…

The Mets were in the midst of getting swept in their three-game series with the Dodgers at Citi Field last Wednesday, which was not surprising given the talent disparities of the rosters, as well as the way things had been going this season f…

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences held its 45th annual Sports Emmy Awards at Frederick P. Rose Hall last Tuesday.James Brown, the longtime host of CBS’s pro football studio show, “The NFL Today,” received the highest hono…

The middle of May has long been when the major television networks, and now streaming services, hold large presentations in our town called “upfronts.” Their purpose is to introduce new programming, as well as remind advertisers and the press…

Normally, a player hitting a solo home run with two out in the ninth inning with his team losing by a score of 4-0 would be considered the antithesis of the word “clutch.” On Saturday, JD Martinez did just that, and you can make an argument i…

Mets hurler Adam Ottavino was the Mets’ most dependable relief pitcher in April, and that includes closer Edwin Diaz. At age 38, Ottavino is showing a veteran can learn new things. He has been nicely mixing off-speed pitches with a still-pote…

It is safe to say the Mets public address team will not be playing the 1966 Rolling Stones tongue-in-cheek misogynistic classic “Under My Thumb.” It’s not the lyrics per se that are bothersome. Rather, it is a reminder of the type of injury t…

Yes, it has been 15 years since Shea Stadium was razed, but its importance to our borough cannot be overstated. Interestingly, when it opened on April 17, 1964, it was overshadowed by its neighbor across Roosevelt Avenue, the 1964-65 World’s …

An argument can be made that Jerry Grote, who passed away last week at the age of 81, was the most underrated Mets player of all-time. He was a brilliant defensive catcher and knew how to handle the Mets’ young pitching staff. Every surviving…

Only a ninth inning two-run rally, in the last game of their six-game homestand last Thursday, saved the Mets’ first week of the 2024 season from being an 0-6 disaster. SNY TV’s play-by-play voice, Flushing native Gary Cohen, was as down as M…

While baseball will always be our national pastime, professional football is our national obsession. The National Football League is the unquestioned behemoth in professional sports. Football is so popular that attempts have been made over th…

Despite his insistence on using the designated hitter as a rotation spot in the lineup for his players to get at-bats, with Mark Vientos being the primary beneficiary, Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns reversed himself last …

It was a foregone conclusion last Thursday that the St. John’s University Red Storm men’s basketball team had punched its ticket for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, referred to by most as simply “March Madness.” The team had just drubbe…

I cringe when I hear anyone refer to that old warhorse cliche “New York City is the mecca of basketball,” because it has been patently untrue for at least 40 years, if not longer. Very few current NBA players are from the five boroughs. The s…

With March upon us, the days are getting longer and the weather is warming up. This means outdoor professional sports are being played in stadiums in our area. No, not that one. It is Major League Soccer that is underway.For years, our countr…

Mets fans had a right to feel deflated before the first spring training game was played, when they learned last Wednesday the team’s ace pitcher Kodai Senga was suffering from what was described as “arm fatigue.” The following day, the Mets’ …

Last Tuesday’s shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs victory parade was a bitter reminder about how much more dangerous everyday life has become. Parades in honor of sports teams’ championships have long been a part of American life. After what …

The Mets have done little to bridge the talent gap between the Atlanta Braves, the Philadelphia Phillies and themselves this off-season, which has led to some rumblings in their fan base. The Mets did make one smart decision, however. Last we…

The romance of America’s most famous dating couple, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and glamorous pop music star Taylor Swift, has been a national topic of conversation for months. Their relationship has obviously been a boon for go…

Last Tuesday, Baseball Writers Association of America secretary and Bayside resident Jack O’Connell called former Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre, ex-Twins catcher Joe Mauer and the greatest player in Colorado Rockies history, first…

Last Wednesday the Mets announced dates for the ceremonies retiring Dwight “Doc” Gooden’s No. 16 and Darryl Strawberry’s No. 18 uniform numbers. The ceremonies will take place April 14, and June 1, respectively.Mets owner Steve Cohen has made…

The passing of Mets Hall of Fame shortstop Bud Harrelson at the age of 79 last Thursday elicited an outpouring of tributes from former teammates, media and fans.Yes, Harrelson was a member of the 1969 Miracle Mets and the 1973 “Ya Gotta Belie…

Aaron Rodgers will undoubtedly get a bust one day in the Pro Football of Fame located in Canton, Ohio, based on his career with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers is a bust, however, when he opines on subjects other than football.Rodgers has long…

While no one can predict what the stock market will do this year, 2024 gets off to a bullish start this weekend as the Professional Bull Riders will hold its annual Monster Energy Buck-Off at Madison Square Garden. The preliminary competition…

It was a lump of coal in the Christmas stockings of New York baseball fans as 25-year-old Nippon Professional Baseball League star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto eschewed lucrative ong-term offers from both the Mets and the Yankees to sign a $325…

Mets fans have become all too accustomed to devastating injury news about their favorite team’s players. They had to grit their teeth again last Tuesday when the media relations department informed everyone top prospect Ronny Mauricio had tor…

WFAN host and Mets fan Evan Roberts posted “Rent in the Bronx, but buy in Queens!” on X after learning the Yankees had obtained outfielder Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres in exchange for five players including pitcher Michael King, catche…

Last Thursday the New York Jets announced they have activated the 21-day window to allow quarterback Aaron Rodgers to practice with the team to see if he can return to NFL action before the end of the season. Rodgers ruptured his Achilles ten…

Thanksgiving has been cruel to the New York Jets. Twelve years ago, the Jets were humiliated by the New England Patriots, 49-19. As bad as that score was, what people remember about the game was not the shellacking the Jets received. That was…

It remains to be seen how successful a manager Carlos Mendoza will be, but he certainly displayed plenty of personality at his introductory press conference.Yes, he said the boilerplate stuff about the Mets’ passionate fan base, and being imp…

Mets fans had better hope new Manager Carlos Mendoza has a lengthier tenure than the two years his recent predecessors, Mickey Callaway, Luis Rojas and Buck Showalter, each had. That lack of stability is a major reason the Mets have been clos…

For the past 66 years, the best in local sports television was honored as a small part of the New York Emmy Award presentation for news and documentaries. This year, local channels finally had their own standalone ceremony.WABC-TV news corres…

Last Tuesday, the Big East Conference held its annual basketball media day at Madison Square Garden. The number of credentialed media was the largest I had seen in years. This was expected considering St. John’s University’s hiring of Rick Pi…

The New York Liberty will win a WNBA title; however, it will not be in 2023. The Liberty made their fifth-ever trip to the WNBA Finals, albeit their first since 2002, when they lost to the Los Angeles Sparks. In the 1990s they were beaten thr…

Mets owner Steve Cohen spoke at Sportico’s “Invest in Sports” conference in Midtown Manhattan last Wednesday. Sportico is a recent sports trade publication that competes with another newcomer, Front Office Sports, and the more established Spo…

When news filtered out that David Stearns would be the new Mets president of baseball operations, the conventional wisdom was Billy Eppler would remain as the team’s general manager and would report to Stearns.The two were reported to be clos…

New Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns made his first impactful decision even before he had his introductory press conference at Citi Field. On Sunday, before the Mets last game of the season, Buck Showalter announced to a su…

The Mets have had plenty of losing seasons, of course, but 2023 is vastly different. With owner Steve Cohen financing a $445 million payroll, the highest in baseball history, combined with the Mets coming off 101 wins the previous year, expec…

In my 2023 Mets preview, I expressed doubts they would win a World Series with a pitching staff headed by old warhorses Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. In my opinion, the Mets were a third-place team that would finish a little above .500. …

Belmont Park, located on the Queens Village-Elmont, LI, border, is scheduled to undergo a $455 million renovation as early as next year. The project is expected to take two years, and there will be no horse racing there until it is finished.T…

An Andy Warhol-inspired portrait of Billie Jean King is the official 2023 poster of the US Open. It commemorates the 50th anniversary of equal prize money for male and female players in the tournament.It was an uphill battle for King, Rosie C…

Veteran baseball journalist Ken Rosenthal caused a stir when he wrote in The Athletic that the Mets and Milwaukee Brewers were “within field goal distance” of making a trade that would have sent Pete Alonso to America’s beer capital. Of cours…

Mets Manager Buck Showalter always looks for the positives in his postgame press conferences, even after crushing defeats. That is why it raised eyebrows last Wednesday when he criticized his starting pitcher, Tylor Megill, following an 8-3 w…

The best bargain in professional sports, US Open Fan Week, returns to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, from Tuesday, Aug. 22, through Sunday, Aug. 27. Admission is free, but unlike in past years, at…

The Mets drastically changed direction for 2023, and probably 2024, when they traded Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Tommy Pham, Mark Canha, David Robertson and Dominick Leone for an array of minor league prospects. Any thought of competing f…

Mets first baseman Pete Alonso succinctly summed things up when he was approached by the media Saturday night for his reaction to the Mets dealing future Hall of Fame pitcher Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers following an 11-6 loss to the Was…