Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 16 seasons full-time on the beat. Paige Leckie is helping out on this week’s newsletter. |
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Mets manager Carlos Mendoza got a bit of a surprise when the team was already en route to Williamsport and the Little League Classic on Sunday morning. One of the two teams greeting his club at the airport upon touchdown? The Latin American team from Venezuela -- from Mendoza’s hometown.
Memories came rushing back, and Mendoza spent the whole ride from the airport to the Little League complex chatting with members of Cardenales Little League, based in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. They compared notes like old acquaintances.
“It was just like, ‘Who's your coach?’” Mendoza said. “You know, ‘What part of the town are you from? Favorite player? Would you like to be a Major League player? What are you doing to do that?’
“[I was] telling them, school is important. But there's so much going on around them that I'm talking to one kid, and Juan Soto walks by, Francisco Alvarez walks by -- it was hard to maintain that conversation, but in general, just keeping it light and keeping it calm.” |
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After the fact, Mendoza lamented not having the chance to attend an event like this when he was younger -- but also appreciated the perspective it gave him, and was more than happy to have played a part in making the Cardenales’ experience as great as possible.
“If I had an opportunity to have an event like this, man,” Mendoza said. “I can tell you, just getting out of Venezuela -- and that's what these kids are telling me, their coaches [are telling me]. They've been on a pretty long road trip here, you know, but just to be able to compete internationally -- you play locally, nationally in Venezuela -- but facing teams from other countries -- and see where you are as far as the competition goes, and just different culture, different language and food. And kind of like what I went through when I first came over as a player, back when I was 16 years old. For them, it's experiencing this for the first time, and it's pretty surreal for them.” |
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That’s part of the joy of the Little League Classic, and the Little League World Series as a whole. Kids who might not otherwise interact get to go head-to-head with teams from around the world, and -- on one day -- get to meet Major Leaguers whose shoes they hope to one day stand in.
And, in turn, the kids remind the big leaguers of their own more humble roots and the unbridled joy they had for the game before it became their job. Even Mendoza was reminded -- something much needed as the final months of the season slog on.
“I'm watching the kids, you know, staring at Francisco Alvarez or Francisco Lindor, and you just see that smile in the face like, 'Oh my God, this is Francisco Alvarez,’ or ‘This is Francisco Lindor!'” Mendoza said. “And it takes you back to when I was that age, and being around professional players, even from a distance -- or walking through a baseball field -- and the fact that they were able to be that close, it was just -- it was a pretty cool experience.” |
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MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Who is the only Mets pitcher to throw a complete game at Nationals Park?
A) Jacob deGrom
B) R.A. Dickey
C) Dillon Gee
D) Tylor Megill |
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The Mets sorely needed Nolan McLean to pitch the way he did on Saturday. In front of a sold-out Citi Field crowd, McLean joined Matt Harvey as the only Mets starters to earn the win in a scoreless debut with at least eight strikeouts. The No. 37 prospect in baseball met the hype, spinning devilish sweepers and curveballs across the strike zone all afternoon. The Mariners could do little about it. So sharp was McLean that when Mendoza came to remove him after 5 1/3 innings and 91 pitches, the crowd erupted into boos. As soon as McLean handed Mendoza the baseball and began walking off the mound, however, those same fans rose to offer him a standing ovation. “I heard them loud and clear,” Mendoza said. “And if I was sitting in the stands, I would be booing myself, too.” The aggressive hook was part of a grander plan for McLean, the Mets’ No. 3 prospect. As much as the Mets needed a win on Saturday, they need McLean to be a developmental success story even more. They need him to be the type of pitcher who can become a rotation mainstay for years to come, perhaps eventually carrying this pitching staff. (For a glimpse into the state of the Mets’ staff, look no further than the fact that McLean set a franchise record in becoming the 43rd pitcher the club has used this season.) For more on McLean’s debut, read the full story from Saturday, which included a nifty 1-4-3 double play to escape a bases-loaded jam. |
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Last Friday, the Mets held Beatles Night at Citi Field to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the rockers’ famous Shea Stadium concert. Before the game, a Beatles tribute band held a concert behind the center-field seats. During the game, the Mets played Beatles music on the PA system and gave players mop tops on their scoreboard pictures. Whether you’re old enough to remember 1965 or not, I highly recommend this piece from Dan Rivkin, which delves into that legendary night at Shea -- a concert that drummer Ringo Starr later called “very big and very strange.” Dan uncovered all sorts of additional details for the story, many of which I had never previously known. Give it a read. |
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D) Tylor Megill
Megill took a complete-game loss in the second half of a doubleheader on Sept. 4. 2021. That year, doubleheader games were only seven innings, so Megill’s six-inning performance was enough for his first and only career CG. |
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