Happy Ballclub Day!

Rejoyce with us, Mets fans! For not only did we celebrate the arrival of our Franchise's Future this week, but today is the one-year Anniversary of the inception of The Ballclub.

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us, linked to us and generally appreciated us in general over the past year. I hope that everyone out there who's read us has enjoyed what I've had to offer just as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Although the first season of The Ballclub did not yield the ending we would have liked, we're raring to go for 2008. What's past is archived away, only to be looked at in happier times. I am looking forward to picking apart another season, one that will hopefully bring us an extended October run.

Who is Santana?

On Monday Morning, I went into a Modell's near Grand Central. There was a line out the door with people waiting to buy Giants Super Bowl items. I was there for a different reason. Much of the merchandise on the main floor had been moved out of the way, replaced by a large, well-staffed table piled high with T-Shirts, Hats and whatnot depicting the Giants logo. Tucked away on a pillar, I found what I was looking for. I approached the register.

"I guess I'm the only one in here not buying Giants stuff, huh?" I said to the cashier.

The cashier looked at the shirt I was buying. "No," she said. "People are buying a lot of these too. Who is Santana? What's the big deal with him?"

"Well," I replied, "The Mets just traded for him. He's a pretty big deal."

Another cashier told her to get with the program. A couple of other Modell's workers chuckled at her. Not a Baseball fan, I suppose, but you'd have to be lost under a rock to avoid the talk now.

My exchange was rung up and I was on my merry way, my requisite pre-season Mets merchandise purchasing done for the moment.

And with today's Press Conference at Shea, and the ensuing media crush, I guess you can say that, at least in New York, the 2008 Baseball season has officially begun. The Giants have had their moment, but it is time for Football to step aside and make way for the true King of New York: Baseball.

Yes, we're still 7 days away from seeing Pitchers and Catchers in Florida, and more than a month from tangible competition, but today sets everything in motion, everything that this season will hold and everything that will play out will draw from today.

Today, the Mets served notice to the rest of the National League that last year's miserable conclusion will not be forgotten, and will not be taken lightly. This team has made major changes to ensure that it will not be repeated.

With their introduction today of Johan Santana, the Mets showcased a player that will hopefully be the solution to so many of the pitching troubles that plagued the team last season. No longer will Pedro Martinez be counted on to perform as the Pedro of old. No longer will El Duque be forced to shoulder the load of a 30+ start season. No longer will the bullpen, still a question mark, have to bridge game after game, inning after inning for repeated stretches. For today, the Mets introduced a pitcher that will not only win games, but solve problems in the process. For each time Santana can take a game into the 7th or 8th inning, he saves valuable innings for guys like Feliciano, Sanchez, Heilman and Schoeneweis for those days when Pedro, Perez or El Duque can only go 5 or 6 innings. The more he can bridge these gaps in games, the greater effect he will have on the entire team. A Great pitcher, a Game-changing pitcher, signed, sealed and delivered to our doorstep this great afternoon. It is truly the signal of the dawn of a new season, and the dawn of a new era for the Mets. An era we hope will lead us to the Promised Land.

That's who Santana is.

The Ballad of Freddie Mercury

You can't write this stuff up.

Improbably, the Giants completed their miracle run on Sunday night with a 17-14 victory over the to-that-point undefeated New England Patriots. I don't know how they did it. I basically spent an hour after the game saying, "How the Hell did the Giants win this game?" Somehow, they did it. They're World Beaters and World Champions.

Give all credit and congratulations to the Giants, their fans and their downright nasty defense. Watching the game, in all honesty, I saw what was for the most part a hideous football game that was marred by two teams that played the game as if they were asleep for just about 53 minutes.

Yes, the Giants defense rose to the occasion of all occasions, keeping Tom Brady et al off balance and off the scoreboard for the entire game, save the Patriots next-to-last drive. But for the most part, both teams seemed to be rusty and ineffective, and both defenses feasted upon offenses that looked out of sorts. But the Giants were able to offset their own effectiveness well enough to hang around, and hang around, and hang around...until Eli Manning escaped from a sack and lofted a miracle 3rd down pass to David Tyree...until Manning lofted that last pass into Plaxico Burress' arms with :35 left...until Brady's final, desperation pass sailed incomplete and the Giants, somehow, someway came away with the upset of upsets, the victory of victories, keeping the Patriots from perfection and immortality. Two weeks ago, I called the Giants victory in Green Bay one for the Ages. But that win was outdone by their victory last night.

Yes, I had no vested rooting interest. Within, I wanted to see the History of an undefeated season. I never realistically thought the Giants had a shot to win, let alone keep it close. But here we are and here they are. 3rd Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets is basically a police state right now. The street is littered with confetti and tissue paper and whatever sort of debris was strewn about by people, many of whom I believe barely would know a Football if it hit them in the head, let alone be able to name 5 players on the Giants not named Eli, Plaxico or Amani. I was in a bar in the East Village briefly following the game, where a well-heeled circle of inebriated folk joined in a chorus of Queen's "We Are The Champions." The bartender, a Steelers fan, silently chuckled. I, in my Jerry Rice jersey, shook my head.

I hope to sing that same song sometime in Late October.

Upcoming soon: Back to Basics: 5 Key Mets for 2008, Spring Previews and Ruminations on the real King of New York: Baseball.

WELCOME TO NEW YORK (officially)!

Steve Somers reported it from Ed Coleman on WFAN mere minutes ago, and it is confirmed on MetsBlog.com. The deal is done. Johan Santana is indeed here.

Contract terms, blah, blah, blah. Doesn't matter. Take a deep breath and have a celebratory drink. JOHAN HAS ARRIVED!

(Is it just me, or does anyone else think that the Post's back cover from Wednesday is simply a picture of Santana's head photoshopped onto Pedro Feliciano's body, then airbrushed to reflect the correct uniform number?)

Waiting Game

ESTRAGON:

And if he doesn't come?

VLADIMIR:

We'll come back tomorrow.

ESTRAGON:

And then the day after tomorrow.

VLADIMIR:

Possibly.

ESTRAGON:

And so on.

From "Waiting for Godot," by Samuel Beckett

That selection basically sums up my afternoon. I woke up feeling eerily similar to the way I did the morning of Game 7 two years ago. Without the hangover headache from Game 6. An afternoon with Mike & the Mad Dog did nothing to provide any insight to progress between the Mets and Santana. But as the deadline came and went, bits and pieces trickled in, and it appears now, since the Mets have asked for and were granted a 2-hour extension, that a deal seems near. Currently, the distance is what sounds like a relatively manageable $10 million (relatively manageable, I say), and the guarantee of a 6th year.

The whole thing has made for a rather tense afternoon, and enough to make me cross reference Johan Santana with Samuel Beckett for a second time. I don't care. I'm making up nonsense words again and the Mets aren't even in the damn playoffs. Just get this thing done already!

Had things been a bit less hectic, I might have taken the opportunity earlier in the day to offer up my Super Bowl pick. Waiting for the Super Bowl is a similar game to waiting for the Johan news, however it's a much more tedious, air-filled, annoying wait that is finally just about over. We've heard all the stories, all the puff pieces, heard about Tom Brady's ankle and his girlfriend and his hair enough, we've broken down Plaxico Burress's mouth enough. Now, it's time to just shut up and play.

The Giants have had a memorable, magical ride through January, and rode their momentum all the way to this point, where they're facing off against a Patriots team that seemed to be predestined to reach this point. At 18-0, the Patriots are deservedly a huge favorite, having made history to get to this point, and need one victory to finish off the job. The Giants overcame huge odds and a media that seemed ready to bury them at any given moment, winning three Playoff games on the road. They come in with a world of confidence, and more people than I thought think that they can beat the Patriots after hanging close with them in December.

I suppose I could break things down a bit more in depth, but in reality, everyone has heard every angle. The Patriots offense is Great. The Giants defense is good. In a shootout, there's no way the Giants will be able to keep up. The Giants can try to contain Moss, but as we saw in the Patriots games against Jacksonville and San Diego, the Patriots can just pick you apart with their short passing game and Maroney. On the other side, the Giants can run a similar offense, but they lack the overall talent to keep that same pace as the Patriots can. It is a trademark of Belichick's winning teams to take away one facet of a team's offensive game, and force the opponent to beat him with the other. I believe the Pats will gang up on Bradshaw and Jacobs and force Eli Manning to beat them. Eli has proven that he is up to the task of managing the game, but has not, in this run, been forced to win the game on his own. He will, much like Favre in the Championship game, invariably be forced into a mistake, which is something that cannot be done against the Patriots. It has been a fabulous run to cap off a wonderful season that nobody expected out of the Giants. But I don't think they have enough to pull off the final Miracle. The Patriots are too good and they didn't come down here to lose this game.

My pick: Patriots 36, Giants 20. Close in the first half, but I think the Patriots will go on one of their 8-minute drives in the 3rd or early 4th Quarter, score a TD, and then pick off Manning on the next Giants possession, and that will be the dagger. The 4th Quarter will quickly turn into garbage time as the Patriots pull away. Tom Brady will cap off his landmark season with his 3rd Super Bowl MVP.

Enjoy your Turducken!