Mets Sunday Story Time

As I perused the papers this morning, it struck me that there is a lot of great writing about the Mets going on.

If you'll allow me, I'd like to share some of the "Best of the Best" with you.

Adam Rubin of the NY Post has a nice piece on what the fans standing ovation upon his return meant to Ryan Church and his wife:

Church revealed that his wife Tina was driven to tears by the standing ovation the Shea faithful gave before his first at-bat in Friday's 1-for-3 return. The hard-nosed Church said the fans' embrace cemented his desire to spend the rest of his career in Flushing. He's even open to signing a long-term contract now to wipe away his arbitration years. Church won't be a free agent until after the 2011 season.

The always entertaining Mike Lupica writes about what David Wright means to the Mets:

Of course Wright is not the only one trying to write a better ending for the Mets in '08 than we got in '07. When you ask him about the way the Mets have come back over the past few months, he wants to talk about Carlos Delgado, who has made things easier for Wright the way he has made things easier for everybody in the lineup. Because if Delgado doesn't come back the way he does the Mets don't come back, it can't happen.

"There is a different dynamic to our lineup when (Delgado) is hot," Wright was saying Friday night before Johan Santana shut out the Astros. "By that I mean there's a different dynamic when he's Carlos Delgado. And a lot of that just has to do with confidence. When I watch him now, I see him up there with the confidence I used to see when I played against him in '05, and the way he was when I thought he carried us offensively in '06. It's not just that the guys in front of him get better pitches to hit and the guys behind him get better pitches to hit. When he's hot, pitchers always know where he is in the lineup."

My favorite piece of the day is Steve Serby's wonderful interview with Daniel Murphy. Read the article and watch the video. Serby is great, and he really let's us in to what Kid Murphy is feeling right now:

Q: Have any of your Mets teammates tangled with you yet?

A: No, I get the normal ribbing a rookie gets, which I welcome, cause I'd rather get made fun of in the big leagues than be The Man in the minor leagues.

Q: What kind of ribbing?

A: I think David Wright might have ran into my wallet that had seen better days, and he ripped it and tried to put it in the shredder. But he got me a new one. So, I thanked him for that.

Q: Was there money in the wallet?

A: He gave me all my stuff back. He just decided it was time for the wallet to retire.

Samantha Newman on Mets.Com talks about how Jerry Manuel plans to keep Fernando Tatis sharp:

"He was very huge for us," Manuel said. "Very huge in the sense that he got big hits, added on runs when we needed them. I think maybe right field might just be the place to play in our system right now. At least this season, everybody that's gone out there has done well, and Tatis was extremely impressive as a right fielder."

He may have been playing as a substitute, but Tatis went on an offensive tear in the middle of the season that earned his name a place in the starting lineup on a daily basis. He batted .397 with 18 RBIs in July, and was responsible for several game-winning hits. The veteran also slugged a combined nine home runs in July and August, compared to just one through the rest of the season.

Let's get a win today and keep the momentum going!