Thursday Morning Applesauce: Dykstra Pleads Guilty, Cards Win Game One

There wasn't a whole lot going on in the way of Mets related "news" yesterday, but there were still several stories floating around out there to share. It seemed pretty ironic that a number of them centered around the '86 World Series team on the first day of the 2011 fall classic 25 years later.

Lenny Dykstra's legal problems continued as he pleaded no contest to grand theft auto charges yesterday. Dykstra could face up to four years in prison for the incident, and with his criminal background it seems likely that he'll be locked up for a good amount of time. He was such a nice kid before we traded him to Philly.

1986 teammate Dwight Gooden was also in the news yesterday. It turns out that Gooden missed the 1986 parade due to a drug induced haze. To quote Rick James, "cocaine is a hell of a drug". At least Gooden never injured himself ironing a shirt he was currently wearing.

The Wilpons received more good news in the ongoing Bernie Madoff lawsuit. The judge once again ruled in the Wilpons favor, this time in regards to keeping some information confidential. It's starting to seem more and more like this won't have a huge negative impact on the Mets anytime in the near future which would certainly be good.

AIG has had money troubles recently, but it seems they stumbled into some good fortune when they decided to advertise on the left field wall at Shea Stadium. With any luck we'll be able to see some other advertiser benefit if the Citifield walls are lowered to a normal height. Metsblog has a rendering of what this would look like if the walls are indeed lowered. Changes are expected to be announced soon, although I'd guess that the Mets wait until after the conclusion of the World Series for that type of announcement.

Around MLB

There was actually baseball played yesterday as well, as the Cardinals defeated the Rangers by a 3-2 score to go up 1-0 in the 2011 fall classic. ESPN naturally attributes the win to Tony LaRussa and his managerial brilliance. There was some minor controversy about a 9th inning call in the game as well.  

BtB took a little closer look at the hitting of Nelson Cruz this season. He really is fun to watch when he comes up to bat.

FanGraphs did an interview with free agent to be Kelly Johnson. He seems like an interesting fit for the Mets and a guy that wouldn't require a long term deal.

The Padres have reportedly discussed taking on John Lackey if the Sawx eat most of his contract. I'd be pretty thrilled to simply send them Jason Bay back in a straight swap if the Sox really want to deal Lackey.

Yu Darvish is not certain to be posted. I'd guess he's out of the current Mets price range anyway, so all it likely does for us is adds more talent to the free agent market in general if he comes.

Finally, the Braves have begun interviews for their vacant hitting coach position. It doesn't look like the changes will be far more sweeping than that after the epic collapse.