Amazin' Avenue says farewell to 2013

The Mets stunk this year, once again, finishing with a sub-.500 for the fifth consecutive season. We at Amazin' Avenue like to think we had a pretty good year, though. We added many new writers, and at this point it's crazy to think that one person used to run the site by himself. With the abundance of content produced in 2013, it wasn't easy putting together this year-end recap of the best posts from the year.

Please enjoy this look back at 2013 and here's to a great 2014, both for Amazin' Avenue and the Mets:

January

• 2013 Mets Prospect Ranking Discussion -- Rob Castellano started a Minor League Ball-style discussion.

• It's Hard To Imagine A Baseball Hall Of Fame Without Mike Piazza -- Indeed. Repeat this Chris McShane post until Piazza is enshrined.
• Share Your Favorite Mike Piazza Memories -- Even more Piazza.
• Mike Piazza and Empty Halls -- This time it's Matthew Callan weighing in. "The Baseball Hall of Fame needs Mike Piazza far more than Piazza needs the Hall of Fame," Callan opens.
• Announcing The "R.A. Dickey Face" Contest Winner -- So many entries were awesome but the winner was a step above.
• Who Could Lucas Duda Become? -- Eno Sarris takes a closer look at the big lug.
• Mets You've Forgotten About -- They were probably forgotten for a reason.
• The Five Longest Mets Home Runs Of 2012 -- With video! Three Ikes, a Wright, and a Bay.
• Alex Rodriguez, Ray Lewis, And Imaginary Sports -- Matthew Callan on the the different treatment of MLB and NFL steroid users.

February

• Matt Harvey And The Chipper Jones Super Bowl Party -- Yikes.
• The Top 50 Mets Of All Time: #39 Frank Viola -- Jeff Paternostro remembers Sweet Music.
• Bearing Out The Bourn Situation -- Mark Himmelstein(!) resurfaces with some Michael Bourn-related wisdom.
• These Are Indisputably Sandy Alderson's Mets -- Sam Page with a post that will apply to 2014 as well.
• PECOTA Mets Predictions: This Team Might Be Decent -- PECOTA was a tad too optimistic.
• Finding A Path For Dillon Gee -- Eno Sarris likes Dillon Gee as a righty Jon Niese.
• Mo Vaughn's 505-Foot Home Run At Shea Stadium On June 26, 2002 -- The biggest of dongs from big Mo.
• A Spring Training Chat With Paul DePodesta -- Chris McShane spoke with the Mets' Vice President of Player Development and Scouting, and it was good.
• The Life And Death Of A Joke -- If Sam Page wants more Cowgill, then we should probably give him more Cowgill.

March

• The Night Hugo Chavez Broke Shea Stadium -- No politics!
  
• Dr. Gold Glove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The K -- Steve Sypa goes in-depth on Matt den Dekker.
• The True Cost of a 'Super Two' - Why Travis d'Arnaud Belongs In Las Vegas -- Rob Castellano on why it was correct to start Travis d'Arnaud in Vegas, baby, Vegas.
• Top 50 Mets of All Time: #36 Bernard Gilkey -- Pack Bringley continues the countdown with the star of Men In Black.
• Can Terry Collins Handle A Bullpen? -- You'll have to click through to learn the answer.
• For Starters: Mets' worst opening day lineups -- The 2004 lineup, woof!
• Johan Santana in year six -- Patrick Flood with an ode to Johan.

April

• Even Tom Seaver wasn't perfect -- Close but no cigar for Tom Terrific.
• Puppy Avenue 2013 -- Steve Schreiber posted the perennial favorite.
• A chat with Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose -- Chris McShane shared the highlights of his chat with the great Rose.
• Would extending Dillon Gee make sense for the Mets? -- Ben Berkon asks and answers the question.

May

• This Week In Mets Quotes: Terry Collins is pissed off, the weather hasn't been good to the Mets, and Matt Harvey will be at the Garden tonight -- Joe Sokolowski checked in with TWIMQ.
• Final Score: Mets 1, White Sox 0 - Matt Harvey is bloody brilliant -- A recap of my favorite game of the season.
• Smackdown: The designated hitter is good for baseball and should be expanded vs The designated hitter is bad for baseball and must be stopped
• The Mets and the great rally cap conformity failure of 1987 -- Matthew Callan covered an ill-conceived Mets promotion.
• David Wright establishing himself as one baseball's all-time greats -- Chris Meehan on David Wright, a player he was lucky enough to watch at Double-A Binghamton.
• Profiles in craziness: The Matt Franco Game -- A look back at a classic from 1999.
• SNY Plaza Q&A with former Mets pitchers Dwight Gooden and John Franco -- Josh Ryan spoke with the Mets Hall of Famers.

June

• "Harvey-lujah" -- "Simply because this site doesn't have enough Leonard Cohen song parodies."
• INSERT NAME HERE has damaged the game of baseball forever -- I'm sick and tired of INSERT NAME HERE.
• The underrated Sid Fernandez -- Who doesn't love El Sid?
• 2013 Mets Draft Scouting Report: 1B Dominic Smith -- Alex Nelson once again did a tremendous job writing up potential Mets draft picks. Here is his post about Mets first-rounder Dom Smith.
  
• It's spelled "Zack," not "Zach," Wheeler -- Get it right!
• Bob Costas walks off -- Remember when Bob Costas said a Mets celebration was "another indication of the decline of western civilization?"
• Primer: Zack Wheeler -- Jeff Paternostro prepped us for the debut of young Wheeler.
• 2013 Citi Field All Star Menu Event -- Pictures of delicious food. Check it out.

July

• MLB Instant Replay: Home runs calls could and should be better -- Chris McShane is right.
• Smackdown: The All-Star Game should count vs The All-Star Game shouldn't count
• Nice Guys, Finished -- LOLMets forever.
• Revisiting the 1964 MLB All-Star Game -- Matthew Artus recalled the first and only All-Star Game at Shea Stadium.
• The Mets' Forgotten First Half -- Featuring Colin Cowgill, Rick Ankiel, and the Harlem Shake.
• Is Noah Syndergaard as good as Wheeler and Harvey? -- Rob Castellano ponders Thor.
• Ryan Braun MLB steroid fallout: No one's actually talking about PEDs -- Pack Bringley tries to improve the discourse.

August

• Explaining Steroids: Interview with a PED expert -- Pack Bringley further adds to the PED discussion.
• Is Juan Lagares the Mets' center fielder of the future? -- It's a good question.
• 1993: The year the Mets broke -- 2013 marked the 20th anniversary of The Worst Team Money Could Buy.
• Mets Memorable September Call-ups: Mike Jacobs -- September 2005 was a good month for Jacobs.
• Things I would rather do than watch Daisuke Matsuzaka pitch -- Even after Dice-K's respectable finish this past season, this post stands.

September

• Mets Book Review: "Hang A Crooked Number" by Matthew Callan -- Matthew Callan wrote a book! Check it out.
• Matt Harvey had awkward interview with Dan Patrick -- It's all about Qualcomm, baby.
• From the upper deck to the depths: A Mike Piazza story -- You won't regret reading this one.

October

• Is Jose Abreu better than what the Mets have now? -- Probably, but check out Matthew Yaspan's post for more.
• They can't all be Mike Trouts -- Chris McShane's plea for some offseason sanity from Mets fans.
• The Mets' Forgotten Second Half -- Featuring Scott Kazmir, Chad Qualls, and the Citi Field Sleepover.
• Mets vs. Marlins: Best rivalry in baseball? -- The idea isn't as ridiculous as it seems at first glance.
• The Case for Tim McCarver (30 Years Ago) -- He used to be pretty good!
• The Piazzas: Amazin' Avenue 2013 Mets Awards, Best Position Player -- And the winner is... not a surprise.

November

• 2008 Draft Review: Ike Davis -- Alex Nelson recalls when the Mets picked the likely soon-to-be former Met.
• The Ben Stiller-Mike Piazza movie that almost was -- No reason this shouldn't still happen.
• Mets Offseason: $50 million and 5 moves -- I miss the steroid era. Apparently, Jeff Kopman does too.
  
• Tsuyoshi Shinjo: Where is he now? -- The question on everyone's mind.

December

• Mets Santa Clauses through the years -- Mike Cameron is my favorite in the group.