Just another lunch pail, humpday for Harvey
"It’s one outing. I plan on having 30 hopefully this season. There’s a lot of work to be done. Tomorrow’s a new day, next week’s another start. Obviously I’m happy for the win, happy for the team that we did get a win. But like I said, there’s work to be done." Matt Harvey [Metsblog]
Not to be outdone, Gee’s first start since a life threating injury was even less of a big deal
"I put [the surgery] behind me a long time ago, but it definitely feels nice to get out there and get back in the regular season and get on the mound in a big league game. It's a turning point. Hopefully I can keep going from there. It really just felt like another day. It's obviously a big deal, but to me I took it like any other day. I really wasn't too anxious about it." Dillon Gee [ESPN]
Strong words, I mean, personally, I kind of liked Rick Peterson
"In my mind, a jacket doesn’t belong on a baseball field." Matt Harvey on the cold weather [Twitter]
Not to be outdone, it was warm compared to what gritty Gee is used to
"I think I’ll be fine -- even if it’s 40, 35 [degrees]. It hasn’t been an issue. I think I’ll be fine -- even if it’s 40, 35 [degrees]… It was like 20 [during a recent hunting trip,] and I was still OK." Dillon Gee [ESPN]
But the true winner of the ‘just another workday’ goes to Scott Rice
"I'll be able to do that tonight and tomorrow and relish in it." Scott Rice on making his major league debut at age 31 [ESPN]
Or maybe Ike should stop his pre-Opening Day bar crawl through Turtle Bay
"The streak continues. Maybe I’m nervous or jitters or swinging too hard. I still have never gotten a hit on Opening Day." Ike Davis [New York Post]
What, no one told him not to beat himself up and that his ISO, BB% and K% were pretty consistent with his career numbers and he was probably just experiencing some bad luck on his BABIP numbers and life is full of random chance so you just got to enjoy it for what it is sometimes
"Last year I was hard on myself offensively. But I think I got better defensively. ... All those catching coaches that told you, 'It's about defense, it's about defense' -- that kind of got put to the test last year. I think what I got out of last year was being a lot more mentally tough and take what I'm given and not try so hard." John Buck [ESPN]
Me too!!
"Matt Harvey is my new favorite pitcher outside of current and former teammates!! He's nasty" David Price [Twitter]
But it would have been nice to win them all
"It does kind of suck just because Dillon did such a good job. We weren’t gonna win ‘em all, but it would have been nice to take this last one." Ike Davis [New York Post]
While Duda has come a long way with his canned responses, Wright is still the master
"People are gonna have their opinions, and are gonna say what they're gonna say. But I think that if you talk to all five outfielders ... we feel pretty good out there, and we're just gonna play hard every day." Lucas Duda [ESPN]
Indeed, all memorable days are memorable
"That was cool. That was special. You talk about adrenaline. I felt like I was just floating out there shaking everybody’s hands and giving high-fives. That was a memorable one. All memorable days are memorable, but this one is going to stick out above the rest for obviously being announced as the captain and the performance of the team today." David Wright [New York Post]
And did I mention this team and fun?
"This is going to be a fun team to root for. Obviously it’s tough to guarantee wins and losses, but if you’re a fan of baseball and kind of a purist this is going to be a fun team to watch. This is going to be a fun team to root for." David Wright [New York Post]
Disagree. There is one word. And thy word be Grission.
"You’ve got the guys that bring that energy. You’ve got the guys that play the game hard, play the game the right way, scrappy, there’s a ton of adjectives you can use to describe this team." David Wright [New York Post]
Collins added "Also, lots of great starting pitching, like a ton. Pre-injury Johan, RA doing his thing, Niese living up to his FIP, even Gee was pretty good. It was nuts. But yeah grinding out at bats or whatever that too."
"It’s what we did last year in the first half that made us so competitive. We just grind out at-bats." Terry Collins [New York Post]
Niese is the James Dean to Harvey’s Steve McQueen…I’ve might have been reading Menswear blogs during the offseason
"He went out there and pounded the strike zone, stayed in control. He didn’t let Opening Day get him out of his game, that’s Niese. He doesn’t care. But that is the kind of attitude you have to have. The thing we learn from him is to pitch your game." Dillion Gee [New York Post]
Now they shut Niese down after two outs in the 7th
"Last year was a year when I hit that sixth inning and I had 95 pitches and they kind of shut me down. I want to be that guy that goes back out and finishes my starts. I just told [Collins] that I wanted to go back out and that I felt like I had a lot left." Jon Niese [New York Post]
Might want to keep an eye on him Leah
"I’m never satisfied with what I have." Jon Niese [New York Post]
This is also the last line of Eric Simon’s Amazin’ Avenue blogger application
"We provide chances. It’s up to you what you do with them." Terry Collins [New York Post]