Meet Your 2013 Digital New York Mets

The 2013 incarnation of SONY's hit baseball video game MLB The Show hit store shelves this Tuesday.  For the uninitiated, the franchise is known for it's incredible attention to detail when it comes to capturing the atmosphere of our national pastime.

To achieve this, the developers spend a lot of time trying to create digital versions of your favorite ballplayers.

How'd they do?

You be the judge. Check out some of your favorite Mets side by side with their MLB The Show counterparts and then sound off in the comments section.

Mets Pitcher Jon Niese Rides Uniform Violations To Victory In Washington

Though no one at Major League Baseball would comment on it, Mets pitchers have been the target of a uniform violation crackdown in the last week. This is clearly part of a larger conspiracy to keep the Mets from finishing better than fourth in the division, thus preventing them from reaping all of the benefits that being a third place team entitles you to. While I'm not sure who would benefit from such a conspiracy, I can tell you one Mets player has decided to do something about it.

Where Is Captain Shorts Photoshop Contest: Help Find The Captain And Win A Cool Mets Prize

Captain Shorts is missing and The Apple needs your help to find him.  To sweeten the deal, I've got 5 copies of A+E Home Entertainment & MLB Productions DVD of Johan Santana's No-Hitter to give away. 


Who Is Captain Shorts?
If you follow The Apple on Twitter or Facebook then you already know about Captain Shorts but for the uninitiated I'll catch you up quickly. Captain Shorts is a mysterious and powerful figure whose power is only exceeded by his mystery. Additionally, his mystery is only exceeded by his power. The Captain motivates the Mets to play their hardest at home and rewards them with a hearty high five afterwards.

Mets As Star Wars Characters Part 4: Return Of The Jedi

Were 48 hours away from  Mets Star Wars Night to benefit SU2C. Today the Jedi return with 3 of your favorite Mets.  As an added bonus I've even thrown in a protocol droid. May the force be with you Mets fans.

Joda: Strike you out I will

Are Mets On The Verge Of A Huge Mistake With Reprinted Tickets?

Well now they've gone and done it. The Mets front office has gone and made me leave my parody perch and write something real. I don't like doing that but here we go. As many of you have heard by now the Mets are planning to cash in on the first no-hitter in franchise history by selling reprinted tickets from the historic night.

I'm going to try to stick to the facts here so lets start with the press release the Mets sent out. Feel free to look over the entire thing but the line that most has fans on edge is this one:

The Mets will reprint all 41,922 seats at Citi Field. There is a limit of four seats per order. Fans can select a seating category and receive the best available seat in that location.

Upon reading this, my first thought was. Wait, the Mets are going to sell somebody tickets with my seat number on them to some random person who wasn't even there?  So I went on twitter and reached out to Mets VP of Ticket Sales Leigh Castergine.  Here's what she said:

Mets Admit Johan Graphic Was Premeditated, Reveal Graphics For Future No Hitters

Of all of the secondary stories surrounding Johan Santana's historic no-hitter, the quick work of the Citi Field graphics department has captured the imaginations of many in the Mets online community. Did they have that No-Han graphic prepared before the game?  Did they make it during the game?  If so, when did they start working on it? Admittedly, I was just as curious as everyone else so I contacted the Mets graphics department and they spilled the beans.

Lil' Murph's Diary: No-Han Edition

Dear Diary,

By now I imagine you've heard that our ace Johan Santana (I just call him "Johan" - we're just that close) pitched a No Hit game for us Metsies last Friday night.  It was the first time that a Mets pitcher ever did that.  They tell me that Tom Seaver came awfully close a few times a couple of generations ago but no one's done it in modern times until now with Johan.

"Watching History From The Worst Seats In The House" Or "The Night Johan Santana Blessed Mets Fans With A No-Hitter"

I can't sleep so I might as well write. Where do I begin? Tonight was special. Tonight was historic. Tonight was glorious. It was "spectorious" if you will.  Johan Santana put the franchise on his shoulders and delivered Mets fans the no-hitter they have been waiting for, some might even say obsessing over, for over 50 years.

Johan To Padres: I Award You No Points And May God Have Mercy On Your Soul

The Fans Have Voted And Your New Subway Car Mets Are...

David "The Captain" Wright, R.A. "Kilimanjaro" Dickey, Johan "El Gocho" Santana, Daniel "#ImWith28" Murphy & newcomer Kirk Fluugenvanheimler...um let's just call him Kirk. Thanks for voting.

A Brief Look Inside The Mets "Dynamic Pricing" Model

The plan for the Mets in 2012 is to lower ticket prices.  But the team has stated that it reserves the right to raise prices again for certain high profile games.

The Mets have allowed The Apple to take a peek at some of the early plans for alterations in ticket prices. These are unofficial at the moment but if the club can find an accountant to track all the possibilities it is expected that they will go into effect:

Larry Smith Sneaks A Peek At Sandy Alderson's To-Do List

A few weeks ago your intrepid correspondent got himself his first ever smartphone.  The one I replaced was so old that it had a crank on the side and connected to a party line (too bad you have to be my age in order to appreciate that joke).

Anyway these new fangled phones even have cameras in them.  Did anyone else know that?

Johan Cut Bullpen Phone Prior To Last Night's Shutout

Johan Santana was brilliant last night.  After getting into and out of trouble in the first, Santana methodically worked his way through the Reds dangerous lineup en route to a complete game shutout.  For good measure, the Mets ace even provided his own run support when he belted his first career homer in the third. 

But this game will be memorable for a moment that happened in the ninth.  Following a Jason Bay miscue in left, Jerry Manuel came out to the mound.  The pair briefly exchanged words and Manuel return to the dugout.  Two batters later the game was over.  Many in the media have praised this moment as a player convincing his manager to let him finish what he started.  The Apple, however, knows the truth.

This photo, taken by Angel Pagan, shows Johan early yesterday sabotaging the bullpen phone.  Apparently, Pagan and Santana, with some coaxing from the Mets bullpen, thought it might be fun to take the pitching changes out of Jerry's hands for a night.  Which brings us to the now famous mound visit.

When Manuel went for the phone to summon his closer last night he was met with a dead phone dangling from a cut chord.  Furious he went to the mound and asked his ace what the heck was going on.  Johan responded (and MLB Video confirms this) "I (expletive) cut it.  This is my job."  Stunned, Manuel returned to the dugout.

The phone has been repaired for today's game but the word around the clubhouse is that the Mets relievers will present Johan with a new watch today to show their appreciation for the night off.  Jerry Manuel, not as amused, is having cell phones placed in the lockers of all his relievers.  They will be expected to carry them at all times during the game.

 All articles featured on The Apple are fictitious. No Mets were harmed in the writing of this story.

Derby "Lucky Bet" Winner Fullerton Loses Winnings on Mets

Glen Fullerton was on the hot streak of a lifetime.  First the computer programmer from Houston, TX wins CNBC's "Call The Close" contest for a chance to bet $100,000 on the Kentucky Derby.  Then he chose a 9-1 horse named Super Saver and hit a $900,000 jackpot when the horse won this Saturday's Kentucky Derby.  It was all too easy for Fullerton, so you can understand why he might have been feeling invincible when he put his $900,000 winnings on the dependable left arm of Mets ace Johan Santana.

"This guy is so consistent.", said Fullerton, in a special pre-game press conference before Sunday nights Mets-Phillies matchup.  "If they score a few runs for him, I can't lose."

As it turns out, the Mets would have needed to score 12 runs as Santana turned in the worst performance of his career in an 11-5 loss that cost the Mets first place and cost Fullerton almost a million dollars.  Was the enormous bet going through the mind of the usually reliable lefty?

"Maybe...I don't know.", Santana told The Apple after the game.  "It was definitely on my mind before the game.  I even talked to Oliver Perez about how to deal with so much undeserved money being on the line and he gave me some advice but I thought I was in a good place mentally when I took the mound.  I guess maybe I was still thinking about it."


Santana will throw next against the Giants at Citi Field over the weekend.  As for Fullerton, he will return to his computer programming job in Houston with empty pockets and one heck of a story to tell.

The lesson in all of this?  Whether it's baseball or horse racing: There's no such thing as a sure thing.

All articles featured on The Apple are fictitious. No Mets were harmed in the writing of this story.