Mike Hampton will be on the Shea Stadium hill tonight to face the Mets and Pedro Martinez. Pedro will be attempting to help the Mets sweep the Atlanta Braves while Hampton will continue to try and resurrect his career.

Eight years ago, tonight’s pitcher for Atlanta helped the Mets do something they had not accomplish in 14 previous years. Mike Hampton pitched a complete game 7-0 shutout as the Mets won their fourth and last National League pennant.

Hampton had spent most of his career with the Houston organization. He came up with Seattle and was traded to Houston following his first season. After compiling a record of 70-43 and spending six years with the Astros, the Mets obtained him over the winter of 1999 for outfielder Roger Cedeno and relief pitcher Octavio Dotel. The Mets also received Derek Bell in the deal. Adding Hampton to the Mets staff that already featured Al Leiter and Rick Reed gave the Mets a starting three they felt could compete with Glavine, Smoltz, and Maddux for the Braves.

Hampton won 15 games while losing 10 in his only year as a Met. The Mets had traded for him in his walk year and would need to sign him long term to keep Hampton in a Mets uniform. Through the entire season there was never much discussion with the lefty. The Mets brass led by GM Steve Phillips said it would be handled at the end of the season when the Mets would have exclusive rights to negotiate with the pitcher for a period of time following the World Series, a series the Mets lost to the Yankees five games to one.

Apparently the school systems in the New York area were not up to snuff for the Hampton family or at least so he said. In December of 2000, Mike signed a then record 8 year 121 million dollar deal for a pitcher with the Colorado Rockies. The Mets made a solid offer but felt that was too steep a price to trump. The Mets would never regret not countering Colorado’s offer.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out Hampton’s motivation. Considering that Denver is where pitcher’s careers go to die, it was obvious the only concern for Hampton and family was money. Off the record some Mets players were not disappointed regardless of how Hampton helped the Mets to win the pennant. Hampton had a reputation of being aloof and not a real team guy.

After spending two years in Colorado and compiling a record of 22-28, Hampton was shipped off to Florida with Juan Pierre for catcher Charles Johnson, former Met Preston Wilson and a couple of others. But he never threw one pitch for the Marlins as two days later he was traded to the Atlanta Braves for Tim Spooneybarger and Ryan Baker. The odd thing about this deal was that Colorado, Florida, and the Braves were all paying parts of Hampton’s ludicrous salary on the original contract that the Rockies must still be regretting.

From 2002 through 2005, Hampton won 32 games while losing 20. But in 2005 Hampton’s season was cut short by injury. Mike would require Tommy John surgery at the end of the season. Subsequently Hampton missed all of 2006. Then in April of 2007, Hampton underwent a second surgery on the elbow to repair a torn tendon. He missed his second consecutive season. After recovering from his second elbow surgery, Mike was sent to the Mexican Winter League to get back into game shape. In his first game back on the mound Mike severely pulled his right ham sting while attempting to field a ground ball. He missed all of winter ball recovering. As he prepared to start the 2008 campaign, yet another injury be felled the left handed pitcher. This time he strained a pectoral muscle.  Would Hampton ever come back?

Finally Hampton made his first start in three years on July 26th. Since then he has a record of 2-1 with an ERA of 6.92. This is why it is so dangerous to give a pitcher so much money for so many years. Since Hampton left the Mets to sign with the Rockies he has posted a 53-48 record, hardly worth 8 years and 121 million dollars. Plus he missed almost three full seasons of work.

Tonight Hampton continues to try and restore his baseball career. But so does his opponent Pedro Martinez. While Martinez has suffered his own sever injuries the last couple of years, his legacy will live much longer than Hamptons, probably all the way to the Hall of Fame.

Say what you want about Hampton and his unwillingness to stay in New York. Regardless of his stature amongst Mets fans, Hampton owns a small piece of Mets history in that he helped them reach their fourth World Series in team history. Let’s not forget the Mets have not made it back since.

The United States Olympic baseball team defeated the Japan team by a score of 4-2 earlier today in Beijing. The win ended the preliminary round and placed the US in third place for the finals that begin tomorrow. The US compiled a 5-2 record in the first round.

As the third seed the US must face Cuba, the second seed. Cuba's record was 6-1 in the first round of the tournament. South Korea who went undefeated at 7-0 will play against Japan who finished the preliminaries at 4-3. Cuba defeated the US in the first round in a close game by the score of 5-4.

The winner of both games will play for gold in the medal round while the losers will fight for the bronze in a game on Friday.

This Mets season has been all about finding a way through adversity. I wrote a piece a couple weeks back about how so many things have gone wrong for this Mets team but still they have managed a way to be in first place. Although it’s not a large lead, they still are for the moment the top dog in the National League East.

Last night, the Mets scored five runs in the eighth inning to defeat the Atlanta Braves in the first of three at Shea. The only runs allowed to the Braves were by Oliver Perez in the third inning. Perez, newly acquired reliever Luis Ayala, Aaron Heilman, and Scott Schoeneweis managed to shut down Atlanta the rest of the way. There was no need for Billy Wagner with a four run lead in the 9th. That was good because he was not available and most likely will not be for the foreseeable future.

The Mets have had many tests this season. They survived without having Pedro Martinez for two months. They lost Moises Alou for the entire season. Ryan Church suffered two concussions and is still out. The hitting at times has been absent and forget about scoring with the bases loaded. Except for last night when it happened twice in the eighth inning, scoring with the bases full just doesn’t happen. And perhaps the most glaring of problems this season has been the bullpen.

Blown saves, blown leads, heart palpitations, you name it this bullpen has been capable of doing it. Even in games with big leads that the Mets have won, the bullpen gave up runs forcing other relievers to warm up when they should have been able to rest.

At times the bullpen has shown signs of being very capable of getting the job done. But inconsistency has been a problem all year long. I would venture to say without actually doing the research that if the bullpen collectively put away half the games they have blown, the Mets would be leading the division very comfortably opposed to just a one game lead in the loss column. And least we forget that the number one cause of last September’s collapse was the pitching and in particular, the bullpen.

If all that is not bad enough another challenge has come to the forefront. Billy Wagner is likely gone for the season. Inflammation in the elbow has gotten worse and could be masking a tear. There will be no real closer for a team with aspirations of reaching the post season.

What are the odds of the Mets overcoming this latest hardship? The answer will have to come from within. Wild speculation of Trevor Hoffman coming to the Mets on New York talk radio yesterday morning is just that. Even if the Padres did place the soon to be free agent closer Hoffman on waivers, teams like the Marlins and Phillies could block him from getting to the Mets. Forget it. It’s a pie in the sky thinking. There is not external answer.

Can the Mets win without a closer? Actually I think they can. This year the Mets have won about half of their games by 3 runs or fewer. These do not include extra inning games at home either where a closer is not needed. This is not to say that closing is not necessary as much as it says a classic closer in the mold of a Wagner or Hoffman is not necessary. The Mets win a lot of games by a lot of runs. They do not win many 2-1 or 3-2 contests. They haven’t for more than a year. This suggests that the Mets are the type of team that could actually pull off a closer by committee scenario. It is not desirable but it is possible and frankly the Mets have no other choice.

If the Mets were a low run scoring team then a personality in the closer role would be key to securing many low run scoring games. This brings up an interesting point. If the Mets stop hitting or stop scoring runs the way they did in the first half of the season, then they will be in huge trouble. That situation in combination with the current bullpen woes would likely spell disaster for the Mets this year.

If anything the Mets have shown quite a bit of character this year, at least under skipper Jerry Manuel. If the Mets want to play late into October this season, that character must persist, especially in the bullpen.

According to an article that appeared in the New York Post last week, the most expensive seats at Citi Field next year will cost 495.00. These seats are in the first level in the first rows that surround home plate. For just less than 500 bucks, you can get food and non-alcoholic beverages included. I was wondering if I paid for that ticket, could I get 500 hot dogs and then distribute them to the less fortunate fans in the cheap seats. I could become the Robin Hood of Mets fandom.

If you think this is awful it could be worse. You could be a Yankee fan were similar seats are upwards of 2500.00 dollars. The Mets, according to the article, made a conscious effort to price their tickets lower than the Yankees. Hmm, 26 World Championships to 2 will make you do that.

If you are outraged about the cost of these tickets you are not alone. But know this, all of these seats have been sold. It’s a simple capitalistic principle known as supply and demand. If someone is willing to pay 495.00 for a seat, why should the Mets sell it for less? Apparently, there are a lot more people than we realize with the kind of cash to pay for these seats even in a slowed economy or do a dare say a recession.

As you move away from behind the plate and the dugouts, the tickets expectedly reduce in price but it appears the cheapest tickets in the field level are around 125.00 bucks a seat. And yes, these seats are still cheaper than equivalent seats at the new Yankee palace.

$125.00 per seat is still out of the price range of most fans. 500 dollars not including parking, concessions, transportation and tolls is a little above what the now squeezed middle class family of four can afford. But again, many seats and luxury suites have been sold out. In fact the Mets have said that 48 of 49 luxury suites have been sold already with about ten companies fighting over the last one. The luxury suites at Citi Field are going for a mere 275,000 to 500,000 dollars. One exec with the Mets thinks they under priced the suites. Equivalent suites at Yankee Stadium close in at almost a million dollars! Gees, is this baseball we are talking about?

So what is the average blue collar (even white collar for that matter) fan suppose to do? Well one thing is to watch more games on TV. With the money you save by not going to a game, a high definition TV at 32 inches or greater with a reasonably priced theatre system is a wonderful alternative. And many high definition sets have come way down in price. Brands like Vizio or LG offer great value without compromised picture quality. Citi Field and the new Yankee Stadium should look just grand on a flat panel LCD high def TV.

Going to games at Citi Field is still not out of the question. The upper deck known as the promenade level will feature prices that average 19.00 a seat. That’s an average with the lowest tickets around 12 bucks. Now to most, that’s affordable and these seats will still be lower and closer to the field than the upper deck at Shea.

In addition, the Mets will offer multiple ticket prices depending on when and who they are playing like they do now. So a week night game against the Nationals in the upper level might be quite affordable.

As long as there are people willing to pay the exorbitant prices in these new cathedrals, don’t expect the prices to drop. Look at the bright side. If the Mets intend on keeping ticket prices high, they will do their best to field the best team possible. If the Mets fall back to the losing ways of the early part of the decade, new stadium or not, Citi Field will be empty and the seat prices will drop. The problem then is who would want to go?

So while there will be reasonably priced seats available, there is another problem. Shea Stadium currently holds 57,333 people when full. Citi Field will hold 42,500 people. While the capacity of Citi Field is listed at 45,000, that includes standing room for 2500 fans. Do the math, Citi Field holds 14,833 less fans. According to the comparison page on Mets.com, Citi Fields upper level will hold 15,500 while Shea’s upper deck total is 20,420. That’s almost 5000 less seats per game at the new ballpark. Or another way of looking at it, next year there are 5000 less opportunities to get a ticket per game. As of yet, there has been no word on the pricing of standing room.

Both stadiums will be beautiful venues to watch your favorite team. Citi Field will be a bit more affordable but not much. The hard core fan will still get to a few games but there will be less of the die hard fans in total than ever. There will be more corporate types, you know, the empty suits who are more interested in being seen than knowing what David Wright’s average is with runners in scoring position with two out. That’s a shame because the one thing the Mets always have had going for them is the passionate Mets fan, the most passionate fans in baseball. Now there will be less and less of them at each ballgame.

The United States clinched a spot in the medal round at the Beijing Olympics with a victory against Chinese Taipei yesterday. The US will either be the number 3 or 4 seed depending on their final preliminary round game with Japan on Wednesday. Former Met Brandon Knight pitched into the 7th inning as the US came back to win the game late 4-2.

The win guarantees a shot at the gold medal providing the US can win two in a row. The losers of the second round’s contests play each other in the final or medal round for the Bronze. The winners of the second round play each other for the gold in the medal round. The loser of the game takes the silver medal. The loser in the Bronze medal game wins nothing.