NEW YORK, NY — The ups and downs of a baseball season includes all sorts of challenges and obstacles for an organization to overcome — winning streaks, cold stretches, and everything in between, making for momentum shifts throughout a 162 game campaign, to go along with what everyone hopes against, sudden injuries.
Mets fans had to be thinking of that classic Yogi Berra line, “It’s deja vu all over again,” when Kodai Senga suffered a hamstring injury last Thursday trying to make a play at first base. The same thing happened a year ago. Senga wound up missing the second half of the 2024 season. The initial prognosis is that this leg injury is not as severe as last year’s, but the hamstring recovery timetable is always uncertain.
Image Credit: Ernesto Diaz/Latino Sports
Senga’s injury was a major reason the Mets finished third in the National League East and qualified for the playoffs on the last day of the season. The good news for the Mets is they are better positioned this time. David Peterson has been enjoying his best season at Citi Field and is showing why he was the Mets’ first-round pick in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Sean Manaea, who was the Mets ace in 2024, will be returning to action after rehabilitating from a spring training lat injury.
Frankie Montas was Mets baseball president David Stearns’ biggest free agent signing last winter. Like Manaea, Montas has also been out of action because of a spring training upper body injury. Unlike Manaea, however, Montas has never been anyone’s idea of an ace. As one longtime baseball scribe told me last week, “Frankie Montas has probably gotten paid more for doing relatively little than any other pitcher in history.” With Senga on the injured list, Montas’s performance will certainly be scrutinized when he returns to the mound.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Stearns has proven adept at acquiring inexpensive depth pieces. In a move which did not get much attention, he signed former Mets outfielder, and onetime Stony Brook star, Travis Jankowski, to a minor league contract. Jesse Winker and Jose Siri on the injured list, and neither is expected to return anytime soon. Second baseman Jeff McNeil has been pressed into outfield duty more often than he, or Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, would like.
Jankowski is a solid contact hitter who also possesses base stealing ability. While he is not Tyrone Taylor, he is a solid defender.
Five Borough Mascot Race at Citi Field
The Five Borough Mascot Race, which takes place in the middle of the third inning at Citi Field, has quickly become a fan favorite.
The Bronx, which is represented by a giraffe in honor of the Bronx Zoo, is still winless. A Yankees executive told me that if he were the Mets he would never let the Bronx win a race. No word yet as to whether Attorney General Pam Bondi will ask the Justice Department to investigate.
Last Tuesday night, after taking it on the chin yet again, the Bronx Giraffe held up a sign saying, “Want to race, Teddy?” It was a clever nod to the Washington Nationals popular presidential mascot race where Theodore Roosevelt’s likeness brings up the rear.
Mets-Phillies worth the trip to Citizens Bank Park
The downside of Major League Baseball’s current schedule is that the Mets only get to play the Phillies in Philadelphia twice a season. Next weekend (June 20-22) will be the Mets only weekend visit to the City of Brotherly Love. Since Philadelphia is only 100 miles from Queens, a trip to Citizens Bank Park has long been a favorite road trip for Mets fans.
Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Since all the games have a 7:10 start, this is an excellent opportunity to enjoy visiting Philadelphia’s many museums and points of interest during the day. You can check out the various hotel packages on the city’s tourism bureau’s website, visitphilly.com.
Phillies Injury Update
The Phillies have struggled without slugger Bryce Harper who has been plunked twice in the elbow by errant pitches. He should be back in the Phillies lineup this coming weekend. Their starting pitching is excellent although the bullpen has been shaky considering closer Jose Alvarado’s suspension for taking a disallowed steroid.
Fanatics Fest 2025 in NYC this coming weekend, June 20th-June 22nd
If you decide to stay in town this weekend, Fanatics Fest will be returning for its second go-round at Javits Center. Fanatics Fest is the sports world’s version of Comic Con. There will be exhibits from every sports league, including the WWE.
Image Credit: Fanatics Fest
Current and retired sports notables will be signing autographs and will be part of Q&A seminars. WFAN and SNY will have broadcasts from there.
50 Cent and Starz greenlights new boxing drama named “Fightland”
Hip-hop legend, actor, and South Jamaica native Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has become a major force behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. The premium cable network Starz has greenlit a boxing drama set in London which he is producing titled “Fightland.”
Remembering and Paying Tribute to Brian Wilson and Sylvester Stewart
The pop music world lost a pair of giants last week with the passing of Beach Boys composer and co-founder Brian Wilson, and the king of soul, rock, and funk fusion, Sylvester Stewart, better known as Sly Stone.
Mets radio voice, and Cardozo High and Queens College alum, Howie Rose is an enthusiastic Beatles fan, but he also enjoys the music of the Beach Boys. “I love “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Sloop John B,” he told me last Wednesday. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said his mom loved the music of the Beach Boys even though she was living in Venezuela during their heyday.
As fate would have it, the Songwriters Hall of Fame held its annual induction ceremony at the Marriott Marquis last Thursday, the day after Brian Wilson’s passing. Wilson’s cousin, and longtime lyricist collaborator, Mike Love, was one of the honorees.
Love paid tribute to his cousin in the interviews he gave on the red carpet.
John Stamos on Beach Boys, Current Tour and More at Songwriters HOF annual induction ceremony
Ageless actor John Stamos has been a part-time drummer in the Beach Boys for over thirty years. I mentioned to Stamos that he was the drummer on the Beach Boys 1992 cover of the wonderful 1969 Sly & the Family Stone hit, “Hot Fun In The Summertime.” “Wow. I had forgotten about that! I directed the video for that song,” he replied.
Image Credit: Lawrence Busacca/Getty Images
I then asked Stamos if he thought the Beach Boys could work on that song in their current tour given the passing of Sly Stone and the fact summer is upon us. “Carl (the late Carl Wilson) sang a good chunk of that song. It would also be tough to work on new material in the middle of a tour.”
James Harris III talks Sly + Family Stone and its impact
James Harris III, better known in the music biz as Jimmy Jam, spoke to me about how Sly and the Family Stone were an enormous influence on them. He, and his partner, Terry Lewis, wrote the catchy 1983 SOS Band single, “Just Be Good To Me.” It should have been a far bigger hit than its #55 peak position on the Billboard singles charts. I asked him if he and Lewis may have owed a debt to Sly’s last big hit, “If You Want Me To Stay,” from a decade earlier. Both records have hypnotizing bass hooks and whose lyrics touch up on respect in a relationship.
Image Credit: Songwriters Hall of Fame
Harris said he and Lewis were not thinking of Sly when they wrote their song. “I will say this about “Just Be Good To Me.” We were part of Prince’s band at the time. As soon as he heard that record, he fired us for moonlighting without his permission. We would like to think we were freed, rather fired, because we could now collaborate with other artists like Janet Jackson.
More from Songwriters HOF annual induction ceremony
John Oates, who recently had a well-publicized messy breakup with his longtime partner, Daryl Hall. He worked the media line to promote his upcoming tour. Don’t expect to hear anything from the Hall & Oates catalog. “I will be playing some original tunes, blues, and some funky oldies,” he said. He told me he has not scheduled any New York dates yet.
Tom Johnston was the original lead singer and songwriter for the Doobie Brothers. I asked him if there really was a town in Texas called China Grove which he sang about on the band’s big 1973 hit. “Absolutely. It is just outside of San Antonio.” I then inquired if there really was a Mrs. Perkins who he mentioned in that song. “Nah! I made her up!” he said with a hearty laugh.
Image Credit: Songwriters Hall of Fame
Steve Miller is arguably the most reticent rock star in history. He never likes showing his face on album covers and rarely speaks to the media. He was a few feet from me, and I said, “Welcome back to the funky kicks going down in the city!” I asked him if he chuckles whenever he hears radio play that line from his 1977 smash, “Jet Airliner,” instead of the original lyric, “funky shit,” which Top 40 stations refused to play back then and therefore Capitol Records had him dub “kicks” over it. “I do find it funny in 2025,” he replied.
Annual Fancy Food Show set for June 29th-July 1 at the Javits Center
June is a big month for the food industry in New York. The annual Fancy Food Show takes place at Javits Center at the end of the month. The Tuscany tourism bureau, assisted by the Italian fruit and syrup producer, Fabbri, and the Italian airline, Neos, which is a new rival to Alitalia, has launched the first-ever Italian Aperitif Week which runs through June 22.
You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.
