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“I didn’t find my jersey at the Hall of Fame,” joked Mark Johnson, who spent his week in Cooperstown with his son, Trevor.  ”I really hoped to see it,” he laughed.

Eight years after he played his last game in the Major Leagues, Johnson finally made it to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown. Johnson visited the Hall of Fame with his 12 year old baseball team, which competed at Cooperstown All-Star Village last week.

“It was my first time there. We had a great time and spent a couple hours there,” he said. “It was great learning how baseball first started out and how different it was back then,” he explained.

The feeling was mutual for his son, Trevor, as he also enjoyed his visit to the Hall. Trevor was preparing for a game when I saw him and he was nice enough to take a moment to tell me about his time in Cooperstown.

“I loved seeing all of the plaques of the players,” said Trevor. “My favorite part of the Hall of Fame was the Ted Williams display.”

Although coach Johnson witnessed some great displays of America’s rich baseball history during his visit to the Hall, he has also witnessed brilliant displays of America’s past time with his very own eyes. Spending six seasons in the bigs with the Pirates, Angels, and Mets, Johnson had played with and against several of the game’s top stars.

“When I was with the Mets, we had a great clubhouse,” recalled Johnson. “We had a great manager in Bobby Valentine. He was about as good as it gets and he was a great motivator,” said Johnson, who also said the players stepped up into leadership roles as well.

“We had several leadership players. John Franco, Todd Zeile, Robin Ventura, and even Mike Piazza were all great in the clubhouse”

Johnson said Piazza was a quiet, but cordial person who loved to joke around. However, he said it was difficult to go out with him at night because of his popularity.

“It is tough when you’re Mike Piazza,” he said. “We wanted to go out and get dinner and hang out, but people were all over him. People would notice him as soon as we arrived somewhere. It was tough for him once we got out of the locker room setting.”

Although it was difficult to go out with Piazza, the team still went out together and the clubhouse remained intact throughout Johnson’s tenure with the Mets. Johnson said ten to twelve players would go out together after games, whether it was home or on the road.

Little did the players know, the close clubhouse was crucial down the stretch because of the events of September 11, 2001. Mark Johnson was on the team at the time and shared with me his story.

“It was definitely special and unbelievably saddening,” he said. “We were on the road in Pittsburgh at the time, and when I woke up that morning, my wife called. All of the players gathered in a meeting room downstairs and we were just trying to figure out what happened. Everyone was shocked.”

Major League Baseball suspended play in the days following the attacks. When the team traveled back Pittsburgh, Johnson still clearly remembers the ride in.

“When we were driving back into (New York) city, we could see the smoke, debris, and lights on our way over the bridge. It was something I will never forget,” he added.

After baseball was suspended, the Mets were scheduled to play the first game back in New York since the attacks. The game was perhaps the most emotional game in Mets history. During the pre-game ceremony, many players and fans had tears in their eyes as they remembered those who lost their lives in the last week. It was difficult for everyone to flip the switch to baseball mode, but once the game began, it was all baseball. In a big spot late in that game against the rival Atlanta Braves, Piazza came through with the go-ahead home run that rocked Shea Stadium like never before.

“It was one of the best games I’ve ever been involved in,” said Johnson, who was on the Mets at the time. “With the whole atmosphere coming back, people really felt they could get back into it. Piazza has an incredible ability to perform when the pressure is on and we felt like we got the people jump started a little bit.”

Johnson said skipper Bobby Valentine, along with the rest of the Mets organization, did a great job of handling the people and being supportive throughout the difficult time. Johnson also acknowledged the job well done by the Yankees, who were facing similar obstacles.

“As a team, we tried to do as much as we could,” Johnson said. “We tried to spend as much time as possible with the people involved.”

As the dust began to settle, the Mets finished their season in third place. Johnson spent one more season with New York before he moved on from professional baseball. Johnson, who graduated from Dartmouth College, said he knew he wanted to be a trader when he retired from baseball. He went on to work on Wall Street, which is where he still works today.

Also, I will be tweeting live from my phone at Giants training camp tomorrow. I will be at the morning practice and will likely be at the evening walkthrough as well. To access my twitter account, simply click on the Twitter bar at the top of the page.

In 2007 and 2008, the final two seasons of Shea Stadium, the Mets were alive in the playoff race until the 162nd game of the season. However, on both occasions, the team failed to come through and ultimately missed the playoffs.

These two seasons were major setbacks, setbacks that marked consecutive seasons without playoff appearances. This is not what the fans wanted to see going into the new stadium. Sadly, 2009 was a season marked with injuries and disappointments, and the team dipped out of contention shortly after the all-star break.

2010 was a promising year because of the acquisition of talented outfielder Jason Bay, as well as the return of all of the injured players from 2009. Jose Reyes made his return to the lineup, and Carlos Beltran also was inserted back into the lineup after the all-star break after missing half of the season due to offseason surgery.

Now, shortly after the all-star break, the Mets are yet again falling out of contention. However, this time there really are no excuses. Injuries are a non-factor and the team really has simply disappointed everyone since the all-star break. The return of glory for the Atlanta Braves has damaged the Mets’ chances, as the Braves are sitting pretty atop the NL East with the Philadelphia Phillies not too far behind them in their rear-view mirror. With their loss last night, the Mets are now 7.5 games out of first place in the NL East.

There are many things the Mets should do to fix their lingering problems, but the bottom line is that the Mets are looking at missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. This does not bode well for the fan base, who is already writing off the team and attendance numbers are down significantly.

The fans are not happy, and the owners need to do something about it in a hurry. Excuses are not an option, especially the often-used excuse that the Mets are broke because of Bernie Madoff. They lost a huge chunk of money from him, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been spending their money elsewhere. The team still ranks among the top in payroll and could use smarter tactics in order to build a balanced team, rather than spend large sums of money on washed up veterans who only look good on the team because of their name.

Will the Wilpons fire their coaching staff? I would think it would be best that they at least fire the manager and allow the next manager to decide whether he wants to keep his coaching staff or not. Jerry Manuel has been criticized day in and day out for his questionable on-field decisions, as well as his pathetic responses to questions in post-game press conferences. Additionally, he fails to find consistency in his lineups and often times he will shake up his lineup without reason.

Whether they shake up the core of players, coaching staff, or front office, something will need to happen this 0ffseason in order for this team to have any shot at staying in contention next year. The Wilpons need to find an answer.

In just nine days, the Giants will hold their first practice of the 2010-11 season at the University of Albany. The Giants have trained at the University of Albany since 1996, their longest tenure at one location for training camp. According to the University of Albany’s website, the Giants have previously trained in the states of Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Oregon.

Although last season ended with a nasty slide following an impressive 5-0 start, there really has not been any serious drama this off-season. Osi Umenyiora has been pretty quiet after complaining throughout the end of last year when he lost his starting job. At one low point of last season, Umenyiora even indicated that he wasn’t totally sure he would return with Big Blue this season.

In other news, the Giants will be welcoming former first round draft pick Antrelle Rolle to training camp, who spent the first few seasons of his career with the Arizona Cardinals. Rolle’s 5-year $37 million dollar contract makes him one of the highest paid safeties in the NFL.

Speaking of money, wide receiver Steve Smith is hoping for a big deal following his monstrous 2009 campaign in which he shattered franchise records, including receptions in a season. He said he will not hold out, which is probably the smartest thing to do on his part. The Giants will most likely give him his desired paycheck sometime in the near future.

The Giants have a very highlighted schedule this year, beginning week 1. The Giants kick off their season against the Panthers, who closed out a sold out Giants Stadium in what was quite a disaster considering the Giants had playoff chances on the line.

It doesn’t get any easier week 2 as Big Blue will travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts in the second Manning vs Manning matchup. In the first matchup in 2006, the Giants came up short at Giants Stadium, 26-21.

Besides divisional teams and the above mentioned opponents, the Giants will also face the Titans, Bears, Texans, Lions, Seahawks, Jaguars, Vikings, and Packers.

The Mets’ offense has failed to generate runs, and they’ve scored more than two runs in only two games on this road trip, which will continue tonight when the Mets finish their series in Arizona. The Mets will fly further west to face the Dodgers in a four-game series to conclude the road trip.

On the pitching side of things, the Mets are now left with questions in their rotation. This was expected after R.A. Dickey and Hisanori Takahashi surprisingly stepped up and dominated earlier this season, which wasn’t expected to last. While Dickey has made a name for himself in the rotation, Takahashi seems to be a pitcher that would pitch well from the bullpen as many of his runs come in the later innings.

After what seemed to be a bogus stint on the disabled list, the Mets are now activating troubled and erratic lefty Oliver Perez. There cannot be very high expectations for Perez and the Mets are going to throw him in the bullpen for the time being.

The Mets currently sit 6.5 games out of first place in the NL East, while the Phillies are just behind the Mets at 7 games behind Atlanta. The Braves have continued to win while the Mets have struggled to even score any runs, which needs to change of they hope to bounce back into contention down the stretch.

Although it is nice to see Reyes and Wright back in the Midsummer Classic, it is unfortunate to see that Mike Pelfrey was snubbed from the game despite his dominant start to the season. Pelfrey had already amassed ten wins before the Mets reached the statistical midpoint in the season, which ranks him near the top of the league among starting pitchers.

Pelfrey’s reliable spot in the rotation has shown stability, which the Mets’ rotation hasn’t featured in some time. Along with Pelfrey, Johan Santana had a decent first half along with the surprise of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Hisanori Takahashi did a great job of stepping up from the bullpen to start.

The Mets will be looking to re-insert disgraced starter Oliver Perez back into the rotation once he returns from his injury, and they will be forced to make a decision on John Maine sooner or later. Oliver Perez has been making rehab starts with the St. Lucie Mets, along with improving outfielder Carlos Beltran. Beltran is expected to return to the lineup just before or after the All-Star Break.

With that, I was unable to witness the Mets’ 6-5 loss at home, but I’ll provide a few notes. Starter Hisanori Takahash had a rough start, allowing a run early on and then some more later before he departed in the fifth. This doesn’t bode well for Takahashi’s already unlikely dream of remaining a starter in the Mets’ organization. The Mets see him as a reliever, and it may only be a matter of time before he is back in the bullpen. Takahasi was a decent reliever early in the season before he was inserted into the starting rotation last month.

Takahasi may remain in the rotation for longer than expected, however, as it is believed that the Mets will be shutting down ailing right hander John Maine. Maine struggled through his first few starts of the season as he was unable to touch 90 miles per hour on the radar gun. He found himself on the disabled list with arm weakness and has never returned since.

Tonight was a great chance for the Mets to leapfrog the Atlanta Braves and take sole possession of first place, but the Mets have won so many games lately that it was no surprise that they finally had an off day. Thankfully for the Mets, Atlanta has struggled as of late and the Braves have dropped three straight.

The Mets will begin a series with the Twins tomorrow night at Citi Field.

Just hours after general manager Omar Minaya announced that star center fielder Carlos Beltran is improving and will begin rehab games soon, Pagan nearly hit for the cycle. Pagan, along with Jeff Francoeur, said they aren’t worried about what will happen to the defensive alignment in the outfield upon Beltran’s return. Beltran is expected to return to his normal center field position, while Jerry Manuel will be forced to make decisions on whether he will use Francoeur or Pagan more often in right field.

This situation has left me scratching my head a little bit, but not too much. I’m surprised Jason Bay’s job seems so secure, considering his mediocre season thus far. I understand the team has invested a lot of money into him and he still has half the season to live up to some of the expectations, but he really hasn’t shown that his position on the team should be etched in stone.

One way the Mets may handle this situation is by inserting Pagan in the starting lineup in right field and then putting Francoeur in during the late innings for defense. Francoeur is known for having a great arm and tends to leads the league in outfield assists year after year.

Minaya said that Beltran will begin his rehab assignments with the St. Lucie Mets, and the team will monitor his progress and make decisions about his future based on his performance.

A week later, the Mets are coming off of back-to-back sweeps of two American League teams, the Orioles and Indians. These two teams may not be the best teams, but it is important for the Mets to beat up on the bad teams if they hope to compete down the stretch. The Mets have now won seven straight games, and 11 of their last 12. Their only loss since June 3rd was in a doubleheader, which is always difficult to sweep considering the variations in the lineups.

The latest turning point for the Mets was arguably when they were playing the Marlins at CitiField earlier this month, when they not only swept the Marlins, but they also cut loose some of their dead weight in Oliver Perez, John Maine, and Luis Castillo — at least for a little while as they rehabilitate their injuries in St. Lucie, Florida and elsewhere.

The difference in this team is evident when you look at how the starting rotation has evolved. Veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey as well as Japanese newcomer Hisanori Takahasi have stepped up and submitted some very nice starts. Dickey is proving to be a reliable arm in the rotation, which could be helpful down the stretch. Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and Jon Niese have remained consistent and really haven’t had any terrible starts in at least a month.

Not only has the rotation improved dramatically, but the lineup has been looking fantastic as well. Jose Reyes dug himself out of his early-season hole and is batting .371 with three home runs, 11 RBIs, and eight stolen bases in his last 23 games. In that stretch, the Mets are 18-5 and have climbed their way near the top of the division. Currently, the Mets trail the Braves by only a half a game.

Tonight the Mets will hope to continue their recent success when they travel to Yankee Stadium to take on the Yankees, who the Mets won a series against earlier this year.

Gary Cohen, who spent many years as the Mets’ play-by-play guy for New York’s 660 WFAN radio, was able to make a smooth transition to TV when he was asked to do play-by-play for SNY. He really didn’t need to do much in his transition, as he kept his famous “Outta Here!” home run call as well as many of his other usual phrases without any problem. His smooth, naturally deep voice along with his quick and informative insight compiles to make him one of the top play-by-play broadcasters. Additionally, he (and the rest of his colleagues in the booth) are great at maintaining impartiality. Although his voice gets excited when a flashy play is made by a Mets player, he remains critical of the Mets when necessary and never covers anything up.

The thing about his voice the separates him from the rest  is evident when you listen to other broadcasters. Yankees’ play-by-play brodacaster for YES, Michael Kay, has such a raspy voice that he leaves me scratching my head considering voice quality is very important in this field. ESPN broadcaster Jon Miller has difficulty pronouncing foreign names and also puts the accent on the wrong syllable, which gets very annoying.

Moving to the next seat in the booth, occupied by former Mets’ first baseman Keith Hernandez, a lot of inappropriate behavior occurs throughout the course of a long season as the dog days begin approaching. Hernandez is often found sucking on his favorite lollypops or making a remark that could best be listed under the “Example” section of the dictionary’s definition of “Non-Sequitor”. Earlier this season, he was even found asleep in the middle of a game.

On the brighter side of things for Hernandez, he is excellent when it comes to dissecting hitters and their problems at the plate. Hernandez will often include examples from his playing days to add to his points, which can be helpful for viewers. The best thing that Hernandez has going for him right now is that he has been a fan favorite since his playing days. Many fans believe the team should retire his number (17).

In the third spot in the booth, Ron Darling continues to impress. Since joining the Mets in the booth, he has written books and has made his way up the ladder, landing a job with TBS to broadcast select games during the MLB season. Darling has won an Emmy Award as “Best Sports Analyst” for his work on Mets broadcasts. One of the things that separates Darling from the rest of the broadcasters who are former players is that he actually attended college. He not only attended any college, but he went to Yale, an Ivy League school that is known as one of the most prestigious schools in the world.

All in all, Cohen, Hernandez, and Darling have exceeded expectations, especially starting anew with the new network in 2006. There really haven’t been any controversies aside from a small mistake by Hernandez when he said that women don’t belong in a dugout. This wasn’t much of a surprise though, since Hernandez is known for blatant honesty.

Finally, this talented group of broadcasters have shown they really care by creating their own non-profit organization aimed at helping those in need. The foundation’s website can be found at the following link: http://www.pitchinforagoodcause.org/ and fans can contribute to the foundation through their website.