Sunday, January 23, 2011

Sleeping Over With The Mets

It is the night before Spring Training and the 2011 Mets are getting acquainted by having a sleepover at Citi Field.

David Wright arrives first to set everything up.  He's hoping this will show management he can be the captain.  Just as Fred, Jeff, and Sandy are about to check out David's work Jose Reyes rushes in and crashes into David's elaborate sign-in board and eye-catching setup.  Thus dashing any hopes of David acquiring the captaincy.

Nick Evans walks in with Daniel Murphy and they both find they have been left out from the assigned sleeping bag setup.  They are forced to interrupt David's scolding of Jose to ask about this mistake.  However, this turns out to be anything but a mistake when David tells Nick and Daniel that he is planning on getting rid of anybody else who can play third base.  Knowing there is no way either of them will take David's everyday third base job they seek out the extra sleeping bags in the corner of the room.  David's plan of being the only one capable of playing third base is faulty anyway, as he set up places for Scott Hairston and Zach Lutz who have both arrived and taken their spots.  


Next R.A. Dickey walks in with Mike Pelfrey.  Unsurprisingly R.A. has brought enough books for the entire roster.  He takes it upon himself to clear off the table of appetizers to show off his book collection.  David tries to compromise and share the table but Pelf acts as a bodyguard for the books and David gets nowhere.

Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, Bobby Parnell, and Josh Thole all walk in together.  They are lightheartedly arguing about something.  Possibly whether Jon or Bobby has a bigger nose.  Mike Nickeas is dropped off by Tim Teufel and makes his way over to the group so he can be with Josh.  He sees Ronny Paulino walking in behind him and wants the sleeping bag next to Thole.

Ruben Tejada comes in with Fernando Martinez.  Fernando is talking about his top-prospect status.  Thankfully Ruben doesn't seem to be listening.

Jason Bay runs into Angel Pagan on his way in.  He tries to convince Angel that Carlos Beltran is evil and that Carlos should really move to right field.  Alas, this proves costly for Jason as Carlos walks in right behind the other two outfielders and Jason finds himself in the biggest-nose argument which Ike Davis has joined as well.

Chris Young, and Chris Capuano arrive in the right place after wandering the outfield and bullpens looking for the sleepover.  On their way in they found Chin-lung Hu circling second base and figured he was lost so they all found their way together.

Manuel Alvarez, Pedro Beato, Taylor Buchholz, D.J. Carrasco, and Armando Rodriguez all arrive unsure of whether they're on the team.  Nobody seems to be able to deny their spots on the roster so they stick around for the night.

Meanwhile, David has taken to chasing Jose around the room.  They knock over R.A.'s book table, angering both R.A. and Pelf.  This impromptu game of tag runs through the biggest-nose argument.  As they're all running around they confuse Young, Capuano, and Hu even more, as they don't know if this is normal behavior for the team.  Carlos and Angel join the game and decide whoever wins plays center field and they get F-Mart and Tejada to judge.  The group of misfits that just walked in seem to be running around in the game when they are actually just running wildly to look like they fit in.


Lucas Duda shows Josh Stinson, Jordany Valdespin, and Brad Emaus the way as he feels like a seasoned veteran compared the other minor leaguers.  Luis Hernandez walks in behind them, broken foot healed, and is discussing whose home run was more unlikely with Johan Santana.

Jenrry Mejia is talking to Manny Acosta as they arrive.  Manny is telling Jenrry how he's managed to stick around for so long with such mediocre pitching.  Such great influences on the Mets these days.

Pat Misch sees the books scattered on the floor and picks up four and gets to his reading.

The Mets have all arrived.  David manages to get everybody's attention so he can formally start the party.  Terry Collins is the last one to come and is impressed by the team coming together so well.  He's is perhaps the most impressed by the Justin Turner table that has been set up to show off his uber-red hair.

The night is going well.  The books are cleaned up and another table is retrieved for the appetizers.  The Mets are all getting along.  Everybody thinks everybody else has arrived.  That is until Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo both come just before 2 AM.  They search the room for their sleeping bags.  Unfortunately their sleeping bags were the "extras" that Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans found.

The rest of the Mets sleep soundly as Ollie and Luis and search Citi Field for blankets and pillows.  It's 3 AM and most of the Mets are right where they're supposed to be.

Let's Go Mets!

Oh yes!  Francisco Rodriguez eventually shows up.  He is provided with a punching bag to keep the rest of the team safe.

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