Former Mets pitcher Don Cardwell died yesterday at the age of 72 in North Carolina. Traded to the Lovable Loser Mets in 1966, Cardwell's performance during 1969 mirrored that of the team itself and helped the Mets win the their division title on the way to their first World Series Championship. Like the Mets, Cardwell started the '69 season in a lackluster manner, posting a 3-9 win-loss record through the first four months of the......

Oops! WNBC's Mistake Causes Problems for St. Louis TV Station WNBC issued an apology for putting on their website a list of baseball players who were expected to be mentioned in the Mitchell Report. The apology was also given on air by Jonathan Dienst, who did mention they received the names from two sources. The Fox owned and operated television station in St. Louis, KTVI, picked up on the erroneous list and lead their 11.......

Not So Silent, Jens Jens Lekman is one of our favorite songwriters, so any opportunity to see the funnyman crooner play is a treat, no matter the circumstances. The set at Webster Hall was generally excellent. Bordering on Magical, in fact, a perfect mix of his old and new -- mixing in Swedish deadpan quips and stories the whole time through. The only knock we had came from the venue, which we usually enjoy. The......

Nationals 10, Mets 9: Willie Randolph better be queuing up a tape of the 2006 Cardinals' September. Back then, they didn' t pitch, lost a ton of games down the stretch, and looked dead entering the playoffs. This year's Mets can identify. They can't seem to do anything right. Even with a six-run ninth-inning rally, the Mets came up one run short. At least Philadelphia lost to Atlanta -- still feels weird to root for......

You probably won't catch any Mets fans or anyone associated with the club purchasing these yet, but MLB.com already has the New York Mets 2007 NL East Division Champions Roster T-Shirt up for sale on its website. Talk about counting your eggs way before they're hatched. The shirts aren't even available for pre-sale only, but are "in stock and ready to leave the warehouse" in 4-6 business days! Hmm...in 4-6 days, the NL East......

Marlins 8, Mets 7 (10 innings): Taking a three-run lead into the bottom of the ninth against the Marlins should be no problem right? Not when Billy Wagner is mysteriously absent -- the Mets later said he was having back spasms -- and his replacements are the not-so-capable Pedro Feliciano and the highly inflammable Jorge Sosa. They combined to cough up the lead in the bottom of the ninth, ruining a dramatic comeback posted by......

Manu Chao Beats the Rain We never realized exactly what a force Manu Chao was live until experiencing him ourselves at Sasquatch several weeks ago. The man has the power to move people. To incite hysteria and completely dominate his entire audience. It is something any music fan should experience at least once in their life, because there is really nobody else like him performing today. Earlier this week, He did two nights at the......

Orioles 4, Yankees 0: Roger Clemens had struck out a batter in 200 straight starts until he lost to the Orioles on Wednesday. Maybe it was the heat -- it was 97 at the first pitch -- but when Clemens last went without a strikeout, he only pitched an inning before leaving with an injury. The Yankees have now lost four straight games and have not looked good doing it. They have managed four runs......

Baltimore 3 Yankees 2: From the multiple camera shots of a glum Joe Torre shown on YES, it was obvious he was in the ballpark tonight, but was he paying attention? After all, what other conclusion can you come to when Torre let Scott Proctor load the bases with one out in the ninth and still let him pitch with the game on the line and Mariano in the bullpen? It certainly wasn’t because Rivera......

Mets 2, Cardinals 1 (11 innings): No matter how many times the Mets beat the Cardinals in the regular season, the sting from last year's loss in the National League Championship Series won't disappear until New York takes a pennant. Going 4-0 in their first four games against the Cardinals this season doesn't hurt, though. Shawn Green hit a 3-2 pitch off the scoreboard in right field to give the Mets a walk-off win.......

Mets 5, Brewers 4: Too bad the Mets couldn't hit like this off Jeff Suppan in last year's playoffs. They got three home runs -- from David Wright, Carlos Delgado and Damion Easley -- and beat the pitcher who shut them down while with the Cardinals last October. They have to feel happy that Wright and Delgado hit their third homers of the year, but who would have guessed that Easley, whose homer was......

Mets 10, Cardinals 0: John Maine threw seven innings of one-hit baseball as the Mets capped a one-sided three-game sweep of the Cardinals. This doesn't come close to erasing the disappointment of last season's playoff loss -- only a win in a grudge match would take care of that -- but the wins have gotten the Mets off to a good start. They've also assuaged the fears that the Mets rotation is too old or......

Islanders 3 Rangers 2 (Shootout): Their playoff hopes may be on life-support, but at least the Islanders didn’t have to see their arch-rivals clinch their own spot in the postseason in person. Both team played furiously, which resulted in a wide-open game with both team combining for 72 shots. The Islanders built a 2-0 lead off of a strange deflection and a goal by Satan. The Rangers battled back with a strange deflection of their......

Mets 6 Cardinals 1: Yes, baseball followed all the other sports and sold out for the highest dollar, ruining the best tradition in sports, Opening Day, but at least they put a New York team into “Opening Night” this year. It doesn’t make up for the NLCS, but the Mets got 2007 off to a great start, pummeling Chris Carpenter and getting a great start from Tom Glavine. Paul LoDuca had 3 RBI’s and......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: Gefilte Fish Chronicles (Sunday, 7:00 p.m. WNET 13; 10:00 p.m., WLIW 21) A look at three sisters as they spend weeks getting a traditional Passover seder ready. New York Mets at St. Louis Cardinals (Sunday, 8:00 p.m., ESPN 2) The Amazings start their 2007 campaign this year against the team that shouldn't have even been in the World Series. A bit of warning - the game is......

In keeping with our lists of events from 2006, here are some of the sports stories that Gothamist found compelling in the past year. It ranges from the playoff disappointment from the Mets and the Yankees to the welcome performances of last season's Rangers, this season's Jets and Rutgers. Mickelson Chokes at Winged Foot: Everyone knew the Winged Foot course in Mamaroneck, N.Y., was a tough place to play, but no one found it crueler......

When the dust cleared after the elections on Tuesday, the Democrats were the last party standing. Even in a blue-leaning state like New York, Democrats had to play hard in their quest to dominate the old boys' club known as the Republican party. As Dems claimed victory in every state race, Republicans retreated and joined the ranks of some other New York losers. Sort of like the 2006 New York Yankees and Mets. Focusing on......

How often does college football matter to a New York-area team? Rutgers's game against Louisville garnered enough attention the Empire State Building was lit up in scarlet. It was the biggest local game in recent memory. But despite all the hype, the Scarlet Knights were heavy underdogs to the Cardinals, even at home. A last-minute field goal by Jeremy Ito stunned the No. 3 Cardinals and capped a shocking 28-25 Rutgers win. The result......

Sigh, the Mets cleaned out their lockers at Shea yesterday. We imagine that the hurt has just set in for Mets fans after last night's disappointing end to the season. (Our head is still spinning. ) Everyone is talking about the lack of offensive power, and it's so true. But since there will be many recriminations, let's savor Endy Chavez's beautiful catch for now with this clip. Omar Minaya is looking ahead to next......

Not everyone was forunate enough to score Game 7 tickets, or didn't want to spend 4x the ticket price for them. Instead we are here with friends live blogging the Cardnials vs Mets! The Cardinals' Jeff Suppan is a better pitcher, but we don't think he'll have the night he had during Game 3. Oliver Perez has a lot to prove, but manager Willie Randolph will pull him and throw everyone in the bullpen......

With his teammates and fans crossing their fingers, John Maine held the Cardinals scoreless over 5 1/3 innings, and the Mets bats scratched their way to a 4-2 win over St. Louis on Wednesday. The win forces a deciding seventh game in the National League Championship Series on Thursday. Maine provided more than the Mets expected, and the potent Mets offense got enough off St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter. Billy Wagner made Mets fans......

Ah, the opening pitch of a baseball game. Since most opening pitches are by non-athletes (think a movie star, world leader, or a corporate sponsor), if the person throwing the ball can actually get it over the plate, fans go wild. And, depending on the situation, if the ball fails to get there the person throwing will hear jeers from the crowd. At last Friday's Cardinals-Mets game at Shea Stadium, Jon Stewart got to......

All those wins during that memorable cruise-control summer mean nothing now. The Mets can become the latest regular-season juggernaut to fall in the postseason with only one more defeat. After a disheartening 4-2 loss to St. Louis on Tuesday in which they couldn't solve Jeff Weaver or the Cardinals bullpen, the Mets head home needing both games to win the series. To make matters worse, their Game 6 starter is the sometimes-shaky John Maine,......

Mother Nature didn't agree with the scheduled off-days in this year's National League Championship Series. Monday's rainout was the second of the series, and the Mets will stay in St. Louis to play Game 5 against the Cardinals today instead of being back in New York. The more recent postponement removes the imbalance the first created -- the starting pitchers will be working on normal rest instead of three days' worth. Early speculation that......

When Laveranues Coles caught his second touchdown of the game to give the Jets a 17-point lead with 13:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, some of the fans at the Meadowlands headed for the exit, hoping to get home to catch more of the Mets-Cardinals playoff game. A Dolphins rally prevented those who stayed from leaving until the final seconds, lest they miss a Jets collapse. But the Jets hung on by the skin of......

Given the pitching matchup entering Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, Sunday's high-scoring affair should come as no surprise. With a slugfest win over the Cardinals, the Mets tied the series at two games apiece before Monday's Game 5. They can thank Carlos Delgado, who hit a three-run homer in the fifth to snap a 2-2 tie before adding two-run double during a six-run sixth inning. The Mets' patience helped wear out......

Steve Trachsel's 15 wins during the regular season didn't help him Saturday. The luck that gave him that total despite a 4.97 ERA abandoned him. The righty gave up five runs without getting an out in the second inning, and his Mets trail the Cardinals two games to one in this best-of-seven National League Championship Series. Things were so bad for Trachsel he allowed a homer to Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan, who stifled the......

When Carlos Delgado hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Fox might have started to think about which reruns to air next week instead of baseball. Much to the network's delight -- and the Mets' chagrin -- the Cardinals rallied to a 9-6 win over the Mets on Friday to even the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. With the scored tied at 6 in the ninth, Mets closer Billy Wagner came in and......

After the Mets' Tom Glavine and the Cardinals' Jeff Weaver exchanged shutout innings Thursday, few were surprised by who blinked first. Weaver did when he allowed a two-run homer by Carlos Beltran in the sixth. The shot broke a scoreless tie and helped the Mets to a Game 1 win. With their only reliable starter going, the Mets surely wanted this game. Series are not won or lost in the first game, but with......

In anticipation of the National League Division Series showdown between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, Mayor Bloomberg and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay announced a friendly foodie wager for the game. (Wager because "bets" are verboten in professional sports.) :If the Mets win, Mayor Slay will send a care package of St. Louis products to Mayor Bloomberg in New York, including two Imo's thin-style pizzas, toasted ravioli from the Pasta House Company,......