National League Town (a Mets podcast)

In our previous episode, we shared National League Town’s Favorite Baseball Movies. In the sequel, we talk about the films that constitute our viewing experience’s bench strength. They’re the baseball movies we like a lot if don’t wholly love; the baseball movies we like enough to keep watching as long as a game isn’t on; the movies with just enough baseball in them to merit our attention; and may...

With Pitchers & Catchers still a little ways away, that means it’s time for Directors & Actors. National League Town turns its attention to its Favorite Baseball Movies, as Greg and Jeff take turns counting down the five films that most put them in the mood to bolt from the theater and toward the ballpark. Like baseball itself, these are movies that make us laugh, make us cry, make us thin...

National League Town celebrates the announcement of a quintet of new entries for the Mets Hall of Fame: Inductees Al Leiter, Howard Johnson, Gary Cohen and Howie Rose along with Hall of Fame Achievement Award Winner Jay Horwitz. Greg and Jeff recall what made Al of the most important pitchers the Mets have ever had; how Hojo made himself into a superstar; why Gary and Howie emerged as the ideal he...

As if signing Tommy Pham isn’t enough to get a Mets fan through the January doldrums, National League Town presents an invitation for Scott Boras to grab a bite; some timeless advice regarding audio cassettes and ticket stubs; a call for day baseball every day; and a couple of voices from Jersey determined to set us straight about baseball in the Garden State. We also pay tribute to a true Met leg...

It’s been 25 years since Major League Baseball added any teams. Perhaps we’re overdue for some new company. National League Town thinks out loud about what modern expansion might look like, where relocation might come to pass, what we want out of a bigger MLB and, ultimately, how any seismic changes might affect us as Mets fans. New franchises? New cities? New divisions? A new league? For the sake...

No deal got done, no games were played and only questions are left in his wake, but the Carlos Correa Era in Flushing was a heckuva time for every Mets fan who lived through it. Greg and Jeff get together to remember it as well as they can, from that day in December it was reported Correa was about to become a Met (physical pending), to that day in January it was reported Correa was instead about...

The year we just lived in has suddenly become history. How will we remember 2022? We start 2023 by taking our first shot at putting last season in a little historical perspective. Greg and Jeff pick their bests and not-so-goods from the year that came up something short of satisfying yet has to rank as one of the ten best a Mets team has ever put in the books. Also, we hear what a few of the Mets...

Have you ever been or thought about going to a New York Mets fantasy camp? Mets fan Kerby Valladares just went and he joins National League Town to tell Greg and Jeff what it’s all about down in Port  St. Lucie. Kerby takes listeners through the entire process of trying to become a better hitter and a better fielder while trying not to be starstruck that he is learning his craft from coaches...

Just in time for the holidays, National League Town reconvenes its New York Mets Hall of Fame review process and confirms its previous verdict that a lot — A LOT — more Mets and Mets figures deserve plaques in that charming room off the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Greg and Jeff revive their initial 2022 discussions on the Mets HOF with a fresh introduction and the hope that in the new year, we will s...

Just when you think one of the free agent apples of Steve Cohen’s eye has eluded his grasp, the owner of the New York Mets swoops in and grabs Carlos Correa, the multifaceted star shortstop the San Francisco Giants had all but signed to an enormous contract. “All but” is the key phrase here, which is why Correa is headed to the Flushing Bay area instead of the one out west. Is Correa fully physica...

When Steve Cohen owns your favorite baseball team, you come to expect moves will be made in the offseason. Still, expectations are getting surpassed all the time this offseason, with free agent contracts for — deep breath — Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, Brandon Nimmo, David Robertson and Kodai Senga having fallen into place between a Monday and a Saturday (on the seventh day, Steve rested). Nat...

Jacob who? National League Town is suddenly all about likely Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. And former All-Star Jose Quintana. And lefty reliever Brooks Raley, even. The Mets are stocking up on pitchers who weren’t here last year now that Jacob deGrom has departed and Taijuan Walker has walked. Greg and Jeff are rolling out the welcome wagon for all of them. Also welcome: the opportunity to honor...

UPDATED with the Justin Verlander signing! For better (which you can rationalize) or worse (which you can feel in your bones), Jacob deGrom is no longer a New York Met. National League Town processes the news; remembers the highlights of an unparalleled nine-year run in Flushing; wonders if there were more than 185 million reasons the Simple Man decided to move on; and tries to think about who cou...

December’s arrival indicates the Baseball Equinox is nigh. How nigh? Listen in and find out how soon we will reach the exact midpoint between the end of the previous season and the beginning of the forthcoming season — or when “next” year becomes “this” year (19:19) Also, Greg and Jeff attempt to put the Met career of non-tendered Dom Smith in perspective; wonder who besides Drew Smith will fill m...

Kevin Chapman, author of the Mike Stoneman series of thrillers, joins National League Town (30:23) to a offer glimpse inside his latest book, Dead Winner , and respond to speculation about why Detective Stoneman conveniently happens to be a Mets fan. Might it have something to do with Kevin being the same? Greg and Jeff also celebrate National League Manager of the Year Buck Showalter (00:27); rev...

The Mets wasted no time securing the services of Edwin Diaz as their closer for several more years, and Greg and Jeff waste no time exchanging verbal high-fives over the club’s decision to act quickly. Now, they ask, what about their starter of starters Jacob deGrom? If Jake’s opt-out leads to the almost unthinkable, you’re not gonna believe what that does to one particular category within the ann...

The same postseason that once included the Mets plows ahead to the Fall Classic, where a team the Mets beat 14 of 19 times and finished 14 games behind the Mets will represent the National League — not that we’re hung up on all that feels off this autumn. Nevertheless, Greg and Jeff attempt to make sense of the aftermath of the Mets’ October shortfall; decide whether the trade for Edwin Diaz was a...

Ah, 2022, the year the Mets won 101 games and made the playoffs with ease. Ah, 2022, the year the Mets blew the division title and were bounced from the postseason almost as soon as they got there. Each of the preceding sentences is true. Which sentiment resonates most? Greg and Jeff retrace the Mets’ steps as well as their own and try to discern how they and perhaps Mets fans en masse will eventu...

The Mets shifted from postseason to offseason in two blinks of an L. A great year gets lost in a lousy finish, but that possibility resides within the fine print any time your team clinches something. Greg and Jeff talk each other through the disappointment, hoping their conversation provides their fellow Mets fans some solace...or perhaps simply something to do for a few minutes until Spring Trai...

Jacob deGrom was himself. The Met offense was itself. The 2022 postseason is still in progress. Greg and Jeff process all that went right in Game Two of the National League Wild Card Series; get past all that is wrong with MLB’s broadcasting protocols; and cross their fingers that the Mets will have the chance to reign in Southern California. But never mind what may or may not await in L.A. For Ga...

Game One pitched by a high-priced ace didn’t exactly hit the jackpot, yet we’ll try it again, hoping Jacob deGrom can bring the Mets back from the edge of the abyss that Max Scherzer (and a sleepwalking offense) pushed the Mets toward in the National League Wild Card Series. Greg and Jeff work through their frustrations, their uncertainties and their residual faith, all of it leading to their usua...

The Mets’ regular season was wildly successful, eventually disappointing and ultimately inconclusive. Greg and Jeff are ready to get over the loss of the Eastern Division title and squeeze in at the children’s table, a.k.a. the Wild Card Series versus the Padres. Before making a meal of San Diego, they grab one last bite from Closing Day; drink toasts to batting champion Jeff McNeil and Frick Awar...

As the Mets face potentially rainy nights in Georgia, National League Town lets the sun shine in, reminding us that however we get there, we are all soon to be in playoff mode — and that includes this very podcast. Greg and Jeff try to make the best of the final week of the season, break down what their lives will be like in the week(s) to follow and clue listeners in to why they’ll want to keep t...

National League Town celebrates the 2022 Mets joining the franchise’s circle of postseason qualifiers, popping a cork over making the playoffs for the first time in six years, if not yet spraying champagne while the division title remains up for grabs. Later, Greg and Jeff bid a fond farewell to several cherished members of the Mets family (30:00).

Pennant race pressure affects us all when the Mets are actively engaged in pursuit of playoff positioning. It makes for a stressful September, but Greg and Jeff agree it’s far preferable to a month of looking ahead to next year. Also, National League Town shifts to cover upcoming rules changes; attempts to give the most famous of Mets fans a trumpet lesson; and takes a scintilla of credit for maki...