By the time 2026 rolled around I had a long-established relationship with spring training: I’d put the first televised game on my calendar, watch the initial 20 minutes with avid interest, watch the next 20 with vague attention, and then either be looking at my phone or asleep. And after that I’d wait for the […]
 
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans. Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here. Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here. Got something to say? Leave a comment, or email us at faithandfear@gmail.com. (Sorry, but we have no interest in ads, sponsored content or guest posts.) Need our RSS feed? It's here. Visit our Facebook page, or drop by the personal pages for Greg and Jason. Or follow us on Twitter: Here's Greg, and here's Jason. |
 7 comments - (Comments closed) | |  Print This Post |  2026 Mets, Al Lang Stadium, Bo Bichette, Brett Baty, Brooklyn Cyclones, Clover Park, Daulton Varsho, David Stearns, Edwin Diaz, Francisco Alvarez, Francisco Lindor, Freddy Peralta, Grant Rogers, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso, Port St. Lucie, Shea Stadium, Spring Training, St. Lucie Mets, Wally Backman “Say, the new baseball season is coming.” 8 comments - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | 2026 Mets, Abbott and Costello, Answers, Bo Bichette, Brett Baty, Carson Benge, First Base, Jorge Polanco, Juan Soto, Left Field, Magnetic Schedules, Mark Vientos, Mets Promotions, Pocket Schedules, Questions, Right Field, Snow, Spring Training, Third Base, Tickets, Versatility As a connoisseur of postgame media scrums, I recognize a no-win question when I hear it. No-win questions are asked after brutal losses that carry almost definitive consequences. It almost doesn’t matter how the question is answered. The question just has to be asked. The no-win question that was asked of Carlos Mendoza following the Mets’ […] 12 comments - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | Brad “The Animal” Lesley, Brandon Sproat, Brett Baty, Carlos Mendoza, Dylan Ross, Francisco Lindor, Gregory Soto, Juan Soto, Mark Vientos, Marlins, Media Scrums, Mistakes, No-Win Questions, Pete Alonso, Ronny Mauricio, Sandy Alcantara, The Odd Couple, Tyler Phillips Here’s an interesting exercise: consider how we would have assessed Thursday’s Mets-Cubs finale if it had come in June, or even mid-August. I probably would have led with an acknowledgment of how much Brett Baty has grown as a player, on both sides of the ball. Baty’s three-run homer off Shota Imanaga in the third made […] 12 comments - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | Brett Baty, Brooks Raley, Cedric Mullins, Cubs, Dansby Swanson, Defense, Edwin Diaz, Francisco Lindor, Gary Cohen, Mark Vientos, Nolan McLean, Rules, Ryne Stanek, Seiya Suzuki, Shota Imanaga, Tyler Rogers, Tyrone Taylor Here’s a sign of progress: The Mets lost, and I wasn’t mad at them. Last week? I was incensed to an unhealthy degree by everything they did wrong, waiting with teeth bared for them to shoot themselves in the foot again. But Wednesday night? Yes, David Peterson gave up a grand slam to turn a 2-2 […] 13 comments - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | Brett Baty, David Peterson, Dom Hamel, Elias Diaz, Francisco Alvarez, Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Luis Arraez, Manny Machado, Mark Vientos, Mason Miller, Padres, Pete Alonso, Robert Suarez Did any fanbase need a laugher more than we did? OK, maybe Tuesday night wasn’t exactly a laugher — call it a chuckler, perhaps — but a five-run first and a pair of homers in the second took away a lot of the tension, allowing us to monitor the “piggyback” experiment that saw Sean Manaea take […] 8 comments - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | Brett Baty, Brooklyn Cyclones, Clay Holmes, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, Mark Vientos, Michael King, Padres, Pete Alonso, Sean Manaea “Show a little faith! There’s magic in the night!” That’s one of Bruce Springsteen’s best-known exhortations, a commandment for wavering lovers, teetering dreamers and yes, fans of oddly underwhelming baseball fans. But until Tuesday night, it had largely fallen flat where the 2025 Mets were concerned. Until Tuesday night, but not forever. Game two of the seven-game, two-city […] 7 comments - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | Alec Bohm, Brandon Nimmo, Brett Baty, Bryce Harper, Carlos Mendoza, Edwin Diaz, Gregory Soto, Harrison Bader, Huascar Brazoban, Jesus Luzardo, Jhoan Duran, Luis Torrens, Mark Vientos, Nick Castellanos, Orion Kerkering, Parabolic Microphones, Pete Alonso, Phillies, Ryan Helsley, Sean Manaea, Starling Marte, Tyler Rogers, Willie Traynor A day after a near-perfect game, the Mets looked once again lacking in all too familiar ways: Kodai Senga was mediocre, and the offense’s comeback stalled when Cedric Mullins couldn’t hit a medium-depth fly ball, beginning a maddening streak of futility against the Nationals’ terrible bullpen. (Before we move on, though, let’s note Brett Baty‘s majestic […] 5 comments - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | A.J. Ewing, Ahbram Liendo, Allan Castro, Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Brett Baty, Cedric Mullins, Jacob Reimer, Kodai Senga, Nationals, Nick Morabito, Portland Sea Dogs, R.J. Gordon OK, not that kind of perfect game. You probably would have heard about it by now. But the Mets — because, if there even is a “because,” baseball season is about ebbs and flows, and the sport is essentially and elementally maddening and perverse — played a game Tuesday night that was pretty much near perfect, […] 2 comments - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | Brandon Nimmo, Brett Baty, David Peterson, Francisco Alvarez, Francisco Lindor, Injuries, Jake Irvin, James Wood, Jeff McNeil, Juan Soto, Luis Torrens, Mark Vientos, Nationals, Pete Alonso On the surface, Pete Alonso and Rafael Devers aren’t that different: Huge dudes who can hit the ball a country mile and whose huge dude-ism means they aren’t particularly mobile. As has been the case since time immemorial, that means they play first base — which is where the similarities start to break down. Alonso isn’t […] 1 comment - (Comments closed) | | Print This Post | Brett Baty, David Peterson, Defense, Edwin Diaz, First Base, Francisco Lindor, Giants, Good Luck, Great Escapes, Joey Lucchesi, Jung Hoo Lee, Mark Vientos, Mike Yastrzemski, Patrick Bailey, Pete Alonso, Rafael Devers, Reed Garrett, Robbie Ray, Ryne Stanek |
Piazza: Catcher, Slugger, Icon, Star by Greg Prince is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online booksellers. 
Amazin' Again: How the 2015 New York Mets Brought the Magic Back to Queens by Greg Prince is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online booksellers. 
Volume I of The Happiest Recap: 50+ Years of the New York Mets As Told in 500+ Amazin' Wins by Greg Prince is available in print and for Kindle on Amazon. 
Faith and Fear in Flushing: An Intense Personal History by Greg Prince (foreword by Jason Fry), is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online booksellers. |
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