According to Deadspin, the Mets were in talks with Cougar Life, a dating website aimed at older women, about pushing their members to vote in Wright to the Midsummer Classic, which is at Citi Field. Wright was selected as the “hottest cub” by the site’s members last month, so it seemed they’d be willing to show some digital love for the third baseman.

However, the team ultimately decided not to go through with its prospective PR efforts.

“In our effort to expand All-Star balloting to wider audiences, so as to increase votes, we did reach out to Cougar Life,” the Mets said in a statement. “Last year there was a big swing of votes at the end that cost David the starting job. We decided to do everything to make sure that doesn’t happened again this year. We ultimately elected to pass.”

At last count, Wright was trailing Pablo Sandoval at third base by around 100,000 votes.

During a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals on Thursday, television cameras were perfectly positioned to capture one (possibly “over-hydrated”) Mets fan lose his balance and plummet down a few rows of Citi Field seats. The team that poor guy supports has been tripping over itself all year, too, entering Thursday with the third-worst record in baseball.

New York’s 24-37 mark — despite the emergence of rookie phenom Matt Harvey, who was handed his first loss Thursday — trails all major league clubs outside of Houston and Miami.

Check out the tumble in the video below.

It seems that Mets fans have become so accustomed to complaining these days that they can’t even get excited about a ballpark giveaway. According to a round up of tweets by USA Today Sports, Mets fans were none too pleased that they received free ice cream when exiting the ballpark after Tuesday night’s loss to the Cardinals.

It’s unclear exactly what was so upsetting about the giveaway, but it’s hard to play devil’s advocate when the devil manifests as people who don’t want free ice cream. Check out the complaints in the tweets below.

@Mets Mmmm Klondike bar after the game! lol but how come we didn't get it when we walked in?! #Mets #marketing

—
Marie Violante-Tooma (@MsMetNJ) June 11, 2013

LOL at the mets giving out ice cream last night. starting the food bribes before the all star break this year?

—
Brian (@irish_walrus) June 12, 2013

From last night - the Mets gave people ice cream as they left the park. Left. You know, 10pm ice cream… metspolice.com/2013/06/11/gar…

—
metspolice.com (@metspolice) June 12, 2013

The Miami Marlins sure worked hard for this one.

In the longest major league game in more than three years, Adeiny Hechavarria hit an RBI single in the 20th inning and Miami outlasted the New York Mets 2-1 on Saturday, well after Matt Harvey left with lower back tightness following another stingy start.

“It was amazing,” winning pitcher Kevin Slowey said. “It was an amazing game.”

Steve Cishek retired Daniel Murphy on a fly ball to the left-field warning track for the final out of a game that took 6 hours, 25 minutes. It started 5 1/2 hours before the Belmont Stakes —  about 13 miles away —  and still ended around an hour after winner Palace Malice crossed the finish line.

The last big league game to go as long also involved the Mets, according to STATS. It came when they beat St. Louis 2-1 in 20 innings on April 17, 2010.

It was the longest game by far in the history of Citi Field, which opened in 2009, and it matched the longest in Marlins history — a 7-6 loss to the Cardinals in 20 innings on April 27, 2003.

“You play 20 innings, you’ve got to win that game,” Marlins manager Mike Redmond said.

Harvey and Miami’s prized rookie, Jose Fernandez, hooked up in a pitchers’ duel early. And when neither punchless lineup could break a 1-all tie, the only saving grace for both teams was that neither had played since Wednesday and both had fresh arms in the bullpen.

By the 13th inning, the game had been turned over to a pair of starters: Slowey and Shaun Marcum for the Mets. Both were originally scheduled to start Saturday before getting skipped when Friday night’s game was rained out.

A scattered crowd of 20,338 had dwindled perhaps into the hundreds by the time the stadium sound system played Chuck Berry‘s “No Particular Place To Go” not long after the 14th-inning stretch.

Some of the fans who remained chanted “Let’s Go Home!” as the Mets came to bat in the 17th. But it took three more innings to decide this one, and it was Miami that came out on top.

Dwight

Gooden, who won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1984 and the Cy Young in 1985, is known as much for his battle with substance abuse as he is for the major league success he enjoyed. The former Mets ace has opened up about his drug problems a few times over the years, and he touched on a number of topics in a recent interview with The New York Times.

Gooden was asked in the interview about his relationship with Darryl Strawberry, who had a similar career path. Strawberry won the Rookie of the Year award before Gooden, and he, too, battled substance abuse problems during his playing career. As a result, the two former Mets phenoms have forever been linked, with many assuming they were best friends. That wasn’t exactly the case, though.

“The media made it seem like we were closer than we really were,” Gooden told The New York Times. “You had two young, very successful black players — he was Rookie of the Year ’83, I was ’84. But I was actually closer with Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Mookie Wilson. In 2010, Darryl really crossed the line, calling my family and saying a lot of negative things about me, stuff that wasn’t true. I always considered him a friend. The things he was doing really do not fit the definition of a friend.”

Gooden went on to note that he never once said anything negative publicly about Strawberry, but that he needed to speak out in order to move on.

Gooden also discussed the time he spent on the TV series Celebrity Rehab in 2011. He was asked whether former major leaguer Lenny Dykstra, who was sentenced to three years in prison in March 2012, really tried to spring him from the show against his will.

“He brought two pretty big guys with him. It was weird; they had on black suits. I said: ‘No, no, Lenny. I need to be here; you gotta go or they’re gonna call the cops.’ That was the last time I talked to Lenny,” Gooden reportedly said.

Hopefully this isn’t the last time we hear from Gooden. He probably has plenty of more stories to tell.

Click here to read the full interview >>

Have a question for Ricky Doyle? Send it to him via Twitter at @TheRickyDoyle or send it here.

Photo via Facebook/Dwight Gooden

New York’s Brett Gardner has put together two highlight-reel catches in his last two games. Both were against the Mets, both were in the sixth inning and both robbed Murphy of hits that would have gone for extra bases. (Then again, both were also 2-1 Mets wins.)

Gardner took down a long fly ball from Murphy in Tuesday night’s game. The real head-turner, though, was on Monday, when Gardner robbed Murphy of a home run.

The Yankees-Mets series is moving from Citi Field over to Yankee Stadium for the next two games, where perhaps Murphy can change his luck.

Check out the great grabs by Gardner in the videos below.

The legendary Yankees closer was invited by Mets owner Jeff Wilpon to throw out the first pitch before Tuesday night’s Subway Series game, the last one the Yanks will be playing at Citi Field this year. Of course, the two teams could meet up again in the World Series, but come on, this is the Mets we’re talking about here.

Catching Rivera was Mets legend John Franco, who recorded 424 career saves of his own for the Amazin’s. Check out the video of the moment below.

Keith Hernandez fell victim to a bad broadcasting snafu Monday evening during the Yankees-Mets series at Citi Field. After Daniel Murphy splintered his bat going after a Phil Hughes pitch, Hernandez narrated the replay, noting the destroyed bat was a “dead soldier” on the field.

That may be a baseball term he’s used before, but Memorial Day was not the best day to use it.

Hernandez has quickly drawn attention for the misplaced words, and an SNY spokesperson responded Monday night.

“We’ll address the matter with Keith,” the spokesperson said, according to the New York Daily News. “It was an honest mistake and a poor choice of words.”

The Daily News also noted that Hernandez’s father, John, served in World War II.

Thumbnail photo via Facebook/Keith Hernandez

Photo of the Day

Good morning. It’s raining in France.

Tweet of the Day

A new way to say “Tim Duncan is old.”

The first time Tim Duncan made the Finals, Avery Johnson was the point guard and Steve Kerr and jerome Kersey played off the bench.

—
Paul Flannery (@Pflanns) May 28, 2013

Video of the Day

“Tim Duncan Realizing He Has Arms.” Gold. Pure gold.

During Thursday’s game, Murphy blasted a pitch to right field at Busch Stadium and watched as it landed over the fence … for a double. The reason? The ball didn’t go over the fence — it went through it.

Check out the bizarre play in the animation below.

Animation via Business Insider

Juan Lagares showed off his leather skills Sunday in the Mets outfield, at first muffing a diving grab and then recovering in fine fashion.

Check out his circus catch in the video below.

Matt Harvey went nine innings against the White Sox on Tuesday and struck out 12, with his attempt at a perfect game marred only by an Alex Rios infield single with two outs in the seventh. Despite Harvey pitching nine clean innings, though, the Mets couldn’t get a run across to back up the 24-year-old.

Finally, in the 10th inning, New York scored after Harvey left the game, getting at least the team win. (In the famous game pitched by Haddix, the Pirates pitcher labored into the 13th inning, retiring 36 straight batters, before his effort was undone by an error and a disputed hit. Pittsburgh’s batters carry much of the blame for not being able to score and reward a magical night from Haddix.)

Matt Harvey, Harvey Haddix, whoever — the Mets’ Harvey pitched a gem that looks even better when more advanced metrics are tapped.

“I mean, obviously, everything was working,” Harvey said after the game, according to The Associated Press.

What was even more impressive, though, was that Harvey put together his nine-inning wonder looking like a prizefighter. The right-hander got a nosebleed just before the game began and could be seen mowing down batters with blood trickling from his nose in the first inning.

Check out Harvey’s mug in the photo below.

Crawford got into a confrontation with the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton after the game. The players could be seen jawing at each other, and other players quickly moved in and separated them.

While it’s unclear what exactly Crawford was saying, much of the Internet and at least one New York tabloid was speculating that Crawford was dredging up Kevin Garnett‘s chatter about Anthony’s wife from earlier this season (check out the New York Daily News’ cover and back page).

Anthony downplayed the confrontation when asked about it later.

“I’m not thinking about Jordan Crawford right now,” Anthony told reporters. “I don’t even think he deserves for you to be typing about him right now.”

The rest of the Celtics, including coach Doc Rivers, seemed slightly irritated about the skirmish, especially after such a gutsy win by the visitors. Crawford didn’t even play in the game.

“I didn’t see it. I was not happy with it,” Rivers told reporters. “[Knicks coach Mike Woodson] wasn’t happy with it. We don’t need any of that crap, you know? We really don’t. I mean, come on, let’s just play basketball. Let’s be physical as we can be on the floor, and then let’s walk off the floor. So I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think it was a big deal. I thought it was a lot of talking.”

Check out the lot of talking in the video below.

Thumbnail photo via Instagram/baxterholmes

Fans at Citi Field broke out into spontaneous cheers of “USA! USA!” during the Mets’ game after news of the arrest was shown at the ballpark.

So too did St. Louis Blues fans, cheering with patriotism after being told of the arrest.

Rangers Ballpark, similarly, played “Sweet Caroline” when the news broke, in a nod to Fenway Park’s unofficial anthem.

At Rangers Ballpark, they just announced to the crowd that Suspect 2 is in custody in Boston. Then played Sweet Caroline.

—
Joe McCann (@JoeMcCann3) April 20, 2013

The outpouring of emotion continues a similar trend in the majors, as many teams around the league also played “Sweet Caroline” on Tuesday.

The former Marlin has been absolutely demolishing the baseball in his first season with the Mets. Buck has hit safely in nine of his first 10 games, batting a whopping .382 and tying Baltimore’s Chris Davis for the major league lead in both home runs (six) and RBIs (19).

The latest of those long balls came Friday night in Minnesota — a grand slam into Target Field’s second deck. According to Major League Baseball, the catcher is the first player in MLB history to record 19 RBIs in his first 10 games with a new team.

Check out Buck’s slam — his fourth homer in four games — in the video below.

By all accounts, longtime Mets director of media relations Jay Horowitz is a colorful guy and well-liked in the organization. However, in the days of virality and up-to-the-second social media, perhaps it’s problematic to have a guy who’s old enough to remember switchboard operators running the team’s online PR campaign.

So, note to the Mets: The idea of videos like “The Harlem Shake” is to take advantage of these trends while they’re still at the height of their popularity. In any case, if you’d like to see a gray-haired man dancing (which is entertaining enough itself), check out the Mets’ late take on the viral video below.

In an interview with the New York Post, Valentine appears to be following Carl Crawford‘s lead of blaming his struggles on the Boston media. In the interview Valentine unequivocally badmouths the Boston press, saying that their New York counterparts are vastly superior.

“All the Boston [media] ever wanted to do is prove that they were a tougher media than New York,” Valentine said. “And I don’t paint everyone with the same brush — I think some of those guys are absolutely terrific people. And a good group of ‘em are absolute horses asses who are unprofessional, lazy and should not be in the business up here, in my opinion.

“I had one guy never talk to me the whole year because he said to me he didn’t like the answer I gave him in spring training. He covered my team the whole year. I think the New York media knows more about baseball and is more professional.”

However, Valentine didn’t stop there. When asked about some early season comments questioning Kevin Youkilis‘ focus, Valentine didn’t back down, instead reaffirming that he was right in his assessment of the now-Yankees infielder — and again blaming the Boston media.

“I think that they were absolutely heartfelt at the time,” said Valentine, “and they were totally blown out of proportion, and reacted to improperly by the outside world.”

While Valentine has kept some ties to the New England area, recently being named the athletic director of Sacred Heart University, chances are it won’t be a good idea for him to show his face in Boston proper any time soon.

Santana, who blew out his left shoulder on Friday, will miss the rest of the 2013 season and is currently deciding whether to pursue surgery or not, according to his agent. The 6-foot, 208-pound lefty did not play in the 2011 season after tearing the same anterior capsule.

Whether Santana will undergo surgery remains to be seen, but the Mets ace has one goal in mind: to return to pitching as soon as possible.

With regard to @johansantana, he is taking time this weekend w/his family contemplating whether or not to have surgery. (Cont.)

—
Chris Leible (@ChrisLeible) March 29, 2013

. @johansantana 's plan is to be back on the mound pitching again as soon as possible.

—
Chris Leible (@ChrisLeible) March 29, 2013

Thumbnail photo via Facebook/Johan Santana

For the Yankees, the culprit is of course Alex Rodriguez, who will make $29 million — more than the Houston Astros’ entire payroll — this season. That’s bad enough, but there’s also the fact that Rodriguez may not play at all as he works his way back from hip surgery. He is expected to be out until at least August, but even non-pessimists think he may take a rain check on all of 2013.

For the Mets, Johan Santana has once again provided as much heartbreak as hope. While Mets fans could hope throughout each of the six years of his $137.5 million deal that he would post at least one lights-out season worth his pay, Santana’s chance to show New York what he can do officially ended Thursday. The team has announced that he will likely miss the entire season — and perhaps be done playing for good — after wrecking his left shoulder again. That leaves New York without its ace and on the hook for $31 million. (The Mets, however, did get that no-hitter out of Santana.)

New York doesn’t have the corner on the market on bad contracts, though, and even Santana and Rodriguez’s letdowns may not be the worst in Major League Baseball. Take a look to see which teams are carrying albatrosses into this season, and see who comes out worst.

Click here for the Top 10 overpaid players in 2013>>

After all that arduous rehab work and all those long hours in the training room and on back fields in lonely Florida, Santana probably will have to endure it all again if he wants to resume his major league career.

Even then, a successful return is no sure thing. Either way, he may have thrown his final pitch for the New York Mets.

The team said Thursday that the two-time Cy Young Award winner probably has re-torn the anterior capsule in his left shoulder and likely will need a second operation that would sideline him for the entire season. Santana missed 2011 following his first shoulder surgery.

“I am not a doctor, nor am I a medical historian, but these injuries are very difficult to recover from after one surgery, and I’m not sure what the history is of recovery from a second more or less identical surgery,” general manager Sandy Alderson said on a conference call.

New York owes the 34-year-old left-hander $31 million more as part of the $137.5 million, six-year deal he signed before the 2008 season, and Alderson said the remainder of the contract is not covered by insurance.

Santana had surgery on Sept. 14, 2010, and did not make it back to the majors until last April 5. He went 6-9 with a 4.85 ERA in 21 starts last year and threw the first no-hitter in franchise history on June 1 against St. Louis.

Santana threw a career-high 134 pitches that night in his second consecutive shutout, but was 3-7 with an 8.27 ERA after that, including 0-5 with a 15.63 ERA after throwing eight scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 30.

He went on the disabled list for three weeks because of a sprained ankle and didn’t pitch after Aug. 17 because of lower back inflammation.

Santana hasn’t pitched in any exhibition games during spring training because of arm weakness, and he threw his last bullpen session in early March without the team’s permission.

“We don’t know when it happened, how it happened,” Alderson said. “But what we do know is that at some point symptoms appeared, and they worsened rather than improved.”

Peter Greenberg, the pitcher’s agent, said Santana didn’t have any comment yet.

Alderson said an MRI in New York on Wednesday with Dr. David Altchek showed the probable re-tear, and that noted orthopedists Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Lewis Yocum concurred with the diagnosis on Thursday after reviewing the MRI.

“Johan will remain in New York over the Easter weekend to decide on next steps,” Alderson said. “A second surgery is a strong possibility. If this diagnosis proves to be correct, I think in all likelihood Johan will be lost to the Mets for the season.”

Santana is 45-34 with a 3.18 ERA for the Mets after going 93-44 with a 3.22 ERA in eight years with the Minnesota Twins. He won the AL Cy Young Award in 2004 and 2006.

He is owed $25.5 million this year in the final guaranteed season of his $137.5 million, six-year contract, and $5.5 million of this year’s salary is deferred at 1.25 percent compounded interest until June 30, 2020. The Mets hold a $25 million option for 2014 with a $5.5 million buyout, and the buyout also is deferred.

Alderson said the Mets may have insured earlier years of the contract and that it is not unusual to choose not to insure the final season.

Chris Young

Young, who was an All-Star as a member of the Padres in 2007, had been pitching for the Nationals this spring, but the club granted him his release on Tuesday. Young reportedly “loved” playing with the Nationals, but he exercised his opt-out clause in the hopes of securing a major league contract elsewhere.

Realizing that Young would soon hit the open market, a number of teams sent scouts to Young’s start against the Astros on Monday. Those teams included the Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays, Twins, Indians, Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers and Mets, according to FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal.

The Washington Post’s Adam Kilgore reports that the Nats are “hopeful, if not optimistic,” that they can lure Young back if he doesn’t find a major league deal elsewhere, but the 33-year-old has put together a rather impressive spring.

Young made four starts and allowed five runs (four earned) in 16 innings (2.25 ERA) before his release. He held opposing hitters to a .193 average, and he didn’t allow a run in his last nine innings.

Young made 20 starts with the Mets last season, and went 4-9 with a 4.15 ERA. The righty notched back-to-back double-digit win seasons in 2005 and 2006, before then earning the All-Star nod while going 9-8 with a 3.12 ERA in 2007.

Have a question for Ricky Doyle? Send it to him via Twitter at @TheRickyDoyle or send it here.

Photo via Wikipedia/Chris Young