Hank Kalet

Lisa Olson in The Daily News sums up why it is that New York’s National League team is still playing and that other team from the Bronx has started its post-season vacation:

They are Los Mets, the New Mets, a team that radiates charisma and chemistry. On paper, the Mets still can’t match the Yankees’ cumulative talent, but on the field, the Yankees can’t touch the Mets’ collective soul. It’s not just their timely hits, their smart baserunning and bullpen excellence. It’s how they’ve persevered through a rash of injuries that has ripped apart the starting rotation, and subjugated their egos for the greater good. It’s a team that doesn’t need 25 limousines to get where it’s going.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

I spent the afternoon at Von Thun’s Country Farm for its fall festival. It was a beatiful day with the sun up and the heat beating heavy on my black Mets sweatshirt (I had no idea it would be as warm as it was or I never would have worn something like that).

There were some strange sights — a goat on the roof of a small building, for instance (see photos) — and plenty of stuff for the kids (we were with my brother and sister-in-law and their kids). We grabbed some food and my nephew Joey did the obligatory sand and candy art (pictured with my wife Annie), while his younger brother Daniel spent a whole lot of time playing with the trucks in the sand box (see top photo).

And I spent about half an hour chasing the two of them through the hay maze, which inflamed my allergies but made the two of them quite happy.

It was a good time, though it is a bit sad to realize that this is what suburban farms have been reduced to. Von Thun’s, like most farms, have turned to different methods of agriculture (greenhouses that produce plants for contractors, for instance) and what they have called in the past recreational events. The farm is open to the public, a bit of a museum piece.

That’s OK, though. They are open and green and that’s all that really matters

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

I wanted to draw attention to something the Turnpike Authority said in our online story on Thursday about Route 92:

“The bottom line is that the whole Route 92 project is not really a priority to us right now,” he said. “Right now, the main priority is the widening of the turnpike.”

This was the reason, he said, that $175 million of the $181.5 million originally earmarked for Route 92 was diverted to the turnpike widening project in December 2005. With the upcoming direct connection between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 95, Mr. Orlando said priorities have changed and it’s essential that the widening project be fast-tracked to handle increased demand.

With an eye toward awarding contracts for the final design of the widening project at the end of this year or in the first quarter of 2007, Mr. Orlando said the Turnpike Authority is in the process of expediting the DEP permitting process for that project. Ideally, he said, the widening project would begin in late 2009 with a projected completion in 2013.

What does this mean? Basically, the highway is dead — for now. As one of the locals said to me Thursday on the phone, this thing is still lurking, but now we may all be in nursing homes before it resurfaces. Then again, the state has been known to spend money it doesn’t have, so it could come back at any time.

This is my way of reminding everyone to stay alert and remain vigilant.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Wooo whooo hoooo!

Mets in three — an amazing run for the boys from Flushing, a team I’ve been following since I got my first Tom Seaver card in 1968 (pictured) and maybe earlier. And, just for good measure, the Evil Empire was dispatched by a Motor City team that everyone wrote off (including me).

To understand this team at this point, you need to acknowledge the amazing job done by Omar Minaya — not only did he spend money, but he found a great group of role players (Endy Chavez, Jose Valentin, Julio Franco) and built a killer bullpen. The team weathered the loss of two starting pitchers (Pedro and El Duque), the league’s top setup man (Duaner Sanchez), injuries that hobbled Cliff Floyd and backup catcher Ramon Castro and still outran the league.

And it managed to awaken itself from a September slumber in which it played its worst ball of the year.

And now onto the League Championship series.

Three down and eight to go!

(Game photos from CBS Sportsline)

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Jose Reyes certainly is infectious — anyone catch the exuberance he showed, the true joy at Chris Woodward’s scoring a run in the eighth? Glad he’s wearing a Mets uniform and baseball should be glad he’s one of its rising stars.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick