Andrew Vazzano

My girlfriend and I went to last night's Mets/Reds game, and ended up on TV a few times. I also caught a T-shirt. It was a banner day for me.

(I'm in the white button down with the blue hat. The girlfriend is next to me in the grey Mets shirt.)

Eight thousand games. 8K games. 100 + 900 x 8 = 8,000 games.

And still, no no-hitters.

Well, still 7,999. Johan Santana takes the mound on Friday for the Mets 8,000th ever game and their 8,000th attempt at pitching a no-no.

Just the Mets and the San Diego Padres have never pitched a no-hitter (and the Washington Nationals, but everyone but the Nationals knows they used to be the Montreal Expos). The Pads, though, have only played about 6,900 games in their lifetime.

Look, in the end, no-hitters don't really matter. They're not worth more wins, or runs, or games in the standings. But they're cool. And the Mets, at nearly 8,000 games don't have one. Roughly two no-nos are tossed a year, with 274 thrown since 1875.

And yet, the Mets don't have one.

Of course, pitchers who pitched for the Mets went on to throw no-hitters (and a perfect game) and pitchers that had completed the feat eventually came to the Mets, but couldn't spin the same yarn while in orange and blue.

So, on Friday when (not if) Santana gives up a hit to a member of the Miami Marlins, all the numbers on the odometer will turn, and the Mets will hit the dubious mark of 8K games without a no-hitter. Nothing will change and the Mets will go for it again in game eight thousand and one.

The song that has been burned into Mets fans brains since the beginning of the season has been found, in its entirety. Amazingly, it gets worse than what we've heard.

Enjoy it, if you can...

This video should confirm it for you...

Deadspin writer John Koblin this teardown of Citi Field minutes ago. I tweeted out a link, and Mets fans are pissed.

I feel the need to respond to a few salient points that Koblin makes.

First, some factual errors...

1. Citi Field never had "forest green" walls. They were a black / dark grey. See here in this photo I took when the stadium first opened. (More photos here, here,  here and here.)

Koblin misquoted Dave Howard from this piece. Howard is referring to the seat, not the walls. Except below.

Citi Field’s exterior is a splendid architectural response to the dullness of Shea, while the inner bowl is muted. Shea’s candy-colored plastic seats are gone (along with generations of chipped paint on the handrails) in favor of dark green seats everywhere. 

“Dark green is the color of a classic ballpark,” said Dave Howard, the team’s executive vice president for business operations, as he stood ankle deep in snow. “And we thought the other team in town would use blue.”

Omar Minaya. Just saying the name will drive Mets fans up a wall. Or to tears. Or both.

1. Ruben Tejada, SS
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Ike Davis, 1B
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Lucas Duda, RF
7. Josh Thole, C
8. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF
9. Mike Pelfrey, P

1. Ruben Tejada, SS - Signed in 2006, GM Omar Minaya
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B - Drafted in 2006, GM Omar Minaya
3. David Wright, 3B - Drafted in 2001, GM Steve Phillips (Assistant GM Omar Minaya)
4. Ike Davis, 1B - Drafted in 2008, GM Omar Minaya
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Lucas Duda, RF - Drafted in 2007, GM Omar Minaya
7. Josh Thole, C - Drafted in 2005, GM Omar Minaya
8. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, CF - Drafted in 2008, GM Omar Minaya
9. Mike Pelfrey, P - Drafted in 2005, GM Omar Minaya.

David Wright update: "The injury to the little finger on David Wright’s right hand was re-evaluated today by a hand specialist in New York

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 12, 2012

More: "who reiterated that David can return to baseball activity as tolerated.His playing status will be reviewed again tomorrow .,.

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 12, 2012

More: "in Philadelphia prior to the game.”

— New York Mets (@Mets) April 12, 2012

Here's the video I shot last night from Sec. 505 with Daniel Murphy singling in Mike Baxter for the 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.

We guessed at it earlier, but here is the real 2012 Opening Day lineup...

1. Andres Torres, CF
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Ike Davis, 1B
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Lucas Duda, RF
7. Ruben Tejada, SS
8. Josh Thole, C
9. Johan Santana, P

With the lineup set for today's game against the Yankees, I think it's pretty safe to assume it's roughly the same lineup that will go into Opening Day for the Mets on Thursday.

Here's the lineup today...

1. Andres Torres, CF
2. Daniel Murphy, 2B
3. David Wright, 3B
4. Ike Davis, 1B
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Lucas Duda, RF
7. Scott Hairston, DH
8. Josh Thole, C
9. Ruben Tejada, SS

1. Torres, CF
2. Murphy, 2B
3. Wright, 3B
4. Davis, 1B
5. Bay, LF
6. Duda, RF
7. Thole, C
8. Tejada, SS
9. Santana, P

If you've never seen Troll 2 (and the documentary that chronicles it, The Best Worst Move), fire up your Netflix and watch it now.

It is an film so bad it is so good. It has a 0 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It has a 2.4 rating on IMDB and is No. 85 on the Bottom 100 films of all time.

But that's not why I'm writing this post. It is a Mets blog, after all. While I watched it, I noticed in the son's room, there were sports banners all over the walls. A Darryl Strawberry pennant hung near Joshuas's bed and a New York Mets banner over his mirror by the door.

@AndrewVazzano That's a damn good question. No idea

— Jason Steadman (@jasonsteadman) March 31, 2012

Newsday's Mets beat reporter, David Lennon, is leaving the Mets beat to become Newsday's Major League Baseball columnist.

I've always thought Lennon was one of the best reporters on the beat. He's been the reporter for Newsday for as long as I've been blogging and the only one to stay at the same outlet the whole time. Adam Rubin is the only other reporter to still be on the Mets beat since I've been writing.

Lennon is taking over for Ken Davidoff, who is moving over to the New York Post to be their baseball columnist.

Currently, the new Newsday reporter is "TBD," says Lennon.

I love media movements!

R.A. Dickey's book comes out in a few days, but Sports Illustrated has a few excerpts up now.

Dickey covers finding a syringe in the Ranger's clubhouse, being sexually abused as a child by his babysitter and contemplating suicide.

This will be a fascinating read.