Reminder: A Night With Ike Davis Sept. 9

Just a reminder that Ike Davis will be holding his annual charity event, "A Night With Ike Davis," on Sunday, September 9 to raise money for Solving Kids' Cancer (SKC) and the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative.

All proceeds from the event will go to SKC and the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative.

There are still some tickets available. So if you are interested and able to attend, why not buy a ticket, meet some players, and help out a good cause.  

The event, which will be held at City Winery, will feature a benefit concert starring country music artist Lee Brice, along with Ike and his teammates serving as celebrity bartenders.

Also featured will be an open bar, hors d'oeuvres, a raffle, auction, and VIP Clubhouse (The clubhouse includes access to the VIP area with Mets teammates, an autographed item, 2 tickets for a VIP-only premium raffle item, and a limited edition event poster).

Evan Roberts from WFAN will be emceeing the event. 

If you are unable to attend, you can still donate by "Tipping your bartender," which allows you to donate to individual players and celebrities participating in the event. The bartenders include Ike Davis, Justin Turner, and Lee Brice. Donations of $25 or more qualify you for some cool prizes.

You can also text "IKE" to 32020 to donate $10.

ICYMI: The Week In Review

After getting swept by the Yankees last weekend in the Bronx, the Mets moved on to St. Petersburg where they swept the Rays in a three-game series.

Chris Young recorded his first win with the Mets since his return. His last win as a Met? April 5, 2011.

Terry Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen mixed things up in the bullpen earlier in the week. With the exception of Frank Francisco as closer and Tim Byrdak as the lefty specialist, all other bullpen roles have been done away with. Essentially, if you want to be the eighth inning setup man, you're going to have to earn it.  

R.A. Dickey threw a one-hitter on Wednesday night. The Mets appealed to have that one-hitter changed to a no-hitter, arguing that David Wright should have been charged with an error after attempting to field a hit by B.J. Upton. They lost the appeal.

National League All-Star manager Tony LaRussa selected Terry Collins to join his staff for this year's All-Star game.

Ike Davis is starting to heat up at the plate. He has a seven game hitting streak and his average is now up to .192.

The Mets have signed 15 of this year's draft picks. For the complete list, visit ESPN.

On the injury front...

Jayson Bay was placed on the 7-Day disabled list with a concussion after crashing into the left field wall Friday night.

Justin Turner was activated from the disabled list following Bay's injury.

Ronny Cedeno, who has been on the disabled list since May 27 with a calf strain, is expected to return some time this week. In Triple-A Buffalo Saturday, Cedeno played all nine innings at shortstop and went 0-3.

The Mets are hopeful that Ruben Tejada will begin a rehab assignment on Monday. According to Terry Collins, Tejada ran in a straight line on Friday.

What To Change About Ike Davis? Maybe His Attitude

During the seventh inning of Tuesday night's game against the Marlins, Terry Collins made a noticeable swap. When Ozzie Guillen brought in a lefty, rather than sticking with the left-handed hitting Davis, Collins decided to sit him down, opting to go with Justin Turner instead.

Personally, I liked this move. Davis, while a fan favorite, needs to understand that if he can't get the job done, he's going to be replaced by someone else who will.

He's a mess at the moment, looking lost and frustrated at the plate.

So what can be done?

Well, first thing's first. He can quit complaining to the umpire after every call that doesn't go his way. He's not doing himself any favors when he curses, throws his bat, rolls his eyes, etc.

If you think umpires don't hold grudges, you're wrong. Just as Bobby Ojeda stated in Monday night's post-game show, umps are human. While it would be nice to think they're all professional and can look past immature behavior, let's be real, that probably doesn't happen.

Hissy fits will get you nowhere in this league.

Besides "showing up the umpire," Davis is a role model. Being a professional athlete means, whether they like it or not, there are kids out there who look up to them as a player. The example he's setting right now is embarrassing.

As far as mechanics go, I'm not a hitting coach, and I'm not going to sit here and pretend to be.

I will say, however, that during one at-bat in Tuesday's game, I noticed that Davis is just throwing his hands at the ball. He's not confident at the plate, and his swings show it.

I've heard some suggestions of sending him to Triple-A to, "find himself."

Could a temporary change of scenery help him out? Maybe. A change of attitude would probably help more.

Mets Kids Holiday Party

The Mets hosted 100 kids from public schools all across Queens at Citi Field on Tuesday for their annual Kids Holiday Party. Daniel Murphy played the role of Santa this year, and with the help of his "elves," Jon Niese and Justin Turner, he delivered toys to all in attendance.

Santa and his elves.

While all of the kids finished their lunch and participated in performances, all of the beat writers and bloggers were hidden behind a curtain. All was relatively calm until the screaming started. That was our cue that Santa had arrived.

Between the kids and the Christmas music blasting, I couldn't hear a thing. Luckily, my recorder was able to pick up audio. Here's a little summary from interviews with Niese and general manager Sandy Alderson.

Jon Niese

• His goal is to get over 200 innings this year.

• The new additions to bullpen are good. They filled holes where they needed to be filled.

• Facing Jose Reyes: "It's gonna be fun...I can't wait. Watching him hit for a while, hopefully I picked up something to get him out."

• The changes at Citi Field are good. It will give hitters peace of mind and pitchers more confidence. The changes will not cause him to change his approach on the mound.

Sandy Alderson

• Changes to the field: "More scoring makes more sense...it's more entertaining. Even a purist wouldn't want 1-0 games every night."

• Losing Jose Reyes: "Criticism that we never made an offer... what's interesting about that is that from the very outset we didn't want to make an offer that would be shot...and I don't think it's a coincidence that the price went way up from the time on Friday that I described a conceptual puzzle to Saturday to Sunday morning when the apparent offer from Miami went from point a to point z...I don't think we had a shot at signing Jose if we had made the first offer."

• Bullpen: "All three additions are an upgrade...better shot at more consistency in 7th, 8th, and 9th innings...What was once a weakness is now a modest strength for us."

• Catchers: "We don't have a lot of depth in the system...for the time being our catching situation is going to be a year to year proposition" The team looked at some free agents decided none worth additional expense. "Given the resources we have available, we'd rather spend the money some place else on more significant upgrades...We're aware of catching situation within organization."

• Angel Pagan trade: The Giants were interested in Pagan. He believes Andres Torres was going to be a possible non-tender candidate and the Mets were in a similar position with Pagan.

I would have added video of the Alderson interview, but after watching it, it was a  little too Blair Witch Project for me. I took a peak at the outfield walls while I was there and to be honest, I didn't notice anything worth reporting as of yet. Stay tuned.

Meet the Met: Mike Baxter

This will be a weekly segment where I delve into the Mets farm system for a new face. It could be a player that has recently been acquired by the organization, or a player who many people may not know about, but has outperformed his expectations this season.

To begin, let me introduce: Mike Baxter.

Baxter, 26, was a fourth round pick of the San Diego Padres in the 2005 draft. He is a corner outfielder by trade, but played centerfield this past Saturday for the first time since 2009. Mike had been on the 60 day DL with the Padres for most of the season, after having surgery on March 28 to repair a torn ligament in his thumb. However, after Orlando Hudson was injured making a sliding catch, he was placed on waivers, where the Mets picked him up on July 22.

Over the course of his minor league career, which now spans seven seasons, Baxter has consistently improved. Take a look at these numbers:

	BA	OBP	SLG
2005 – A	.219	.267	.311
2006 – A	.256	.304	.363
2007 – A+, AAA	.271	.339	.401
2008 – A+, AA	.264	.345	.406
2009 – AA, AAA	.317	.394	.469
2010 – AAA	.301	.382	.517
2011 – A+, AAA	.321	.404	.440

At 26, his best years are still in front of him. Looking at his history, he has the ability to make adjustments and improve his craft no matter what level he is at, so he has some major league potential.

Mets Morning News 5-22-11

A few links to get you through the morning:

• Even though he got smacked around yesterday, Chris Capuano put everything into perspective thanks to a pre-game chat he had with a young fan.

• Steve Serby of the New York Post sits down for a Q & A with Justin Turner about everything from being drafted by the Yankees to the 2003 college World Series.

• In case you missed it, Gary Carter was diagnosed with four small brain tumors. It will not be known if the tumors are benign or malignant until Carter undergoes surgery at Duke Medical Center in the coming days.

• Mike Lupica of the Daily News talks with Triple-A Buffalo manager Tim Teufel about the Bisons and the loss of players.

Capuano, Mets Roughed Up By Yanks In Loss

The good news: the world didn't end tonight. The bad news: the Mets were killed with the long ball tonight, losing to the Yankees by a score of 7-3.

• Chris Capuano went 5.1 innings, giving up four home runs. By the time he left in the sixth inning, he allowed six runs on six hits, while striking out five.

• Justin Turner drove in yet another RBI. He now has an RBI in seven consecutive games, breaking the franchise rookie record previously held by Ron Swoboda.

• Jose Reyes had three hits in the game, scored two runs, and stole a base.

• Pedro Beato was perfect out of the bullpen after coming to pitch 1.2 innings of relief. Beato has not allowed a run in 18.2 innings.

• Besides Capuano's start, the worst part about this game was that it was all on Fox. I really don't know what's more painful, watching the Yankees tee-off against the Mets, or listening to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

Next up: The Mets look to take the rubber game of this three-game set, Sunday, at Yankee Stadium. Game time is 1:05 p.m.

Dillon Gee Shuts Down Nationals

Mets beat the Nationals 1-0, and are just one game under .500.

• Dillon Gee went 7.2 great innings, giving up just two hits, striking out three and walking three. Gee had a no-hitter going through the first 5.2 innings before Livan Hernandez broke it up in the sixth inning.

• Justin Turner continued to be productive at the plate, driving in the team's lone run in the fourth inning.

• Even Jason Bay had a good day, going 3-4.

• Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 14th straight save of the season, and has not allowed a run in 18 innings pitched.

Next up: The Yankees head cross town to take on the Yankees for a weekend series. The Mets will send R.A. Dickey to the mound in the series opening Friday night.