“Six more wins.” That’s the message that Binghamton Mets manager Pedro Lopez is delivering to whoever will listen, explaining that’s his goal of his 2014 B-Met squad. Lopez applauded his 2013 team for its franchise record shattering 86-win 2013 season at last week’s Welcome Back dinner, then added that this year his B-Mets have their sights on six more wins; six playoff victories that would bring the Eastern League championship to Binghamton.
As Lopez explained to Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin’s Lynn Worthy, the six extra win goal doesn’t reflect his team’s regular season record. “I think we were six games shy from giving the front office, the owners here, and the city of Binghamton what they really deserve. That’s our goal.”
The B-Met Welcome Back dinner is a terrific event. A large crowd packs Binghamton’s DoubleTree at the Hilton Hotel to welcome back the B-Mets for another season of Double-A baseball. Fans are given a baseball for autographs, a free ticket to Opening Night and a courtesy pass for another game sometime in April and May as they enter. The players are stationed at tables along the outside of the room, signing autographs, posing for pictures and chatting with the hundreds of dinner patrons weaving through the line. When dinner is served, the players, coaches and staff split up with someone assigned at every table.
This year’s dinner was even more special because I invited four of the players from my baseball team to come along. Baseball is suffering in many of the smaller rural communities across New York State, and whenever I can, I work to involve young people in experiencing the game.
Sometimes we err in assuming that modern day high school kids are too sophisticated to still get wide-eyed an tongue-tied when they are taken out of their element and navigate in new territory. It was great to see the little kid in these guys surface as they conversed with the B-Met players. We matched each guy up with a B-Met who shares the same position for photo ops. The guys had a blast and are already asking if we might be up for a repeat visit next spring.