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An eventful trip to Colorado highlights our Mets week in review. As always, much of our assistance comes from the great work done at Baseball-Reference.com.

Stat of the Week
The Mets finished April with a 13-10 record despite being outscored by 20 runs for the month (111-91).

The last time the Mets finished a month with a winning record and were outscored by at least 20 runs was in June, 1997, when they went 15-12 despite being outscored 147-122.

That team, managed by Bobby Valentine, lost games in June by scores of 10-0, 10-1, 14-7, and 14-0, but was boosted by a 6-2 record in one-run games (same as the 2012 Mets had in April).

Turner’s Magic Moment
Justin Turner’s 13-pitch game-tying walk versus Heath Bell in the ninth inning of last Thursday’s win over the Marlins brought back memories of Shawon Dunston’s marathon at-bat in the 15th inning of Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS against the Braves. It also made for an easy choice for Moment of the Week.

Baseball-Reference.com has pitch-by-pitch data for most games back to 1990 and has no other instances of a game-tying walk in the ninth inning or later in a plate appearance that lasted at least 10 pitches.

It does have five instances of go-ahead walks of 10-plus pitches that late in a game (including one by Carlos Delgado for the 2007 Mets), but none lasting as long as Turner’s.

This was the longest plate appearance of Turner’s career, the first longer than 10 pitches. It matched the longest plate appearance of the season for the Mets, who got a 13-pitch appearance from Josh Thole against the Braves on April 17.

The longest recorded plate appearance by a Met is the 16-pitch battle that ended with a walk by Ruben Tejada against Antonio Bastardo and the Phillies on May 27, 2011.

Other notes from that game:
The Mets used an all homegrown lineup for the third time in team history and the first time since September 19, 1971.

This was the Mets third walk-off win of the month. It marked the fifth time that they won at least three games in April via walk-off, the first since 2008. The club record for walk-off wins in April is four, set in 1985.

This was the third time the Mets won a game via walk-off in which they drew at least four walks in the ninth inning against the losing reliever. The other such instances were in 1969 (against Joe Gibbon of the Giants) and 2002 (against Vic Darensbourg of the Marlins).

Metsiepalooza
Last weekend, a group of Mets fans gathered at Hofstra University for a three-day symposium on the 50th anniversary of the team.

One of the statistical highlights of the symposium was a presentation by Craig Glaser of Bloomberg Sports, who showed that the odds of the Mets having no no-hitters in their history were approximately the same as them having between 11 and 13 no-hitters in their history.

My favorite stat that I shared from the conference stemmed from a discussion on underrated Mets, at which point I cited John DeMerit.

DeMerit was 3-for-16 in 14 games with the 1962 Mets, but because of the manner in which he was used (pinch-hitter, defensive replacement), the team went 11-3 when he played. They went 29-117 when he didn’t.

Hairston’s bizarre cycle
Scott Hairston matched original Met Jim Hickman for the quickest cycle in Mets history in the loss to the Rockies last Friday.

Hickman and Hairston each got the four needed hits within the first six innings of the game, with Hickman doing so in 1963 against the Cardinals.

The Elias Sports Bureau chimed in with a couple of statistical lowlights from this game:

The Mets four errors in the fifth inning were their most in an inning since making four in the eighth inning against the Cardinals on April 4, 1996. They allowed 11 runs in an inning for the first time since April 7, 2004 against the Braves.

Dillon’s Birthday earns a Gee Whiz
Dillon Gee beat the Rockies last Saturday night to earn the win on his 26th birthday. Gee became the first Mets starter to pitch on his birthday since Mark Clark in 1996, and the first to win on his birthday since Dave Mlicki in 1995.

The youngest Mets starter to earn a win on his birthday was SNY’s Ron Darling, who won on his 25th birthday in 1985. He’d win again on his 26th birthday the next year. The other two Mets starters to win on their birthday are Ray Burris (1980, 30th) and Wally Whitehurst (1991, 27th)

Mets starters are now 6-1 with two no-decisions in nine career starts on their birthday. Mets relievers are 4-2, with the most recent win coming from John Franco in 2001.

Extra, Extra
The Mets 11-inning win in the series finale at Coors Field last Sunday brought back memories of the ballpark’s opener in 1995, when the Mets blew repeated leads and lost to the Rockies in 14 innings on Dante Bichette’s walk-off home run.

Sunday’s win marked the first extra-inning victory for the Mets at Coors Field in the ballpark’s 18-year history. They’d lost in extra innings on each of the two previous bonus-baseball occasions.

The quirk of the week: The Mets are 3-0 this season when Johan Santana gets a no-decision. They were 3-10 in the previous 13 games in which he got a no-decision.

Since joining the Mets in 2008, Santana has six starts in which he allowed no runs and got a no-decision. No other Met has more than two such starts in that span.

Astro-doom
The losses in the last three games to the Astros were statistically-forgettable games.

The weirdest thing that happened was on Monday when the Astros had four different pitchers each record a single out.

It’s the fourth time in Mets history that the Mets dealt with a quartet of one-out pitchers, the first since 2004, and the second time against the Astros (it previously happened in 1974).

Wednesday's finale got off to a rough start when Ruben Tejada doubled to lead off the game, then was thrown out at third base trying to extend it to a triple. It was the second time in Mets history that that happened. The other would-be tripler nailed was Jose Reyes in 2008.

Chris Johnson closed the Mets out with a four-hit, six-RBI game on Wednesday, the 11th such game against the Mets in their history. He joins a list of players to do that that includes Hank Aaron, Tom Pagnozzi and Cody Ross.

Vintage Metric of the Week
Todd Helton’s game-tying grand slam in that Sunday win serves as the springboard for this week’s flashback.

It was the unlucky 13th pinch-hit grand slam allowed by a Mets pitcher, the first since Aaron Heilman yielded one to Mark Loretta in the eighth-inning of a tie game in 2008.

But what leads to our time-machine trip is this note:

The Mets had only given up one game-tying pinch-hit grand slam in their history prior to Sunday—on July 2, 1969 when Ron Taylor allowed one in the eighth inning to Vic Davalillo of the Cardinals, also in a game that the Mets were winning at the time, 4-0.

This was one of the more remarkable games of that miraculous season in that the Mets managed to win despite the Cardinals having multiple chances to close them out.

The Mets threw out the potential winning run at home in the ninth inning, and escaped subsequent bases-loaded jams in the 10th and 13th innings before prevailing in 14 frames, 6-4.

We’ll see if the 2012 Mets have that kind of perseverance.

Jon Niese allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in each of his six innings and nonetheless held the Braves scoreless, but Atlanta rallied with three eighth-inning runs to beat the Mets, 3-2, Saturday at Digital Domain Park.

Left-handed relief candidate Chuck James allowed consecutive one-out singles to Mark Prado and Jason Heyward in the eighth, then retired Freddie Freeman on a foul popout. Ramon Ramirez entered and allowed an RBI single to Matt Diaz and two-run double to David Ross as the Braves rallied.

Daniel Murphy's two-run single in the sixth accounted for the Mets' lone runs. Murphy had two of the Mets' six hits.

Niese shaved his Grapefruit League ERA to 2.61 in a no-decision by limiting the Braves to six hits while striking out three and walking none in 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Niese has now walked only one batter in 10 1/3 innings.

"It's pretty amazing," Terry Collins said. "Six innings. All six leadoff hitters got on. And he pitched a six-inning shutout. You'll find that very seldom. But it was an outstanding job. He mixed up all of his pitches."

Said Niese: "I want to go out there and pound the zone, throw strikes with all of my pitches. I got to use some changeups in situations that I wanted to. Some worked. Some didn't. But all around it felt good."

• Collins said Ruben Tejada (groin) won't return to Grapefruit League action until Tuesday, after Sunday's long bus trip to Kissimmee to face the Astros, then a team off-day Monday.

• The Mets are 0-7-1 in their past eight Grapefruit League games.

The Mets will wear green jerseys and hats in honor of St. Patrick's Day as they send Jon Niese to the mound Saturday in Port St. Lucie to face Kris Medlen and the Atlanta Braves.

Saturday's news reports:

• Johan Santana's control may have been off, but the southpaw has been up to the task so far of pitching every fifth day. Santana tossed 65 pitches in 2 2/3 innings against the Detroit Tigers. He was charged with five runs (four earned). It was Santana's third Grapefruit League appearance. Read more in Newsday, the Record, Daily News, Times, Post and Star-Ledger.

• The Mets committed three errors and lost to Detroit, 9-0, Friday.

• Ronny Cedeno (knee) returned to the lineup against the Tigers, but Ruben Tejada (groin) will wait until at least Sunday to reenter the lineup -- and, more likely, Tuesday. David Wright (abdominal muscle) took grounders and tossed a baseball Friday, and Terry Collins said the third baseman could see live pitching as soon as the middle of next week. D.J. Carrasco remains sidelined with a twisted ankle. Scott Hairston (oblique) said he hopes to start swinging a bat next week and be ready for Opening Day, but that may be overly optimistic.

• Miguel Batista, known by his teammates as el Poeta, once published a book of poetry and is a prolific writer of novels, notes Brian Costa in the Journal. Batista likely is competing with Carrasco for one bullpen spot, with Bobby Parnell demonstrating he merits being on the major league squad. Writes Costa:

Batista's dual pursuits are reflected by the contents of his locker. In addition to all the usual elements -- jerseys, pants, a glove, a pile of cleats and so on -- it contains the tools of his other craft. A Spanish version of "The Lost Angel," Javier Sierra's 2011 bestselling novel, sits on the bottom shelf. On the top shelf rests a pen and notebook. He does most of his writing by hand, on planes, on buses and in the infinite moments of down time a player has during the course of a season. When he gets home, he types out his notes. It takes years before he has anything to publish. "A lot of people ask me why it takes so long for me to write a book," Batista said. "I'm not like Stephen King where I have the whole year to write a book. He doesn't have to win the World Series. I do."

TRIVIA: Name the players who have started at second base on Opening Day for the Mets from 2007 through 2011.

Friday's answer: The last trade between the Mets and Pirates brought Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez to Queens for Xavier Nady at the 2006 trading deadline. The deal was motivated by the Mets needing Hernandez to replace Duaner Sanchez in the bullpen, after Sanchez had an accident as a passenger in a taxicab on I-95.

The Mets committed three errors and were blanked by the Detroit Tigers, 9-0, on Friday at Digital Domain Park.

Left-handed specialist candidates Garrett Olson and Josh Edgin each tossed scoreless innings -- Edgin’s with two strikeouts. Olson did commit a throwing error on an off-line toss to first base.

Terry Collins reiterated that the Mets will definitely take a left-handed reliever north in Tim Byrdak’s absence. The manager said all three candidates -- Chuck James, Olson and Edgin -- will go on every road trip while they remain in camp. Collins said he will ensure the pitchers enter to face lefty batters so that their abilities can be accurately assessed.

• Johan Santana allowed five runs (four earned) in 2 2/3 innings, and Collins noted the same thing as Santana -- that the southpaw had control issues. Still, the manager found the 65-pitch outing encouraging.

“We’re starting to reach a stage now where I think he’s showing us all that he’s healthy,” Collins said. “Again, we certainly can be brokenhearted in two weeks. I don’t know. But just all indications point that he’s healthy. So now it’s, hey, look, let’s work on the finer points.”

(Read full post)

Terry Collins said despite Matt Harvey being sent to minor league camp, the highly regarded pitching prospect still will appear in at least two more Grapefruit League games. Harvey is allowed to be borrowed from minor league camp because he is not on the 40-man roster. (Players such as Jeurys Familia on the 40 and optioned to minor league camp cannot be borrowed.)

Collins effusively praised Harvey's pitching arsenal as well as his makeup. The manager said veterans in the clubhouse were impressed when Harvey was visibly upset with a poor first Grapefruit League performance as opposed to taking the attitude that he's a first-round pick and entitled to a big league spot.

Collins insisted if Harvey is the best available starting pitcher at the time of a Mets rotation injury, he would not hesitate to call up the prospect. The manager did resolve not to carry Harvey in the bullpen if he were one of the 12 best pitchers in camp but the five incumbent starters were healthy.

The motivation, Collins said, for sending Harvey to minor league camp was to ensure regular innings to prepare for the season.

Collins said Harvey's 75th and final pitch in Wednesday's minor league intrasquad game still registered 96 mph.

"I think he's real close, but he's got to refine some stuff," Collins said.

The manager said in addition to control, he needs to do a better job holding runners. His time to the plate needs to be 1.3 seconds or less, according to the manager.

Collins added that with Harvey, Familia, Zack Wheeler, Jenrry Mejia and Darin Gorski, "the future's really bright."

• Ruben Tejada (groin) and Ronny Cedeno (knee) will be ready to play tomorrow, Collins said, but the manager suggested he likely would wait before reinserting them in the lineup.

Dillon Gee was scheduled to pitch in a minor league game to allow Matt Harvey to log Grapefruit League innings against a credible offense in front of team personnel Wednesday. But the plan changed because the Mets did not have the MLB-stipulated minimum number of starting players making the two-and-a-half hour drive to Lakeland. So Gee now is on the bus and the starting pitcher as the Mets play at the Detroit Tigers for the second time in three days. Harvey will pitch in the minor league game.

Before media hit the road, David Wright is expected to speak about the "ultrasound-guided" cortisone shot he received to the left side of his rib cage Monday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York as well as update his status going forward.

Wednesday's news reports:

• Terry Collins got agitated when Ruben Tejada was scratched from Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Hours later, Collins said his frustration upon losing Tejada (groin) and Ronny Cedeno (knee tendinitis) in the same morning is that the absence of players from drills is inhibiting the team's ability to prepare to play fundamentally sound this season. D.J. Carrasco also is out for a limited period after twisting an ankle.

Columnist Kevin Kernan in the Post wonders what's going on here with the Mets' perpetual injuries.

Read more in the Journal, Star-Ledger, Daily News, Post, Record and Newsday.

• Carlos Beltran faced the Mets for the first time since last July's trade and went 1-for-4 Tuesday. Beltran was in a chipper mood as he reminisced with New York reporters about his six and a half seasons as a Met and the team's rebuilding plan. Beltran also kept the drama going about when he eventually will pay Jon Niese $10,000 -- the cost of Niese's offseason nose job, which Beltran asked the southpaw to get -- and offered to pay for -- shortly before being traded to the San Francisco Giants last summer. Niese playfully professed not to care about the delinquent payment. Watch video of Beltran's interview here. Read more in the Star-Ledger, Record, Newsday, Times and Daily News.

The Mets, by the way, play the Marlins on Thursday in Jupiter. So there is a decent chance Jose Reyes finally will play against his old team, too. Reyes did not face the Mets in either of the first two Grapefruit League meetings between his present and former teams. Beltran's Cardinals and Reyes' Marlins train at the same Jupiter, Fla., complex. And Beltran said Reyes looks as chipper as always.

"He's like Jose. He’s always happy, always smiling, always playing the game hard," Beltran said. "He’s going to be fine. It’s going to be a transition for him because of all these years playing for the Mets, all these years playing in New York, now going to a new team, [there are] new expectations. I think he’s going to be able to handle that situation well.”

• Mike Pelfrey allowed two homers while tossing 4 1/3 innings in the Mets' 7-1 loss to the Cardinals. Read more in Newsday.

• Johan Santana threw a between-starts bullpen session Tuesday and pronounced himself fit for his third Grapefruit League start, Friday against the Tigers in Port St. Lucie.

• A team official said the employment status of bullpen catcher Eric Langill, who was arrested Sunday night and charged with driving under the influence, remains unresolved.

• Left-hander Tim Byrdak underwent surgery to repair torn meniscus cartilage in his left knee Tuesday and is expected to miss six weeks.

• As ESPNNewYork.com reported late Monday, the trustee suing Fred Wilpon and family has asked a judge to bar Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as well as former Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau from testifying. Writes Anthony M. Destefano in Newsday:

Judge Jed Rakoff is expected to decide Monday, when the trial is scheduled to begin, if he will allow the testimony over the trustee's opposition. If he testifies, Morgenthau would describe how he put the PAL money into a Madoff account after Wilpon said it was "safe," according to the court papers. Koufax would testify that he opened an account with Madoff at Wilpon's suggestion, court documents stated.

Read more on the witness list and legal wrangling in the Times, Post, Daily News and Star-Ledger.

• Barry Meier in the Times looks at the $2.4 million in improvements at the Mets' spring-training home, Digital Domain Park. The upgrades are designed to entice a second team to relocate to the complex. Meier quotes officials saying the Mets would hope to lure the Washington Nationals or Houston Astros to join them at the Port St. Lucie facility. Florida's Atlantic coast has lost teams of late, leaving the Mets constantly facing the same opponents -- the Marlins and Cardinals, who are the nearest at 33 miles away in Jupiter, and the Nats in Viera 72 miles away -- or facing long drives. After those three opponents, all the drives are two-hours-plus. The Dodgers used to be closest to Port St. Lucie, but they bolted Vero Beach for Arizona. And the Orioles left Fort Lauderdale for Sarasota.

TRIVIA: At which university is Mets PR man Jay Horwitz inducted into the Hall of Fame?

Tuesday's answer: Pedro Feliciano set the franchise record for relief appearances three straight seasons -- 86 in 2008, 88 in 2009, then 92 in 2010.

Shortstop Ruben Tejada has suffered a left groin strain and has been scratched from Tuesday's Grapefruit League game.

"I feel a little bit tight, so I have to take care of that stuff right away," Tejada said.

Tejada said the issue first arose taking infield practice this morning, on a slow groundball. He added that he has not previously had a groin injury.

Omar Quintanilla instead will play shortstop.

Meanwhile, D.J. Carrasco is dealing with an ankle injury and is in the trainers' room.

The Mets head north on I-95 to Viera to face the Washington Nationals on Saturday, with R.A. Dickey on the mound.

Saturday's news reports:

• Judge Jed S. Rakoff set the parameters for the March 19 civil trial against Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon, his family, businesses and charities. A nine-person jury will decide how much, if anything, to award trustee Irving Picard of the $303 million he seeks in principal the Wilpons invested with Bernard Madoff in the two years before the swindler's arrest. Picard must convince jurors the Wilpons were "willfully blind" to the fraud and acted in "bad faith" in order to collect that amount. The trustee already has been awarded as a matter of law as much as $83 million by Rakoff pre-trial -- the profits in the two years before Madoff's arrest. After a quick jury selection on Day 1, the trial is expected to last 10 days. Court is scheduled to be in session during business hours Monday through Thursday. Read more in the Times, Newsday and Daily News.

• Matt Harvey tossed a pair of perfect innings and Matt den Dekker delivered a tiebreaking two-run triple in the eighth as the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-3, Friday at ESPN Wide World of Sports. Read more in the Record.

• Andy McCullough in the Star-Ledger notes that Harvey's control wasn't precise, but he got the job done. Writes McCullough:

The count ran full to the Atlanta Braves' Jason Heyward. Catcher Josh Thole called for a four-seamer inside to tie up Heyward’s hands. "I didn’t really mean to go up that high with Heyward," Harvey said, as his team wrapped up a 5-3 victory. "I was trying to go in. But ..." But Heyward still waved at the pitch, which popped on the stadium gun at 95 mph as it buzzed the upper region of the strike zone. And therein lies the rub: Harvey's stuff appears capable of getting out major-league hitters. In his first inning, he retired veteran slugger Chipper Jones on grounder , recorded a flyout from former Rookie of the Year Eric Hinske, then whiffed Heyward.

• A reunion between Chris Young and the Mets is expected to materialize, Andy Martino reports in the Daily News. Young -- reportedly also considering the San Diego Padres -- supposedly is feeling strong. However, he underwent last May the same surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule that Johan Santana did the previous September. So there is no assurance of a 2012 contribution. Young made only four starts for the Mets last season before the shoulder woes ended his season. He received a base salary of $1.1 million despite the limited workload.

• Lucas Duda was pulled from Friday's trip to Disney, but Terry Collins said he expected the right fielder on the bus for Viera to face the Nats today. Similarly, Andres Torres, who was dealing with a tight right glute, is expected on the trip. Read more in the Post.

• Ex-Met Jason Pridie will be suspended 50 games for use of a recreation drug, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

• A day after now-sidearm-throwing southpaw C.J. Nitkowski auditioned for the Mets, a team official said the organization had "not ruled out" signing him. But, the official added, Nitkowski almost assuredly would go directly to minor league camp if he were signed.

• Santana returns to the mound Sunday, but he apparently will not face former teammate Jose Reyes.

• The Mets' Triple-A Buffalo affiliate will play at Fenway Park against Pawtucket on Aug. 18 as part of a minor league doubleheader.

• Neil Best in Newsday notes the April 18-29 Tribeca film festival not only includes the documentary "Knuckleball!" featuring R.A. Dickey, but also "Benji, about the ill-fated Chicago prep basketball star of the early 80s, Ben Wilson, and Broke, about the many sports figures who have gone astray financially."

• Jason Bay is trying to revert to his old Pittsburgh-era swing. So far he is 0-for-5 with three walks and two strikeouts in Grapefruit League play. "It's tough when you're trying to work on things and people are trying to get you out," Bay told David Lennon in Newsday. "It's not batting practice. I think for right now, it's just about getting used to game speed -- getting used to seeing 95 and getting your timing down. Trusting what you do in the cage and not trying to think too much out there."

Writes columnist Joel Sherman in the Post about Bay:

Let’s give Jason Bay this benefit of the doubt because -- if nothing else -- the Mets certainly believe his failure as a Met is about caring too much, not too little. It is about the left fielder falling into a hole instantly in 2010 and losing confidence while gaining advice. It is about a destructive cycle of wanting to please so much that too many voices got beyond the velvet rope in his brain, too much counsel was heeded to tinker here and readjust there. His ears became a meeting place for the well intentioned to feed a series of recommendations that worked as harmoniously with one another as oil and water. Executives around the Mets couldn’t remember an accomplished player who turned every at-bat into a mandate on the positioning of his hands, the angling of a foot.

• Adam Loewen discusses with Mike Puma in the Post making the switch from pitching to the outfield after suffering a second stress fracture in his left elbow. "Three years ago I made the switch, and it was actually an exciting time for me because I had a new life," the 6-foot-6 Loewen told Puma. "As much as it was heartbreaking not being able to pitch anymore, it was exciting to have that second chance and progress enough to think I could make it back to the big leagues."

Loewen and Mike Baxter currently are vying for a lefty-hitting backup outfield job, although the Mets very well also could pick someone else up near the end of spring training. At present, Loewen may have a leg up on Baxter in part because Loewen can play center field, whereas Baxter does not. Both play first base. Backing up in center field should not have been a requisite, but righty-hitting Scott Hairston (oblique) is starting to appear likely to open the season on the disabled list, leaving a void as a fill-in for Andres Torres.

• Brian Costa in the Journal looks at the Puerto Rican Torres' offseason spent partly in the Dominican Republic, where he worked with Yankee Robinson Cano and his father. Cano met Torres on the MLB All-Star Tour of Taiwan in November and invited him to work out with them. They worked on refraining from lunging at balls. With the San Francisco Giants last season, Carlos Beltran also offered Torres advice, telling him he was too close to the plate and using too heavy a bat. Now, hitting coach Dave Hudgens has advice for Torres as well. Torres, who is slated to be the Mets' leadoff hitter, had his on-base percentage plummet 31 points, to .312, last season. Writes Costa:

Hudgens saw two things that concerned him. The first was an inability to stay on top of the ball, which made him prone to weak pop-ups. The second issue was lapses in plate discipline. Torres swung at a career-high 31% of pitches outside the strike zone last season. The Mets want him to be more selective and work the count better, and they told him as much during an early spring meeting with Hudgens, manager Terry Collins and general manager Sandy Alderson. They'll find out soon enough whether he can heed all the advice. "I know people look at me like, 'I saw you last year, and you didn't have it,'" Torres said. "But I feel really good right now."

• Mike Kerwick in the Record checks in on the acclimation progress of new double-play tandem Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy. Writes Kerwick:

Their color choices were strikingly different, separate hues for separate personalities. Tejada leans on Spanish; Murphy speaks English. Tejada spent his life studying to be a middle infielder; Murphy is taking his first serious stab at it. But the chemistry between these two middle infielders -- Tejada at shortstop, Murphy at second -- will help define the Mets’ defense this season. "It's almost a courtship kind of thing," joked Mets third base coach Tim Teufel. "They're getting to know each other, their likes and dislikes."

• Ken Belson in the Times notes today is the 50th anniversary of the franchise's first spring-training game. And Belson writes about the radio recording that captures it:

But what is somewhat intriguing is the identity of the first announcer to greet listeners of the game’s radio broadcast. It wasn’t Ralph Kiner or Bob Murphy or Lindsey Nelson, all of whom were on hand for the start of what would be their long collaboration chronicling the team’s fortunes. Instead, the first voice coming out of the radio belonged to none other than Howard Cosell, still emerging at that point as a larger-than-life personality in American sports.

• Andrew Keh in the Times notes that Pedro Beato cuts his teammates' hair, even though a professional barber also visits the Mets periodically. Writes Keh:

On Friday morning, a New York Times reporter in need of a haircut became Beato’s latest customer. It was 6:45, the sun was just coming up, and Beato set up shop near the Mets’ dugout, his clubhouse stool transformed into a barber’s chair. "Tell me what you want on the sides," Beato said as he went through his accessory bag, looking for the proper comb attachment for his electric clippers. "You look like you need a four." Like any experienced barber, he mixed stern commands -- "Keep your head down for a second" -- with just the right amount of small talk. The customer’s interests were paramount, but he was quick to offer his own insight.

(Hopefully this won't be "Barber of Sheaville, Part II." Google Rey Sanchez and "haircut during game" if you don't understand the reference.)

TRIVIA: Eight players have produced a three-homer game in franchise history. Can you name at least one Met from each decade who accomplished the feat?

(Friday's answer: Roy Halladay is the lone active major league pitcher who has at least 125 decisions and also a better winning percentage than Santana. Halladay has a .671 winning percentage (188-92), to Santana's .658 (133-69). Justin Verlander (.652), Tim Hudson (.651) and CC Sabathia (.647) round out the top five.)

Today, Johan Santana is expected to throw a between-starts bullpen session, although there is no guarantee. Then Mike Pelfrey is due to take the mound for an afternoon Grapefruit League game against the Miami Marlins in Port St. Lucie. The Players Association also makes its annual visit to converse with Mets players today, so we may find out what union chief Michael Weiner thinks about the Mets' payroll level.

Also, please join me for a 12:30 p.m. online Mets chat. Click this link.

Meanwhile, live near Bellmore JFK High School on Long Island? You can hear alums Steve Levy and Adam Schefter of ESPN speak tonight at 7. I'm an alum of Mepham, one of the other two high schools in the district. Details on tonight's event here.

Thursday's news report:

• Not exactly a shocker, even though it was treated as such: Jose Reyes was looking for the most money as a free agent, just $1 more, Marlins team president David Samson reportedly told Miami businessmen. Reyes is not expected at today's Mets-Marlins game. He played the past two nights in exhibition games at the Marlins' new stadium in Miami against college teams -- the University of Miami and Florida International.

Andy Martino in the Daily News doesn't believe Samson. Writes Martino:

According to sources, Reyes would have strongly considered a somewhat smaller deal from the Mets, both in years and dollars, and was shocked when his longtime team did not make an offer.

My analysis: Reyes would not have defected from the Mets to Miami if the disparity in offers were $1, or probably even $1 million. But my information from reliable sources is that the Mets were willing to go to as much as five years guaranteed, with a vesting option for a sixth year that would have raised the value to $100 million if Reyes stayed healthy.

Don't get caught up in whether the Mets made a formal offer to Reyes. Sandy Alderson conveyed to agent Peter Greenberg the parameters the Mets could reach. And Reyes' side decided that would not be enough and went with the superior Marlins offer.

And, by the way, that's no crime. Players almost always go where the salary is highest. The union obviously encourages that, too. Tom Glavine never wanted to leave Atlanta for New York, for example. But the disparity in money offered was too much.

Furthermore, and I know this because I ended up on a plane with a Mets official after the winter meetings, who was candid: The Mets' strong suspicion is that the Marlins would not have been done bidding until they got Reyes. I don't want to minimize the Mets' economic woes as a factor in their tepid pursuit of Reyes, but the fact of the matter is the Mets likely would have just been increasing what Reyes would ultimately have received from Miami had they actively bid. At some point the Mets would have had to stop anyway because the contract would have reached what is beyond a prudent salary versus injury risk and expected decline in performance as Reyes ages.

• Richard Sandomir in the Times notes that Fred Wilpon and family may be at a disadvantage in front of a jury because a group of average folk is probably not inclined to be sympathetic to multimillionaires. The Wilpons' attorneys unsuccessfully had tried to have the $386 million lawsuit heard by Judge Jed S. Rakoff alone. Writes Sandomir:

Rakoff, regarded as a brilliant but unpredictable jurist, alone will question the jury pool. He is a Yankees fan and a partial season-ticket holder. So his neutrality is assured and seems unlikely to be affected by his rooting interests. Anyway, the role of the opposing lawyers in shaping the makeup of the jury will be somewhat limited. Experts suggest that both sides probably already know the sort of jury makeup they want, and that mock trials have likely yielded juror profiles. But neither side will get all it wants. "The real challenge is to ferret out latent prejudices, so it's extremely important for lawyers to suggest questions to the judge beyond those the judge would use to elicit obvious biases," said Mark Zauderer, a partner at Flemming Zulack Williamson Zauderer in Manhattan. Rakoff need not use their questions. According to several lawyers and a jury consultant, the trustee will want jurors who resent millionaires. But Wilpon and [brother-in-law Saul] Katz’s team, they said, probably want less class-conscious people who might be more inclined to feel the trustee's pursuit of the Mets’ owners was overzealous and unfair.

• Andy McCullough in the Star-Ledger updates the progress of Jenrry Mejia, who is throwing off a mound -- albeit fastballs only. Pitching coach Dan Warthen estimated Mejia is already throwing in the low-90s mph. The Mets are targeting a May return to game action for Mejia, at the one-year anniversary of his Tommy John surgery, which is the standard rehab time. Warthen told McCullough that Mejia's delivery looks somewhat calmer now than pre-elbow injury, which should reduce his susceptibility to future injury. It was Warthen a year ago, going against the prevalent organization philosophy, who said Mejia projected to him as a reliever because of the violence of his delivery. Meanwhile, Mejia sought advice from Edinson Volquez while rehabbing, and has been consoled by friend/fellow prospect Jeurys Familia when dejected because of the long rehab process.

• Jon Niese tossed two scoreless innings and Justin Turner went 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs Wednesday as the Mets beat the Marlins, 7-0, in Jupiter.

• Niese is trying to improve his changeup, notes Mike Puma in the Post.

• Bobby Parnell -- who dined with his family at a Port St. Lucie pizza joint last night, according to an eyewitness -- had a perfect inning in Wednesday's Grapefruit League game, bouncing back from a woeful intrasquad appearance Sunday. He is the subject of a feature in the Daily News.

There are five bullpen locks -- Frank Francisco, Jon Rauch, Ramon Ramirez, Tim Byrdak and Manny Acosta -- and Parnell is not one of them. He does have a minor league option remaining, but continued outings like Wednesday's should get him onto the major league staff, even if it's not the late-inning role he struggled with last season.

The Mets have not written off Parnell. They were credibly approached at the winter meetings by a team interested in acquiring him and were rebuffed. The Mets were leery of trading a pitcher who throws 100 mph and is under their control for four more seasons and not even eligible for arbitration until next winter in all likelihood. Parnell has only two years, 132 days of major league service time and would essentially need to spend the year in the minors not to qualify for arbitration next offseason for the first of three times.

If Parnell is on the Opening Day roster -- again, no given as of now -- that leaves one more spot. D.J. Carrasco has an existing $1.2 million deal, giving him a leg up, but one team insider said to watch Miguel Batista for one of those final two spots. Relievers facing a more uphill battle to sneak onto the Opening Day roster include younger pitchers Pedro Beato and Josh Stinson as well as left-handers Chuck James, Garrett Olson and Daniel Herrera.

• David Wright (left rib-cage discomfort) does not sound like he will be back for at least a week. Terry Collins said Thursday that Wright should start taking grounders this weekend, but not throw. And Wright may or may not start swinging a bat this weekend. Meanwhile, Beato was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Wednesday afternoon, a day after being pulled from a Grapefruit League appearance with right shoulder difficulty.

• Columnist Joel Sherman in the Post uses ESPN's fantasy baseball rankings to note the declining state of third-base play in New York. Writes Sherman:

ESPN was displaying its top 12 fantasy third basemen, and I noticed Alex Rodriguez was ranked ninth and David Wright was not even among the 12 names shown. Now I do not want to confuse ESPN’s fantasy rankings with, say, The Dead Sea Scrolls for relevance. But it does provide a snapshot of third base right now in New York, which is to say the most uncertain since 2004. That was Rodriguez’s first season at his new position and Wright’s debut as a Met. Both are coming off injuries and their worst full years, so suddenly 2012 has a mandate-like feeling for the duo.

Wright told Sherman: "As far as I'm concerned it is a big motivator, not the doubt, but the fear of failure. I just don't like failing. But there is no doubt in me. I am very, very confident in what I am doing and what I need to do."

As for Wright's future with the club, Alderson said: "He is not trade bait. Is he part of the future? I hope the answer is yes. Let's see how he bounces back this season."

• Does Alderson have the autonomy -- there's that word again -- to guide the Mets properly? Columnist Bob Klaspich in the Record wonders if the GM will stand up to the Wilpons. Writes Klapisch:

Alderson has a track record to back up his promises. Then again, he’s never worked in an environment as toxic as this or for owners who are this unpopular. Fans are angry, they want the Wilpons out, many are vowing to stay away from Citi Field until regime change is complete. Alderson knows he’s about two years away from turning into a marked man, himself. It didn’t help matters last week when Fred Wilpon threw Alderson under the bus in explaining why Reyes signed with the Marlins. The owner had the audacity to say it was a "baseball decision" hatched entirely by Alderson. Don't blame me, blame him, is what Fred was saying. It was an outright lie and Alderson knows it. So does every discerning Mets fan who figured out long ago the Wilpons didn't have the resources to write a $100 million check.

• David Lennon in Newsday profiles Ruben Tejada. Writes Lennon:

Just as Reyes did in his early years with the Mets, Tejada is still getting a better feel for English, which makes him come across as a bit shy on camera. "He's a different person from what you see on TV as opposed to what you get behind closed doors," Wright said. "During interviews and stuff, he's very introverted, but he's very outgoing when he's around us. He's got a dry sense of humor."

Read more on Tejada succeeding Reyes at shortstop with the Mets from Andrew Keh in the Times.

• Santana is on track to start Sunday against the Marlins in Port St. Lucie, according to Collins. Read more in the Star-Ledger, Newsday, Times, Daily News and Post.

TRIVIA: Who played shortstop for the Mets the game before Reyes' major league debut?

(Wednesday's answer: The game before Wright made his major league debut with the Mets on July 21, 2004, Ty Wigginton started at third base for the Mets. Wigginton moved to first base for Wright's debut and was traded eight days after that to the Pittsburgh Pirates with now-slugger Jose Bautista and Matt Peterson for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger.)

Above: R.A. Dickey faces Lucas Duda in the first inning of Saturday's intrasquad game.

Josh Stinson, Armando Rodriguez and Jon Rauch combined for five scoreless innings in relief of Chris Schwinden as Team Blue beat Team Orange, 4-1, in Saturday’s intrasquad game.

Justin Turner, Jason Bay and Lucas Duda had two hits apiece for the victors, while Ike Davis and Josh Thole each matched that output for the losing side. R.A. Dickey allowed two hits and two walks while striking out three in two scoreless innings. Pedro Beato and D.J. Carrasco each were charged with two runs in two innings.

Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy were paired in the middle infield but not tested with a play that required any coordination.

Thole threw out Turner on the only steal attempt against him.

Terry Collins said he was particularly paying attention to Davis during his two times on base, since this was his first quasi-game action since suffering what turned out to be the season-ending left ankle injury last May 10 in Colorado.

“My thing with Ike, actually when he’s at first, I’m not even watching the pitch. I’m seeing how he reacts,” Collins said. “How’s he feeling? Can I see any evidence that his ankle may be bothering him when he starts out? When he hit a double, I watched him run the entire way. I didn’t even care where the ball went. I wanted to see how he made a turn, whether he was cautious or not. And he looks great.”

As for Dickey, Collins said: “When he first started out, you could tell it’s been a while since he’s been out there. But, later on, the command of his knuckleball was very, very good. One of the reasons why he got off to a rough start last year is the command of his knuckleball was not real good. I mean, he walked more guys early in the year than he ever has. So I want to make sure he gets out of this camp with a good feel for it.”

“I was OK,” Dickey said. “I mean, on a 1 to 10, it was probably a 6. I had a lot of good movement, so that was nice to see. But I felt a little rusty.”

Mike Baxter manned first base after Davis departed, and Collins said both Baxter and Adam Loewen will get work there. The intent is not particularly to use them in a regular-season game there -- Turner will be the backup to Davis. But Collins wants versatility from whomever emerges as the backup lefty-hitting outfielder. (Loewen might have received a boost Saturday if Scott Hairston’s oblique injury lingers into the season, since Loewen has center-field experience and Baxter is not comfortable there.)

Baxter appeared in one game with the San Diego Padres in 2010 at first base and has played 150 minor league games there over six seasons. Loewen has appeared in 24 minor league games at first base.

“They both told me that they can play first,” Collins said. “Mike Baxter said he didn’t play the outfield until he signed [professionally]. I wanted to put him over there to see how he looks. When we’re looking at our bench, and we’re looking at that possibility of finding that left-handed hitter, right now for me it’s got to be a guy who can play multiple positions -- not that he’s ever going to play first, but there’s no reason why he shouldn’t play it down here.”

• Collins said David Wright won’t play very much in Monday’s Grapefruit League opener, but he should seem limited action. Wright experienced rib-cage tightness this week, and was scratched from Saturday’s intrasquad game. He will resume hitting Sunday to see how the area responds. “He made a play the other day and he felt a little stretch in his ribs and he’s been fine,” Collins said. “He’s been doing all the drills. We just asked him to back off. We’ve got 31 exhibition games to play.”

• Johan Santana came through Saturday’s 40-pitch bullpen session “fine,” Collins said, and should be good to pitch in Tuesday’s home Grapefruit League game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Collins said Sunday should be a formal intrasquad game rather than batting practice, although they may borrow minor leaguers to have enough participants.

Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy, who have been working together on back fields, get a chance to see game action as a double-play tandem for the first time in a couple of years when Terry Collins pairs them on one side of Saturday's intrasquad game.

Tejada recalled that Murphy and he actually played together in the middle infield for about 20 games with Triple-A Buffalo in 2010. That came just before Murphy's season ended with a medial collateral ligament strain in his right knee, courtesy of a slide from Washington Nationals farmhand Leonard Davis.

Murphy still wears a brace on that knee. He injured the MCL in the left knee last season, also while manning second base, on a slide from Atlanta's Jose Constanza. But that injury, although to the same ligament as in the other knee, is considered less severe.

It's now only two days until the Mets' first intrasquad game. Check out pitching assignments here.

Wednesday's news reports:

• Sandy Alderson mentioned Jason Giambi and Joey Votto as comps in one quote when the GM spoke about Lucas Duda. “I think they will end up having a similar profile: Power guys with an excellent eye at the plate," Alderson told Mike Puma in the Post regarding Duda and Giambi. "If you have that combination, you can be a superstar. Especially for a left-handed hitter, if you’ve got power, the high on-base percentage, the approach and you can hit left-handed pitching, that's Joey Votto. It’s a handful of guys, and [Duda] has already demonstrated that he has that potential."

Before putting on another batting practice show Tuesday, Duda was hit in the right hamstring with a fastball from highly regarded prospect Matt Harvey. There was no lasting damage. Read more in the Times, Star-Ledger and Newsday.

• Two team sources severely downplayed any scenario in which still-unsigned Ivan Rodriguez becomes a Met. One insider definitively stated the Mets will head north with catchers already in camp. The likely pairing is Josh Thole with Mike Nickeas. Nickeas will receive competition from Rob Johnson, as well as Lucas May and Vinny Rottino.

• The Post reports the Mets have about $2 million in reserve to spend if required, whether that is on a lefty-hitting backup outfielder should Adam Loewen or Mike Baxter not claim that spot or an outside starting pitcher should Johan Santana have a setback and Miguel Batista not be adequate to step in.

• Tyler Kepner in the Times catches up in Jupiter with Carlos Beltran and Adam Wainwright, now teammates with the St. Louis Cardinals, who are forever linked by that curveball that ended Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. "I told him I was happy he was here and couldn’t wait to be a teammate,” Wainwright told Kepner. “I told him, ‘The media’s going to ask us about that game, probably,’ and he just stopped me and said, ‘Hey, that’s in the past, let’s just put it behind us and move on. We’re teammates.’ I said, ‘Hey, you’re preaching to the choir, man.’”

• Jon Rauch became the latest in the clubhouse on Twitter. Follow him at @jrauch60. Rauch signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Mets and will serve as the primary right-handed set-up man to closer Frank Francisco.

• Tim Byrdak, who already had dyed his mustache blond, dressed in full Hulk Hogan garb Tuesday. Still, Byrdak and fellow Mets tell David Lennon in Newsday there will be a time to turn things more serious. Writes Lennon:

Byrdak joked that he did it after Tuesday morning's media workshop to show the younger players how fast he could get something up on Twitter. But even a prankster like Byrdak realizes that these Mets have to leave the comedy act in the clubhouse -- and it will have to be cut back significantly as the regular season draws closer. "You just got to know when to pick your spots," Byrdak said. "Obviously, that's the biggest thing. If the veteran guys get together and say that's not a great idea, then don't do it. The bottom line is that you have to get the job done on the field and we all know that."

• Terry Collins spoke with bloggers on a conference call Tuesday. Collins noted he prefers Andres Torres for the leadoff spot over Ruben Tejada because Tejada bears the responsibility for replacing Jose Reyes defensively, and it would be a lot of extra pressure trying to replace Reyes in the No. 1 slot in the lineup, too. As for the 2010 first-round pick Harvey, who threw batting practice Tuesday, Collins said about a 2012 appearance in a Mets uniform: "Am I going to see him? To be honest, I hope not, because that means our five starters that we’re running out there out of spring training are healthy and we run them out there every five days. But if that doesn't work, and something happens, I know I’ve got a quality arm that's willing and waiting to come up." Harvey is likely to open the season at Double-A Binghamton, where he spent the second half of last season.

For a full recap of Collins' conference call, click here for Amazin' Avenue's transcript.

• Newsday columnist Ken Davidoff believes the Mets are in good hands with Collins. "I demand work ethic," Collins told Davidoff. "I demand playing the game right, that kind of stuff. It just rubbed people the wrong way sometimes early in my career. Now I'm doing a better job of controlling my emotions."

• Andy McCullough in the Star-Ledger takes a look at Jon Niese, who finished last season on the disabled list with an intercostal strain on his right side, and who -- despite his upside -- has never reached 180 innings in a professional season. Writes McCullough:

The signs were obvious to the trained eye. Midway through clean innings in 2011, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen sometimes saw starter Jon Niese accelerate his delivery, drag his arm and serve belt-high offerings to hitters. In between innings, Niese might grouse about his failures at the plate rather than focus on his responsibilities on the mound. "He was youthful," Warthen said. "And I think he got mentally tired more than he got physically tired."

ESPN Stats & Information's Mark Simon previously examined Niese's bad luck last season, and noted that statistics suggest his ERA could have been 3.28 (xFIP) or 3.77 (True ERA) rather than the 4.40 ERA the southpaw produced. Wrote Simon:

The average pitcher allows hits on about 10 to 12 percent of soft/normally hit fly balls and pop ups. Niese’s rate last year? A whopping 27 percent. That led to his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) being among the highest in the majors -- .333. In baseball-measurable numbers, that’s the difference between allowing 30 hits on such balls (as Niese did) and allowing 11 hits (what the data suggests the average pitcher allows).

Read Simon's full Feb. 9 analysis of Niese here.

• Mike Kerwick in the Record profiles the new leadoff hitter/center fielder Torres. Torres' on-base percentage went from .343 in 2010 while winning a World Series to .312 in 2011, although he assigns the difference to battling injuries last year. Collins said he got a solid endorsement of Torres' center-field ability from San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy. Writes Kerwick:

A Google image search of Torres produces shots of him celebrating among trolley cars. That magical season, he piled up career highs in doubles (43), triples (8), homers (16), hits (136), RBI (63) and runs (84). Last season? He regressed. He scratched out just 19 RBI and hit only four home runs. He scored 34 fewer runs and had 59 fewer hits. "Last year, I was battling injuries, things like that," Torres said. "But this year, I feel a lot better."

Watch ESPNNewYork.com video of Torres speaking Tuesday here.

• David Wright tells columnist Kevin Kernan in the Post about his relationship with the late Gary Carter. "He would periodically call to check in to see how I was feeling at the plate," Wright said. "He always liked to talk about the dynamic of the clubhouse. That goes back to when he played, kind of being one of the leaders on that team, the pulse of the clubhouse. ... I try to talk to everybody because it's easy to fall into cliques. Sometimes it’s like high school. The biggest thing I got from Gary was the energy and the enthusiasm that he had for the game. You could always hear the excitement in his voice, even when he was down to his last couple of months. You could tell he wasn’t feeling well and he started out kind of sluggish on the phone and before you knew he’s asking me questions, like, 'How is Thole feeling behind the plate?' You could then hear the energy in his voice."

• The Daily News' Peter Botte examines Dillon Gee running out of gas toward the end of the season. Gee was 8-1 with a 3.32 ERA through June. He then had a 5-5 record and 5.42 ERA the remainder of the season. The Mets hope to safeguard against Gee again fading as the season progresses by lightening his between-starts program later in the season. "There’s no doubt, as he's told me, he wore down," Collins said. "It got to be later in the summer and he ran out of gas. We've talked about understanding the process that he's hopefully learned that he has to maintain strength through the summer. He can’t burn himself into the month of July and then be shot. ... But Dillon Gee showed he can pitch in this league. When he uses all of his pitches, he can be real effective."

• Collins continues to project between 30 and 40 homers for Ike Davis, and also notes his defensive ability at first base with help all of the infielders, as opposed to last year when Daniel Murphy, Duda or Nick Evans manned the position. Read columnist Bill Madden on Davis in the Daily News. "Of all the losses we suffered to injuries last year, none was nearly as severe as Ike," Collins told Madden. "From a personal standpoint, watching him hit and play first base the way he did, I felt deprived."

• The Times' Jay Schreiber compares Fred Wilpon's 2011 and 2012 spring training remarks.

TRIVIA: When Wright participated in the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, who subbed for injured Dave Racaniello and pitched to Wright?

(Tuesday's answer: Among active pitchers, Livan Hernandez has surrendered the most homers to the Mets, with 27 long balls allowed. Hernandez is currently with the Houston Astros.)

Terry Collins will address his players at 9 a.m. today. Then it's time to head outdoors for the first official full-squad workout.

Monday's news reports:

• David Wright reacted to the contract extension childhood friend/fellow National League East third baseman Ryan Zimmerman received with the Washington Nationals. The Nats added six years and $100 million to Zimmerman's existing contract. The Mets hold a team option for 2013 with Wright, so any contract extension talks -- if they materialize -- likely will wait until next offseason. Wright said in-season talks are not ideal. Similarly, trading Wright during this season appears a less-likely scenario than him completing at least this year with the Mets. A team official told the Daily News that the Mets would need four Zack Wheelers -- the prospect the Mets received in the Carlos Beltran trade from the San Francisco Giants -- in return to deal Wright at this year's summer deadline.

Still, columnist Joel Sherman in the Post foresees Wright ultimately a goner. Writes Sherman:

He is trying to re-establish his value, hoping to capitalize on those nearer Citi Field fences to return to the land of 30 homers, 100 RBIs and a .300 average. The irony is that will, if anything, make him more likely to be traded either this July or, more probably, after the Mets pick up his $16 million option for 2013. This is why the Zimmerman contract provides a larger context of where the Mets are within the NL East. The Nationals and Marlins are in go-for-it mode, building their star bases and payrolls. The Braves have as large a collection of impressive, young major-league ready arms as any organization. The Phillies are the star-heavy, five-time defending division champs.

Read more in the Star-Ledger and Newsday.

• Johan Santana simulated throwing two innings during a bullpen session Sunday. The southpaw is scheduled to throw batting practice to Mets hitters Friday, setting up a March 6 Grapefruit League matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals. Collins said the real test of Santana's surgically repaired left shoulder will begin then. Read more in the Record, Post, Daily News and Newsday.

• The Ruben Tejada arrival saga storyline has run its course, after Collins made reference to Derek Jeter as a paragon of virtue. Collins met with Tejada on Sunday morning and everyone is now ready to proceed. Read more in the Journal, Times, Star-Ledger, Post, Record, Daily News and Newsday.

• Richard Sandomir in the Times reviews the arguments both sides will use assuming the $386 million civil trial proceeds against Fred Wilpon and family on March 19 as scheduled. Judge Jed S. Rakoff must rule by March 5 whether to allow the trial to go ahead. Rakoff alternatively could toss the case, as the Wilpons' attorneys have requested. He also could award the trustee suing the Wilpons $83 million -- allegedly the Wilpons' profits in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme in the two years before Madoff was arrested. In that scenario, Rakoff then either must decide if that's all the plaintiff gets, or whether Rakoff will still let the trustee try to recover another $303 million at trial by attempting to prove the Wilpons were "willfully blind" to Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

At the latest hearing, four days ago, Rakoff decided to toss expert witnesses from both sides. The judge also heard arguments from the lawyers about how he should rule with respect to a trial proceeding. Essentially, for Rakoff to toss the case, he would have to find that even if everything trustee Irving Picard alleges is true, reasonable jurors could not find for him in court. Writes Sandomir:

Lawyers for Katz and Wilpon argued that the men were ordinary customers of Madoff’s -- not sophisticated investors -- entitled to the protections of the law. [Saul] Katz and Wilpon say they saw nothing suspicious about Madoff over more than 20 years of investing with him. "The trustee has confused the record, has piled on irrelevant paper, has mischaracterized evidence," said Karen Wagner, the lead lawyer for the Mets’ owners. She said the trustee "distorts the evidence in this case in order to attempt to come under a standard he cannot meet." David Sheehan, the counsel to the trustee, argued that there was ample evidence to show that Katz and Wilpon had been willfully blind to numerous indications that Madoff might have been engaged in fraud. Sheehan said that Wagner's clients were not "run-of-the-mill guys investing in a retail brokerage operation." He cited another brush with a Ponzi scheme in which Sterling Stamos, the investment firm co-owned by Wilpon and Katz’s company, repaid $13 million when a hedge fund called Bayou collapsed. Sheehan cited a 2005 Sterling meeting agenda with this entry: "Have learned a lot from the Bayou experience."

• Post columnist Mike Vaccaro strolled out to Field 7, which has been reconfigured to the new dimensions of Citi Field. The Mets left the old walls up too, so Mets hitters could get a feel for just how big the difference is between the former stadium dimensions and the new ones. Collins even had staff leave the balls that were hit during batting practice between the walls there -- the ones that will be homers now, but would not the past three years -- so that hitters can see the tangible difference in homer-friendliness with the revised dimensions. Writes Vaccaro:

How vast is it? Put it this way: You could drive a couple of Escalades side-by-side and still have room for a few Harleys. It is wider than a hotel concourse. Stepping it off heel-to-toe, it took 10 paces of my size 13 Puma Clydes to make it from front to back. "Comparatively," catcher Josh Thole said, "it feels like you can reach out and touch the fence." That was the idea, Terry Collins insists. They kept the old fences up for a reason, and he saw the results the first day the early-reporting regulars took live batting practice. "After a while," Collins said, “I took a walk out there, and there’s like a dozen baseballs lying in that area between the fences, home runs now that would’ve been something else before." Collins told his coaches, "Make sure you walk the guys back this way, so they can see those baseballs lying on the grass. Let them see what they’re going to be in for once we get them back home."

For a diagram of the Citi Field alterations, check this Oct. 31 blog entry.

TRIVIA: Manny Acosta and Tejada were born in Panama. Name the last Panamian-born player to appear in the majors with the Mets before them.

(Sunday's answer: Two players in Mets major league game have fathers who are college baseball coaches. Third base prospect Zach Lutz's father Yogi is the head coach at Alvernia College in Pennsylvania. Matt Harvey's father Edward is a coach on the staff at the UConn Avery Point. Both teams play in Florida in the coming weeks, near the Mets' complex.)

Jenrry Mejia, who threw on an incline last week for the first time since Tommy John surgery on May 16, 2011, pitched from the top of the mound Sunday and had a positive session.

Bullpen catcher Eric Langill squatted only a few feet in front of the plate, so the distance Mejia threw was nearly the full 60 feet, 6 inches. Mejia had been working his way up the slope of the mound since arriving in camp.

Mejia is projected to return to game action in May.

• Terry Collins spoke after Sunday’s workout about his early morning meeting with Ruben Tejada, which closes the book on Tejada not reporting early to camp.

“I’m sure he got the message,” Collins said. “There wasn’t a lot of back and forth.”

A lot of forth?

“That would be a good way to put it,” the manager said with a laugh.

Collins noted to the media how Derek Jeter perentially arrives at Yankees camp early, and that sets a tone.

“Who was the first guy in their camp? The biggest baseball star in the city of New York,” Collins said. “He does it all the time. It sends a message. If this guy does it, how come others can’t? And [Tejada] got it. He really did. He’s such a good kid. He was very upset to think he messed up.”

Collins had wanted Tejada to work at the Mets’ Florida complex all winter, with the exception of a holiday break to return to his native Panama. The manager explained his preference to Tejada at the end of last season.

Collins said there was nothing lost in translation during that end-of-season meeting, either.

“He recited it word for word to me today. That’s why I knew he heard me and understood it,” Collins said. “He just said, ‘I did all those things you wanted me to do; I just did them back home.’”

• The Mets will stage their first full-squad workout Monday. Collins will deliver an address to the team at 9 a.m. before the players proceed outdoors for the workout.

Ruben Tejada, with some assistance from bullpen coach Ricky Bones, speaks upon arriving at Mets camp Sunday.