Hi Fellow Mets Heads,

I decided to raise money this year for the American Cancer Society in honor of my father who passed away from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in March of 2004.

For every home run the New York Mets hit this season, I will be donating $5 to the American Cancer Society.

I have an overall goal of raising $5,000, but I can't reach it alone! Please help me "Knock Cancer Outta Here!" (inspired by the immortal words of Gary Cohen), and reach my goal before season's end on October 4th. All contributions go to the ACS and will help to fund cancer research.

All the details are on my ACS sponsored site below, so please forward this to anyone you know so I can surpass my goal! Seriously, even $1 will help.

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/regis

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and all the best!

I cringe when Luis Castillo walks to the plate. I really feel that last year, I could have outhit him, and I haven't even been in a batting cage in a year. Few players get me to boo, but he managed to inspire that on occasion in 2008.

But as the saying goes, "those who forget history are doomed to repeat it". Well, if that's true, I think that Mets fans have certainly forgotten that Castillo has had a good, consistent career, so I hope the saying rings true in 2009.

Last year was a bit of an anomaly for Castillo. Between the years of 1999 and 2007, Castillo averaged 164 hits/year. In 2008, he had just 73.  Keep in mind however, that was in about half as many at bats due to plaguing injuries.

In the same time frame, Castillo sported a .375 OBP. In 2008, his walks were up so it didn't actually dip too much (.355), but I'm thinking that was because he was so beleaguered by knee problems that he decided walking to first was the best way to get on...at least it was the most pain-free way of doing it.

Another interesting stat I came across was that he hit .263 with RISP and 2 outs last year. I would have guessed that to be around .175 with my tainted perception. After all, when your expectations are low, it is easy to exceed them.

But here's my point. As much as it pains me that he is still on the team, perhaps I'm being too hasty as many a New York fan has been known to be. I doubt he will, but if he proves me wrong - and history says that if healthy he may - I will be the first to apologize. He doesn't give a crap what I think anyway.