Lennon's Short Hops

Foggy Bay

When Jason Bay returned to Citi Field on Friday, the Mets outfielder shed some light on the sneaky nature of concussions and why the injury is so difficult to overcome. Not only can the symptoms be difficult to diagnose, but many times people might not realize what they are dealing with.

"I think everybody's had a concussion," Bay said. "Especially going through all this. They classify so much in different ways. I didn't know what to draw on. I'd feel good one day, then you go through an hour or two where you just want to lie down, take a nap and close your eyes."

The problem was that Bay had no idea when the symptoms would stop. On July 27, when the Mets first announced he had suffered a concussion, they believed he might play again in a matter of days. But Bay has been inactive for more than a month.

"I've had a lot of time and I've been looking stuff up," he said. "It's just one of the things where everybody's different. You get some ideas of what you can do to help it, or speed it up, or minimize it. But ultimately, it's not a lot."

99 Problems (but the Yankees ain't one)

In "Empire State of Mind," Jay-Z brags that he "made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can." So it was only natural that the Yankees conceded defeat this past week and announced that they would join forces with the rap mogul on "limited edition co-branded merchandise" to commemorate Yankee Stadium's first concerts, which will have Jay-Z and Eminem on Sept. 13 and 14.

According to the team, the items - sweatshirts, T-shirts, fitted caps - will feature "the presence of "Yankees and Jay-Z logos," and all items "have been seen and approved by Jay-Z."

There's no word yet, however, on whether Jay-Z had a vote in Javier Vazquez's move to the bullpen.

P-A-T-S, Pats, Pats, PatsMatt Harvey, the Mets' top pick in the June draft, showed a flair for diplomacy when he was introduced Friday at Citi Field.

Speaking about the whole experience, the Connecticut native said it was exciting because "the Mets were my National League team growing up."

Harvey was lucky there wasn't a follow-up question asking him his favorite American League team, because if he mentioned the Yankees again, as he did during his post-draft conference call, that would have been a bit embarrassing.

Plus, when he was asked about his favorite NFL team on that June call, Harvey didn't make many friends among Jets fans occupying Mets Nation. His reply? The Patriots.