The Shea Hot Corner

Abduction

2005-04-16T10:16:00.000-04:00

Who was that on the mound last night in the Mets uniform and what did he do with the real Aaron Heilman?

The Pilgrimage

2005-04-11T09:39:00.000-04:00

I'll be heading out to Shea to see my first home opener ever. I'm really pumped. For the last seven years I've lived out of state so I have not been able to make opening day. Not this year. I may get fired but I think it's worth it (if they win). I'll report back with my thoughts later or tomorrow. Let's go Mets!

Mets Win!!!!

2005-04-10T15:38:00.000-04:00

Mets win Mets win Mets win!! I'm going out to celebrate. If you happen to see a very drunk (and handsome) guy stumbling around Manhattan with a Jose Reyes #7 Norfolk Tides jersey on be sure to say hello.

Win!

2005-04-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

Win a Fu#*ing game already! I just went out for a walk to enjoy the nice weather and stupidly wore a Mets T-shirt. I was mocked, tripped and had various projectiles thrown at me. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, AND FOR MY SAFETY AND SANITY, WIN A GAME!

Diary of a Madman: In Game Thoughts

2005-04-08T19:51:00.000-04:00

Since I'm having a hard time finding time to blog and devote two and a half hours a day to watch Mets games, I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and do both. Buckle your seat belts Mets fans. Let's see, am I ready?

TiVo on? Check.
Wireless mouse and keyboard? Check.
Lazy-Boy recliner? Check.
Fuzzy slippers? Check.
Beer? Check.
Loser watching TiVo'd Mets game on a Friday night with high tech gadgets in a lazy-boy with fuzzy slippers drinking beer? Check.

Top of the 1st
I hope it's not hot in Atlanta. John Thomson sweats like a whore in church. It's really quite disgusting. Reyes finds himself in a hole but swats a single. Reyes just got tagged out trying to swipe second base! No! Upon further TiVo review, he was f'ing safe! Damn umps have it out for the Mets this season! Oh well, at least he didn't pull anything. Ya know, when is Willie gonna get his ass out of the dugout to argue? He sat on his hands while one of his ace pitchers, Tom Glavine, got abused by Chuck Meriwether the other day. And now he just let another obviously bad call go unchecked. Yeah yeah yeah, I know, but if we can't second guess the manager then what else are Mets fans gonna do? Revel in the success of our team? Not gonna happen. Matsui does a Reyes impersonation and singles up the middle. It would sure be nice to have runners on the corners with no outs right now for Beltran. Okay, I'm over it. DP. Inning over. Good guys 0; Bad guys 0.

Bottom of the 1st
Why is Jimmy Carter at the Braves game and not paying his respects to the Pope? Don't diss the Pope Jimmy! Let's see if Victor "the Wrong" Zambrano can find the strike zone. Every ball to Matsui is an adventure. Furcal out. Question answered - Zambrano can't find the strike zone. But he can find Giles' back - almost as good. Please hit Larry. For the love of God hit im. Nasty breaking ball to get Larry down 1 and 2. Nice - inside 92 MPH heater for the K. Wow, the Giles and Larry at bats encapsulates Zambrano's career - wild then nasty. All in the time it takes to swig 1/4 beer. Hit Andruw Jones. Okay ,I'll stop. I've yet to see Piazza make a throw to 2nd base w/out bouncing it. The wife (aka Smokin' Hot Corner) just asked me to do the taxes. Is she on crack? Giles safe at second on SB. Here comes the chant. Ohhhh, oooooo. So stupid. If you're gonna walk Andruw, that's a good way to do it - buzzing his tower like Maverick in Top Gun. LaRoche, slow grounder that Kaz can't get to (which he should have). Giles scores. Matsui really sucks. Sorry, but he does. We should be out of this inning unscathed. But not with Matsui in the field. Estrada singles, Andruw scores. We should be out of this inning. Raul Mondesi looks like a Klingon from Star Trek. Ugliest man in baseball. Bar none. Wow, where's the rest of him? Klongondesi must have dropped 50 pounds. Got roids? Fran Healy just brought up the word "hitting coach." How long wil he brings up "Charlie Low." CLIFFORD THE BIG RED OUTFIELDER!! Damn, Cornelius will surprise you now and then with the leather. Inning over. Good guys 0; Bad guys 2.

Top of 2nd
Mike met the Pope. Mike Popazza. Sorry, I had to. Mike Poppaza grounds out to Lucifer Larry. How many times do we see a great defensive play only to see the same player come up to bat and drill one? A lot. C'mon Cliff. Maybe not - Cliff grounds out. Dougie Alphabet - too sexy for batting gloves. Not too sexy for a hit though. David Wright is up. I think the Smokin' Hot Corner is jealous of him. Wright Ks. Good guys 0; Braves 2.

Bottom of 2nd
Brian Jordan up. I really don't like anyone on this team. Almost a nice play by Zambrano on the Jordan chopper, who probably should have let Wright play that. Oh great - Zambrano's hurt. I really hate baseball players. Thomson advances the runner on a sac bunt. Jordan to 2nd. What are the chances of him not scoring? Furcal chops/grounds/does something weird but it's an out - Jordan to 3rd. 2 outs. For Giles. If I were a hitter I would just not swing at anything Zambrano throws. Really, I'd just stand there. Giles couldn't resist. K. Good guys 0; Bad guys 2.

Top 3rd
Ray Romano's up. Oh, wait, that's Eric Valent. Thomson makes Romano look silly as he watches strike 3. Matty Loughlin is telling us how the Braves have to make a f'ing giant, high-tech playground just to draw fans. God I hate Atlanta. They really don't deserve all those flags. Their fans don't at least. Zambrano Ks. Let's contract Atlanta. And the Yankees. While we're at it, the Phillies, Marlins and Nationals too. Yay, the Mets win the division! Jose loves to swing at that low breaking pitch doesn't he. And rarely hits it. Jose grounds out. Good guys 0; Bad guys 2.

Bottom 3rd
Here comes Larry, who drills a ball to RF and Valent fondles the ball for a few minutes allowing Larry to trot on down to second base. Second error of the game for the Metsies. But I guess our DER or DIPS looks good. Riiiiight. Here comes the chant. Kill me now. Andruw grounds to Reyes, who makes a sick play and is saved by Minkywinky who makes a nice tag. Last season the first basemen doesn't make that play and there are men on the corners. Adam LaRoche looks like she should be doing my taxes not playing baseball. Speaking of taxes, I really don't feel like doing them. Zambrano walks the accountant. 2.1 IP, 2 walks, 1 hit batsmen - about right for Zambrano. Nice play - Wright going back to catch a foul popper. APB!! All Points Bulletin!! Be on the lookout for the rest of Mondesi's body!! Last seen with a syringe up its ass. The Kingon Ks on another pitch out of the strike zone. Why does anyone swing at that crap. Good guys 0; Bad guys 2.

Top of 4th
Matsui atones for his error wiiiiith - an IF popout. Nice. That was an awful at bat for Beltran. Who Ks on 3 pitches, gazing at a BP fastball for a called strike 3. Why is it the Mets have a knack for making mediocre pitchers look like Sandy Koufax?!? POPAZZA!! He may not be the Piazza of old, but you still can't sneak a 93 MPH flat fastball by him. Despite how bad the Mets have looked, they are only down by 1 and still in it. And like Lotto, ya gotta be in it to win it. Clifford bounces out. Inning done. Good guys 1; Bad guys 2.

Bottom 4th
The Randolph/Torre Subway commercial is really pretty dumb. Speaking of Subway, I could go for a meatball sub. Not from Subway though. If you're gonna get a meatball parm hero, it's gotta be from a place with a name like Antonio's or Luigie's or something like that. No one really eats Italian food at the Olive Garden, right? Oh, right, the game. Thomson Ks. Zambrano's 4th. He's lagging behind in BBs so expect some soon. Furcal is making Zambrano throw a lot of pitches. 3 and 2 and is swatting Zambrano's junk foul. Pops up in foul territory to Wright. Zambrano's doing a good job keeping Furcal off base tonight. Good guys 1; Braves 2.

Top 5th
Dougie M up, who absolutely killed the ball on opening day for a HR. Nice, Dougie scalded a ball to right-center for a leadoff single. Wright just grounded into a DP. He now leads baseball with 3 GIDP. Which pisses me off not only as a Mets fan, but as a fantasy owner. Wright's on my team and my stupid league penalizes for GIDP! I know, stupid. Valent smacks a single. Zambrano grounds out. Good guys 1; Bad guys 2.

Bottom 5th
The camera just panned into the Mets dugout, where Pedro was doing something scary. Some sort of dance - perhaps the Lambada, the Latin dance of love, or was it the Forbidden Dance? He may be a little imbalanced. Giles leads off with a single. Let's see if Zambrano can get through the 5th w/out imploding and falling to the fetal position on the mound. Larry/Lucifer walks on 4 pitches. Here it comes. Hey Willie, get someone up in the bullpen. Someone dependable. Oh? Better yet, keep Zambrano in. Now would be a great time for Andruw Jones to ground into a DP. C'mon DP. Let's go DP, clap, clap, clap clap clap. Well, a strike out is good too. One out. Okay, back to preying for a DP. Ted Robinson said that MatuE's earlier play was ruled a hit. Now that's some home scoring for ya. Soft liner to Valent in RF. Professor Rick is in the dugout with his multi colored pen that he always has - the same one I had when I was in 6th grade. I wonder what his color coding system is? Blue for K; Red for BB; Green for wild pitch; and Orange for earned run. When Zambrano pitches, someone should tell rick to bring extra red, green and orange ink. The little baseball diamond graphic on the upper left hand corner of the TV is not showing the men on base. How hard is it to get that right? Someone should be fired. Estrada making Zambrano throw some pitches. Full count. Estrada walks. 93 pitches. 4.2 innings. 4 walks. 'Bout right. Professor Rick out to the mound. Prof. Rick: "what's up Victor, I though I fixed you, what's with the walks." Zambrano: "are you kidding me Rick, I need a lot more work than 10 minutes, who do I look like Scott Kazmir!" The conference must have worked, as Zambrano starts out with two straight balls before getting Mondesi to foul off a fastball. Bases loaded. 2 outs. 3 and 1 count. Mets only down by one run, still in this game. What's it gonna be Victor! Ooo, nasty 86 MPH breaking something - I don't know what the hell that pitch is. 3 and 2. Challenge him Victor. Throw a strike! He only weighs about a buck ten! Use the force! Yeah!!!! 84 MPH sinking something or other! Ffffwweeew. Crisis diverted. For now anyway. Inning over. Good guys 1; Bad guys 2. Norm stressed.

Top of 6th
Reyes takes that ball for a ride, but there's Andruw, who falls unnecessarily as he catches the ball to make it look like a harder play than it was. I think he took Mondesi's extra body mass, as he's looking pretty porky. Matsui grounds out to Furcal. I'd like to see the radar gun used on Reyes and Furcal to see who throws harder. Two up, two down. Beltran gets an IF base hit, doing his bet Roberto Alomar impersonation sliding into first base. Sorry, that name will never be spoken again on this blog. Piazza grounds into fielders choice. Mets still hanging in there but begging to get put away now that the game's going into the hands of the HellPen (TM). Good guys 1; Bad guys 2.

Bottom 6th
The HellPen takes over. Aybar in. Shudder. Pitching to Jordan. Violent shakes. Hitting a slow tapper to Reyes and watching him charge and scoop a ball and fire it to first is a beautiful thing. One out. Aybar Ks Thomson. I think Healey just meant to repeat the phrase, "you're not gonna walk off the island" regarding the stereotype of Latin players not being selective at the plate. But it came out something like, "you are not going to jog through water onto an island taking pitches." Close enough Fran. Furcal flies out to shallow LF but Jose ranges back to get it and is lucky Floyd didn't run him over. Ted Robinson and Fran are saying that was Jose's ball all the way. I don't know about that. Inning over. Good guys 1; Bad guys 2.

Top 7th
Clifford the Big Red Leftfielder leads off with a single. Cliff, if you try and steal in this situation I will fly to Atlanta and personally kick your ass. Well, you're a lot bigger than me, so, well, I'll maybe just yell at you and run away quickly. Dougie M working the count, and actually should have walked - bad call by the ump. Willie's got Clifford running on the 3/2 pitches. Not bad Willie. If Willie spent more time on the rule book with respect to the double switch as he did memorizing his lines for his Subway commercial, we wouldn't have had that embarrassing situation the other day. Dougie M fouling some balls off. Cliff is gettin pissed off and tired from all the running back and forth. I'm surprised he hasn't broken anything. Strike him out throw him out DP. That just flat out sucks. Can't say I disagree with sending Cliff on the 3/2 pitches in that situation, but it sucks it didn't work out. At least Wright can't ground into another DP now, killing my fantasy team. Wright hits another groundball out - that would have been a DP anyway. Mets just don't want to take this game. Good guys 1; Bad guys 2.

Bottom 7th
HellPen representative Aybar still in. Giles opposite field double - the ball wedges into the upper part of the padding on the wall. Valent thinks it's a ground rule double, and so did I. Man in scoring position, no outs, for Larry. There's an open base. Drill him. Send a signal while creating forces and the potential for a DP. Okay, maybe that wouldn't be too smart. It would make me feel better though. Larry named his kid Shea, after Shea Stadium. I'm naming my first born Larry Jones Sucksass. That's right, Larry for a first name, Jones for a middle name, and Sucksass as a last name. Larry pops out to Wright in foul territory. I still say we should have planted a fastball in his ear. Andruw needs some Trimspa. I can see him in a commercial with Anna Nicole Smith pimpin that stuff. Aybar punches Andruw out. Aybar is looking really good. Willie will play the matchups and pitch Koo against LaRoche and Cox will undoubtedly counter with Julio Franco who, after a quick search, I find hit lefties at a .306/.368/.403 clip last season and LaRoche hit righties at a .280/.326/.490 clip. You know, regardless of the numbers I think I would have left Aybar in. He was throwing really well. Franco single up the middle. Damn it. Why does Cox's moves always seem to work while the Mets manager de jour always seem to play right into his hand. Giles scores. Braves up 3 to 1. Just don't think it was necessary to force Cox to bring Franco in to face a lefty. Now Koo faces Estrada turning him to bat righty, who hits a soft liner to RF and Valent makes a nice play for the final out. Good guys 1; Bad guys 3.

Top of 8th
Braves dip into their pen. Vallleeeeennnnt!!!! Pops out to deep RF. I have no concept of when a ball is a HR or a pop fly. Really, I'm out of my seat at Shea thinking it's a HR when a pitcher bunts a ball and it goes up in the air 7 feet. 98 year old Julio Franco not only gave the Braves an insurance run, he just robbed Marlon Anderson of a hit. Retire already! There we go - Reyes gets aboard with a groundball hit through the right side of the IF. Let's go! One stinking run just ain't gonna cut it. Reyes swipes second. I'm not a big fan of running when you're down in a game. I don't think it should be a hard and fast rule, but you're down two runs and you have the meat of the order coming up. Why risk it? Matsui Ks on a 55 foot pitch. Ya know, he can look really, really bad in the box sometimes. At least our thumpers will come up in the 9th. Good guys 1; Bad guys 3.

Bottom 8th
Roberto Hernandez in. Makes quick work of Klingondesi. I love TiVo - just rewound, and slow motioned the camera shot as it panned into the Braves announcers' booth and one of them picked his nose, extracted his finger and took a gander at the surprise he found. Just classic. Let me see that again. Ha ha ha, it's the little things in life that keep me going. Full count to Jordan. Walk. Jordan steals second. That sucks. Piazza throws another short hop to second. Pete Orr up. Who? Grounder to MessuE, who cleanly fields the ball and throws out Orr. Jordan to third. Two outs. Furcal up. Nice - Hernandez gave Furcal a little chin music. Sing bitch sing!!! Furcal waves at strike three. Good guys 1; Bad guys 3.

Top 9th
Danny Kolb in. This guy is soooo hittable. C'mon Carlos - earn that money! Oh, I guess not. K. Let's go Mike. Ugh, Piazza tags the ball but it's a liner right to Andruw. Damn it. It all comes down to Clifford. Great, here comes the chant from the worst fans in sports. Screw you Atlanta. Go have sex with your cousins. Yeah, I know, I'm resorting to petty insults. So what. Cliff down to his last strike. 3 and 2. Takes a called strike 3. Done. Good guys 1; Bad guys 3.

Mets 0 and 4. On pace to go 0 and 162 this year. Welcome to the New Mets - New Year, New Season, New Players, New Ways to Lose.

The Hopeless Optimists Guide to the 2005 New York Mets

2005-04-03T21:31:00.000-04:00

Last year on opening day I posted the The Hopeless Optimists Guide to the 2004 New York Mets. Only about 2 of the 15 hopelessly optimistic points I made panned out, but we won't get into that. Why? Because it's time for the The Hopeless Optimists Guide to the 2005 New York Mets. As I said last year, "it's opening day so what better time to get our hopes up and be irrational." Here goes.

Might as well start out with the big one. The Mets will win the World Series. Yup, that's right. I said it. The Mets will win the World Series. There, I said it again.
Professor Rick will prove his worth and convert the "Wild Things" - Victor Zambrano and Kaz Ishii - into serviceable, middle of the rotation Major League starting pitchers.
Meet your 2005 National League Cy Young Award winner.
While we're doing introductions, meet your 2005 NL MVP, Rookie of the Year, outfield Gold Glove winner, first base Gold Glove winner, shortstop Gold Glove Winner, and NL All Star team starting catcher.
Philip Humber will not become Aaron Heilman.
Toward the end of the season, during the bottom of the 9th inning, when David Wright smacks a game winning, walk-off home run to clinch the NL East, Leo Mazzone will rock into Bobby Cox, knocking him into John Smoltz who will drop a baseball he was playing with in the dugout after getting pulled from the game the inning before, and the ball will bounce out of the dugout, roll toward third base, and Larry Jones will trip on it, dislocating his knee, ending his career.
Jose Reyes will lead the major leagues in stolen bases and SB%.
Baseball Prospectus' health guru Will Carroll recently said of the Mets team health, "The Mets are playing the long shots, looking to win the division the hard way. Ramirez, Altchek and the rest of the [Mets] medical staff--including the input of Peterson--are about to get handed the dice." The Mets will roll, um? I don't know craps. What's a good roll? Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the Mets, for a change, will enjoy good health throughout the season.Cliff Floyd will accumulate 500 ABs, Mike Piazza will play in 135 games. Jose Reyes will play in 159 games. Mike Cameron will shake off his fragile wrist and play 150 games. Kazuo Matsui's back will be fine and he'll play in 155 games. Pedro's labrum will heal itself and he'll make over 30 starts with well over 200 innings. Victor Zambrano and Kris Benson will be relatively healthy as well.
Omar Minaya will not do anything stupid at the trading deadline.
The Mets will contact me to be their official blogger. They will offer me a six figure salary to travel with the team, give me full clubhouse access, and detail their miraculous championship season every day as the Official Blogger of the New York Mets (TM).
20 year old Mets pitching phenom de jour, Yusmeiro Petit, will get a mid season callup and dumbfound hitters in several spot starts and lights out work coming out of the bullpen. He will shine down the stretch and into October.
Willie Randolph will prove himself to be a brilliant in-game manager, convincing skeptics that he not only can manage, but can manage NL style of play including running his bullpen intelligently.
My concerns here were dead wrong.
David Wright will not be the best hitter in the Mets line-up. Listen, I love Wright as much as anyone but if this 22 year old has a better offensive year than Carlos Beltran, Mike Piazza, Cliff Floyd and perhaps even Mike Cameron, the Mets are in trouble.
Heath Bell will get called up soon and have a break out year. Further, Shea Stadium will play, "You Can Ring My Beeeeeell" whenever he comes in to pitch.

So, how's that for some opening day hopeless optimism? If you have any additional irrational, hopeless optimist points, now's the time to let them be known so feel free to add them in the comments. Let's go Mets!

Mets Reacquire Kazmir from Devil Rays

2005-04-01T10:16:00.000-05:00

WFAN just reported that the Mets, in desperate need for a 5th starter after Steve Trachsel went down with back problems, have reacquired Scott Kazmir, the former Mets phenom, from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. According to Ed Coleman of WFAN, the Mets sent Mike Cameron and cash considerations to Tampa Bay in exchange for the 21 year old fireballing lefty. Cameron reportedly never came to grips with moving over from centerfield to rightfield to make room for Carlos Beltran and recently conveyed as much to Mets GM Omar Minaya. According to Minaya, Kaz Ishii, who the Mets recently traded for, will be used as the long man out of the bullpen and Kazmir will fill the void in the back of the starting rotation. According to Coleman, "the Mets feel there is an advantage to cornering the market on players referred to as "Kaz," referring to the Mets' Kaz Matsui, Kaz Ishii and now Scott Kazmir. Ed Coleman also said April Fools.

Mr. Methattan

2005-03-30T10:41:00.000-05:00

It's 60 degrees out in Manhattan today. The sun is shining, finally. The sky is blue. Opening Day right around the corner. How could things get any better? This is how!

The original Mr. Met, the one with the swollen head even before his namesake team reloaded during the offseason, will hit the streets of Manhattan on Wednesday to trumpet the coming start of the 2005 season. Standing at the top of a double-decker bus decked out in Mets colors and balloons, Mr. Met will expose fans to Opening Day fever by handing out schedules and T-shirts with the club's motto: "Next Year is Now."

Now that is just flat-out cool. Mr. Met doing his best Michael J. Fox impersonation from Teen Wolf bus surfing through the streets of Manhattan giving away free Mets stuff. Okay, maybe a little corny, but cool nonetheless. I'll see you guys later, I'm heading out to go find my favorite swollen headed baseball figure (no, not Barry Bonds).

Update: The original Mets.com article was a bit vague so I shot them an e-mail. Mr. Met should be at Bryant Park at around 1:15 then at the Plaza Hotel around 2:00. Hope that helps.

Update #2: Just got back from my Mr. Met pilgrimage. Here's a quick report.

The Metmobile, a double decker bus with no roof on the top, pulled up at the Plaza Hotel a little after 2:00. The bus was adorned with blue and orange balloons and other Mets paraphernalia. About 25 members of the Mets PR staff was on top and inside the bus, tossing pocket schedules to the cheering people on the sidewalk and screaming "Let's go Mets" as it rumbled down the road like Mo Vaughn would rumble around the bases. The Metmobile parked on 5th Avenue directly in front of the Plaza and the crew of Mets PR folks got out of the bus and descended into the crowd, giving away pocket schedules and Mets t-shirts to anyone that would admit, er, I mean tell them they were Mets fans. Cool t-shirts too - black with "NEXT YEAR IS NOW" printed in white letters with an orange border across the front and "The New Mets" across the back.

I finished up my dirty water dog and pretzel I bought on the street, which was damn good by the way, wiped the mustard off my lip, and headed for the Metmobile, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Man of the Hour - Mr. Met himself. As I approached, a cheery Mets PR girl asks, "Hey, are you a Mets fan?" I think to myself, "you don't know the half of it." But instead simply say, "um, yeah." So she hooked me up with a t-shirt. Sweet! As I get closer I notice the head. That big, white, beautiful head! While living in New York City I've had my share of celebrity sighting but nothing could prepare me for this. There he is, it's Mr. Met! The crowd engulfed him like he was Justin Timberlake on set of MTV's TRL! Everyone is screaming, "Mr. Met Mr. Met!"

I made my way through the crowd and there he was, right in front of me. I saw nothing but head. I heard nothing but the wind bouncing off the head. For the love of God look at that head! I froze. The head put me in a trance. "What do I do now" I thought to myself. I'm just standing there staring at him and he's just looking back at me. I'm choking worse than the 2004 Yankees. Then, out of nowhere, Mr. Met puts up his hand and instinct took over. I turned on it like a 3-2 hanging curve - "SMACK!" - I connected with the sweet part of the palm to give Mr. Met a towering high five. As my high five follow through took me past Mr. Met, in my mind I saw the Shea home run apple come out of of the hat, light up and fireworks exploding over beutiful Flushing Bay.

That's it. Got my pocket schedule. Got my t-shirt. Got to high five the coolest sports mascot in the history of sports mascots. I can now die a happy man.

A Bit Busy Today . . .

2005-03-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

. . . but will leave you with this. Lipstick on a pig?

Super Joe Finds a Home

2005-03-22T17:34:00.000-05:00

The Kansas City Royals signed Joe McEwing to a minor league contract and have invited him to spring training camp. McEwing will be competing for job as a reserve infielder/cook/bat boy/trainer/mascot. Good luck Joe.

Bonds May Be Out For Season

2005-03-22T14:33:00.000-05:00

@^%!@damn!!!6%!!!!

Sorry, that was me banging my head against the keyboard. It's looking like Bonds will be missing a significant portion of the season, and maybe even the entire season, due to his knee problems. My fantasy team is done before the first pitch of the season is even thrown. Ugh.

NL East EWSL Report

2005-03-22T10:37:00.000-05:00

The Baseball Crank has posted his NL East EWSL (Established Win Shares Levels) Report, which combines Win Shares (WS) and Established Performance Levels (EPLs). The good news, the Mets, under this system, finally top the Braves in the standings. The bad news, the Mets still find themselves in the bottom half of the Division in the standings.

Ishii Official

2005-03-21T10:09:00.000-05:00

Done. The Dodgers kicked in some cash (The Fourth Outfielder breaks down), which should make this deal a little easier to swallow. This is one of those funny trades where there does not seem to be a consensus as to whether this was a good or bad trade. Let your thoughts be known in the comments. Love it/hate it/cried yourself to sleep thinking of Jason Phillips in a Dodgers uniform?

On a more interesting topic, anyone catch Spring Break Shark Attack last night on CBS? Wow, I don't remember the last time I saw such a good, bad made for TV movie. I found myself really into watching hot, young, well-endowed spring break chicks getting eaten by giant sharks. I know, I need therapy.

Ishii Madness

2005-03-19T13:53:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to hear about the Jason Phillips for Kaz Ishii rumors. I figured what the hell, let me brain vomit my two cents into the ole' blog but before doing so I stumbled around the Mets blogosphere to see that just about everything that could be said about this proposal has been. Damn these bloggers are fast. Having my thunder stolen, perhaps I'll just try to summarize where everyone seems to stand.

Always Amazin: "All in all, I'm kinda bummed about this deal. I don't think it will tremendously hurt the Mets, at least initially, but it really doesn't seem like it will help either."

Chuck n' Duck: "Ishii just seems like, to me, the right move right now."

East Coast Agony: "Ishii doesn't really have to be 'successful' or 'able to get batters out' to be a good fifth starter. Ideally what the Mets are looking for is an innings eater, and if nothing else he fits that bill."

The Eddie Kranepool Society: "the Mets are on the verge of sending Jason Phillips to the Dodger for LHP Kaz Ishii. If this happens it's a fucking catastrophe!"

Flushing Local: "But these are the New Mets and Next Year is Now, right? It could be a wild, wild year in Flushing. Extremely wild. Historically wild. "

Gogs is the Greek God of Geeks: Matt simply posts some numbers for our craniums to marinate in, which I think is his way of saying that Matt Ginter is better than Ishii.

The Metropolitans: "With him and Victor on back to back days, a seven man bullpen becomes utterly necessary and Ginter should be in it. The move, while not a bad one, only gives depth, but not an upgrade over the current options besides being more of a known quantity. However, the trigger needs to get pulled."

Metsblog: "While Ishii has not proven to be more effective that Ginter, he can get to the sixth inning, which, given the Mets bullpen issues, is most important."

No Joy in Metsville: "It's a no brainer, really"

Simply Amazin: "I'm not opposed to a trade that helps the Mets replace Trachsel's output, but I just don't think that Ishii would provide a significant upgrade from where the Mets are now."

By my unofficial tally, it seems that the Mets bloggers who have weighed in on the issue appear to be tied, with 5 either indifferent or for the trade, and five being against the trade. Well, shit, maybe I can do something useful around here, I'll provide the 11th and deciding vote! Yippee!!! Yeah, I know, it doesn't take a lot to get me excited (which is what my wife the Smokin' Hot Corner tells me). Well, here goes.

The Mets just traded a marginal back up catcher for a Major League starting pitcher. Let me repeat that, a Major League starting pitcher. Yes, this is the same Jason Phillips who slugged .326 last year. No, that's not a typo and no, that's not his on base percentage. I know, I know, Gogs had a nice 2003 season where he hit .298, showed he can take a walk in ending up with a .373 OBP and managed to get his slugging percentage into the 4s, posting a .442 SLG. But the fact is, these are most likely career numbers for Phillips and his true value is probably somewhere between his solid 2003 season and his piss poor 2004 season, which is basically his career .262/.337/.389 line. And please, don't tell me he was "unlucky" last year and please don't point to his spring training numbers to try and argue Phillips is more than what he is. He's a nice back up catcher, provides a good quote now and then, wears cool goggles, but he's completely replaceable.

Enter Kaz Ishii, who is the second coming of Sandy Koufax. Ishii will eat 230 innings this year, while striking out 250 batters and will post an ERA in the ones. Ha ha ha just making sure you're still paying attention. Ishii isn't very good. But average and even below average starting pitchers are valuable these days. Check out some of the insane contracts handed out this offseason. Decent starting pitchers are a hell of a lot more valuable than back up catchers with career .389 slugging percentages. As for Matt Ginter, if the Mets goal is to replace Trachsell's innings, and you are choosing between a pitcher who has 176 career innings pitched or a pitcher who nearly matched that last season alone, then, well, to steal a quote from one of my fellow Mets bloggers, "it's a no brainer."

My eleventh and deciding vote goes to the "for the trade" camp. We win!!! We win!!!! We win!!! Like I said, it doesn't take much to get me going.

Feelin' Cranky

2005-03-09T10:39:00.000-05:00

The Baseball Crank has his calculator out and is doing all sorts of cool stuff with EWSL. EWSL is short for "Established Win Shares Levels," which combines two statistical measurements originated by Bill James: Win Shares (WS) and Established Performance Levels (EPLs). I'm not really sure what it all means but it looks like the Crank put a lot of time into this work so I feel obligated to direct all four of my readers over there. Maybe when I get some time I'll put on a pot of coffee and try to come to an understanding of what it all means.

Yates Career May Be Over

2005-03-08T10:28:00.000-05:00

Peter Abraham pointed out the other day that "the once-promising career of Tyler Yates may be over." Abraham reports what was initially diagnosed as tendinitis proved to be a 70% tear in his labrum that required extensive repair. I can't help but to think the Mets prior medical staff combined with poor handling led to or at least partly contributed to this. I spoke of my concerns over Yates' handling last season here, when I wrote,

The Mets are toying around with the idea of sending Tyler Yates back to the bullpen. So, a full year of effective starting work with an 8.5 K/9 IP, a dominating spring training against a mix of minor and major league hitters, and 6 major league starts with ups and downs, and Yates is staring at the possibility of ending up back in the pen? Yates' surgically repaired arm had this to say, "Quit messing with me!!!"

I was a big Yates fan and was not only troubled by his handling from a medical standpoint but from a development standpoint as well. It seems the kid was set up to fail from the beginning, which I spoke about in depth here, including,

After taking the loss against the Brewers yesterday, Tyler Yates was optioned to AAA and James Baldwin (no relation to these guys) was brought up to take his spot in the rotation. Simply put, the Mets gave up on a talented, hard throwing rookie who will be a key cog in the future of this team after only 6 starts in favor of a washed up 33 year old scrub with a career 5.02 ERA who will be a key cog in AARP soon. But hey, the scrub had a decent 33 innings in Norflok. Can someone please get me something, I think I'm going to be sick.

Here's wishing Yates all the luck in the world in getting back. And let's hope the Mets learned something from this.

A Bridge to Nowhere?

2005-03-07T10:15:00.001-05:00

Despite an offseason that some say was "the best offseason of any team, not just this year, but in recent memory," Mets detractors are still out in force. This year the sour grape brigade points to the middle relief as the weakness that will sink the Mets. They may be right. Although, quite frankly, if all your detractors can point to is middle relief as your weakness, you should take it as a compliment. In fact, pointing to a team's middle relief as a weakness is tantamount to a good momma joke when you were little. You always have it in your back pocket if all else fails. "You're ugly." "No, you're ugly!" "Oh yeah, well yo momma so ugly her momma had to be drunk to breast feed her." (the crowd of kids on the playground goes, "oooooooo"). The commentators usually say, "the Mets have no bridge to Braden Looper." However, I'm more concerned - or just as concerned - not with the bridge, i.e. the middle relief, than I am with the bridge's destination, i.e. Looper.

Looper was a decent pick up when he was signed by the Mets before the 2004 season. The Mets had just come off another horrible season and seemed to be in some sort of quasi rebuilding mode. Jim Duquette was handed the reigns and spoke of "youth" and "athleticism," Fed Wilpon spoke of certain top prospects in the Mets system as "untouchable," and the team was even holding tryouts among young farm hands in camp to fill out the back end of the starting rotation. The Mets' goal was simply to be playing "meaningful games in September." God I'm so sick of that ill fated phrase. The rumor had it that until Art Howe objected, the Mets weren't even going to sign a closer. So, in that context, signing Braden Looper to a reasonable two year contract for about $3 million each year was a decent move.

Looper came to the Mets after five seasons with the Marlins, where he had a harder time keeping his closer job than Jack Bauer does trying to find time to go to the men's room. While exhibiting good stuff, overall he was inconsistent at best. In return for being handed another closer job, at 29 years old Looper responded with his best season in the bigs. While opponents batting average and slugging percentage against him was relatively stable, Looper posted, by far, his best ERA of his career (2.70) thanks to his ability to maintain his strike out rate (6.48 K/9IP) while drastically reducing the amount of free passes he issued. Thus, for a pitcher whose previously best strike out to walk ratio was 1.96, Looper posted a 2004 rate of 3.75. While I would love for Looper to continue this trend, I'm not optimistic.

Looper's decent 2004 numbers stemmed mostly from an extremely good first half of the season but the second half of the season he struggled. Before the All Star break Looper shut down opponents to the tune of a 1.88 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP while fanning 42 and only walking 6 in 48 inning pitched. In the second half, perhaps, gassed after already having throw seven multi inning games, Looper's numbers inflated to a 3.82 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP and he only struck out 18 while walking 10 in 35 inning pitched. These horrid numbers can be traced directly to an August 21st outing, when the Mets were out of the race - 9 and 1/2 games behind the Braves - yet Art Howe thought it prudent to leave Looper in the game for three innings. The result, Looper collapsed in September.

But that was then and this is now. After Black Friday and an offseason where the Mets brought in a new GM who embarked upon a spending spree that would make Paris Hilton (PG-13) blush, the Mets moved up their time frame to win to right now. No longer is this a team hoping for "meaningful games," this is a team expecting to, at the very least, snag a playoff spot. So while Looper may have been a decent gamble for the 2004 Mets, he's not such a perfect fit for The New Mets of 2005. I hope he can get back to his first half form of 2004 because how frustrating will it be if the Mets bullpen pulls together to create a stable bridge leading to nowhere.

Mets DP Dynamic Duo

2005-03-04T13:34:00.000-05:00

The read of the day is brought to you buy Bob Klapisch, whose Jose Reyes/Kazuo Matsui article graces the frontpage of ESPN.com. What's more, out of the seven featured articles on the front page of ESPN.com's baseball page, this Mets-focused article is one of only two you don't have to pay for. Doesn't it seem odd that the more great free baseball writing there is on the net, the more ESPN hides their content in pay-only Insider? Oh well, they must be making money or else they wouldn't be doing it. That said, I ain't payin. Anyway, check out Klap's article on our DP Dynamic Duo. By the way, my copying and pasting function seems to be a bit jacked today so I can't provide links - but I have a feeling you all know where to find the World Wide Leader in Sports on the web.

Lastly, I hear MSG or FSNY will be airing a Mets Spring Training game tomorrow at 1:00.

Mets drop their ST opener to the Nattys

2005-03-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

The Mets played in their first Spring Training game yesterday, losing to the Washington Nationals 5 to 3.

Hitting

Tony Armas started the game for the Nattys and faced what will undoubtedly (barring injury of course) be the Mets opening day 1-3 hitters in Jose Reyes, Kazuo Matsui and Carlos Beltran. While the trio went down in order, both Reyes and Matsui displayed uncharacteristic patience at the plate, with Reyes not even swinging at the first four or so pitches. Reyes finished the day 1 for 3 and Kaz went 0 for 3 with a run. Beltran (1 for 3 with a run) got his first hit in a Mets uni when he scorched a single up the middle, almost decapitating the pitcher. Willie Randolph slotted new first basemen Doug Mientkiewicz and his career .404 SLG in the cleanup slot, who walked twice and scored a run. Jason Phillips was the Mets money hitter de jour, going 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI. For all of you who think he should hit higher in ther order, even in a depleted Spring Training line-up Randolph would not put David Wright higher than sixth in the batting order. Despite putting good wood on the ball in virtually all of his at bats, he went hitless on the day. Victor Diaz and Eric Valent rounded out the starting lineup and combined for an 0 for 5.

Fielding

All-in-all, the starting defense that took the field looked pretty good throughout the game. Reyes and Matsui turned a nice 4-6-3 DP, with Kaz making a quick toss to Reyes who winged the ball toward first base, forcing Mientkiewicz to dig the ball out of the dirt to record the out. Last year, there was about a 50/50 chance the ball ended up some place other than the first basemen's glove and about a 25% chance that if Mike Piazza was playing first, he would have hurt himself. Matsui flashed some more leather, or should I say flesh, in the third, when he charged a dribbler, bare handed it and quickly threw across his body to Mientkiewicz (yes, I'm cutting and pasting his name). It seemed like the Nattys were trying to test Matsui, as later that same inning a high chopper headed toward Kaz, who again charged it, this time taking the short hop in his glove and making the throw to first. Part of Matsui's problems last year at SS, probably due to his years of playing on fast turf in Japan, was staying back on balls he should have been charging, forcing him to make harder and more accurate throws than necessary. This, combined with a a bunch of converted catchers at first base, contributed to his error total. It was good to see Matsui charging balls, knowing the speed of the runners, and making good, aggressive plays on balls. I read a few days ago that Mets coaches quiz Matsui on certain players and how fast they are. It seems Matsui is the Ken Jennings of this little game and it showed yesterday. The only middle infield mis-q occurred on yet another dribbler that rolled across the infield grass on the second base side. Reyes glided across the infield toward the ball, Matsui took a few steps forward and neither of them took charge. Reyes will have to reestablish himself as the leader of the infield and make those plays, which I'm confident he can and will. Despite the feel good story occurring in the middle infield, it was a misplay at third that did the Mets in when Miguel Cairo, filling in in the later innings, committed an error that allowed the go ahead and eventual winning run to score.

Pitching

Tom Glavine looked relatively sharp, tossing two scoreless innings and fanning two. I held my breath when Glavine plunked the volatile Jose Guillen, thinking Guillen was going to take Tom's head off, or worse. Guillen kept his trap shut, took his base, and proceeded to get caught stealing when Glavine threw over to first after Guillen already decided to try and swipe second base. Braden Looper had a relatively uneventful inning of work, allowing no hits and striking out one. The wheels started coming off when Aaron Heilman took the mound in the fourth. In two innings pitched, Heilman allowed three earned runs, including two HRs. It seems no matter how many chances this kid gets, he's never able to capitalize. Felix Heredia came in to pitch an inning, giving up a run and taking the official "L." Heath Bell, who looks like he dropped about 50 pounds from last year, looked sharp, pitching a hitless inning and striking out a batter. Mike Mathews finished the day for the Mets, getting knocked around for three hits and a run.

Are You Ready for Some Foot, um, I mean Baseball!!!

2005-03-02T09:39:00.000-05:00

The Mets open up the Grapefruit League today with a game against the newly minted Washington Nationals. The Nattys play at the Great Space Coaster Stadium . . . or is it the Space Coast Stadium? Either way, there will be live baseball today and that's what really matters. And as a cherry on top, the game will be nationally televised on ESPN at 1:00, although you will have to endure Mr. Ax Grinder, former Mets GM Steve Phillips providing color commentary. MLB.com will also be providing free coverage. Tom Glavine will make the start and most of the regulars will make the trip, although the odd couple of Mike Piazza and Pedro Martinez will stay behind in Port St. Lucie. Nattys GM Jim Bowden indicated the Mets will be facing Frank Robinson's opening day line-up, at least for the first few innings: "Frank told me how he wasn't going to start his regulars for the first few days, but, boy, they're all in there tomorrow, at least for the first couple of innings. . . And I think that's good, because it allows the fans in Washington as well as America to see some of our players. A lot of these players are not very well known. They will be in six months." Tony Armas Jr. will oppose Glavine. Let's go Mets!

Bloggin' Aint Easy: The New Shea Hot Corner

2005-03-01T14:16:00.000-05:00

Just like Carlos Beltran rejuvenated the Mets at his unveiling press conference referring to his new team as The New Mets, I'm going to be making another effort to rejuvenate this sorry ass blog. I'm sure you have all heard the term, "pimpin' ain't easy," well, neither is bloggin' sometimes. Between real life responsibilites (boo boo boo), doses of writer's bloc, and what seems like a massive flood of new (and in many cases improved) baseball writing on the net, it's sometimes difficult to maintain a blog. That said, I'll see what I can do. So if you're a SHC faithful, keep checking in.

For now, let me just get my feet wet with a little linkorama. Go check out Yankeessuck.com. Then, go say wassup to Eric from SaberMets who has started a new blog as part of the SportsBlogs family of blogs called Amzin' Avenue. Also part of the Sports Blogs family of sites is former ESPN writer John Sickel's Minor League Ball blog. There are also two new Mets websites out there: Mets Daily and Flushing Futures. If you know of any other sites that I have missed that I should add to my sidebar, drop me an e-mail. And along with the new blood out in the net, don't forget all of the the old staples still on the sidebar.

You Wicked Awful Sawx Bandwagon Bum!

2004-10-28T16:02:00.000-04:00

1. You're a New Yorker starring in a movie about this fanatical Red Sox dude. How did you negotiate those dangerous waters? Pick a side already!

Jimmy Fallon: I grew up in Saugerties, upstate NY. I was never really serious with one team. I was into the Mets because my Dad worked at IBM where he got free Mets tickets, so I was into the Mets ... like two games a year. Then I got to "Saturday Night Live" where my boss (Lorne Michaels) has unbelievable New York Yankees tickets, so he invites us to the games. I'm going to all the games, so I might as well root for the team I'm gonna go sit with. I became a Yankees fan for a few years. But now, I gotta say, I'm really rooting for the Red Sox.

Wow, I gotta say that after seeing Jimmy Fallon on the field celebrating with the Red Sox last night and then reading this interview excerpt, I'm really rooting for the SS Bandwagon to sink before Fallon has an opportunity to jump ship.

Curse Shmurse

2004-10-28T13:36:00.000-04:00

There was never any Curse of the Bambino. Other teams have always just been better and every so often, luckier. Not this year. Congratulaions Red Sox Nation (us Mets fans still have '86 though).

Q&A with a Yankee Hatin' Mets Fan

2004-10-21T11:03:00.000-04:00

The following answers were prepared by my buddy Ed, a Yankee hatin' Mets fan, after the greatest post season collapse in baseball history last night. And yes, my friends are as sick and demented as I am.

#1 Answer: the heimlich maneuver
Question: what are these overpaid, over-hyped Yankees in need of more than decent starting pitching?

#2 Answer: heart
Question: what is one of the two things King George's money can't buy?

#3 Answer: fans with class
Question: what is the second thing?

#4 Answer: Mickey Mantle
Question: what is the only thing more dead than the Yankees' bats last night?

For more coverage of the ALCS, don't miss Bill Simmons' articles.

Happy Birthday

2004-10-19T17:11:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear uselessssss
Happy birthday to you.

Housekeeping

2004-10-19T09:59:00.000-04:00

Apparently there was some kind of Donald/Ivana Trump-like divorce over at Yankees, Mets and the Rest. Vinny created a new Mets-only portion of Yankees, Mets and the Rest called, appropriately enough, No Joy in Metsville, which you can find at http://mets.ymtr.com/. Also, check out a new Mets blog called Metsmerized, named after the failed 1986 rap song.

I never understood why Get Metsmerized was not a hit? How could it not with lyrics like this:

Dwight's my name, what can I say,
you know they call me Doctor K,
change up, fastball, slider and curve,
step up to the plate if ya got the nerve.

Get Metsmerized was followed up with the wildly popular Let's Go Mets . . . a song that electrified New York. The best thing that came from Get Metsmerized and Let's Go Mets was, however, not hours of listening joy for us fans but rather the launching of Darryl Strawberry's solo career with the 1987 release of Chocolate Strawberry. And with lyrics like these, how could it not be a hit?

My name is Darryl, I'm a baseball player
One thing I forgot to say-a
When I'm on the field I'm on top of the world
I get screams from all the girls (Dar-ryl!)
Everybody in the stadium, screams for me
Strike one, strike two, but no strike three
When I'm runnin, all the players make space
I run, I slide, and then I'm safe"Cause you're DEF!"
Yo, I ain't soft
I even get paid on my days off
Grandslammer, "Are you as good as they, say?"
I guess you never came to see me play
Any pitch you throw I control it
I took it while you wasn't lookin'
So give me your beef, homeboy I'm cookin'
I can get loose so don't you try
I graduated from Crenshaw High
You can even ask Eric 'Boogie' E.

All this rappin' got me thinking. What would the 2004 Mets rap song be? How about, 91 Problems, with a chorus that goes something like this?

91 Problems but a win ain't one
If you havin win problems I feel bad for you son
I got 91 problems but a win ain't one
Hit me!

"Cordial and smooth"

2004-10-18T17:02:00.000-04:00

New York Mets first round draft pick Phil Humber has yet to sign with the team and since the Tigers broke off talks with their first round pick Justin Verlander, fans are wondering if he'll ever sign. Whether or not Humber signs with the Mets is a concern for many reasons, chief among them, for me at least, is that the Mets felt comfortable trading top flight pitching prospects this season because they were banking on Humber being able to step into the system as a replacement. If Humber does not sign, then the list of reasons why the Scott Kazmir and Matt Peterson trades might not have been such a great idea grows by one. Humber offered some comfort to us fans still hung up on Black Friday, however, when he said that he wasn't fazed by Detroit's decision to break off negotiations with Verlander and that negotiations with the Mets have been cordial and smooth. Let's just hope they go from "cordial and smooth" to "quick and easy" so that Humber is signed and ready for Spring Training.

"They're awful"

2004-10-18T14:51:00.000-04:00

Really Bobby, why don't you tell us how you really feel? See this and other blunt comments directed toward the Mets by former Mets pitcher Bobby Ojeda here.

Guess who's back . . .

2004-10-15T14:08:00.000-04:00

. . . back again, Norm is back . . . tell a friend. Doo doo doo.

Sorry for the extended layoff (and for the bad Eminem reference) but every so often real life gets in the way of my secret, alternative cyber-baseball geek life. I know I know, I need to set priorities. I should be back to posting a bit more regularly soon. Thanks to those who have e-mailed and left messages wanting to know if I was still alive. Yup, still alive and kickin. And thanks to the rest of the Mets bloggers who kept chugging along and fighting the good fight, despite a season that went from hopeful to dreadful in the blink of an eye.

So, let's recap what's taken place since I went AWOL: Mets tanked; fired Howe; had Reyes and Matsui swap positions; demoted Duquette; extracted Richie Rich, aka Jeff Wilpon, from baseball operations; hired Minaya; created their own TV network; fired entire coaching staff save Rick Peterson; insulted Don Baylor; and have engaged in an American Idol-like search for a new manager. Well, now that we're all caught up I guess I can start commenting on new developments as they unravel. Stay tuned . . .

The Hole

2004-08-31T08:55:00.000-04:00

While Mike Piazza was able to return to Shea last night from rehabbing his ailing 35 year old frame in Port St. Lucie (aka "the hole"), I'm still stuck in my own little hole: the in laws' house. My wife and I somehow managed to save enough money to buy a crappy little house in NY and a few days before we were supposed to close on it and move in a title search revealed a lien on the property and several other problems. So, while we wait for the lawyers to sort out this mess I'm stuck in a house with only a dial up connection and a TV that magically gets tuned to the damn Soap Opera Network just as Mets game are supposed to start. Then again, I guess Days of Our Lives is more compelling than Days of Our Embarrassing Mets. Not that I even want to watch this pathetic Mets team right now. Once again the Mets have become the laughing stock of baseball. In one of the largest markets in the country with gigantic financial resources, the Mets are battling the lowly league owned Expos for last place in the division. What's worse, many of the players have given up and have accepted their fate. I guess I have too. For the foreseeable future I'm living with the in laws, have no control over the TV, am dealing with a Commadore 64 computer hooked up to a dial up connection, and I root for the most pathetic team in baseball. Someone put me out of my misery.

I'm Moving

2004-08-12T10:33:00.000-04:00

No, this site isn't moving, but I'm moving out of the Washington, D.C. area back home to New York. It might be a few days, maybe a week, before my next post. The great Mets blogs on the sidebar have got you covered in the meantime. My wife thinks the motivation behind us moving back home is to be closer to family and for professional reasons. Below, however, are the real reasons:

Pizza: That's right, I'm moving home for pizza. When you're born and raised on New York pizza and then move to a place that consistently ranks Domino's among the city's best pizza, it's only a matter of time before you go through pizza withdrawal complete with violent mood swings, the shakes and drooling. This actually applies to Italian food in general down here. There are a few decent places, mostly of the upscale pricey variety, but for the most part it's like what Ray Liota said in Goodfellas when he went into the witness protection program: "all I get around here is egg noodles and ketchup."
"Ya'll": This isn't a word damn it! Don't people south of the Mason-Dixon line know that the proper plural of the word "you" is "youz." Or, alternatively, "youz guyz."
Breakfast Sandwiches. When I first moved down to D.C. I walked into a bagel shop and asked for two eggs on a poppy seed bagel. The clerk proceeded to pull what looked like a milk carton out of a refrigerator and pour what could only be described as a fluorescent yellow vomit-like fluid into a bagel shaped dish. He then put the dish into the microwave. I was stunned. I said, "hey, I don't know what the hell that just was but I asked for an egg sandwich." Puzzled, the clerk said, "I heard you, that's what I'm making." After about 30 seconds in the microwave I heard "beep." My "eggs" were done. The yellow stuff had solidified in the bowl into a perfectly shaped ring. The clerk turned the dish upside down and the ring o' space eggs plopped onto my "bagel" (see bagels below). I shook my head in disgust and walked out. You don't pour eggs out of a carton nor do you microwave them.
Bagels: Why is it that the only good bagels are found in and around New York? Some say that the water in New York is the reason for the good bagels and pizza too. Whatever the reason, seven years is long enough to be force fed brick frizbees masquerading as bagels.
Nice People: Yes, I know, what kind of lunatic gets tired of nice people. Me, that's who. First of all, a) when strangers try to engage me in conversation I'm immediately freaked out. "What the hell does this nut want" I think to myself. Also, b) it's a little known fact that "nice" equals "slow." And I don't mean "slow" to mean lacking intelligence, I mean slow to mean physically slow. When I go into a coffee shop I don't want to engage in a 10 minute conversation about the weather. I want my damn coffee and I want it now. Don't you see the crust in the corner of my eyes - I need my coffee! I don't give a crap about the weather or your stinking rug rats dance recital! Lastly c), people outside of New York are too sensitive. I can't bust anyone's balls around here without making people cry. Seriously, the more I like you the more I make fun of you. Back home it was almost a pasttime to sit around with friends and make fun of each other for hours on end. This is what I thought "conversation" meant. Here, I'm afraid I'll be sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress if I say the wrong thing.
Last Call: What kind of city has bars with last call at 2:00 a.m. Don't these people know that the Jack Daniel's only starts going down smoothly at around 2:15 a.m.? Then, to make matters worse, the subway, oh, sorry, it's called the "Metro" down here, stops running at 2:00 a.m. So, unless your driving drunk (which of course I don't recommend), last call is really about 1:30 a.m. Some say nothing good happens between 2 and 4 a.m. To that I counter with countless personal, um, "achievements," in my pre-marital days of course, that were only made possible due to the two extra hours of drinking.
Hoodlum Friends: I miss my friends from the old neighborhood. Yes, they are punks and have not grown up much since high school, but where else except for New York do your friends make the local rag's gossip pages for getting into a broo-ha-ha with Mo Vaughn at a Manhatten strip club.
Shea Stadium: Yes, I know, she's a dump, but she's our dump. I'm tired of watching the Mets lose on TV. I need to go home so that I can spend $30 on a ticket, $7 for a beer and $5 for a hot dog to watch my team lose in person.

D.C. has actually been a fun place to live and I have made some great friends here so I'm just kidding with a lot of that list (see 5.c above). But from my experience there are two types of people who grow up in and around New York then move away: they hate it and never want to go back or become home sick and find their way home. I'm in the latter category. See you at Shea!

Memorial Service for Bob Murphy

2004-08-11T10:26:00.000-04:00

A quick reminder:

Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon and broadcaster Gary Thorne will deliver eulogies at a memorial service for Hall of Fame announcer Bob Murphy at St. Patrick's Cathedral today at 2 p.m. It is open to the public.

Tom Glavine "Banged Up" In Car Accident

2004-08-10T16:46:00.000-04:00

ESPN, SI and FoxSports have all posted the same AP story, with limited details:

NEW YORK (AP) - New York Mets pitcher Tom Glavine was involved in an automobile accident Tuesday while going from LaGuardia Airport to nearby Shea Stadium in a taxi cab.

The accident occurred at about 2:15 p.m., Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said. Glavine was "banged up" and taken to a hospital, according to Horwitz, who also said the injuries were not life-threatening.

The Mets were off Monday and Glavine spent the day in Atlanta, Horwitz said.

This is obviously awful news. Hopefully Glavine is okay.

Update: Bryan Hoch has an update for MLB.com with a bit more detail:

Glavine called the Mets about 2:15 p.m. ET to say that he'd sustained injuries to his face and mouth when the taxi he was in was involved in an accident on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens.

Well, if Tom could call someone on the phone hopefully that means his injuries aren't too bad.

Update 2: Glavine suffered a lacerated lower lip, received stitches and lost his two front upper teeth in the accident. Now, all Glavine wants for Christmas is his two front teeth, some run support and a defense that doesn't commit so many errors behind him. Glavine will miss his start today and Matt Ginter will take to the mound instead.

Q&A With Will Carroll

2004-08-09T16:15:00.000-04:00

On Friday July 30th (aka “Black Friday”) the Mets made a series of trading deadline deals which resulted in the organization’s top two pitching prospects, Scott Kazmir and Matt Peterson, being shipped out in exchange for two Major League pitchers, Tampa Bay’s Victor Zambrano and Pittsburgh’s Kris Benson. The trades were almost universally slammed, both in the blogosphere and in the mainstream media, with the focus of the criticism directed at the Kazmir for Zambrano trade. Questions soon arose such as; can the Mets new pitching coach Rick Peterson really fix the wild Zambrano “in 10 minutes,” as he was reported to have claimed? Is Kazmir susceptible to future injuries due to his size, the fact that he’s a southpaw or does he have some flaw in his mechanics? Since my lack of knowledge with respect to pitching mechanics is rivaled only by my lack of HTML knowledge (it took me 3 hours to change the font of my blog’s logo), I though I’d enlist the services of someone who actually knows what he’s talking about.

Will Carroll writes for Baseball Prospectus, including his weekly series called Under the Knife, where Will presents some of his groundbreaking work in analyzing baseball injuries. Will also hosts Baseball Prospectus Radio and has recently published his first book, Saving the Pitcher. Thank you Will for taking the time to answer some questions and help us crazy Met fans deal with some of these issues.

Shea Hot Corner: Part of the Mets rationale for trading Scott Kazmir were concerns about his durability because he is relatively small in stature and a lefty. Were these legitimate concerns?

Will Carroll: I don't have any data on durability for right/left, so I'll ignore that part. The concerns weren't that Kazmir wasn't durable because he was small, it was because his mechanics were so problematic. Kazmir was one of the pitchers that Peterson took to ASMI this winter and there were certain adjustments that needed to be made. While I don't know the results of that testing, it's possible that he was putting a strain on his arm that was greater than the normal forces that a UCL or a rotator cuff can withstand. That would be a very legitimate concern.

Shea Hot Corner: Mets fans have heard for a while that Kazmir "throws across his body." Whether that is, in fact, the case or not is another story but what exactly does this mean and why is it a concern?

Will Carroll: If you imagine that there is an invisible line running from home to second base, a pitcher normally wants to keep his force - and therefore the force on the ball - on that line or as close to parallel as possible. (We're ignoring breaking balls here.) A pitcher that has his arm come inside that line, one that appears to come medial (further towards the middle of the body) to the armpit is throwing across his body and placing stress on his shoulder. When you see this, think impingement syndrome.

Shea Hot Corner: Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson was recently reported to have said that he could fix Victor Zambrano "in 10 minutes." He was presumably talking about Zambrano's mechanics and wildness. Is it possible for a pitching coach to correct a flaw in a 29 year old pitcher's mechanics "in 10 minutes" to the point that results on the mound are seen quickly?

Will Carroll: 10 minutes. Sure! It depends on what the flaw is and how strong the habit is, but yes. If I can do it working with kids, there's no reason to doubt that Rick can do it with professionals. Zambrano could be doing something as simple as pulling his head, striding incorrectly, or maybe his eyelids are just stuffed up.

Shea Hot Corner: Rick Peterson also said recently that part of the impetus behind trading both Scott Kazmir and Matt Peterson, both drafted out of high school, was that they were still several years away from being able to make an impact at the Major League level, citing two other high school draftees, Tom Glavine (536 minor league innings) and Al Leiter (692 minor league innings), as evidence. Is there some magic number of innings a pitcher should throw in the minor leagues from a health and/or effectiveness standpoint?

Will Carroll: Not that I've seen evidence or even a study for. One of the chief advantages of a college pitcher is that he's more physically (and hopefully mentally) mature and will advance faster. Beyond David Clyde, I can't really think of any HS pitchers that rush through the minors in the fashion a Mark Mulder or Mark Prior did. It would be an interesting study to see how fast certain types of players make it to the majors.

Shea Hot Corner: The Mets, under the direction of Rick Peterson, have implemented an organizational wide pitching system from the Major League club down through the minor league clubs. Mets fans were excited about this as Peterson's arrival coincided perfectly with a wealth of young, minor league pitching talent in the Mets farm system. However, the recent trades and comments from Mets brass indicate that the Mets are not only willing to trade pitching prospects, but prefer established Major League pitchers over minor league pitching prospects, even top pitching prospects. Why would the Mets go through the time, expense and effort to implement this system to mold and prevent injuries to young pitchers for other teams?

Will Carroll: First, I think the "wealth" was a bit overstated. What I believe the Mets are trying to do is get some certainty, much like the A's did. A pitching prospect (and we know there is no such thing) is valuable if he makes the majors successfully or can be traded for something that helps the major league club. It's nice to win at Double-A, but that doesn't mean wins at the bigs. For a pitcher like Kazmir, there's so much risk of injury or ineffectiveness - he's never been dominant at any level - that there's a significant chance he will never have any value to the big league club. Zambrano may not have the potential, but he's proven himself to be a major league #3. For the right club at the right price, that's something. Trading Kazmir is not necessarily wrong, but I'd want more for him. That Soriano deal sure looks nice about now.

Shea Hot Corner: Lastly, departing from the trade issue for a minute, one of my readers astutely pointed out on draft day that seven of the Mets first fourteen picks in this year's amateur draft were right handed pitchers with so called 3/4 arm-slot deliveries and no wind-up. First, what is a "3/4 arm slot delivery" and is there something more advantageous about one arm slot delivery over another? Similarly, is there something to be said for a pitcher with no wind-up versus a pitcher with one?

Will Carroll: 3/4 arm slot means the arm comes through halfway between overhand and sidearm. From behind, it looks like the clock is at 1:30 or so. Arm slot is extremely overrated according to most biomechanical studies. The windup has no value at all other than deception and rhythm. I personally don't teach it. I don't care how my pitcher gets to the start of the motion as long as he gets there and doesn't balk.

Again, thank you to Will. As always, please leave comments below. And if anyone would like to ask Will a follow-up question, no need to track him down since he’s coming to us. On Friday, August 13th at 5:00 p.m. Baseball Prospectus will be hosting one of their pizza feeds at Shea, lead by Will Carroll:

Come out August 13th as the Mets take on the Diamondbacks. We'll meet at 5pm in the Picnic Area for some baseball talk, then sit together for some baseball. Will Carroll leads the group but there should be plenty of special guests. Tickets are $14 and should be ordered through Josh Orenstein of the Mets Group Sales department (joren@nymets.com).

Welcome To My Brain

2004-08-08T14:15:00.000-04:00

The Extra Innings Package is not carrying today's Mets-Cardinals game so I paid my $2.95 to get the game on MLB.tv. Since I'm at my computer watching this game, I figured I'd keep notes and subject you all to my thoughts while the game went on. Don't make fun of my poor spelling and typos.

The line-ups:

Mets
J. Reyes 2b
T. Zeile 1b
K. Matsui ss
C. Floyd lf
M. Cameron cf
R. Hidalgo rf
D. Wright 3b
V. Wilson c
A. Leiter p

St. Louis
T. Womack 2b
E. Renteria ss
A. Pujols 1b
S. Rolen 3b
L. Walker rf
R. Sanders lf
S. Taguchi cf
Y. Molina c
J. Marquis p

Top of 1st
Great, we get to deal with Walker today. Huh, Piazza's sitting out again? Reyes singled. I actually don't mind Zeile in the 2 hole - he's a good situational hitter. Go Zeile. I think one of the Cardinals announcers just said that Art Howe was "too smart for his own good." I must have heard that wrong. Mets with runners at the corners for Kaz, who might actually feel comfortable in the 3 hole. Wow, Kaz stung that ball to CF, driving in Jose who tagged easily. It's Pujols cap day in St. Louis. I wish the Mets had Pujols - or his hat. That was a sick catch of Floyd's pop foul by Molina and nice play by the fans to get the hell out of his way (take note Bartman). Cammy down 0/2, what a surprise. If he looks at strike 3 I'm going to scream. He seems to have a huge problem protecting the plate when he's down 2 strikes. Cammy pops out to end the inning - at least he didn't strike out, and that's what it's come to for Mets fans - redefining victory. Good guys 1, bad guys 0.

Bottom of 1st
Step right up folks - the Al Leiter magic show is about to begin. Oh, I just realized Edmonds is sitting out. Cool. This line-up is still scary. Leiter goes to a full count against Womack. The first of many full counts I'm sure. Womack pokes a broken bat single. We should start keeping track of how many bats Leiter breaks per start. That "stat" would be at least useful as productive outs. The Cards announcers are nice enough to point out that the Mets offense is rated last as well as their defense. Thanks, because I didn't want to forget that. Reneteria's hitting .424 vs. lefties! Second batter, second full count. Damn, Renteria swatted a ball over Cammy's head off the wall and Womach scores. Game tied already. By the time you get to Pujols, you have got to have at least one out. Men on, no outs with Pujols, Rolen and Walker up is a bad combo. This could get ugly, quick. Nice job by Leiter to jam Pujols. Renteria out at second b/c he didn't re-tag 3rd base. Oh now, Vance Wilson is down. Pujols knocked him in the dome with his back swing. There should be some repercussions for doing that. Stick Pujols in the penalty box for high sticking or something. Wilson's done. Ooo, he looks pissed going into the dugout. Jason Phillips in behind the dish. Wait, what the hell, they're letting Renteria stay on 2nd? What the hell! Art get out there and give them a piece of your mind you little girl! This is the 2nd time a Card bloodied one of our Mets (Zeile got lit up in the ear earlier in the year). Wait, now Renteria is out. I'm confused (as usual). Rolen hits a double. Thankfully Renteria was out. The fans are giving Walker a big ovation. Isn't that cute - now strike him out Al! And he does! I really enjoyed Al's first trick of the afternoon - not getting out the first two batters in this line-up and only allowing one run in the inning. Leiter needs 23 pitches to get through the inning. Good guys 1, bad guys 1.

Top of the 2nd
C'mon Doggie! Crap, Hidalgo struck out. Some Card players wives in the booth. None of them are hot. David Wright grounds out to Scott Rolen. Damn, I'd be happy if Wright turns out to be half the player Rolen is. Let's go goggs. I wonder if Phillips gave Matsui some advise about his spectacles. Phillips got on base - don't know how as the announcer was too busy talking to the ugly wives. I think Leiter might actually have a nicer looking swing than Craig Counsel. Does Al really think he's fooling anyone with that annoying fake bunt? Al Ks. Good guys 1, bad guys 1.

Bottom of 2nd
I like how everyone in the stands wears red. We should all wear orange at Shea. The entire stadium would look like one big construction zone. Another full count - this time to Reggie Sanders. A six pitch walk to Sanders. Ugh, lead-off walks drive me nuts. Ugh, Leiter pegs Taguchi. Ya know, I can think of a gazzillion other hitters the Mets should be hitting. Needless to say, lil' Taguchi isn't one of them. At least Al only thew a few pitches before hitting him. Holy Matsui Batman! What a DP! What did this guy do with the real Matsui? Who is the real Matsui? Will the real Matsui please stand up, please stand up, please stand up. By far the best play in the field Matsui and Reyes have made together all season. That was awesome. You go witcha bad spectacled self Kaz (snap, snap, snap). Marquis pops out. Crisis averted again. Good guys 1, bad guys 1.

Top of 3rd
Reyes is thrown out trying to bunt. I like that Jose has been trying to bunt more, he just has not had much success the last few games in doing it thanks to some nice defense. I guess Jose picked the wrong defense to try and test. These guys are good. Zeile takes a walk. Matsui bounces a ball to second, Zeile out but Kaz beats out the DP. Oooo, Marquis ties Cliff up on an inside pitch for a called strike 3. Good guys 1, bad guys 1.

Bottom of 3rd
Womack pops out. Renteria challenges Wright with a bunt down the 3b line and Wright can't get the ball out of his glove fast enough. That will come (I hope). Pujols broken bat hard grounder to third, Wright tosses it to Jose at 2nd, lead runner out, Jose overthrows 1st base trying to turn two and Pujols ends up on 2nd. Wright hesitated just long enough in making the throw that Jose had to rush to turn the DP and threw the ball away. Damn it, whatever Kaz has he is spreading it to Jose and Wright. Wright needs to check his glove - someone might be playing a prank on him and put some glue in it. First base open, two outs, Rolen up and the lefty Walker on deck - they walk Rolen. Can't say I disagree. I hate the Mets black caps with blue bills. Either make them all blue or all black. The black and blue theme sucks. Full count on Walker. Let's go Al. That pitch wasn't even close. Walker walks. Bases loaded for Sanders. Great, Al just hit Sanders - with the bases juiced! Pujols comes in to score. Bases still loaded for Taguchi. Teguchi smacks a two run, bases loaded double. Nice, in this stacked line-up we're getting beat by Teguchi! This sucks. We could have been out of this inning an hour and a half ago if Wright/Reyes could have turned that DP. Molina IBB and Marquis pops out. Inning done, finally. Good guys 1, bad guys 4.

Top of 4th
Cammy pops out to shallow center where Met Killer Taguchi gobbles up the pop up. Feat or famine Hidalgo digs in, who is hungry - strikes out looking. Wright singles, but he needs to do more than that to make up for his costly double pumping. Goggs takes a walk. Top of the 5th, two outs, two men on and Al Leiter coming in to bat - do you PH? Howe doesn't and I can't blame him. Anytime we can keep a starter in the game, with this bullpen, I do it. I can't say Leiter has been that bad so far. With even average defense the Mets are still very much in this game. Leiter gone on strikes. Good guys 1, bad guys 4.

Bottom 4th
Leiter comes into the inning having thrown 68 pitches, 31 for strikes. Pretty much par for the course for Al. Let's hope Al doesn't hit another batter and if he does, let's hope it's Pujols or Rolen. Womack pops out. Actually, back to the beaning issue. Let's hope Al doesn't hit anyone. Our infield might actually be the biggest bunch of wimps I've ever seen. I think Rolen and Pujols could probably take Phillips, Leiter, Zeile, Reyes, Matsui and Wright at the same time. Renteria gets his third hit of the day. There's a hotty blonde in the stands right behind home plate. Where are my marti gras beads when I need them. Leiter makes quick work of Pujols who strikes out and of course the Cards announcers, who are making this game more unbearable than it really is, say that it was a bad call. Of course, a Met pitcher could not strike out Pujols w/out some help from the ump. Renteria swipes second base. Phillips didn't have a chance. With first base open now, I'd probably walk Rolen and pitch to Walker or, at the very least, not give him anything to hit. What a surprise, Rolen knocks in Renteria. Good for my fantasy team, bad for my Mets. Walker bloops a double into LF and Rolen comes in to score. Call FEMA, the floodgates have opened. Last inning's barrage you could blame on poor defense. Now, however, Leiter is just getting batted around. Cedeno grounds out to end the inning. You guys hear Cedeno bash the Flushing Faithful as having no class because they/we/you bood him? What a putz. How dare a multi millionaire, who makes those millions thanks to our money, talk shit on us. I hope the Cards cut him now that they have Walker. Roger can't hear me but I'm screaming "booooo, booooo, boooo." There, I feel better. Leiter has thrown 90 pitches so far, only half for strikes. Good guys 1, bad guys 6.

Top of 5th
C'mon Jose, ignite us. Jose pops out to Cedummy. Zeile hits it to the wrong guy - Rolen. Score it 5 to 3. Matsui flies out to Teguchi. Pretty much the most boring inning of baseball I have ever seen in my life. The Mets have only scored two runs in the last 15 innings. Truly pathetic. Good guys 1, bad guys 6.

Bottom of 5th
Mike DeJean in. Leiter's line: 998 pitches, 8 for strikes. Matsui's out. McSuck in at second base and Jose moves to SS. Oh great, my wife, the Smokin' Hot Corner, is so happy that McEwing is in, her favorite player. She made me promise not to call him McSuck anymore. Okay, McUseless in at second. Oh great, Met killer Teguchi gets another hit. Molina bunts him over. DeJean, other than his first 6 innings or so, has sucked. DeJean will be a good experiment. Rick Peterson spotted a flaw in him that he could fix right up (sound familiar). Did Peterson not get the memo that this is not the small market A's and the Mets do not need to troll the league looking for low budget and/or undervalued projects? Grissom grounds out to Jose and Teguchi advances to third. Womack strikes out. Good guys 1, bad guys 6.

Top 6th
Cliff Floyd pulls a single to right. Cammy peppers the left-center field wall. Runners on second and third. Hidalgo grounds to Rolen, who looks Floyd back and guns down Doggie. Runners do not advance. Wright gets into an 0/2 hole takes a couple of balls then goes down swinging. Phillips grounds out. Inning over. Wow, that just exemplified the Mets season. Two men in scoring position, no outs, and they can't even walk away with a single run in the inning. This is just crazy. I really hope Duquette realizes this broken offense needs more than one middle of the order bat. We need a mashing corner outfielder AND a bad ass slugging first basemen this offseason. Good guys 1, bad guys 6.

Bottom 6th
DeJean back in. I don't have a good feeling about this. Tampa Bay won today. With less than a $30 million payroll, TB has a better record than the Mets (I think). This is just embarrassing. I want to buy the Mets. Despite being about a hundred grand in student load debt, my credit card company keep increasing my limit. I think I may have enough credit to throw down the plastic and buy the Mets. First order of business for my Mets: tar and feather Jim Duquette, Rick Peterson and Art Howe. Renteria gets his fourth hit today. Pujols bouncer to Wright, who slightly double clutches again, gets the force out at second but McUseless can't turn two. Rolen gets a single and now there's men on first and second with one out. Larry Walker digs in. DeJean strikes out Walker on three pitches. DeJean should hit Cedeno in the mellon. I'm feeling very violent today? Looks like Roger is hanging off the Big Macs lately? DeJean strikes out Roger. That's two solid scoreless innings for DeJean. Too bad our bullpen can't keep an opposing offense at bay in a game that matters. Good guys 1, bad guys 6.

Top of the 7th
Danny Harren in for Marquis, who just hand cuffed the Mets. Gerald Williams pinch hitting for the pitcher. Jeez, I really hate that this guy is on the team. Are the Mets so cheap that we have to look at Williams instead of one the kids from AAA because they don't want to start their arbitration clock ticking? Williams flies out. Jose grounds out. Zeile flies out to left and the Mets go down in order yet again. Truly pathetic. This game can't end soon enough. Why am I watching this? Why have I watched any games this season? Let's see, there have been, including this game, 110 games. Let's say the average game is 2 and 1/2 hours, that's 275 hours. I probably watched all but maybe 5 games, so that's about 262.5 hours of Mets games I have sat through. I want that time back! In fact, let's all get together and bring a class action lawsuit against the Mets to be reimbursed for our collective time wasted watching this team. Good guys 1, bad guys 6.

Bottom 7th
Pedro Feleciano in. Yay, we got Teguchi out! Molina grounds out to McSuck (sorry honey), I mean McUseless. John Mabry walks after an at bat that took an eternity. Womack flies out to Floyd. Thankfully the inning is over. Good guys 1, bad guys 6.

Top of the 8th
McUseless pops out weakly to Womack who drifts over to the third base area. Clifford pops out to shallow left, where Renteria drifts out to snag it. Cammy strikes out. Mets down in order . . . again. It's amazing. The team is down by five runs and need baserunners in the worst way and Floyd and Cammy, with the bases vacant, are swinging for the fences with every cut. Note to Mets - there's no such thing as a five run home run with the bases empty! Good (albeit clueless) guys 1, bad guys 6.

Bottom of 8th
Looper in for a little trash duty. Valent inserted into left so Cliff can go ice his knees and maybe his head. Renteria just picked up his fifth hit of the game. New Mets motto: New York Mets - We're Here to Pad Your Stats. Great, Pujols is up. Albert, be gentle . . . please. I think Pujols just hit into that DP on purpose. He wants this game to end as badly as I do. Is it wrong that I want Rolen to hit a home run for my fantasy team? Oh my God the Cardinal announcers are making me physically ill. Yeah yeah yeah we know, the Cards are good. Give us a break. I wonder if the Mets announcers are such homies? Rolen flied out to right. Damn it. Oh, I mean good! Good guys 1, bad guys 6.

Top of the 9th
One last chance to keep us from getting swept. Let's see what the Mets can do. Hidalgo goes down looking. Wright pops out. Wright showed his hero, Scott Rolen, nothing this series. Didn't swing the stick particularly well nor did he play good defense. The Cards announcers are already implying that they will be in the World Series and that the best overall record should determine home field advantage. Shoot me now. Phillips gets a hit. Eric Valent singles to right, moving Phillips to third. These are the first two hits off Harren. Here we go - Reyes takes a walk. I think this might be Reyes' first walk . . . um, ever. Ugh, the Cards are making a pitching change - Julian Taverez is in. C'mon, let's get this over with I gotta be somewhere in an hour! Let's go Todd - be a hero. Now the announcers are saying that the strike zone has shrunk in this last inning, which accounts for the Mets mini-rally. I've gone from being annoyed with these guys to now full on hating them. Jeez, Tavarez has like 9 different deliveries. Wow, Taverez walks Zeile to bring in a run and Cliff Floyd represents the tying run! Oh shit, wait fucking Howe double switched Floyd with . . . Joe McEwing! Wait, why not use Piazza as a pinch hitter!?!?! Ugh, McEwing grounds into the force out at second. Game over. The Smokin' Hot Corner is yelling at me to get ready to go out. Hopefully after a few drinks I'll forget about this game. Good guys 2, bad guys 6, Norm pissed off.

Juuuust a Bit Outside

2004-08-05T19:51:00.000-04:00

David Wright had three hits including a pair of two baggers and a home run and drove in 6 RBI, only two short of a single game Met record, en route to an 11 to 6 win over the Brew Crew yesterday afternoon. Other than being a coming out party of sorts for Wright, the game was significant in that it capped off a three game sweep of the Brewers and also gave Mets fans a first look at Rick Peterson's new toy Victor Zambrano, acquired in the much maligned trade that sent hot shot pitching prospect Scott Kazmir to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

The Mets got the ball rolling in the first inning off of Victor Santos when Jose Reyes singled up the middle then stole his 14th base of his short season to wind up on second base. Eric Valent worked a walk and the slumping Mike Piazza got aboard when he was hit in the forearm by a Santos pitch to load the bases. The Mets have struggled mightily this season with the bags full hitting only .206, but with no outs and a remote chance that the season could still be salvaged the Mets could not afford to allow this problem to go on. Richard Hidalgo dug in and popped up to second base. Mets fans everywhere held their breath since a double play could end the inning without a single run crossing the plate. Mike Cameron, who seems like he's been hitting behind in the count all season long, worked the count to find himself ahead 3 and 1. Cameron turned on the fifth pitch of the at bat, pulling it to deep left-center field bringing Reyes and Valent in to score and bringing Wright up to bat. Wright quickly found himself in an 0 and 2 hole, took a ball, fouled two pitches off then launched a hanging 1 and 2 breaking ball deep into the Miller Park stands. Vance Wilson followed up Wright's jack with a homer of his own to go back-to-back and when the inning was over the Mets had gift wrapped a six run lead for Zambrano.

Zambrano took the mound with a huge, early lead and a mountain of pressure. The Mets had mortgaged the future to get him to help them "win now" and despite a career 4.47 ERA the Mets are expecting him to become a top of the rotation starter. Adding to the pressure, Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson said that he spotted a flaw in Zambrano's mechanics and that he could fix him "in 10 minutes." Peterson's statement bucks the conventional wisdom, as highlighted in Will Carroll's great new book Saving the Pitcher, that

Changing mechanics, especially those that have been ingrained into muscles over years of competition, is difficult and requires an intense commitment. Doing so inside of a season or even a pre-season does not likely provide enough time to do so properly.

Nevertheless, perhaps Peterson intends to spend an extra, super-sized, mucho intense ten minutes with Zambrano. Those ten minutes better have been pretty intense because Zambrano needs a a lot of fixing. Many say he's got great "stuff" but at 29 years old he's yet to harness it, as he leads the league in pitches thrown per inning, walks (yes, the Mets actually found someone who is less efficient than Al Leiter) and sports a hefty 4.43 ERA. But never fear, because Professor Rick has had roughly 7,200 minutes to work with Zambrano since Black Friday. Since Peterson only needed 10 minutes to mold the wild Zambrano into a top of the rotation starter, God only knows what Peterson could do to Zambrano with the extra 7,190 minutes! Going into the game I was thinking no hitter. Well, not so much.

In the first inning alone Zambrano threw close to 30 pitches, walked two, and allowed the Brewers to cut the Mets six run lead in half. Maybe Peterson needed 7,201 minutes? Luckily for Zambrano, the Mets tacked on four more runs in the fourth thanks to a two run single by Hidalgo and a bases clearing, three run double by Wright. Wright doubled again in the sixth for his third hit of the game and Wilson singled him home, extending the Mets lead 11 to 3. Zambrano took the mound in the sixth inning where he witnessed the Mets Bad News Bear-like infield defense (by the way, I don't care what defensive efficieny ratio says - the Mets infield defense is bad - real bad). Craig Counsel, proud owner of the ugliest swing in baseball, took first base on a catcher's interference call and then Joe McEwing, who had an awful day in the field, botched the force out at second thrown to him by Wright. With two on and no outs, Zambrano struck out Scott Podsednik but allowed a single to Bill Hall to load the bases. With the bases loaded and one out, Art Howe summoned Pedro Feliciano who gave up a three run double to Geoff Jenkins cutting the Mets lead to 11 to 6, which held as the final score.

When the dust settled, Zambrano had given up 8 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned runs, walked 3 and struck out 7. The frustrating numbers is that it took him 110 pitches to get through only 5 and 1/3 innings and of those 110 pitches only 62 were strikes. While he got the win, Zambrano was helped by a Brewers line-up that would not lay off his pitches out of the strike zone and he was also helped by quite a bit of run support. It was frustrating that even with a huge lead, Zambrano could still not bring himself to throw strikes consistently. He got away with it yesterday, but his pussyfooting around the strike zone will not work in a close game and/or against a team with a scintilla of patience. Zambrano's fastball was unimpressive, topping out at only 89-91 mph and while he has a nasty slider, he has no idea how to use it. In sum, Zambrano showed virtually no changes from his days with the Devil Rays. He's got good stuff but does not know how to use it. Rick Peterson is a good pitching coach and I have faith he will help him but let's be real; Zambrano is a project. He will not be fixed in 10 minutes, 10 hours, or 10 days. More likely, he will need at least 10 starts.

This and That

Black Friday repercussions: Okay, so I'm going to try and move on but it's harder than I thought. I took a few days off to calm down and read the various takes on the trades hoping to gain an appreciation for why the Mets did this. Every day another Met "justification" comes out that just gets me more angry. Between the absurd things said by Jim Duquette and Rick Peterson in their interviews on WFAN to the various quotes in newspapers, I'm not even close to saying my peace on this. However, I'm going to try and move on but cut me some slack if I appear a bit more pessimistic for few more days/weeks/years.

Check this out for a look at a few pitchers with odd deliveries. Just think, if any of these pitchers came up in the Met organization they would be dealt in a heartbeat since they do not conform to The Peterson Way (TM). Oh, sorry, see the last sentence of the point above.

Check out The Hardball Times where Aaron Gleeman and Craig Burley compare and debate Hank Blalock and David Wright as the best third basemen under 24 years old.

A few weeks ago I hinted that the Mets should pick up Generation K alum Bill Pulsipher to help them out with their lefty bullpen woes. Well, the Mets may not read my blog but the Mariners do. The M's bought out Pulsipher's contract from the Long Island Ducks and assigned him to to AAA Tacoma. Good luck!

Bob Murphy Passes Away

2004-08-04T08:59:00.000-04:00

Bob Murphy, one of the original Met broadcasters, died yesterday in Florida of lung cancer. To many of us, Murphy was as much apart of the Mets as Shea Stadium, Mr. Met and the home run apple. He will indeed be missed. Mets.com has a great page set up with, among other things, audio clips of Murphy's classic calls. Go check them out and relive some great moments in Mets history with "Murph."

Letter from Scott Kazmir to Mets Fans

2004-08-03T14:24:00.000-04:00

Not only does Scott Kazmir continue to prove the critics of his on field abilities wrong with his dominating pitching performances, but he also proves the critics of his character wrong with this classy letter to Mets fans posted on NYFS. I wish every pitcher in the Met organization had his talent and I wish everyone in the Met front office had his character flaws.

Rick Peterson - The Driving Force Behind the Trades

2004-08-01T10:27:00.000-04:00

Two Journal News articles reveal that Mets pitching coach/guru Rick Peterson had his fingerprints all over Black Friday and was particularly forceful in wanting to deal Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. The first article rivals that of MSG's Bill Daughtry as perhaps the most ignorant commentary on this trade to date (thanks Matt for pointing that out). This article states,

Peterson is the key to this deal, the man who will get Duquette celebrated or fired. He watched hours of tape on Benson and Zambrano and is convinced he can fix their mechanical issues.

Identifying pitchers who are undervalued is one thing, but trading away your top pitching prospect - perhaps the top left handed pitching prospect in the minors - for an undervalued, underachieving, flawed player is something else. In the second Journal News article, Peter Abraham states that,

Peterson put his reputation on the line by strongly advising the Mets to acquire the inconsistent Zambrano from Tampa Bay for Class AA left-hander Scott Kazmir. But to him, the risk was negligible.

Peterson thinks the risk was negligible because,

Of the prospects lost, only Kazmir is significant, and Rick Peterson is convinced his across-the-body delivery will lead to elbow problems.

First of all, it's laughable to say that the only significant prospect lost was Kazmir. Second of all, if Rick Peterson is such a great pitching coach and if he spotted a flaw in Kazmir's delivery, isn't it up to him to correct the flaw? This is not a mid 30s veteran pitcher set in his ways after all, this is a 20 year old kid. But hey, I guess it's easier to deal the kid, trash his reputation, and have all the rags tow the company line in helping you do it. It's also funny to point out that while many of us fans listened in horror as we heard the news of Black Friday, Rick Peterson, "stood up and clapped when [he] heard the news that we got him [Zambrano]."

But us fans needn't worry, because, according to The Journal News,

It's a gamble but a good one. It all starts with pitching, and the Mets now have the kind of rotation that wins championships.

Riiiiight, sure we do, it really looked like it last night. As for Scott Kazmir, how is he handling the situation of being told by Mets brass that he is untouchable then being traded and having his durability, talent, character, and work ethic called into question? Revenge was on the kid's mind:

That's my goal now. . . They'll be sorry they did this.

Some of us are already sorry.

Black Friday

2004-07-31T14:34:00.000-04:00

In a span of 15 minutes, Mets brass made a series of trades that obliterated the foundation of what was to be an organizational return to greatness for the short sighted purpose of playing “meaningful games in September.”

The Trades

In a three team deal, the Mets sent AAA catcher Justin Huber to the Royals in exchange for third basemen Jose Bautista, who was immediately flipped in a package with third/second/first basemen Ty Wigginton and AA right handed pitcher Matt Peterson in exchange for right handed starting pitcher Kris Benson and minor league second basemen Jeff Keppinger. In short, the Mets shipped out Wigginton, Peterson and Huber for Benson and Keppinger.

Minutes later, the Mets sent class AA starting pitchers Scott Kazmir and Jose(lo) Diaz to Tampa Bay for starting pitcher Victor Zambrano and AAA pitcher Bartolome Fortunato, who is either 24 or 30 years old, depending on who you ask.

In summary, the Mets lost Wigginton, Kazmir, Peterson, Huber and Diaz and gained Benson, Zambrano, Keppinger and Fortunato.

Weighing the Talent

Looking at the trades in isolation, it’s clear the Mets overpaid in the transaction that landed Benson and got robbed blind in the follow-up deal that netted Zambrano. Looking at the cumulative effect of both trades together, however, reveals just how truly devastating they are. In a matter of minutes, over half the starting rotation of the Mets AA Binghamton pitching staff was sent packing. The heir apparent to Mike Piazza, one of the most highly touted catching prospects in the minors, was issued his walking papers as well. In short, the Mets gutted their farm system, a system envied by other teams. And let’s not forget about Ty Wigginton, a player who wore his heart on his sleeve for this team and has shown marked improvement this year from his rookie campaign of last season. The Mets lost monumentally more than what they received. The only way these trades can be justified is if they result in a World Series championship. If not, the Wilpons, Jim Duquette, "Superscout" Al Goldis, or whoever is running things for the Mets, can consider their gamble a failure.

The Lies

While weighing the talent the Mets received versus what they gave away tips decidedly against the Mets, these trades are more than just about Kazmir and Peterson et al., they are about team management implementing a plan, selling it to the fans, then abandoning the plan, the fans and the players that bought into it. Many fans were willing to be patient if it meant the Mets would field a team of players we could call our own. Didn't Met brass take note of the genuine excitement solid home grown players generate? Did they turn their backs when the Flushing Faithful gave David Wright a standing ovation when he got his first hit recently? Do they cover their eyes when us fans gush like little girls whenever Jose Reyes smiles? For God sakes we put up with Ty Wigginton's cement shoes at third base for a year and a half just because he's a home grown kid who works his tail off and is fun to root for. The Mets are not the Yankees and we were just beginning to enjoy how the current management was forging, or should I say re-forging, our own organizational identity and philosophy - one that we could be proud of. I'm not very proud to be a Met fan today.

Son of a Bitch!

2004-07-30T22:21:00.000-04:00

I'm way too incensed to form a coherent thought about what just happened tonight. Nice fucking "plan" Duquette you little worm. My gut reaction is that the Wilpon's desire for "meaningful" games in September (read, ticket sales) just trumped the long term success of this team. Maybe I was being naive, but I bought into this new direction the team was going - getting younger with an emphasis on replenishing the farm system in order to pour a foundation for a solid future. Yeah, I bought into it hook, line an sinker. What a dope I am. I'm going to let this marinate a bit, maybe throw up, and be back tomorrow with some thoughts.

Benson Deal Done

2004-07-30T18:02:00.000-04:00

According to Ken Rosenthall of FoxSports.com, the Mets acquired Kris Benson from the Pirates for Ty Wigginton and one of the Mets top pitching prospects, 22 year old Matt Peterson. Rosenthall also reports that the Mets received two unnamed minor leaguers in the deal. A Minnesota website jumped the gun in reporting on this trade last night so hopefully, or hopefully not (depending on your opinion of the deal), this report is correct. I'm going out to get a drink or ten.

Rick Peterson vs. Anna Benson

2004-07-30T16:27:00.000-04:00

It seems that if Kris Benson is traded to the Mets, pitching coach/guru Rick Peterson will have his hands full trying to find scientific evidence to counter this hypothesis by Benson's sultry, and demanding, wife Anna:

I hate it. There’s no scientific proof that sex is going to hurt your pitching performance. Each player has his own ritual, and Kris’s is no sex when he pitches. It pisses me off because if you tell me I can’t have something then that just makes me want it more. I like having sex with Kris. We’ve had some pretty nasty fights over this issue.

You can find that comment and others in this interview I found linked to at MVN (Parental Discretion Advised) and if that's not enough Anna for you, you can always visit her at her website. I think that Peterson should take the Benson's down to the American Sports Medicine Institute in Alabama to have Kris tested to see how he pitches with and without "relations."

What Happened to "the Plan"?

2004-07-30T10:18:00.000-04:00

This offseason Mets brass sold the fans on a plan of action that would right the Mets ship. Under the Steve Phillips regime, the Mets had strayed and become something they weren't, namely, a blue and orange version of the Yankees, snatching up hired guns and stealing back page press. The result were both similar and different from the Yankees. Like the Yankees, the Mets squandered their farm system but unlike the Yankees, did so without the benefit of wins on the field. With the promotion from within of first year GM Jim Duquette, the Mets set out on a PR blitz this offseason to get the fans excited to return to the organizational roots focused on pitching and getting younger. The propaganda was also an attempt provide a built in excuse for not signing Vladimir Guerrero and not trading young players for Alfonso Soriano. As a result, Met fans had visions dancing around our heads of a team a few years away that would be reminiscent of the 1986 Mets, with home grown stud pitchers, a few good home grown position players and a couple of free agents to plug holes. In other words, a team that us fans would be proud to root for; a team that would distinguish themselves from the band of mercenaries that the Yankees had assembled. With young players like Jose Reyes, David Wright, Scott Kazmir and Matt Peterson, fans were justified in their expectations. But now the plan has changed. Rumors are swirling that the Mets are on the verge of dealing Peterson and/or Kazmir - their top two pitching prospects - for Kris Benson and/or Victor Zambrano. The Mets are reported to be willing to "throw in" Ty Wigginton, a hard nosed, home grown player that will not only run through a wall for this team, but who, in only his second season, is also on pace to hit .280, smack 20 HRs and swat 35 doubles. The merits of these rumored trades are debatable, with most fans that are in favor of such a trade citing TINSTAAPP (There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect) in arguing that while Peterson and Kazmir are top tier prospects, they are just that - prospects - and there is no guarantee they will ever pan out. Those that advocate that the Mets should hold onto their prospects argue that the Mets should resist trying to put a band aid on a 2004 Mets squad suffering from far more than one little boo boo. Much depends on what, if any, the exact trade(s) is/are and whether or not the player(s) the Mets get in return are inked to a longer term deal and is not just a few month rental. However, if a trade is made and whatever players are involved and whichever camp you find yourself in, it's hard to ignore that the Mets "plan" has been scrapped and the future is not nearly as bright as it once looked.

Why?

2004-07-22T15:26:00.000-04:00

Can someone please explain to me why Joh Franco still has a job as a Major League pitcher? Couldn't Royce Ring do as good (or as bad) a job? I hear we have another decent lefty somewhere down on the farm also. Anyway, after today's greuling 4 to 1 loss to the Expos, I thought I'd help the Captain out in deciding where he should go from here. Click here John and let your fingers do the walking.

The Raindrops is Back

2004-07-22T08:45:00.000-04:00

A message from Avkash from The Raindrops

Hey folks,
As you may or may not know, the raindrops has been down for more than a week due to some server problems. I don't know when it'll be back to 100%, so in the mean time, I'm going to start posting at: http://theraindrops.typepad.com. This is a temporary thing until the old site is all fixed up, and I honestly have no idea when that will be. Do with your bookmarks as you please.
-Avkash

So go stop by and tell Avkash how happy you are that he's back on-line and how ugly that green color scheme is. I kid, I kid!

David Wright Joining the Party

2004-07-21T07:41:00.000-04:00

Mets uber prospect third basemen David Wright will be recalled from AAA Norfolk to play against the Expos tonight. Ty Wigginton will play first base tonight. From the cyber Shea Hot Corner to the real, new Shea Hot Corner - welcome and good luck!

Welcome to the Party Pal

2004-07-20T00:09:00.000-04:00

Scott Erickson made his Mets debut last night and was promptly treated to a typical game for a Met starter. This typical start consists of a Met starter pitching his heart out and leaving with the lead, then being forced to sit idle in the dugout while the Mets porous defense and suspect bullpen conspire against him to snatch away a win and hand over a no decision or, if the pitcher is unlucky enough, a loss. No where else does a 2.67 ERA equate to a sub .500 win/loss record. I'll try to take some solace in the words of Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson who, in an interview with WFAN a few weeks ago, seemed to have a good attitude about these types of losses. Peterson said that good teams find themselves in every game. And when you're in every game, you are bound to lose some heartbreakers. In other words, it's because the Mets are so good that I threw a sneaker, highlighter and a pair of glasses at the TV set last night. The key, according to Peterson, is to not let these losses effect you so that you can bounce back. Say what you will about our little water treading Mets, you can't say they are not a resilient bunch.

Now, let's move onto brighter thoughts. The latest from ESPN,

If they can stay in the race and none of the other NL East contenders break away from the pack, the Mets might have an opportunity. They have the second-most games left against teams with records under .500 (24) in the NL, will be finished with Florida and Philly by Sept. 12, and nine of their last 15 are against the Expos and Pirates (who presumably will be without either Kris Benson or Jose Mesa by then).

That makes me feel a little better. What makes me feel even better is knowing that both the Braves and Phillies records are a bit artificially bloated in that they have had the pleasure of playing the AAA Expos 14 times each so far while the Mets have only played them seven times.

Lastly, on last night's broadcast Ted Robinson mentioned an article from the NY Times Magazine by Pat Jordan. It's a good read, check it out here.

Parra to the DL

2004-07-19T18:44:00.000-04:00

In the latest installment of the hit new drama, As the Roster Turns, right handed relief pitcher Jose Parra was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right hip flexor strain.

Mets Trade Karim Garcia for Mike DeJean

2004-07-19T15:25:00.000-04:00

The Mets finally found a taker for Karim Garcia. The Orioles took Garcia and gave the Mets right handed set-up man Mike DeJean. DeJean comes to Flushing with a 0 and 5 record and a hefty 6.13 ERA. Mets GM Jim Duquette said,

Mike will bring experience and depth to our bullpen. . . He has had success in the National League and has the savvy of pitching well in close games.

If DeJean's record and ERA weren't scary enough, Baseball Prospectus's handy dandy Reliever Evaluation Tools Report does not give us much relief either (no pun intended). DeJean is second to worst in adjusted runs prevented, dead last in at preventing inherited runners from scoring, and is the most overrated relief pitcher in baseball by conventional run assignment. In other words, think of DeJean as Mike Stanton from the right side.

If you're looking for a bright side, here it is. Since the Richard Hidalgo trade, Garcia was useless to the club right now so at least the Mets got something for him. Also, DeJean has had some success in the past. While DeJean has had a rough year, he seems to have turned it around as of late, with a 2.35 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in July. Finally, note that DeJean has actually pitched very well away from Camden Yards: 2.29 road ERA.

The Mets were hoping to move Garcia today in order to clear a roster spot for pitcher Scott Erickson who is being recalled from AAA Norfolk and is scheduled to start tonight. They moved him but took a player in return so it's not clear who the odd man out on the roster is. A right handed releiver was not exactly on the top of the Mets wish list, especially with how well the Mets right handed bullpen arms have pitched and how poorly the two-headed-southpaw monster has thrown. Alternatively, another trade that opens up a roster spot might be imminent as well.

Our Lefty Bullpen Savior: Vic Darensbourg (quack)

2004-07-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

The Mets beat the Phillies last night 3 to 2 in an 11 inning thriller to pull within one game of first place. Quack. There are currently four teams within one game of the top spot in the division. Wow. Apparently the Mets brass knows that if the team is going to go anywhere, it needs some bullpen reinforcements, particularly from the left side. This gaping hole might be more of a pressing need than the need for a decent back of the rotation starter. John Franco and Mike Stanton have been ineffective. Quack. Stanton, who ranks among the league's worst at allowing inherited runners to score, is on pace to set a career high in innings pitched. Franco and his 4.59 ERA is on pace to toss the most innings he's thrown in almost fourteen seasons. In other words, as bad as this southpaw duo as been, at their ages don't expect them to get any better in the second half. Quack.

Recognizing this, the Mets have brought in and assigned to AAA Norfolk, 33 year old Vic Darensbourg, (quack, quack) who was recently cut loose by the White Sox. To make room for the journeymen lefty, the Mets sent another lefty bullpen arm, Royce Ring, down to AA Binghamton. Ring came to the Mets in the Roberto Alomar trade and was touted as a serious contender to become the Mets future closer. Quack. After mixed results in Norfolk (3 and 1, 3.74 ERA) his stock has slipped quite a bit. Quack.

Jeez, what the hell is all that damn quacking! What is this one of those Aflac commercials!?! Oh, wait, I know what that quacking is. It's a sign from above (or a sign from exit 58 on the LIE). If the Mets are in the business of signing journeymen lefties to shore up the bullpen, then why not ink Generation K alum Bill Pulsipher to a minor league deal, send him to Norfolk, and let's see what he can do. Pulsipher is currently tearing up the independent AAA Atlantic League for the Long Island Ducks. At 8 and 2 with a 3.28 ERA and 60 Ks in 85 innings pitched, Pulsipher is among the league leaders in pitching and was recently selected to the Atlantic League All Star Team. According to a recent interview, Pulsipher has straightened out his mechanics, has improved and relies on his two seam fastball, which he compliments with his change-up, and perhaps most importantly, he has had much more success with his battle against anxiety by switching from Prozac to Paxil.

Is signing Pulsipher a likely scenario? No, not at all. Would it make sense? It makes about as much sense as signing 33 year old Vic Darensbourg to a minor league deal to take 23 year old Royce Ring's spot in Norfolk.

Say Hello to Scott Erickson

2004-07-15T09:12:00.000-04:00

Like a bad case of herpes, Scott Erickson just will not go away. Erickson's VD-like persistence will apparently pay off this Saturday or Sunday, as perennial Met nay sayer and Shea Hot Corner Axis of Evil Grand Wizard Bob Klapish is reporting that he has taken Matt Ginter's spot in the Mets starting rotation. Is this good news for Mets fans? Yes and no. It's bad news because the fact that Scott Erickson will be pitching for the Mets this year is a statement about the Mets failure to produce a serviceable back of the rotation starter from within, especially the lack of Major League ready minor league pitching prospects. While the Mets are stocked with arms from AA down, none of these pitchers are ready for the big stage. Matt Ginter got a shot and could not pitch well consistently. Ditto Tyler Yates. Grant Roberts imploded and could not even handle being the Mets long man out of the bullpen. I still have a nervous twitch from watching James Baldwin's starts. There's not much hope in Norfolk either. Aaron Heilman sports an unimpressive 2 and 8 record with a robust 4.90 ERA. With his 0 and 6 record and 6.02 ERA, Bob Keppel has made Heilman look good. The good news about Erickson replacing Ginter is that the Mets are on a roll in catching lightning in a bottle from unlikely players. With no other immediate options available, it can't hurt to give Erickson a shot. I would rather exhaust our options from within before making any rash trade deadline deals where this is probably the best you can get (although like Erickson being called up, there's a conciliation prize). Maybe Erickson can throw some strikes and keep his sinker down to produce a bevy of ground balls for our stellar infield defense to take care of. Ugh.

I suck

2004-07-10T01:09:00.000-04:00

I know I know entries have been few and far between and when I do post, they suck. Well, they suck more than they used to. Unfortunately studying for this God damn bar exam is taking up way too much of my time and when I have a an hour to spare it's spent zipping through my Tivo'd Mets games. Go nuts with the Mets blogs on the side bar - there's some great stuff out there. I'll try to post when I can and should be back to posting more regularly in a few weeks. From what I can tell . . .

the Mets are still flirting with first place,

Art Howe is still dumber than wart puss,

Rick Peterson's a genius,

John Franco is older than dirt,

Orber Moreno has been spotted on the back of a milk carton,

Mike Stanton blows,

Kazuo Matsui got wind of my All Star Break deadline and has turned his season around,

Richard Hidalgo is making Jim Duquette look good,

Tom Glavine is still money but for some reason, he has yet to endear himself to me. Last year it was just odd to see him in a Mets uni. Then, as he struggled, all of his excuses didn't sit well with me. QUestec, pressure, bad defense blah blah blah. And now that he's pitching well, all of his subtle comments about lack of run support is just more of the same. And from what I can gather, with his lack of strike outs and his superb ERA, while the offense might not be there when he pitches the Mets defense has saved his ass more often than not. Shut up and pitch. Oh, and stop playing make believe GM while you're at it. We don't want that old, crusty homophobe John Smoltz. Now, where was I, oh right, back to this shitty blog entry,

Mike Cameron is swingin a mean stick,

"Ty Wigginton," according to Kaz Matsui, means "this is my hot corner" in Japanese,

Art Howe is still dumb,

Jose Reyes can hit .200 the rest of the season so long as he flashes one of those smiles every couple of games (okay, that smile can get him only so far - say, .250),

"David Wright," according to Jae Weong Seo, means "move over bucket head" in Korean,

Mike Piazza is struggling but who cares - the Mets are an offensive juggernaut (I can't believe I just wrote that) and his bat is just gravy right now,

Cliff Floyd made a great balls to the wall play in left field the other night against the Phillies in the late innings when the Mets were already up like 10 to 1 - that's what I call heart,

While Reyes' smile gets him a pass to only hit .250 the rest of the year, Jason Phillips goggles, while cool, do not get him any such pass,

This Met team is going to be the death of me, or the reason I fail the bar.

That's it for now.

Bring on the Phillies

2004-07-05T00:20:00.000-04:00

Sweeping the Yankees was sweet and it was especially gratifying these days where the NY and national media make a hobby out of kissing the Yankees' pinstriped ass. However, the Mets can't make the same mistake made by this weekend's sweeepees. The Yankees finished an emotional sweep of the Redsox last week then rolled into the weekend series against the Mets on a high and were quickly shot down by our boys in blue and orange. Similarly, the Mets just finished off an emotional sweep of the Yankees and now have to square off in a four game series against the Phillies. The Mets can't let their guard down or they risk having done to them what they dished out this weekend.

Every so often, before a series begins, I'll skim through some of the opposing team's blogs or message boards to see what, if anything, opposing teams fans think of their teams chances against the Mets. Usually what I find is a lot of "I hate the Mets," "the Mets suck" "Mets fans are fat ignorant selfish pig-faced slobs" etc... After taking 2 of 3 against the Reds and sweeping the Yankees to pull into second place and only 2 games out of first, however, I found something strange for the first time this season: respect. Here are a few excerpts from the Phillies message board:

Subject: Mets Scaring Me

The Mets are looking unstoppable. Did you see the hilights against the Yanks...They smoked the yanks...swept them three games straight. The Mets are the Phillies main threat. The Phils have no time to begin slumping. The Mets are on one of their irreverent "magic" rolls right now. Help, the Mets are scaring me...

Damn straight we smoked them Yankees and butter us up baby because you're right - we are indeed on one of our "magic rolls."

I agree 100%. Not only have the Mets killed the Phillies this year along with the rest of the NL East (except the Expos), but they are on a major hot streak right now and i think the Phils will have a very difficult task over the next four days and they will be lucky to win 2 of the 4.

The Phillies should consider themselves lucky if they escape the series with their lives!

Subject: Worried About the Mets

Is anyone else concerned about the up comming series with the mets? With the way this team has pitched you can't help but wonder what an average hitting team will do. I mean the Spos put up quite a few runs. With better pitching against the phils (Leiter, Glavine) can they win?? I sure hope so because the Mets fans are soooooooo annoying. What do you guys think?

Who you calling annoying!

A little bit concerned, I suppose. I do not think they have the bullpen to match ours (gulp). However, their starters have been great and a shudder to think what will happen if they land a fifth starter in a trade.....they have still struggled at tehj dish but the pick-up of Hidalgo has proven thus far to be a good one

Shudder shudder damn it shudder!

As far as their team is concerned, God help the NL east if they had a decent manager. Sound familiar????

True dat.

Back to the Yankee series, I just wanted to point to two pictures that embody why the Mets are a fun team to watch and why rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for Ivan Drago.

Subway Sweep!!!

2004-07-04T16:53:00.000-04:00

Hey Yankees, get on your

and get the hell out of Flushing because you have been

courtesy of

Thank you for playing and come again.

Starting Contromexy

2004-06-30T16:19:00.000-04:00

I gotta say, Keith Hernandez's on-line Q&A for MSG is quickly becoming one of my favorite weekly readings. Of particular note this week is Keith's response to a question regarding Art Howe's decision to take Mike Piazza out of close games when he's playing first base for a defensive replacement. I'll highlight the part I think is, well, interesting.

"Whether to take Piazza out of a game for defensive purposes or not?", that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler ...never mind. It depends on the game. The Mets really don't have a real first baseman on the team and Piazza has been inexplicably timid at first. If the game is close, put him behind the plate. But do the pitchers like throwing to him?

Bounce Back

2004-06-29T23:53:00.000-04:00

Leaving NY with their collective tails between their legs after dropping two of three to the Yankees, including Sunday's double dip sweep, the Mets bounced back against the Reds yesterday with a 7 to 5 win. Things started looking up for the Mets before the first pitch was even thrown, as both Sean Casey and Ken Griffey Jr. were riding the pine. Casey was shelved thanks to a strained calf and Jr. was a late scratch due to his own calf issues. Mike Cameron got the ball rolling when, after Cliff Floyd got aboard after being hit by a pitch, singled to left allowing Floyd to score. After that, Floyd took the wheel and drove the Mets offense adding a solo bomb in the fourth and then in the sixth inning, after a Kazuo Matsui double and Mike Piazza walk, Floyd homered again. Not content, the Mets went for the jugular, as Richard Hidalgo followed up Floyd's home run with a single and Ty Wigginton drove Hidalgo and himself in with his seventh home run of the season.

Jae Weong Seo, who has been flirting with losing his job (again) most of the season, pitched fairly well and probably better than his four earned run in 6 1/3 IP line indicated. His job may be safe - for now. Kazuo Matsui's sixth inning double was his 20th, which ties him for second among NL shortstops in two baggers. Ty Wigginton said before the season started that he thinks he's capable of 20 home runs and 40 doubles. Through 60 games played Wiggy has seven home runs and 15 doubles so it looks like he's close to being on place to meet his home run goal but will have to turn it up a notch to make 40 doubles. I don't know what Richard Hidalgo's goal was when he was traded to the Mets, but whatever it was I'm going to assume he's meeting it. Since the trade, Hidalgo has hit three home runs, compared to four he his the entire season before the trade, and has added about 10 points to his AVG and 30 points to his SLG. Since starting off his Met career going 0 for 7 in his first two games, Hidalgo has had multi hit games in four of the previous eight games.

Elsewhere around the division, the Phillies waxed the Expos 17 to 7 and the Marlins beat the Braves 5 to 4. The Mets are currently one game under .500 at 37 and 38 and find themselves three games behind both the Marlins and Phillies.

In minor league news, WFAN's Joe Benigno has reported on rumors that he's heard that David Wright will be called up on Monday to play against the Phillies. This might explain why Ty Wigginton has reportedly been taking ground balls at first base. Obviously this sounds like nothing more than speculation but it's worth keeping an eye on. Also, Mets 2003 first round draft pick Lastings Milledge, gets some positive ink in Sports Illustrated's website. This story is a far cry from the last time a young Mets player got some attention from SI.

Lastly, in stat geek news, make it a point to read Joe Sheehan's article at Baseball Prospectus, Bias (membership not required). To me, part of the reason sabermetrics is not more widely accepted, and in some cases met with open hostility, is first, generally the stat geeks could do a better job presenting the information so that you don't need an advanced degree in mathematics to understand it, and second, they could do a better job not coming off as arrogant know-it-alls. Sheehan's article addresses this second problem in showing a little humility:

All things considered, performance analysis brings a lot to the table, and a successful team has to incorporate it into its player evaluation. It's not perfect, however, and any application of the method has to include an understanding of the biases it can introduce. Just as an affection for young men who are strong and fast can lead to a system full of decathletes that can't hit a baseball, evaluating players based on walk rates and power can lead to having too many prospects who can't catch one. The best approach, the one that's going to put the most wins on the board, takes the best information from each method.

Disturbing Internet Practice With Respect to Blogger/Blogspot

2004-06-27T10:29:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to point out to blog readers and bloggers who use Blogger/Blogspot that a religious website called Aarons Bible has apparently done its best to direct traffic to its site by creating mirror sites that mimic Blogger blogs' URLs. Aarons Bible's URL(s) are exactly the same as Blogger URLs except they deleted the "s" in "blogspot." If you mistakenly omit the "s" in "blogspot" from a Blogger URL, for example my URL (http://sheahotcorner.blogspot.com/) you will end up at http://sheahotcorner.blogpot.com/ and you will be treated to,

A mega-site of Bible, Christian and religious information & studies; including, audio and written KJV Bible, Bible helps & tools, churches, Doctrine, links, news, prayer, prophecy, sermons, spiritual warfare, statistics, and tracts. Features the Chronological 4 Gospels, Prayer Book, Prophecy Bible, and a photo tour of Israel.

Don't get me wrong, I'm down with JC as much as the next guy, but this form of cyber-piracy is sketchy at best and illegal at worst. If you find this as disturbing as I do contact Aarons Bible directly and tell them as much, which you can do by clicking here, and also contact Blogger by clicking here. If you so desire, feel free to point out that while cyber-piracy is not specifically mentioned in The Ten Commandments, a few of the Commandments indicate that the Big Guy Upstairs would not be too keen on their deceptive practices. For example, the Ten Commandments state that "thou shall not steal," "thou shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor," and the often overlooked, "thou shall not misuse domain names, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses domain names." Amen.

Quote of the Day

2004-06-27T09:59:00.000-04:00

"Every team in the majors likes Tom Glavine . . . We like him better." - Mets GM Jim Duquette responding to rumors that the Yankees are interested in acquiring Mets LHP Tom Glavine.

Exhibit A

2004-06-26T23:37:00.000-04:00

Consider this Exhibit A supporting the irrefutable conclusion that Yankee fans are the crying, whining, spoiled brats of Major League Baseball. I read that and all I heard was, "I want an Oompa Loompa. I want you to get me an Oompa Loompa right away."

Quote of the Day

2004-06-26T20:51:00.000-04:00

"Keep not believing in us." -Cliff Floyd after the Mets trouncing of the Yankees.

Norm: I believe, I believe!!!! (today anyway)

Kings for a Day

2004-06-26T20:12:00.000-04:00

The Mets beat up on the Yankees 9 to 3 in the Bronx this afternoon. This Met team is like the mob - just when I think they're done . . . they pull me back in.

A few days ago Jeremy announced his "All Man Crush Team." I think it's fairly clear who Tim McCarver's All Man Crush Team consists of:

C Derek Jeter
1B Derek Jeter
2B Derek Jeter
SS Derek Jeter
3B Derek Jeter
RF Derek Jeter
CF Derek Jeter
LF Derek Jeter
SP Derek Jeter
RP Derek Jeter

By the way, did anyone notice that it was Derek Jeter's birthday? I particularly enjoyed Joe Buck's Marilyn Monroe'esque rendition of the Happy Birthday song to Derek. Very sweet.

Earlier today I posted a NY Times article that nearly sent me into a violent rage. I did not have the time, patience or steady enough hand to comment on it but others did.

Kaley from Flushing Local, in her usual eloquent prose, did a fine job revealing Rhoden's idiocy. My favorite line from Kaley's piece: "I grew up in Indianapolis, so I know from bland. Salt Lake is so Wonder Bread it makes Indianapolis look like pumpernickel."

Steve from The Eddie Kranepool Society was about as patient as I was with this garbage: "Mr. Rhoden, how are you feeling after your lobotomy?"

And finally, a Shea Hot Corner reader going by the name of "Annonymous" commented and had this to say:

The New York Times sports page has to leave the metropolitan area. Putting together quality reporting on sports is a matter of winning and losing, and the New York Times has lost to the New York Post, the Daily News, Newsday and that four page paper they hand out for free at subway stations.

I am tired of being insulted because I root for a team that has won more titles since 1969 than the Rangers, Jets and Nets, and has won as many titles as the Knicks and Giants. Any company that thinks it's a good idea to insult its customers does not deserve their business.

The Times should stick to making up quotes from Jessica Lynch's family and telling us about all the weapons of mass destruction Iraq has, and should leave sports reporting to people of at least moderate skill.

Over the last twenty years, the Mets have placed no lower than 3rd in 14 out of the 20 years, and no lower than 2nd in 11 of the 20 years, with four playoff appearances, and two world series appearances including one championship. That is making the playoffs 20% of the time in the last 20 years for those keeping score at home. I find it idiotic that people harp on the two last place finishes over the last two years and call the entire Met franchise a failure based on that. Shit, just back in 1999 and 2000 they were playoff teams and just missed making the playoffs in 2001 by a few Benitez meltdowns. Not many topics gets me mad, but this is one of them. Believe it or not, the Mets are reasonably successful franchise with a really bright future.

Nice.

Public Enemy Number 1

2004-06-26T09:19:00.000-04:00

I wish I had the time to slam the loser that wrote this article. On second thought, it's not even worth it. Suffice it to say that this Danny Glover look-a-like fool once wrote that soccer was a better sport than baseball. 'Nuff said.

Mets-Yanks Rained Out

2004-06-25T21:05:00.000-04:00

Don't fret, just click here and listen to the last few innings of the Tides game for free. Scott Erickson got rocked and David Wright just made what sounded like a phenomenal play at third to end the inning then lead off the next inning and went deeeeep.

Matt from Gogs on Matsui

2004-06-24T18:09:00.000-04:00

Go here now (notice, I'm not saying anything). A quick teaser:

UPS will ship international packages up to 150 pounds, so we figure just cutting off both of the arms will take care of the extra 35 that Kaz has.

The Silence is Deafening

2004-06-24T13:53:00.000-04:00

I told myself, and you, that I was going to wait and reserve judgment on Kaz Matsui until after the All Star break. If, after the break, Matsui has not shown marked improvement the all out blog blitz will commence. Matsui should not be the target of fans' rage however, or at least not the primary target, but the boos should be aimed at the organization that either a) put marketing concerns over wins and losses when they signed Matsui and uprooted Jose Reyes and/or b) severely misjudged his talent. So I will not comment on how Matsui almost single handedly cost the Mets the game last night with a bone headed base running blunder and by striking out in the ninth inning with one out and a runner on third base by flailing at a pitch so low Matsui, only 5'8, needed to get down on his knees to swing at. There's no need to trash Matsui for another reason: there are a few other people who can be blamed for letting this very winnable game slip away.

Heit on Brazell

2004-06-22T15:45:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention the other day for you all, if you haven't already, to go check out Jeremy Heit's article on Craig Brazell. Good stuff.

Yin and Yang

2004-06-22T15:18:00.000-04:00

Is it just me, or do sportscasters fall into one of two categories: ass kissers or pains in the asses? Two stories point this out today. First, the Daily News argues that Channel 11's Mets broadcasters Tom Seaver and Dave O'Brien are in the ass kissing camp (either voluntarily or because they are being censored):

Seaver and O'Brien talked about why Reyes shouldn't slide headfirst. They talked about the way he runs. They talked about how he hits. And yet, the topic of why Reyes, or when Reyes, should replace a human sieve like Kazuo Matsui was not even broached.

On the other side of the ass spectrum, you have Keith Hernandez who, in his new MSG column Connecting with Flushing's Faithful as well as in his television broadcasts, is the consumate pain in the ass. In his latest column, we get the following from Mex:

I don't know if Wally Backman has the potential to be a major league manager.

And Hernandez seizes the opportunity to take yet another not so subtle dig at Mike Piazza:

I am very disappointed we don't have Alex Rodriguez or Pudge Rodriguez. Pudge would have been a great addition. (Mike) Piazza could have gone to first on a regular basis and take your chances. The Mets need someone with enthusiasm and leadership. Pudge has all those qualities. He proved it last year with the Marlins and look what he is doing with a mediocre Tigers club this year. You cannot measure that.

Whether you agree with Hernandez or not, I'd take someone who's not afraid to voice his opinions any day over those that sit back and allow themselves to become an extension of the team's PR department.

Trolling the Net

2004-06-22T14:12:00.000-04:00

Some good stuff out there today.

Avkash from The Raindrops gets his roster analysis on.

Peter Gammons mentions David Wright:

Teams like the A's, Dodgers and others like to look at prospects in terms of their pure hitting skills, judged by more extra-base hits and walks than strikeouts.

There aren't many prime prospects who have those types of numbers. In fact, there are only two:

(The statistics for the following players reflect in order; extra-base hits, walks and strikeouts.)

Casey Kotchman, 1B, Angels, Double-A and Triple-A: 18, 13, 12
Jeff Salazar, OF, Rockies, Class A: 35, 32, 16

A few who are close:
Jason Kubel, OF, Twins, Double-A and Triple-A: 28, 24, 26
Dan Johnson, 1B, A's, Triple-A: 31, 45, 33
David Wright, 3B, Mets, Double-A and Triple-A: 42, 41, 46
Russ Adams, SS, Blue Jays, Triple-A: 26, 33, 28
Daric Barton, C, Cardinals, Class A: 14, 25, 17
Conor Jackson, OF, Diamondbacks, Class A: 31, 44, 34
Andy LaRoche, SS, Dodgers, Class A: 33, 29, 30

Alex Belth from Bronx Banter is less than pumped about the Mets-Yankees series. I can't say I disagree.

The Baseball Crank brings up a good point. Along with the career low ERAs many Met pitchers are putting up, they are also on pace for career highs in innings pitched.

The Hardball Times is giving Yusmerio Petit some love.

Matt from Gogs is the GGoGs directs us to some Hardball Times numbers that support his premise that the other goggs is one of the unluckiest hitters in the NL so far this year. This may be so, but he's still the most trendy.

The New York Times has a great story on the steps Mike Cameron and Cliff Floyd took to get Jose Reyes back to the team. It's a feel good story but I was left somewhat surprised at how it hinted that Reyes' absence from the team was as much as, if not more so, due to a lack of motivation than health issues.

Minor League News

2004-06-21T14:00:00.000-04:00

The rosters for the sixth annual New York Mercantile Exchange All-Star Futures Game were announced this afternoon live on MLB.com via free live video webcast. The futures game is an exhibition played during All Star Sunday, which features the top prospects in the minors and is broadcast live on ESPN2 and MLB.com Radio. Several years ago Jose Reyes participated in the game and turned heads with his blazing speed and overall freakish talent. This year, the Mets will be represented by AAA Norfolk third basemen David Wright who will play for the United States and A Capital City Bombers starting pitcher Yusmeiro Petit who will play for the World team. AA Binghamton B-Mets Manager Ken Oberkfell was also selected as an assistant coach for the World team.

Wright's stock has been skyrocketing for months due to his complete destruction of the Eastern League that prompted a promotion to AAA. ESPN's John Sickel's recently opined that Wright is ready for the big leagues right now:

Wright was promoted to Triple-A last week, and is hitting .346 in seven games. In my opinion, he is ready for major league action, both offensively and defensively, and would make an impact as soon as he gets an opportunity

Petit has lit up the Sally League, striking out 101 while walking a miniscule 20 with a 2.14 ERA in 71.1 innings of work and he also leads the league in wins with 9. Petit's selection comes on the heals of getting some much deserved publicity from Baseball Prospectus, who included him in their Low-A All-Star Team, and Baseball America, who raved about Petit in their Daily Dish. It will be great to see Petit get out of the Sally League where he is clearly overmatching the competition and get an opportunity to face the best the minor leagues has to offer.

Congratulations to all three.

Edit: Click here for a link to the mlb.com story on the futures game roster announcement. The story links to the rosters and also the webcast. There is an interview with David Wright conducted via telephone about half way through the webcast, in which Wright speak of, among other things, how closely he is following the progress of the big league Mets.

Locked and Loaded

2004-06-21T00:55:00.000-04:00

The Mets 6 to 1 win over the Tigers capped off a 3 game sweep of the boys from Detroit, was also the Mets fourth straight win, and their sixth win in the last seven games. The miserable five game AL Central losing streak between June 8th and 12th seems like 3 Jose Reyes leg injuries ago. More importantly, yesterday's win brought the Mets back to .500 with a 34 and 34 record and they are only 2.5 games out of first place. That's the good news. The bad news is, the schedule isn't getting any easier. A few weeks ago I commented on the 12 game NL East Gauntlet the Mets would have to get through in order to see what they were made of. The team came out of that stretch 6 and 6 and even in the games they lost, played very competitively. Consider that round one. Round two begins Tuesday and continues until the All Star break. The Mets have to get through seven games against the Reds (3rd place at 38 and 31), six against the Yankees (1st place at 43 and 24), four games against the Phillies (tied for 1st place at 36 and 31,) and three against the Marlins (tied for 1st place at 37 and 32). The optimist in me will point out that despite being in first place much of the year, the Reds are struggling recently and have lost seven of their last ten games. The Mets have had their way with the Phillies so far this year, beating them four out of five contents. While the Marlins have a winning record against the Mets, they are only four and six their last ten games. That leaves only the Yankees to give us trouble and the Mets are just due to smack them around.

The Mets could not be in a better position to start this 19 game stretch. They go into Round 2 with the best ERA in baseball. Cliff Floyd is healthy and productive. Hell, Cliff even stole a base a few days ago and is running around left field like a gazelle shagging fly balls. Mike Cameron appears to have finally broken out of his slump, hitting close to his career AVG so far this month and in the last 7 days has hit .348 with two home runs. Those two game winning walk off hits against Detroit surely gave Cameron a much needed confidence boost. Mike Piazza is doing what Mike Piazza does – hitting balls hard and often. Ty Wigginton, perhaps spurred on by news of David Wright’s rapid rise through the minor league ranks, has even turned it up a notch. In the last month Wigginton has padded his numbers to the tune of 61 points to his AVG, 55 points to his OBP and 106 points to his SLG. Kazuo Matsui, despite his well documented defensive troubles, has even held his own so far, as he ranks 5th among NL shortstops with a 12.9 VORP. Last but not least are newly acquired, via trade, Richard Hidalgo and newly acquired, via St. Lucie M*A*S*H unit, Jose Reyes. Hidalgo’s two hit performance yesterday, one of which was a go ahead two run blast, will go a long way to getting him back on track. Before being an eye witness to Roberto Alomar's Met career, I would say that it’s simply “not possible” for a player to fall off a cliff so quickly. I’m hoping Hidalgo is not exhibit B to disprove this hypothesis. Hidalgo has not looked bad in the batter’s box so far so let’s keep our fingers crossed. Reyes might have a little rust swinging the stick but has already shown he’s sharp in the field and that he can make things happen on the base paths. Other than his baseball skills, Reyes brings a certain energy to the Mets they simply lack without him. After Reyes galloped for his 10th inning triple the other night and looked up with that huge Reyes smile, I knew the Mets were going to win that game.

It's time this team gained a little confidence. It's time the Mets realize they have the best pitching staff in baseball. It's about time the team realize they have a future Hall of Famer who still swings a mean bat anchoring their line-up. It's time they realize they have the best defensive player in baseball patrolling center field. It's about time they realize they have the most exciting, electrifying young player in the game providing a spark near the top of the line-up and plugging holes in the infield. It's about time the best player in Japan start acting like it and quit trying to impress the Shea faithful with his best Chuck Knoblauch impersonation. Now's the time to shore up the shoddy infield defense. If Matsui is having trouble making the throws to first, then Piazza/Phillips/Valent better be out there before the game working on making picks. It’s time to shelf all of the excuses and start amassing wins. It's time this team stop being satisfied with .500. It's time to get locked and loaded and make a move now.

Quote of the Day

2004-06-20T11:57:00.000-04:00

"I heard he's an unbelievable shortstop. I'd like to see that. . . Right now, unfortunately, that's not going to happen." -Mets center fielder Mike Cameron on Mets second basemen Jose Reyes.

Sweep!

2004-06-20T11:47:00.000-04:00

I almost forgot - Let's go Mets! It's time to sweep these bums from Detroit. This series is turning somewhat personal for me as I have been forced to watch the games on MLB Extra Innings, which gives me the Detroit feed. If I have to hear one more insinuation that Pudge Rodriguez is better than Mike Piazza I'm going to put a foot through my TV screen. Also, happy Father's Day to all you dads out there. As far as I know I'm not a dad.

Reyes of Hope

2004-06-20T09:25:00.000-04:00

The Good News
Sorry, I had to use the cheesy Reyes pun headline. But with Jose Reyes back in the line-up I actually have hope for this season. Last night the Mets rolled out a line-up that actually looked somewhat like a major league team. The result? A thrilling extra innings 4 to 3 victory. The win was the result of some solid defensive plays (Floyd), gutsy pitching (Leiter, Looper), aggressive base running (Reyes) and timely hitting (Reyes, Floyd, Cameron). Just imagine what this team is capable of if the pitching stays close to what it has been, if Reyes can shake the rust off and stay healthy, and if Richard Hidalgo can return to form. I know, that's a lot of ifs. But why not us damn it! Why can't the Mets be the team to string together a nice winning streak - maybe take 11 of the next 15 - to overtake the division? WHY NOT US!

The Bad News
Sorry to put a damper on things, but the return of Reyes last night was sort of bitter sweet for me. Ever think your car is nice and clean until someone pulls up next to you with the same color car that has just been washed and waxed? Then, all of the sudden you're like "damn, my car's nasty." Well, that's how I felt about Kazuo Matsui last night. All season long I told myself he was doing okay. But watching Reyes play and seeing the excitement he brings to the team magnified how bad Matsui sucks. Matsui was supposed to be a Reyes-like player. A speedy, switch hitting middle infielder who could make things happen with the leather, his speed and his bat. In just one game back, Reyes did more to seal a Met win than Matsui has done all season long. I've tried my hardest to be patient with Matsui but it's getting harder and harder as time goes by and is now close to impossible now that Reyes is back standing idle at second base, forced to watch as Matsui botches tailor made double plays. Like I said last week, since Matsui obviously cares and is not dogging it out there it's hard to trash him too badly. At the same time, however, with his piss poor play it's hard not to. So I'll make Matsui a deal. I'll give him until the All Star break. If after the break he does not make huge strides with the glove, and even some progress with the bat, the mercy I've shown him will end.

He's Baaaaaack

2004-06-19T18:15:00.000-04:00

Zippidy doo da, zippidy ay, my oh my what a wonderful day. Plenty of sunshine headin' my way, zippidy doo day, zippidy ay. Okay, I gotta get a hold of myself. Why am I skipping around my crib singing you ask? Because it's confirmed! Jose Reyes is back at Shea, he's been activated, and is currently penciled in batting 2nd. In other roster news, Pedro Feleciano has been demoted to AAA Norfolk and Norfolk closer Jose Parra has been called up to the Mets. Parra, a 31 year old right handed journeyman, has spent short stints with the Dodger, Twins, Pirates and Diamondbacks. Parra is currently tied for 2nd in the Eastern League with 16 saves and sports an impressive 1.69 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, .196 BAA and has struck out 34 batters in only 26.2 innings.

Edit: Mike Piazza is not in the starting line-up. Gggrrr. Is it too much to ask that the Mets send out a line-up with Reyes, Floyd and Piazza? Seriously, I don't think these three have been in the same lin-up together more than about 15 times. Piazza, by the way, is 4 for 6 off Tiger's starter Jason Johnson. Double gggrrr.

Reyes to Return Tonight?

2004-06-19T09:47:00.000-04:00

NYFS, The New York Post and the B-Mets website are reporting that Jose Reyes will be making his 2004 New York Mets debut tonight . . . . . . . . . . Oh, sorry for the delay, I just jumped up on my desk and did the cabbage patch dance followed by the running man while singing, "Go Jose, go Jose, go go go Jose." Reyes versus the Tigers - that sounds gggrrrrreeeat to me. The news of Reyes' return tonight brings up the question of whether Reyes should be playing shortstop and not Kazuo Matsui. That horse has been beaten to a bloody pulp but another question that warrants some bandwidth regarding how the two switch hitting speedy infielders should be coupled is whether Art Howe should pencil Reyes in the lead off spot with Matsui in the 2 hole or vice-versa? Both prefer the 2 hole and the numbers reflect this:

Reyes leading off: .300 .333 .460
Reyes in the 2 hole: .362 .400 .475

Matsui leading off: .238 .315 .376
Matsui in the 2 hole: .327 .411 .449

I tend to think the Mets should stop bending over backwards to accommodate Matsui at the expense of Reyes. In other words, if Reyes feels more comfortable in the 2 hole, then put him there.

The Duke Pulls the Trigger

2004-06-18T16:51:00.000-04:00

Damn, you turn your back for a day or two and all-Mets-blogging hell brakes loose. There's not much to say that has not already been said, other than to give the David Weathers/Jeremy Griffiths for Richard Hidalgo trade my blessing. Do I think Richard Hidalgo will pull a Mets jersey over his head and proceed to smack 44 HR with a 1.028 OPS like he did in 2000? No. Do I think Hidalgo is infinitely more interesting with monumentally more upside than the piss platoon? Hell yeah. Duquette was walking a fine line of wanting to keep things interesting this year, especially in light of the close division, but at the same time not mortgaging the future. This trade does that perfectly since Weathers was not in the Mets long term plans and Griffiths barely qualified as a "prospect". Call me nuts, but let's say, for arguments sake, that Hidalgo does not break out of his funk for the rest of the season. I'd still endorse this deal for the simple reason that he can't be any worse than Karim Garcia and sending Weathers packing forces Art Howe to rely more on younger bullpen arms like Orber Moreno.

This and That

Just about everyone has nothing but good things to say about the Mets trade for Hidalgo, except of course for the most miserable SOB on earth. That's right folks, Shea Hot Corner Axis of Evil Grand Wizard Bob Klapisch. Our boy Steve over at the Eddie Kranepool Society does a good job bitch smacking this putz. You go Steve (snap, snap, snap)

Baseball America profiles Yusmeiro Petit. While I can't pronounce Petit's first name, who cares since he may officially change his name to "K." Here's a quick blurb from the article: "Petit is blessed with the kind of life that makes his fastball play tricks on hitters. He's like a passenger-side mirror: objects may appear faster than expected."

David Wright Watch: 14 AAA at bats, 7 hits, 1 HR, 5 runs, 2 doubles, 2 walks and has only struck out once. Hey Todd Zeile and Ty Wigginton - check out the above quote about the rear view mirror.

A few days ago my meter skipped past the 20,000 visits mark. Thanks for stopping by. Hang in there with me for the next month and a half while I study for the damn bar exam and I should be back to posting more frequently, and at a higher quality, just in time for the Mets big end of the season push. For now posting everyday will not be possible but I'll chime in every few days when I get a second.

This Guy Sucks

2004-06-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

I don't have much to say about the Mets ugly 9 to 1 loss to the Tribe last night but I will take a minute to point out that this guy sucks.

David Wright is Good and Other Punless Thoughts

2004-06-14T23:40:00.000-04:00

After staying up late Thursday night to watch the Mets get swept under the astro turf in extra innings by the Twins, I woke up Friday morning feeling groggy. I knew I had to shake the cob webs out though because I was heading down to Florida for a wild bachelor party weekend. The great majority of the guys I'd be meeting down there are not sophisticated and cultured (ha ha!) married guys like yours truly. And unlike me they go out partying just about every night. Needless to say, it was going to be a rough chore to keep up with these guys. But I'm a gamer so I think I can hang in there.

We would be having a "warm up" night in Orlando Friday and the actual bachelor party would start in O-Town Saturday night but a bus would be taking us to Tampa Bay for the actual festivities. Apparently, Orlando has some silly "six inch rule" for strip clubs where the ladies are not allowed within six inches of the patrons. I'm not much of a strip club guy but the rest of the crew was not down with this strict regulation so it was off to Tampa where the only rule in the strip clubs is that there are no rules. By the way, if you are ever in Tampa Bay do yourself a favor and stop into Mons Venus. Actually, do yourself a big favor and cash in your life savings for a boat load of singles, then go to Mons Venus. Mmmmmm, Mons Venus . . . . Oh, crap, where was I? Oh, right. I made it through Friday and after a Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity breakfast from IHOP Saturday afternoon when I woke up I was ready for the night.

After making our way through the myriad of strip clubs, dance clubs and bars it was a little after 3:00 a.m. and time to find the bus for the trip back to Orlando. I was feeling pretty proud of myself being as I hadn't lost my cookies yet and I was still standing. The walk back to the bus, however, felt like forever. Even though it was about 3:15 in the morning, it was still about 88 degrees out with the humidity at about 80%. I was struggling. Dehydrated. Hot. Stumbling. Need fluids. Finally, after about 15 minutes of this trek of death I noticed that my friend had an Avian bottle of water. I ask, "Hey, hook me up with that water I'm dying over here." "No problem" he responds. I take it and start guzzling it down. Wait, there's something not right. After six or seven big "gulps" I realize I'm not drinking water. I detach the bottle from my lips. My throat tightens. My stomach cringes. Through my watery eyes I see that my "friend" was laughing uncontrollably. In fact he was gathering up the rest of the guys so that they could all witness his little science experiment unfold. Yup, it wasn't water. It was straight vodka and I had just taken down about eight ounces of it. I thought of taking a swing at the prankster but my body had other plans for me.

What does this have to do with the Mets you ask. Well, not much. With the Mets playing the way they are I just don't feel like talking about them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fair weather blogger but I just need a break. So instead you get this. Okay okay let me see if I can tie the Mets into this entry some how? You see I woke up Sunday morning and felt like I had just gotten blind sided by a Mack truck or a Mo Vaughn. I managed to make it back to the airport and board the flight. As I sat crunched into the middle seat staring at the barf bag for two and a half hours, I didn't think things could get any worse. Then the Smokin' Hot Corner picked me up from the airport and I was treated to a 45 minute interrogation for the ride home. "What did you do . . . Where did you go . . . Etc... Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I got home and checked out the Mets scores for the past few days. Yeah, my beloved Mets had dropped 5 in a row - 3 to the Twins and 2 to the last place Royals. Ugh. Kill me now.

My stomach started to lose its curdled milk-like feeling when I saw the Mets were about to at least pick up one win against the Royals. Then, as I surfed around the net a bit I saw that David Wright was finally promoted to AAA. Things were starting to look better. The local papers and the Internet were jammed pack with Wright related articles, "The Wright Stuff," "The Time is Wright" etc... It was great. Just a few months ago this waste of a sperm cell didn't even know who David Wright was! Wright's final AA numbers look like this: 223 ABs, 44 runs, 81 hits, 27 2B, 10 HRs, 40 RBI, 39 BB, 41 SO, 20 SB, 6 CS, .363 AVG, .467 OBP, .619 SLG. Wright ripped through AA pitching like that damn stealth vodka ripped through my stomach. Wright is constantly compared to Scott Rolen. Whether that comparison is accurate, or fair, remains to be seen but it's worth noting that Rolen, at about the same age as Wright and playing in the same AA league, had almost identical numbers: .361 AVG in 230 ABs, 83 hits, 22 2B, 9 HRs, 34 BB, 32 K, 8 SBs and 3 CS. Speaking about his promotion to Norfolk, Wright demonstrated why us fans are going gogga over him:

This will be like the beginning of a new season. But I can’t rest on laurels. Triple-A pitchers aren’t going to care what I did in Double-A and the guys in Double-A I went 3 for 4 against aren’t going to be getting called up.

Do the Mets have a PR person drafting his responses? Really, could this kid be any cooler? Wright is not resting on his laurels, as he picked up "Wright" (sorry, I could not help myself) where he left off in his first AAA start for Norfolk last night going 3 for 4 with a double. The Tides lost the game 13 to 6, however, thanks to Scott Erickson who gave up 8 runs in 5 inning raising his ERA to 8.00 in three re-hab starts for Norfolk. All-in-all, a pretty damn good night in southern Virginia. I'm feeling much better. It will be a long time before I drink vodka again though.

Catch the Energy

2004-06-10T17:31:00.000-04:00

Jim Duquette's plan this off-season was to get younger and to improve the defense in hopes of playing "meaningful games in September." Let's take a second to break that down into its component parts:

Younger

With the demotion of 23 year old Danny Garcia and the promotion of 38 year old Gerald Williams, the Mets are now the oldest team in the NL and the second oldest team in the Major Leagues.

Improved Defense

The Mets have the second most errors in the NL, are last in the NL in fielding percentage, and are in the bottom half in both Zone Rating and Range Factor.

"Meaningful Games"

The Mets, currently 28 and 30, are only 2 "meaningful" wins ahead of last year's pace.

Yeah, riiiiight, this team is only one big stick away from the promised land so it makes sense to trade away its top, young talent.

Mets Open To Dealing in Wright Trade

2004-06-10T13:52:00.000-04:00

The latest from Jason Stark:

Meanwhile, clubs that have spoken with the Mets say they haven't completely ruled out trading their best prospect, third baseman David Wright, in a huge deal. But to do it, they either would need to get a third baseman back or obtain one in a separate trade.

I'm speechless. The organization's best prospect for a 1/2 year rental, huh? Was former Mets GM Steve "Sell the Farm" Phillips re-hired and I didn't notice? The same article quotes a Baseball Prospectus study regarding Mike Cameron:

The brilliant number-crunchers at Baseball Prospectus just broke down the rate of extra-base hits that are falling in Seattle, since Cameron departed, and in Queens, since Cameron arrived. And this can't be a coincidence: Projected doubles and triples against the Mets this year: 267 -- or 81 fewer than last year. Projected doubles and triples against the Mariners this year: 390 -- up 156 from last year.

I'm speechless again, but this time for a good reason.

Matsui

2004-06-09T13:31:00.000-04:00

Chalk up a big, fat "L" for Kazuo Matsui. His three misplays, only one of which was charged an error, cost the Mets the game in their 2 to 1 loss to the Twins. I watched in disbelief as the 9th inning unfolded. How could he not turn that double play?!?! As the winning run crossed home plate thanks to another defensive blunder, this time courtesy of Ty Wigginton, I was hot. I wanted the names and numbers of whoever said Matsui is a "defensive whiz." I wanted Art Howe's head on a platter for proclaiming before the season started that the Mets would have the best "up the middle" defense in baseball. I was already thinking of all the ways to let out my frustration and slam him in the blog. Then something weird happened. Usually right after a game MLB Extra Innings turns the coverage off and you are greeted with a curt "good night" message and bad 70's porn music. But last night the game ended, MSG cut to a commercial and MLB Extra Innings kept the signal. I thought "great, now I have to sit and watch a post-game re-hash of this car-wreck of a game." I was about to turn it off and bang my head against a blunt object when the commercials ended and the brief post game coverage began. Maybe this is a sign from above? Someone wants me to see this. The camera panned into the Mets dugout where Matsui sat by himself looking like someone just shot his dog. He looked devastated. The Smokin' Hot Corner turns to me, voice cracking, and says, "Please don't make fun of him in that stupid blog of yours!" Matsui's staring into space (or that ugly white dome in Minnesota) and I'm staring at him. None of his teammates or coaches are even looking at him. Blue and orange uniforms pass the entranced Japanese rookie, who seems cemented into the bench, without so much as a pat or nod . . . nothing. You can see that he is crushed. The wife turns to me again, "Oh my God, why are they showing this . . . this is awful . . . I'm going to cry!" Then again, my wife sobbed uncontrollably during The Nutty Professor when the stand up comic dug into Prof. Klump so I paid her no mind. Matsui eventually got up, walked slowly to the rack, gathered up his glove and bats and disappeared into the clubhouse, still no one even acknowledging his existence. Matsui had an awful game. Perhaps his worst as a Met. When I show up at Shea though, you won't hear a boo out of me directed toward Kaz. The guy is trying his best. No one can say he's dogging it out there. He obviously cares. Perhaps too much. I'll re-join the chorus of beating drums to switch Matsui to second base when/if Jose Reyes ever gets back. I might even join those that think Matsui should simply be a bench player. Hell, maybe I'll agree with those that propose we box Matsui up and send him back to Japan. But not today. As bad as last night's victory was for me, it seems clear it was even more crushing to Matsui.

Welcome to the Party Pal(s)!!!

2004-06-08T13:46:00.000-04:00

Eighteen fresh faced kids joined the Mets organization yesterday through the amateur draft. There's plenty of good coverage out there commenting on these players' abilities, potential etc... but, since the most I've seen of these kids has been a few seconds of streaming video, let's tackle something infinitely more important: their first Met nick-names. Get ready, they're pretty lame.

1. Philip Humber RHP - Rice
---Phil the Thrill

2. Matt Durkin RHP - San Jose State
---Matt Durkin Donuts

3. Gabriel Hernandez RHP - Belen Jesuit HS, Fla
---Able Gable

4. Aaron Hathaway C - U. of Washington
---Aaron Hack-away

5. Nicholas Evans 3B - St. Mary's HS, Az
---St. Nick

6. Ryan Coultas SS - UC Davis
---Ryan's Hope

7. Scott Hyde RHP - George Fox University
---Scott Jekyle & Hyde

8. Neil Jamison RHP - Long Beach State U.
---Neil Down Before Jamison!

9. Christopher Carp 1B - Lakewood HS, Cal.
---Chris Carpal Home Run Syndrome

10. Brahiam Maldonado RF - St. Francis School, PR
---Brahiamian Rhapsody

11. Joshua Wyrick LF - Porterville College
---Osh-kosh-Big-Josh

12. Jeffrey Landing RHP - Virginia Tech. University
---Jeff Fastball Landing in your ear if you don't back off the plate bitch!

13. Martinez Allen LF - Dunnellon HS, Fla
---Don't call me Pedro Martinez Allen

14. Bradley Meyers RHP - Servite HS, CA
---Brad "I aint no fad" Meyers

15. William Psomas SS - West Virginia University
---Bill Psoma-jammy-jam

16. Parris Austin CF - Douglas County HS, GA
---I see Parris, I see France, I see Austin's . . . this nick-name is going no where quick

17. Joseph Williams LHP - St. Xavier U.
---JoWilly

18. Kyle Brown CF - LeMoyne College
---K-Bro

Draft Update

2004-06-07T13:32:00.000-04:00

With the number 3 pick in the draft, the Mets selected Rice right handed starting pitcher Philip Humber. NYFS has a good write-up on Humber and links to an interview. Here's a quit snippet of their description:

Considered the most seasoned, experienced and major league ready amongst the Rice Big 3, as he is the only one who was in the starting weekend rotation (and pitched regularly) his Freshman season...and the only one drafted out of high school. Added 3 - 4 MPH to his heater this season, having it clocked as high as 96 MPH, though he throws mostly in the low 90's...but he's got the #1 rated breaking ball in the college ranks, and has outstanding control and poise for a 21 year old.

Edit: MLB.com has a story up regarding the Mets "surprise" pick. A quick and dirty:

Sure, there was some speculation that Long Beach State's Jered Weaver might be a target or even Florida State shortstop Stephen Drew. But when it came time to make the third overall selection in the draft, New York opted for the safe bet and went with the ace from Rice University. It was the Mets' highest selection since choosing Paul Wilson with the top overall pick in 1994.

Great, they had to mention Paul Wilson right!

Edit 2: With their second round pick, the Mets select right handed pitcher Matthew Durkin out of San Jose State. Again, NYFS has us covered:

Durkin is a 6'5" 240lb work horse, with a 91-93 sinking fastball with good movement. He is 21 years old and was a San Francisco Giants fan as a kid.

Edit #3: With their third pick, the Mets go the high school route (hey, if there's grass on the field, play ball) with their third right handed pitcher Gabriel Hernandez out of Belen Jesuit High School in Miami, Florida. NYFS has this to say:

He throws a 92 mph fastball and has a sharp curveball with an 11-to-5 break that he can already throw consistently for strikes. He has a live arm, a deceptive change, and effortless delivery according to reports.

With three hard throwing righties, it seems as if Art Howe and, more importantly, Rick Peterson might have had some input into this draft, as both have spoken of their preference for pitchers with a little giddy up.

Edit #4: The United States Justice Department has just filed a complaint against the New York Mets Major League baseball club alleging antitrust violations in their attempt to corner the market on hard throwing right handed pitchers. News at 11 . . . .

Edit #5: Head on over to the weblurbs section ("Vital Signs") over at NYFS for coverage of the remainder of today's draft.

Mets Make It Through the NL East Gauntlet

2004-06-07T00:15:00.000-04:00

The Mets 5 to 2 victory yesterday against the Marlins capped off a 12 game NL East gauntlet in which the team played 7 games against the Marlins and 5 against the Phillies. Many folks thought these 12 games, in which the Mets squared off against the best the division has to offer, would define the Mets season. Are the Mets buyers or sellers? Should the Mets be shopping veterans or should the team be trolling the trade market hoping to pick up an arm and/or bat that will help them contend for a playoff berth? Well, the Mets finished the 12 games virtually unscathed with an even 6 and 6 record. That's right folks, the Mets dove into the murky waters filled with the best of the NL East and resurfaced clutching their .500 record (28 and 28) and still only 3.5 games out of first place. This is not the 2002 or 2003 Mets. Nope. These guys have heart and are exciting to watch. But just because this team is better than Mets teams of the past two years and show up to play, does that mean this team is actually any good?

The Mets 28 and 28 record is made up of a few components. The Mets are an above .500 team when playing their division rivals in the NL East. We're 3 and 3 against the Braves, 4 and 1 against the Phillies, 4 and 3 against the Expos and 2 and 5 against the Marlins, making up a 13 and 12 NL East record. The only team the Mets have a losing record against in the division is the Marlins and let's look past the teal unis and remember that these are the reigning World Series champs. Despite only picking up 2 wins against the Fish, the Mets have actually played them tuff. In fact, of the 7 games played, 4 games were decided by a margin of 2 runs or less and the Mets have only been outscored 25 runs to 28. The Mets can hang with these guys.

Some argue the Mets decent record is deceiving because they only beat "bad" teams while getting worked by the better competition. This argument has some merit but is ultimately wrong. The Mets are 15 and 11 against teams currently at or below the .500 mark. The Mets shouldn't be criticized for this. To the contrary, good teams are supposed to feast on the bad ones. The Mets being 4 games above .500 against mediocre or sub par teams shows that they are a step above those teams. True, the Mets are a sub .500 team (13 and 17) when playing winning teams:

2 and 5 vs. Marlins
4 and 1 vs. Phillies
0 and 3 vs. Cubs
2 and 1 vs. Dodgers
1 and 2 vs. Padres
1 and 2 vs. Brewers
2 and 1 vs. Astros
1 and 2 vs. Cardinals

But looking at these games closer reveals quite a few positives. First, and this might not be the strongest hook to hang your Mets cap on, the Mets have only been swept once in a series against a winning team. This was the late April road series against the Cubs where the Mets ran up against Greg Maddux, Kerry Wood and Matt Clement. Those three could shut down just about any team in baseball in any given series. More significant than the simple fact that, for the most part, the Mets have avoided being swept by good teams is that the Mets are, in Art Howe's words, "battling." Of the 30 games against winning teams over half of them have been decided by 2 runs or less. Most shockingly, however, is that in these 30 games against the best teams thrown in their path so far, the Mets have allowed 119 runs but have also scored 119 runs in those games! In other words, the Mets are one or two Art Howe bone headed managerial moves away from scoring more runs than they have given up against the best teams on their schedule. That's nothing to scoff at.

These numbers, especially the Mets runs scored versus runs allowed against winning teams, reveals that the Mets are more than some bottom feeding mediocre team destined to slip away into the abyss. This is a team that is beating the teams they should be beating, coming away with wins against the division, and gutting it out against the best teams in the league. The Mets are right on the cusp of getting over the hump and pressing the issue in the NL East. Everyone seems to think the Mets need to make a big, blockbuster trade for a Freddy Garcia, Kris Benson (whose wife is hot!), Carlos Beltran-type player to do this. I'm not convinced that is necessary, but since the team has held up it's side of the bargain and produced, I would not be adverse to the right trade. Below is a quick list of things, aside from the ordinary "trade the world for 1/2 year rental player X," that might provide a spark:

---Fire Art Howe (see my gory details and The Raindrop's proof of Howe's idiocy) and reinsert Bobby Valentine ASAP. I don't care how it's done. Buy out his contract; bribe him; send commandos into Japan to abduct him - whatever. Just send Howe packing and get Valentine back. Okay, I'm only half serious about a Valentine return to Shea this year (just because it's unrealistic), but I'm 100% serious about firing Howe. I don't know who could replace him: Rick Peterson? Don Baylor? John Stearns? Howard Stern? Howard Johnson? Willy Wonka? Wally Backman? Carrot Top? Who cares.

---Put Mike Cameron on the DL now, see what can be done about his finger, and call up Jeff Duncan. The Mets can't survive much longer with Cammy stinkin' up the joint in the batter's box like he has been. Duncan provides solid center field defense, has speed and will hit better than Cameron's current line of .202/.306/.376. But the real impetus behind this move is to get Cameron healthy and ready to go for the second half of the season.

---Take all pressure off Jose Reyes (his psyche, hammy, and back) by not bringing him back, even if he's "healthy," until after the All Star break.

---Send both David Wright and Matt Peterson south to Norfolk now, add them both to the 40 man roster, and if they don't fall on their faces against the stiffer AAA competition, be ready to bring them up for a post All Star break Shea debut.

---Release David Weathers and call up Yusmeiro Petit. Yeah yeah yeah I know, the kid's only 19 and in single A ball. So what. We saw last week that the Phillies had the cajones to bring up Elizardo Ramirez, a 19 year old kid straight from A ball. As has been well documented in some of the other Mets blogs, Petit is flat out filthy. How filthy you ask? Try 77 Ks and only 19 walks in 59 innings! Petit and Orber Moreno can form a nasty Venezualan combo. The trick is to get Howe to actually use them. Oh, wait, he'll be fired by now and I'm sure Carrot Top will use Moreno and Petit.

Let's hear your suggestions of what the Mets can do, in-house, to make this team better. Any "Tony from Staten Island" can call up Fat Boy and Fruitloops on WFAN with the obligatory, "The Mets need to trade Jose Reyes for Alfonso Soriano" suggestion, but let's get creative. And "creative" does not mean "realistic," as my suggestions show.

If the Mets are Serious About This Year, They Should Fire Art Howe Now

2004-06-05T20:16:00.000-04:00

Thank you for today's loss Art Howe. I usually don’t like to comment on games I was not able to actually watch (did I mention that MLB Extra Innings Sucks), but if people pay to read this clown, this joker, and this pie hole flapper talk out of their collective asses about the Mets, then, since you all get my fine writing and analysis for free, I can too.

First, the point I made earlier about Mike Piazza’s lack of protection was magnified in today’s game, as Mike jacked another two home runs but, unsurprisingly, they came with no one on base. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 10 solo home runs of his total 12 dingers. If just one of those two home runs today came with someone on base the outcome would be different. However, the outcome would also be different if the Mets had a manager in the dugout who doesn’t get rattled and thrown off his game when a big metal bird flies overhead at Shea (they’re called jets Art).

Howe, according to my in depth calculations (which means I guesstimated), has single handedly cost the Mets at least five games. Earlier in the week Mets play-by-play man Ted Robinson wrote an article for MSG.com in which he proclaimed that Art Howe should be credited with the Mets recent resurgence. While I respect the fact that Robinson stuck his nose out and is not simply jumping on the trash Art Howe bandwagon (and whose play-by-play I enjoy), but even he, who is just about the only commentator I have seen come out in defense of Howe, can only muster up the following pathetic support for his premise: “I can’t make sense of this [the Mets success thus far], so it leads me to one inescapable conclusion: Art Howe is doing a terrific job.”

Sorry Ted, but that kind of logic might fly at MSG, or perhaps at the French Open, but it doesn’t fly at The Shea Hot Corner. To simply cite two occurrences – the Mets decent record and the fact that Art Howe is the manager – and reach the “inescapable conclusion” that one occurrence has caused the other, is comical at best. The fact is, the Mets success so far this year has occurred in spit of Art Howe, not because of him. I realize sometimes “real” sports journalists (i.e. not me) are put in quandary where criticizing players, managers or the organization is counter productive to their goals of obtaining critical access to those same parties, but c’mon! New York Fans, well, NY Mets fans, tend to be a pretty intelligent brand of baseball fan and we deserve better than that. Art Howe is a terrible manager and instead of wasting ink, or in this case bandwidth, on an unsupported ass kissing puff piece, Robinson should call him out.

Today’s game was a perfect example of what we fans have to endure. The Mets scored three runs in the sixth inning to go up 5 to 2. Howe inserts right handed pitcher Ricky Bottalico to pitch the seventh for Matt Ginter, who, by the way, had another strong outing. After an out and two singles, and of course the obligatory error thrown in (no pun intended) for good measure, Bottalico was confronted with runners on the corners with one out. Jack McKeon sends out Lenny Harris to face Bottalico. Sweet! Harris, despite being a left handed bat off the bench, has only hit .219 the last two years against righties with a meager 5 extra base hits. But no, Howe has to blindly follow the lefty/righty formula and bring in Mike Stanton.

Howe had to know, however, that Harris does not face lefties (only 1 AB against a lefty this year) and would be himself pinch hit for. McKeon had several righty options to counter Stanton: Damion Easley, a career .263 hitter off lefties (better than his numbers against righties); Mike Mordecai with a career .270 AVG versus lefties (career .236 against righties); or switch hitting Abraham Nunez who McKeon describes has his HR bat off the bench due, in part, to his 10 spring training bombs. So Howe was basically confronted with matching up Bottalico against Harris and his .219 AVG against righties the last two years with no power, or Mike Stanton versus Easley (.263 vs. lefties); Mordecai (.270 vs. lefties); or Nunez (McKeon's "longball guy").

Better yet, if Howe felt Bottalico didn’t have it today, he could have inserted the forgotten man Orber Moreno. Moreno is just flat out nasty and would work well in this situation since, despite being right handed, has actually pitched better against lefties this year. Moreno has a 2.79 ERA against lefties and has held them to only a .211 AVG. Not to mention that while in Miami last weekend to attend the Mets-Marlins games, I met Moreno’s wife in the stands and had the opportunity to chat a bit with her. She was really nice, which is even more reason to put in Moreno damn it! Since Moreno has a critical flaw - he's under the age of 30 - Howe went with Stanton who, despite sucking, provides the essential "veteran leadership" this team needs. No surprise to just about anyone with a brain, McKeon countered with Easley; Swat; HR; Game tied.

Howe wasn’t done sabotaging the Mets victory though. In the 8th inning Howe sends in David “Stormy” Weathers, who lets up a single to Mike Lowell but induces Miguel Cabrera to ground into a double play. That should have been the end of Weather’s night, since Hee Seop Choi was due up to bat. Choi murders right handed pitching (10 HRs) but is virtually helpless against lefties (.182 AVG, 1 HR). With John Franco watering his tomato plants from the lifeguard chair in the bull pen, who has only pitched 2 innings in the last 5 days, there’s no excuse for not bringing in the lefty to face Choi. If Howe inserts Franco and McKeon pinch hits with Mordecai or Nunez, so be it. I’d rather be beat by one of them then to allow Choi to face the righty in that situation. Instead Howe sticks with Weathers who gives up a single to Choi, walks Jeff Conine, then gives up the go ahead RBI single to Alex Gonzalez.

The Art Howe incompetence was not over yet though folks. Dan Wheeler is in the game in the 9th. With two outs and Luis Castillo on third base, i.e. with first base wide open, Howe elects to allow the rookie to pitch to Lowell who promptly doubled in Castillo to provide what would become the game winning hit. Both Lowell and Cabrera, who was on deck, are scary hitters. But since your team is already down a run, am I the only one who thinks it's a no brainer to put Lowell on, create a force at 2nd base, and take your chances with Cabrera?

Once again, Howe got out-managed and the Mets’ record suffered as a result. What makes this managerial meltdown even worse is that Howe was quick to deflect any criticism that might have come his way and hung his bullpen out to dry after the game and even tried to reinforce his bone headed moves in the press:

The bullpen can't do it every day. They've been outstanding all season long. They just had one of those days. We had the right people out there. They just found some holes.

Actually, no, not so much Art. You did not have the right people out there and the only hole out at Shea today was the vast, dark, empty space between your ears. If the Mets are serious about making a run of it this year, Wilpon and Duquette need to step back and realize that before any trades or significant moves are made, a manager has to be put in place that does not consistently put the team in a position to lose close games. In other words, if this is a rebuilding year, sure, keep Howe. He's warm and fuzzy and I'm sure the kids like him. If, however, the Mets are going to get over the hump so that they are playing those coveted "meaningful games in September," Art Howe is not the man to get them there.

Piazza and Matsui Tidbits

2004-06-05T00:02:00.000-04:00

Since I could not watch last night's 5 to 1 loss to the Marlins due to the fact that MLB Extra Innings Sucks, I got my daily Mets quota by snooping around some player stats.

This may be stating the obvious, but Mike Piazza needs some protection in the line-up if the Mets are going to go anywhere. Piazza has 10 HRs but only 22 RBI. Of the 57 big league hitters with 8 or more HRs, Piazza has the least amount of RBI. The fact is, the only time Piazza is pitched to is when he can do the least amount of damage. Piazza has 8 of his 10 HRs with the bases empty while hitting at a .321/.382/.589 bases vacant line. Mike's able to put up these numbers because he's given some pitches to hit, as he only walks about once every 11 plate appearances when the bases are empty. Compare those numbers with Piazza's stats with runners on bases, and we see that Piazza's AVG and SLG dip to .280 and .527 respectively although his OBP jumps almost 40 points to .421 thanks to a walk rate that more than doubles to one free pass every 5 of his plate appearances when there are runners aboard. With a runner in scoring position it gets even worse, as Mike draws a walk every 3.86 times he steps up to the plate. Piazza's 8 intentional walks (and quite a few blatant unintentional intentional walks as well), which ties him for 3rd in MLB, highlight the problem of being backed up (way back) by too many players that are hovering at, too close to, or below replacement level. Come to think of it, the fact that Piazza has put up the numbers he has with the inhabitants of the Island of Misfit Baseball Players batting behind him is pretty amazing. Obviously trading for an impact bat is one solution. A quick fix, however, might be to take advantage of Jason Phillips' hot bat (5 HR, .278/.350/.569 in May) by insulating Piazza with Cliff Floyd hitting 5th and Phillips 3rd.

Is it time for Kazuo Matsui to quit the switch hitting charade? I know, I know, I gotta give this guy a break - first I trash his fielding and now this. Let me first start off by saying that, despite looking bad in the batter's box at times, if you would have told me before the season started that on June 5th Matsui would hitting .258/.340/.423 with 5 HRs and 7 SBs - numbers that place him 5th among NL shortstops in hits, 2nd in doubles, and 3rd in extra base hits - I'd take it. That said, he looks downright awful hitting from the left side and looks much more comfortable batting from the right side of the plate. The numbers bear this out: hitting lefty: .243/.313/.370; hitting righty: .325/.449/.650. I realize suggesting that Matsui give up switch hitting is a bit hasty, okay very hasty, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

MLB Extra Innings Sucks

2004-06-04T16:07:00.000-04:00

Like many transplanted New York Mets fans, and transplanted baseball fans in general, I forked over $169 to my local digital cable provider for the MLB Extra Innings package because, according to them, "Even if you live in one city and your team is in another, MLB EXTRA INNINGS let's you see the match-ups you want to watch." Well, there's a damn good match-up tonight, Saturday, and Sunday that I want to watch between the Mets and Marlins for first place in the NL East - - but I can't! This sucks. I guess I need to add Mets baseball to the list of NY related things I can't get while living out of town, like decent pizza, bagels and egg sandwiches.

At first I thought I was mired in one of the MLB package's various blackouts. Blackouts are "regional television restrictions distributed in order to protect the local television rights holder broadcasting the game." In other words, you don't get the game on the MLB package so that you are forced to watch the game on another channel. That makes sense and besides, what good would it be to have the same game on two channels. There are three types of blackouts. First, there are local blackouts, which effect you if you live within a Major League Baseball team's territory. The Yankees, for example, are blacked out all over the world because their annoying, bandwagon fans span the globe. Other teams are implicated when, for example, you live in and around New York City so you will not see Mets games on the MLB package but who cares, since you will see the games on MSG, FSNY or WPIX anyway. I'm not effected by this blackout since I live outside the Mets territory. The second type of blackout is the ESPN blackout. The world wide leader in sports purchased the rights to broadcast all mindless, annoying baseball commentary. Oh, sorry, wrong rant. ESPN purchased the rights to broadcast all Major League Baseball games on Sunday nights. This does not effect me for tonight's or this weekend's games either. The third type of blackout is the FOX blackout. Like ESPN on Sunday nights, FOX has the exclusive national rights to broadcast games up until 7:00 p.m. (ET) on Saturday. This does not effect tonight's or Sunday's games but the Saturday game falls within this window. So I can just watch the game on Fox's Saturday national broadcast, right? Wrong, because the powers that be assume I'm either a Philly or Braves fan (never!) and is force-feeding me that game.

Despite the three types of blackouts, only one, the Fox blackout, effects me and many others. So why can't we at least see the other two games? Apparently, while I can't find any mention of a reason or justification on the various websites, the MLB package does not carry local, over-the-air broadcasters like NY's WPIX, which is airing tonight's and Sunday's games. But why is this? Why do the local cable affiliates like FSNY and MSG find it advantageous to climb aboard MLB Extra Innings but the over-the-air stations do not? Us out of towners pose no threat to their local broadcasting rights just like we pose no threat to the cable affiliates' rights. To the contrary, allowing MLB Extra Innings to carry the over-the-air signal of their station, and more importantly their advertisers, would be expanding their market from only reaching a local audience to a national stage. Why can't the over-the-air stations simply allow their signal to be picked up by the MLB package and, like the cable operators, require a local blackout? Furthermore, it appears that both tonight's and Sunday's over-the-air Mets games are covered by the web-based MLB.tv, so why not MLB Extra Innings? To insure that I had access to all Mets games, was I not only supposed to buck up the $169 for MLB Extra Innings but also an extra $90 for MLB.tv? Jeez, I'm a die hard Mets fan but my six figure student loan has other plans for that money. I'm sure there's some illogical/greedy/money/legal/technical-driven reason behind this, but, just like this weekend's Mets games, I just don't see it.

I'm still alive

2004-06-03T13:54:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to check in and inform all 5 of my loyal readers that I was not eaten by an alligator during my Miami mini vacation, where I was an eye witness to the Mets getting swept by the Marlins. I'm in the midst of a drastic change in my daily schedule from what it has been since I started this site and I'm trying to figure out how to find the time to squeeze in some blog entries here and there. Don't worry, my priorities are well established and I know that this blog comes before all else so I should be back in the saddle soon.

Mets-Marlins Preview

2004-05-28T14:31:00.000-04:00

The Mets head down to steamy Miami with a cool 23 and 23 record to play three against the boys in teal. The Marlins are currently in first place but the Mets are only 3.5 games behind them. I have only been studying for the bar exam for three days but I already need a vacation so I’m heading down there to take in the Saturday and Sunday games in person. Maybe Art Howe will use me at first base as a defensive replacement for Mike Piazza in a tie game in the 4th inning. Here’s a quick preview of what we have to look forward to.

Tonight Mr. One Hitter Tommy Glavine (6-2, 2.13) takes on Dontrelle “Whatchootalkinbout” Willis (4-3, 4.38). Willis started out this season hot, going 3 and 0 in his first five starts with a 2.73 ERA but has since cooled off. In his last four starts Mr. Rockette is 1 and 3 with a 6.26 ERA. Willis must be in a good mood knowing the Mets have rolled into town. In his 3 starts against the Mets last year Willis was 3 and 0 with a 0.86 ERA. Let’s hope the 6.26 version of Willis shows up tonight and not the Willis who struck out an average of a Met per inning last season. As for Glavine, despite his well documented struggles last year he actually pitched well against the Marlins. In four games started he had a 1.65 ERA. Expect Jack McKeon, if he has half a clue, to start Mike Redmond at catcher in place of Ramon Castro, since Redmond is a career .500 hitter off Glavine in 42 at bats.

Saturday will feature Jae Weong Seo (2-4, 5.30) and Carl Pavano (4-2, 3.68). The only Met batters to have a significant number of at bats against Pavano are Cliff Floyd and Mike Piazza who combine for a .435 average in 46 at bats. Seo, who had a solid rookie season last year, was particularly good against the Marlins, going 2 and 1 in 3 starts with a 1.02 ERA.

Sunday’s finale will showcase Steve Trachsel (5-3, 2.83) versus World Series MVP Josh Beckett (4-4, 3.95). Beckett has been hot and cold so far this season but at home he’s mostly been hot. At Pro Player Stadium Beckett enjoys a 3 and 1 record, a 2.43 ERA, and opposing batters are only hitting him at a .184 clip. Trachsel, on the other hand, is quietly, and slowly, having one of the best seasons of all NL pitchers. Since getting violated in his first start against Atlanta, Trachsel has logged 60.2 innings with a miniscule 1.79 ERA and has not allowed an earned run in his last 15 innings pitched.

This should be a “meaningful” series. Let’s hope I return from Miami with a nice tan and the Mets a half game out of first place instead of me returning with a sun burn and the Mets 6.5 games out.

Mets Expose Themselves

2004-05-26T22:45:00.000-04:00

No, the Mets didn't expose themselves a la Karim Garcia in a pizza parlor parking lot, but they did flash us their uglies in tonight's 7 to 4 loss to the Phillies nonetheless. The Mets were cruising with a 3 to 0 lead in the 7th inning when one of their primary weaknesses revealed itself in the form of yet another Kazuo Matsui error. David Bell pulled a ground ball to shortstop where Matsui had ranged to his left to get himself in a position to make the play. The ball skipped up about belt high but Matsui was playing back enough so that it should not have been a "bad hop." Instead of making the play, the ball skirted by Matsui into the outfield and Bell was aboard. The Phillies made the Mets pay for the error when Mike Lieberthal doubled to left and Bell sprinted home to score the first of many runs that would cross home plate this inning. Then, with the Mets clinging to a 3 to 2 lead with runners on first and third with one out, The Great Mike Piazza First Base Experiment (TM) went bad. And I don't mean Weird Science bad. Chase Utley hit a grounder to Piazza who tried turning two by winging the ball to second base to get the force out. However, Piazza's first to second throw did not look much better than his home to second throws, as the ball sailed over Matsui's head and ended up in left field. The tying run scored and the inning that seemed to never end marched on and by the end of the 7th inning the Phillies had scored 6 runs, only half of which were earned.

The three errors the Mets committed in the game were not atypical. Not counting tonight's follies, the Mets have the most errors in the NL with 36, are last in fielding percentage and are 14th out of 16 teams in range factor and zone rating. Kazuo Matsui is one of the usual suspects on this team of fielding felons, leading the NL in errors committed by shortstops, and is dead last in both fielding percentage and zone rating. You don't need fancy stats to see that Matsui is not the gold glove caliber defender he was billed as. And while an adjustment period should be expected because Matsui played the great majority of his career in Japan on artificial turf, that hardly explains why he has a shortstop's version of Mike Piazz's throwing arm and has less range to his right than Derek Jeter (.201), who many believe to be the worst fielding shortstop in baseball. ESPN's Jason Stark and an unnamed scout addressed Matsui's game thus far,

The Mets are a long ways from writing off Kaz Matsui, based on his first month and a half in America. But scouts are seeing very little of the tools Matsui was billed as having. "His defense is disappointing, and his range isn't as advertised," said one scout. "And his bat should be a concern. He doesn't get his lower body stabilized. He chases way too many pitches out of the strike zone. And he's going to get eaten up until he makes adjustments. He's not even as fast as advertised. We heard he was as fast as Ichiro, but Ichiro is way faster. I've seen him be out by a step and a half on plays I thought would be bang-bang." If this keeps up, you wonder how much hoopla there will be to move Jose Reyes back to shortstop when he finally gets healthy.

The hoopla actually started long before anyone ever saw Matsui play. Now that we have seen him play shortstop, or try to, consider the hoopla level on high.

Mediocrity is ours - all ours!!

2004-05-24T11:54:00.000-04:00

Tom Glavine chose one hell of a way to finally get the Mets to .500, bringing a no hitter into the 8th inning before it was broken up by Kit Pellow (30 years old with a whopping 162 career at bats), who belted a two out double off the right field wall. Glavine brushed the hit off and finished with a complete game, one hit shutout as the Mets won 4 to 0 to complete the three game sweep of the Rockies. Despite all the great pitchers to wear the blue and orange, no one has ever tossed a no no for the Mets. Nolan Ryan left Flushing to toss 7 career no hitters and Tom Seaver, Mike Scott (aka Mike "Scuff" to those of us who rooted against him in '86 when he was pitching for the Astros) and Hideo Nomo all left the Mets and threw no hitters for other teams. Adding insult to injury, Dwight Gooden and David Cone left the Mets and threw no hitters for The Evil Empire.

As noted earlier, yesterday's win evens out the Mets record at 22 and 22, which is three games ahead of last year's pace when, after 44 games, the Mets found themselves at 19 and 25. Just as encouraging is that their record has them right in the mix for the lead in the NL East standings, as the Mets are only 3 games behind the first place Phillies and only 2.5 games behind the second place Marlins. When you're a Mets fan it's all about redefining victory, so, along with being within striking distance of first place we can also take something away from the fact that it is over a quarter of the way through the season and the Braves are currently looking up at the Mets in the standings. Oooooh, ahahooooh, ohahoooooh.

The Mets can thank their very own "big three" of Tom Glavine, Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel for their success thus far, who have combined for a stingy 2.59 ERA. By comparison, Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson's previous "big three" of Barry Zito, Marc Mulder and Tim Hudson have combined for a 3.71 ERA so far this season. However, the true test of just how good, or bad, this team is occurs over the course of the next 12 games when the Mets play five games against the Phillies and seven against the Fish.

The first of two games against the Phillies will feature Trachsel (4-3 3.16) against Eric Milton (5-0 4.47 ERA) then Matt Ginter (1-0 5.06) will square off against Brett Myers (3-2 4.25). Keep an eye on Pat "the Bat" Burrell, who, besides having the coolest nick name in baseball, is also a Met killer. I tried to get the Smokin' Hot Corner (i.e. the wife) to call me "Norm the Bat" but she just laughed? Oh well. Burrell has 22 HRs against the Mets with an eye popping 1.042 OPS and he's smacked 3 HRs off Trachsel in 29 at bats. Jim Thome who, despite not having as cool a nick name as Burrell, has had success against Met pitching also. He has six hits in 18 at bats against Trachsel and half of those hits have been of the four bagger variety. With the exception of Mike Cameron, who is 5 for 22 with 2 HRs against him, Met batters haven't had a chance to see much of Milton who has spent his career in the AL before being traded to the Phillies this year. The same goes for Myers who is in his sophomore season, although keep an eye on Jason Phillips who is 5 for 10 off him. Art Howe will apparently take advantage of today's and Thursday's off days and pitch Glavine again on Friday to open the series against the Marlins, Jae Weong Seo on Saturday then Trachsel to close out the series on Sunday (maybe Leiter if he's healthy).

It should be a fun and "meaningful" 12 games.

Saturday Ramblings

2004-05-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

Between them, Jason Phillips and Danny Garcia had four doubles and four RBI in leading the Mets to a 9 to 7 win over the Colorado Rockies yesterday. Rookie right handed pitcher Matt Ginter, acquired in the Timo Perez trade (yes, someone actually gave us a decent pitcher with a live arm for Timo) followed up his solid 1 ER outing against the first place Astros last week with a less impressive start. Ginter went 5 innings, gave up 7 hits and 5 earned runs while walking 2 and striking out 5. Phillips, who was mired in an awful slump that prompted Mets manager Art Howe to not only bench him but also forget his name, is hitting his way out of his slump and into Howe's selective memory. In his last 5 games "what's his name" is hitting .471/.500/1.059 with 2 HRs. Meanwhile, Danny Garcia, who tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated moronically labeled the poster child for today's arrogant young players, has continued to fill in nicely for the injured Jose Reyes ranking in the top half in VORP among NL second basemen, just a fraction of a point below the Expos' Jose Vidro and above better known players like the Marlins' Luis Castillo. Mike Piazza got in on the fun yesterday as well with a home run. Most encouraging for the Mets offense is that Piazza appears to be locked in. Piazza has not been slumping this season but he did not appear himself in the batters box. Maybe he was pressing due to the HR record for catchers, maybe it was stress associated with switching positions, who knows, but Piazza's timing seemed a bit off. That's changed. Since May 2nd, Piazza has boosted his rate stats from .272/.327/.457 to a more Piazza'esque .301/.401/.541, hitting 5 HRs over that span and has assumed his position as tops among NL catchers in VORP. Piazza is showing that Shea Stadium, for him at least, does not drain the pop from right handed power hitters, as he's belting a cool .355/.474/.581 at home so far this season.

In other news, the brain freezing analysis of Baseball Tonight's John Kruk is back. In his latest column (yes, they let him write too) we are treated to the usual, "when I played pitchers were tough blah blah blah but now, the pitchers are wussies blah blah blah." Kruk's support?

These kids are taught that pitch count and innings are everything. They throw numbers at them on how someone can break down if they pitch too much too soon. You know what? You put that into anyone's head and I guarantee you they will break down.

Oh, okay, it's all in their head? So, according to Kruk, the Mets should fire pitching coach Rick Peterson and hire this guy or perhaps the Mets should rehire Mr. Arm Eater. Kruk has no use for statistics like "quality starts" and pitch counts,

I asked Mitch Williams why he decided to retire. He told me he didn't decide -- the batters did. They told him it was time to go. And that's what should determine when a pitcher comes out of a game. Not some statistic about what might happen. . . And forget about this "quality start" stat.

While Kruk dismisses these statistics, he's quick to embrace other stats when he says, "If you don't believe me, like I've said before, look at the numbers. They don't lie." Yup, the numbers don't lie, as indicated by Kruk's IQ, which is battling to make it into the double digits.

Doug Pappas Passes Away

2004-05-21T19:29:00.000-04:00

I was saddened to learn from David Pinto's site Baseball Musings that Doug Pappas passed away. Doug was the Chairman of The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Business of Baseball Committee, wrote for Baseball Prospectus and maintained a baseball related website and daily weblog. I never met Doug but if you have been visiting this site you will remember that Doug participated in my Mets Roundtable Discussion a few months back. I sent Doug a random e-mail asking if he would like to participate in the discussion, never thinking I'd hear back from him - me being a big nobody in the baseball world - and to my surprise Doug responded within hours with well thought out and articulate answers. I offer my deepest condolences to Doug's family. You can read more about Doug's passing at All-Baseball.com, Baseball Prospectus, and SABR's website.

The All New Piazza Line

2004-05-21T11:08:00.000-04:00

Speaking of fashion, has anyone noticed Mike Piazza's new line of clothing?

New Mets Blog

2004-05-21T10:03:00.000-04:00

Stop by The Metropolitans and say wasssuuuuup to Mike.

Jersey Tawk

2004-05-21T09:07:00.000-04:00

The highlight of yesterday's 11 to 4 loss to the Cards came in the top of the first inning when I noticed that the Mets had busted out their traditional home uniforms for the first time this year - white pants and jerseys with bright blue pinstripes with matching solid bright blue caps. Of the myriad of uniforms the Mets are wearing these days this one is my favorite. If the Mets are going to be a sub .500 team, at least they can do it with style. Which home uniforms are your favorites?

Dear Art Howe

2004-05-20T11:04:00.000-04:00

Art Howe
Manager
New York Mets Major League Baseball Club
Shea Stadium
123-01 Roosevelt Avenue
Flushing, NY 11368

Dear Mr. Howe,

I respect and appreciate the difficult job it must be to manage a Major League Baseball team. The difficulties must be exacerbated when managing in a city like New York where you are under a constant microscope. I do not envy you, with all the difficult tasks you are responsible for, like remembering all your players' names. If you can't remember your players' names, how can anyone expect you to make more substantive decisions, like when to take Mike Piazza out of a game when he is playing first base for defensive purposes. Since this is such a tricky issue and since it is clearly beyond you to make the call by yourself, I'm going to help you out. Simply put, always, and I repeat always, err on the side of leaving Piazza in the game. If the Mets are trailing late in a game, that's easy, leave him in. If the Mets are tied late in a game, that's easy too, leave him in. If the Mets are ahead by one run, leave him in. If the Mets are ahead two runs or more, then, and only then, can you take Piazza out of the game. If you have any trouble with these directions feel free to send me an e-mail during the game and I will tell you what to do.

Sincerely,

Norm @ The Shea Hot Corner
http://sheahotcorner.blogspot.com/

PS: If Mike Cameron needs to spend some time on the DL due to the torn ligament in his hand, please take this person's advice and do not blindly insert Joe McEwing into the CF spot every day.

Duquette on WFAN

2004-05-19T23:12:00.000-04:00

With the Mets playing inspired - albeit inconsistent - ball, it seems the fans are not the only ones intoxicated with thoughts of post season play. Mets GM Jim Duquette, appearing on WFAN's Mac & Sid Show, has apparently taken a few swigs out of the bottle of Absolut Playoffs as well. Duquette made it painfully clear that he is willing to trade away prospects, perhaps even "better known talent" in the Mets farm system for an impact player or two and wants to do it sooner rather than later. Duquette insinuated that he is hovering over the teams that have begun to fall out of contention but teams are unwilling to part with their players so early in the season. Two obvious possibilities, which Mac & Sid threw out to Duquette, are the Mariners Freddy Garcia and the Royals Carlos Beltran - both of whom are in their walk years. Duquette simply responded that anything is possible and that he would prefer trading "chips" over players currently on the big league club.

My initial interpretation of the Duquette plan was wrong. I originally thought that Duquette planned on pulling the wool over the eyes of the average Met fan by fielding a decent team this year that would keep fannies in the seats throughout the year while, on the down low, quietly rebuilding for the future. I was wrong. For good or bad the Mets find themselves in a quandary. The "decent" team they planned to field to simply keep things interesting has shown signs that it can overtake a weak NL East. With just a few more players, this logic goes, the Mets can either win the division or get into the playoffs via the wild card. While I would love to sit here and criticize the Mets for being short sighted etc..., I have to admit that I can't fault them for trying to take advantage of what may be a golden opportunity to sneak up on the NL East. That said, this does not mean that I would endorse any trade that would send a top tier prospect away for a half year rental. If, for example, Met top pitching prospect Scott Kazmir gets sent to Seattle for Freddy Garcia, there's a good chance I would drive to Flushing and introduce Duquette to my Uncle Louie. On the other hand, could anyone fault the Mets if, for example, they traded Kazmir for Carlos Beltran and signed him to a long-term deal? I certainly couldn't. I guess we're going to have to wait and see.

Duquette also spoke of Mets top position prospect David Wright and his time-table for arriving at Shea. Duquette said that the organization is currently in discussions regarding the proper time to send Wright from AA to AAA ball. If I were part of these discussions I would quietly lean across the board room table and ever so subtly say, "GET THE KID ON THE FIRST BUS TO NORFOLK!!!" Wright, in 145 at bats, is hitting .338/.452/.586 with 7 HR, 23 RBI and 14 SBs. Wright finds himself in the top 5 in just about every offensive category in the Eastern League and, combined with the offense, also plays a stellar defensive third base. Duquette continued that the Mets would like to send Wright to AAA to see how he reacts to better pitching and from there "anything can happen." In other words, Wright will not be making a Miguel Cabrera-like jump from AA to MLB but his stint in AAA may be short lived and we will likely see Wright manning the real Shea Hot Corner at some point this season. Duquette compared Wright's planned MLB track to that of Jose Reyes who, according to Duquette, was ready for the bigs in May of last year but was kept in the minors for a few more weeks of seasoning. Reyes had 275 at bats in AA then 160 at bats in AAA before being called up. Also of note is that the Mets plan to move AA pitching prospect Matt Peterson (3 & 0, 2.35 ERA) in unison, or very close, to Wright if possible. If that's the case, we may see both Wright and Peterson in Flushing by the end of the year.

Finally, regarding the back of the starting rotation, Duquette said that Matt Ginter, who pitched 5.2 innings of one run (one earned run) ball against Roger Clemens and the Astros last week, earned himself at least one more start. Whichever pitcher is manning the back of the rotation it's clear they are on a short leash. Duquette said that one of the reasons Tyler Yates was demoted to AAA was that Rick Peterson spotted some flaws in his mechanics that caused him to lose velocity. Yates was able to make two modifications to his mechanics in AAA, regained some of his lost velocity, and tossed 5.2 innings of no hit ball while striking out 5 in his first start for the Tides.

Saturday Ramblings

2004-05-15T13:35:00.000-04:00

It's been a few days since my last entry. Between final exams, the obligatory bender after the last final exam I'll ever have to take for law school (provided I passed), planning for the crazy family to come into town for graduation and the fact that my computer is fried (a new Dell is currently en route), posting has been hard. I can't link to anything since opening a new browser prompts the chipmunks that power my five year old Gateway to yelp and stop working, so here's a quick stream of conscious about the Mets.

Have ace, will beat. Is this the Mets new motto after beating Branden Webb, Randy Johnson and Roy Oswalt on consecutive nights? Bring on Andy Pettitte, that overrated scrub, and Roger Clemens that fat piece of garbage. The last win has the Mets in third place only 3.5 games out of first place.

The Mets need to show the same cajones they used in dropping Ricky Gutierrez and demand that Kazuo Matsui and his noodle arm move to second base when Jose Reyes returns. I did not like the decision to move Reyes over to second base when Matsui was first acquired but I kept an open mind. That open mind is closing with each game I have to watch that annoying, weak side-armed throw Matsui makes to first. The Mets seem open to optimizing their offense in bringing Mike Piazza out from behind the dish and rotating several players at first base, so why wouldn't they want to optimize their defensive effectiveness as well? The defense is optimized with Reyes at shortstop and Matsui and second. Make it happen.

The Mets are toying around with the idea of sending Tyler Yates back to the bullpen. So, a full year of effective starting work with an 8.5 K/9 IP, a dominating spring training against a mix of minor and major league hitters, and 6 major league starts with ups and downs, and Yates is staring at the possibility of ending up back in the pen? Yates' surgically repaired arm had this to say, "Quit messing with me!!!"

As the Mets hover just under .500, like they have most of the season, and with no one in the NL East running away with the division, it's becoming clear the team is just one or two players away from getting out of the red and into the black and maybe even making things interesting in the NL East. Cliff Floyd is one of those players and thankfully he's back. Jose Reyes is the second but who knows when he'll be playing again. The Mets can make a trade to acquire a player to push them over the hump. However, making a trade for an impact player would compromise the future of the team to make a run this year - but let's be realistic - this is not our year. One thing the Mets can do that will provide a spark now while at the same time will not compromise the future is to bring up David Wright. I was hesitant to endorse such a move early on in the season when Wright had only some 50 AA at bats. Now, with over 120 at bats under his belt, it's getting harder and harder to ignore Wright who is now hitting at a .346/.459/.615 clip with 7 HRs and 14 SBs.