What’s next? So Arod was doing stuff way before he said he was. So Sean Green isn’t Superman as a reliever. So JJ Putz isn’t Batman. So the Yanks will keep Joba in his starting role. So Jerry Manuel won’t bunt when he’s supposed to, so Wright can strike out at the worst possible times.
I don’t think I can overreact anymore. You just have to tell yourself there’s a lot of stupidity out there, and real heroes are as rare as hair on a cueball, especially in New York.
Jerry Manuel is really getting me down these days. Too much thinking. Way too much thinking. Especially when everything he does turns out wrong. As many things as he did right last year, he’s almost made up for it this year.
Whether he plays his feelings or the percentages, it just comes out wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Snakebit had no meaning until Jerry. Here’s a guy who just has too many options. He’s always playing the wrong card.
But here’s the good news. Things have got to get better. A person can’t be wrong all the time, although Willy came close last year. At least Manuel has a sense of humor and reasons for his actions. He’s open and honest and all those things one likes in a person, if not necessarily in a manager.
So I’m just going to wait all this bad stuff out. After all, Beltran’s starting to slide again, Tatis just hit a dinger, Delgado should get well again, Wright can’t look like a buffoon for months at a time, can he?
Things will settle down. Murphy looked great the other day on that sliding, whirling, hurling double play. And yes, he slipped again but geez, that could happen to anybody every other day.
I can’t really complain. Everything the Mets have done over the last year had been ok by me. Getting rid of Randolph, getting relief pitching, not dumping Castillo, not getting the big bat, keeping Oliver Perez. I was happy with all of that.
Be careful what you wish for, I guess. That’s all you can say. Eventually things will right themselves. Eventually they’ll stop leaving all those men on base. That’s been the real killer so far. That, and some very bad starting pitching. Oh, and then the relief pitching went south too. But who’s worried?
Maybe I should just stop paying attention for a while. It’s not as if baseball is the only sport around. Heck, the Kentucky Derby is Saturday, the NBA playoffs are going strong, the NHL playoffs are as exciting as ever, even if we have to watch with no New York/New Jersey representation.
The Jets took the football world by storm, moving up to grab Sanchez. The Giants picked themselves up a nice receiver to replace Burress, and then when they realized they still hadn’t really done that, they picked another guy who actually looks and plays a lot like Plaxico. And, just for consistency, they got themselves another pass-rusher.
Surely, with all this other stuff going on, I could afford to give the Mets a break. You’d have to agree that they’re an entertaining team to watch. And it’s beginning to look like this new CitiField should suit them just fine. I could live with lots of triples and fewer home runs. The Mets have the speed for it, and a bunch of flyball pitchers too.
And, as this is written, it’s still April. Everybody and everything in baseball gets a break in April, the slumping batters, the lousy pitchers, dumb managers, sloppy fielders, runners who don’t hit the dirt when they’re supposed to….excepting only steroids users and ticket pricers, especially if they work for the Evil Empire, now more than ever showing their true colors, mostly the colors of money.
There are still about 140 games to play, a whole heckuva lot of games. I’m literally going to turn the page, the April page on my Mets calendar that features an 8 by 11 photo of David Wright. I can’t stand to look at it anymore, thank goodness for May. May features Jose, and I can imagine him banging out another triple.
The Mets just need to turn the page too. Forget April. Forget all those lost opportunities. Forget Shea. Forget the bad pitching. Forget the record and the standings. Just look ahead. It should be easy.
There have been so many good things. Santana’s phenomenal pitching, the bats banging out lots of base hits, the good relief pitching, the seasoned manager who’s seen a little bit of everything. It’ll turn around.
The law of averages demands it.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Mets and Yanks and the NFL Draft
News from the NFL disturbs and interrupts my thoughts for the Mets today as I discover the Detroit Lions, that most ridiculous of all the losing NFL franchises, has selected another huge question mark with their number 1 pick.
All those losers they took for three straight years at wide receiver haven’t apparently had any influence on them. So a new GM continues in the steps of his horrendously flawed predecessor, gambling on success.
Not that I have any particular thoughts about that quarterback. Stafford’s probably better than anybody out there, but how good are they?
Now I know there are those who think the only way to revive a team is to have that super quarterback, leader, whatever, but the learning curve is long in the NFL and Detroit stinks right now. Detroit should have either taken Curry, the consensus best player in the draft, or they should have traded down.
The Giants and Jets haven’t said much about what they’ll be doing today and that’s as it should be….. I know the Jets need a quarterback, after all, why give the guys they have any chance? And the Giants need a wide receiver, after giving Plaxico the ol’ heave-ho. And let’s not forget Toomer.
It can almost be guaranteed the Giants won’t take a receiver. They like defensive linemen. It doesn’t matter what they need. It doesn’t matter that it’s not a good class. And I wouldn’t even mind. I’d rather have them trade for a wide-out and they probably will. But Braylon Edwards? Mr. Dropsy?
The Jets can’t be trusted anymore to do anything really intelligent. Favre proved that to me. They’re just interested in making a big splash. So look for them to take a good-looking guy, first and foremost, and probably a quarterback. It’ll be “Yes, Mr. Johnson”. Nice to have money, isn’t it? You can get anything you want, but you can’t do it without looking like an idiot, which of course he is.
That’s why the Jets got Vernon Gholston. Big muscles…not much between the ears, mind you, not a good football player but one with unlimited potential. He’ll be a factor in 2013….maybe.
The Giants, thank the football gods, are as smart as the Jets are stupid. They seem to realize that it’s football players that win football games. While the opposition flexes its muscles and runs like the wind but can’t catch, the Giants just play good ball and make them look silly. I love it.
Whoever Reese selects, I’m with him all the way. And I don’t expect him to trade for Braylon Edwards. He may want everyone to think he will but he won’t, unless it becomes a total give-away. Then it’s a moot point. But look for the G-Men to take guys who have proven they can play the game. And the positions will probably be linebacker, defensive line and then offense.
As exciting as the NFL draft may be, my attention is still on baseball and particularly the Mets. Johan Santana won another one last night, of course, and now the fun starts…the rest of the rotation. It wouldn’t even be such a bad situation if our guys could start hitting when it counts. (I hate to say “runners in scoring position” or even “RISP”).
I was soooo happy to see the lineup change though, and happy to see Murphy’s butt planted firmly on the bench. If baseball were all about hitting, he’d be my choice to play, but….alas! It’s not. So we saw guys on the field who can actually catch a ball. Even Sheffield, the poor man’s Brett Favre.
But last night, it was my lineup of choice, with Beltran swapping spots with Wright, who has proven he can’t handle the three spot, at least for now. So it was Reyes, Castillo, Beltran, Delgado, Wright and Sheffield in the first six spots, and that’s as it should be, against a lefty anyway.
But you can’t hide guys who can’t hit in big spots. Reyes and Wright proved that theory right by leaving 12, that’s twelve, men on base. Reyes keeps swinging for the fences and Wright suffers from the same misconception, that is, that they are the reincarnation of Babe friggin’ Ruth. It was nice to hear the fans let them have it too.
As this is written, I see the lineup for today’s 1PM game is the same with respect to Beltran and Wright, but Murphy and Church are back in the lineup. So it should be interesting to say the least. I’m certainly rooting for Murphy. Church is a better outfielder than Sheffield, will probably hit for a better average, and, as an extra added benefit, does not scowl all the time. (Not that maybe that’s just what the Mets need).
But Pelfrey’s on the mound and that can’t be good. It should be a nice test for him vs. the lowly Nationals. And it’s very nice to know that Manuel will not hesitate to change that starting rotation after this go-around. Most of these pitchers are clueless, beginning with Pelfrey and Maine.
I have to admit that I actually watched the Yanks-Red Sox at least as much as the Mets. I love watching Joba on the mound and, while he pitched like Aaron Heilmann in his last game with Posada behind the plate, Molina seemed to bring out the best in him. While he still can’t bring it at 95 or better, he looked like a pitcher in command, and I give the credit at least as much to Molina as to Joba.
Posada can hit, he can throw out runners, and he thinks everybody is Pettite. If Sabathia keeps losing, you can start looking forward to a lot of head-shaking on the mound. I really think Posada is that bad. Ask Randy Johnson, who preferred the hot-dog guy behind the plate rather than deal with the genius Posada.
Ahhhh, life is good, hope for the Mets and disdain for the Yanks.
All those losers they took for three straight years at wide receiver haven’t apparently had any influence on them. So a new GM continues in the steps of his horrendously flawed predecessor, gambling on success.
Not that I have any particular thoughts about that quarterback. Stafford’s probably better than anybody out there, but how good are they?
Now I know there are those who think the only way to revive a team is to have that super quarterback, leader, whatever, but the learning curve is long in the NFL and Detroit stinks right now. Detroit should have either taken Curry, the consensus best player in the draft, or they should have traded down.
The Giants and Jets haven’t said much about what they’ll be doing today and that’s as it should be….. I know the Jets need a quarterback, after all, why give the guys they have any chance? And the Giants need a wide receiver, after giving Plaxico the ol’ heave-ho. And let’s not forget Toomer.
It can almost be guaranteed the Giants won’t take a receiver. They like defensive linemen. It doesn’t matter what they need. It doesn’t matter that it’s not a good class. And I wouldn’t even mind. I’d rather have them trade for a wide-out and they probably will. But Braylon Edwards? Mr. Dropsy?
The Jets can’t be trusted anymore to do anything really intelligent. Favre proved that to me. They’re just interested in making a big splash. So look for them to take a good-looking guy, first and foremost, and probably a quarterback. It’ll be “Yes, Mr. Johnson”. Nice to have money, isn’t it? You can get anything you want, but you can’t do it without looking like an idiot, which of course he is.
That’s why the Jets got Vernon Gholston. Big muscles…not much between the ears, mind you, not a good football player but one with unlimited potential. He’ll be a factor in 2013….maybe.
The Giants, thank the football gods, are as smart as the Jets are stupid. They seem to realize that it’s football players that win football games. While the opposition flexes its muscles and runs like the wind but can’t catch, the Giants just play good ball and make them look silly. I love it.
Whoever Reese selects, I’m with him all the way. And I don’t expect him to trade for Braylon Edwards. He may want everyone to think he will but he won’t, unless it becomes a total give-away. Then it’s a moot point. But look for the G-Men to take guys who have proven they can play the game. And the positions will probably be linebacker, defensive line and then offense.
As exciting as the NFL draft may be, my attention is still on baseball and particularly the Mets. Johan Santana won another one last night, of course, and now the fun starts…the rest of the rotation. It wouldn’t even be such a bad situation if our guys could start hitting when it counts. (I hate to say “runners in scoring position” or even “RISP”).
I was soooo happy to see the lineup change though, and happy to see Murphy’s butt planted firmly on the bench. If baseball were all about hitting, he’d be my choice to play, but….alas! It’s not. So we saw guys on the field who can actually catch a ball. Even Sheffield, the poor man’s Brett Favre.
But last night, it was my lineup of choice, with Beltran swapping spots with Wright, who has proven he can’t handle the three spot, at least for now. So it was Reyes, Castillo, Beltran, Delgado, Wright and Sheffield in the first six spots, and that’s as it should be, against a lefty anyway.
But you can’t hide guys who can’t hit in big spots. Reyes and Wright proved that theory right by leaving 12, that’s twelve, men on base. Reyes keeps swinging for the fences and Wright suffers from the same misconception, that is, that they are the reincarnation of Babe friggin’ Ruth. It was nice to hear the fans let them have it too.
As this is written, I see the lineup for today’s 1PM game is the same with respect to Beltran and Wright, but Murphy and Church are back in the lineup. So it should be interesting to say the least. I’m certainly rooting for Murphy. Church is a better outfielder than Sheffield, will probably hit for a better average, and, as an extra added benefit, does not scowl all the time. (Not that maybe that’s just what the Mets need).
But Pelfrey’s on the mound and that can’t be good. It should be a nice test for him vs. the lowly Nationals. And it’s very nice to know that Manuel will not hesitate to change that starting rotation after this go-around. Most of these pitchers are clueless, beginning with Pelfrey and Maine.
I have to admit that I actually watched the Yanks-Red Sox at least as much as the Mets. I love watching Joba on the mound and, while he pitched like Aaron Heilmann in his last game with Posada behind the plate, Molina seemed to bring out the best in him. While he still can’t bring it at 95 or better, he looked like a pitcher in command, and I give the credit at least as much to Molina as to Joba.
Posada can hit, he can throw out runners, and he thinks everybody is Pettite. If Sabathia keeps losing, you can start looking forward to a lot of head-shaking on the mound. I really think Posada is that bad. Ask Randy Johnson, who preferred the hot-dog guy behind the plate rather than deal with the genius Posada.
Ahhhh, life is good, hope for the Mets and disdain for the Yanks.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Mets? Boo!!
I’m embarrassed. I root for a team that has no left fielder. I root for a team that can’t care enough to slide. I root for a team that almost never produces with the game on the line, a team with a stupid lineup and even more stupid players
This team looks for ways to lose. Who can root for a team like this? This was the worst Mets loss yet. And that’s saying something. They lost a game they should’ve won, that’s nothing strange, that’s happened lots of times before.
That was usually because of relief pitching though. Last night’s loss featured my favorite Met, Carlos Beltran, fail to slide at home in a tie game. That has to be a first. Almost as painful was seeing a guy I’ve been pulling for, Daniel Murphy, make another huge error in left field.
Some things we’ve seen before. We’re used to seeing Oliver Perez blow up in the fifth inning. We’re used to the whole team leaving men on base. But this 2009 version of the Mets seems to seek out failure with a verve seldom seen on a major league baseball field.
I’m off the Jerry Manuel bandwagon too. All the moves that worked last year are coming up deuces in 2009. I hate the lineup. Why does Beltran have to follow Delgado and precede Church? Church pays no attention to the man on base. Twice last night he took Beltran out of a stolen base.
And this lineup simply doesn’t work. Beltran has speed that shouldn’t be wasted in the fifth spot. Murphy should be sent down to AAA Buffalo. Maybe that will calm him down. He’s not such a powerhouse at the plate to warrant a major league team, supposedly a contending team, playing a guy who can’t field his position. I was all for giving him a chance. He’s had his chances and has fallen short. He’s not ready..
Give me Castillo at the 2 spot, especially now that he seems to have found his way at the plate. Wright can’t handle the three-spot. Wright doesn’t hit with men on base. I don’t care what his batting average is. Move him down in the lineup. Beltran should bat third. To recap, that’d be Reyes, Castillo, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Church, Tatis, Castro and the pitcher.
While I’m ranting and raving, maybe Manuel should be put on notice too. His management of the team in Sunday’s game was ridiculous. We needed a bunt to move the runners over. We didn’t get it. Not only didn’t we get it but we had a guy at the plate who probably was incapable of doing it. That would be Tatis. We have a strong and versatile bench. It’s not being used.
I’m so sick of bad baseball. Maybe Beltran should sit down for a game or two as well. Let him know his butt is expendable. A player with his talent should be an inspiration, not a guy who makes the big mistake.
A contending team, a hopeful pennant winner, just can’t live with a guy in Murphy who has a coronary episode every time the ball comes his way. And he had his own chance to slide at the plate but passed, instead electing to step on the catcher’s hand? I still don’t know what he was trying to do.
Perez? What can you say? He walked in a run in the fifth and then the new relief guy, Fossum, walked in another. I’d recommend long relief for him if we had a stronger starting rotation. But we don’t. We have Maine, Pelfrey (maybe) and Livan Hernandez. Perez throws at one speed. He needs another pitch. And a brain.
I hate to say it but the Yankees are playing good baseball. Their centerfielder made one of the greatest catches I ever saw last night to rob Giambi of a triple….well, maybe a double being that it was Giambi.
Pettite looked good. Damon looked good. Heck, they all looked good. They play as if they care, even with all those stars. Too bad they’re playing in front of so many empty seats. With their new ticket pricing, the Yanks finally turned all that arrogance back on their fans. I listened to horror stories of Yankee fans all afternoon, already expensive $190 seats that were raised to $590. Unbelievable. That team and those fans deserve one another.
So maybe I should just calm down. I can still afford a Mets game. Their tix may be exorbitant too, but I could at least justify going to one or two games a season. If Mets tix jumped as the Yanks tix did, I’d abandon the team entirely. Talk about insults!
Manuel will maybe stop being such a genius and start doing some smart things again. And maybe he’ll start holding players accountable for their failures. God knows he needs to. And maybe Minaya will get him some honest-to-goodness help, not in the form of a Sheffield or a Fossum.
He really shouldn’t need any more help though. Manuel should be able to win games with the hand he was dealt. He’s got to instill a sense of urgency in his guys though. Virtually every game they’ve played thus far has been close. They never seem to pull away. They either eke out a close win or EEK! out a close loss.
As they did tonight. BOO!!
This team looks for ways to lose. Who can root for a team like this? This was the worst Mets loss yet. And that’s saying something. They lost a game they should’ve won, that’s nothing strange, that’s happened lots of times before.
That was usually because of relief pitching though. Last night’s loss featured my favorite Met, Carlos Beltran, fail to slide at home in a tie game. That has to be a first. Almost as painful was seeing a guy I’ve been pulling for, Daniel Murphy, make another huge error in left field.
Some things we’ve seen before. We’re used to seeing Oliver Perez blow up in the fifth inning. We’re used to the whole team leaving men on base. But this 2009 version of the Mets seems to seek out failure with a verve seldom seen on a major league baseball field.
I’m off the Jerry Manuel bandwagon too. All the moves that worked last year are coming up deuces in 2009. I hate the lineup. Why does Beltran have to follow Delgado and precede Church? Church pays no attention to the man on base. Twice last night he took Beltran out of a stolen base.
And this lineup simply doesn’t work. Beltran has speed that shouldn’t be wasted in the fifth spot. Murphy should be sent down to AAA Buffalo. Maybe that will calm him down. He’s not such a powerhouse at the plate to warrant a major league team, supposedly a contending team, playing a guy who can’t field his position. I was all for giving him a chance. He’s had his chances and has fallen short. He’s not ready..
Give me Castillo at the 2 spot, especially now that he seems to have found his way at the plate. Wright can’t handle the three-spot. Wright doesn’t hit with men on base. I don’t care what his batting average is. Move him down in the lineup. Beltran should bat third. To recap, that’d be Reyes, Castillo, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Church, Tatis, Castro and the pitcher.
While I’m ranting and raving, maybe Manuel should be put on notice too. His management of the team in Sunday’s game was ridiculous. We needed a bunt to move the runners over. We didn’t get it. Not only didn’t we get it but we had a guy at the plate who probably was incapable of doing it. That would be Tatis. We have a strong and versatile bench. It’s not being used.
I’m so sick of bad baseball. Maybe Beltran should sit down for a game or two as well. Let him know his butt is expendable. A player with his talent should be an inspiration, not a guy who makes the big mistake.
A contending team, a hopeful pennant winner, just can’t live with a guy in Murphy who has a coronary episode every time the ball comes his way. And he had his own chance to slide at the plate but passed, instead electing to step on the catcher’s hand? I still don’t know what he was trying to do.
Perez? What can you say? He walked in a run in the fifth and then the new relief guy, Fossum, walked in another. I’d recommend long relief for him if we had a stronger starting rotation. But we don’t. We have Maine, Pelfrey (maybe) and Livan Hernandez. Perez throws at one speed. He needs another pitch. And a brain.
I hate to say it but the Yankees are playing good baseball. Their centerfielder made one of the greatest catches I ever saw last night to rob Giambi of a triple….well, maybe a double being that it was Giambi.
Pettite looked good. Damon looked good. Heck, they all looked good. They play as if they care, even with all those stars. Too bad they’re playing in front of so many empty seats. With their new ticket pricing, the Yanks finally turned all that arrogance back on their fans. I listened to horror stories of Yankee fans all afternoon, already expensive $190 seats that were raised to $590. Unbelievable. That team and those fans deserve one another.
So maybe I should just calm down. I can still afford a Mets game. Their tix may be exorbitant too, but I could at least justify going to one or two games a season. If Mets tix jumped as the Yanks tix did, I’d abandon the team entirely. Talk about insults!
Manuel will maybe stop being such a genius and start doing some smart things again. And maybe he’ll start holding players accountable for their failures. God knows he needs to. And maybe Minaya will get him some honest-to-goodness help, not in the form of a Sheffield or a Fossum.
He really shouldn’t need any more help though. Manuel should be able to win games with the hand he was dealt. He’s got to instill a sense of urgency in his guys though. Virtually every game they’ve played thus far has been close. They never seem to pull away. They either eke out a close win or EEK! out a close loss.
As they did tonight. BOO!!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Joba's Bad But Omar's Looking Good
Joba Chamberlain is a better pitcher than he showed yesterday. He would have to be, wouln’t he? I hadn’t seen such tentativeness since Aaron Heilman. Did he throw any fastballs? It surely didn’t seem so.
The Yankees, my Dad says, are not a good team. He just doesn’t think they’re that good. Well, I guess I’d have to agree, given this little information. If they keep babying Joba and making him neurotic, it would appear, their chances are all that much slimmer.
Maybe it’s Jorge Posada that doesn’t agree with him. Posada had missed a lot of the Joba action last year. There were surely a lot of calls for breaking balls. And if a catcher can’t call a good game, it doesn’t really matter that he hits a little bit. One thing is for sure. If Joba has another game like this last one, I’m going to hide my Joba tee shirt. He looked that bad.
But the rest of the Yanks don’t really look that bad. I really don’t like Cano but he sure has been knocking the cover off the ball. Jeter looks really good too. Teixeira is starting to hold his own. Damon hasn’t been bad. Matsui has looked a bit off. Anyway, I’m not sure I agree with Dad on this one. The Yanks look pretty good to me, if the relievers hold up at all.
The Mets, what can you say? They did just enough to win last night, thanks largely to Sheffield, whose 500th tied the game late. It was a big big home run. And then Luis Castillo wins it for them with a slap to the left side, to deep short to score Delgado with the game-winner.
In one fell swoop, Omar looks like a genius. There have been no bigger targets of derision for Minaya than his acquisition of Sheffield and his retention of Castillo, or, better put, his failure to pick up another second baseman. Well, Castillo is hitting .387 and has fielded the position pretty well so far, better at least than Murphy has fielded his. And Sheffield showed what he can do at the plate. Big time.
Sheffield is now just 1 for 5 but that big knock should count for 3 or 4 hits. What a shot! And what a shot in the arm for our local heroes. I know Livan Hernandez was happy. He was off the hook after pitching really well and making one big mistake. Well, everybody was happy. I know I was happy.
So the Mets are even again at 5 and 5. They’ve lost three one-run games so far though. They haven’t been hitting in the clutch and were lucky to win last night, lucky that two old guys both came through when the game was on the line. If not for those two fellows, there would have been still one more one-run loss.
The Mets starters just haven’t been good enough. Livan has been pretty good despite his giving up that big homer last night. And Santana has been himself, which is to say….great. Then there’s Perez, who’s been himself also, which is to say….crazy. Maine and Pelfrey haven’t looked good at all, but not overwhelmingly bad either. And now Pelfrey’s a bit knicked up. Maybe it’ll help.
That relief pitching sure looks good though. Green, Putz and K-Rod. Jeez. It’s really kind of refreshing. If the starters pick it up even a little bit, I think the Mets will be in good shape. They can live with average performances from the bottom of the lineup, which in recent days had seemed like a long,long, long, bottom, starting with Church.
But last night they weren’t bad. Church managed to walk twice, Castro and Castillo each got a couple of hits and Luis had the game-winner. If they can pick it up a little on a more consistent basis, anything’s possible.
But we probably shouldn’t count on that core being so strong all the time either. Delgado’s been amazing, Beltran too but not last night, and Murphy’s been better than expected. Reyes is always a threat when he doesn’t over-slide the bags. (I pick on Jose because he deserves it sometimes).
So even with sketchy starting pitching, the Mets should be tough. They should be better than a .500 team as they are now. They have two more to play at home with the Brewers before taking on the Cards for three more in St. Louis. Those five games will help me guage just how good or bad they are as a team.
Time to wrap this up now. Santana just struck out Fielder and Reyes stole second. It looks like a good Mets start today, and if Castillo and Sheffield, who are both starting today, can continue to help out a little bit, it should be the beginning of a nice winning streak.
And Omar will continue looking good.
The Yankees, my Dad says, are not a good team. He just doesn’t think they’re that good. Well, I guess I’d have to agree, given this little information. If they keep babying Joba and making him neurotic, it would appear, their chances are all that much slimmer.
Maybe it’s Jorge Posada that doesn’t agree with him. Posada had missed a lot of the Joba action last year. There were surely a lot of calls for breaking balls. And if a catcher can’t call a good game, it doesn’t really matter that he hits a little bit. One thing is for sure. If Joba has another game like this last one, I’m going to hide my Joba tee shirt. He looked that bad.
But the rest of the Yanks don’t really look that bad. I really don’t like Cano but he sure has been knocking the cover off the ball. Jeter looks really good too. Teixeira is starting to hold his own. Damon hasn’t been bad. Matsui has looked a bit off. Anyway, I’m not sure I agree with Dad on this one. The Yanks look pretty good to me, if the relievers hold up at all.
The Mets, what can you say? They did just enough to win last night, thanks largely to Sheffield, whose 500th tied the game late. It was a big big home run. And then Luis Castillo wins it for them with a slap to the left side, to deep short to score Delgado with the game-winner.
In one fell swoop, Omar looks like a genius. There have been no bigger targets of derision for Minaya than his acquisition of Sheffield and his retention of Castillo, or, better put, his failure to pick up another second baseman. Well, Castillo is hitting .387 and has fielded the position pretty well so far, better at least than Murphy has fielded his. And Sheffield showed what he can do at the plate. Big time.
Sheffield is now just 1 for 5 but that big knock should count for 3 or 4 hits. What a shot! And what a shot in the arm for our local heroes. I know Livan Hernandez was happy. He was off the hook after pitching really well and making one big mistake. Well, everybody was happy. I know I was happy.
So the Mets are even again at 5 and 5. They’ve lost three one-run games so far though. They haven’t been hitting in the clutch and were lucky to win last night, lucky that two old guys both came through when the game was on the line. If not for those two fellows, there would have been still one more one-run loss.
The Mets starters just haven’t been good enough. Livan has been pretty good despite his giving up that big homer last night. And Santana has been himself, which is to say….great. Then there’s Perez, who’s been himself also, which is to say….crazy. Maine and Pelfrey haven’t looked good at all, but not overwhelmingly bad either. And now Pelfrey’s a bit knicked up. Maybe it’ll help.
That relief pitching sure looks good though. Green, Putz and K-Rod. Jeez. It’s really kind of refreshing. If the starters pick it up even a little bit, I think the Mets will be in good shape. They can live with average performances from the bottom of the lineup, which in recent days had seemed like a long,long, long, bottom, starting with Church.
But last night they weren’t bad. Church managed to walk twice, Castro and Castillo each got a couple of hits and Luis had the game-winner. If they can pick it up a little on a more consistent basis, anything’s possible.
But we probably shouldn’t count on that core being so strong all the time either. Delgado’s been amazing, Beltran too but not last night, and Murphy’s been better than expected. Reyes is always a threat when he doesn’t over-slide the bags. (I pick on Jose because he deserves it sometimes).
So even with sketchy starting pitching, the Mets should be tough. They should be better than a .500 team as they are now. They have two more to play at home with the Brewers before taking on the Cards for three more in St. Louis. Those five games will help me guage just how good or bad they are as a team.
Time to wrap this up now. Santana just struck out Fielder and Reyes stole second. It looks like a good Mets start today, and if Castillo and Sheffield, who are both starting today, can continue to help out a little bit, it should be the beginning of a nice winning streak.
And Omar will continue looking good.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
On Good and Bad Baseball
Wowww…I hate to say it, being a long-time Yankee hater, but the Yanks looked great last night. And it was a great game to watch on TV, even with Michael Kaye just saying obvious stuff all night long.
The new guys came through for the Yanks, i.e. Burnett and Swisher, even Gardner, and the old Yanks, especially Jeter, seemed to reach back to their past to do what they always had done. Jeter and those inside-outers, that swing that dumps even inside pitches into right field for either a single or double. He went 3 for 5 last night, and his last hit was the Rays-killer, a long drive that kept goin’ and goin’……..
I was rooting for the Rays all the way too, especially as Garza (Rays SP) is one of my fantasy pitchers. And, after that 15-5 drubbing of the night before, I had been looking forward to a repeat – bad pitching, especially early, that just knocks the life out of a team, any team of competitors.
But it wasn’t to be. The Yanks took a quick early lead as another old-timer, Posada, hit a sac-fly to score Gardner who had earlier singled. Then Swisher killed a ball that landed waay out in right field for a second run.
Burnett held the lead through six tough innings, with A.J. providing the kind of no-hit pitching and showing the kind of stuff I hadn’t seen since David Cone. Longoria, Upton, Pena, it didn’t matter, they came, they saw, they sat down. It was awesome really, even if a little depressing for a Mets fan.
Ah, but you can’t keep a good team down forever and even the greats suffer a lapse sometimes. Burnett’s lapse came in the bottom of the seventh as a string of base hits by Crawford, Longoria and Pena plated one and a sac-fly tied the score at two.
But Burnett woke up and the Rays went to sleep. The Rays’ Navarro struck out looking, and just for good measure, just to make sure the Rays were shut down, catcher Molina threw out Pena at first for the third out. Just like that, the fire was put out.
And, just as a good football team scores on its next possession, the Yanks fired back in the 8th. Gardner and Jeter again were the culprits to set the table for Teixeira, who managed a sac-fly off the usually tough J.P. Howell, and the Yanks had the lead once again.
But it was a tenuous lead, and the Rays didn’t win the AL East last year for nothin’. I thought for sure the Yanks would replace Burnett, they’re so nutsy about pitch counts. But Burnett hadn’t thrown too many, they kept him in, and the bottom of the order for the Rays went very quietly.
Then, just to make absolutely sure the Rays were dead, the Yanks unleashed guys like Cano and even Melky Cabrera. They hit straight singles off Wheeler, one of the Rays closers, to set up Gardner, who hit a hard liner out to centerfielder Upton, who misjudged the ball coming straight at him and then over his head for the ground-rule double and that always so important insurance run.
But that wasn’t enough for Jeter. He clubbed a Wheeler offering for a big, big 3-run homer and it was all over. We didn’t even get to see Mariano, now that the Yanks had a big 5-run lead. And they didn’t need him, Bruney was just fine, thank you, as he mowed down the heart of the Rays order in the ninth, striking out the side, Upton, Longoria and Pena, boom, boom, boom.
The game was over but the impression remained. It was the Rays who made the big mistakes, it was the Yankees who maintained their focus throughout, and got contributions from everybody. They played not only like a team, but like a winning team, the kind of team that could put away the likes of the Rays and the Red Sox.
Mets fans can appreciate good baseball, not that we’ve seen much of it from our empty-headed local heroes lately. Reyes’s over-slide of second base the other day pretty much killed the Mets in that one. Before that, we had watched as our good ol’ Murphy just flat-out dropped an easy fly ball.
Aah, maybe it was an isolated incident, the Yanks playing like that, just the right place and the right time. After all, their ace was on the mound and they had just been drubbed and embarrassed. But still, the contrast between their heady play and that of the Mets is just too hard to ignore.
To make things worse, I read that Reyes is looking to steal home, just to show off his Jackie Robinson-ness. Give me a break, Jose! Learn how to take second. That would be a good start. As Jose goes, so go the Mets, and, if he sets the wrong tune, a totally bone-headed tune, the Mets will readily follow suit.
There are some likenesses between the two clubs though. The Yanks have their Wang getting banged around and we have our Oliver Perez. But with Yang, it’s a relatively new thing while with crazy Ollie, it’s just same thing, different season. You get the feeling Wang will come around; is there any real hope for Perez?
But there the likeness ends, at least as far as starters go. Sabathia and Burnett are the Yanks two aces, we have a legitimate Santana, but then a very questionable Mike Pelfrey, who’s been hittable to the max, especially early in the game, when a lot of games are decided. At number 3, they’ve got Pettite, we’ve got Maine….and pray for rain.
Even with all our nifty relief pitchers, Green and Putz and Frankie, these early deficits provided by all the Mets pitchers but Santana, drain the life out of a team. It’s just exhausting to have to keep coming back.
We need to see a change……soon.
The new guys came through for the Yanks, i.e. Burnett and Swisher, even Gardner, and the old Yanks, especially Jeter, seemed to reach back to their past to do what they always had done. Jeter and those inside-outers, that swing that dumps even inside pitches into right field for either a single or double. He went 3 for 5 last night, and his last hit was the Rays-killer, a long drive that kept goin’ and goin’……..
I was rooting for the Rays all the way too, especially as Garza (Rays SP) is one of my fantasy pitchers. And, after that 15-5 drubbing of the night before, I had been looking forward to a repeat – bad pitching, especially early, that just knocks the life out of a team, any team of competitors.
But it wasn’t to be. The Yanks took a quick early lead as another old-timer, Posada, hit a sac-fly to score Gardner who had earlier singled. Then Swisher killed a ball that landed waay out in right field for a second run.
Burnett held the lead through six tough innings, with A.J. providing the kind of no-hit pitching and showing the kind of stuff I hadn’t seen since David Cone. Longoria, Upton, Pena, it didn’t matter, they came, they saw, they sat down. It was awesome really, even if a little depressing for a Mets fan.
Ah, but you can’t keep a good team down forever and even the greats suffer a lapse sometimes. Burnett’s lapse came in the bottom of the seventh as a string of base hits by Crawford, Longoria and Pena plated one and a sac-fly tied the score at two.
But Burnett woke up and the Rays went to sleep. The Rays’ Navarro struck out looking, and just for good measure, just to make sure the Rays were shut down, catcher Molina threw out Pena at first for the third out. Just like that, the fire was put out.
And, just as a good football team scores on its next possession, the Yanks fired back in the 8th. Gardner and Jeter again were the culprits to set the table for Teixeira, who managed a sac-fly off the usually tough J.P. Howell, and the Yanks had the lead once again.
But it was a tenuous lead, and the Rays didn’t win the AL East last year for nothin’. I thought for sure the Yanks would replace Burnett, they’re so nutsy about pitch counts. But Burnett hadn’t thrown too many, they kept him in, and the bottom of the order for the Rays went very quietly.
Then, just to make absolutely sure the Rays were dead, the Yanks unleashed guys like Cano and even Melky Cabrera. They hit straight singles off Wheeler, one of the Rays closers, to set up Gardner, who hit a hard liner out to centerfielder Upton, who misjudged the ball coming straight at him and then over his head for the ground-rule double and that always so important insurance run.
But that wasn’t enough for Jeter. He clubbed a Wheeler offering for a big, big 3-run homer and it was all over. We didn’t even get to see Mariano, now that the Yanks had a big 5-run lead. And they didn’t need him, Bruney was just fine, thank you, as he mowed down the heart of the Rays order in the ninth, striking out the side, Upton, Longoria and Pena, boom, boom, boom.
The game was over but the impression remained. It was the Rays who made the big mistakes, it was the Yankees who maintained their focus throughout, and got contributions from everybody. They played not only like a team, but like a winning team, the kind of team that could put away the likes of the Rays and the Red Sox.
Mets fans can appreciate good baseball, not that we’ve seen much of it from our empty-headed local heroes lately. Reyes’s over-slide of second base the other day pretty much killed the Mets in that one. Before that, we had watched as our good ol’ Murphy just flat-out dropped an easy fly ball.
Aah, maybe it was an isolated incident, the Yanks playing like that, just the right place and the right time. After all, their ace was on the mound and they had just been drubbed and embarrassed. But still, the contrast between their heady play and that of the Mets is just too hard to ignore.
To make things worse, I read that Reyes is looking to steal home, just to show off his Jackie Robinson-ness. Give me a break, Jose! Learn how to take second. That would be a good start. As Jose goes, so go the Mets, and, if he sets the wrong tune, a totally bone-headed tune, the Mets will readily follow suit.
There are some likenesses between the two clubs though. The Yanks have their Wang getting banged around and we have our Oliver Perez. But with Yang, it’s a relatively new thing while with crazy Ollie, it’s just same thing, different season. You get the feeling Wang will come around; is there any real hope for Perez?
But there the likeness ends, at least as far as starters go. Sabathia and Burnett are the Yanks two aces, we have a legitimate Santana, but then a very questionable Mike Pelfrey, who’s been hittable to the max, especially early in the game, when a lot of games are decided. At number 3, they’ve got Pettite, we’ve got Maine….and pray for rain.
Even with all our nifty relief pitchers, Green and Putz and Frankie, these early deficits provided by all the Mets pitchers but Santana, drain the life out of a team. It’s just exhausting to have to keep coming back.
We need to see a change……soon.
Monday, April 13, 2009
What's Goin' On Here??
Okay. What’s this? Check out the leaders of each of the 6 MLB divisions this Sunday after about a week of play:
NL East – Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins – 5-1
NL Central – St. Louis Cardinals – 5-2
NL West – San Diego Padres - 5-2
AL East – Toronto Blue Jays – 5-2
AL Central – Detroit Tigers – 4-3
AL West – Seattle Mariners – 5-2
Gimme a break…the Braves?
I can understand the Marlins leading the NL East. They’ve got all those stud-ly guys, Uggla, Hermida, and how about Hanley Ramirez? Then there’re some nice pitchers too, such as the young Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez.
But the Braves don’t have that much, do they? I mean…..Chipper Jones is great when he plays and Brian McCann is a nice catcher, Yunil Escobar ain’t too shabby either, and oh yeah, Jeff Francoeur can drive them in. But Kelly Johnson and ol’ Garrett Anderson? Not exactly Murderers Row.
And yeah, they picked up Derek Lowe for big bucks, but then there’s Jari Jurrjens as the number two. Do I really have to learn how to spell Jurrjens? And Vasquez and Campillo….c’mon, this can’t be happening. Of course, they did just finish with the Nats.
The Mets and Phils, they’re both starting a little slow. Mr. Santana lost a tough one today. And Daniel Murphy, so impressive in so many ways, today we learn he needs a new pair of sunglasses. The Phils have to live with that pitching.
In the AL East, the lowly Blue Jays are knockin’ em dead. The mighty Yankees, upstart Rays and Red Sox Nation are all looking up at those fellas from Canada. Of course, after watching the Yanks today, they deserve whatever they get. Has a pitching staff ever been handled more stupidly?
Has an organization ever in the history of the major leagues been more infatuated with pitch counts? Joba was doing great. Woops! Let’s take him out ! His pitch count, his pitch count! Let’s get those second-tier relief guys in there. I mean, really. Bruney’s okay but if you’re going to get relievers on the cheap, you should forget about pitch counts. Do things really go better with Coke? I don’t think so.
The Red Sox are 2-4 and I don’t know what their story is. I do know Ortiz and Ellsbury and Pedroia really aren’t tearing it up yet. I hope it’s not Papi’s wrist, and, if not, you have to think all those guys will start hitting soon. And they did just finish with the Angels, not exactly a piece of cake.
I could analyze each and every division, of course, but that would be boring. This kind of thing seems to happen every year. The favorites take a hike. They’re not really paying attention, not as are the underdogs. Those teams come in with a built-in chip on their shoulders and are hard to beat.
But some of these teams are for real. Take the Mariners….please? No. really. They’ve got some terrific pitchers, some players who can make you pay, Chavez, Beltre, Griffey, and he hasn’t really gotten started yet.
Then there’re just some inexplicable things. Why did Tim Lincecum get bombed today? What did Peavy do yesterday that he missed in his first start? The same goes for the Yankees CC. Except in his case, we know the reason.. He shortened his stride and everything else just fell right into line, his fastball got faster, his control returned and all was right with the world.
Baseball is such a great game if only because it can turn on so many different variables. In a given week, or even as long as a month, a team can get some breaks and then just ride that momentum to achieving some remarkable feats. Anybody who watched Reed Johnson, now with the Cubs, rob Prince Fielder of a grand slam last night by perfectly timing his jump to snag Fielder’s drive from the fans side of the rightfield wall can attest to that.
Things can work the other way around too. The Indians had really high hopes for this season but starting out 0 and 5 surely didn’t do anything to brighten their outlook. But you can bet that opening up against that powerful Rangers lineup and then having to face all those Blue Jay arms was a big factor in their season-opening demise.
They avoided 0-6 yesterday and it was nice to see Travis Hafner hit one out after his troubles from last year. Equally nifty was Kerry Wood’s first save for the Tribe. Before you can say “Rocky Colavito”, the Indians will be back. Facing the perennially downtrodden Royals for a 3-game set next week should do a lot to bring them back to respectability.
Yes, you have to play the games. It’s great that the paper says you’re a better team, but you still have to go out there and prove it. Over the course of 162 games, eventually probability rears its ugly head. The Royals of the world come back to the pack and the cream eventually rises. Only sometimes it does not.
So, despite the wonders of brand new expensive stadiums and a very fancy MLB network, the attraction is still just the game. It’s really a good one, baseball is. You never really know what awaits your favorite team on the field that day.
For me, it was nice to see Boston’s Josh Beckett get banged around by the Angels after he threw at Abreu’s head and nice to see him take the loss. But it was just as good to see Big Papi finally get a 2-4 day and an RBI too.
You do get some insights though after that first week or two. A Mets fan can feel that Pelfrey and Maine and Livan Hernandez could all come through this season even if Oliver Perez might still be in and out at best.
Yanks fans, they can feel that CC and AJ are the real deal, that third baseman maybe not.
NL East – Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins – 5-1
NL Central – St. Louis Cardinals – 5-2
NL West – San Diego Padres - 5-2
AL East – Toronto Blue Jays – 5-2
AL Central – Detroit Tigers – 4-3
AL West – Seattle Mariners – 5-2
Gimme a break…the Braves?
I can understand the Marlins leading the NL East. They’ve got all those stud-ly guys, Uggla, Hermida, and how about Hanley Ramirez? Then there’re some nice pitchers too, such as the young Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez.
But the Braves don’t have that much, do they? I mean…..Chipper Jones is great when he plays and Brian McCann is a nice catcher, Yunil Escobar ain’t too shabby either, and oh yeah, Jeff Francoeur can drive them in. But Kelly Johnson and ol’ Garrett Anderson? Not exactly Murderers Row.
And yeah, they picked up Derek Lowe for big bucks, but then there’s Jari Jurrjens as the number two. Do I really have to learn how to spell Jurrjens? And Vasquez and Campillo….c’mon, this can’t be happening. Of course, they did just finish with the Nats.
The Mets and Phils, they’re both starting a little slow. Mr. Santana lost a tough one today. And Daniel Murphy, so impressive in so many ways, today we learn he needs a new pair of sunglasses. The Phils have to live with that pitching.
In the AL East, the lowly Blue Jays are knockin’ em dead. The mighty Yankees, upstart Rays and Red Sox Nation are all looking up at those fellas from Canada. Of course, after watching the Yanks today, they deserve whatever they get. Has a pitching staff ever been handled more stupidly?
Has an organization ever in the history of the major leagues been more infatuated with pitch counts? Joba was doing great. Woops! Let’s take him out ! His pitch count, his pitch count! Let’s get those second-tier relief guys in there. I mean, really. Bruney’s okay but if you’re going to get relievers on the cheap, you should forget about pitch counts. Do things really go better with Coke? I don’t think so.
The Red Sox are 2-4 and I don’t know what their story is. I do know Ortiz and Ellsbury and Pedroia really aren’t tearing it up yet. I hope it’s not Papi’s wrist, and, if not, you have to think all those guys will start hitting soon. And they did just finish with the Angels, not exactly a piece of cake.
I could analyze each and every division, of course, but that would be boring. This kind of thing seems to happen every year. The favorites take a hike. They’re not really paying attention, not as are the underdogs. Those teams come in with a built-in chip on their shoulders and are hard to beat.
But some of these teams are for real. Take the Mariners….please? No. really. They’ve got some terrific pitchers, some players who can make you pay, Chavez, Beltre, Griffey, and he hasn’t really gotten started yet.
Then there’re just some inexplicable things. Why did Tim Lincecum get bombed today? What did Peavy do yesterday that he missed in his first start? The same goes for the Yankees CC. Except in his case, we know the reason.. He shortened his stride and everything else just fell right into line, his fastball got faster, his control returned and all was right with the world.
Baseball is such a great game if only because it can turn on so many different variables. In a given week, or even as long as a month, a team can get some breaks and then just ride that momentum to achieving some remarkable feats. Anybody who watched Reed Johnson, now with the Cubs, rob Prince Fielder of a grand slam last night by perfectly timing his jump to snag Fielder’s drive from the fans side of the rightfield wall can attest to that.
Things can work the other way around too. The Indians had really high hopes for this season but starting out 0 and 5 surely didn’t do anything to brighten their outlook. But you can bet that opening up against that powerful Rangers lineup and then having to face all those Blue Jay arms was a big factor in their season-opening demise.
They avoided 0-6 yesterday and it was nice to see Travis Hafner hit one out after his troubles from last year. Equally nifty was Kerry Wood’s first save for the Tribe. Before you can say “Rocky Colavito”, the Indians will be back. Facing the perennially downtrodden Royals for a 3-game set next week should do a lot to bring them back to respectability.
Yes, you have to play the games. It’s great that the paper says you’re a better team, but you still have to go out there and prove it. Over the course of 162 games, eventually probability rears its ugly head. The Royals of the world come back to the pack and the cream eventually rises. Only sometimes it does not.
So, despite the wonders of brand new expensive stadiums and a very fancy MLB network, the attraction is still just the game. It’s really a good one, baseball is. You never really know what awaits your favorite team on the field that day.
For me, it was nice to see Boston’s Josh Beckett get banged around by the Angels after he threw at Abreu’s head and nice to see him take the loss. But it was just as good to see Big Papi finally get a 2-4 day and an RBI too.
You do get some insights though after that first week or two. A Mets fan can feel that Pelfrey and Maine and Livan Hernandez could all come through this season even if Oliver Perez might still be in and out at best.
Yanks fans, they can feel that CC and AJ are the real deal, that third baseman maybe not.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Whatta Relief!!
For a Mets fan, nothing could be better than this opening to the season. The first game could have been straight from the desk of Omar Minaya. Santana gets his 6 or thereabouts, Green gets it to Putz and Rodriguez. All was right in the world of blue.
After a day for us Mets fans to contemplate our good fortune,we got to witness a game that was probably indicative of many games to come. The starter was good but not great, or not careful, and Pedro Feliciano was his old self; that is to say he gave up two more runs before handing it over to any competent reliever. And then the competent guys, Putz and K-Rod again, were either tired or just unlucky and ran into lots of adventures before the game mercifully ended.
Luckily for the Metsies, they got some tremendous production on the other side of things, especially from the two Carloses. Nine runs is awfully hard for any team to overcome and certainly the Reds were not equal to the task last night. But they put a real scare into K-Rod. In fact, I thought he was giving us his best Aaron Heilmann impression. He looked as if he was afraid to put the ball anywhere near the plate.
Yeah, all you have to be is a little off, and a little unlucky, and you can easily lose. The first base umpire made a bad call, or a homey call I tend to think, ruling that Delgado had left the bag too early, before he had the ball, before pegging a throw over to third to try to nail Cinci’s new star Brandon Phillips. Replays showed the umpire was dead wrong and my letter to the Commissioner is on its way.
So, in lieu (does anybody say instead anymore) of two outs and a man on third with the score 9-7, it became one out and a man on first and third. Big difference! Especially for a K-Rod who was struggling to say the least. He went 2-0 on half the Cinci lineup, seemingly following the John Franco school of avoiding the plate at all costs, hoping the batter either swings or the umpire gives him the ol’ 6-inches off the plate strike.
K-Rod got neither the wild swings from the batters nor the corner calls.. Soon the bases were loaded. But K-Rod showed his toughness and smarts by striking out Gonzalez on a high hard one and then getting a little lucky when Nix blasted a pitch to the deepest part of centerfield.
So the Mets can win even when their starter doesn’t pitch well. And even when their relievers don’t knock anyone’s socks off, and that was definitely the case last night. And even when the horrible umpires in MLB do their best thing, which is to miss obvious calls.
And that will be important because the Mets starters just aren’t that good, despite some things I’ve heard to the contrary. For example, I’ve heard that Pelfrey could be a number 2 starter anywhere. That’s baloney. A number 3 or 4 starter maybe but not a legitimate 2. He may be the best of the rest though.
Just how bad are the rest? Given a choice of pitchers on a particular day, of the three, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Livan Hernandez, I’d pitch Livan. I have very little confidence in Maine, he’s with his head in the clouds all the time and Perez is just crazy, especially after the fourth or fifth inning. I’d gladly select Ollie to pitch a playoff game but not those regular season yawners, yawners to him anyway.
The bats won’t always be as prolific and the pitchers won’t always be good, but given last night’s game as an example, opponents will still have to either score a lot of runs or get by those last two stalwarts, Putz and K-Rod. And that won’t be too easy.
Yankee fans are dying right now, of course, what with CC’s inauspicious opener and Wang’s bashing last night. You can almost bet that A.J. Burnet will have trouble too, if not for the season, at least for Game 3. There’s a lot of pressure pitching for New York and none of these fellows will find it terribly easy to finally get comfortable.
As I’ve said before, Sabathia starts slowly and if the papers (I hate media, don’t you) beat him up in April, there may not be much of CC left for May through September, even as big as he is. And if he should have an extended bad period, which he has had before, it’s all over but the shoutin’.
Texeira’s done nothing yet either, and Colby Rasmus is not the stuff that dreams are made of. And I don’t like their batting order either.
Jeter is not a leadoff hitter. He’s not fast enough. He’s no real threat on the bases. Damon isn’t The Flash reincarnated either but he can lead off. Jeter should bat 2nd. He’s got that good bat control and he’s smart and unselfish. The 3-4-5 of Teixeira, Matsui and Posada is the best the Yankees can send up there right now, but it certainly isn’t an awe-inspiring middle. For example, I’d prefer any combination of Wright, Beltran and Delgado.
Then there’s the 6 spot though the 9 spot. Cano’s at 6 but he should probably move up in the order, Nady’s been at the 7 spot but he’s a bigger threat to me than Posada at 5, in the long run anyway. Then there’s Ransom and Gardner at 8 and 9 and I’d certainly have to agree with that for now.
But, until Arod returns, I’d like to see Gardner, Jeter, Damon, Teixeira, Matsui, Nady, Posada, and either Cano and Ransom or the other way around depending on who has less speed. Arod’s return will not only solidify the center of the lineup but tend to extend the strength through the order.
And how ‘bout some relief?
After a day for us Mets fans to contemplate our good fortune,we got to witness a game that was probably indicative of many games to come. The starter was good but not great, or not careful, and Pedro Feliciano was his old self; that is to say he gave up two more runs before handing it over to any competent reliever. And then the competent guys, Putz and K-Rod again, were either tired or just unlucky and ran into lots of adventures before the game mercifully ended.
Luckily for the Metsies, they got some tremendous production on the other side of things, especially from the two Carloses. Nine runs is awfully hard for any team to overcome and certainly the Reds were not equal to the task last night. But they put a real scare into K-Rod. In fact, I thought he was giving us his best Aaron Heilmann impression. He looked as if he was afraid to put the ball anywhere near the plate.
Yeah, all you have to be is a little off, and a little unlucky, and you can easily lose. The first base umpire made a bad call, or a homey call I tend to think, ruling that Delgado had left the bag too early, before he had the ball, before pegging a throw over to third to try to nail Cinci’s new star Brandon Phillips. Replays showed the umpire was dead wrong and my letter to the Commissioner is on its way.
So, in lieu (does anybody say instead anymore) of two outs and a man on third with the score 9-7, it became one out and a man on first and third. Big difference! Especially for a K-Rod who was struggling to say the least. He went 2-0 on half the Cinci lineup, seemingly following the John Franco school of avoiding the plate at all costs, hoping the batter either swings or the umpire gives him the ol’ 6-inches off the plate strike.
K-Rod got neither the wild swings from the batters nor the corner calls.. Soon the bases were loaded. But K-Rod showed his toughness and smarts by striking out Gonzalez on a high hard one and then getting a little lucky when Nix blasted a pitch to the deepest part of centerfield.
So the Mets can win even when their starter doesn’t pitch well. And even when their relievers don’t knock anyone’s socks off, and that was definitely the case last night. And even when the horrible umpires in MLB do their best thing, which is to miss obvious calls.
And that will be important because the Mets starters just aren’t that good, despite some things I’ve heard to the contrary. For example, I’ve heard that Pelfrey could be a number 2 starter anywhere. That’s baloney. A number 3 or 4 starter maybe but not a legitimate 2. He may be the best of the rest though.
Just how bad are the rest? Given a choice of pitchers on a particular day, of the three, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Livan Hernandez, I’d pitch Livan. I have very little confidence in Maine, he’s with his head in the clouds all the time and Perez is just crazy, especially after the fourth or fifth inning. I’d gladly select Ollie to pitch a playoff game but not those regular season yawners, yawners to him anyway.
The bats won’t always be as prolific and the pitchers won’t always be good, but given last night’s game as an example, opponents will still have to either score a lot of runs or get by those last two stalwarts, Putz and K-Rod. And that won’t be too easy.
Yankee fans are dying right now, of course, what with CC’s inauspicious opener and Wang’s bashing last night. You can almost bet that A.J. Burnet will have trouble too, if not for the season, at least for Game 3. There’s a lot of pressure pitching for New York and none of these fellows will find it terribly easy to finally get comfortable.
As I’ve said before, Sabathia starts slowly and if the papers (I hate media, don’t you) beat him up in April, there may not be much of CC left for May through September, even as big as he is. And if he should have an extended bad period, which he has had before, it’s all over but the shoutin’.
Texeira’s done nothing yet either, and Colby Rasmus is not the stuff that dreams are made of. And I don’t like their batting order either.
Jeter is not a leadoff hitter. He’s not fast enough. He’s no real threat on the bases. Damon isn’t The Flash reincarnated either but he can lead off. Jeter should bat 2nd. He’s got that good bat control and he’s smart and unselfish. The 3-4-5 of Teixeira, Matsui and Posada is the best the Yankees can send up there right now, but it certainly isn’t an awe-inspiring middle. For example, I’d prefer any combination of Wright, Beltran and Delgado.
Then there’s the 6 spot though the 9 spot. Cano’s at 6 but he should probably move up in the order, Nady’s been at the 7 spot but he’s a bigger threat to me than Posada at 5, in the long run anyway. Then there’s Ransom and Gardner at 8 and 9 and I’d certainly have to agree with that for now.
But, until Arod returns, I’d like to see Gardner, Jeter, Damon, Teixeira, Matsui, Nady, Posada, and either Cano and Ransom or the other way around depending on who has less speed. Arod’s return will not only solidify the center of the lineup but tend to extend the strength through the order.
And how ‘bout some relief?
Monday, April 6, 2009
Mets All The Way
How unprecedented was this? Two new stadiums opened, and the Mets opened the nicer one against the Red Sox?
David Wright says it’ll be a lot of fun for all of us. He also talked about having it be a pitcher’s park with big gaps to suit his Mets team, which shows that he’s already thinking about how far they’ll go. And that’s a good thing.
Sports Illustrated says the Mets are going to win the whole thing. But Mets manager Jerry Manuel dismisses that notion. He knows his team has to learn to perform down the stretch, to hit in big situations, to hit to the opposite field, to make contact more often, and all those other things they haven’t done in the last couple of years.
The Mets are picking up Gary Sheffield. I understand they got him to replace Marlon Anderson as a utility guy and pinch hitter.. Let me try to look at the bright side of this. Sheffield can hit, some people say he’s a good team player, and in the last couple of years, he’s been hurt more than he’s played. So I won’t have to look at that dour countenance every day. And I don’t agree with Omar that Sheffield has that much upside, not anymore.
What this does is shut up all those fans who knocked Minaya for not picking up the big bat, especially a right-handed bat. That makes me think it was just a political move, something to ingratiate himself with the fans and with the critics. It’s still not clear as to how this will affect Murphy’s time, and Tatis’s time, both of whom are infinitely superior to Sheffield in my mind.
In any event, Sheffield’s negative affects won’t be enough to derail the Mets run to the NL East division title. They fixed the bullpen, they have just enough starting pitching (although we may see some really uneven performances from Perez, Maine and even Pelfrey). The lineup is our same happy Metsies but with an invigorated Castillo, a steady diet of Murphy and Evans and Tatis, and enough depth to outlast any conceivable injuries.
Everybody wants predictions. It seems it’s the the thing to do. So, let me give you my drift on the season…..
NL East – Mets, Florida, Phillies, Atlanta, Washington
The Phillies just can’t get it done again with that starting staff. Myers and Hamels and pray for rain. Florida will amaze with an extra year of maturity for all their young guys and some very decent pitching. Besides Nolasco and Johnson, they’ve got a young’n named Chris Volstad and there’s Anibal Sanchez too. Atlanta and Washington…ho-hum…. .
NL Central – Cubs, Cards, Reds, Brewers, Astros, Pirates
The Cubs are loaded for bear. Everywhere you look, there is strength. The starters should be amazing, five good ones, Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster, Harden and Marshall. The bullpen sports Gregg and Marmol. The lineup is outstanding with steadiness all around. The Cards look strong too but too many holes still. The Reds and Brewers will be competitive, the Astros are old and sick, and then there’s the Pirates.
NL West – Arizona, Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, Padres
I hate to agree with my brother but he’s right. He asked, “Can you name one Dodgers starting pitcher”? I was able to name exactly one. The Diamondbacks look awesome in comparison. And if the Dodgers don’t win it, why should they even take second? The Giants will surprise with Lincecum, Zito, Cain, Randy Johnson and young Jonathan Sanchez at the helm and enough relief in Wilson, Affeldt and company to make up for any holes in their lineup.
NL Wildcard – The Marlins steal it from the Giants on the last day of the season.
AL East – Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Jays and Orioles
The Rays luck with their healthy starting pitching can’t be expected to continue. The Yankees will have trouble getting the ball to Rivera with the lead. The Red Sox just seem to have everything. The starters match up well with anyone, including the Yankees. They have way better relief and a lineup that doesn’t miss Manny all that much. Unless Vernon Wells has the season of a lifetime, the Jays have no shot and then there’s the Orioles, improved but still looking up at the rest of this tough division.
AL Central – Indians, Twins, White Sox, Royals, Tigers
The toughest division to pick, any of these teams could win it but the Indians will have the best combination of pitching and hitting. Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Carl Pavano and Westbrook upon his return provide lots of innings and a strong relief corps featuring Kerry Wood, Betancourt and Perez to outclass the Twins, whose starters will still need another year of seasoning. Liriano, Slowey, Perkins and Blackburn for the Twins…just too much youth there. This will be a real crapshoot though and nobody’d be happier than I’d be if the Royals somehow prevail. Good pitching…Meche, Greinke, Horacio Ramirez, Joakim Soria and Farnsworth but a weak lineup keep them an also-ran.
AL West – Angels, Rangers, A’s, Mariners
The Angels lineup is really powerful with Guerrero all fixed up, fleet Torii Hunter and Chone Figgins and seasoned veterans and hitters in Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera will be too much for the rest of this division, even the Rangers, who’ll be handicapped by their uneven pitching. The A’s too will be much improved with their acquisitions of Holliday, Giambi and Cabrera but the talents of their unbelievably inexperienced starters will not outweigh their lack of seasoning. Just too much to ask. Seattle has a really nice pitching staff in Hernandez, Bedard, Silva and Washburn but Griffey and Beltre have had their day. It was yesterday.
AL Wildcard – Texas Rangers steal it from the Yankees on the season’s last day.
Playoffs – NL – Mets take it from the Cubs in seven.
Playoffs – AL – Red Sox take it from the Rangers in six.
World Series – Mets over Red Sox in 7 tough and memorable games. Beltran MVP.
David Wright says it’ll be a lot of fun for all of us. He also talked about having it be a pitcher’s park with big gaps to suit his Mets team, which shows that he’s already thinking about how far they’ll go. And that’s a good thing.
Sports Illustrated says the Mets are going to win the whole thing. But Mets manager Jerry Manuel dismisses that notion. He knows his team has to learn to perform down the stretch, to hit in big situations, to hit to the opposite field, to make contact more often, and all those other things they haven’t done in the last couple of years.
The Mets are picking up Gary Sheffield. I understand they got him to replace Marlon Anderson as a utility guy and pinch hitter.. Let me try to look at the bright side of this. Sheffield can hit, some people say he’s a good team player, and in the last couple of years, he’s been hurt more than he’s played. So I won’t have to look at that dour countenance every day. And I don’t agree with Omar that Sheffield has that much upside, not anymore.
What this does is shut up all those fans who knocked Minaya for not picking up the big bat, especially a right-handed bat. That makes me think it was just a political move, something to ingratiate himself with the fans and with the critics. It’s still not clear as to how this will affect Murphy’s time, and Tatis’s time, both of whom are infinitely superior to Sheffield in my mind.
In any event, Sheffield’s negative affects won’t be enough to derail the Mets run to the NL East division title. They fixed the bullpen, they have just enough starting pitching (although we may see some really uneven performances from Perez, Maine and even Pelfrey). The lineup is our same happy Metsies but with an invigorated Castillo, a steady diet of Murphy and Evans and Tatis, and enough depth to outlast any conceivable injuries.
Everybody wants predictions. It seems it’s the the thing to do. So, let me give you my drift on the season…..
NL East – Mets, Florida, Phillies, Atlanta, Washington
The Phillies just can’t get it done again with that starting staff. Myers and Hamels and pray for rain. Florida will amaze with an extra year of maturity for all their young guys and some very decent pitching. Besides Nolasco and Johnson, they’ve got a young’n named Chris Volstad and there’s Anibal Sanchez too. Atlanta and Washington…ho-hum…. .
NL Central – Cubs, Cards, Reds, Brewers, Astros, Pirates
The Cubs are loaded for bear. Everywhere you look, there is strength. The starters should be amazing, five good ones, Zambrano, Lilly, Dempster, Harden and Marshall. The bullpen sports Gregg and Marmol. The lineup is outstanding with steadiness all around. The Cards look strong too but too many holes still. The Reds and Brewers will be competitive, the Astros are old and sick, and then there’s the Pirates.
NL West – Arizona, Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, Padres
I hate to agree with my brother but he’s right. He asked, “Can you name one Dodgers starting pitcher”? I was able to name exactly one. The Diamondbacks look awesome in comparison. And if the Dodgers don’t win it, why should they even take second? The Giants will surprise with Lincecum, Zito, Cain, Randy Johnson and young Jonathan Sanchez at the helm and enough relief in Wilson, Affeldt and company to make up for any holes in their lineup.
NL Wildcard – The Marlins steal it from the Giants on the last day of the season.
AL East – Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, Jays and Orioles
The Rays luck with their healthy starting pitching can’t be expected to continue. The Yankees will have trouble getting the ball to Rivera with the lead. The Red Sox just seem to have everything. The starters match up well with anyone, including the Yankees. They have way better relief and a lineup that doesn’t miss Manny all that much. Unless Vernon Wells has the season of a lifetime, the Jays have no shot and then there’s the Orioles, improved but still looking up at the rest of this tough division.
AL Central – Indians, Twins, White Sox, Royals, Tigers
The toughest division to pick, any of these teams could win it but the Indians will have the best combination of pitching and hitting. Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, Carl Pavano and Westbrook upon his return provide lots of innings and a strong relief corps featuring Kerry Wood, Betancourt and Perez to outclass the Twins, whose starters will still need another year of seasoning. Liriano, Slowey, Perkins and Blackburn for the Twins…just too much youth there. This will be a real crapshoot though and nobody’d be happier than I’d be if the Royals somehow prevail. Good pitching…Meche, Greinke, Horacio Ramirez, Joakim Soria and Farnsworth but a weak lineup keep them an also-ran.
AL West – Angels, Rangers, A’s, Mariners
The Angels lineup is really powerful with Guerrero all fixed up, fleet Torii Hunter and Chone Figgins and seasoned veterans and hitters in Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera will be too much for the rest of this division, even the Rangers, who’ll be handicapped by their uneven pitching. The A’s too will be much improved with their acquisitions of Holliday, Giambi and Cabrera but the talents of their unbelievably inexperienced starters will not outweigh their lack of seasoning. Just too much to ask. Seattle has a really nice pitching staff in Hernandez, Bedard, Silva and Washburn but Griffey and Beltre have had their day. It was yesterday.
AL Wildcard – Texas Rangers steal it from the Yankees on the season’s last day.
Playoffs – NL – Mets take it from the Cubs in seven.
Playoffs – AL – Red Sox take it from the Rangers in six.
World Series – Mets over Red Sox in 7 tough and memorable games. Beltran MVP.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
April Fools
Gary Sheffield really outdid himself this time. It takes real talent to get a club to release you and still collect your 14 million dollars. But the Tigers did just that and you have to wonder why. That’s a lot of money to just fritter away.
Ya see? It’s not just Jerry Jones who pays players big money only to let them go. Now it’s the Tigers and Gary Sheffield.
As has been widely reported, Sheffield has 499 homers in his 21-year career and he no doubt looked forward to hitting 500. Did he possibly try to negotiate for more money based on the added value of hitting his 500th in a Tigers uniform? With Sheffield, anything’s possible and that may be the only explanation that makes sense.
Even if their primary motive was to publicly insult Sheffield, 14 mill is a lot to spend just to make a statement.
Are they all crazy in Detroit? Well, there’s Jim Leyland, of course, who never cared too much about normality. Detroit is the Motor City and the home of other colossal failures such as General Motors. And let’s give the Detroit Lions their due. They’ve stunk out the joint for about a decade, at least.
This is really very mysterious. You have the fact of the matter, a fait accompli. Then you have the Yankee fans who all seem to hate him. Then you hear former teammates publicly saying that he’s a good team guy. Judging from some of the quotes attributed to good ol’ Gary, those teammates probably never had a nice long talk with him.
It certainly is entertaining. My only interest in Gary Sheffield stems from his fantasy numbers which had usually been very good. He was hurt a lot the last couple of years and things probably weren’t going to get that much better. But still, 14 million bucks?
At least the Tigers didn’t get a stimulus package.
Nor did the Broncos for that matter. They’re trading Jay Cutler, one of the top young quarterbacks in the game. The new management apparently didn’t worry about their quarterback’s sense of pride or loyalty when they offered him to the Patriots for Matt Cassell.
Bronco fans never question anything but even they will have a problem swallowing this little pill. What they get in exchange will ultimately determine just how badly their management miscalculated. I’d expect the Broncos to demand an established arm in any trade to minimize their downside risk, in terms of both performance and perception.
That would leave the Jets out of the mix. Of all the teams I’ve seen as potential suitors, a move to the Cleveland Browns would make the most sense. They’ve got two established quarterbacks in Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. Taking a chance on either one would almost certainly yield better results than a trade for an Orton from the Bears or a Jackson from the Vikings, for example.
It’d also be somewhat ironic, having a dumb move started by a former Pats assistant (Josh McDaniels) and competed by a former Pats assistant (Eric Mangini). Whatever their football skills, their capacity for diplomacy, almost certainly handed down from Belichick, certainly diminishes their overall value as coaches.
Belichick’s genius for defense covers up a lot of trouble on the diplomacy front. What do McDaniels or Mangini bring to the table? We New Yorkers know what Mangini brought. Process, process, process … blah blah blah, and what appeared to be a general malaise that affected the whole team.
There are several other surprising things in the sports pages these days but nothing else that could be called April Fools jokes. Plaxico visiting Giants training headquarters was pleasantly surprising to me, while newbie Yankee centerfielder Brett Gardner getting the start over Melky Cabrera (or anyone else they could have acquired) was less of a shock.
Yankee centerfielders…..let’s see, the earliest one I actually remember is Joe DiMaggio. Then there was Mickey Mantle. Those two fellas alone manned the position for over 30 years, and I have to grudgingly admit they were probably the best centerfielders in the game except for the say-hey kid, Willie Mays.
But there were some other good ones since 1968, Bobby Murcer, Bernie Williams and Ricky Henderson come quickly to mind, and I’m anything but a Yankee fan. So it seems slightly incongruous that a Brett Gardner would get the chance to play there.
But maybe it’s not so strange. Joe D and Mickey were home grown and so were Murcer and Bernie Williams. Nobody ever became great without an opportunity and maybe Gardner will put up some numbers, if not on the order of a Mickey or a Joe D, maybe at least those of a Mickey Rivers. Would you believe Roberto Kelly?
Gardner had an inauspicious start in 2008 but I’m willing to forget that. He is hitting .385 in the spring though, and that’s not too shabby. But that dwarfs his minor league batting averages over the last few years. He batted .296 in his last year in AAA though, and scored 68 runs in 94 games.
That projects to 117 runs scored over 162 games. Imagine how happy the Bombers would be with that! He’ll probably steal about fifty bases too. He’s not a home run hitter but he doesn’t have to be in that lineup. Even if we discount those minor league numbers to major league probables, he’d still score about 100 runs.
So it’s April 1st, and if we can’t have the start of the regular season as we have had in other non-Classic years, it’s nice to at least have something to think about. The Knicks and Nets certainly haven’t done anything lately to hold our interest.
So be happy with what we have. Crazy managers, crazier general managers, and hopefully a continuation of some long traditions. But nothing really compares to Sheffield’s situation. He could even wind up have the last laugh. If money means anything, he ‘s already had the first.
Ya see? It’s not just Jerry Jones who pays players big money only to let them go. Now it’s the Tigers and Gary Sheffield.
As has been widely reported, Sheffield has 499 homers in his 21-year career and he no doubt looked forward to hitting 500. Did he possibly try to negotiate for more money based on the added value of hitting his 500th in a Tigers uniform? With Sheffield, anything’s possible and that may be the only explanation that makes sense.
Even if their primary motive was to publicly insult Sheffield, 14 mill is a lot to spend just to make a statement.
Are they all crazy in Detroit? Well, there’s Jim Leyland, of course, who never cared too much about normality. Detroit is the Motor City and the home of other colossal failures such as General Motors. And let’s give the Detroit Lions their due. They’ve stunk out the joint for about a decade, at least.
This is really very mysterious. You have the fact of the matter, a fait accompli. Then you have the Yankee fans who all seem to hate him. Then you hear former teammates publicly saying that he’s a good team guy. Judging from some of the quotes attributed to good ol’ Gary, those teammates probably never had a nice long talk with him.
It certainly is entertaining. My only interest in Gary Sheffield stems from his fantasy numbers which had usually been very good. He was hurt a lot the last couple of years and things probably weren’t going to get that much better. But still, 14 million bucks?
At least the Tigers didn’t get a stimulus package.
Nor did the Broncos for that matter. They’re trading Jay Cutler, one of the top young quarterbacks in the game. The new management apparently didn’t worry about their quarterback’s sense of pride or loyalty when they offered him to the Patriots for Matt Cassell.
Bronco fans never question anything but even they will have a problem swallowing this little pill. What they get in exchange will ultimately determine just how badly their management miscalculated. I’d expect the Broncos to demand an established arm in any trade to minimize their downside risk, in terms of both performance and perception.
That would leave the Jets out of the mix. Of all the teams I’ve seen as potential suitors, a move to the Cleveland Browns would make the most sense. They’ve got two established quarterbacks in Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson. Taking a chance on either one would almost certainly yield better results than a trade for an Orton from the Bears or a Jackson from the Vikings, for example.
It’d also be somewhat ironic, having a dumb move started by a former Pats assistant (Josh McDaniels) and competed by a former Pats assistant (Eric Mangini). Whatever their football skills, their capacity for diplomacy, almost certainly handed down from Belichick, certainly diminishes their overall value as coaches.
Belichick’s genius for defense covers up a lot of trouble on the diplomacy front. What do McDaniels or Mangini bring to the table? We New Yorkers know what Mangini brought. Process, process, process … blah blah blah, and what appeared to be a general malaise that affected the whole team.
There are several other surprising things in the sports pages these days but nothing else that could be called April Fools jokes. Plaxico visiting Giants training headquarters was pleasantly surprising to me, while newbie Yankee centerfielder Brett Gardner getting the start over Melky Cabrera (or anyone else they could have acquired) was less of a shock.
Yankee centerfielders…..let’s see, the earliest one I actually remember is Joe DiMaggio. Then there was Mickey Mantle. Those two fellas alone manned the position for over 30 years, and I have to grudgingly admit they were probably the best centerfielders in the game except for the say-hey kid, Willie Mays.
But there were some other good ones since 1968, Bobby Murcer, Bernie Williams and Ricky Henderson come quickly to mind, and I’m anything but a Yankee fan. So it seems slightly incongruous that a Brett Gardner would get the chance to play there.
But maybe it’s not so strange. Joe D and Mickey were home grown and so were Murcer and Bernie Williams. Nobody ever became great without an opportunity and maybe Gardner will put up some numbers, if not on the order of a Mickey or a Joe D, maybe at least those of a Mickey Rivers. Would you believe Roberto Kelly?
Gardner had an inauspicious start in 2008 but I’m willing to forget that. He is hitting .385 in the spring though, and that’s not too shabby. But that dwarfs his minor league batting averages over the last few years. He batted .296 in his last year in AAA though, and scored 68 runs in 94 games.
That projects to 117 runs scored over 162 games. Imagine how happy the Bombers would be with that! He’ll probably steal about fifty bases too. He’s not a home run hitter but he doesn’t have to be in that lineup. Even if we discount those minor league numbers to major league probables, he’d still score about 100 runs.
So it’s April 1st, and if we can’t have the start of the regular season as we have had in other non-Classic years, it’s nice to at least have something to think about. The Knicks and Nets certainly haven’t done anything lately to hold our interest.
So be happy with what we have. Crazy managers, crazier general managers, and hopefully a continuation of some long traditions. But nothing really compares to Sheffield’s situation. He could even wind up have the last laugh. If money means anything, he ‘s already had the first.
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