Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Mets Hanging On

It’s always nice to say something that hasn’t been said before, but it’s getting tougher. I did say last time that things for the Mets could only get better and surely, not too many people were saying THAT, not after having been swept by the Dodgers, not after having lost a game to a dummy missing a bag, not after seeing a bunch of errors at shortstop, and not after deciding to play a bad left fielder at first base.

But I figured things could only get better. The shortstop would get more comfortable, the bad left fielder could be better at first base, and guys like Sheffield, if they were to heat up, could provide just enough scoring to beat Boston at least once before going out to Washington and Florida, especially if the pitching held up.

The pitching did hold up too, especially that first guy in the rotation, none other than Johan Santana. He was a monster in that series opener, and there was no better moment than seeing him stare down and then shout down the ugly brute Youkilis after hitting him with a pitch. That was the moment things started to turn around.

Everything seemed easier after that. After hitting Youkilis, Santana struck out dangerous Jason Bay swinging for the third out. In the sixth he endured still another throwing error by Martinez and in the seventh he was superb, striking out Ortiz once again and fanning Youkilis, just in case there was any doubt who was tougher that day.

And the toughness seemed to carry into Game 2 as well. Pelfrey matched zeroes with Beckett after navigating a tough first inning, and when Papelbon came out for the ninth, it appeared that this game would be lost, despite our local boys’ best efforts. Sheffield managed to draw a walk but then Papelbon struck out Wright and Reed, and it looked to be all over but the shoutin’.

But it was not to be. Omir Santos showed that he could hit a fastball, driving a 97-mile offering over the fence and the Mets incredibly had the lead. And J.J. Putz closed it out. No problem.

Even the third game could have gone the Metsies way, as Wakefield was terrible and Redding wasn’t too bad. But Mets reliever Stokes was awful and the game became a rout. But the Mets could be happy, relatively speaking, because things could have been so much worse.

The Mets had survived. Then they managed to take the first game from the Nationals behind Sheffield, who’s hitting about .400 since taking over at the cleanup spot for Delgado. This game went more or less according to plan, from a pitching standpoint anyway, as Maine and the Mets survived some shaky pitching from Parnell. Putz and the incredibly reliable Francisco Rodriguez closed it out.

Is it possible that this team plays better when it’s pressed? It sure would seem that way. And that’s a good thing, keeping in mind the failures from the past. Now they may have one more huge problem to overcome though, that being the possible problems Beltran may experience with his knee. He’s having an MRI done today.

Losing Beltran for any extended period of time would be a killer though, especially if nobody else is able to come back, especially Reyes. The Mets could do nicely without Church, very nicely actually, and without Schneider too. And Sheffield has so far at least been able to spell Delgado in the lineup while Daniel Murphy has been great so far spelling him in the field.

But the Mets are running out of bodies, and there is no body that will spell Beltran, for Beltran does everything for this team, big hitting from both sides of the plate, smooth fielding, opportune running….everything, including leadership.

Although the media types would have you believe this is Wright’s team, that’s arrant nonsense. The real leader, if this team needs a leader, is Beltran, not that he really tries to lead. He just does almost everything the right way, the complete baseball player. When Wright is striking out with runners on base, Beltran keeps hitting. When Wright throws another ball away, Beltran just keeps making all the plays.

Not that I want to pick on Wright, quite the opposite! Wright’s great, a great team guy, a guy who plays hard all the time. There’s nobody I’d rather have as my third baseman. But he’s no Beltran and that’s no knock. Nobody is. What Wright is is an Anglo, and everybody from their own management to the media wants desperately to believe that an Anglo is the leader. And if he’s not, they will work to make things look that way.

To David’s credit, he does nothing to perpetuate the nonsense. When questioned, he says all the right things, but I’ve never heard Wright say he’s the leader. I’ve heard the idiots on ESPN say it, even Jerry Manuel has said it, but none of the players has signed up for Wright’s team.

Without Beltran, all bets are off….even if Fernando Martinez, the Mets great minor-leaguer, performs like the future star he is likely to be, I have to believe that he won’t have the same impact as would a missing Beltran, number 3 on your lineup card and pencilled in as the centerfielder and stolen base leader, speaking from a percentage basis.

But anything’s possible when you have pitching. Look at San Diego. They’ve won something like 10 in a row with just about nobody to fear in their lineup. Yeah, they have Adrian Gonzales and Brian Giles and then mostly nothing. But they do have Peavy and Young at the top of their rotation, supplemented by three talented youngsters. And they do have Heath Bell and Cla Meredith and some other nice relievers.

So let’s root for Maine and Pelfrey, Livan and Redding. Let’s look forward to good outings from K-Rod and Putz, Green and Feliciano.

And hope for at least one Carlos.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Is This the Bottom?

Let’s see, first base, um, we have no first baseman. I mean, Murphy played the position, and very nicely too for his first time, or any time, but he doesn’t hit like a first sacker. Second base? Well, Luis Castillo is ok, I guess; doesn’t do much with the bat though. Shortstop? Well, nope. We have no shortstop. Jose is hurt and Cora is hurt. At third we have Wright and in center we have old reliable Mr. Beltran.

Who played left and right fields? Argh, who cares? Whoever they were, either Jose Pagan or Ramon Martinez or Church or any one of seemingly countless little guys with bats in their hand. The catchers do nothing either. Castro has been very boring, Schneider’s always hurt. Omir Santos has nothing.

This has got to be the bottom. Even if the Metsies managed to pull this last game out, things would still have been pretty grim. Only the pitchers have made things look respectable, but right now the Oakland A’s or the Giants look like Murderers Row compared to this horrid lineup of pushovers.

Well, it was the Dodgers, I guess, and they have pretty good pitching, to say the least. But things don’t get any better. Now our local heroes head out to Boston. It’ll be Johan Santana against Dice K coming off the DL in the opener and that might be the only possibility of an advantage in that series.

After the opener, hopefully a win, then it’ll be Pelfrey against Beckett and Redding against Wakefield. I can’t wait to see these cream puff Met batters try to hit Wakefield’s knuckler. If the Mets can win one of the three, it’ll be amazing.

Talk radio is driving me crazy too. Nothing like rubbing it in. Nothing like hearing how bad Minaya’s doing and Manuel’s doing ad infinitum. Manuel especially is taking a beating, and he really doesn’t deserve it, not with this lineup. I thought he could have batted Sheffield in the 9th cream puff number nine but, you may have guessed, Sheffield hadn’t taken batting practice as he was not feeling well.

This is excruciating though, I must say. Listening to all these Yankee fans, pretending to be Mets fans, calling in to THE FAN to urge Minaya to pick up Nick Johnson at first base. Nick friggin’ Johnson. The only guy who ever thought Nick Johnson was anything special was Brian Cashman. He was deluded enough to think Johnson was better than David Ortiz.

And speaking of Big Papi, he finally broke out of his homerless slump tonight by putting one over the wall in centerfield. So our boys will have him to worry about too. It wasn’t enough that they had Bay and Youkilis killing the ball, along with all the other real live threats in their lineup, Ellsbury, Drew, Lowell, et al.

Geez, maybe this isn’t the bottom after all. Maybe we won’t even take one game in Boston. Santana did get knocked around a bit in his last win. And Dice K, if he’s returning off the DL, has probably regained his form; otherwise, why bring him back?

Well, I guess it’s high time to look at the bright side. There must be a silver lining somewhere, or maybe just a copper lining. Church can’t be as bad as he looks, can he? He can only get better, going from horrible to mediocre would be nice.

And Daniel Murphy, judging by his debut at first base, really may have found his spot, which can only help him at the plate. Feeling comfortable is one of the keys to hitting. You have to be relaxed. You have to feel good about yourself, much as all those steroid abusers feel before crushing another dinger.

And Sheffield will be back Friday. He’ll make that lineup a little deeper. Reed really isn’t that bad. Ramon Martinez will have gotten that first game out of his system. That’ll give the Mets honest-to-God major leaguers at every position. Let’s not think about depth at this juncture.

And maybe after winning 11 in a row, maybe a huge swing back to the depths was in order with the universe.

But what happened to hitting the ball to the opposite field? Church NEVER tries it. Neither does Tatis. Neither does Castro. And they look foolish trying to pull outside pitches. They deserve benching, but the Mets can’t afford to bench anyone and still have major leaguers on the field.

But a change is needed. And not in management, in players on the field. I’ve seen enough of Church for sure. Dump him, just as he dumped the Mets the other night. I’m tired of seeing his sorry butt on the field, and even more tired of having people feel sorry for him. He’s a bad player. Get rid of him. Get another outfielder.

And while we’re at it, why not dump Schneider too? He obviously doesn’t play too much anyway. Sore fingernail, sore butt, give me a break. El Dumpo for him too. Undo that trade made for Lastings Milledge and LoDuca. Boy, do I ever miss LoDuca.

The good news, though, is that this can’t go on forever. And there are some good things happening in other sports. Hey, Orlando beat the Cavs in one hell of a Game 1. The Knicks and Nets will both get some pretty nice basketball players in the draft.

And if that’s not good enough for you, you can always check out Mark Sanchez in the latest GQ. WOOHOO!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Sunday Meanderings

It certainly has been a good weekend for sports of all varieties, the Preakness, with Mine That Bird showing everyone he’s not just a flash in the pan, the Mets showing their stuff in San Fran, their second-line men holding down first base and shortstop, the Yankees (not that I like them) flashing their big men, Teixeira and Arod giving the Twins fits at the new Yankee Stadium, and even the Sybase Golf Classic hard by Route 3 and the Parkway, where Michelle Wie is trying to hang in there with names like Pettersen, Oh and Creamer.

As this is written, I’m watching the Sybase, where the same strong wind I hear whippin’ around the neighborhood is giving these women fits, including Creamer, whose pink all over thing seems out of place in this cold. Does she really hit pink balls, or is it just a trick of my TV? Right now, it looks as if Ms. Oh at 13-under is playing better than anybody else, including the erratic Ms. Wie .

To give Wie her due, she hits some incredible shots but then she lands in the water for inexplicable reasons and looks to her caddy of the week for advice, sympathy…something.

Okay, back to the Yankee game, if I must. It looks right now as if A.J. Burnett is having his way with Mauer, Morneau and the Twins. I hate to say it but those Yanks pitchers are beginning to look formidable. Sabathia won, then Joba didn’t lose. Pettite won too, come to think of it, and now A.J. is having fun. Am I missing anybody? Oh yeah, Mr. Hughes. You can’t have everything.

Thanks to the baseball and TV gods for David Cone. If I had to listen to the other two all afternoon long, I’d go mad, truly. The Yanks have, as far as I can tell, by far the worst broadcast team in any professional sport in any state of the Union. And that’s saying a lot.

Back to the golf, Pinky Creamer just hit a nice shot. And Michelle’s on a par 3 15th hole hitting another nice shot to the middle of the green. Woops, another commercial, and on YES they’re talkin’ bout what to do with Phil Hughes. Hmm, a real poser for Yankee management. (That’s if they can forget about their middle relief).

Hey! Johnny Damon’s up and there’s another base hit. Do they discuss the hit, no!! They talk about some dumb question somebody made up. Time to get back to the golf.

Pettersen is one back of Oh at 12-under. Another weather surprise, it’s starting to rain now. Wie just missed another putt, wasn’t even close. Here’s Jie Young Oh on the green in the rain at 15. And now Suzann Pettersen hits a 7-iron about 10 feet from the cup. Back to the Yanks now. And maybe a nice cup of coffee. Yeah.

Ok, now armed with a cuppa, I see Burnett is now waay out of his comfort zone, so far out of it that he’s now on the bench after walking Morneau after giving up two runs in the seventh. And Girardi’s calling for Albaladejo. Here’s where the fun starts (for a Mets fan).
Gotta stay with the Yankee game now. And Albaladejo strikes out Kubel for the third out! Oh man, I was hoping for disaster. Downer.

Skip the national anthem and back to golf. Pettersen for birdie, not even close. And an old gal like Alfredsson misses her putt by a hair. Back to Wie, another putt, tough downhill, she makes it! It ties her for third so far. And here’s Lincicome who makes a putt to the amusement of the crowd. And shows some real personality by throwing her hands in the air. Here’s Oh again and she’s a real pro, it looks like. She makes another nice shot and we see Wie again. Well, that’s okay.

Gotta see if the Yanks can come back now, Melky’s up in the seventh with one out and a man on third. He pops it to Span in left and Matsui scores to make it a one-run game. I smell some momentum here. The reliever does his job, Melky drives in the run (again) but Punto makes a bee-u-tiful sliding catch of a foul popup to make an end of that.

The birds are chirping, must be improving weather, back to the golf and Oh is lining things up again, still in the lead. Now Pettersen lines up a 10 or 12 footer but misses a foot to the left. It doesn’t look good. Let’s see ho the Yanks relievers hold up. Pettersen just lost any chance by missing a one or two footer. Cheesh!

Albaladejo catches Cuddyer off second to help hold off the Twins, who are mounting a comeback of sorts. The Twins seem to be tightening up. But Gomez keeps the part going by singling to left. Two men on, just one out and what will Albaladejo do now against Punto?

Uh-oh, the wife’s home and she’s muttering. That’s not good.

Punto walks and so does Albaladejo. To the bench. The Yanks bring in Tomko, where did he come from? Back to golf, but no, instead we learn about the 12-month payment protection plan on Lincolns. Now, really, if I needed a protection plan, would I be buying a Lincoln? It just doesn’t make sense.

Jie Young Oh has 9 straight pars. Turn out the lights. The party’s over and they’re interviewing Wie. She sounds pretty analytical. They make her relive her experience in the water. She handles it graciously. Very nice. This thing’s over – back to baseball for good.

Bases loaded, two outs, tie score, this could be great! And Tomko gets the Yanks out of it with a grounder to the vacuum cleaner, Teixeira. Watch the Yanks come back now, they’re psyched.

Slowey’s still in there. Eighth inning, the Yanks would never let Joba go this far. Now it’s Jeter up there after an uneventful day. The Twins bullpen is up now. And so is Mariano. And Jeter fights off an up and in pitch for a Texas-League single. Hmm. They leave Slowey in against lefty Damon. And there’s another oh-excuse-me single to left. Things are getting interesting in the Bronx.
And Teixeira drives one deep to right but he’s gotten under it and now it’s two outs, the winning run on third with Arod at the plate. They walk him and bring in a no-name named Mijares but he strikes out Matsui on an awful swing at a way-outside pitch.

Now there’s no golf to switch to, allowing time for some fond reminiscences of the Mets, who’ve wowed the crowd in San Francisco, all kinds of heroes but mostly Beltran and Wright. But things are going great now, all the pieces are coming together, ironic that it’s been without Delgado and Reyes.

Now Mariano’s in in a tie game. I wish they’d save Rivera for save situations. (Of course I’m not rooting for them). Mauer singles and now there’s Morneau, looking intense. Intense but out, as things work themselves out. He looks at a borderline strike and he’s outta there.

Now there’s Kubel. But Mariano saves the day by retiring him and Cuddyer too. And Johnny Damon wins it with still another Yankee walk-off home run. Mot that I’m rooting for them.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Jose Reyes - Hogan's Goat

When I was 17 years old, I was stopped by a particularly belligerent Bayonne cop because a tail light was out, and then when he found I didn’t have the registration handy enough for him, he said that I was “fugged up as Hogan’s goat”.

Not being Irish, I never really understood how insulting the cop was trying to be. Who was Hogan? Was he an idiot? And what about his goat? Maybe Hogan was okay but his goat was just a mess.

Notwithstanding the fact that I never fully appreciated the depths of this insult, and probably never will, the imagery has stuck with me, and I think of Hogan’s goat whenever somebody does something totally stupid or for a person who seems oblivious to everything and everyone around him.

Do I have to even say it? You know who I’m talking about, right? Is Jose Reyes Hogan’s goat or what? Here’s a guy who runs like a deer. When you look at Jose, you think of the FTD logo, the winged foot. He can hit a baseball too, when he’s not trying to hit a home run.

And he can play that shortstop position like all the greats you can think of, Omar Vizquel, Luis Aparicio, Ozzie Smith….Jose could play with any of them. He’s got great range, quick reflexes and a gun for an arm.

You could almost say he’s a five-tool guy, hits for average and at least some power, has a great arm, runs really fast and has great fielding ability. With a smile that would light up old Broadway, he delights us when he cruises around the bases like lightning, or makes a stop deep in the hole and then guns that runner down with that bazooka.

He’s probably good in the clubhouse too, he certainly helps to light up the dugout. He’d probably be considered a good team guy too as he’s the first to congratulate a teammate. You could even add that to his credentials. What personnel guy would turn down Jose Reyes? He’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind.

It’s that sixth tool he’s really missing. Like the Wizard Of Oz’s scarecrow used to sing….if I only had a brain.

Ah well, he is who he is. A fatal flaw, that last one though.

When he hits a double that should have been a triple if he hadn’t admired his long drive for so long out of the box, or, even worse, when he then gets caught between 2nd and 3rd base to singlehandedly destroy an inning, you just shake your head.

After all, there he was again on third base, dancing down the line, trying to entice that balk, and he very nearly did. But, alas, it wasn’t to be and the Mets lost again to the Braves, giving them the three-game series, seeming to prove once again that they’re the tougher team, the team that doesn’t beat itself.

Besides, he wasn’t alone to blame for the loss. If you were looking to assign the horns to anyone (there’s that goat again), you could give them to Putz, or even to Beltran, or anybody else who didn’t perform, as long as you except Fernando Tatis and Gary Sheffield.. They were really terrific in defeat.

But, for those who believe that winning is the only thing, those folks are beginning to realize that truth can sometimes wear a wry face…or is it just their crooked eyes? Can they be right in their perception that the Mets always lose when Reyes throws an inning away?

Some are now thinking of potential trades for Reyes. For Reyes sets the tone for this Mets team, and the tone is all wrong. He’s the leadoff hitter, the spark plug, but seemingly more often than not, he’s a fouled spark plug, one that shuts the whole engine down.

It’s beginning to become an old story too. How many years does a team have to lose before a realization sets in, the one that says you might win with these guys, but the odds are against it. A loss to the Phillies was almost acceptable, if only because that team has a lot of talent, and they are acknowedged to be a tough team, a team with hard-nosed guys, whatever that means, a team with that elusive edge.

But the Braves do not qualify. The Braves don’t have nearly the team that Philadelphia has, nor do they have the talent found on this Mets team. They don’t have good pitching and they don’t have the same quality lineup. They’re a team that the Mets should beat.

And, too often, the finger can be pointed to that crazy leadoff hitter. If he had only not gotten caught, if he had run coming out of the box, if he hadn’t overshot the bag with that slide, if he hadn’t juggled the ball, and on and on and on.

It’s interesting too that Jose’s problems can’t really be addressed in the same manner that you might address another player’s flaws. Jose has proven that over the years, certainly with Willie Randolph and not so much with Jerry Manuel only because Manuel is shrewd enough to recognize that Reyes cannot perform as well under pressure, or at least he has not performed well under pressure in the past.

Some of you might now ask, “But isn’t that what it’s all about?” And you would be right. Unless this fouled spark plug can somehow be fixed, the Mets may never win a pennant, never mind a World Series.

It’s my belief that the change in Jose will come, but it is a change that will have to occur from within. He has to realize himself that he has not played on a winner yet, and has to accept his own responsibility for that fact.

Mets fans can hope that this required introspection doesn’t happen years down the road after he’s been traded for players of lesser value and even less fun.

Monday, May 11, 2009

It's All Good - Then There's the NBA

This’ll be one of those rambling, all-over-the-place pieces about nothing, a real George Costanza-type nothing piece, if not for content, then for structure, as I really have a lot of impressions, mostly good ones, of baseball and the Mets, and Joba’s fine effort, and in pro basketball, that crazy last-second shot by the Big Baby. Even local pro football seems to be looking good, what with Hakeem Nicks and Mark Sanchez and the proverbial host of others.

Of course, that’s usually when everything starts going to hell, just when you think thing’s are looking good, the classical overemphasis on recent form rather than the hard facts of the overall past record. And the things I’m happy about now could turn in a day. In fact they probably will.

So let’s examine that thought for a moment. The Mets have won seven in a row, mostly with good starting pitching, something everybody in Mets-land was really worried about just two short weeks ago. So, the question then becomes “will the starters continue to perform well?”

Johan Santana, that ace of aces, might be the least likely to continue his incredibly good string this year. He’s given up 6 runs in 39 2/3 innings. The most runs he’s surrendered in one single game is 2. He lost that one and struck out 13. Otherwise, he’s been lights-out all the time and he’s just 4-1 overall with a 0.91 ERA.

But it’s just the law of averages that rears its ugly head. Santana did win 7 in a row last year, though, even with all those saves lost by the relief corps. So who knows? His current performance isn’t really that removed from what he’s done his entire career.

John Maine started this whole thing on May 4th against the Braves at Atlanta, giving up 3 runs in 6 innings. Then he pitched an even better one vs. Pittsburgh on May 9th, allowing just 1 run. Maine has won 3 starts in a row but he’s not averse to winning streaks, having won 4 in a row early last year and an amazing 7 in a row to open up 2007. So Mr. Maine could conceivably just keep going strong.

The other starter to win two during the streak is good ol’ Livan Hernandez. He beat Atlanta on the 5th of May and Pittsburgh yesterday, surrendering 3 totals runs in 12 1/3 innings overall. The other starters, Pelfrey and Niese, won just one during the streak but Pelfrey did impressively win against the World Champion Phillies while Niese’s win came against the lowly Pirates. (Sorry, Pittsburgh fans).

Nay-sayers will point to the quality of the opposition and the fact that the relief hasn’t really been that good over the same period. My quick analysis shows they gave up 8 runs in 18 2/3 innings. That’s not terrible, I guess, but it’s not that good either.

In another sense though, it’s great, as the victims of the scoring have been the more experienced pitchers, Putz and K-Rod, Feliciano and Green. The rookie Parnell gave us 4 scoreless innings while the very old rookie, Takahashi, gave us 3 scoreless.

Once again, nay-sayers will point to the fact that the above stats mean the “ace” relievers gave up the 8 runs in about 12 innings, an ERA of about 6. But I’m not into nay-saying today, and none of them lost the game, which is what this is all about after all.

The schedule is interesting as our heroes have to face the Braves again for three so soon after having had success against them in Atlanta. So the Braves will be looking for payback. Then it’s off to San Francisco for four and Los Angeles for 3, a key road trip against two teams with really good pitching and one that has batters to match.

And, if the Mets batters haven’t been discouraged after that trip, they then continue on to Boston for three. As it would be futile to determine the Boston starters that far in advance, let’s just say that the Red Sox have the best pitching in both leagues.

So it’s imperative that the Mets beat the teams they’re supposed to beat, the Braves and the Giants, so they can be as upbeat as possible against the cream, the Dodgers and the Red Sox. Of course, that’s why they play the games and it should be a lot of good baseball.

Joba’s given up 7 runs in the first innings of his last two games and Yankee fans will have to hope it’s an aberration. Time will tell but I think it’s the latter, his record doesn’t really indicate any big troubles in his first inning of work.

Obviously, if he could come in as a reliever and blow everybody away, every relief appearance basically a first inning stint, he’s quite capable of pitching well in the first inning of a start. He just needs to make himself feel the heat. A good pitching coach might point out the significance of getting off to a good start.

In other baseball news, Evan Longoria has 44 rbi’s already, an insane number in 32 games, basically a fifth of a season, and that projects out to five times 44 or 220 ribbies for the season. As the Scooter would’ve commented, “Holy Cow.”

Pro basketball continues to leave me cold. Despite the wondrous Bulls-Celtics series and the Celts’ continuing intrigue against a very tough Orlando, I find the games impossible to watch. The commercials kill the game, no continuity whatsoever is allowed for the game itself. It’s just a platform for commercials.

It would help if I thought the games were on the level. But I’m just convinced these playoffs are just foreplay for the big Lebron-Kobe matchup. Fouls continue to be called totally arbitrarily, and in at least one instance, the absence of an obvious call cost the Mavericks what could have been a big, big game.

The NBA admitted the error. Thanks, really!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Mets and Manny - One And Done

I had expected a blowout. After all, Chan Ho Park never had anything, no wins, no stuff, no control, you name it, he didn’t have it, except maybe a plane ticket out. The Mets, on the other hand, had only the best pitcher in both leagues on the mound, the guy with the awful stuff, that fantastic control and overpowering confidence.

And hadn’t the Mets come out of their funk? Hadn’t they just beat the Braves in Atlanta twice in a row. Wasn’t Beltran still knocking the cover off? Wasn’t Delgado now in the lineup? And wasn’t David Wright starting to look less ridiculous out there?

Yeah, I wanted a blowout but what I got was so much better….a pitching duel to match any I could remember, in recent memory anyway. Who was that guy on the mound? What had he done with Chan Ho? And how did he keep befuddling all those Mets batters?

For six full innings, they matched zeroes and Park had allowed just one hit, Santana was doing a better job with strikeouts but Park may have looked even more masterful, as he doesn’t have the wicked fastball or changeup that Santana mixes in to so much effect.

As anyone would have expected, the game changed as soon as Park left the game, ironically enough, for an Eric Bruntlett that Santana just blew away. (Park had at least managed to walk twice).

You knew that the Mets would score, you just wondered how they’d do it. You didn’t have to wait long. Scott Eyre walked Delgado to open the bottom of the 7th but then got Wright on a pop and lucked out when Murphy drove a ball to deep left center for the second out.

The Mets pinch-hit Tatis for Jeremy Reed to get that right-handed bat in the lineup. The Phils matched up by bringing in their righthander Durbin. Tatis gave a mighty swing that sent his broken bat all the way to shortstop but left the ball dribbling down the third base line.

The play had trouble written all over it and trouble was just what the Phillies got. Third baseman Pedro Feliz charged the ball and unleashed a wild throw to first that got past the first baseman and all the way to the wall in short right field.

Delgado meanwhile had advanced to second and chugged on down to third upon seeing the overthrow. For whatever reason, either because Tatis was on his way to second or because he didn’t ever expect chuggin’ Delgado to advance, or maybe he even saw Razor Shines, the third base coach throw up the stop sign, Werth hesitated for a second or two.

It was all Carlos needed. Ignoring the stop sign, here came big Carlos. When he finally did release the ball, Werth threw a strike to the plate but he had waited too long. Delgado hit the dirt and was sliding through the catcher’s feet when he got tagged. The Mets had their one.

Why did Carlos go? Because he knew, Chan Ho knew, the Mets bench knew, the fans in the stadium knew and everybody at home watching knew that one run was all that was going to be needed on this day.

Oh sure, there was some concern on my part when Manuel brought in Ryan Church to bat for Santana shortly thereafter. Especially after Church struck out swinging on a ridiculous outside pitch and who should I see warming up but Pedro Felicicano!

But Pedro would prevail on this day. He must have known Delgado would pummel him if he didn’t. And, after Victorino threw another scare into everybody, Feliciano managed to strike out hulking Ryan Howard.

That’s when I really knew it was over. If Feliciano wouldn’t allow himself to lose it, there was no way that K-Rod would. Today it would be one and done.

And of course it was, despite the two long, long fly balls hit by Ibanez and Stairs in the top of the ninth. Beltran squeezed the last out and it was over. The one run would carry the day.

And speaking of “one and done”, I just learned that Manny Ramirez, probably my second favorite player in MLB (second to Beltran), failed a drug test and will be suspended for fifty games, costing himself 7.7 million dollars. It looks as if Major League Baseball is serious.

One and done.

Monday, May 4, 2009

The Answer - Playing Smart Baseball

Let ‘em play. It’s May 4th, for Pete’s sake. All the brilliant sports-riders know best, of course. The Mets have no heart. The Mets have no edge. The Mets have no pitching. Oliver Perez is a bum. Gimme a break already.

Let’s go through the field and evaluate what we have:

1B – Carlos Delgado – we may not have him for the year as he’s nicked up right now, but who’d you rather have than Carlos #1 (or Carlos #2 depending upon your point of view). Carlos is a hitter’s hitter, who records every at-bat in a log. How scientific is that? What players do that? Is this a guy who needs an edge?

Tatis has been his backup. He’s only recently started to hit the way he can hit. I look forward to seeing the old Fernando again, either in left or right fields, or first base. Dan Murphy can also spell Delgado in a pinch. From what I’ve seen ths far, he may be a better risk at first than in the outfield.

2B – Castillo and Cora – Castillo has been pretty good so far and Cora, in his limited playing time, has really shown me some flash in the field. There are a lot of second basemen who hit better but I’ll take fielding consistency at this position and we’ve got that, at the very least.

3B – David Wright – once again, who’d you rather see there? He’s shown some great fielding lately and, while he hasn’t hit in the clutch yet, you can say that about a lot of players, including Texas Rangers star shortstop/third baseman Michael Young. He’ll get better in the clutch, and I’ve seen improvement since he’s been moved out of the three spot, which he couldn’t and shouldn’t be forced to handle, not when Carlos Beltran is on the team.

SS – Jose Reyes – once again, who’d you rather have? Jimmy Rollins? No thanks. Hanley Ramirez? Not me. I want to see Jose vacuuming up everything in the hole or to either side and running like crazy. He does need to recognize the game situation though, and he looks as if he’s trying.

C – Ah, now here’s a sore spot. Three catchers means you really have no catchers. Schneider just isn’t really good in any area. I haven’t seen anything from him, which is why we see so much of Castro, who’s always got a reason for not playing, it seems. Now we’re getting to see Omir Santos, and I’ll take him over the other two any day of the week. So there’s hope at catcher. If he can keep it up, Santos is the answer.

CF – still once again, who’d you rather see in center than Carlos Beltran? Great fielder, great hitter, good speed, and only occasionally seems to be sleep-walking. Time off may be the answer to that quirk, but not too much please, just enough to give him that “edge”.

LF – okay, here’s a bit of a problem, but it’s getting better. Murphy shows some signs of calming down in the field and hits the cover off the ball. Sheffield spells him and he’s a great hitter, but you can downgrade him to just good lately. All in all, they’re an entertaining duo. You’ll get excitement from both of them, but sometimes good and sometimes bad.

RF – Ryan Church just doesn’t do it for me. He doesn’t hit in the clutch, he only occasionally seems to hit at all but he fields the position really well. He doesn’t seem to come through, at least not this year, and I’d love to see anybody else in the lineup rather than him. One reason Beltran had no steals until recently is that he was followed in the lineup by a totally oblivious Church. No edge here at all.

SP – Okay, now here’s a problem being addressed. Santana and a bunch of non-producers has been the story but there are some encouraging signs lately from both Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Livan Hernandez. The only recent dud is crazy Ollie, which might turn out to be a mistake of Pavanian proportions. Stay tuned.

RP – Putz and K-Rod have been lights out, for the most part, but then there’s Sean Green, who really hasn’t been getting it done lately. Maybe the answer for him is less usage, not more. But these young guys filling out the pen show a lot of promise, moreso than, say, the Yankees have in their pen.

Mgr – Jerry Manuel’s my type of manager. Smart with a good personality for handling all the different types you find on a baseball field. Once again, who’s better? Sciosia? Valentine? Girardi? Come on. You won’t get Francona, one of the only managers who might be better, but he’s a Manuel-type anyway.

So there’s very little reason to complain, given the makeup of the team. It’s a very tricky business. If Omar did make any mistakes, it was signing Perez and making the trade for Church and Schneider for LoDuca. Of all the myriad moves he’s made over the years, that’s not really much to whine about.

The players have to just start playing as smart as the manager. Reyes can’t over-run bases and get thrown out, Beltran can’t take a play off by not sliding, Wright has to take a different approach with two strikes or with men on base. And Manuel has to keep his prodigious baseball savvy in check . Sometimes the answer is the obvious one, not one that only a genius could even conceive.

But it’s all fixable. The most serious problem nobody talks about is the problem with Delgado. Even without him, however, the Mets should be okay, with enough pitching and defense to win a lot of games.

But they have to play (and manage) smart baseball. We haven’t seen much of that. They seem to have reverted to the form they had in Willie Randolph’s last days, which is to say they’re doing just enough to lose.