Can't Overplay the "Team" Stuff

Sometimes with these Mets you can watch the ugliest baseball you’ve ever seen. Pitchers slide on the grass. Batters swing at pitches that hit them when they’re not watching perfect strikes to the outside corner. These Mets can’t run either. But, before you can say “Jordany Valdespin”, they manage to come out with the win. The sliding pitcher tonight was Bobby Parnell, a guy I hate watching just in general. He is one of the Mets I’d like to see join some other team. I’ve just never seen a player, pitcher or position player, have worse baseball instincts. But Parnell managed to get out of two jams he put himself into and the Mets lived on. Ike Davis is another guy that hasn’t been able to hit a thing since his injury last year. He starts his swing as the pitcher unwinds. When he has finished swinging, the ball is just approaching the plate. Nobody you’ve ever seen since Little League has worse timing at the plate….but not this night…not in his last at-bat anyway. Reserve catcher Mike Nickeas, who had to relieve Josh Thole late in the game after Ty Wigginton tried to take his head off at the plate, usually can’t hit a lick. And this night he was only facing Jonathan Papelbon, Philly’s elite closer. You can see where this is going. Nickeas had one of the best at-bats ever versus the big right-hander. Even with Davis on third and Nickeas on second, it was still easy to figure that, with Valdespin at the plate and two outs, it was still looking pretty good for Philadelphia. But Papelbon grooved a fastball that Jordany was waiting for. Bang…zoom…the ball rocketed into the night. The Mets took the lead, 5-2. Frank Francisco, the Mets closer, almost always looks confused. He’s a guy with all the talent in the world but his talent is matched by his insecurity most nights…just not this night. Francisco looked confident and he proved it by making a great play on a Rollins bunt before blowing away the next two batters and the Mets had beaten Roy Halladay and Papelbon. You can’t overplay this “team” stuff. But what a way to start a road trip! These Mets came to play baseball and when Thole got hurt, they really got fired up. I think a lot of guys took issue with Wigginton’s shoulder to Thole’s head. I know I did. I’m hoping for a nice high hard one tomorrow when Wigginton steps up to the plate. These Mets may be short on talent but they’re a real team. There was good baseball all around. Murphy’s tough at-bats and Ike’s slap tag on Rollins, Turner’s turning that double play despite Victorino’s interference, Wright’s two ribbies early and Torres’s tough at bats all night long. So where are they tonight? The standings always really tell the story as to how good a team really is, or has been anyway, and the Mets are in third place in the NL East behind the surprise Nationals and the Braves, two teams that aren’t all that perfect either. It’s such a long season though. The Nats will be without Jayson Werth, a bigtime hurt, but now it looks as if The Mets will be without Thole and Tejada, for a little while at least. The Braves have Chipper to keep healthy and the Marlins in 4th are just a game behind. The Fish have finally begun to play like a team themselves. They may have finally incorporated Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez, and Giancarlo, formerly Mike, Stanton and even Carlos Zambrano. The Fish will be moving on up. But, I’m telling you, this “team” stuff can’t really be over-rated. You can see it and feel it. The Mets may not be the best all-around talent but they do seem to play tough one-run games, always historically an indicator of a good team. They’re tough in the late innings, as the Indians were tonight sweeping the Pale Hose. Even the Knicks showed some of that “team” stuff in that win over Miami in Game 4. Amare melded with Carmelo, finally, and Bibby, of all people, made a huge shot from 3-point land. This is a team that’s fated to play without a strong point guard, it seems, but five guys playing as a team can overcome the obstacles and look for opportunities to win. For one night, the Knicks were able to overcome adversity and play as a team. You see the San Antonio Spurs playing team basketball, and the Celtics too, the Bulls not so much. The Rangers in the NHL and the Devils too must be doing something right, and I guarantee you they’re both playing as teams. All those line changes in hockey demand a team concept by definition. Back to baseball though, you see that camaraderie among teams that have played together for a long time, that easy and happy feeling that carries onto the field. You see it in these Mets, you see it in Texas, you see some of it in Cleveland now, and Baltimore too, a bunch of minor leaguers all coming together in the major leagues. The Yankees? I’m still undecided on them. But most Yankees are free agents when you think about it but there still are Jeter and Cano who came from the minors. There had been Mariano too, and that catcher too…..yeah, you know who. Don’t think their loss doesn’t have some affect on that team feeling. In the final analysis, though, winning is a combination of talent and teamwork, especially in baseball, given the length of the season. The finals always match this talent and teamwork versus that talent and teamwork. Invariably too, there are usually one or two guys who inspire the rest of the team to heights unknown. The Rangers have Hamilton and Kinsler and Young, the Knicks have Pierce and Garnett and Allen, and maybe even Rondo. The Spurs have Duncan and Ginoboli. The Mets have Wright.

A Half Empty Outlook

Wow, it’s August 18th already and the baseball season is winding down. Professional football action is right on the horizon. And professional basketball will never again be played in our lifetimes. The U.S. Open for pro tennis is one of my personal favorites (not that I’m a tennis player but I like to play) and do I really have soccer in my sights? Well, no.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I forgot hockey again. Oh yeah, and there’s the Triathlon swimming controversy and drugs in biking and a whole bunch of other stuff but really, how many things can you concentrate on at once?

Anyway, I don’t really have a point but if I did want to make one, it’d be along the lines of what the hell are you doing swimming the friggin’ Hudson River if you’re concerned about injuries? There’s all sorts of stuff floating around in the water. That just two died of heart attacks is pretty good, I’d say, under the circumstances.

What other points need to be made? Let’s see, the friggin’ Port Authority is right up there on my list. Let’s make it impossible to travel. Let’s charge people road licenses, after all, the NFL manages to charge for seat licenses. Let’s build more tunnels and make bridges higher so we can get humongous ships into Port Newark.

Oh yeah, and another concern of mine, still waaay before pro sports of any kind, is that friggin’Christie is a hair from the Republican presidential nomination. I mean, he’d get things done but would they be the right things? Would he have thought things through? I don’t know.

And Obama is stinkin’ out the joint.

Okay, okay, I know I should be worrying about more socially irrelevant things like the friggin’ Mets, for one good example. Yesterday, they torched the San Diego Padres in San Diego for a really impressive win in a hostile environment (yeah, I know, it was only Kansas City), and how nice was It to see David Wright finally play like a superstar?

David’s 3-run homer was impressive enough against a tough Matt Latos but then his fielding gem was even better. I mean, he was in the moment, recognizing that he’d never make the play at first while watching Cameron hustling around third base, that his best choice and doable too was to step up and nail Cameron before he could get back to the bag.

Angel Pagan is doing everything after months of doing not so much. There’s the big kid Duda too and Justin Turner and hard-workin’ Thole and Pridie and those young pitchers….and the continuing saga of Jason Bay. I guess I’ve already given up on Jose, either coming back immediately or long-term too. The bankruptcy proceedings overhang everything….

Meanwhile, the Yankees took back first place from the fear-ed Red Sox. Y’know, it’s easy for even me to root for them this year, as an underdog, not just to the Red Sox, but to the Phillies also, if the Bombers should be fortunate enough to ever get past the Red Sox in the ALDS and ALCS. And a lot of these Yankees are damned good baseball players.

Take a look around the diamond. Start at first base….watch Teixeira play the position…..holy shit!! On to second base, there’s Robinson Cano who sometimes seems to have a magic wand over there in the hole. Shortstop? Derek Jeter is playing like a young guy. Uh-oh, third base is a little shaky right now, I suppose, but a guy named Arod can at least still swing the bat.

Outfielders? There’s Curtis Granderson contending for MVP honors and that smilin’ plugger Swisher and the crazed left fielder with the blazing speed and pesky at-bats. Yeah, and Posada can still play in spots. Will he make the playoff roster?

And the crazy pitching staff is kinda’ interesting too, right now a struggling CC and a bunch of question marks in Burnett, Colon, Garcia, Hughes et al. Of course, sometimes those guys will come through, and if they do, the relief corps is dynamite…..not just Rivera, who can be forgiven his recent lapse, but Robertson too, and now the long-awaited Soriano. ( Does anybody else wonder that they’d sign another Soriano after the first one)?

So I’m obviously rooting for both New York teams, solid underdogs both, for the Yanks because of the pitching questions and for the Mets because they have this friggin’ cloud hangin’ over their head. Tomorrow there will be another ruling that will be appealed either way. Oh yeah, and then there’s the friggin’ mediation still plodding along…..

All this baseball drama is perfectly complemented by the anxiety about the football season, the Giants seemingly having done nothing while the Jets and especially the Eagles dominate the headlines with signing after signing, and what about the friggin’ Patriots?

Balanced against all these willy-nilly signings is the stability of the Giants organization, and their almost Steeler-like affinity for Football 101, running the football and playing solid defense and a guy who can throw too, with protection (and hopefully those line-changes will work).

Listening to GM Gerry Reese, he’s not worried. Yeah, they have no proven slot receiver and no tight end that you could really call a complete tight end, and oh yeah, the #1 draft choice got hurt on the first day of camp, but still, there’s that pass rush and Jason Pierre-Paul and a Tuck and a Umenyiora, who’d play hard if we give him more money.

I don’t know. I’m a half-empty kind of guy, I guess. But that 2007 team that won the whole shebang wasn’t expected to do great things. And the guys that helped a lot that year were brought in by Gerry Reese. But geez, their defense really did stink last year.

And I’m happy for Plaxico. I think it’s great that he’ll be a Jet and already I’ve heard one of those SNY crazy people predict 55 catches for him this year.

We shall see.

On Hitting and Just Looking

Hitters hit. It’s an axiom as old as baseball itself. It’s as true today as it ever was too, albeit somewhat diluted by steroid usage, the differences in home ballparks and the odd manager who keeps moving a batter around in the lineup.

I read the other day that only about 10 percent of players are being tested for steroids. That means that we’ll continue to see some big surprises, maybe even bigger than the shock to us all when Manny Ramirez tested positive. But the really smart cheaters won’t get caught. And, as long as the situation prevails, we’ll continue to see wildly aberrant performances. Some presumed hitters won’t hit.

Then there’re the ridiculous differences in the dimensions of ballparks. San Diego and New York Mets hitters won’t hit quite as well, or for as much power as those lucky enough to call Colorado or Philadelphia or Texas their home ballparks. In the course of a 162-game season, there isn’t a level playing field.

Then there are the odd brainiac managers who think they will re-invent the wheel. They’ll bat leadoff hitters third and vice-versa, not to mention moving lefties down against lefty pitchers and so on. It’s a manager’s prerogative of course to set the lineup and many of them totally abuse the responsibility.

There can be other variables involved in a batter’s performance too, not the least of which is a batter changing teams, moving from a small media outlet to a much larger one. I’m thinking of course of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez moving from Tampa Bay and San Diego respectively to the craziness of Boston. Or, closer to home, there were the first-year failures of Carlos Beltran and, more recently, Jason Bay.

Some short-term poor performances defy any explanation. Take David Wright. Here’s a great hitter who just won’t swing the bat, a guy who seems to have lost all confidence at the plate and a guy who has so far steadfastly refused to change his approach, either to stand closer to the plate or, from time to time, to stop swinging up at the ball.

Of course, there is something to be said for ignoring suggestions too. Take Derek Jeter. Try as he might to change his stride in order to get that bat around quicker, which just about everyone thought his 37-year-old wrists, arms and reaction-time just couldn’t do anymore, he just couldn’t do it. The very minute he stopped thinking, he started to hit again, in a very big way.

Then there is the curious case of Curtis Granderson. He was taught to change his approach so that he’d hit lefties better. He so far has been able to do just that. And, so far at least, he’s proven adaptable in just about every way. He’s been moved around in the batting order to no effect. He just keeps hitting and many of the balls he hits go a long way.

So it must be ego. A guy with just a touch of ego can take a good suggestion and run with it. He’ll recognize a shortcoming in his game and try to do something about it. The David Wrights of the world will not change. The little voices in their heads say no. You’ve been successful before. You’ll be successful again.

Do I have a point here? Actually, to be perfectly honest….no. It’s just that the entire subject of hitting is fascinating, in large part because it’s totally perplexing.

I have forgotten one other big variable and that is the manager’s approach to hitting, specifically that of wearing the opposing pitcher down by taking as many pitches per at-bat as possible. Terry Collins is obviously a very strong proponent of taking pitches. The David Wright’s of the world take the pitches in the middle of the plate and swing at balls in the dirt after taking two strikes.

The approach should be a little more specific than just taking as many pitches as possible. A batter has to have the opportunity to swing at a ball down the middle, no matter that it’s the first pitch, especially when facing pitchers with great control, the Cliff Lee’s and Tim Lincecum’s of the world.

Making matters worse for the Mets, many of the great pitchers in the game reside in their division, in Philadelphia and Atlanta and Florida. Take pitches against these teams and lose. Why even play the game? Just roll over and play dead. That’s exactly where you’ll be anyway. There are no rewards given out at season’s end for number of pitches taken.

Terry Collins strikes me as one of these guys who will treat everybody the same. He’ll treat David Wright the same as he’ll treat a Jason Pridie or a Justin Turner. Well, that’s just great. But it doesn’t work. David Wright is a hitter. Carlos Beltran is a hitter. Too many of the others are just not. All the players can’t be treated the same way.

There are enough obstacles to hitting. The pitchers are getting better. They’re all developing new pitches. The strike zone is made artificially big by umpires who just want to go home early. Added to that stupidity, there are the vindictive umpires who’ll continue to punish any player who has the temerity to question them. Ask Ike Davis about that phenomenon.

Given the Metsies incredibly bad start, a Mets fan really can’t be too unhappy with their current position. The players playing for contracts have been great. Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran are proving themselves worthy of big money. They’ve been hitters, are hitters right now and will probably be hitters in the future.

But Reyes swings at strikes. So does Beltran, no matter whether it’s the first pitch or not. Pitchers are afraid to walk Reyes. It’s the worst case scenario for them. Beltran is too smart for pitchers to have their way with.

A walk is not as good as a hit, David. Not feeling confident? Sit yourself down.

C'mon Alderson Do Something!

Well, the Mets and Terry Collins pulled out all the stops to finally win a game after about 7 excruciating losses in a row. They did it not by eliminating relief appearances per se but by inserting starters in relief roles. Gee, do you think Terry is sending a message?

I get it, Terry. Hopefully, some of your relievers are tuned in. The one true reliever Collins did use was K-Rod, and, after providing a little angst of his own, Rodriguez finally closed the game and the losing streak out. Thank the pitching gods he didn’t choose to throw a strike to Chipper, the Mets-killer. I’ll take a little angst, and Chipper on first, rather than a game-tying dinger just about anytime.

Meanwhile, Dillon Gee finally got his chance and absolutely made the most of it. Assuming that yesterday’s performance wasn’t a total aberration, that makes three starters Mets fans can count on half the time. Those would be Dickey, Niese and Gee. The supposed ace of the staff is still doing his best John Maine impersonation and Chris Young will hopefully return soon.

The lineup I so looked forward to seeing in the spring has yet to take the field, thanks of course to the fragile one, poor baby Jason Bay. God forbid his intercostals should give a little twinge. Meanwhile, even without Bay’s seeming abdication of his responsibility to the Mets, two players I thought I could count on, Angel Pagan and David Wright, have totally stunk out the joint.

Wright plays only for himself. No matter what the situation, he’ll be swinging for that right field fence every time up. This isn’t lost on opposing pitchers, of course, so they’ll keep taking advantage of Wright’s stupidity and arrogance. So Wright will just keep striking out or flying out to right until he’s hopefully traded.

Angel Pagan has been horrible. He looks totally uncomfortable at the plate, all scrunched up in his ridiculous crouch, taking the good pitches while waiting for a suddenly timid Reyes, except for yesterday, finally attempt a steal. Reyes finally seems to have gotten over his hesitation and hopefully a resurgence of Pagan’s bat will follow.

Of course, all things haven’t been bad but you can’t win if only 3 or 4 players are pulling their weight. The only Mets anyone could possibly be happy with have been Ike Davis, Carlos Beltran, Josh Thole and Jose. None of the second basemen are working out, neither the vapid David Murphy nor the light-hitting Brad Emaus. I make myself sick rooting for Willie Harris to get another big hit. That’s totally absurd. I can’t sustain any interest this way. I’d rather watch some more pleasant comedy series.

I just heard that Bay will give things a try this Thursday against Houston. What a guy! I just wish Madoff had taken Bay’s millions. He certainly hasn’t done anything to deserve such good fortune. To quote Ralph Kramden, “the applicant is a BUM”.

Things are seldom as bad as they seem though. After all, the opponents have been mostly tough ones, the Rockies, the Braves and even the Marlins have very good pitching. In fact, the only putrid series result was the loss to Washington, a team that, while better this year than in previous seasons, is still not the equal, all things considered, of the Mets.

Another disturbing thing has been the Mets propensity for making the big mistake. Daniel Murphy has the baseball instincts of a cockroach, not that that makes any sense at all, but I did pick the right bug. There’s no rally killer like the guy with his head up his butt on the bases.

But Pagan has looked terrible in center and Beltran has looked awful in right. Is Willie Harris really our best outfielder? Omigosh!

Notwithstanding all the Mets foibles, they have to look better against the upcoming Astros, D-Backs and Nationals than they have versus the Rockies and Braves. Maybe all the Mets will get their confidence back when matched against opponents they think they can beat, starting with Mike Pelfrey, who never seems confident about anything.

Not that he should. That he won 15 games last year is a mystery to me, except that I do recall his ball sinking a lot and yet still maintaining control. That guy is gone. On a team that needs some leadership, the veterans are badly letting their teammates down. Of the core players, only Jose Reyes has shown himself to be the same guy he was in some (well, a couple anyway)of his wonder years.

And I wonder how much Collins has to do with this lackluster play. Is he one of those managers that veterans find impossible to play for? That was supposedly his history. And I could well believe it. You won’t find a more boring speaker, one who says the same thing over and over and over again. I find myself wishing he’d use a synonym once in a while.

In any event, this Mets team is clearly not having a good time, not enjoying the game, and not playing aggressively. They’re playing like a bunch of guys just going through the motions. It’s really hard to watch a team like that. Compare that lassitude to the Rangers or the Rockies or even the Phillies. There’s just no comparison.

And let’s stop the nonsense about Daniel Murphy. Yeah, yeah, he’s a nice guy, I’m sure, and nobody tries harder, yada yada, but the man can’t play the game. How many years of stupid clumsy baseball do we have to see from this guy before we get him out? I’ve had it with Murphy; his time is up.

Bring back that smooth-fielding little guy who played second base last year. Luis started to hit toward the end of the year and he was a terrific defender to watch, a guy who could turn the momentum of a game with a magic glove and good arm.

Come on, Alderson. Do something.

Are Maine and Manuel Strangling the Mets?

It’s a quarter to three, yada yada yada yada dee dee dedee dee. It’s a perfect time to write sumthin’, the Yanks are outclassing the Rangers (again), the Mets are coming off a ridiculous win, and I even have the Cubs game going, from WGN. The Cubs are hosting the pitiful Houston Astros but I’m not really sure the Cubs won’t be just as bad. They often are.

The Mets play tonight, of course. And, after using up their entire pitching staff, they’re handing the ball to John Maine, with instructions to go deep into the game. It is with deep trepidation that I visualize this upcoming contest, the totally pissed-off Cardinals against John Maine on a Sunday night.

Of course, I’ve read that Maine is angry, angry at a number of things…himself, his manager, and the cruel world, I’m sure. Imagine the nerve of Mets management to question his role in the starting rotation! Sure! He had a bad spring and a couple of horrible starts thereafter but, gee whiz, three years ago, he won 15 games.

Has John Maine awakened? That’d be really nice to see. Now, please understand, I’ve mutilated John Maine in this column for quite a while now but that doesn’t mean I don’t wish him well. Nobody’d be happier than I’d be if he goes out tonight, throws bullets and violent sinkers the whole night and shuts out those dangerous Redbirds, Pujols and Holliday and Ludwick.

But it’s hard to imagine. The fatal difference between Maine and Perez is that Perez has talent. Maine just has that slow fastball, the dinky breaking stuff and well, that’s it. Perez finally showed what he could do the other night. He pitched into the seventh inning, allowing just one run over that span. He didn’t have his perpetual bad inning. He was just great.

When was the last time John Maine had a good outing? I’m looking it up right now. Omigosh! He pitched 7 innings of 1-run ball as late as October 2nd of 2009! But before that start, he pitched only sparingly and, from the beginning of June to the mid-September, he didn’t pitch at all, a victim of shoulder problems related to off-season surgery he had in 2008.

I’ve watched him pretty closely since then and haven’t seen that pitcher, the one who baffled Houston batters back in October. And, while I have some compassion for a player with a medical problem, I also understand that this is the major leagues. You need some luck and grit to withstand the rigors of a professional career.

If a player doesn’t have either, there are a lot of jobs a guy with a bum shoulder can do….insurance, beer sales and the like. I don’t need to see that guy take the mound every fifth day for the team I’m rooting for to win. If it takes anger to get this young man out of his doldrums, so be it. If even that doesn’t work, I’m sorry but see ya later. Maine’s already made a fortune. He’s listed on the roster as making 3.3 million this year. A lot of folks could live on that.

So….welcome to a sense of urgency, John Maine. Let’s see what you can do, armed with that anger and not much else to date.

Meanwhile, that 20-inning affair was pretty scary, from the standpoint of future prospects for the Mets. Their hitting was just awful, as bad as their pitching was good. Too many batters take the beautiful meatball pitches for strikes, then flail away at balls thrown in the dirt. I’m talking about Jason Bay, David Wright and Jose Reyes, but the same could be said for many other Mets, all of them really with the exception of Jeff Francoeur.

If it’s Jerry Manuel and Howard Johnson, the hitting coach, who are responsible for this “take” direction, it’s totally misguided for this particular team. These are more free-swingers. Turning free swingers into disciplined batters isn’t that easy. Somebody as smart as Manuel should realize that.

I’ve been against the tide, it seems, with respect to Jerry Manuel. Most Mets fans have had it with him, just based on his record supposedly, but I suspect they really just can’t stand his intellectual bent. And, while I still favor keeping him as manager, I am beginning to have my own doubts about his team’s demeanor in general.

If Manuel is forcing a bunch of free-swingers to show a whole lot of discipline in every at-bat, it is he who must shoulder the blame when that team doesn’t score any runs. When your most valuable acquisition strikes out four times, as Jason Bay did last night, then that is also a reflection of that batter’s direction.

Last year,from the beginning of spring training, Manuel’s thrust was towards his team hitting to the opposite field. David Wright had his poorest season ever, particularly with respect to his power numbers. Wright had just ten homers in 2009, after successive years of having had 27, 26, 30 and 33 homers.

I don’t think it was Citi Field, and I don’t think it was just an accident. I think it was an obsessive direction towards hitting to the opposite field. This year’s obsession seems to have turned towards “good” at-bats, taking pitches, as many as two strikes in certain situations. While the other teams batters get three swings each, our Mets only get one. I’m pretty sure that would affect not just their stats at the plate. That general strangulation could carry over into the field and into the clubhouse.

There are signs of a team malaise, at least at the plate. The Mets are making every opposing pitcher look like Christy Mathewson. It’s not only because they’re not good hitters. It’s getting obvious that even the good hitters are turning bad.

So get off it, Jerry, or Howard, or whoever else may be responsible for this strangling approach to hitting. Too often that first pitch is hittable.

So How Bad Is It?

How bad is it? As the fat guy Clemenza said in The Godfather, “pretty damn bad”. I say this because the Mets are opening a 3-game set against the Dodgers and they’re still banged up as bad as ever. That doesn’t bode well against Joe Torre’s crew. Pitching and batting, they’ve got it all, and Manny too. Some teams have all the luck.

An analysis of the at-bats for the two teams leading the NL East, the Phillies and the Mets, points to how bad things have really been for our locals. The Mets have only one guy with 300 or more at-bats, David Wright. The Phils have three, Rollins, Victorino and Howard, and four more of their players have 250 or more at-bats. That would be Werth with 289, Feliz and Utley with 282, and Ibanez, who hit the disabled list a couple of weeks ago, with 250.

For the Mets, after David Wright, Carlos Beltran, who hasn’t played in a very long time, seemingly forever if you’re a Mets fan, has a comparatively measly 241 at-bats. Just three other Mets have over 200 at-bats. That would be Castillo, Murphy and Church, not exactly a Murderers Row.

Surprisingly enough, it’s bargain pick-up Gary Sheffield with the next highest number of plate appearances with 185. The other comparative workhorses are Alex Cora, Fernando Tatis, Jose Reyes (in just 36 games) and Omir Santos, all of whom have 142 to 162 at-bats and have appeared in from 36 to 54 games out of the 80 games in which Wright has played. So, all in all, the only regular has been Wright.

And thank the good Lord for that. Wright’s batting .326 with production numbers to match. But of the steadier healthier players this year, only Church and Sheffield have been even somewhat productive with a .290 BA for Church and a remarkable10 homers and 31 ribbies for the dour Sheffield.

The good news is that, in one of those ridiculous statistical anomalies, this banged-up Mets team currently ranks second in the National League in batting average. Their .270 is exceeded only by the Dodgers who collectively bat .272.

The bad news is that it’s a noticeably unproductive .270. The Metsies have scored only 355 runs, ranked 20th among all major league teams. That basically means that not only do the teams with higher batting averages score more than our lovable locals but even the thirteen teams with lower averages all score more than do the Mets.

I would have assumed that it has been the Mets pitching that has kept them respectable. That’s not necessarily the case however. Although their collective team ERA is 4.26, that ranks just seventh in the National League. An even more interesting stat is that their team WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) ranks 14th in the National League. That means that they’ve either been lucky or very good defensively or that their pitchers on average are better in the clutch.

It also means they have more heart-rending moments than just about any other team in baseball, with runners always on base and either strikeouts or double plays required to take them out of troublesome situations.

Without even looking it up, we know the Mets haven’t been very good defensively, or has it just been Murphy? A glance at the actual figures shows the Mets in the middle of the pack defensively but in runners left on base, they rank third, behind only Boston and Philadelphia. And when you think about individual pitchers, Pelfrey’s seemingly always getting out of trouble, Hernandez, Maine and Santana too. So the Mets do seem to have something going for them.

And looking ahead they could get better. Beltran, Reyes and even Delgado will probably return. Oliver Perez, the flaky starter who can dazzle at times, will probably be back. I won’t belabor the point but things can’t really get worse for the Mets and they’ve managed to at least nominally stay in the hunt thus far.

The schedule doesn’t look that intimidating either. In the National League, the only really threatening team is the Dodgers. After this coming series with them, the Mets will face the Reds for 3 games. Then there is the long awaited All-Star Break. Immediately after the break, all their opponents are beatable, especially with a rejuvenated team.

The likes of Atlanta, Washington, Houston, Colorado….these are beatable teams, infinitely beatable. So is San Diego, likewise Arizona. It looks like the Mets could have clear sailing for 33 games before having to face the Phillies again, then the Marlins and the Cubs, who’ll probably be leading their division by then.

But if the Mets can take 22 out of those 33, they should be 18 games above .500 with all of September still left to play, with their regulars rested, with their bench having gained experience, including all those AAA guys playing like AAA guys right now but not necessarily later.

The full complement of the Mets should be very hard to beat. After all, Omar did fill all the holes. He got the depth he needed and he picked up the required relief pitching. He and this Mets team just ran into an incredible string of bad luck. Judging from the schedule, that luck could turn the other way in an awful hurry.

So how bad is it really? It’s easy to despair when the Phillies just kicked your butt and you’re off to face the best team in the league. But if the Mets can play tough headed into the break and not totally lose heart, the post-break picture looks exceedingly nicer.

So as bad as it looks, things are looking up. Could things go the other way and even get worse? Sure. It’s possible but it sure as hell isn’t likely. This could be the year the Mets rise from the ashes after years of coasting through regular seasons only to lose in the end.

And it’s just around the corner, Mets fans.

From Bad to Worse?

The Mets season is over. I’m declaring them dead.

They’re not the Mets anyway, not the Mets I expected and not even the Mets I foresaw if they had some bad luck. Even though I realized at the season’s inception that the Mets had been awfully lucky over the last few years from an injury standpoint, especially with their core players, I never thought they’d lose them all.

Even their ace pitcher can’t win these days. Santana has lost four of his last six. There is just no hitting usually, and last night the fielding went with it. It’s really too sad a story to stay with. You could liken it to hanging around a hospital. That’s not for me, especially when there are so many other stories, so many other channels.

For good reasons or bad, Omar has decided to stand pat with a AAA team. He’s done it too long. I’m tired of watching minor league ball. The only baseball-related things I can look forward to this year are the All-Star game and my fantasy team, which has been almost as unlucky as the Mets.

This somewhat stubborn refusal by the Mets to get better comes at a bad time. Oh sure, there has been Wimbledon and the U.S. soccer team, the NBA Draft and some other stuff, but really, it’s kind of difficult, y’know? I mean, how excited can I really get over the Williams sisters? The gracious Venus is as easy to root for as her younger arrogant sister is not. And unless and until an American man can break into the top echelon, it’s tough to follow the men’s action.

As for soccer, after cheering like a mad man for the likes of Donovan and Dempsey, Howard, Spector and Davies, only to watch their heartbreak in the final against Brazil, can I really stay motivated until the World Cup? I don’t think so. It was a great game though, and coming on the heels of their victory over Spain, they played valiantly for the full 90 minutes, even if their efforts were fruitful for only 45. They just seemed to run out of gas in that second half, especially after giving up that almost impossible to stop goal in the first minute or so of the second half.

But it’s the beginning of July and I shouldn’t have to amuse myself with other sports. The American pastime is still baseball, isn’t it? You wouldn’t know it from watching the National League action in New York though. Did I say action? I don’t know that you can call it that.

The Evil Empire is impossible to root for, at least for this fan, and maybe I’ll take notice if they should fire Cashman, or reduce ticket prices, or just shut up about how many pitches have been thrown, how many strikes, how many balls and on and on. They won’t catch the Red Sox anyway, this despite Papelbon’s failure to close out last night’s deal.

Besides, the team I can root for down the stretch is the Brewers. That became obvious to me last night as I watched those big dudes from Milwaukee, Hart and Hardy and Fielder and Braun. You even get sausage races if you’re a Brewer fan. They’ve got representative pitching, at the very least, and the players seem to have character.

In the American League, I’ll continue to pull for the Rangers, another lovable team that’s been together now for several years of mostly hard luck and is now coming of age, even without their superstar Josh Hamilton. The Twins are a nice team too, with lots of good pitching and a similar situation with home-grown guys making it big. And, last but not least, they pay absolutely no attention to pitch counts.

The Yankee obsession with pitch counts continued last night as Joba reached about a hundred pitches after 5 1/3 innings. The idiots on the bench took him out again, of course, and the Yanks relievers took over. Last night, they did the job and Bruney eventually picked up the win as Arod hit a gargantuan 2-run homer. But those idiots on the bench and in the GM’s office sure put a lot of pressure on Joba. You could look at each failed Joba performance as a self-fulfilled prophecy.

Aah! Who am I kidding? I’ll still be sucked in to the Mets action. Even now, I find myself with the tube in the background, watching Gary and Keith recap yesterday’s failures. Now Jerry’s talking about the need for them to relax a little bit, an almost impossible wish, given the whole Mash-unit situation.

Okay, my favorite blue and orange team is still only 2 games below .500 and just four games behind the Phils, a game behind the Marlins, a game ahead of the Braves. Is that really such a good reason to despair? After all, if we Mets fans know anything, it’s that big leads can be lost, and a lot depends on how the team plays in September.

And Beltran’s bone bruise is indeed just a bruise. Reyes and Delgado will be returning too. The pitching staff remains fairly strong, strong enough to compete in this weak NL East anyway. So I’ll wait and see. I’ll be a true fan.

But DeRosa was right there for the taking. And Holliday is supposed to be available. Couldn’t management see its way clear to picking up somebody? Wouldn’t even one addition to the roster help these guys out a little. When Church and Schneider are the glue holding a team together, that’s pretty sad.

Okay, that’s enough. Besides, Wright is up now. God willing, they’ll pitch to him.

It's Just a Game

Well, here we are on Sunday afternoon, the Mets game just starting, and we’ve got Johan Santana going against the hated Yankees. Again. The Yanks have A.J. Burnet going so it should be a game more reminiscent of the opener, the one Luis Castillo lost.

Let’s not forget that in our rush to forgive him. I know he said some things after the game that made everybody happy, and he performed pretty well in Game 2. But his gaffe was a classic choke. He was overwhelmed by the moment. That doesn’t bode well for the future.

It should have been a great Friday night. (Luis just caught a popup to derisive applause). Instead, what we got was misery. It should have been a story of Joba and the equally as stiff-necked Jorge Posada fighting for four innings, it should have been about Joe Girardi totally blowing the game by inserting Mariano Rivera into the game in the eighth, a move that totally backfired when David Wright ripped a double to right center. It should have been the tale of K-Rod vs. A-Rod, a bout clearly won by K-Rod as he induced the easy popup to second base.

But no, what we got was a stumblin’ bumblin’ Luis Castillo. You knew he was going to miss it from the start. His legs weren’t working right, you could see he was flustered, and for a second it looked as if he wouldn’t even get under the ball. But instead, he just opened his mitt as far as he could spread it, like a frying pan, and his hands proved as hard as one, as the ball bounced a foot in the air as Luis fell to the ground.

Let’s not forget how pitiful it was, that’s all. Yeah, he apologized. It doesn’t make me feel any better. I had been one of his advocates, willing to accept his shortcomings for his veteran presence. But not after Friday night. Luis can get together with his friend Ryan Church, go down to the bus station, and buy a ticket anywhere they want.

Yes, Ryan Church hit a big homer the other day. That’s just great. It was his first homer in eons. It’ll likely be his last homer for a while. Did I say homer? It’ll probably be one of the few hits he gets this month. Francesa keeps saying Manuel is picking on him. I say “Good”!

Church’s best point is that he’s usually ineffectual. The rest of the time, he loses games.

We’ve got Fernando Martinez now. Send Church packing. Send Castillo packing. They’re wonderful people but they either don’t touch third base on the way home or they don’t catch fly balls with the game on the line.

Understanding? Sorry, my plate is full. I can’t take any more. Of course I realize the Mets can’t really just drop the two of them, especially in their depleted state, but let’s not expect too much from them. Bat for Church in big spots and spell Castillo with defensive replacements for the rest of his contract. They both deserve the disdain.

We’ve all faced situations like Castillo’s. We all choke up a bit in critical situations, usually if we’re really not prepared. The job interviewer opens with “tell me about yourself” and if you really hadn’t thought about it, you might have a lot of trouble. Practice and experience make those moments go away. Ordinarily.

Two games that should have been in the book as wins were lost. Two big wins became two big losses. As I said, my plate is full. When your veterans can’t perform under pressure, you may as well pack it in.

As this is written, Santana is getting banged around and Martinez missed the cutoff man. While yesterday was the day of Fernando, Martinez and Nieve, today will not be a repeat.

It’s now 4-zip. It’s probably over, or may as well be. Maybe I’ll switch to the parade. Bernie’s playing guitar there and with no less than another Feliciano, the one who wants you to light his fire. Well, Wright got still another hit, but who should come up but ol’ rally-killin’ Church. He thus far today has grounded out on the first pitch he was offered. Typical day for Church. And he just struck out, what a surprise.

The news isn’t all bad for the Mets though. Omir Santos has been a pleasant surprise. I like Alex Cora. Sheffield looks bad quite a lot but then does pop one over the wall once in a while. He looks for the base on balls much too often and sometimes looks silly doing it.

The pitching’s been pretty good too. It’ll certainly help them stay in the race, but this club is not a winner. It’s a shame too. They have some excellent individuals, Wright, Beltran, Santana, Reyes and Delgado when they play, but they seem to never put it together as a team, not as the Phillies do.

So I’m just narrowing my expectations. They’ll probably be able to play .500 ball until the return of Reyes and then maybe they’ll play little better than that. But they just don’t have enough players who play as if they care. Why should I get my hopes up?

In the meantime, I’ll watch. I’ll watch as if I were watching one of Joan Payson’s comic teams of yesteryear. A combination of hard luck and bad play has pretty much done them in for 2009. You can’t get good luck as they did Friday night and then throw it away, or better put, bumble it all away. If it takes the heart out of a fan, I’m sure it does much the same to the team.

But it’s just a game. Maybe Castillo should remember that. If he comes away with anything after this singular experience of his, it should be that. You’re supposed to be having fun, relishing the opportunity to show 50,000 fans just how good you are.

Turn the Page !

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.

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.

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.

The Agony and the Fantasy

Well, it’s the next to last day before my Fantasy Draft and I’m chompin’ at the bit. I’ve looked over all the fantasy rankings, participated in a couple of mock drafts, and already made my selections in a Yahoo Public League. Unfortunately, none of those drafts quite match the upcoming one.

Saturday morning, I’ll be sitting with the fourth pick. Ordinarily, for most beings of the human variety, that would be just fine. The fourth pick gets you either David Wright or Jose Reyes according to the chalk.

But for a rabid Mets fan, it presents a dilemma. Do I really want to watch Mets games all year and die a little every time Reyes pops up while trying to put one over the fence? Do I want to rage at Wright every time he lets the count go to 0 and 2?

Well, the answer to both those questions is an unequivocal no. I don’t want my first pick to be a Met. If I manage to get Beltran on my second pick though, I’ll be really happy. While Beltran can be at least as infuriating as either Wright or Reyes, at least I shall not have wasted a first pick on him.

The other Mets that could wind up being Crabs (my fantasy team) are Johan Santana and JJ Putz, and maybe even Francisco Rodriguez, but I hate picking players who are coming off a career year. F-Rod won’t match last year’s numbers and, as consistent as Santana has been, there’s got to be a clunker coming up soon, especially having thrown all those innings for all those years.

Besides, pitchers are bigger risks than everyday players, what with all those injuries….elbow, shoulder, wrist, hand, fingers, it’s always sumthin’ with those damned hurlers. So I’ve made rules for myself in selecting pitchers over the years, and I’m pretty sure Santana will land elsewhere.

Putz though has been a Crab several times. This is a guy who performs very well every year and yet nobody ever selects him early. I’m pretty sure it’s his name. Who wants a Putz on his team? It’s like bad luck or something, or maybe a premonition, or possibly it may be prophetic of what your team will be….Putz!

Getting back to that first round, though, I’m pretty sure both Hanley Ramirez and Albert Pujols will be gone. The guys picking at 1 and 2 are too smart or experienced at this to just let those two fellows go floating by. After all, that first pick must be solid. In fact, the first three or four picks should be solid in order to have any chance of winning.

The third guy, my brother, says he’s taking Wright. So he probably will, barring any last-minute brain farts, but he’s more prone to gaseous selections in football. So there’s Jose just sitting there waiting for me, but I won’t take him for those reasons I’ve laid out.

Besides, Jose isn’t getting any younger and, if I may say so, he doesn’t ever seem to be getting any smarter either. And if Manuel should decide he’s the number 3 hitter, only God knows what that will do to Jose’s head. To my mind, Mr. Reyes has a somewhat fragile head, albeit one that always has a smile on it.

Other guys bat close to .300. Other guys steal bases. Hell, I could just pick Willie Taveras in the 15th round or thereabouts. Other guys hit 20 homers, even in our un-juiced era of baseball. And there are even lower-rated guys who’ll score over 100 times. I don’t need no stinking Reyes.

But who’s left? The chalk says Grady Sizemore, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Braun, Ryan Howard, Josh Hamilton, Mark Teixeira and Jimmy Rollins, God forbid. The only one of those who appeals to me is Ryan Howard. He hits all those homers consistently and drives in all those runs. But a Philly? Do I really want a Philly, especially in this year of all years for my beloved Mets?

Howard has lost 20 pounds though. He could be more dangerous than ever before. And that’s an absolutely scary proposition. Imagine if that big guy didn’t have one of those long droughts he seems to always have! No, I won’t!! Logic won’t make me. Besides, strikeouts is also a fantasy category and, if Howard knows how to do anything besides hitting homers, it’s strike out.

Oh, one more rule, I won’t take any Yankees, unless his name happens to be Giambi, which of course is impossible this year. Interestingly enough, Teixeira takes his place this year, and for many more years to follow. But he’s out, thank God, a man has to have rules.

Miguel Cabrera….hmm. He certainly meets all the qualifications for a number one. Maddeningly consistent for average and power, and on what could be a very potent Marlins team. But he looks like a softball player, one of those guys who guzzles down a beer and then crushes the can with one hand while burping all the way. Nah! Not for me.

My list is getting really short now. Grady Sizemore, Ryan Braun, Josh Hamilton….Golly, this is hard!

Sizemore is a very nice player, does everything a bit, very consistent and this’ll be his fifth entire year. And he plays for Cleveland, a team I’ve always liked, don’t ask me why. Do I remember rooting for Rocky Colavito? Okay, he’s a definite maybe, but geez, his numbers seem Beltran-like, so why is he a number 1 and Beltran just a 2?

Ryan Braun? Hmm, he seems to be a Sizemore type, a little more power and a little less speed, a Brewer, and in what will be just his third full year. He could explode for a career year, he seems primed.

Hamilton? One full year and he died after the All-Star Game. He’s disqualified.

Hmm, Jose is looking better and better, or maybe I should move down the list…Chase Utley? But they’ll laugh!!

A Call for Instant Replay

Is there anything more frustrating in baseball than the terrible calls on balls and strikes? There’s no reason for it either. In this age of rampaging technology, there is no reason we should have to watch a terribly blind or paid-off home plate umpire call a third strike on a pitch that was at least a foot outside.

David Wright couldn’t save last night’s WBC game against Japan. He couldn’t overcome the bad call for strike three. He had to walk meekly to the dugout; he had to be content with whatever few words he managed to squeeze off to the fool or thief behind the plate.

The bad call decided the game. Japan’s pitcher Dice K was on the ropes. There was a man on first and second with just one out. Wright was the U.S.’s best hitter at the plate. Wright hung tough, fouling off pitch after pitch on the outside corner of the plate before taking the pitch that was obviously well outside.

But it was only obvious to everyone at home watching on TV and to everyone in the stands. The thief behind the mask thought it nipped the outside corner. As it was a breaking ball, he saw his opportunity to steal the game and he took it. He knew the next batter, Adam Dunn, wouldn’t have a chance. And he didn’t.

It didn’t really matter that Derek Jeter made it all moot by bungling a routine throw to first base in the next inning, keeping the inning alive so that the Japanese could put the game out of reach. All his error did was to hopefully keep him off the next version of the WBC USA baseball team. The game had already been decided. The umpire killed off the USA’s best chance.

I had been a big proponent of the WBC until last night. Now I’ll join the plethora of print and TV journalists trying to downplay the excitement we’ve been witnessing night after night. Speaking of payoffs, Major League Baseball has been exerting all its muscle apparently to coax the very worst out of these media hypocrites.

I’ve seen articles to the effect that the fans don’t care, that the players don’t care; this despite the evidence of our own eyes. I’ve seen ridiculous statistics pulled right out of their anuses to prove that U.S. baseball participants do worse with their major league club after playing in the Classic. We’ve seen the Yankees complain bitterly about a dogging-it second baseman whining about a sore shoulder.

But now I don’t care. If the games can’t be played fairly, I’m not interested. It’s too easy for the umpires to cheat, too easy for them to be influenced.

Much as the NBA tries to convince us that their referees are clean and fair, MLB and WBC officials will try to convince us that instant replay would never work for balls and strikes.

But a very similar type of situation exists in tennis. A ball or strike call is basically a line call. Tennis players are given three challenges. TV already has the box it throws on the screen. I’d be much more comfortable with that. You can still keep the idiots and thieves behind the plate.

I’ve had it with officials. Given any opportunity to fail, they take it. They would have us believe, in the NBA, that the stars really didn’t take five or six steps on their way to that driving dunk; they would have us believe that rookies commit all the fouls.

And MLB would have us believe that they didn’t know players had been shooting crap into their butts for years and years. They’d have us believe that they had no interest in increasing home run totals after the big strike. And they’d have us believe that it would be impossible to challenge horrible calls on balls and strikes. The same of course goes for the WBC.

Maybe the stakes in this event are too high to expect an honest umpire. After all, it’s not just the U.S. watching. The world is watching. They anxiously wait to see which team is the best in the world.

Japan takes on S. Korea now for the crown. But I won’t be watching. I’ll just spend my time wondering what Wright would have done with the next pitch, a pitch that might have been in the strike zone.

Doing It Wright

After Carlos Beltran of Team Puerto Rico made one of his smoothest yet most spectacular catches ever against Brian McCann earlier in the game, my spirits flagged, but I hadn't given up hope yet on what I knew to be a very talented if not deep U.S. team. They sure waited long enough, but in the end, they showed remarkable toughness at the plate to come back and beat Puerto Rico in the ninth, thus sending the tough Puerto Ricans home and advancing themselves into the semifinal. They'll face Venezuela on Wednesday night to determine seedings.

But what a ninth inning! Against JC Romero, one of the toughest lefty relief pitchers in the game, they began their comeback slowly and continued it inexorably. Bit by bit, single by single by walk by walk, they ate away at the lead and the nerve of that great Puerto Rico team. Half the team participated in the comeback, Victorino and Roberts had consecutives singles and, after Jeter flied out, Jimmy Rollins produced a very tough at-bat for Romero, finally walking on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases and bring Kevin Youkilis to the plate with the bases loaded and just one out.

Puerto Rico replaced Romero with right-hander Fernando Cabrera, who seemed determined not to throw the ball anywhere near the plate. Youkilis meanwhile was all-jaw, finally drawing another walk to drive in a run but the U.S. was still behind. This brought up Wright, the guy who's had some trouble in big spots before. I thought "double play", but then tried to dismiss it from my mind.

After taking three pitches and with the count 2-1, Cabrera let go with a low fastball that I was horrified to see Wright swing at, but he was able to drive it to extreme right to drive in Roberts and Rollins with the game-winning runs.

Never was a Mets fan happier. While acknowledging that Wright had his troubles last year driving in runs in big spots, I wanted to believe he'd do better this year. Well, he surely did better last night. We can only hope as Mets fans that his previous failures were the result of sad coincidence only, and that last night's big hit was only the first of many in our future.

But it was truly a team win, which bodes well for the U.S. going forward. After what could have been a debilitating mercy-rule loss in their round two opener, they came back stronger than ever to defeat the Dutch handily and then eke out this one with a determined ninth-inning comeback.

And maybe now we'll be able to say, "oh good, Wright's up." I know that's what I'll say...

A Time For Heroes

It's that time of the year when a team needs its heroes to take it over the top. The Mets have two or three right now, Johan Santana, Carlos Delgado and Daniel Murphy. I would say not for David Wright. Swinging at a pitch a foot out of the strike zone with the winning run on third base automatically disqualified him. I guess he was going for the RBI record. Well, that's cool, David, but there was a ball game to be won.

The Mets lost again tonight and I'm sick about it. I've stood by this team through all the thick and thin of this season, the drought under Willie Randolph, the totally foreseeable injuries to ancient Latinos, and the horrible relief pitching. But tonight's loss was so excruciating that I think I'm done. I can't root for a team that plays the game the way the Mets played it tonight.

The Mets needed a hero tonight. Carlos Delgado tried to be the man again by smacking a grand slam. Daniel Murphy certainly tried his best to win with his triple to lead off the bottom of the ninth. The score was tied. They just needed one run, 90 feet. But Wright was either going for the Mets RBI record or was just plain over-anxious. He foolishly struck out. On a pitch about as close to the strike zone as the dugout.

I mean....things aren't bad enough. The ridiculous President wants to spend 700 billion dollars we don't have to bail out the financial industry. The economy's in danger. Well, HELLO, the economy's been in danger ever since you took the reins. The Governor wants to double the tolls on our Parkway and Turnpike to help the construction industry. Well, guys, what about us? What about the poor saps who've been working all their lives to try to make ends meet?

And now this. My principal diversion in life, the Mets, can't make a fire with a box of matches and a can of gasoline. A squeeze would have brought the runner home. You've got about 20 speedsters on the roster. All they had to do was pinch-run for Murphy and lay one down. Pinch-hit for Wright if he's not able. (But not Castillo, that would be asking too much).

So it wasn't the relief pitching tonight. It was just bad baseball. Stupid baseball, the kind they played for three months under Willie. I'm tired of it. This team doesn't deserve to win, plain and simple. They just don't get it. They just don't get it done. They don't deserve to win anything, not the World Series, not the NL East and not a wildcard. They just deserve whatever record they wind up with, and second place is even more than they deserve.

Look around at the other teams in the various races around the league. Look at the Brewers. They had C.C. Sabathia pitching on three days rest tonight and he was great. Prince Fielder has been playing his heart out in these money games, reminding me of his Dad in his glory days.

Look at the Red Sox. Big Papi played half the season with a wrist that wasn't working right. A little fella named Dustin Pedroia was batting cleanup and doing a bang-up job of it. They lost Manny and didn't miss a beat. Players stepped up (oh no, did I really say that)?

The Dodgers won something like nine in a row once they replaced Jeff Kent as second base. Joe Torre just keeps on rolling. The White Sox, the Twins, they have guys who come to play. They try hard every day and look pretty consistent every day. Not like these Mets.

If only the Phillies hadn't lost again and revived my hopes. If only they hadn't had so many chances that they may as well have thrown away. If only I hadn't been looking for a hero who never materialized. After all, the Mets just have early-inning heroes.

Yes, the Mets are still in the race, I realize that. But, after last night,I think it's just a mathematical anomaly. The heroes are all in Milwaukee.

Arms and Feet.....and Inches

Every time I looked up, it was a Mets arm making a big play. Carlos Beltran cutting down a runner at the plate, Endy Chavez doing the same but to second baseman Damion Easley, David Wright diving to his right to snare a hard ground ball, springing to his feet and gunning to Delgado. And relievers....there were relievers everywhere, and all doing their job.

Yes, the Mets cemented their hold on first place in the NL East by edging the tough Brewers in Milwaukee last night by a score of 6-5 in ten innings. But it wasn't easy. And they didn't do it with starting pitching either, although rookie Jonathan Niese did just enough to keep his team in the game.

But Jonathan, who looked so very good in the first three innings, came apart in the fourth. Five straight hits sent him to the dugout without retiring a single batter. But no worries, out came Nelson Figueroa to put out the fire in the fourth. Just to show it wasn't a fluke, Nelson pitched a scoreless fifth as well.

Figueroa would be the first of a veritable parade of Mets relievers, six of them to be exact. Duaner Sanchez followed with a scoreless sixth, Brian Stokes gave up only one hit in the seventh and eighth. Then on came the specialists to pitch the ninth, Feliciano to handle the big guy, Prince Fielder and another lefty, and Smith to handle the right side.

Of course, the Mets weren't doing anything either against the Brewers relievers either. In fact, after the third inning, the Mets bats were virtually silenced by Manny Parra, the starter, and then Guillermo Mota, the slowest relief pitcher in the world, not his velocity, but the duration between one pitch and another. Then fireballing Eric Gagne retired the Mets in the eighth before Salomon Torres survived the ninth but not the tenth.

In the tenth, David Murphy came through once again with a pinch hit single to center, and he moved to third base on a very strange play. Jose Reyes's bunt was fielded nicely by catcher Jason Kendall but his hurried throw to first was to the inside of the bag and arrived at exactly the same time as Jose did, thus enabling Reyes to dislodge the ball from Fielder's mitt.

Endy Chavez then hit a sacrifice fly ball to right field that scored Murphy with what would become the deciding run. But not before some more cardiac arrest for Mets fans in the bottom of the tenth. Ayala looked brilliant in striking out former Met Mike Cameron and was somewhat less imposing when Bill Hall just got under one for a long fly ball out to Tatis in right.

Then the real fun started. The Brewers had still one more gigantic guy on their bench, a fellow named Nelson who creamed an Ayala delivery to right field for a 2-out double. The very scary Gabe Kapler then walked, making this reporter very happy indeed.

This brought up Rickie Weeks, who had homered in the first, had hit 3 more singles throughout the course of the game and who had scored two of the Brewers runs.

Rickie appeared to have done it one more time when he stroked a hard liner to Wright's right that was foul by about an inch. Big sigh for Mets fans. Rickie couldn’t come through one more time as Ayala struck him out on a ball that just dropped a foot into the dirt. The Mets had escaped once again.

Although the Mets made all the plays they had to last night, I have to say the Mets were lucky last night too. Lucky because of the baserunning blunders of the Brewers. Both runners thrown out didn’t use their feet to slide, opting for the ridiculous arm slide to the side of the bag. It may work sometimes but it didn’t last night, and, as Keith Hernandez pointed out, it should be put on the shelf.

So there were the arms the Mets threw at them all night long, the feet the Brewers could have used, and the inches by which the possible game-winning hit was foul. Taken together, it seems as if that’s quite a lot of good fortune to befall our locals on one night.

But the Mets keep rolling. They don’t hit half the night and come up roses. In the first game against the Brewers, Reyes made a silly attempt to steal third and was thrown out. That was the kind of play that signaled the end for the Mets under Willie Randolph.

Not so for Jerry Manuel. Not so far anyway. He keeps making all the right moves. It’s bordering on eerie already. He has nurtured and cajoled and made seemingly countless trips to the mound these past few weeks and somehow keeps coming up roses. But I’ll take it.

I’ll take the trips to the mound along with the miraculous fielding turnaround, and the hot hitting from Delgado and now Beltran. I’ll take the platoon in left of the kids Murphy and Evans too. And the defensive replacement of Chavez in left field. And the better pitching from Oliver Perez, and the same for Pelfrey and even Santana.

I’ll take it all because we Mets fans had to experience the excruciating losses under Willie. You’ll never convince me that this improved play in all aspects of the game by this Mets team is just good fortune finally finding its way into the Mets dugout. No, these successful moves are all too calculated. The will to win is right out there for everybody to see. Manuel will make the moves he has to.

Tomorrow, this passion play resumes with Perez going against a Brewer pitcher who has been “lights out” for the last month, a fellow named Dave Bush. It should be very interesting, but if there’s a rabbit waiting to be pulled out of a hat, I’ve got to think the hat’ll be blue.

Great Game - Bad Result

What a game ! Forget about the Red Sox-Yankees; last night was all about the Mets and the Phillies. It pains me to say the Phillies were just better, but I really think they were. The Phillies endured the slow start, the Phillies fought back, the Phillies got the big hits and the Phillies had the better relief pitching. And of course they won it by a score of 8-7 in 13 terrific innings of baseball.

The things that'll stay in the mind's eye of this Mets fan are as follows:

1.Brian Schneider, the catcher acquired for defensive purposes, totally misplaying a very good relay throw by Damion Easley in the bottom of the 9th. That was the game right there.
2. Delgado and Beltran looking silly against Brad Lidge
3. the brilliant relief pitching of Aaron Heilman in the 10th through the 12th
4. great plays on ground balls by Delgado and Reyes

But the worst thing about last night's game was that every time a Phillies batter came to the plate, I worried a lot. For every Mets batter that came up in those late innings, I expected nothing. And got it.

Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and even guys like Jayson Werth are big-time players. When the game is on the line, they seem to come through. The same can't really be said for these Mets, as much as I hate to think it.

As good as Delgado has been since Manuel took the reins, he hits mistakes. If a pitcher can get a good breaking ball over the plate for strikes, he can take Delgado out. The same goes for the other Carlos, Beltran.

In that bottom of the ninth against Lidge, they weren't just ineffective, they were pitiful. Beltran, as he does way too often, took two breaking balls for strikes, then missed by a foot on a ball in the dirt. Delgado at least took a few swings, even if he missed by quite a bit on every one.

The Mets still have the edge in starting pitching though, and hopefully Johan Santana will continue his hot streak tomorrow. If the game is decided by the bullpens, the Mets will be in bad shape.

Even though Aaron Heilman was magnificent last night, he won’t be able to throw tomorrow. I have no faith in Schoeneweis whatsoever. He looks as if he doesn’t care. I don’t think he does. I’d like to see the Mets just drop him.

Smith and Feliciano can be good in spots. Luis Ayala should have picked up another save last night, but he was done in by his catcher. The Phillies had made the big mistake, sending the slow-footed Jayson Werth home on a hard shot to right. Church gunned it to Easley. Easley gunned it to Schneider.

If Schneider steps up to take the throw, the runner is out by a mile. Instead, Schneider backed up and made an easy play difficult. The game hinged on that play.

The great players look forward to those opportunities and step up. The lesser ones back down. Schneider backed away and the game was lost. The Phillies had tied it. I waited to see whether Schneider would redeem himself at the plate later on. That sometimes happens with good players. Schneider showed nothing.

While it’s not impossible that the Mets can still win this division, I have to say it doesn’t look good. The Mets seem to have taken a step back with the “additions” of Church and Castillo. John Maine’s injury looks ominous at this juncture. And Pedro looked his age last night.

Negatives, I’m full of them, I guess. There are some positives. Baseball is such a weird game and the season is such a long one. Players who look bad one night can look great the very next day. But the chemistry the Mets had seems lost for now, and the Phillies should just get stronger, what with last night’s big win and Rollins playing better.

But Reyes and Wright are great players. Wright made a big play on a hard ground ball to his right to save the game last night, even though he did look a little clumsy in doing it. He gets the hits when they’re needed more often than not. He looks confident in big situations.

Reyes is just a great player in all aspects of the game, a guy you love to watch and a guy who loves to have you watch him. He does it all, at the plate and in the field, on the basepaths and even in the dugout.

The Mets need more players like them. Too often, the two Carlos’s can’t overcome good pitching. They feed on the pedestrian guys, but there aren’t too many of them on teams like Philadelphia, or Houston for that matter.

And I really liked the chemistry they had there for a while, with Argenis Reyes at second, Murphy and Evans platooning in left field and Tatis in right. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with a player such as Church, his return to the lineup hasn’t added anything yet.

I’m certainly hoping these Mets can come back still one more time from a hugely disappointing loss. They certainly have the right guy on the mound today to do just that. And then there are Perez and Pelfrey and Pedro too, when he’s feeling it. But Maine’s loss looms large, and then there’s this bullpen.

Is any lead too large? Is any ballpark large enough to hold the ball in the park against this team of relievers? Will Jerry Manuel’s head bust wide open one day after still another exercise in juggling totally inconsistent relievers? It’s like doing the Sunday Times crossword on a daily basis.

Whatever happens down the stretch, one gets the feeling that it’ll be exciting. And I guess that’s just about all we can realistically hope for, great baseball, good pitching, good hitting, plays at the plate and extra innings.

Goats to Heroes

It was beginning to look like the same old script for the Mets yesterday afternoon. There was another great start by Johan Santana. But in the eighth inning, with the score 3-1 in favor of the Mets, Santana gave up two consecutive singles and Mets manager Jerry Manuel decided Santana had had enough. He had to go to the bullpen, a pen that had been producing more horrors than an Alfred Hitchcock flick. Surely the Mets would lose another.

But it was not to be on this day. Not this day. On this day, the Mets would FIGHT. On this day, Jerry Manuel would manage his behind off, Mets fielders would sparkle, and David Wright would finish off those tough Padres with a two-out walk-off home run.

Manuel was brilliant. Sometimes the things that work the best are the simplest. What Manuel did in those eighth and ninth innings was to simply remove his pitcher every time that hurler failed to produce...which was quite often, really, about as often as you might expect from a bullpen that had been rapidly becoming one of the worst in Major League Baseball.

The first pitcher Manuel called on was Duaner Sanchez, which made perfect sense to me at the time. After all, Sanchez, when he's on, can be brilliant and he probably has the best stuff of them all. He's used to pitching with men on base. But Duaner let Jerry down again, hitting the first batter he faced. Bases loaded. Jerry came out and immediately removed him from the game, a move not only simple but just.

Next he called on Pedro Feliciano, the lefty who had been relatively decent lately. Good move. Pedro induced a fielder's choice grounder out of the very dangerous Brian Giles; the Mets got the force at home. (They also got a totally unnecessary throw to second from the catcher on the play but why not be magnanimous today).

With one out now and the bases still loaded, Feliciano managed to get another ground ball to Jose Reyes's right that just managed to get by a diving Jose. The hard single produced just one run though, so the Mets retained the lead. But a hit is a hit, and Manuel removed Feliciano for Joe Smith, a right-hander who can get the double play on occasion.

And Joe did the job perfectly. What came next was the play of the day, and maybe a play that will live forever in my mind, the kind of play that showed how badly each Met wanted that win, wanted to get out of that inning. And get out of it they did.

Smith got the ground ball, but it was hit hard and well to second baseman Argenis Reyes's right. Argenis was beautiful, diving to snare the ball, quickly flipping to Jose, who had to hurry his throw to first. Jose's throw was in the dirt and to the outfield side of first. But Nick Evans stretched way to his right, grabbed that hard throw on the short hop, and hung on. Picture-perfect double play. The Mets survived the eighth, still holding on to the one run lead. One inning down, one to go.

The Mets would do nothing in their half of the eighth, a harbinger of worse things to come for Mets fans only too aware of what adventure this pen could dream up. And it was a sign of another failure of these Mets, their inability to add to a lead in the late innings. They would have to make that one run lead stand up.

Manuel went to lefty Scott Schoeneweis for the ninth. Schoeneweis had teamed with Smith to successfully close out the Padres in the series opener. In addition, although the first batter would be a switch-hitter, the second man up would be left-handed batter Jody Gerut, who had homered earlier off Santana.

Schoeneweis got the dangerous Headley to pop out but he would leave a ball right over the plate for Gerut and he complied by knocking the ball over the right field wall for the game-tying home run. It was a shocker, although for this sorry bullpen, that statement is kind of difficult to defend. What it did was seemingly stop any momentum and erase any benefit the Mets had gained from that terrific double play they'd managed to eke out in the eighth.

Manuel stuck with his game plan for the night though, immediately coming out to take the ball from the grumbling Schoeneweis and hand it to Aaron Heilman, Heilman of the hard luck, Heilman, who had given up a 3-run homer two days earlier to these very same Padres.

But Heilman would not let Manuel down. Not this time. Heilman would calmly retire the next two batters in order, the first on a strikeout and the second on a harmless ground ball. Although somewhat sullied, the pen had managed to at least keep the game tied and give the locals a chance to take the game in the ninth.

Which is what they ultimately did, of course, but not without a little more angst. Former Met Heath Bell would pitch the ninth for the Padres and it seemed to me that he’d done more than his share against his former team in the past.

But Endy Chavez gave the Mets high hopes by singling to center, putting the winning run on first base with nobody out. But then things started looking bleak again. Jose Reyes failed in his bunt attempt, popping out to the pitcher. Then his namesake Argenis Reyes hit the ball solidly but lined out to left. Two outs.

So it was all up to David Wright, Wright who had made a critical error on a ground ball to help lose Tuesday’s game, Wright who had made bonehead mistakes on the bases, Wright who had insisted to Manuel that he wasn’t tired, that he didn’t need a break.

And he didn’t. Wright hit the ball over the left field wall.

I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia

What a tough choice for a suitable subject today! I could have chosen to feature Rafael Nadal, who finally knocked off Roger Federer after so many attempts at Wimbledon. I could have crowed about my pick of Venus Williams against her sister the day before. Then, there was the All-Star Game, and the stupid picks the fans made this year.

But do I really care that much about Rafael Nadal? Wasn't it pretty clear he'd eventually knock off Federer on grass? That the match wound up being a classic is cool, that it rivaled that famous Borg-McEnroe final in '80 is even cooler, but what could I add to the volumes already written on that match?

And are this year's All-Star team selections that much more flawed than in previous years? Should I really get that upset by the fan's selection of the Red Sox's Jason Varitek as the catcher? Should I lament that the Rays' rookie sensation Evan Longoria was ignored? Yeah, I could, but isn't baseball about pitching and defense, and doesn't Varitek, for all his offensive struggles, call a great game, game after game? And how many rookies EVER made the All-Star team?

And yes, I did pick Venus over Serena, mostly based on Serena's tough semifinal match against Jie Zheng while sister Venus breezed versus Dementieva. And yes, I also mentioned Venus's great past performances at Wimbledon, her great serve, even compared to her sister's, and her proximity in Wimbledon history to the truly great female players of the past, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova. But it's done and maybe I should just leave it at that.

All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia. Even at the risk of borrowing from the great W.C. Fields, who had suggested those words for his epitaph back in 1925. For it was in Philadelphia where the Mets had squandered last year's pennant hopes. It was those Phillies, the feared Mets nemesis Pat Burrell and a host of others, Jimmy Rollins, who eventually won the MVP, and Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. Yes, and even a little bit of Jayson Werth.

But that was last year. And, despite losing one game to the final inning heroics of Jayson Werth yet again, these Mets finally got it right last night by holding on as a team, by taking the final game of their 4-game Philly set to take the series, 3 games to 1, and thus edge closer to their long-time nemesis entering the final week before the All-Star break.

A split in this series would have been devastating, worse than kissing your sister, for, after having built a 10-1 lead in game four, to lose it 11-10 would have been like kissing your sister’s ugly dog, at the very least.

But it didn’t come to that. Billy Wagner, after having treated us to some further 9^th inning excitement, finally got the door firmly shut by getting the previous night’s hero on a lazy fly ball to right. And, in doing so, he got a number of his teammates off the hook, which makes the victory even sweeter. Another week-long harangue of Carlos Beltran by the NY press would have been more than this writer could have endured.

Carlos was charged with a throwing error in the 9^th that allowed a run to score and that put the winning run at second base. At Jerry Manuel’s press conference after the game, I heard one writer even describe Beltran as “stupid”. To me, that’s a totally inaccurate depiction of a play, that if made, would have resulted in the third out of the inning, thus ending the game right there with our locals grinning from ear to ear.

That the error was charged to Beltran at all is to me almost inconceivable. David Wright tried to tag the baserunner an instant before the ball arrived. If he had waited another millisecond, that runner would have been out. Game over.

There is no better play in baseball than the outfield assist. They are very seldom seen at all, to any base, but from centerfield to third base is probably the most difficult play of all. The angle is impossible and the distance is formidable. But great outfielders with great arms can and do make the play on occasion, and Carlos Beltran made that play last night. David Wright did not.

And nobody backed up third base. Hey Billy, nice pitching but you should have been there. I would have appreciated some acknowledgement of that after the game. And David could have said something too, but maybe he was too busy watching the voting for that last All-Star berth.

Carlos Beltran is the best player on the Mets, period, exclamation point! He does it all, at the plate, in the field, and in the clubhouse. He’d be even greater if he didn’t almost always take two strikes, usually some very hittable pitches, in favor of swinging at that last breaking ball.

But he does that for a reason, to work the pitcher, to get the starter out of the game, to no doubt listen to his coaches. And he made that throw last night to end the game. And it was on the money.

Pedro Martinez was great last night too. He gave up just two earned runs and pitched into the sixth inning. Every other Mets pitcher gave up at least that many runs going just an inning or so. Tony Armas, Aaron Heilman and even Wagner were awful, comparatively speaking, although the Phillies must be credited for some of that comeback. Pedro Feliz of the Phils especially hit a very difficult pitch.

And Jerry Manuel was almost as great, getting thrown out of the game once again for questioning an umpire’s call. While it was always beneath Randolph’s dignity, Manuel doesn’t worry about things like that. He worries more about protecting his players, about working the umpires, and about motivating his team.

It sure seems to have worked in Philadelphia last night.