No Maine In Sight

I hate to pile on but nobody deserves it more than John Maine.

What can a guy expect when he walks the world to open his last game and then gets taken out when he opens a game with another walk? Manuel was absolutely right to take Maine out in that spot. If John Maine had any sense of judgment at all, his priority last night should have been to throw strikes, especially to that first batter of the game.

Manuel shouldn’t have to justify taking Maine out with allusions to the 85 mph speed of his fastball (for lack of a more genteel word), or express what might have been a legitimate concern for Maine’s health.

Manuel’s team needed a win. They’d been swept in Florida and floundered in Washington. Maine had been horrible in his last start and Manuel kept him in that game longer than he needed to, much to his regret, I’m sure. Manuel expected and needed strikes. He didn’t get them.

He also got a pitcher acting as if he were hurt, bent over, looking defeated. So what’s a manager to do?

Maine’s temper tantrum reflects his sense of entitlement, a curiously undeserved feeling for a guy who hasn’t been worth much for quite a while. Maine’s expectations far exceed his talent. Why should his treatment differ from that of Oliver Perez, who just got axed from the rotation? And he was removed partly for not finding the plate.

Maine desperately needed a sense of urgency last night. The most urgent need was to throw a strike. He didn’t. Case closed.

That the Mets later won didn’t matter to Maine. He continued to pout. All those Mets runs could’ve been his to work with. Bummer! That this guy has been a Met for so long might partially explain what has been wrong with the team, lo these many years.

Maine’s removal energized the whole team. How often have the Mets had 3-run innings, and then a 5-run inning? It was as if they said, “okay, everybody hits” and that was just what they did. Everybody hit, and the core guys, Wright and Bay and Reyes, seemed to lead the charge.

The Mets also got a terrific pitching performance from Raul Valdes, who went a full five innings and struck out six Washington batters while spacing 7 hits and just one measly walk. He came out after allowing his first base on balls. Are you awake yet, Mr. Maine? There are other pitchers out there. Some of them show the intensity required to pitch in the major leagues. Most of them can throw strikes.

I’ve felt all along that the success of the Mets season would depend not on the success of Maine and Perez but on how quickly the Mets would respond and manage their situations and their failures. The Mets had been patient with both and even coaxed a few decent performances from them. But now, as it seems both have reverted to recent form, the Mets need to clear the decks.

It’s not as if there are no decent alternatives. Takahashi has been great in long relief. There’s no reason to think he can’t be effective as a starter. Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey has already tossed in one nice start. He might be just the change of pace the Mets rotation needs to baffle opposing bats from day to day. Igarashi will be returning to the fold soon to bolster the pitching in general. And just who wouldn’t inspire more hope than John Maine?

Even the refusal of Perez to pitch at Buffalo for a while may turn to the Mets favor. Perez has already appeared in a relief role, and, although he did walk a batter, he did get the one out the Mets needed.

So, without Maine, it’d be Santana, Pelfrey, Niese (hopefully soon), Takahashi and Dickey. Without Niese, then some more resourcefulness is needed. Rookie Mejia, who has been effective in relief, may ultimately be the nice answer. In the short run, Pat Misch and last year’s bust Parnell could be this year’s boom. And, even if they can just turn in mediocre performances in the bigs, they will have been better than John Maine.

After this terrible road trip, 2-6, one has to wonder how competitive this Mets team can be over the long haul. Before the trip I thought it would be a good measure of how competitive they could be in their division. But if that were true, the Mets will be in bad shape this year.

The hitting has been so bad though lately. It’s hard to believe the bats can’t get a lot better than they’ve been. If the bats pick up and the pitching can hold together, the Mets can easily pick up. I know I’m looking forward to three days of Takahashi, Pelfrey and Santana. It’s only after that that expectations descend somewhat.

Can Dickey repeat a nice job? Who’ll it be after that? I guess that’s why they play the game.

Merde! The actual Yankee-Mets game has intervened. Takahashi was great. The Mets couldn’t hit the Yankees Javier Vasquez or Joba after that. They did manage to get a couple of hits from Bay and Davis off Mariano but it was too little, too late and the Mets lost 2-1.

But they looked damned good in every other way, the pitching, the fielding, the managing…..even given Cora’s big throwing error and the inauspicious debut of Elmer Dessens, that anybody but the far-seeing Manuel could have foreseen.

Vasquez got all the Mets out except Alex Cora for one of those mysterious reasons that only occur in baseball. But he got all the “big” guys out. Joba Chamberlain was like the old Joba, except he looks 20 pounds heavier to me. Maybe it’s just my imagination. When Girardi doesn’t totally kill his spirit, Joba rules.

So now it’s just Pelfrey and Santana to face Hughes and Sabathia. And no Maine appearance in sight for 15 days.