A Good Start and a Big Mouth

Well, it’s a rainy Tuesday, too damp to even try continue spackling, so what a terrific opportunity to let go with all this built-up invective inside. Right at the top of my list is Dan Warthen, the Mets pitching coach with the big mouth.

How can a pitching coach trash his former player for pitching his heart out for you? I know he was responding to another idiot’s (Cashman’s) claim that Pedro Feliciano had been trashed and abused by the Mets, and no doubt Warthen was just expressing what would come naturally to just about anyone when he asked why the Yankees signed him in the first place, but to then go further by saying that the number of innings Pedro threw was the reason the Mets didn’t re-sign him, that’s just stupid.

What is Feliciano supposed to think now? What are the other Mets pitchers thinking? What is any Mets player to think whenever the choice to play a little dinged up presents itself? Especially a team that has been beset by injuries to key players, especially a team that has seen one outfielder (Jason Bay) stay home for two months with a concussion and then another two weeks with some mysterious oblique injury, especially a team that has seen its star player (Carlos Beltran) sit out for the better part of two years with knee troubles, that team should express nothing but heartfelt gratitude when a guy like Feliciano puts his arm on the line.

Maybe Warthen was trying to be funny but he went much too far. Surely Cashman said a stupid thing and he deserved to get jumped on. For a GM to basically trash the player he just signed is almost too ridiculous to fathom.

The only possible answer is that Cashman was expressing frustration at having been overruled on still another player he didn’t want in the first place, the other being Rafael Soriano, the expensive new setup man from Atlanta. In doing so though, he’s distancing himself from decisions on players that show every indication of being very successful as Yankees.

Cashman had already been on record as feeling that Jeter, the esteemed Yankees captain, was asking for way too much money. If Cashman’s trolling for his next job, this is not the way to go about it. Airing dirty laundry is the no-no of all time in most personnel circles.

If Warthen’s attitude is representative of Mets management, I can understand their players not putting themselves out. Why should they wear themselves out for a team that doesn’t even appreciate their efforts?

The other stupid thing about Warthen’s comments is that they aren’t even true. The Mets never pushed Feliciano into action against his will. Feliciano wanted to pitch at every opportunity. It became his Mets persona. He became a respected if not beloved ”Perpetual Pedro.”

Warthen should take a walk. It wouldn’t bother me. There are plenty of pitching coaches out there. And yes, the Mets pitching staff has been very good under his tutelage but whether their success can be attributed to him is very doubtful. It would set a terrific example to fire his sorry butt.

Warthen should at least be forced to apologize. I can’t think of a more insipid thing for a Mets manager to say. “Yes, we abused his arm and since we realized we abused his arm, we didn’t re-sign him”. What an idiot.

Except for Warthen though, Mets fans have a lot to be thankful for this morning. Having taken two out of three from Florida on the road, having received two exceptional pitching performances and contributions at the plate from virtually every spot in the lineup, all this bodes well for the future.

For me, the fact that they lost the opener was a good omen. After all, the end results were awful when they won the opener. Why shouldn’t the reverse be true?

But, as bad as the Mets looked in the opener, they were almost as bad for about 8 innings of Game 2. Except for Wright, Davis and Beltran, things were pretty quiet.

But the Mets were tough in the ninth and tenth innings. Ike Davis and Josh Thole produced a run in the top of the ninth to give the Mets the lead. But K-Rod gave it back in the bottom half. The Mets came right back though with singles by Reyes and Pagan followed by ribbie hits from Wright and the surprising Willie Harris.

The Mets were up by a seemingly insurmountable three runs, but, given K-Rod’s failure in the 9th and only an unproven bullpen standing between them and defeat, no lead seemed safe. But Blaine Boyer held the Marlins to just one run to preserve the victory.

The story of Game 3 was pretty much R.A. Dickey. His knuckler was working just fine as he gave up just one earned run over the first 6 innings, proving his mind wasn’t totally focused on Mount Kilamanjaro, which he has vowed to climb after the season.

The relievers gave up just one more run over the last three. Meanwhile, the Mets jumped all over former Yankee Javier Vasquez for 7 runs and the final wound up being 9-2. All in all for the series, the Marlins looked like the Marlins have always looked, Josh Johnson and pray for rain.

Reality may rear its ugly head tonight though as the Phillies come to town. Newcomer Chris Young will have to face Cole Hamels in the opener, and, although the Mets have, believe it or not, roughed up Hamels in the past, this game could wind up getting ugly.

Even without their All-Star second baseman Chase Utley, the Phils still look pretty formidable offensively, with a seemingly rejuvenated Jimmy Rollins and the same cast of characters that have terrorized NL pitching for the last couple of years, the only notable exception being Jayson Werth, whose absence has so far gone unnoticed.

The Mets will need some luck. And a closed mouth from Warthen.