The Mets are scary bad. And the worst of it is that the guys who need to perform the best when it counts wind up doing the worst. I’m talking about Jose Reyes and David Wright especially but even Mike Pelfrey could qualify, depending upon your point of view.
Reyes was dreadful at shortstop. Wright was horrendous at third. (I know, I’m struggling for adjectives for bloody awful or, in Italian, “disgraziada”. Pelfrey hasn’t shown much for quite some time now but I was sure hoping it was a temporary thing, his lack of any stuff that can get outs.
So I’ve finally come down to earth. The Mets have some talent but they spit the bit when it counts, when the game is on the line. And you could say it was just one of those things, it was Atlanta where bad things always seem to haunt the Mets. But there is a pattern of failure among these “core” Mets. I miss Delgado….the Mets miss Delgado.
Delgado used to perform in the clutch, Delgado and his silly little notebook, recording the details of every single at-bat, scowling at his failures and lighting up the stadium with that wide smile of his….yeah, I think the Mets miss him too.
The most prestigious batter is now Beltran, Beltran, who hit all those homers for Houston way back before the Mets signed him, Beltran who could play center in his sleep, always gliding, moving fast but not really seeming to, and bangin’ the ball around the yard with pretty good regularity.
But there is that at-bat against Wainwright in his history too. And he was part of the collapses that mark this franchise. And let’s not forget his penchant for trying to steal third all the time, at the worst times, and almost always failing to do so.
Beltran went hitless yesterday. He’s now batting .215. You can’t really lead with numbers like that. He’ll come on eventually, it is to be hoped, but it’ll be too late. And I’m not even trying to pick on Beltran. But the Mets needed something last night.
The best player for the Mets yesterday was Luis Castillo. He managed 2 of the 6 hits they got and didn’t make any critical errors, as did Wright and Reyes twice. Josh Thole, the new catcher, got a big hit in a big situation. That’s just two of the eight positions in the lineup though.
Everybody picks on Castillo. I even belittled him mercilessly when he dropped that third out popup by Arod last year. And maybe he doesn’t have the range that you’d like to see. But he’s a pretty nifty second baseman more often than not. He’s usually doing the right thing at the right time, something you can’t really say about Reyes, most notably, but also Wright and Beltran.
The future of this franchise looks good though. Ike Davis, for example, has been remarkably clutch this year despite his miscue last night. Josh Thole looks very promising at the all-important catcher position. And they look to be guys who’ll lift their game when it counts.
But, for now, it’s just Reyes and Wright and Beltran. Jason Bay is hiding out somewhere and I don’t think any of the Mets are sorry about that. He almost never delivered of his promise either. He wasn’t the spectacular failure of an Ollie Perez but he was more of a quietly consistent one. And his DL stint makes it easier to field 3 pretty good outfielders. That’s assuming Francoeur is good, of course, but he’s dangerous only if he gets a fastball over the plate. Great arm though.
As a team, these guys just don’t measure up. When the chips are down, when they find themselves in Atlanta or Philadelphia or Florida, or when they’re playing another determined team, they come out second best.
When your stars fold up their tents, when they keep swinging over any pitch that breaks, when they fail to make the big double play because they don’t feel like making that tough throw to first with a guy in their face, when they make side-arm throws that go astray or make throws without setting themselves because it looks so good when it works, that’s when the game is over.
Much as the game was over last night. Maybe they just don’t like Takahashi. God knows that Japanese fellow was trying his best. But his teammates let him down, time after time after time. It became difficult to watch. It was that ugly.
I’d sit Reyes for a while. He looks like a guy who’s tired, who’s not having fun, who’s a little tired of playing the game. Wright was never a slick third baseman but it seems to me that he’s getting worse. I’d sit him more often. But there isn’t even a backup for third base on the roster, as unbelievable as that might seem.
I’ll be looking to the future now. I’m guessing Omar Minaya will be gone and I suppose the broom, when it comes on by, will take Jerry Manuel right along with him. That move seems inevitable, although the GM Minaya has a couple of years left on his contract. If the 16 mill Ollie Perez situation doesn’t take him out, it’ll be the 16 mill Jason Bay mistake.
I think some trades of any of these “core” guys are warranted. There have just been too many failures. I would trade Reyes in a minute. He doesn’t even steal bases anymore. Then I’d look to unload Bay and then Beltran. They’d have to be more successful somewhere else. I’d trade them while their residual value is still pretty high. Bay’s fortunes especially could reasonably be expected to soar in another city. Boston comes immediately to mind.
The Mets are beyond the crossroads. There have been several of them actually. The Mets missed the right path every time. It’ll be no different in Philadelphia.
The Mets need a drastic change.
Showing posts with label Carlos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carlos. Show all posts
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Mets Hanging On
It’s always nice to say something that hasn’t been said before, but it’s getting tougher. I did say last time that things for the Mets could only get better and surely, not too many people were saying THAT, not after having been swept by the Dodgers, not after having lost a game to a dummy missing a bag, not after seeing a bunch of errors at shortstop, and not after deciding to play a bad left fielder at first base.
But I figured things could only get better. The shortstop would get more comfortable, the bad left fielder could be better at first base, and guys like Sheffield, if they were to heat up, could provide just enough scoring to beat Boston at least once before going out to Washington and Florida, especially if the pitching held up.
The pitching did hold up too, especially that first guy in the rotation, none other than Johan Santana. He was a monster in that series opener, and there was no better moment than seeing him stare down and then shout down the ugly brute Youkilis after hitting him with a pitch. That was the moment things started to turn around.
Everything seemed easier after that. After hitting Youkilis, Santana struck out dangerous Jason Bay swinging for the third out. In the sixth he endured still another throwing error by Martinez and in the seventh he was superb, striking out Ortiz once again and fanning Youkilis, just in case there was any doubt who was tougher that day.
And the toughness seemed to carry into Game 2 as well. Pelfrey matched zeroes with Beckett after navigating a tough first inning, and when Papelbon came out for the ninth, it appeared that this game would be lost, despite our local boys’ best efforts. Sheffield managed to draw a walk but then Papelbon struck out Wright and Reed, and it looked to be all over but the shoutin’.
But it was not to be. Omir Santos showed that he could hit a fastball, driving a 97-mile offering over the fence and the Mets incredibly had the lead. And J.J. Putz closed it out. No problem.
Even the third game could have gone the Metsies way, as Wakefield was terrible and Redding wasn’t too bad. But Mets reliever Stokes was awful and the game became a rout. But the Mets could be happy, relatively speaking, because things could have been so much worse.
The Mets had survived. Then they managed to take the first game from the Nationals behind Sheffield, who’s hitting about .400 since taking over at the cleanup spot for Delgado. This game went more or less according to plan, from a pitching standpoint anyway, as Maine and the Mets survived some shaky pitching from Parnell. Putz and the incredibly reliable Francisco Rodriguez closed it out.
Is it possible that this team plays better when it’s pressed? It sure would seem that way. And that’s a good thing, keeping in mind the failures from the past. Now they may have one more huge problem to overcome though, that being the possible problems Beltran may experience with his knee. He’s having an MRI done today.
Losing Beltran for any extended period of time would be a killer though, especially if nobody else is able to come back, especially Reyes. The Mets could do nicely without Church, very nicely actually, and without Schneider too. And Sheffield has so far at least been able to spell Delgado in the lineup while Daniel Murphy has been great so far spelling him in the field.
But the Mets are running out of bodies, and there is no body that will spell Beltran, for Beltran does everything for this team, big hitting from both sides of the plate, smooth fielding, opportune running….everything, including leadership.
Although the media types would have you believe this is Wright’s team, that’s arrant nonsense. The real leader, if this team needs a leader, is Beltran, not that he really tries to lead. He just does almost everything the right way, the complete baseball player. When Wright is striking out with runners on base, Beltran keeps hitting. When Wright throws another ball away, Beltran just keeps making all the plays.
Not that I want to pick on Wright, quite the opposite! Wright’s great, a great team guy, a guy who plays hard all the time. There’s nobody I’d rather have as my third baseman. But he’s no Beltran and that’s no knock. Nobody is. What Wright is is an Anglo, and everybody from their own management to the media wants desperately to believe that an Anglo is the leader. And if he’s not, they will work to make things look that way.
To David’s credit, he does nothing to perpetuate the nonsense. When questioned, he says all the right things, but I’ve never heard Wright say he’s the leader. I’ve heard the idiots on ESPN say it, even Jerry Manuel has said it, but none of the players has signed up for Wright’s team.
Without Beltran, all bets are off….even if Fernando Martinez, the Mets great minor-leaguer, performs like the future star he is likely to be, I have to believe that he won’t have the same impact as would a missing Beltran, number 3 on your lineup card and pencilled in as the centerfielder and stolen base leader, speaking from a percentage basis.
But anything’s possible when you have pitching. Look at San Diego. They’ve won something like 10 in a row with just about nobody to fear in their lineup. Yeah, they have Adrian Gonzales and Brian Giles and then mostly nothing. But they do have Peavy and Young at the top of their rotation, supplemented by three talented youngsters. And they do have Heath Bell and Cla Meredith and some other nice relievers.
So let’s root for Maine and Pelfrey, Livan and Redding. Let’s look forward to good outings from K-Rod and Putz, Green and Feliciano.
And hope for at least one Carlos.
But I figured things could only get better. The shortstop would get more comfortable, the bad left fielder could be better at first base, and guys like Sheffield, if they were to heat up, could provide just enough scoring to beat Boston at least once before going out to Washington and Florida, especially if the pitching held up.
The pitching did hold up too, especially that first guy in the rotation, none other than Johan Santana. He was a monster in that series opener, and there was no better moment than seeing him stare down and then shout down the ugly brute Youkilis after hitting him with a pitch. That was the moment things started to turn around.
Everything seemed easier after that. After hitting Youkilis, Santana struck out dangerous Jason Bay swinging for the third out. In the sixth he endured still another throwing error by Martinez and in the seventh he was superb, striking out Ortiz once again and fanning Youkilis, just in case there was any doubt who was tougher that day.
And the toughness seemed to carry into Game 2 as well. Pelfrey matched zeroes with Beckett after navigating a tough first inning, and when Papelbon came out for the ninth, it appeared that this game would be lost, despite our local boys’ best efforts. Sheffield managed to draw a walk but then Papelbon struck out Wright and Reed, and it looked to be all over but the shoutin’.
But it was not to be. Omir Santos showed that he could hit a fastball, driving a 97-mile offering over the fence and the Mets incredibly had the lead. And J.J. Putz closed it out. No problem.
Even the third game could have gone the Metsies way, as Wakefield was terrible and Redding wasn’t too bad. But Mets reliever Stokes was awful and the game became a rout. But the Mets could be happy, relatively speaking, because things could have been so much worse.
The Mets had survived. Then they managed to take the first game from the Nationals behind Sheffield, who’s hitting about .400 since taking over at the cleanup spot for Delgado. This game went more or less according to plan, from a pitching standpoint anyway, as Maine and the Mets survived some shaky pitching from Parnell. Putz and the incredibly reliable Francisco Rodriguez closed it out.
Is it possible that this team plays better when it’s pressed? It sure would seem that way. And that’s a good thing, keeping in mind the failures from the past. Now they may have one more huge problem to overcome though, that being the possible problems Beltran may experience with his knee. He’s having an MRI done today.
Losing Beltran for any extended period of time would be a killer though, especially if nobody else is able to come back, especially Reyes. The Mets could do nicely without Church, very nicely actually, and without Schneider too. And Sheffield has so far at least been able to spell Delgado in the lineup while Daniel Murphy has been great so far spelling him in the field.
But the Mets are running out of bodies, and there is no body that will spell Beltran, for Beltran does everything for this team, big hitting from both sides of the plate, smooth fielding, opportune running….everything, including leadership.
Although the media types would have you believe this is Wright’s team, that’s arrant nonsense. The real leader, if this team needs a leader, is Beltran, not that he really tries to lead. He just does almost everything the right way, the complete baseball player. When Wright is striking out with runners on base, Beltran keeps hitting. When Wright throws another ball away, Beltran just keeps making all the plays.
Not that I want to pick on Wright, quite the opposite! Wright’s great, a great team guy, a guy who plays hard all the time. There’s nobody I’d rather have as my third baseman. But he’s no Beltran and that’s no knock. Nobody is. What Wright is is an Anglo, and everybody from their own management to the media wants desperately to believe that an Anglo is the leader. And if he’s not, they will work to make things look that way.
To David’s credit, he does nothing to perpetuate the nonsense. When questioned, he says all the right things, but I’ve never heard Wright say he’s the leader. I’ve heard the idiots on ESPN say it, even Jerry Manuel has said it, but none of the players has signed up for Wright’s team.
Without Beltran, all bets are off….even if Fernando Martinez, the Mets great minor-leaguer, performs like the future star he is likely to be, I have to believe that he won’t have the same impact as would a missing Beltran, number 3 on your lineup card and pencilled in as the centerfielder and stolen base leader, speaking from a percentage basis.
But anything’s possible when you have pitching. Look at San Diego. They’ve won something like 10 in a row with just about nobody to fear in their lineup. Yeah, they have Adrian Gonzales and Brian Giles and then mostly nothing. But they do have Peavy and Young at the top of their rotation, supplemented by three talented youngsters. And they do have Heath Bell and Cla Meredith and some other nice relievers.
So let’s root for Maine and Pelfrey, Livan and Redding. Let’s look forward to good outings from K-Rod and Putz, Green and Feliciano.
And hope for at least one Carlos.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Of Mets Follies and Football Too!
You're probably asking yourself how anybody could be writing about baseball when there are so many exciting things happening in football, and even basketball. I'm wondering myself actually. My only excuse is that I'm worried bigtime that Mets GM Omar Minaya will make another "brilliant" move, one on the order of his Moises Alou or Luis Castillo ploys.
Who knows if it's true but I keep hearing rumors that the Mets will trade Carlos Beltran and are listening to proposals concerning the Mets great centerfielder. Not only that but I hear the suitors are the Yankees and the principal Yankee for the Mets would be Robinson Cano and a couple of relief pitchers. What a mistake that would be, but just the kind of mistake for which Minaya has become famous.
GM’s sometimes lose the forest for the trees. The Mets need two relief pitchers and a closer. Period. There is Kerry Wood of the Cubs. There is Brian Fuentes. There are a few other short relievers in free agency.
The Mets have second basemen. Damion Easley plays second base as does Luis Castillo and an exciting fellow named Argenis Reyes, all of whom are already on the roster. Second base, while not a comparative strength, was not the reason the Mets folded again.
Need I remind anyone? It was relief pitching. We need relief pitching. Hello Omar, are you there? We need those guys who come out after the starter and before the end of the game. For most teams, Omar, the end of the game was not coincident with the appearance of the first relief pitcher.
To lose Beltran at all would be a grievous loss but to lose him for a disgruntled attitude problem such as Cano would be unforgivable. I'd stop rooting for the Mets. That would be one step over the line for even this stout fan. If Beltran is requesting a trade, I'd be surprised. But, if he indeed is requesting a trade, I'd like to at least be aware of it.
It's not outrageous to think that Beltran may have had enough of Mets fans. He may be ready to move on. And the Mets do have an outfielder down in the minors who's probably ready. If this is the case, if Beltran is begging for a trade, I'd try to accommodate him, if just because the Mets do have a young fellow they've been bragging about for years.
But I'd only accommodate him if we could get equal value, or even nearly equal value. Robinson Cano is a Yankees problem they're trying to unload. Carlos Beltran is a legitimate star, the best all-around centerfielder in Major League Baseball. Equal value would mean a position player acknowledged to be one of the best in the game. Pitchers are too fragile.
The only player out there I'd seriously consider would be the Rockies Matt Holliday. Now he's a star. Not a centerfielder but a star. Holliday could provide even more than Beltran at the plate and adequately cover left field. He could be the clutch hitter the Mets have so desperately needed. There are no second basemen who could compare to Beltran at the plate, certainly not Cano.
It would be totally unacceptable to watch Carlos Beltran cruising around in centerfield for the Yankees, especially knowing that we received Robinson Cano in return. It would be a constant reminder of the Mets incompetence. I couldn't root for a team that had no brains whatsoever at the top.
Okay, enough about the Mets. After all, it’s November. The Giants play the Eagles Sunday night. It should be a nice game, totally different from the first Thursday night game we witnessed last night on NFL Network.
While we did get to witness the remarkable debut of Browns’ quarterback Brady Quinn last night, it was accomplished against a very suspect Broncos defense. That the Broncos managed to win the game was not so much a tribute to the Broncos as it was an indicator of how truly bad is the Browns defense. It was dramatic, though, and a kick in the face for Quinn in his Browns debut.
If you like defense, though, tune in to the Giants game Sunday night. Unlike the Browns-Broncos debacle, the quarterbacks won’t have ten seconds or so to get rid of the ball. There will be plenty of blitzes and plenty of scrambling by McNabb and Manning.
There will be legitimate running games displayed too. Both teams feature huge offensive lines and either powerful running backs, in the Giants case Brandon Jacobs and Derrek Ward, or shifty running backs such as the Eagles Brian Westbrook.
I keep remembering last year’s second game with the Eagles though, a totally boring affair, boring because McNabb had Giants linemen in his face all night long. But the most omnipresent of all was Osi Umenyiora, and he will not be on the field Sunday. That’s why I am picking the Eagles on Sunday to beat the Giants.
The Eagles will stop Jacobs and Ward, the self-styled Thunder and Lightning or Earth, Wind and Fire (with Ahmad Bradshaw). The Giants will try to stop everything the Eagles and McNabb do, but alas, they’ll come up short, if only because the Eagles will be hungrier, and have vivid memories of last year fresh in their minds. Oh, and did I mention the new Eagles cornerback from the Pats, a fellow named Samuel?
Oh, and let me not forget basketball entirely. The Knicks have been just as expected. Playing unevenly, playing out of control many times but they are moving the ball, going nowhere very quickly. The Nets can’t even say that much, at this juncture anyway, with all those young fellows.
Yes sirree…it’ll be a nice November and December, if you don’t expect too much. Most of the football action will center around the Cowboys, what with Tony Romo returning, but the real action will be right here in New York down the stretch.
Who knows if it's true but I keep hearing rumors that the Mets will trade Carlos Beltran and are listening to proposals concerning the Mets great centerfielder. Not only that but I hear the suitors are the Yankees and the principal Yankee for the Mets would be Robinson Cano and a couple of relief pitchers. What a mistake that would be, but just the kind of mistake for which Minaya has become famous.
GM’s sometimes lose the forest for the trees. The Mets need two relief pitchers and a closer. Period. There is Kerry Wood of the Cubs. There is Brian Fuentes. There are a few other short relievers in free agency.
The Mets have second basemen. Damion Easley plays second base as does Luis Castillo and an exciting fellow named Argenis Reyes, all of whom are already on the roster. Second base, while not a comparative strength, was not the reason the Mets folded again.
Need I remind anyone? It was relief pitching. We need relief pitching. Hello Omar, are you there? We need those guys who come out after the starter and before the end of the game. For most teams, Omar, the end of the game was not coincident with the appearance of the first relief pitcher.
To lose Beltran at all would be a grievous loss but to lose him for a disgruntled attitude problem such as Cano would be unforgivable. I'd stop rooting for the Mets. That would be one step over the line for even this stout fan. If Beltran is requesting a trade, I'd be surprised. But, if he indeed is requesting a trade, I'd like to at least be aware of it.
It's not outrageous to think that Beltran may have had enough of Mets fans. He may be ready to move on. And the Mets do have an outfielder down in the minors who's probably ready. If this is the case, if Beltran is begging for a trade, I'd try to accommodate him, if just because the Mets do have a young fellow they've been bragging about for years.
But I'd only accommodate him if we could get equal value, or even nearly equal value. Robinson Cano is a Yankees problem they're trying to unload. Carlos Beltran is a legitimate star, the best all-around centerfielder in Major League Baseball. Equal value would mean a position player acknowledged to be one of the best in the game. Pitchers are too fragile.
The only player out there I'd seriously consider would be the Rockies Matt Holliday. Now he's a star. Not a centerfielder but a star. Holliday could provide even more than Beltran at the plate and adequately cover left field. He could be the clutch hitter the Mets have so desperately needed. There are no second basemen who could compare to Beltran at the plate, certainly not Cano.
It would be totally unacceptable to watch Carlos Beltran cruising around in centerfield for the Yankees, especially knowing that we received Robinson Cano in return. It would be a constant reminder of the Mets incompetence. I couldn't root for a team that had no brains whatsoever at the top.
Okay, enough about the Mets. After all, it’s November. The Giants play the Eagles Sunday night. It should be a nice game, totally different from the first Thursday night game we witnessed last night on NFL Network.
While we did get to witness the remarkable debut of Browns’ quarterback Brady Quinn last night, it was accomplished against a very suspect Broncos defense. That the Broncos managed to win the game was not so much a tribute to the Broncos as it was an indicator of how truly bad is the Browns defense. It was dramatic, though, and a kick in the face for Quinn in his Browns debut.
If you like defense, though, tune in to the Giants game Sunday night. Unlike the Browns-Broncos debacle, the quarterbacks won’t have ten seconds or so to get rid of the ball. There will be plenty of blitzes and plenty of scrambling by McNabb and Manning.
There will be legitimate running games displayed too. Both teams feature huge offensive lines and either powerful running backs, in the Giants case Brandon Jacobs and Derrek Ward, or shifty running backs such as the Eagles Brian Westbrook.
I keep remembering last year’s second game with the Eagles though, a totally boring affair, boring because McNabb had Giants linemen in his face all night long. But the most omnipresent of all was Osi Umenyiora, and he will not be on the field Sunday. That’s why I am picking the Eagles on Sunday to beat the Giants.
The Eagles will stop Jacobs and Ward, the self-styled Thunder and Lightning or Earth, Wind and Fire (with Ahmad Bradshaw). The Giants will try to stop everything the Eagles and McNabb do, but alas, they’ll come up short, if only because the Eagles will be hungrier, and have vivid memories of last year fresh in their minds. Oh, and did I mention the new Eagles cornerback from the Pats, a fellow named Samuel?
Oh, and let me not forget basketball entirely. The Knicks have been just as expected. Playing unevenly, playing out of control many times but they are moving the ball, going nowhere very quickly. The Nets can’t even say that much, at this juncture anyway, with all those young fellows.
Yes sirree…it’ll be a nice November and December, if you don’t expect too much. Most of the football action will center around the Cowboys, what with Tony Romo returning, but the real action will be right here in New York down the stretch.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A Tale of Two Carlos's
After having managed two wins rather handily against an erstwhile perennial-playoffs Yankees team, Willie Randolph will take his beginning-to-be-performing Mets team into
When these two buddies from
Any Mets fan over the age of ten can still vividly recall the October of two season ago, Carlos Beltran at the plate, watching strike three bend right-to-left over the plate, thus ending their 2006 season. But those fans with a longer memory may also recall Beltran's eight home runs in the 2004 playoffs.
On October 15, 2006, NY Times writer Lee Jenkins opined that "The Mets....evened the NLCS at two games apiece because Delgado made it so. Every ball he hits seems to be worth chasing." Upon checking how Delgado did in Game 7 of that series, I see the Cards walked him three times. That Wright, following Delgado in the lineup, only went 1-4 that day is probably better forgotten.
But the stories of these two goes well beyond 2006, tales of woe mostly. For example, Delgado began his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, who won the World Series in both 1992 and 1993 but in that 1993 season, Delgado only played two games. Talk about bad luck, the 1994 World Series was cancelled entirely.
Delgado didn't become a regular for
In 2005, Delgado got his big break, finally hot on the trail of a Championship with the Florida Marlins, who won it all in 2003 over the Yankees. But the Marlins finished only 83-79 in 2005 despite Carlos’s .301 BA and 33 home runs.
The year 2006 was the Marlins fire-sale year, or one of them anyway, and the Mets acquired Carlos’s huge contract from the Fish and got 7 million back in the bargain. But, as good as Delgado was in the 2006 NLCS, Heilman served up that costly two-run homer and Wainwright curled in that third strike to Beltran and, poof, another year was wasted.
Beltran shares a similar baseball heritage, aside from any ties to
In 2004, however, Beltran got his big break, getting traded to the Houston Astros, but wound up losing a tense NLCS to the Cards. He was awesome in that year though, banging out 15 homers and 51 ribbies for the Royals and 23 dingers and another 53 ribbies for the Astros.
Beltran was also the star of that year’s playoffs, of course, with his 8 playoff dingers. The Mets moved in with a truckload of money and Carlos became a Met. Carlos had a horrible (for him) 2005 Mets inaugural though, with high expectations doing him in. Carlos the Younger hit only 16 HR’s and 78 ribbies.
All of which, of course, brings us to the heart-breaker of 2006. And then the meltdown of 2007. Mets fans can’t really say which year hurts more, most would say 2007, but some of those may have missed that 2006 called strike three.
In any event, Beltran wore the horns in 2006 and Delgado certainly at least shared a pair with his sorry 2007 of .258 with just 24 home runs. Carlos the Elder had a lot of company, of course, and analysts are still debating who’s more to blame for 2007.
When there are so many candidates for the horns, it’s only natural to point towards the manager, of course. And Mets fans did. And they have continued their pointing into 2008. And who can really blame them?
As this is written, the Mets continue their foibles against the Braves, making Tom Glavine the reincarnation of, well, Tom Glavine. They’re down 3-1 in the fifth and John Maine is now out of the game.
Both Carlos’s have already had their share of bad luck in this game, and, one wonders, is this their fate, to be remarkably talented but unfulfilled millionaires? There have certainly been sadder tales in the history of the major leagues. Don Mattingly, Ernie Banks, and a host of others never won the big one.
Despite what my head keeps telling me, my heart is really with these two. They are, by all accounts, remarkably nice people, but people prone to long streaks of good and bad, driving their fans and their manager to distraction, at least, and in the manager’s case, perhaps to another city.
Another common thing about these two, though, is that there is a
Much as Jason Kidd played a magnificent fourth quarter and just survived the first three, so do Carlos and Carlos plod through the season and turn it on for the Yankees, or to keep Willie in the dugout for the rest of the season.
This Braves game seems to accentuate the point. Aaah, it’s a double-header, maybe they’re saving it for Game Two.
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