No Time to Panic

Okay, the Mets are stinkin’ out the joint but at least there’s Phil Mickelson. And that pilot who landed in the Hudson River with all passengers totally fine. There are lots of contemporary heroes. But don’t look for any at Citi Field.

Oh sure, things looked great after that first game. Johan pitched a gem. I haven’t forgotten that. But then there was Maine. Maine did the same thing he always does, disappoint. But what the hell, I expected that. And the Mets came back in that one, to tie it at 6, but the scoring was illusory as they did it with walks, and some truly horrible Marlins relief pitching.

Then Niese went out and pitched great but the Mets bats weren’t really there. Pagan and Francoeur got a couple of hits each but the rest of the lineup got just four more. Still, to that time, the Mets were just 1-2, and maybe it was just good pitching from the Marlins that got them.

But then Pelfrey looked better than expected, and showed a nice new pitch in his repertoire. So things are looking up, I think, when Pelfrey starts in the future. The Mets bats were back too, with new catcher Rod Barajas banging two homers and Jeff Francoeur continuing his hot hitting with two homers of his own. Now the Mets were even again, with a 2 and 2 record after four.

Crazy Ollie was up next though, another John Maine, only crazier. Perez had a typical Perez performance but he did go 5 2/3 giving up just 4 runs. And Igarashi, Perpetual Pedro and new guy Jennry Mejia gave up just 1 hit over the last 3 innings. Mets bats weren’t there again, however, except for Francoeur . Even with that though, they could have won and lost only because they got robbed by a great fielding play. So they could have been 3 and 2. Only bad fortune made them 2 and 3. And Santana would be going the next day.

But Johan threw some bad pitches and gave up a big homer to Willingham. The Mets bats produced just two runs. They got those two runs from a most unlikely source too, from Mike Jacobs, who will hit a homer once in a while, but more often will pop up or fan completely. Francoeur once again had a multi-hit game but with less actual effect, as things turned out.

So the Mets are 2 and 4. Manager Jerry Manuel assumed responsibility later on, needlessly I thought, but what the hell, what difference does it make when you’ve got guys like Mike Jacobs hitting behind Jason Bay, or Gary Matthews? Come on, would you pitch to Bay? If you would, what kind of pitch would you be throwing?

Let’s recap though. The Mets lost two games by one run and one game by two runs. The pitching really hasn’t been too bad. But Matthews and Mike Jacobs aren’t the answers. Angel Pagan should play center, not Matthews. And Tatis could play first, if you really want a lineup. Here we go…Reyes, Castillo (or Cora, they both have similar games), Wright, Bay, Francoeur, Barajas, then Tatis (playing first) and Pagan batting eighth, just to get some speed at the back of the order.

The Mets are currently 18th in batting average among the 30 MLB teams, about the same in runs scored, but significantly better in on base average. They’re pretty bad in slugging pct and home runs as you’d expect. What this all indicates to me is that they need some power (they need Beltran back pretty badly) obviously but they could improve things a lot with a better lineup. And that lineup doesn’t include Matthews or Jacobs.

I don’t understand their thinking. Didn’t any fantasy player know that Mike Jacobs and Gary Matthews were real reaches? Did they really think Gary Matthews was a significant improvement over Angel Pagan? Did they think Mike Jacobs was going to be more consistent? And how long are they going to stay with these guys? Sure, Jacobs hit one out yesterday, but with him, it’s a roll of the dice, loaded dice against the roller.

The Mets have been unlucky too, I might add. Yeah, they lost three games of four by tight margins, but they’ve also been victimized by nice plays and they haven’t had much luck at third base defensively, with Wright unable to come up with hard ground shots to the third base side twice that I can remember. Tatis can’t really play a nice third base either. So put him at first.

But there’s no reason to panic. For Manuel to say they weren’t ready isn’t really accurate to my mind. They were ready. They just aren’t good enough hitters as a group to hit Livan Hernandez, who pitched a beauty of a game. He apparently was “up” for the game, facing his former teammates, for most of whom he’s pretty familiar.

Francesa is saying this afternoon that Manuel is feeling the heat, that he needs a good start, and that after six games, pressing the panic button indicates your job is in jeopardy. And maybe that’s true. Jerry says a lot of stuff, including yesterday something about revelation that was particularly pithy, I thought.

Rather than feeling for his job though, I think Manuel was just trying to take the heat away from the players, some of whom have really been pitiful and most of whom have been average. Maybe he’s taking responsibility for that stupid lineup he’s been putting on the field. Maybe he’s protecting Minaya, who, if there is a culprit in these proceedings, should really be at fault.

The roster is unbalanced really, with too many outfielders and not enough corner infielders. With this team, to have either Pagan or Matthews on the bench while guys like Jacobs and Tatis are in the lineup, is not really sensible.

And yes, I know Daniel Murphy’s coming back to play first.

Those Special Players

Every good team has one or more special players, players who aren’t only terrific players by themselves at their position, but whose talent and effort inspire greater play from all the players around them. If one of these players is hurt, you wonder how his team can win without him. If he’s on the field, you spend a week trying to figure out how to take him out of the action.

The eight teams playing this weekend have their own special players. Some of them are hurt, allegedly at least….you can never really tell with the scarceness of information available to the public. You thus can’t gauge how effective that player will be in the game, how long he’ll play and whether he’ll become just a normal player in terms of effectiveness. It’s usually a question mark whether his replacement is any good.

Take Kevin Mawae, for example. He’s “just” the center for the Titans, but on a team as run-oriented they are, it’s a big hit on them if they lose Mawae, especially if his replacement can’t play. As it turns out, Mawae’s just been officially listed as “out”, very bad news for the Titans.

Tennessee wasn’t able to run on 12/28 against the Colts, losing 23-0. They had a bye for the first week of the playoffs. Against a Ravens defense that stuffs the run, you have to like the Ravens chances for an upset. The Ravens have at least two special players on defense, LB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed, and they’re healthy.

Of course Tennessee also has a big-time defense, featuring linemen Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vandenbosch. But they’re coming off recent injuries and their performance on Saturday is thus open to question. All in all, I’d say it’ll be bye-bye Titans in a relatively low-scoring affair. The Ravens will pound the ball and dominate time of possession, which ordinarily would be the Titans type of game. But not tomorrow. Ravens 16-13.

The 4:30 game tomorrow pits the surprising Arizona Cards against the tough Carolina Panthers at Carolina. Special players abound for the Panthers and they’re all healthy. Those two tough running backs, DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, and Steve Smith, wide receiver extraordinaire, are all ready to go. On defense, they have Julius Peppers ready for bear, or, um, bird.

The Cards looked special last week against the Falcons but they could be without Anquan Boldin, or he’ll play somewhat nicked-up. That’s a huge hit, the Panthers will just concentrate on stopping Fitzgerald. The Cards have Breaston too but he’s not Boldin. And Edgerrin James won’t make the difference either. Look for the Panthers to score a lot and the Cards to try keeping up all game, unsuccessfully. It’ll be Panthers 30-20. Pray that Kurt Warner lasts the entire game.

Sunday’s first game has our G-Men facing the Eagles at Giants Stadium. The most special Giants players are gone for one reason or another. The real superstar, Osi Umenyiora, is the guy who made Eagles tackle Winston Justice look so bad last year. He may not look so bad against a nicked-up Justin Tuck.

The Eagles have their own special guys, McNabb and Westbrook, of course, but you might add DeSean Jackson to that list. They’re all healthy and coming off some very big wins, one of which was against the Giants. The Eagles also sport some very nice secondary people, big-hitter Brian Dawkins and a guy named Asante Samuel.

The Giants only special feature is their running game. As impressive as it can be, I don’t think it will be on Sunday. The Eagles will put eight in the box all afternoon. They’ll force Manning to pass to those workmanlike receivers, Toomer and Smith and Hixon.

Although you could make a case for Brandon Jacobs and that offensive line being very special, it won’t be enough against a team playing run. I don’t see anybody stretching the field for the Giants. Sunday will make the loss of Plaxico very apparent indeed.

The Giants inability to exert any pressure on McNabb will create more than a few opportunities for long (and usually boring) Eagles drives. The Eagles should be able to take the lead and then probably force some turnovers from Eli and those wide-outs in the second half. The Eagles inability to score in the red zone will continue though, thus depressing the score somewhat, but it’ll still be Eagles 26-20.

The Chargers face the Steelers in Sunday’s late game. The Chargers have some special players in their quarterback, Philip Rivers, and their tight end, Antonio Gates. They’ll be without LaDainian though, and Darren Sproles may find the Steelers a harder bunch to hide from than were the Falcons.

The Steelers have Troy Polamalu who has been just unbelievable all year. He stops everything, the run, the pass, you name it. Then there’s that Defensive MVP James Harrison and a fella named Farrior who’s usually quite good, especially against the pass.

I just can’t imagine the Chargers winning this one. Rivers has been great this year, but he’ll have less time than he’s used to getting, and his receivers will be covered. Sproles will be stopped. The Steelers behind Roethlisberger will display some long, boring drives of their own. The Chargers won’t be able to stop it, despite having a couple of good corners. Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward will catch their share of short ones and that should set up the running game.

Especially considering that the weather will be horrible, cold and windy in Pittsburgh, it’s all over but the shouting, except for Steelers fans, of course, who should be raising quite a ruckus most of the day. This one could even get ugly, depending upon how much poise the Chargers can muster late in the game. All things considered, I’d think it’ll be about 35-20 in the Steelers favor, the 35 to include a couple of defensive TD’s off Chargers fumbles and interceptions.

Then it’ll be Eagles-Panthers and Ravens-Steelers. Those will be wars.

Giants Eat Ravens - Mangini Eats Crow

Gee, if it weren’t for the economy going to hell and everyone’s retirement money going into the abyss, no jobs around or even on the horizon and state and local budgets going farther into the red, we’d have to be happy campers here in New York, unless you have to rake the leaves, of course. Then you have a real problem.

What can you say? The G-Men look invincible, the Jets refuse to lose and even the Knicks and Nets aren’t going down without a fight these days. Every day seems to bring with it new wonders. Even baseball fans can look forward to the next big signing, after Nick Swisher, that is.

Invincible? I don’t know that that’s the right word for it, but those Giants surely made some kind of statement against the Ravens on Sunday. Everyone seemed to be expecting a very close game as the Baltimore defense had been allowing almost nothing on the ground. It was Ray Lewis this and Ray Lewis that, and surely the Ravens stable of running backs, featuring Willis McGahee and Rutgers own Ray Rice would challenge the G-Men’s front seven.

It sure didn’t turn out that way. The Ravens running game was stuffed. Jersey’s own Joe Flacco, the rookie QB, was the leading rusher with 57 yards, the rest were in the teens. In fact, the biggest surprise in every respect was Flacco, who gave the Giants fits, both with his arms and legs.

But the issue was never in doubt. The tone was set from the first drive of the game, when Jacobs got hit behind the line, shrugged it off, and wheeled around to his left for about 40 yards, rendering quite a few Ravens tough guys on the ground before going out of bounds. When he crashed into the end zone a few plays later, it was pretty much all she wrote.

The Jets were less awesome to be sure, but they managed to beat their perennial nemesis, New England. I would have preferred a game with less Jets lead squandering and more convincing defense but it wasn’t to be. Favre had to save their butts in overtime after some Mangini over-think allowed the Pats to tie the game on its last play.

I won’t belabor the point but the Genius abandoned what had been working all game to present the most appropriate possible defense for the situation, classic over-think, and of course he ate crow.

In fact, the best characterization of the weekend is to say that the Giants ate the Ravens while Mangini ate crow. Not to be cruel but the Jets should be winning more easily with the talent they have. They’ll make the playoffs but Mangini will make every game an adventure. Not that I don’t like the man. Heh-heh.

Oh, and Leon Washington is just super. So is Kris Jenkins. Okay, enough about the Jets. They’re almost certain to be a disappointment in the final analysis.

How good is it to see Mike D’Antoni’s influence paying off for the Knicks? Although they lost a tough one last time out against the tough Mavericks, when Dirk Nowitzki went crazy and the Knickerbockers went very very cold (for the first time), they are 6-4 and will face the Celtics tonight sans Kevin Garnett, who was suspended a game for hitting Andrew Bogut in the face. (Yeah, I know, just a game suspension for hitting somebody in the face)?

The Nets are a very surprising 4-5 after beating what had been thought to be a tough Atlanta Hawks team twice in a row. The guard they got in exchange for Kidd, Devin Harris, has been pretty phenomenal and is making the Nets management look very good indeed, especially considering the fact that draftees Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson are both proving they play some pretty good basketball in those West Coast colleges.

Hockey? Sorry, I don’t do hockey. And neither do the Devils this year by all accounts.

Then, of course, there are the Yankees. Let me remind my readers that I truly hate the Yankees, not the players, of course, but the management. No, let me be more specific than that, it’s GM Brian Cashman who bugs me (lately).

Nevertheless, I do pay attention to their doings, if just to be able to pick on Cashman a little bit more. I hate that the Yanks are going after Sabathia, one of the very best pitchers in the game, but who is just not a good fit for the Yankees. (Time will prove me right on this one if he is stupid enough to take their offer). Sabathia’s a free spirit whose fire will go out on that humorless team.

But I must say I love their signing of free agent Nick Swisher. Here’s a guy who is coming off a very mediocre last year but who had two pretty good years before that. Here’s a guy who plays the game hard, takes a lot of pitches at the plate, and can play any outfield position in addition to first base. For a team with needs at both positions,it was a brilliant move, and one that will be a good fit for both team and player. Good move, Brian, for once.

My favorite team, the Mets, will make its fans agonize for a month or so before GM Omar Minaya gets us a closer, and probably make us wait even longer than that to fill out the rest of the bullpen. I remain concerned that the Mets will trade Beltran, my favorite Mets player. (What’s not to like? He does everything well).

While there has been talk of the Mets acquiring a bigtime closer in free agency (Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes), there have also been rumors of trading for Bobby Jenks. While I’d love to get Jenks, it makes me wonder who’s on his way to Chicago. And the White Sox will be needing an outfielder.

I’m thinking I should brace myself for disappointment.