Pay Attention, Baseball Fans

Yeah, they’re worried…bigtime. CC getting beat, Arod slumping, Teixeira showing nothing at all and Jeter striking out 3 times yesterday. But, even after watching Burnett throw a gem last night, they still don’t trust him to throw another. Life is good for a Mets fan and Yankee-hater.

I love seeing Yankees fans torture themselves. Is there anything better than watching them agonize? Unfortunately, they survived Game 2. The joy I had anticipated of witnessing their total unraveling as they went down 2-zip to Pedro can’t happen now. I’ll have to live with them still thinking their Bronx bumblers have a chance against the World Champion Phillies. They’ll be a little less frantic now. Too bad.

What a melodrama! First it was CC this and CC that and how the big guy was unhittable. Nine innings later, it was their anxiety over A.J. Burnett, how inconsistent he’s been, how big his contract was. It went something like this, “He got the big money to win in the post-season. He’d better show that he’s the pitcher the Yanks thought they were getting when they plunked down the 82 million.”

Those crazed fans were actually starting to turn back the clock, to turn back to the times when Joba was dominant out there, before Cashman and Girardi started playing with his innings. Joba would save them, Joba would show that fight and determination he displayed in his early outings, Joba would mow down the Phillies and take his rightful place amongst all those great Yankee arms of yesteryear.

Imagine if they had lost again and Arod’s 3 strikeouts had been staring them in the face. Not to mention Teixeira’s lackluster performance so far. And let’s not even talk about middle-relief! Do you want to give them a heart attack? They’ve totally dumped on Hughes and Joba as a middle reliever. They are now actually thinking that Damaso Marte will somehow save them.

But A.J. really was magnificent last night. Too bad! Looking at the bright side though, their agony will be more prolonged this way. If they had been 2-zip down, Yankee fans may have just given up early and waited for the sweep. Now they can feel they’re still in it.

They can look forward to their hero Pettitte somehow regaining his old late-Nineties form. And, even though their hero-worship of CC seems done (there was talk of giving Sabathia his 4 days rest), they can still hope for a reincarnation from the big man and a less masterful performance from Yankee-killer Cliff Lee.

But, to be honest, it’s hard for me to root against some of these Yankees. This team reminds me of those Nineties Yankees of Tino and Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams and Scottie Brosius, all hustlers, all team guys, and yes, even Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada too. And of course Mariano, who saved their butts last night with his six-out save. And Girardi, who managed a perfect game last night but had been Posada’s backup then.

How can you root against Mark Teixeira? I still recall his winning that infamous Mets-Yanks Castillo-drop game. Yes, Luis lost the game but Teixeira won it too, by running out that apparent routine fly ball, all the way from first to home so that when Castillo picked the ball up, there was no chance to get Teixeira. And just last week he covered second base because that’s what he was supposed to do.

How can you root against Godzilla? So tough in the clutch, seemingly always, and once again last night. Or Swisher, who’s been castigated far and wide in Yankee-Land for his recent troubles at the plate. Or Johnny Damon, who may be playing his last World Series in New York, but so ably led the Red Sox over the Yanks in that fateful 2004 ALCS.

So it’s not the individuals a Yankee-hater hates. It’s just the fact that the Yankees have all these great players at all. But, even with all the furious buying activity over the years, they’ve not been past an ALCS since 2004, watching other teams take the AL crown, the Tigers or the Red Sox or even the Tampa Bay Rays.

So I wouldn’t be heartbroken if the Yanks won this Series because they have a great team. Great teams should win the World Series. And they should have to beat another great team to be able to call themselves champions.

And the Phillies are a great team. As fearsome as the Yanks lineup is, the Phillies can match them overall, both in the lineup, on the field, on the mound and in the bullpen. Before last night, the Phillies seemed to think the Series would be a walk-over, a 5-game affair as per Jimmy Rollins, their mercurially-mouthed shortstop.

We can all look forward to Game 3 now as each game seems to have its own little storyline. Game 1 will be memorable for CC and Lee, for Game 2 it will be Burnett emerging as a bigtime playoffs and Series pitcher besting crafty old Pedro Martinez, who was gallant for a full six and even went out there for a 7th.

Yeah, the story has been pitching so far but you know that with the sheer numbers of hitters on both these worthy Series opponents, the bats won’t be so silent much longer. Game 3 goes deeper into those pitching rotations, pitting what has this year been a very hittable Hamel against another old Nineties Yankee in Andy Pettitte.

The younger fellow, Burnett, outpitched his older counterpart last night and I suspect that that scenario will repeat itself tomorrow night. But then it’ll be CC-Lee II and one wonders whether the replay will yield quite different results. And how things will go from there.

That’s all you could want in a Series really. This is the Series I wanted and it’s playing out as I had imagined. Pay attention, baseball fans, because you may not be seeing a Series like this again for quite some time.

Little Moves for a Long Stretch Run

Vacations are great but mine was interrupted by news from home, bad news mostly, especially from Pittsburgh, as the strange people manning the lineup for the Mets slogged their way through the schedule. Swimming’s nice, for sure, or just catching the rays (no, not those Rays), but as long as there’s access to a cable TV, you just can’t get away from how mediocre this sorry collection of a Mets team has become.

Today’s lineup doescn’t seem so bad though, not with Church back (even though he has a long way to go to regain my good graces) and manning right field, and Cora’s return to the lineup. And omigosh! There’s Brian Schneider catching. How’d they convince HIM to finally play? And holy cow! There’s the phee-nom, the guy too good to run out a fly ball, none other than Fernando Martinez.

Our heroes had a hell of a first inning though today, highlighted for me by doubles from two guys in my doghouse, Church and Martinez. Beltran has cooled off considerably though, and is now back to batting .340 after reaching the heights of the batting average leaders list. But at least the lineup looks like a major league lineup. That hasn’t been the case for some time now.

Of course the Phillies kept winning and winning, except when Lidge got involved. Lidge, the Phils non-closer, is keeping the Mets “in it”, although that term must be used advisedly, given all the injuries and the way they’ve been running the bases. That might be the saddest thing. Just when the team has needed to play smart, it’s been coming up dumb.

Still though, they are three games behind the Phils. That’s not too bad, and speaks to some strength throughout the organization. The only position that couldn’t be adequately manned lately was shortstop and that situation has just been ridiculous, something that couldn’t be dreamed up. Wilson Valdez has so far been almost adequate at filling in. But really, he’s been the fourth alternative, after Reyes, Cora and the other Martinez, Ramon.

All in all, we’ve seen a lot of outfielders, Sheffield and Reed and Tatis, and a lot of infielders and catchers. And nobody has really flopped, even Emil Brown, recently acquired and probably on his way out the door. Murphy has looked pretty good at first base after his adventures in left field, and, who knows, this team may even be ready to face the Phillies and Yanks in their next two series.

The pitching will match up pretty well, that’s for sure. Santana opens up against Happ, and the third game features Redding against old man Moyer. Game Two doesn’t look promising though, with Pelfrey going against Phils ace Cole Hamels. But, on paper anyway, the Mets should be able to pitch with the Phils and maybe take two out of three.

Then there’s the Yankees series and, well, who knows what could happen to our heroes between now and then. The biggest hurt for the blue team is the loss of J.J. Putz for a long, long time. But even with the loss of Putz, the Mets should be able to withstand it if Purcell, who has shown some ability, can handle the setup role. The Yanks aren’t loaded with relief themselves.

So lighten up, Mets fans. Sure, the Bombers have more power. They have some pretty fair starting pitching too, but if you can get into that relief corps, there’s a lot of room for cutting into a lead, or even extending a lead, if it could ever come to that. Just remember the rest of the division isn’t that great either, and the Phils can’t stay hot forever. Joe’s Dodgers have aleady provided a bit of the ice.

If the Mets can break even in these next two series, and there’s really no reason to think that they can’t, they’ll have survived and treaded water, if you will, while getting just killed with injuries. That’s not too shabby. Before you know it, Reyes will be back, and maybe he’ll really add some spark this time.

With Reyes back at short, with Castillo and Cora handling second, with a Murphy starting to look comfortable at first, and the hot-hitting David at third base, the Mets will once again be solid in the infield.

Church’s return, especially if he can start hitting, will help an outfield situation that really hasn’t looked too bad in the first place. Reed has looked good, and Tatis and Sheffield have been pretty much as expected. But the starting outfield should probably be Beltran, Church and Sheffield or Tatis and that’s not too problematic in my book. I think Sheffield hits better when he plays the field; it’s the DH position that he apparently can’t really handle.

It seems every Mets fan I turn to is looking for another bat. But surely with Beltran, Wright and Sheffield, the team should be able to score some runs. I’d much rather see a relief pitcher to replace Putz if there are any that become available. Delgado will be back before you know it (August).

The list of teams with big bats that go nowhere is a long one, much longer than the list of unsuccessful teams with good starters and an even stronger relief corps. Especially playing in CitiField, isn’t it built for pitching? Wouldn’t the Mets have less risk if they replaced the big arm they lost?

A move more typical of Omar was the one that moved reserve catcher Juan Castro to the White Sox for a pitcher, Lance Broadway. Hopefully, Mr. Broadway will soon live up to his name up in AAA Buffalo.

More than ever maybe, this pennant race is proving to be a long one, not unlike yesterday’s Belmont. The winner got the better trip while the stronger horse faltered in the stretch after showing some rankness after about 6 furlongs.

Maybe all this early misfortune will make this Mets horse a little stronger in the stretch.

Omar's Home for the Aged

I've heard all season how much talent there is on the Mets. I myself picked these Mets to win the NL pennant this year, but it seems as if that prognostication may have been wishful thinking. In GM Omar Minaya's zeal to maximize experience on his roster, he may have forgotten just how much experience these old fellas really have.

Do you want adventure? Just hit a grounder to the Mets right side. Carlos Delgado, the erstwhile slugger and first baseman, will give that ground ball his best effort every single time. That usually means a swipe at the ball; his feet begin to move as the ball passes the lip of the infield.

Delgado’s bat, to be kind, doesn't inspire fear in opponents anymore. For a player who keeps and consults a hitting chart, he seems to be a slow learner. Pitch him outside, he'll try to pull it anyway, the result usually being a ground ball to second base into a shift. For the record, Carlos will be 36 in June and this is his 16th year in the majors. I wonder if his birth certificate shares a lot of the same characteristics as the one Miguel Tejada's been showing around.

Next to Carlos is already oft-injured Luis Castillo, who is a good little fielder but has become totally ineffective at the plate. Just for the record, Luis is just 32 but this is his 14th year in the major leagues. That's a lot of ground balls, a lot of bending, a lot of everything. It seems to have taken its toll.

We Mets fans anxiously await the arrival of Moises Alou. Moises will be 42 in July. This will be his umpteenth year in the majors and he does sport a .303 career batting average along with 332 home runs. But he played only 123 games in 2005 playing for his Dad in San Francisco, then just 98 games in 2006 for the Giants, then just 87 last year for the Mets. Does one detect a pattern here?

Then there is my favorite pitcher, Pedro Martinez. Pedro pitched a few innings in his first start before grabbing his hammy. He's now expected to return to the mound in 10 days. Which mound that might be I have no idea. Pedro will be 37 in October and, hopefully he'll be getting a World Series ring for his special day. For the money he's getting, though, why can't he make an appearance once in a while?

The long line of aging superstars continues. There is also El Duque, Orlando Hernandez. He'll be 39 in October. He just had surgery on his right foot but the boot won't come off for another two weeks.

I suppose I should be thankful that Delgado and Castillo at least play. If Delgado goes down for some reason, we're left with journeyman pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson, who is 34 years old. Of course, Marlon hasn't been too successful at pinch-hitting this year, but, what the hell, it's still only April, right?

There are only 10 current Mets players born after the year 1978. Six of them are pitchers. The position players are Jose Reyes, David Wright, Angel Pagan and the new backup catcher, Gustavo Molina. Pagan is supposed to be replaced by Alou. Is it surprising to anyone that the best performances thus far have been put in by these same young whipper-snappers. (Ryan Church will be 30 in October).

I should point out that Omar has done much better in the pitching arena. Johan Santana has been terrific as expected. Oliver Perez and John Maine are two other fine arms acquired by Minaya. They provide hope, as does Mike Pelfrey, another young starter, and even recently-acquired Nelson Figueroa. That's a pretty fair rotation, even if Pedro and El Duque never show their faces again.

So there is still hope for Mets fans. We have had our share of bad luck. Three grand slams have been given up by the relief corps. Even for a bad staff, that would be rather unfortuitous. Aaron Heilman surrendered one. Jorge Sosa surrendered the other two, and I suspect we'll be seeing less of Mr. Sosa in the near future.

The regulars, though, have to start playing to their potential. The chemistry has been bad. If not for Angel Pagan and Ryan Church, two of the most unlikely heroic figures one could imagine, we might have a much worse record. We could be the National League Tigers.

Jose Reyes, David Wright and especially Carlos Beltran have to be more consistent. Beltran has been somewhat hampered by his "new legs", I think, and it seems to have sapped some of his power. He also has hit a LOT of line drives directly at fielders. I think Beltran will get better and better, and, if he does, he is capable of carrying this team all by himself.

It is also entirely possible that Delgado has taken his batting problems into the field with him. But this is the Major Leagues. Life is tough. If Delgado can’t work his way out of his current funk, Willie will really have to start managing, starting with replacing Delgado for defensive purposes in close games.

Willie has been slow to react to situations. A perfect example of this is his hard-headedness with respect to batting Castillo second, despite stats reflecting the team’s total ineffectiveness and abysmal won-loss record when that is the case.

Willie has attacked Pagan for no good reason except to solidify Alou’s place in left field upon his return. He’s been insistent on keeping Heilman in his place in the relieving rotation despite every indication that that might not be prudent. Yet he’s been remarkably supportive of Brian Schneider, the oft-injured catcher.

Can Willie manage? A team this old needs a manager, perhaps a real gunslinger, somebody who’ll recognize when a change is needed and then make it. So far, he’s just dug in his heels, fighting the tide going against him.