Just like old times watching Aaron Heilman on the mound for Arizona trying to save it for the DBacks. He walks Jeter, walks Swisher….let’s see, there must be a Yankee he’s willing to pitch to. If he decides to pitch to Teixeira, it could get ugly.
Teixeira goes to 0 and 2. Now a foul ball. He gets Teixeira on a hard ground ball to first but the runners move up. Arod then sac flies Jeter…tie score…blown save… Heilman strikes again. He walks Cano intentionally. Let’s see if he can push the Yanks out of reach totally for an Arizona comeback.
Oh baby! He gets Cervelli to 0 and 2. He might just get out of this with just the blown save. And he does it! He strikes out Cervelli on a hard outside fastball. I’m glad the DBacks have him though. I had enough Heilman for several lifetimes as a Met.
Meanwhile, actually several hours ago, the Mets won again. And R.A. Dickey won again! It looked easy for him too. But Manuel didn’t let him finish it out. He figured K-Rod needed the work, they pointed out from the booth, a booth that actually contained Jerry Seinfeld for a while today. Perfect….Keith, Jerry and Gary Cohen. Nirvana.
But it’s been hard for me to concentrate on baseball at all, what with all the soccer action. (Granderson just hit one out for the Yanks to put them ahead). Watching the Americans squander opportunity after opportunity was driving me to distraction. When Donovan finally kicked in an easy one off a rebound, it was long overdue but no less welcome.
What a finish! It’s great to hear some nice things about this American team after two relatively lackluster performances against England and then Slovenia. But the win yesterday not only got them into the second round, it got them first place in Group C, which gives them Ghana and not Germany. That will probably wind up being big.
I can’t say though that I think Ghana will be any easier than any of the other tough games the Americans have played. On both offense and defense, they seem rather ordinary. They either get lots of lost scoring chances or let in an easy one, or give the crooked officials (I now, that’s way harsh but really) a chance to take the scores away.
But they wound up winning Group C. Pretty amazing, considering England was in the same Group C. Not that I found the Orange particularly good. So maybe the USA is for real, whatever that might wind up meaning. To me, the South Americans look pretty good in this tournament but I suppose we’ll be finding out in good time who’re the real soccer powers in 2010.
Another distraction from baseball for me has been Wimbledon. There’s nothing quite like warm weather and good tennis and white togs on everybody. But today’s action was ridiculous, one match going into a quite ridiculous number of sets in the longest match of all time. And it actually wound up being boring. That’s way too long….go with the tie breaker
Then there’s the drama surrounding LeBron James as to where he’ll be packing his sneakers next year, and almost as much intrigue as to how the NBA Draft will play out, for our local Nets especially. I’m thinking LeBron will wind up with Chicago when all is said and done. He’s from Cleveland, and Chicago’s not that far from home, compared to New York. And things worked out pretty well for Michael Jordan in Chicago.
What a way to make them forget Jordan! Play in the same town, win a few Championships and it’ll be Michael Who? I think Miami will be too hot, New York or New Jersey will be too iffy, and LA will be too slick. It’ll be Chicago.
And as for the Nets, unless Rod Thorn is the best actor in the world, he doesn’t sound sold on any of the players that will be there for his turn at number three. So there’ll be a trade in the Nets future. It’s anybody’s guess who they may be eying. I keep reading about power forwards they might want, and how the top available guys just aren’t optimal.
Maybe new Nets owner Prokhorov will bring in a big Russian, someone along the lines of the gigantic Russian in Rocky III. At least it would be more interesting.
Despite all the background noise though, it would be hard to be totally distracted from the Mets. They’ve been playing great baseball for quite some time now, and, as the core of this team has come on, Reyes and Wright especially, so have the Mets.
Reyes was big again last night, leading off the game with a big triple and then getting stranded but Reyes wasn’t done yet. With two outs in the third, he singled, stole second and scored the game’s first run when Wright delivered a big double. In the 5th, he hit a long homer to right, longer than you’d have thought possible.
Detroit finally managed to get him out in the 7th but by then the game was over. Dickey was rolling and the Tigers were toothless. So it wound up 5-0 at the end of things and the Mets were never threatened. They had achieved another CitiField win, a commonplace event in this remarkable 2010 season.
So Wright and Reyes have been finally fulfilling expectations. Jason Bay, even with his four hits the previous night, still seems too happy to walk in every at-bat, a trait that really isn’t that easy to understand from a guy who’s supposed to drive in runs.
But all’s well for the Mets. Except for the latest muckraking concerning Johan Santana, just about everything’s looking good. I’m hoping Pagan isn’t too seriously hurt after his removal from the game yesterday. Angel Pagan has been amazing.
So good in fact that Mets fans are now hoping Beltran just stays right where he is.
Showing posts with label Pagan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pagan. Show all posts
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Necessity the Mother of Invention
I’m so glad I waited until after last night’s Atlanta game before making any idiotic commentary on the state of the Mets. I had been so disheartened after watching them lose four in a row. A wild pitch, a ridiculous Perez start, a Maine walking marathon, and then still another loss after a promising starter, Jonathon Niese, hurt himself. Things were looking decidedly down for our intrepid heroes.
But then there was Monday night, a new day and a new pitcher, one Mike Pelfrey, who couldn’t take his turn last time out for a shoulder twinge, or something equally ominous-sounding. But the big guy was back for last night’s game and the whole team played better. Especially nice was seeing some slick fielding to accompany some timely hitting by Barajas and some opportunistic base-running from Jose Reyes, once again a leadoff man.
The lineup issues may continue, it’s anybody’s guess, but this lineup had newbie Carter hitting in the cleanup spot and he was pretty damned impressive (1-2, run, rbi). Bay moved to the 3-hole and of course, the worst hitter in the free world, Gary Matthews, batted eighth after Barajas, who continued his torrid and timely hitting by driving in two with a hard double in the left center gap.
But the Mets finally finished on top, and Pelfrey was the biggest reason for it.
But the great game followed an organizational meeting attended by none other than owner Jeff Wilpon and GM Omar Minaya. So things were tense before the game and will probably continue that way for quite some time. It’s quite amusing to me that that brain-trust came up with a lineup that put a rookie in the cleanup spot and removed Angel Pagan from the lineup altogether.
But I love it. First they bring up Ike Davis, who outperformed Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis by a long shot. Now they strike gold again with Chris Carter, who supposedly can’t play right field but can hit that ball a good lick. So the brain-trust came up roses.
That a 35-year-old knuckleballer is going to start Wednesday is also pretty interesting. It says to me that they’re getting really imaginative, thinking out of the box, something this organization needs. The same old thinking, fielding an experienced lineup of journeymen retreads, clearly wasn’t working. The last of those might be Matthews, who must have something on somebody to stay on the roster at all.
It’s easy to have mixed feelings right now. You’re happy to not only beat Atlanta in the opener, but to do it the way they did, by playing good baseball all around. At the same time though, you worry about Wednesday and hope Santana can win later today.
You worry about Wednesday because it’ll still be one more starter coming up from the minors, and this time a really veteran knuckler. R.A. Dickey. And truthfully, you worry going forward to Thursday when John Maine takes the mound again after his 13 straight balls in his last putrid start fresh in your mind and nasal cavities.
Then it’ll be Hisanori Takahashi going on Friday against the Yankees. Holy cow! as Phil would have exclaimed. Takahashi replaces Ollie Perez in the rotation, of course, and Perez will take his place as a long reliever. You can’t say it’s not interesting.
And can they be shopping Pagan? Is that why he wasn’t in the lineup? Pagan is a very serviceable commodity in their outfield, and with Beltran coming back and Fernando Martinez still another significant minor league presence, it would make sense to trade for a pitcher, and I’m sure Pagan may even get one.
The Mets are certainly showing some resourcefulness lately. Plato wasn’t a Mets fan but he did call it when he talked about necessity being the mother of invention. The Mets have been really needy lately too.
Even the Yankees are showing some neediness lately though. They got a walkoff dinger from Marcus Thames last night off Boston’s Papelbon, and that came exactly one night after pulling Joba for loading the bases and inserting a none too healthy Mariano Rivera for a 5-out save, a move that really puzzled me at the time, another one of those inexplicable Girardi brain farts.
I’m just happy Girardi’s in the Bronx. The Mets have enough problems. But it’s hard for Girardi to fall on his butt what with Gardner spelling Granderson with flash and even power and a guy like Thames on the bench. We have Tatis and Matthews.
The Mets future depends a lot on whether Maine can show some toughness for once and come back strong in his next start, and, hopefully for a few starts after that. To have to drop one of your starters from the rotation (Perez) is bad enough; to have to drop two would be disastrous, especially if Niese’s hamstring injury, which appears relatively minor as this is written, winds up being serious.
If Maine should continue to falter, and if Niese can’t return, the Mets almost have to make a deal for a pitcher. I can imagine any number of inventive deals down the line, involving just about any serviceable, and thus trade-able, player, either Pagan or possibly even a Carlos Beltran, certainly a more than serviceable commodity, one who has been and probably will be, an enormous distraction.
If things get really crazy, and if the Mets can’t turn it around, I suppose there will be nothing sacrosanct about the manager’s position. I’ve always got a big kick out of Jerry Manuel, but I have to wonder whether some of the problems, especially the weak performances from Wright, Reyes and Bay, aren’t due, at least in part, to Manuel’s own inventiveness, some of which may not have been out of necessity.
The inventiveness could even extend all the way to Omar Minaya, who has to take the hit for Ollie Perez, his most conspicuous error but certainly not the only one.
Last place tends to accentuate all the necessities.
But then there was Monday night, a new day and a new pitcher, one Mike Pelfrey, who couldn’t take his turn last time out for a shoulder twinge, or something equally ominous-sounding. But the big guy was back for last night’s game and the whole team played better. Especially nice was seeing some slick fielding to accompany some timely hitting by Barajas and some opportunistic base-running from Jose Reyes, once again a leadoff man.
The lineup issues may continue, it’s anybody’s guess, but this lineup had newbie Carter hitting in the cleanup spot and he was pretty damned impressive (1-2, run, rbi). Bay moved to the 3-hole and of course, the worst hitter in the free world, Gary Matthews, batted eighth after Barajas, who continued his torrid and timely hitting by driving in two with a hard double in the left center gap.
But the Mets finally finished on top, and Pelfrey was the biggest reason for it.
But the great game followed an organizational meeting attended by none other than owner Jeff Wilpon and GM Omar Minaya. So things were tense before the game and will probably continue that way for quite some time. It’s quite amusing to me that that brain-trust came up with a lineup that put a rookie in the cleanup spot and removed Angel Pagan from the lineup altogether.
But I love it. First they bring up Ike Davis, who outperformed Mike Jacobs and Fernando Tatis by a long shot. Now they strike gold again with Chris Carter, who supposedly can’t play right field but can hit that ball a good lick. So the brain-trust came up roses.
That a 35-year-old knuckleballer is going to start Wednesday is also pretty interesting. It says to me that they’re getting really imaginative, thinking out of the box, something this organization needs. The same old thinking, fielding an experienced lineup of journeymen retreads, clearly wasn’t working. The last of those might be Matthews, who must have something on somebody to stay on the roster at all.
It’s easy to have mixed feelings right now. You’re happy to not only beat Atlanta in the opener, but to do it the way they did, by playing good baseball all around. At the same time though, you worry about Wednesday and hope Santana can win later today.
You worry about Wednesday because it’ll still be one more starter coming up from the minors, and this time a really veteran knuckler. R.A. Dickey. And truthfully, you worry going forward to Thursday when John Maine takes the mound again after his 13 straight balls in his last putrid start fresh in your mind and nasal cavities.
Then it’ll be Hisanori Takahashi going on Friday against the Yankees. Holy cow! as Phil would have exclaimed. Takahashi replaces Ollie Perez in the rotation, of course, and Perez will take his place as a long reliever. You can’t say it’s not interesting.
And can they be shopping Pagan? Is that why he wasn’t in the lineup? Pagan is a very serviceable commodity in their outfield, and with Beltran coming back and Fernando Martinez still another significant minor league presence, it would make sense to trade for a pitcher, and I’m sure Pagan may even get one.
The Mets are certainly showing some resourcefulness lately. Plato wasn’t a Mets fan but he did call it when he talked about necessity being the mother of invention. The Mets have been really needy lately too.
Even the Yankees are showing some neediness lately though. They got a walkoff dinger from Marcus Thames last night off Boston’s Papelbon, and that came exactly one night after pulling Joba for loading the bases and inserting a none too healthy Mariano Rivera for a 5-out save, a move that really puzzled me at the time, another one of those inexplicable Girardi brain farts.
I’m just happy Girardi’s in the Bronx. The Mets have enough problems. But it’s hard for Girardi to fall on his butt what with Gardner spelling Granderson with flash and even power and a guy like Thames on the bench. We have Tatis and Matthews.
The Mets future depends a lot on whether Maine can show some toughness for once and come back strong in his next start, and, hopefully for a few starts after that. To have to drop one of your starters from the rotation (Perez) is bad enough; to have to drop two would be disastrous, especially if Niese’s hamstring injury, which appears relatively minor as this is written, winds up being serious.
If Maine should continue to falter, and if Niese can’t return, the Mets almost have to make a deal for a pitcher. I can imagine any number of inventive deals down the line, involving just about any serviceable, and thus trade-able, player, either Pagan or possibly even a Carlos Beltran, certainly a more than serviceable commodity, one who has been and probably will be, an enormous distraction.
If things get really crazy, and if the Mets can’t turn it around, I suppose there will be nothing sacrosanct about the manager’s position. I’ve always got a big kick out of Jerry Manuel, but I have to wonder whether some of the problems, especially the weak performances from Wright, Reyes and Bay, aren’t due, at least in part, to Manuel’s own inventiveness, some of which may not have been out of necessity.
The inventiveness could even extend all the way to Omar Minaya, who has to take the hit for Ollie Perez, his most conspicuous error but certainly not the only one.
Last place tends to accentuate all the necessities.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Three Words for Mets Panners
In mid-winter every four years, a young man’s mind must surely turn to the thrill of watching the sport of curling….a cold and slick variation, it would seem, of horseshoes or maybe bocce, except for two crazed assistant sliders who accompany this foot-long disk down the ice, somehow magically determining whether the disk will attain its target. Gimme a friggin’ break….and pardon my Latvian.
Latvia, of course, was in the Olympic news as they faced off against their captor Russians in ice-hockey. That thriller could be witnessed on MSNBC also while the regular NBC affiliate carried the ever more popular men’s (using the term very loosely) ice skating. Woo_Hoo!!
And all that nonsense is still more interesting than college basketball and the NBA, where too many teams are chasing too little talent in a star system with not enough stars to go around. And the Knicks might even get Tracy McGrady…about 6 or 7 years late…all in what I’m almost sure will be a thwarted attempt at picking up one of the five or so superstars in the game.
Thank God for baseball. Thank God for the Mets. Thank God for the National League. And damnation to all the rest…the hated Yankees, all Steinbrenner’s money, all Cashman’s Verducci pitch-count crap, the designated hitter rule and finally, all those alleged Mets fans and prognosticators just lambasting Mets management for just about every move they make…or don’t make, as the case may be.
My USA-Today Sports Weekly now informs me in their early-season power rankings that the Mets are the 22nd best team in baseball. I hear on the radio that they’ll finish no better than 4th in their division. What baloney!
How does a team that was a title-contender in 2008, a team that lacked only relief pitching, drop so far in every man’s opinion? Here was a team that picked up that needed relief pitching in 2009 but here also was a team that was then unlucky enough to lose its three biggest stars to injury.
At the same time this Mets team experienced every possible malady known to mankind. They lost one of those relief pitchers very early too. They lost just about every player for significant portions of the season, including their #1 starter, Johan Santana.
And, in order to just get through that stinking 2009, the Mets did some good things. They picked up Jeff Francoeur from the Braves to play right field. Along the way and into 2010, the Mets got arguably the best left-fielder in baseball in Jason Bay. They also picked up two very decent pitchers out of Japan and one Kelvim Escobar who could turn out to be as good as a number two starter, or at the very least, a nice long reliever.
Okay, so they didn’t pick up a second baseman to replace the guy who hit friggin’ .300 and did his job in every conceivable fashion. And they didn’t renew Carlos Delgado, one of those stars who went down in 2009. The one glaring error, but only in retrospect, was the re-signing of Oliver Perez for big big dollars. Failure, thy name was Ollie.
Most of these alleged Mets fans will also point to the failures of Daniel Murphy at first base and do not relish seeing him man the position for 2010 as well. Not me. I think Murphy will improve a great deal over his 2009 season. Most young players do. And he’s got Keith Hernandez in his corner, a hot corner, teaching him the finer points of defense….and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s talking some hitting as well. Keith has never been bashful.
So let’s re-hash and simplify. All those Mets-panners say we’ll get nothing out of either Japanese pitcher, nothing out of Kelvim Escobar, nothing out of Jeff Francoeur, oh, and lest I forget, nothing out of Mike Jacobs, who they acquired for power at first in the event that Murphy continues to do nothing.
Well gee whiz, guys, I think that’s God-awful pessimistic thinking, even for Mets fans. The only real missing piece from 2008 will be Carlos Delgado. Instead of replacing his power at first base, the Mets have added power in left field. And I’m sure every fantasy baseball player in the land would take Jason Bay over Carlos Delgado, any day of the week.
Oh, and Carlos Beltran will probably return in June. He’ll miss April and May for maybe 35 games. That leaves only about 125 in which he’ll play. Chances are he’ll be the old Carlos Beltran, the 5-tool guy who does everything. April and May will belong to Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr., either of whom I’d take over a lot of centerfielders in the game.
So here’s the lineup in June….
1. Ss Jose Reyes – switch - .286 – 100 runs, 50 sb’s
2. 2b Luis Castillo – switch - .292 – 70 runs
3. 3b David Wright – right - .309 – 100 runs, 100 rbi’s
4. Cf Carlos Beltran – switch - .283 – 100 runs, 100 rbi’s
5. Lf Jason Bay – right - .280 – 100 rbi’s
6. 1b Daniel Murphy – left - .275 – 70 rbi’s
7. Rf Jeff Francoeur – right - .271 – 90 rbi’s
8. C Omir Santos – right - .260 – 75 rbi’s
9. P Pitcher
Before Beltran’s return in June, there will be a deficit in left-handed power as Wright, Bay and Francoeur all bat from the right side, which is somewhat problematical unless Pagan bats in the middle of the lineup and really doesn’t hit for power. (Detractors will assert that Francoeur and Wright don’t either).
Catching has also been cast as a problem but I don’t think so. Anyone watching Omir Santos knows that he hit .260, and chipped in 40 rbi’s in only 280 at-bats. I suspect two things…one, that he’ll be even more productive with more at-bats and two, he’ll continue to improve as 2009 was really his first year in the majors. Santos could probably deliver over 80 ribbies in 2010.
Let’s go Mets!
Latvia, of course, was in the Olympic news as they faced off against their captor Russians in ice-hockey. That thriller could be witnessed on MSNBC also while the regular NBC affiliate carried the ever more popular men’s (using the term very loosely) ice skating. Woo_Hoo!!
And all that nonsense is still more interesting than college basketball and the NBA, where too many teams are chasing too little talent in a star system with not enough stars to go around. And the Knicks might even get Tracy McGrady…about 6 or 7 years late…all in what I’m almost sure will be a thwarted attempt at picking up one of the five or so superstars in the game.
Thank God for baseball. Thank God for the Mets. Thank God for the National League. And damnation to all the rest…the hated Yankees, all Steinbrenner’s money, all Cashman’s Verducci pitch-count crap, the designated hitter rule and finally, all those alleged Mets fans and prognosticators just lambasting Mets management for just about every move they make…or don’t make, as the case may be.
My USA-Today Sports Weekly now informs me in their early-season power rankings that the Mets are the 22nd best team in baseball. I hear on the radio that they’ll finish no better than 4th in their division. What baloney!
How does a team that was a title-contender in 2008, a team that lacked only relief pitching, drop so far in every man’s opinion? Here was a team that picked up that needed relief pitching in 2009 but here also was a team that was then unlucky enough to lose its three biggest stars to injury.
At the same time this Mets team experienced every possible malady known to mankind. They lost one of those relief pitchers very early too. They lost just about every player for significant portions of the season, including their #1 starter, Johan Santana.
And, in order to just get through that stinking 2009, the Mets did some good things. They picked up Jeff Francoeur from the Braves to play right field. Along the way and into 2010, the Mets got arguably the best left-fielder in baseball in Jason Bay. They also picked up two very decent pitchers out of Japan and one Kelvim Escobar who could turn out to be as good as a number two starter, or at the very least, a nice long reliever.
Okay, so they didn’t pick up a second baseman to replace the guy who hit friggin’ .300 and did his job in every conceivable fashion. And they didn’t renew Carlos Delgado, one of those stars who went down in 2009. The one glaring error, but only in retrospect, was the re-signing of Oliver Perez for big big dollars. Failure, thy name was Ollie.
Most of these alleged Mets fans will also point to the failures of Daniel Murphy at first base and do not relish seeing him man the position for 2010 as well. Not me. I think Murphy will improve a great deal over his 2009 season. Most young players do. And he’s got Keith Hernandez in his corner, a hot corner, teaching him the finer points of defense….and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s talking some hitting as well. Keith has never been bashful.
So let’s re-hash and simplify. All those Mets-panners say we’ll get nothing out of either Japanese pitcher, nothing out of Kelvim Escobar, nothing out of Jeff Francoeur, oh, and lest I forget, nothing out of Mike Jacobs, who they acquired for power at first in the event that Murphy continues to do nothing.
Well gee whiz, guys, I think that’s God-awful pessimistic thinking, even for Mets fans. The only real missing piece from 2008 will be Carlos Delgado. Instead of replacing his power at first base, the Mets have added power in left field. And I’m sure every fantasy baseball player in the land would take Jason Bay over Carlos Delgado, any day of the week.
Oh, and Carlos Beltran will probably return in June. He’ll miss April and May for maybe 35 games. That leaves only about 125 in which he’ll play. Chances are he’ll be the old Carlos Beltran, the 5-tool guy who does everything. April and May will belong to Angel Pagan and Gary Matthews Jr., either of whom I’d take over a lot of centerfielders in the game.
So here’s the lineup in June….
1. Ss Jose Reyes – switch - .286 – 100 runs, 50 sb’s
2. 2b Luis Castillo – switch - .292 – 70 runs
3. 3b David Wright – right - .309 – 100 runs, 100 rbi’s
4. Cf Carlos Beltran – switch - .283 – 100 runs, 100 rbi’s
5. Lf Jason Bay – right - .280 – 100 rbi’s
6. 1b Daniel Murphy – left - .275 – 70 rbi’s
7. Rf Jeff Francoeur – right - .271 – 90 rbi’s
8. C Omir Santos – right - .260 – 75 rbi’s
9. P Pitcher
Before Beltran’s return in June, there will be a deficit in left-handed power as Wright, Bay and Francoeur all bat from the right side, which is somewhat problematical unless Pagan bats in the middle of the lineup and really doesn’t hit for power. (Detractors will assert that Francoeur and Wright don’t either).
Catching has also been cast as a problem but I don’t think so. Anyone watching Omir Santos knows that he hit .260, and chipped in 40 rbi’s in only 280 at-bats. I suspect two things…one, that he’ll be even more productive with more at-bats and two, he’ll continue to improve as 2009 was really his first year in the majors. Santos could probably deliver over 80 ribbies in 2010.
Let’s go Mets!
Monday, August 17, 2009
The Beat Goes On
The Mets saga conTINuuuuues. Just when you’ve decided not to watch, even on TV, here come the Mets again, the Mets you expected, well, maybe not expected exactly, but the team you know they could be, iff they would just pitch once in a while.
Well, pitch they did, well, Pelfrey sure did. It seemed as if he was suddenly unhittable. How nice for him. I just wonder where the heck that pitcher goes every fifth day? It’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Pelfrey. Maybe he can only whip the San Francisco’s of the world?
Then there was this kid Parnell. He sure did very nicely in his first start ever. The kid has some speed and some stuff too. Hell, he could be the number two starter. I got almost excited as the Weather Channel guys at the prospects of that new tropical storm, or the Republicans after helping kill any healthcare changes.
Anyway, in the short term, there’s somebody besides tired old Livan friggin’ Hernandez and the crazy lefty Perez to throw out there. The depth chart now reads Santana, Pelfrey, Hernandez, Perez and Parnell. That’s not too shabby really, they sure are all different. It’s just that you’d like to see some more consistency, y’know?
But starting with the last game vs. Arizona, the Mets are on an impressive run. Crazy Ollie pitched that last game and allowed just one run in 5 1/3 impressive innings. Even the atrocious reliever Sean Green couldn’t lose it for him. Then it was Parnell with the shutout, a shaky Santana which is still not horrible, and then Pelfrey’s little gem. A Mets fan could get used to this.
And just when you thought the baseball gods had forgotten about the Mets, here they came with one more salvo, leveling the one remaining core guy, good ol’ David Wright. It came in the form of a shot to the head, of course, that nobody thought was intentional, but….still. There may have been a feeble attempt at retaliation as roly-poly Bengie Molina was hit by a pitch much later on, but you can never really get even for your rock going down for the count. With a concussion, he may as well be lost for the season, especially this season.
Fernando Tatis is now our third baseman, backed up by a fella named Andy Green, who is, surprise, surprise, a very light-hitting guy indeed. But the lineup against the Giants on Sunday was Pagan, Castillo, Sheffield, Francoeur, Tatis, Murphy, Santos and Anderson Hernandez, which can be a pretty entertaining group. I’m looking forward to seeing if Livan can get by SanFran’s Joe Martinez.
Oh, but just to keep things in perspective, the Mets are 55-62, 12 games back of the Phillies in the NL East and 9 ½ behind the Rockies for the wildcard. And they’re way way back on that list too. It’s good that football season is almost upon us, unless of course you’re a Yankee fan.
The Yankees are way ahead of Boston and are 41-18 at home, the best home record in either league. They lead Detroit in that respect by a game but Detroit has a losing record away from home. The Yanks are also 33-26 on the road. They have the best overall record in both leagues, Mark Teixeira is being touted for MVP and Jeter just passed Luis Aparicio for most hits be a shortstop. So what’s not to like?
Aside from this innings thing with Joba, there’s almost nothing left to criticize. You see little chinks now and then, like Sergio Mitre maybe not being that good, and I suppose Chad Gaudin hasn’t really proven anything yet. And now Matsui’s a little banged up.
But with the Yankees, if they’re close through 6 or 7 innings, you get the feeling they’re going to win the game. There are not that many teams you can say that about.
The big news in the American League is the Texas Rangers. It looks as if they have the staying power to outlast Boston for the AL wildcard. They put them away yesterday head-to-head after losing a tough one a day earlier. And with the same pitcher to close things out, Frank Francisco, who had a 2.01 ERA before Boston lambasted him for 6 big runs on Saturday.
Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton…the Rangers have got a hell of a team and even the pitching is holding up. It’s a pitching staff put together by a real man named Nolan Ryan, who pees on pitch counts. This team stayed together and played well, even after losing Hamilton and Kinsler to injuries for, in Hamilton’s case anyway, a good portion of the season.
The Red Sox seem a mess compared to what they had been. Between injuries to key players like Matsuzaka and Wakefield and performance funks from the likes of David Ortiz and the shortstop position, the Red Sox are hanging into the race by the tips of their fingernails. And their confidence had to be shaken by the sweep the Yanks laid on them.
So things should be quite tolerable for the rest of the baseball season, even for a Mets fan. When boredom really sets in, we can just tune in to the NFL station and watch some exhibitions. For me, I’ve been checking out the quarterbacks for fantasy purposes, especially QB’s who changed teams or whose team was enhanced by some key additions.
In Buffalo, I watched Trent Edwards looking good throwing to Lee Evans, even with Terrell Owens out with a bad toe. On the other hand, the much-ballyhooed Jay Cutler looked lousy with da Bears and Kyle Orton didn’t look that great in his exhibition. Tony Romo looked as if he was trying a bit harder to stay in the pocket and looked pretty good while Donovan McNabb seemed to have an easy time of it in his few minutes on the field.
Then there’s Mark Sanchez. And we’ll see Eli tonight!
Well, pitch they did, well, Pelfrey sure did. It seemed as if he was suddenly unhittable. How nice for him. I just wonder where the heck that pitcher goes every fifth day? It’s like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Pelfrey. Maybe he can only whip the San Francisco’s of the world?
Then there was this kid Parnell. He sure did very nicely in his first start ever. The kid has some speed and some stuff too. Hell, he could be the number two starter. I got almost excited as the Weather Channel guys at the prospects of that new tropical storm, or the Republicans after helping kill any healthcare changes.
Anyway, in the short term, there’s somebody besides tired old Livan friggin’ Hernandez and the crazy lefty Perez to throw out there. The depth chart now reads Santana, Pelfrey, Hernandez, Perez and Parnell. That’s not too shabby really, they sure are all different. It’s just that you’d like to see some more consistency, y’know?
But starting with the last game vs. Arizona, the Mets are on an impressive run. Crazy Ollie pitched that last game and allowed just one run in 5 1/3 impressive innings. Even the atrocious reliever Sean Green couldn’t lose it for him. Then it was Parnell with the shutout, a shaky Santana which is still not horrible, and then Pelfrey’s little gem. A Mets fan could get used to this.
And just when you thought the baseball gods had forgotten about the Mets, here they came with one more salvo, leveling the one remaining core guy, good ol’ David Wright. It came in the form of a shot to the head, of course, that nobody thought was intentional, but….still. There may have been a feeble attempt at retaliation as roly-poly Bengie Molina was hit by a pitch much later on, but you can never really get even for your rock going down for the count. With a concussion, he may as well be lost for the season, especially this season.
Fernando Tatis is now our third baseman, backed up by a fella named Andy Green, who is, surprise, surprise, a very light-hitting guy indeed. But the lineup against the Giants on Sunday was Pagan, Castillo, Sheffield, Francoeur, Tatis, Murphy, Santos and Anderson Hernandez, which can be a pretty entertaining group. I’m looking forward to seeing if Livan can get by SanFran’s Joe Martinez.
Oh, but just to keep things in perspective, the Mets are 55-62, 12 games back of the Phillies in the NL East and 9 ½ behind the Rockies for the wildcard. And they’re way way back on that list too. It’s good that football season is almost upon us, unless of course you’re a Yankee fan.
The Yankees are way ahead of Boston and are 41-18 at home, the best home record in either league. They lead Detroit in that respect by a game but Detroit has a losing record away from home. The Yanks are also 33-26 on the road. They have the best overall record in both leagues, Mark Teixeira is being touted for MVP and Jeter just passed Luis Aparicio for most hits be a shortstop. So what’s not to like?
Aside from this innings thing with Joba, there’s almost nothing left to criticize. You see little chinks now and then, like Sergio Mitre maybe not being that good, and I suppose Chad Gaudin hasn’t really proven anything yet. And now Matsui’s a little banged up.
But with the Yankees, if they’re close through 6 or 7 innings, you get the feeling they’re going to win the game. There are not that many teams you can say that about.
The big news in the American League is the Texas Rangers. It looks as if they have the staying power to outlast Boston for the AL wildcard. They put them away yesterday head-to-head after losing a tough one a day earlier. And with the same pitcher to close things out, Frank Francisco, who had a 2.01 ERA before Boston lambasted him for 6 big runs on Saturday.
Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton…the Rangers have got a hell of a team and even the pitching is holding up. It’s a pitching staff put together by a real man named Nolan Ryan, who pees on pitch counts. This team stayed together and played well, even after losing Hamilton and Kinsler to injuries for, in Hamilton’s case anyway, a good portion of the season.
The Red Sox seem a mess compared to what they had been. Between injuries to key players like Matsuzaka and Wakefield and performance funks from the likes of David Ortiz and the shortstop position, the Red Sox are hanging into the race by the tips of their fingernails. And their confidence had to be shaken by the sweep the Yanks laid on them.
So things should be quite tolerable for the rest of the baseball season, even for a Mets fan. When boredom really sets in, we can just tune in to the NFL station and watch some exhibitions. For me, I’ve been checking out the quarterbacks for fantasy purposes, especially QB’s who changed teams or whose team was enhanced by some key additions.
In Buffalo, I watched Trent Edwards looking good throwing to Lee Evans, even with Terrell Owens out with a bad toe. On the other hand, the much-ballyhooed Jay Cutler looked lousy with da Bears and Kyle Orton didn’t look that great in his exhibition. Tony Romo looked as if he was trying a bit harder to stay in the pocket and looked pretty good while Donovan McNabb seemed to have an easy time of it in his few minutes on the field.
Then there’s Mark Sanchez. And we’ll see Eli tonight!
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