I kept saying, “Well, what else can happen?”
So I found out. The Giants would miss the playoffs entirely. The Jets would lose the AFC Championship and look a little stupid in doing so. The Knicks would hit a losing streak. And the Mets, prized Mets possessions of the Wilpons lo these many years, could be sold, even if just partially.
If I understand this correctly, the Wilpons invested around 520 mill, got back about 570 mill, and somehow, almost magically so, found themselves liable for a billion dollars. Only in America. Only to Mets Fans.
You didn’t see the Steinbrenners making friends with crooks. (I find myself wondering what Billy Martin would have said to that). Sure, the Yanks have their own problems, like a GM starting to feel his oats in the last year of his contract, a new relief pitcher only the GM didn’t want, and an old shortstop that only the GM wants to make even older.
But only Mets fans could find themselves in this kind of situation. The injuries weren’t enough. The bad luck wasn’t enough. The ticket prices weren’t enough. CitiField couldn’t play longer, Ollie couldn’t be sent down, Beltran couldn’t be more pissed off.
So, just when the Wilpons seemed to be getting their affairs together, for example, hiring a GM who wasn’t an idiot and a manager with some good experience, they find themselves looking disaster straight in the eyeballs.
Just when they started to fill out their starting pitching with smart savvy guys like Chris Young and Capuano, just when they re-signed Pelfrey and Dickey, and just when it looked as they had decided to keep guys like Beltran and Bay (rather than sell them now at a sure loss), we have to find out about the vagaries of the legal system….the hard way.
Not that I mind a little ownership sharing, but can the Wilpons really be the shills in this Ponzi scheme? Can you just see Jeff Wilpon rubbing his hands together, sneering “HaHaHaHa” in a smoke-filled room, and happily encouraging all their friends to give all their hard-won assets to Madoff?
I mean, maybe they did encourage people unknowingly, but that’s not what the lawyers for the prosecution are saying. They seem to think an organization with that much money has to have enough intelligence and financial savvy to know when they’re involved in something a little fishy.
Come on, guys, these are the friggin’ Mets! It was easy. This could only happen to them.
I believe the Wilpons. Sure, they’re not the brightest lights in the sky but they’ve never shown any signs of being evil. I think they invested a lot of their money with a trusted friend, somebody who’d always been reliable. I think they saw financial statements and prospectuses and spreadsheets and graphs showing everything going up, and not even dramatically up. How many of us would think there was something wrong?
I guess it’s inevitable that they’ll wind up losing a lot of their original 520 million. That would only be fair, to distribute the total losses among all the clientele more evenly, and I’m thinking all the lawyers will even agree on some huge amount, like maybe half to ¾ of the original investment. But that will be all.
I think we’ve already seen the effects on the team’s acquisitional policy, which is to say, they’re not spending a lot of money. And I have no problem with that. If they had spent big bucks on another Ollie or picked up Carl Pavano, for example, that would have gotten me upset.
But the whole thing, this whole sick Madoff-Wilpon thing, is really kind of unsettling. It brings the real world too close to my psyche. If I wanted that, I wouldn’t be a fan at all. I’d spend a lot of time reading about Egypt, and Afghanistan and Pakistan. I’d be fretting about reducing corporate taxes and making bad electric cars. I’d be ecstatic about firing the whole damned Passaic Valley Sewer Authority.
I can’t control those things. I can only vote. And look what that’s got me.
We can’t control ownership issues either. We can just hope for the best. All the question marks of last year have to resolve in our favor. Jason Bay has to hit, Carlos Beltran has to excel, Angel Pagan has to keep it going, and Reyes has to have a nice year. Ike Davis and Josh Thole have to keep developing. Pelfrey and Niese and Dickey have to keep on truckin’.
It’s maybe a blessing in disguise that this non-acquisitional period just happens to coincide with the ascension of the Phillies and the Braves. Let’s watch their expensive pitching blow up. Let’s see what bad luck they can have with expensive arms.
And yeah, we’ll concede the pennant this year, and maybe even the year after that, but that second year could yield a wildcard. And this year this team could be a real pain in the butt to just about anybody.
I mean, think about it. Reyes, Pagan, Beltran, Wright, Bay, Davis and Thole. That’s 7 of 8 spots that can hit. We can deal with a bad bat at second base, not that Luis Castillo will be a bum or that rookie won’t possibly improve a lot. There’s a lot of speed and power in that lineup. And, with even just middling luck, that lineup should produce a lot of runs.
As for pitching, forget Santana for now. And Pelfrey’s not really an ace. Who needs an ace anyway? They only really make a difference in the playoffs, an atmosphere that always seems to bring the worst out of even better than average arms. If you can boast of length in a pitching staff, that’s something in and of itself. The Mets will be in every game.
So I think we’ve already borne the brunt of the Madoff-Wilpon saga. “What else can happen” may wind up being a lot of good things.
Showing posts with label Wilpon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wilpon. Show all posts
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, September 10, 2010
More On Mets (Get It?)
Okay, you’re expecting some Mets news here so here it is…..the Mets still stink. They are a little more fun to watch though. And taking 2 of 3 from Washington sure beats losing another series. Of course, it hardly matters now.
Thank God they’re not still pretending to contend. Now we can watch all the rejects in their farm system. Of course, the new guys are outperforming anything the regulars ever put together. So what does that tell us?
Bad things can happen when a team sits on its laurels, watching every significant deadline for adding players go by with barely a twitch. A flower grows way faster than the Mets moved this year.
Of course, that can only mean the ownership, aka Jeff Wilpon, has totally lost faith in the general manager. At this point, that can only be a good thing. Omar Minaya is a personable fellow but he hasn’t done much towards fashioning a championship team. I think a break is needed for Mr. Minaya. Have you ever considered fishing, Omar?
Let’s recap, 2006 was a tough year, 2007 was even tougher, 2008 was incredibly bad, 2009 was a hard luck year and 2010 has been another tough year. Hmmm, not good. There are a lot of teams that have done more with less.
Minaya does have time left on his contract though. If Wilpon hasn’t been in a spending mode, to say the very least, he may not jump at the idea of firing Minaya, who he seems to like despite his failures. There are some signs though that the two of them are already planning for next year, even if Minaya may not be the ultimate recipient of the benefits of the plan.
Here’s my take on the Beltran, Perez and Castillo flap (they didn’t attend a hospital team visit). Wilpon is greasing the skids for getting rid of all of them. If he can turn the fans against these guys, principally Beltran as it’d be difficult to suggest any Mets fans like crazy selfish Ollie or poor picked-on Luis Castillo, it’ll be easier to trade him for a lesser player, and let’s face it, these are the Mets, they’ll inevitably make a bad deal.
I’ve put my request in for a second baseman. I think this Tejada little guy is really slick with the glove, and I like watching him in the field, but he’s really got to show me something the rest of the way. I hope he does. If you’re going to have a weak spot in the lineup, it may as well be at second base.
Some team will want Beltran though, especially if they can negotiate a lesser rate for his services. Carlos Beltran, minus the attitude, would be a hell of an asset for any team. He’s still the most feared batter in the Mets lineup. Of course, that’s saying very little.
It’s fun to speculate though. The Mets could use a pitcher for sure, even if Dickey and Niese continue their winning ways. Who knows what Mike Pelfrey can do going forward? Not even Mike could tell you. But he is a hard-throwing right hander, as is the new kid Mejia. They probably mix things up pretty well for the two left-handers, Santana and Niese, and then of course, there’s the knuckleballer Dickey, who doesn’t even resemble other knuckleballers!
The Mets aren’t that far off really from some respectability. The bullpen isn’t really that bad with Takahashi and Purcell and perpetual Pedro out there. You can have the other two guys. So they need a couple of relievers on the pitching side of things.
On the hitting side of the ledger, the current depth chart shows a left field of Lucas Duda and Chris Carter, a ridiculously weak spot. Carter’s a pinch-hitter. Who knows about Duda? But Jason Bay will be back and maybe he’ll return to some semblance of a power hitter. In center, there’s Beltran or his replacement, In right field there is Pagan, not too shabby.
Then there will be an infield of Ike Davis at first, Tejada at second, Reyes at short and David Wright at third base. Davis will hit better next year for sure and he hasn’t been so very bad this year either. I don’t care for his backup though, this Hessman fellow. A nice big guy who can hit for power would be a nice addition.
It looks as if Josh Thole is a keeper at the catcher position too. He seems to be a tough out when the pressure is on. The Mets don’t have a lot of talent in that area….that’s for sure. Maybe Beltran’s replacement can at least be a guy with good stats for hitting with runners in scoring position. And maybe Bay will start pulling his weight.
The Mets could use a good utility guy in the infield too, a Ryan Theriot type guy who can play second base or shortstop. Even better would be a power-hitting second baseman/shortstop, even one that would just backup Tejada on one of his prolonged slumps, or one of Reyes’s prolonged injuries. How about Theriot and that magnificent Jose Uribe?
When you think about it, what makes the difference between the Mets and the Padres right now? And the Padres, despite their recent slump, may still outlast everybody else in the NL West. The Phillies and the Braves, though, would still be the class of the division unless Bay and Pagan and Wright and Reyes and even Ike Davis all hit and play to their capabilities.
Okay, enough about the Mets. It is, after all, football season. The Giants open up against the Panthers. They’ll lose, but by a less embarrassing score than last year, when the Panthers killed them 41-9 in the last game played at the old Giants Stadium. Look for Carolina to take the opener, but only by a 27-24 score.
Those crazy Jets finally signed Revis. But that doesn’t mean they’ll win Monday. Ravens 17-13.
Thank God they’re not still pretending to contend. Now we can watch all the rejects in their farm system. Of course, the new guys are outperforming anything the regulars ever put together. So what does that tell us?
Bad things can happen when a team sits on its laurels, watching every significant deadline for adding players go by with barely a twitch. A flower grows way faster than the Mets moved this year.
Of course, that can only mean the ownership, aka Jeff Wilpon, has totally lost faith in the general manager. At this point, that can only be a good thing. Omar Minaya is a personable fellow but he hasn’t done much towards fashioning a championship team. I think a break is needed for Mr. Minaya. Have you ever considered fishing, Omar?
Let’s recap, 2006 was a tough year, 2007 was even tougher, 2008 was incredibly bad, 2009 was a hard luck year and 2010 has been another tough year. Hmmm, not good. There are a lot of teams that have done more with less.
Minaya does have time left on his contract though. If Wilpon hasn’t been in a spending mode, to say the very least, he may not jump at the idea of firing Minaya, who he seems to like despite his failures. There are some signs though that the two of them are already planning for next year, even if Minaya may not be the ultimate recipient of the benefits of the plan.
Here’s my take on the Beltran, Perez and Castillo flap (they didn’t attend a hospital team visit). Wilpon is greasing the skids for getting rid of all of them. If he can turn the fans against these guys, principally Beltran as it’d be difficult to suggest any Mets fans like crazy selfish Ollie or poor picked-on Luis Castillo, it’ll be easier to trade him for a lesser player, and let’s face it, these are the Mets, they’ll inevitably make a bad deal.
I’ve put my request in for a second baseman. I think this Tejada little guy is really slick with the glove, and I like watching him in the field, but he’s really got to show me something the rest of the way. I hope he does. If you’re going to have a weak spot in the lineup, it may as well be at second base.
Some team will want Beltran though, especially if they can negotiate a lesser rate for his services. Carlos Beltran, minus the attitude, would be a hell of an asset for any team. He’s still the most feared batter in the Mets lineup. Of course, that’s saying very little.
It’s fun to speculate though. The Mets could use a pitcher for sure, even if Dickey and Niese continue their winning ways. Who knows what Mike Pelfrey can do going forward? Not even Mike could tell you. But he is a hard-throwing right hander, as is the new kid Mejia. They probably mix things up pretty well for the two left-handers, Santana and Niese, and then of course, there’s the knuckleballer Dickey, who doesn’t even resemble other knuckleballers!
The Mets aren’t that far off really from some respectability. The bullpen isn’t really that bad with Takahashi and Purcell and perpetual Pedro out there. You can have the other two guys. So they need a couple of relievers on the pitching side of things.
On the hitting side of the ledger, the current depth chart shows a left field of Lucas Duda and Chris Carter, a ridiculously weak spot. Carter’s a pinch-hitter. Who knows about Duda? But Jason Bay will be back and maybe he’ll return to some semblance of a power hitter. In center, there’s Beltran or his replacement, In right field there is Pagan, not too shabby.
Then there will be an infield of Ike Davis at first, Tejada at second, Reyes at short and David Wright at third base. Davis will hit better next year for sure and he hasn’t been so very bad this year either. I don’t care for his backup though, this Hessman fellow. A nice big guy who can hit for power would be a nice addition.
It looks as if Josh Thole is a keeper at the catcher position too. He seems to be a tough out when the pressure is on. The Mets don’t have a lot of talent in that area….that’s for sure. Maybe Beltran’s replacement can at least be a guy with good stats for hitting with runners in scoring position. And maybe Bay will start pulling his weight.
The Mets could use a good utility guy in the infield too, a Ryan Theriot type guy who can play second base or shortstop. Even better would be a power-hitting second baseman/shortstop, even one that would just backup Tejada on one of his prolonged slumps, or one of Reyes’s prolonged injuries. How about Theriot and that magnificent Jose Uribe?
When you think about it, what makes the difference between the Mets and the Padres right now? And the Padres, despite their recent slump, may still outlast everybody else in the NL West. The Phillies and the Braves, though, would still be the class of the division unless Bay and Pagan and Wright and Reyes and even Ike Davis all hit and play to their capabilities.
Okay, enough about the Mets. It is, after all, football season. The Giants open up against the Panthers. They’ll lose, but by a less embarrassing score than last year, when the Panthers killed them 41-9 in the last game played at the old Giants Stadium. Look for Carolina to take the opener, but only by a 27-24 score.
Those crazy Jets finally signed Revis. But that doesn’t mean they’ll win Monday. Ravens 17-13.
Monday, August 31, 2009
On Joba And NFL Jobs
Okay, I think I’ve really had it now. I’m going to take my Joba Rules shirt and burn it. What am I saying if I wear his shirt…..that I’m a sissy boy? It’s okay, Joe, take me out after three, watch every pitch, call every pitch and then take me out whenever you feel like it, whenever the mood strikes you, because I’m SOOOOO happy to be a Yankee.
What a wimp!
I’ll trade you for an old David Wells shirt, another big guy but he had some uh, canoles? Really, it’s sickening. Joba had been the only Yankee I liked and now that feeling’s out the window too.
I’m just glad that I didn’t buy one of those exorbitant tickets to the game. Imagine laying out all that hard-earned cash expecting to see Joba and getting him for just 3 innings, no matter that he just gave up a couple of runs. I mean, what about truth in advertising? Isn’t a “start” supposed to be something in particular? Anyway, if I had the poor judgment to buy a ticket, I’d be asking for a refund now.
And then Joba makes it worse by saying he’s fine with it. I don’t know, Joba. You lost me. I mean forever.
The Yanks appear unbeatable right now. Looks like that 140 mill paid off. Teixeira, Sabathia, Burnet, what’s not to like? The one weak spot was Mitre and then he goes and delivers a quality start. Relief had been a problem and then, lo and behold, Hughes becomes Mr. Lightsout in the 8th.
Jeter’s locked in, and he’s been locked in for a long time. Damon’s hitting them over that short wall with regularity; a juiceless Arod’s delievering less but still enough to get by. It’s sickening really. You have to look pretty hard to find a weak spot; in fact, it’ll be a fruitless search.
Argh, enough about the friggin’ Yankees. I’m just glad the Rangers wooped their butts. There’re some real men down there in Texas, just as you’d expect.
And now I see some articles to the effect that the Wilpons’ management of the Mets club isn’t affected by the huge losses they suffered in the Madoff soaking. Yeah, sure. And still nobody knows how much they really lost. They don’t have to tell. I mean, that’s fine, but if the losses have been so insignificant, why not let anybody know how bad it was or wasn’t.
I won’t dwell on the Mets. It is amazing, though, how many hits it takes to score a run with these new guys. Day after day, you see numbers like 13 hits, 4 runs and if you’re a Mets fan, you don’t know whether to be happy for the hits or unhappy for the runs.
This weekend was all about football. The Jets and Giants put on a good show but it’s hard to really judge whether the Jets are that good or the Giants are that bad. I know I saw a lot of bad things as a Giants fan. I surely didn’t see any Plaxico look-alikes. Hakeem Nicks made some nice catches though.
Sinorice Moss showed nothing. Manningham showed even less. Hixon, Smith, none of the “regulars” showed anything, unless you count the ability to drop the big one. This questionable attribute was displayed by Smith and Hixon for sure, and Manningham was only consistent in that he dropped nearly everything.
The depth chart right now is scary. Hixon and Smith are the starters backed up by Manningham and Moss. The third string shows Nicks and David Tyree, the Super Bowl hero, who didn’t play. Smith is great as a possession receiver. It looks as if he’s a long way from catching the long ball. Hixon is a decent backup, that’s all. Moss and Manningham should be cut. That’ll give Nicks and Barden their chances.
The Giants tackling left a lot to be desired too. On the Sanchez pass to Chansi Stuckey, Stuckey broke three Giants tackles with no trouble at all….as if they weren’t there. Coming off his disappointing showing against the Ravens, Sanchez looked great against the G-Men so the question becomes obvious, i.e. “how bad are the Giants”?
But you have to like Sanchez. He seems to read the defenses, he delivers the ball right where it needs to be, and he seems to be a leader. There’s not much missing, is there? There aren’t even any nits to pick.
So, all in all, everything’s rosy for Gang Green going into the 4th week of exhibitions. Having a quarterback everrybody believes in is half the battle in football. Of course, as Thomas Jones pointed out, it’s still the exhibition season, but still…..
Other than the locals, I watched several other exhibitions, if, for no other reason, to watch for good fantasy sleepers. My draft was Saturday morning, and Brady’s injury Friday night pretty much locked me up on Drew Brees as my number 1 pick. Not just because Brady was nicked up, but because his line didn’t hold up. The final straw was Belichick giving absolutely no indication as to the severity of the injury.
Brady looked great though. I have to hand it to him. He and dandy Randy Moss seem to still have that magic that carried them to so many td’s and so many yards back in 2007 before Brady was hurt. He could have looked even better, too, except that Wes Welker didn’t play.
The Packers certainly look impressive as do the Saints. The Steelers haven’t lost much either. As for individuals, Matt Cassell, KC’s new QB , was hurt already. And I almost felt bad for Josh McDaniels, Denver’s new coach (from the Pats again), who was made to look foolish in the Broncos’ exhibition versus da Bears.
Kyle Orton just isn’t Jay Cutler, that was all too obvious as Cutler ate up the Broncos and Orton did very little, and then got hurt. Then there’s the new NFL idiot, Brandon Marshall.
What a wimp!
I’ll trade you for an old David Wells shirt, another big guy but he had some uh, canoles? Really, it’s sickening. Joba had been the only Yankee I liked and now that feeling’s out the window too.
I’m just glad that I didn’t buy one of those exorbitant tickets to the game. Imagine laying out all that hard-earned cash expecting to see Joba and getting him for just 3 innings, no matter that he just gave up a couple of runs. I mean, what about truth in advertising? Isn’t a “start” supposed to be something in particular? Anyway, if I had the poor judgment to buy a ticket, I’d be asking for a refund now.
And then Joba makes it worse by saying he’s fine with it. I don’t know, Joba. You lost me. I mean forever.
The Yanks appear unbeatable right now. Looks like that 140 mill paid off. Teixeira, Sabathia, Burnet, what’s not to like? The one weak spot was Mitre and then he goes and delivers a quality start. Relief had been a problem and then, lo and behold, Hughes becomes Mr. Lightsout in the 8th.
Jeter’s locked in, and he’s been locked in for a long time. Damon’s hitting them over that short wall with regularity; a juiceless Arod’s delievering less but still enough to get by. It’s sickening really. You have to look pretty hard to find a weak spot; in fact, it’ll be a fruitless search.
Argh, enough about the friggin’ Yankees. I’m just glad the Rangers wooped their butts. There’re some real men down there in Texas, just as you’d expect.
And now I see some articles to the effect that the Wilpons’ management of the Mets club isn’t affected by the huge losses they suffered in the Madoff soaking. Yeah, sure. And still nobody knows how much they really lost. They don’t have to tell. I mean, that’s fine, but if the losses have been so insignificant, why not let anybody know how bad it was or wasn’t.
I won’t dwell on the Mets. It is amazing, though, how many hits it takes to score a run with these new guys. Day after day, you see numbers like 13 hits, 4 runs and if you’re a Mets fan, you don’t know whether to be happy for the hits or unhappy for the runs.
This weekend was all about football. The Jets and Giants put on a good show but it’s hard to really judge whether the Jets are that good or the Giants are that bad. I know I saw a lot of bad things as a Giants fan. I surely didn’t see any Plaxico look-alikes. Hakeem Nicks made some nice catches though.
Sinorice Moss showed nothing. Manningham showed even less. Hixon, Smith, none of the “regulars” showed anything, unless you count the ability to drop the big one. This questionable attribute was displayed by Smith and Hixon for sure, and Manningham was only consistent in that he dropped nearly everything.
The depth chart right now is scary. Hixon and Smith are the starters backed up by Manningham and Moss. The third string shows Nicks and David Tyree, the Super Bowl hero, who didn’t play. Smith is great as a possession receiver. It looks as if he’s a long way from catching the long ball. Hixon is a decent backup, that’s all. Moss and Manningham should be cut. That’ll give Nicks and Barden their chances.
The Giants tackling left a lot to be desired too. On the Sanchez pass to Chansi Stuckey, Stuckey broke three Giants tackles with no trouble at all….as if they weren’t there. Coming off his disappointing showing against the Ravens, Sanchez looked great against the G-Men so the question becomes obvious, i.e. “how bad are the Giants”?
But you have to like Sanchez. He seems to read the defenses, he delivers the ball right where it needs to be, and he seems to be a leader. There’s not much missing, is there? There aren’t even any nits to pick.
So, all in all, everything’s rosy for Gang Green going into the 4th week of exhibitions. Having a quarterback everrybody believes in is half the battle in football. Of course, as Thomas Jones pointed out, it’s still the exhibition season, but still…..
Other than the locals, I watched several other exhibitions, if, for no other reason, to watch for good fantasy sleepers. My draft was Saturday morning, and Brady’s injury Friday night pretty much locked me up on Drew Brees as my number 1 pick. Not just because Brady was nicked up, but because his line didn’t hold up. The final straw was Belichick giving absolutely no indication as to the severity of the injury.
Brady looked great though. I have to hand it to him. He and dandy Randy Moss seem to still have that magic that carried them to so many td’s and so many yards back in 2007 before Brady was hurt. He could have looked even better, too, except that Wes Welker didn’t play.
The Packers certainly look impressive as do the Saints. The Steelers haven’t lost much either. As for individuals, Matt Cassell, KC’s new QB , was hurt already. And I almost felt bad for Josh McDaniels, Denver’s new coach (from the Pats again), who was made to look foolish in the Broncos’ exhibition versus da Bears.
Kyle Orton just isn’t Jay Cutler, that was all too obvious as Cutler ate up the Broncos and Orton did very little, and then got hurt. Then there’s the new NFL idiot, Brandon Marshall.
Monday, August 24, 2009
How Unlucky Can You Get?
How unlucky can you get? Our lovable Mets are testing that question this season and continued their inquiry yesterday as Jeff Francoeur, on what should have been a single to center (on any other team), hit into an unassisted triple play for outs one, two and three of what was looking to be a very promising inning.
The national media concentrated on how unusual the play had been in the annals of professional baseball, how it was one of the only times in the history of baseball that a game had ended on an unassisted triple play. To me, though, they missed the boat. The real question is how unlucky one single team has been in any recorded baseball season.
And now we hear that Omar Minaya is returning. I could live with that. I mean, if this guy has been the unluckiest person in the whole wide world this season, it only stands to reason that his luck must change for the better, everything in life following the natural rhythms of the universe. A new GM might begin a whole new cycle of misfortune.
The GM likes the manager and I do too. Who’d we go to? Randolph? Valentine? No thanks.
But then I hear that the team will reduce its payroll for next year. That’s not good. While it may not be as bad as it may sound, as quite a bit of salary will be coming off the books, much of it paid out for a remarkable lack of production, it could hardly be interpreted as a good thing.
I still think Madoff’s Ponzi scheme may be seriously affecting Wilpon’s handling of this team, despite statements made to the contrary. How could it not? And maybe that piece of serious misfortune was the unkindest cut of all, coming at a most inpropitious moment in time, when opening a new expensive stadium for a team that’s setting records for snake-bitten-ness. (I know it’s not a word, no letters please). Wilpon may have killed a spider, that’s supposed to bring bad monetary luck.
Call it what you will…cursed, plagued, gremlin-infested, the evil eye, this Mets team has them all at the same time. So maybe Minaya walked under a ladder while a black cat was ambling by. Maybe he spilled salt after breaking a mirror, or, even worse, he stepped on a crack. Anyone watching baseball has seen a variety of pitcher-types jump over the baseline. Oliver Perez comes immediately to mind but he’s not the only one.
And it certainly didn’t help Perez out yesterday. Once again, he stunk out the joint, lasting about 2/3 of an inning after giving up six runs. Maybe he should try digging his spikes into the line, then stomping on it. He couldn’t possibly be any worse. His pitch selection and location stink too, any nobody will be happier than I to see the back of Brian Schneider.
I keep thinking of that trade with the Nats a couple of years ago that brought us Church and Schneider, while we sent off Lastings Milledge and Paul LoDuca. We’ve had nothing but bad luck since. Church is already out of here, thank the baseball gods, and now there’s just Schneider. That may bring more good luck than you would ordinarily think it possibly could. That original trade must have been done for specious reasons totally unfair to LoDuca. And if anybody could cast a jinx, or throw an evil eye, my guess is that LoDuca would be just the one.
Besides just letting Schneider go, maybe we could do some other things that may help, like throwing salt over our left shoulders. Seriously, the Mets need a lot of help.
As this is written, for example, the Phils are kicking our butts. It’s just 5-2 now in the 4th, but things could get worse in a hurry, as it’s Cliff Lee, one of the premiere pitchers in the majors, going against our Bobby Parnell, one of the league’s least accomplished. The two runs we have on the board were unearned.
While the Phils picked up Lee to flirt with another World Series, we’re trading Billy Wagner to flirt with disaster. But that’s ok, I guess, maybe we’ll get a guy in return who can help us down the road, and for less money, as that is increasingly going to be an issue. And besides, if it makes Papelbon unhappy to trade Billy to Boston, I’m all for it. What an idiot that guy is.
And, speaking of bad luck, we just hit into another irksome double play, Sullivan having been retired after trying to scramble back to first on a hard-hit liner to Utley at second base. I thought he was safe but the umpire called him out. (I absolutely promise that a future article will deal with the total incompetency of umpires this year, for balls and strikes and on the bases).
That’s all I have to say about the Mets. Let’s just pray the bad luck doesn’t spread to the Jets or Giants, or the Knicks and Nets either. (I don’t care about hockey). I do so want to enjoy my autumn (and perhaps winter for the Giants). But there have already been articles written about the demise of the much-ballyhooed Giants defensive line.
The Giants looked awful this weekend against the Bears. Not that anything about exhibition games should be taken seriously, but the team was curiously lifeless for the period of time that I could devote to an exhibition.
The Jets go tonight, of course, and Mark Sanchez will get another chance to impress. I sure hope he does because I’m not too anxious for another year of quarterback controversy. Let’s end the controversy right here,okay. Sanchez will be the QB, Clemens will be the backup. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
(And now it’s the Mets Takahashi, a 40-year old rookie, facing Ryan Howard, whose 2 dingers and 5 ribbies have paced the Phils). An omen perhaps? Howard struck out.
The national media concentrated on how unusual the play had been in the annals of professional baseball, how it was one of the only times in the history of baseball that a game had ended on an unassisted triple play. To me, though, they missed the boat. The real question is how unlucky one single team has been in any recorded baseball season.
And now we hear that Omar Minaya is returning. I could live with that. I mean, if this guy has been the unluckiest person in the whole wide world this season, it only stands to reason that his luck must change for the better, everything in life following the natural rhythms of the universe. A new GM might begin a whole new cycle of misfortune.
The GM likes the manager and I do too. Who’d we go to? Randolph? Valentine? No thanks.
But then I hear that the team will reduce its payroll for next year. That’s not good. While it may not be as bad as it may sound, as quite a bit of salary will be coming off the books, much of it paid out for a remarkable lack of production, it could hardly be interpreted as a good thing.
I still think Madoff’s Ponzi scheme may be seriously affecting Wilpon’s handling of this team, despite statements made to the contrary. How could it not? And maybe that piece of serious misfortune was the unkindest cut of all, coming at a most inpropitious moment in time, when opening a new expensive stadium for a team that’s setting records for snake-bitten-ness. (I know it’s not a word, no letters please). Wilpon may have killed a spider, that’s supposed to bring bad monetary luck.
Call it what you will…cursed, plagued, gremlin-infested, the evil eye, this Mets team has them all at the same time. So maybe Minaya walked under a ladder while a black cat was ambling by. Maybe he spilled salt after breaking a mirror, or, even worse, he stepped on a crack. Anyone watching baseball has seen a variety of pitcher-types jump over the baseline. Oliver Perez comes immediately to mind but he’s not the only one.
And it certainly didn’t help Perez out yesterday. Once again, he stunk out the joint, lasting about 2/3 of an inning after giving up six runs. Maybe he should try digging his spikes into the line, then stomping on it. He couldn’t possibly be any worse. His pitch selection and location stink too, any nobody will be happier than I to see the back of Brian Schneider.
I keep thinking of that trade with the Nats a couple of years ago that brought us Church and Schneider, while we sent off Lastings Milledge and Paul LoDuca. We’ve had nothing but bad luck since. Church is already out of here, thank the baseball gods, and now there’s just Schneider. That may bring more good luck than you would ordinarily think it possibly could. That original trade must have been done for specious reasons totally unfair to LoDuca. And if anybody could cast a jinx, or throw an evil eye, my guess is that LoDuca would be just the one.
Besides just letting Schneider go, maybe we could do some other things that may help, like throwing salt over our left shoulders. Seriously, the Mets need a lot of help.
As this is written, for example, the Phils are kicking our butts. It’s just 5-2 now in the 4th, but things could get worse in a hurry, as it’s Cliff Lee, one of the premiere pitchers in the majors, going against our Bobby Parnell, one of the league’s least accomplished. The two runs we have on the board were unearned.
While the Phils picked up Lee to flirt with another World Series, we’re trading Billy Wagner to flirt with disaster. But that’s ok, I guess, maybe we’ll get a guy in return who can help us down the road, and for less money, as that is increasingly going to be an issue. And besides, if it makes Papelbon unhappy to trade Billy to Boston, I’m all for it. What an idiot that guy is.
And, speaking of bad luck, we just hit into another irksome double play, Sullivan having been retired after trying to scramble back to first on a hard-hit liner to Utley at second base. I thought he was safe but the umpire called him out. (I absolutely promise that a future article will deal with the total incompetency of umpires this year, for balls and strikes and on the bases).
That’s all I have to say about the Mets. Let’s just pray the bad luck doesn’t spread to the Jets or Giants, or the Knicks and Nets either. (I don’t care about hockey). I do so want to enjoy my autumn (and perhaps winter for the Giants). But there have already been articles written about the demise of the much-ballyhooed Giants defensive line.
The Giants looked awful this weekend against the Bears. Not that anything about exhibition games should be taken seriously, but the team was curiously lifeless for the period of time that I could devote to an exhibition.
The Jets go tonight, of course, and Mark Sanchez will get another chance to impress. I sure hope he does because I’m not too anxious for another year of quarterback controversy. Let’s end the controversy right here,okay. Sanchez will be the QB, Clemens will be the backup. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
(And now it’s the Mets Takahashi, a 40-year old rookie, facing Ryan Howard, whose 2 dingers and 5 ribbies have paced the Phils). An omen perhaps? Howard struck out.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Fresh Meat
There are a lot of people out of work and I’m sure some of them are qualified to run operations for the New York Mets. That I could root for a team that tolerates the crap that Bernazard had been handing out makes me sick. I mean, it’s the Yanks who are the Evil Empire, right?
Well, apparently not. It looks like Bernazard had run the Mets farm system like a bad warden in a Turkish prison. And a NY Daily News reporter blew the whistle on him, forcing a very unwilling Mets hand to fire Bernazard. So they decided to turn a little heat back on the reporter, alleging some kind of inappropriate behavior by the News’s Rubin.
Although I have to admit the whole affair was vastly amusing, Minaya’s handling of his press conference convened to fire Tony Bernazard was as bad as I could imagine, and I have a pretty vivid imagination. To go after the press anytime under any circumstances is pretty stupid, but to go after the guy who just blew the whistle on you is even worse.
I’m sure it made Minaya feel better. The sad thing is that Wilpon probably thought it was a good idea too. Knowing Wilpon is a very hands-on type of owner, it probably irked him quite a bit to have to fire one of his chief lieutenants. And he thought he could give Rubin some of the stuff he had been handing out. You could see the two of them, Wilpon and Minaya, putting their heads together and saying, “Yeah, let’s give that SOB some of his own medicine.”
While I can understand them feeling that way, I can’t understand them actually thinking it was the appropriate thing to do. This is New York, fellas. This is the good ol’ USA. I think these guys have lost touch with reality.
As a long-time Mets fan, I feel embarrassed. For my being so stupid over the years. For my thinking the Mets were the good guys all this time. For my thinking the Mets ran an organization that put some emphasis on baseball as a real game, a game that should be fun.
Now that I’m otherwise informed, I say get rid of the whole lot of them. I don’t want to root for Minaya anymore. And while I don’t think any amount of pressure would force the sale of the team, I say get rid of the Wilpons too. I don’t go for this feudal baron type of ownership. This is 20th Century America.
What the whole affair says to me is this. “We own the Mets and we’ll run it any way we want. There’s nothing you can do about it, and if you try, we’ll come after you.” Who wants to root for these guys? Even Steinbrenner didn’t do anything like this.
All they had to do was fire Bernazard and get out of Dodge. Case closed. Goodbye everybody. We’re sorry we run the Island of Doctor X. We’ll hire somebody better.
But no.
It’s a damned shame too because things are starting to look a lot better on the field. Our sorry team on the field has won its last three. After looking so very bad against the worst team in the league, the Nationals, the Mets totally turned things around against two good teams, Houston and Colorado.
And they did it in a big way. They pitched and they hit. First it was a starter from the farm system, Jonathan Niese, who went 7 innings and gave up just one run. Then Livan went out and pitched 7 innings more, giving up just 3 runs in a horrible first inning. Then crazy Ollie Perez managed to give up just 3 runs over 5 full innings. Meanwhile, the feisty Mets batters managed to score 25 runs in the three games. Unbelievable and totally unpredictable.
It sure has made my week though. Seeing Francoeur knocking in runs has been great. Everybody but Cora hit in the 10-3 win. In the 8-3 win, even Cora joined the attack and in the 7-3 win, the new core of the lineup, Castillo, Murphy, Wright and Francoeur, did the hitting while Fernando Tatis finished things with a grand slam.
The relief corps performed too. The only runs given up by relievers over the three wins were the two given up by their best reliever, K-Rod. Sean Green, Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes were outstanding.
So things are rosy in Mets-land, just about everywhere but in the front office. While the management tear themselves up, the players have been great and on-the-field manager Jerry Manuel hasn’t done anything to deter them. Maybe those crazy guys in the front office have unwittingly provided the only thing that could drive off all the team detractors….fresh meat.
But things won’t get easier. While the Mets feasted on some questionable pitchers in their little winning streak, they’ll now face Jason Marquis, a good young pitcher named Hamel and then a very good and hot hurler in Jorge DeLaRosa. The Rockies didn’t get to be a wildcard contender without pitching.
So it’ll be Marquis vs Pelfrey, Santana against Hamel and then Mr. Niese again vs. DeLaRosa. Even with Santana coming off a bad outing, it’s hard to think our local fellas won’t take at least one of these three. That would give them a split with the Rockies, which isn’t too shabby, especially given the prospect of having some of the injured return soon.
Given these front-office gaffes, maybe it helps explain the seemingly long stints on the DL for Beltran, Reyes and Delgado. Maybe there’s no real motivation to kill yourself for a bunch of bad guys. I hope that’s not true but the rumor has been that Beltran at least was not happy over the team’s handling of his bone bruise.
As a fan, my wish would be that we could go back to a time just before Omar put his foot in it.
Well, apparently not. It looks like Bernazard had run the Mets farm system like a bad warden in a Turkish prison. And a NY Daily News reporter blew the whistle on him, forcing a very unwilling Mets hand to fire Bernazard. So they decided to turn a little heat back on the reporter, alleging some kind of inappropriate behavior by the News’s Rubin.
Although I have to admit the whole affair was vastly amusing, Minaya’s handling of his press conference convened to fire Tony Bernazard was as bad as I could imagine, and I have a pretty vivid imagination. To go after the press anytime under any circumstances is pretty stupid, but to go after the guy who just blew the whistle on you is even worse.
I’m sure it made Minaya feel better. The sad thing is that Wilpon probably thought it was a good idea too. Knowing Wilpon is a very hands-on type of owner, it probably irked him quite a bit to have to fire one of his chief lieutenants. And he thought he could give Rubin some of the stuff he had been handing out. You could see the two of them, Wilpon and Minaya, putting their heads together and saying, “Yeah, let’s give that SOB some of his own medicine.”
While I can understand them feeling that way, I can’t understand them actually thinking it was the appropriate thing to do. This is New York, fellas. This is the good ol’ USA. I think these guys have lost touch with reality.
As a long-time Mets fan, I feel embarrassed. For my being so stupid over the years. For my thinking the Mets were the good guys all this time. For my thinking the Mets ran an organization that put some emphasis on baseball as a real game, a game that should be fun.
Now that I’m otherwise informed, I say get rid of the whole lot of them. I don’t want to root for Minaya anymore. And while I don’t think any amount of pressure would force the sale of the team, I say get rid of the Wilpons too. I don’t go for this feudal baron type of ownership. This is 20th Century America.
What the whole affair says to me is this. “We own the Mets and we’ll run it any way we want. There’s nothing you can do about it, and if you try, we’ll come after you.” Who wants to root for these guys? Even Steinbrenner didn’t do anything like this.
All they had to do was fire Bernazard and get out of Dodge. Case closed. Goodbye everybody. We’re sorry we run the Island of Doctor X. We’ll hire somebody better.
But no.
It’s a damned shame too because things are starting to look a lot better on the field. Our sorry team on the field has won its last three. After looking so very bad against the worst team in the league, the Nationals, the Mets totally turned things around against two good teams, Houston and Colorado.
And they did it in a big way. They pitched and they hit. First it was a starter from the farm system, Jonathan Niese, who went 7 innings and gave up just one run. Then Livan went out and pitched 7 innings more, giving up just 3 runs in a horrible first inning. Then crazy Ollie Perez managed to give up just 3 runs over 5 full innings. Meanwhile, the feisty Mets batters managed to score 25 runs in the three games. Unbelievable and totally unpredictable.
It sure has made my week though. Seeing Francoeur knocking in runs has been great. Everybody but Cora hit in the 10-3 win. In the 8-3 win, even Cora joined the attack and in the 7-3 win, the new core of the lineup, Castillo, Murphy, Wright and Francoeur, did the hitting while Fernando Tatis finished things with a grand slam.
The relief corps performed too. The only runs given up by relievers over the three wins were the two given up by their best reliever, K-Rod. Sean Green, Pedro Feliciano and Brian Stokes were outstanding.
So things are rosy in Mets-land, just about everywhere but in the front office. While the management tear themselves up, the players have been great and on-the-field manager Jerry Manuel hasn’t done anything to deter them. Maybe those crazy guys in the front office have unwittingly provided the only thing that could drive off all the team detractors….fresh meat.
But things won’t get easier. While the Mets feasted on some questionable pitchers in their little winning streak, they’ll now face Jason Marquis, a good young pitcher named Hamel and then a very good and hot hurler in Jorge DeLaRosa. The Rockies didn’t get to be a wildcard contender without pitching.
So it’ll be Marquis vs Pelfrey, Santana against Hamel and then Mr. Niese again vs. DeLaRosa. Even with Santana coming off a bad outing, it’s hard to think our local fellas won’t take at least one of these three. That would give them a split with the Rockies, which isn’t too shabby, especially given the prospect of having some of the injured return soon.
Given these front-office gaffes, maybe it helps explain the seemingly long stints on the DL for Beltran, Reyes and Delgado. Maybe there’s no real motivation to kill yourself for a bunch of bad guys. I hope that’s not true but the rumor has been that Beltran at least was not happy over the team’s handling of his bone bruise.
As a fan, my wish would be that we could go back to a time just before Omar put his foot in it.
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