Good news. The Mets picked up a half-game on Atlanta, shut down by Zach Duke and the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday afternoon. The Mets, of course, didn't play.

The Mets, I was surprised to read in the New York papers Monday, are happy that Mike Cameron wasn't traded. I guess he's a really good guy in the clubhouse. Cliff Floyd especially was thrilled that his friend was staying. I don't think the players realize that Cameron is KILLING the rest of the team. Oh well. Maybe this all being behind them will lead to a big run in August.

I'm going to the game Sunday night. According to my calculations, I will not be seeing Pedro Martinez* pitch. I'll know better later in the week, but I think Randolph is giving him the extra day of rest, so Pedro will probably be going Wednesday-Tuesday.

When I do go to the Mets-Cubs game, you may hear me yelling on ESPN. I will be the only one screaming for a double when David Wright comes to the plate.

This is an off-day, but since there is some e-mail to get to, I'll forego a trip down memory lane, and put aside the old scorebooks. Maybe I'll do that next week.

Dave checks in with this e-mail:

"Dear Johnnymets,

Off day commercial fodder.

I saw the Southwest commercial you wrote about a few weeks back, where the guy and girl have an awkward moment on the couch then he runs over to his computer. I figured out why it's so awkward: the woman in the commercial was just recently married -- in a State Farm auto insurance commercial, in which she makes her husband throw out a bunch of his
stuff, but they keep his insurance company because "she had the Gecko." And she's cheating on him already. No wonder there was a strained moment on the couch in the Southwest ad.

Along this same vein, David Spade's trainee/coworker from the Capital
One ads is making extra money working at a grocery store, where he
offers Pringles to shoppers.

Dave in Brighton"

Dave, of course, is referring to my article over the All-Star break on some of the best commercials that air during all of the baseball games I watch. Dave, it turns out, likes to create stories about the lives of the people who appear in numerous commercials that air at the same time. I have yet to notice that the woman in the Southwest commercial is the same as the woman in the State Farm one. But I'll take Dave's word for it - the woman sounds like a tramp.

As for the David Spade trainee, he's appearing in a bunch of commercials these days. And I have to say, I am very happy with Dave's repeated use of the word "commercial". I have a strong feeling that ads on TV should be called "commercials". My wife calls them "ads". I think "ads" are the ads in newspapers and magazines. It's tearing us apart.

Here's another e-mail, shifting the focus back to baseball:

"Johnny...

I love the Wright Watch....such a captivating part of the column....I'm surprised the NY Post hasn't stolen the idea yet.

Anyways - do you feel like the Mets did an injustice to their fans by even getting in the Manny Ramirez talks?? They get the whole city hyped up about getting Manny - then they don't get him - and end up with nothing. It seems like they're just putting their fans through a roller coaster of emotions.

kevin
JMDBSDC Southern Bureau"

Kevin - thanks for the kind words on the Wright Watch. Johnnymets.blogspot.com loves its Southern Bureau. Remember - 16 doubles in 57 games. Quite do-able.

I do think the Mets were sort of used by the Red Sox. As I mentioned on Sunday, it's my theory that the Red Sox floated out this trade proposal to make Red Sox fans realize that they didn't really want Manny to go. So in essence, they used the Mets, because they were never going to trade him....now, anyway. The off-season is a different story. But I don't think that ended up putting Mets fans through a roller coaster of emotions, because people in New York tell me there was a bit of an uproar over the Mets getting Manny. I don't think people wanted him...which is hard for me to believe.

However, I do think the Manny thing took some of the Mets' focus away from the Alfonso Soriano trade talks, and I think Mets fans would have been very happy with a deal for Soriano. So the fact that they didn't end up with Soriano might have made some Mets fans mad (myself included - I forgot to mention that the other day) - and that can be blamed indirectly on Manny.

I should probably weigh in on this whole Rafael Palmeiro mess. How can you unknowingly take steroids? That's what I want to know. I feel like the past 15 years need to be wiped from the books. Everyone's a liar, everyone's been cheating. It's very disheartening, disappointing. Palmeiro's credibility is shot. He lied to Congress....who's to say anyone has been telling the truth. It's just bad. I don't know who to believe - I can't believe these guys have the gall to be doing this now, anyway, faced with this drug plan. I think it lends a ton of credence to my dad's theory that Jason Giambi has been having a great month because he's back on the juice. I wish stuff like this wasn't happening...but maybe the fact that a big name is outed now, in Palmeiro, it will either scare others straight, or lead to other big names and other suspensions.

ELTRAN*'S AND WRIGHT WATCH will return on Tuesday.

THE KID'S KIDS: There's either a night game happening (a rare thing in the Gulf Coast League), or there's been another rain out. The Mets are 22-10, six-and-a-half games up.