WRONG KIND OF FIRED UP

Here are two ways I know it's nearing the end of the school year and I'm more tired at night than ever:

1) I fall asleep before I set my fantasy baseball lineup, and don't have time to get on the computer in the morning at school, and don't have Shawn Marcum in my rotation for a 7-inning shutout performance (I am so pissed about that).
2) The Wife is more up on the Mets news than I am. She e-mailed me this:

"You should blog about this:

Wagner rips Mets teammate
Posted: Thursday May 01, 2008 05:53AM ET
Amid the rubble of a 13-1 loss to the last-place Pirates that started with Oliver Perez's second-inning meltdown, Billy Wagner said what many of his teammates appeared to be thinking about the left-hander. Wagner blasted Perez for lasting just 12/3 innings, matching his career low, against one of the worst teams in baseball. "Perez has honestly got to step up and know that we've just used every guy in our bullpen the night before," a visibly disgusted Wagner said. "He can't come out there and decide that, gee, he hasn't got it today and so be it." Asked if talking to Perez about his notoriously short attention span was like trying to talk to a wall, Wagner pointed his finger and said: "Pretty much.""

Thanks for that...although I'm not sure the source. I'll just credit The Wife.

I guess Billy Wagner's back - he had been awfully quiet this year. And last year, really. Recently I had asked for more players to get into 2006 form - I meant in baseball performance, but the Mets had a cohesive locker room that year, so maybe Wagner opening his mouth will lend itself to a more cohesive team unit (that seems counter-intuitive...).

I can't really make an argument against Wagner here, though. He's right. And for Oliver Perez to be this up and down throughout his career, he has to be the type of guy who probably gives up on himself, says, 'I just don't have it today, so I'll wait until my next start'. I think Wagner has it right on the nose. Problem is, the question about Perez's attention span was really uncalled for, and Wagner answering it is crossing a line. That's the part that's not going to go over well.

Hopefully Perez comes back with a strong start, and hopefully the players don't start sniping at one another. Since this entry centered on Oliver Perez, I now cue the Southern Bureau.....