The annual frustration that is Sunday night after the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. I'm having one of my worst years ever. (Did anyone except me, notice, by the way, that during the Bradley-Pittsburgh game, the CBS score on the bottom right of the screen read: "Brad Pitt"?)

MATSUI: Kaz Matsui's spring training push for the second base job took a big hit since the last time I wrote - he sprained his knee during a game last Thursday, and will be out three weeks - and will definitely not play Opening Day. The biggest problem this presents is that the Mets can't shop Matsui - because the ultimate solution to their $8 million problem at second base is that the Mets will trade him.

It also means the Mets' Opening Day lineup will look something like this (as I continue to work on the newest feature on johnnymets.blogspot.com - good pictures):
Anderson Hernandez is the favorite to now start at second base Opening Day, leaving the right field spot as the only one still up in the air (although Xavier Nady looks to have the advantage right now over Victor Diaz).

WBC: The WBC Championship is Monday night, with Cuba playing Japan. The good news about that is that the Mets have all their key players from the WBC back in camp, with two weeks to go until the regular season begins.

I hear some people saying it's shocking that the first WBC doesn't have the Americans in the final four. I can't say I'm shocked - the way they were playing, the set-up of the thing, with the U.S. really not even having time to play together (and coming off a winter where a lot of them didn't touch a baseball), and the quality of the other teams indicated to me pretty early on that the U.S. was going to have a tough road. I love the fact that Roger Clemens gets the loss in the deciding game, too, against Mexico.

How many Cubans do you think will try to defect after the game on Monday night? I think the over/under has to be set at 1.5. Even with Castro's son posing as a team doctor to prevent such things.

SNY: Perhaps I'm wise not to hitch my star to the SNY wagon (or it's a good thing I was too lazy to ever give them a call). The station debuted on Thursday night, and there have been lots of errors - from blackouts to dropped ads. I'm sure things will get ironed out - but we're talking about a New York City television station - not something on the third floor of Boston University's College of Communication. Let's get it together guys.

SPEAKING OF WHICH....: Congratulations to the Boston University men's hockey team, champions of Hockey East, after a 2-1 overtime win over Boston College Saturday night. This is a fun team to watch - hopefully the Mets aren't the only champs I'm watching this year...the NCAA Hockey Tournament gets underway Friday - I'll keep you posted on BU.

ON A LEITER NOTE: Al Leiter announced his retirement on Sunday. He was one of my favorite Mets to watch - ever. He'll also have one of the most successful broadcasting careers by a former player ever. More than the third-man-in-the-booth-for-big-games role he's been filling on FOX the past few years. I wonder if he'll do national broadcasts on an ESPN or FOX station, or do local team stuff.

'86 METS ROUNDUP: Some distressing news - Dwight Gooden was arrested again on drug charges. Very sad. I doubt we'll be seeing him at the big August reunion. Also, a couple of interesting notes about 1986 World Series rings, both involving Hurricane Katrina. Barry Lyons, backup catcher on that team, lost his ring when his home was destroyed in the hurricane. Keith Hernandez told a story that he was having some work done on the ring, to give part of it to his new wife, and it was sent to a jeweler in New Orleans around the time of the hurricane. The jeweler was evacuating, and walked out of his shop, and Hernandez said the man went back in because he remembered the ring was in a safe - and got the ring. Hernandez said the man was a Cardinals fan, and liked him, otherwise he may not have the ring.

Coming this week: My predictions for the 2006 season...standings-wise, anyway.

EVEN STEVEN

Mets 8, Braves 1 (NYM: 46-46, 7 GB; ATL: 52-41)

For the 23rd different time this season, the Mets are at .500. They split the second-half-opening series with the Braves, 2-2. I'm trying to decide whether or not this is disappointing. The Mets struggle against the Braves. So I'm thinking a split is pretty good - it sure is better than losing 3 out of 4, which past Mets teams might have done this series against Atlanta. However, after the way the Mets won the first game of the series, with Mike Piazza's dramatic homer, I think I expected more. Especially considering two of the Braves pitchers, Tim Hudson and Mike Hampton, were making their first starts off the DL.

I didn't have a chance to say anything on Saturday night about Saturday's game. This was Hudson's first start back, and he shut the Mets out for six innings. The worst thing about the game was that he only threw 62 pitches over those six innings. I think he had something absurd like 16 pitches in 4 innings. The Mets had to make Hudson work more in his first start back. He cruised.

The good news is, the Mets didn't let Hampton (public enemy number two in my book, following Kenny Rogers) cruise. They got to him early....and often. THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, led off the game with a single, went to third on a Mike Cameron single, then scored on a Carlos Beltran* groundout. Reyes was then involved in the run scoring in the second as well, when the Mets got 4 runs, knocking Hampton out of the game. The big blow was an opposite field home run by Cameron which looked like a line drive, but just carried and carried.

The five runs were more than enough for Pedro Martinez* (whose asterisk remains only for superstitious reasons...he no longer deserves the mark....Beltran*, on the other hand, does). Martinez* went six innings, giving up just two hits - no runs - and striking out five. Pedro* threw just 61 pitches over his six innings. His record is now 11-3 and his ERA is 2.60. I was hoping he'd pitch like this, but, man, even me, the most optimistic of fans, didn't expect this.

A couple of interesting events over the weekend. If you missed Saturday's posting, Doug Mientkiewicz is back. He played in Friday night's game. The Mets, when they activated Mientkiewicz, also brought up Juan Padilla. In turn, they demoted Brian Daubach and Royce Ring. Daubach I don't care about (hopefully Jose Offerman follows suit soon - although he had another RBI pinch hit on Sunday), but Ring I find curious. He was one of the Mets' better relievers, especially being lefty. My thought here is that Ring is going back to Norfolk to close out games, and the Mets might shop Braden Looper, to see what they can get for him. If they end up trading Looper, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ring brought back as the closer. Just a thought. If it happens, I think that would be good. If it doesn't happen, I have no idea why they sent Ring down.

More good news, Milwaukee kicked Washington's butt this weekend, so the Mets are just 7 games out. The slide begins....

Florida is now tied with the Mets at the bottom of the NL East, Philly is a game and a half ahead. The Mets are five and a half back of Atlanta (wild card leaders).

I knew Al Leiter would be picked up by someone - but I didn't think it would be so soon...or by the Yankees. There was part of me hoping he'd come back to the Mets and pitch like he did on Sunday night, but I didn't think Leiter would come back to New York, considering his comments about the city (WFAN, Mike and the Mad Dog in particular) in the off-season. I wonder how that will play out now that he's with the Yanks.

A couple of new features for the rest of the season. ELTRAN*'S 2ND HALF will track Carlos Beltran*'s second half (it's the second half of his name), and the WRIGHT WATCH is back...this time tracking David Wright's quest for the team record in doubles. It's a longshot, but it's worth watching.

ELTRAN*'S 2ND HALF: 6-16 (.375 BA) 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 RUN, 0 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: 2nd Half: 0 doubles Season Total: 22 Team Record: 44

THE KID'S KIDS: This is where Hall of Famer Gary Carter is going to have to come through as a manager. The Gulf Coast Mets are suffering a four-game losing streak, dropping their record to 13-7. They're still in first place, but from 13-3 to 13-7 is a big drop. Sunday's are off days, so there was a (probably) much-needed day off. They'll try to find their winning ways again Monday, which, incidentally, is an off-day for the Major Legaue Mets.

METS LEIT UP MARLINS

Mets 10, Marlins 1 (NYM: 8-8, FLA: 9-7 - 1 GB)

Things are starting to turn the Mets' way. During the first week of the season, the Mets couldn't buy a break. On Thursday night, the baseball gods more than made up for that as the Mets cruised to a 10-1 win. Here's what I mean:

The Marlins jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Pedro Martinez* and the Mets early - Juan Pierre led off the game with a double, and came around to score to make it 1-0 in the first. So right away you think, with Al Leiter on the mound, having shut down the Mets just 5 days ago, and with the Mets' bats having been silenced on Wednesday night, that this won't be a good night.

But in the second inning, Cliff Floyd walks. Then he steals second! Wait a second, you think...wait a second. Then future Hall of Famer David Wright walks. Then Ramon Castro drops down a bunt, which actually is a pop-up, but it floats over Leiter's head, and lands in between Leiter, Carlos Delgado, and Luis Castillo!! Bases are loaded, Doug Mientkiewicz steps in, and BAM grand slam, 4-0 Mets. That's just the kind of thing that hadn't been happening that first week of the season - if it was the first week, the pop-up would have been caught, and both Mets on base would have been doubled off (or tripled off, as the hypothetical case may be).

So anyway, there are still no outs in the second, and after Mientkiewicz, Victor Diaz walks. Pedro* sacrifices him over, and then THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, singles him home. Then Kaz Matsui singles. Then Carlos Beltran* hits a fly ball to left, scoring Reyes, and on the play Matsui even tags up to second. Then up comes Cliff Floyd (again - he led off the inning, remember), and he singles home Matsui. Then, with the Mets now leading 7-1, he again steals second base!! Wright grounded out to third to end the inning, but the Mets sent 11 batters to the plate, scored seven runs, and stole two bases.

Let's put this in perspective...Marlins starters had the best ERA in the league - the Mets did some damage to that. The Marlins hadn't given up more than four runs in a game so far ALL YEAR....the Mets got seven in the second inning!!! The Mets went on to a 10-1 win - Carlos Beltran* added a 2-run homer. A couple of thoughts overall:

It's really awesome when the Mets' offense gets going like it did tonight, and on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. I think they're capable of doing it against good pitchers...unfortunately we haven't really seen that yet. We've seen it against Vicente Padilla (who has owned the Mets in the past...let's keep that in mind), and Al Leiter, who they were seeing for the second time in less than a week. But the offense can be explosive...they just need to be a little more consistent.

Here's why I'm not so bothered whenever David Wright gets into a slump like he is in right now. He still gets on base. In Thursday night's game, Wright walked ahead of Mientkiewicz's grand slam. He went 0-for-2, but still got on base and scored. Reyes will hit his way out of slumps...Wright will work his way out of slumps with patience.

Doug Mientkiewicz is a bit of a hothead. I've brought up this point earlier in the season - during spring training. I mentioned he has a bit of a big mouth - I think it was probably around the World Series baseball controversy. But in his next at-bat after the grand slam Thursday night against Leiter, the first pitch was high and slightly inside (sort of like Manny versus Clemens in Game 3 of the ALCS in 2003). In other words, just high. Mientkiewicz took a couple of steps in Leiter's direction and stared at him. I don't think Leiter was sending a message. He was trailing 7-1 at the time, and couldn't find the plate. I think it was just a high pitch...but Mientkiewicz took issue.

Also intriguing, was the fact that Cliff Floyd stole two bases in the second inning. The first one I understand completely - Leiter has a long motion to the plate, and doesn't hold runners well. The Mets were down 1-0, so Floyd took the opportunity to put himself in scoring position. Great work by him. But then, with the Mets up 7-1, in the SAME INNING, Floyd did it again. I thought that broke one of those unwritten baseball rules (I don't mind - I love when the Mets run it up like that...I'm just pointing it out). I wonder if Floyd feels slighted by Leiter leaving the Mets, or if there's some bad blood there, and Floyd just wanted to prove to Leiter he could steal the bag. Just wondering. I have a feeling this win by the Mets got in the Marlins' craw a bit. Jack McKeon got very upset when the Marlins got crushed by the Red Sox in 2003 (I think that game was 25-7). This one was different, but embarrassing to Florida nonetheless. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some animosity between the Mets and Marlins the rest of the season.

That's all I have for tonight. The Mets take on the Washington Nationals for the first time this weekend at Shea.

Man, if I was psyched about baseball before, I sure as heck am now.

I must start by saying that I did not meet Hall of Famer Gary Carter on Sunday. The situation wasn't right. I will meet him someday, and it will be without a bunch of other Mets fans pushing around me as we wait to buy tickets for the 2005 season. So instead of going to Shea Stadium Sunday morning, I sat at home, and received a call from James from Bayside. (OK, full disclosure, my mom received the call, and relayed the message.) The members of the 1986 Mets who were at Shea Stadium were on WFAN, on "Talking Baseball with Ed Randall". Great interviews. I heard the end of Gary Carter's, heard Tim Tueffel, Sid Fernandez, and a little bit of Ron Darling. Good stuff. It really got me psyched for this season.

A couple of other things - Hall of Famer Gary Carter is managing the Gulf Coast Mets this season. I think I heard that announcement at the end of last season - but it might have come after the blog closed down for the season. Needless to say, the Carter Count will be this year's version of the Wright Watch, and we'll track Gary Carter's path back to the majors...this time as a future Hall of Fame manager. FYI, the Gulf Coast Mets finished in first place last year in their division, and lost a playoff game to the Red Sox. It's a 60-game season, which I think starts in June....maybe even July. I'll keep you posted.

In other former Mets news, Mookie Wilson will be managing the Brooklyn Cyclones this year.

As for the '05 edition of the Mets, future Hall of Famer David Wright and Jose Reyes (possibly THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED) have been invited by Carlos Beltran* to join him working out at night at the Gold's Gym in Port St. Lucie. Wright has already taken Beltran* up on the offer, but didn't tell Beltran* that he had already been working out at the gym at night separately by himself. Reyes, I think, has yet to join them. Beltran* says he asked them because he sees the talent there and he wants them to be the best they possibly can be.

There's going to be an uproar developing about revelations by Carlos Delgado's agent that Al Leiter helped Delgado choose the Marlins over the Mets by badmouthing New York. I think the only reason this might become an uproar is because Leiter badmouthed the New York media, and they hate to be badmouthed (see: Chad Pennington). Again, in this situation, I don't disagree with anything Leiter said - stuff along the lines of, slumps are prolonged in NYC because 7 or 8 newspaper writers are asking you about it, and the talk radio stations are talking about it, and it influences fans negatively. He said it better, though...I don't like the way I just wrote it. Anyway, this might be an interesting side story for the Mets/Marlins matchups this year.

The Mets' first spring training game is on Wednesday at 1:05pm, and it will be on ESPN. Tom Glavine will pitch against the Washington Nationals. I will not be able to watch, because first of all, I will be in school, and second of all, I no longer have cable, as I get ready to move into the House, brought to you by DirecTV. I will try to find someway to catch highlights, at least.

I would love to preview pitching tomorrow, but tomorrow also happens to be closing on said house. Hopefully I'll find the chance to write.

Al Leiter,
originally uploaded by Johnnyjets.

I would rank Citizen's Bank Park ahead of Arizona, but behind Houston, my all time favorite new ballpark. But here's probably the best feature of Citizen's Bank Park - the fans can get right up close to the bullpens. (I was actually much closer to the bullpen, but only remembered to take the picture after we had walked away a bit.)
The funny thing about these bullpens, which you may have heard already, is that the Phillies currently occupy the bullpen on the left, and the visiting team uses the one on the right, where you see Leiter warming up. At the beginning of the year, the reverse was true - the Phillies used the bullpen on the right. So at the beginning of the year, when the Phillies were struggling, in particular, the Phillies' bullpen, the fans were merciless. (Phillies' fans are known for being very merciless.) They were so merciless that the Phillies switched bullpens so that they were farther away from the vicious fans. But it's a neat attraction for visitors. Also, behind the bullpens (behind where Leiter is), is a little Wall of Fame, with plaques, and a wall commemmorating Phillies history. Also nice.

Marlins 6, Mets 4 (60-70)

This game was typical Mets. Mike Piazza comes back from injury and homers. Al Leiter pitches well, but leaves down 3-1. The Mets battle back to take the lead. And then the bullpen gives the game right back. It's the kind of loss that makes you wish the season would just end already.

Piazza looked good. I know I'm way too optimistic usually, but he was swinging the bat with the authority he used to swing with. It resulted in an opposite-field home run in his second at-bat. He looked refreshed. Seriously. Please believe me. The Mets have to figure out a way to get Piazza appropriate rest throughout the year, and I think he'll have a few more good years still in him. OK, well, at least one more good year.

After Leiter gave up a 2-run home run to Miguel Cabrera to make it a 3-1 game in favor of the Marlins in the top of the sixth, the Mets came back to take a 4-3 lead. David Wright hit one of his best home runs of the year, shooting one straight out towards center field, with the ball just clearing the ball in right-center. So that tied the game at 3, then the next batter, Jason Phillips, homered into the left-field bullpen, putting the Mets up 4-3, and giving Leiter the chance to get a win.

That was too good to be true, though, as the Mets promptly handed the lead back, and then some. Heath Bell was the culprit out of the bullpen. Not much to say about this. As far as I'm concerned, the bottom of the sixth was the last thing worth remembering from this game. To add insult to injury, Armando Benitez came in to get the save in the 9th.

Oh wait - more good news. Kris Benson will miss his next start. Soreness in his arm/shoulder...I forget. Those deadline deals sure are looking good! I meant to write this yesterday, but I forgot. Benson gave up 8 runs (5 ER) against the Dodgers Sunday. He's only had 1 and a half (out of 5 or so total) acceptable starts for the Mets since the trade. And those other starts haven't just been bad - he's been getting rocked! And he's playing for a contract. Imagine if he wasn't a free agent at the end of the year. At least he's not driving his price up. I'll leave it on that positive note.

Check out Preview Week at johnnyjets.blogspot.com as we get ready for the Jets season!!

Game 1: Mets 10, Rockies 3; Game 2: Mets 4, Rockies 2 (58-61, 7 GB of wild card)

An interesting thing happened on Thursday night. After the softball game, we went to get pizza and beer at the local bar (more on the softball game later), and the Giants-Panthers NFL Preseason game is on the TV. They do a score update at the bottom of the screen, and underneath the score of game one of the doubleheader, Mets 10, Rockies 3, it says "NYM: 7.5 games back of the wild card." It could be that they just needed a stat to put there, but I think of it as an omen. Especially after the big win in game 2.

Al Leiter pitched very well, but again threw way too many pitches, so he left the game in the sixth inning trailing 2-1. It was 2-1 into the eighth, when Eric Valent, our boy here at johnnymets.blogspot.com, hits a pinch-hit solo homer to tie it. Then, with a 3-2 count and one out, one man on, in the top of the ninth, who else but future Hall of Famer David Wright with the first of what will be many dramatic game-winning homers to give the Mets the 4-2 lead. Mike Stanton pitched an excellent inning and a third to get the win.

The Mets won game one big. 10-3, a typical game in Colorado. The Mets' offense clicked, and Kris Benson pitched very well. And the Mets beat Shawn Estes, who I hold a grudge against. I don't know if the Mets do, but I sure do. Here's why. (I might have written this back when the Mets played the Rockies earlier in the year...if I did, sorry, but it bothers me so much I'm writing it again.) Estes, as you all remember, wussed out of throwing at Roger Clemens in his first at-bat against the Mets at Shea Stadium after he threw the bat at Mike Piazza (it was also the first at-bat after he had thrown at Piazza's head). Estes threw behind Clemens, because he wasn't on the team when Clemens did all this stuff to the Mets, and he didn't want to nail him. (Estes did homer off Clemens, which was good, but I wanted blood.) Anyway, that wasn't so bad.......until, last season, Estes is playing for the Chicago Cubs, it's early in the year, very early in the year, and there's a benches-clearing brawl. Who's out there, swinging away at the opponent, but one Shawn Estes?! He's been with these Cubs for a month and a half, and he's out there fighting for them, but he wouldn't throw one stinking baseball at Roger Clemens to back up his batterymate while he was here in New York??! That makes me so friggin' mad. So thank goodness the Mets beat him up yesterday.

A related situation happened in game two of the doubleheader Thursday night. Joe McEwing took a beating in the game. He had at least three Colorado runners take him out hard at second base, and after the third runner, J.D. Closser, slid into him, McEwing didn't get up. He had to be helped off the field. I don't know if he'll be back at all this season. We'll see. But anyway, Braden Looper faces Closser in the eighth inning, and he drills him good. It was a tie game at the time, and Looper put the potential winning run on first base, and got ejected at the same time, but that's good teammating. Way to go Braden! Especially considering Stanton pitched awesome in relief of Looper, and the Mets won the game. If they had lost, I might have been a little pissed.

As for Future Hall of Famer David Wright, he was 5-for-10 in the doubleheader, 2-for-6 in the first game, 3-for-4 in the nightcap. The homer was Wright's 5th (en route to at least 755), and the RBI's brought his total to 15. Piazza, Jose Reyes, and Matsui might be on the DL, but maybe Wright could be the spark to lead this team to the playoffs, or at least keep things rolling until those guys get healthy. (And now that McEwing is hurt, we need one of those middle infielders back soon.) Also on the injury front, Victor Zambrano was placed on the DL Thursday with the elbow problem. I think Matt Ginter will pitch in his place on Sunday.

Would you believe the Mets are now tied with the Phillies in the standings? The Astros trailed 7-2 late in the game on Thursday, and came back to beat Philly 12-10. So the Mets picked up a game and a half on the Phillies. The Mets can pick up some more ground in the wild card race this weekend. They trail the Giants by seven games, and they have three games in San Francisco this weekend. Steve Trachsel goes Friday night, and Tom Glavine returns from his car accident on Saturday afternoon.

As promised, the softball game. So we won big, behind the pitching of my wife! That's right. She played in her first game of the season, and took the mound no less. (She usually keeps score, but we need two women on each team, and she had to be an emergency fill-in). So she pitches two innings, giving up just two runs, catching a pop-up, and recording a strikeout. She got the win. As for the third baseman, he played better. I think just one error in Thursday night's game. So I think there are just 2 games left in the season (don't expect another appearance by the wife). We're 8-2, and I would say we are definitely in the top 3 of the league. Too bad we'll never know, since there is no playoff system.

Let's go Mets!

Mets 10, Expos 1 (49-52, 6 GB)

OK, don't laugh. But this win over the Expos is just what the Mets needed. I'm back on the bandwagon (if I ever actually was off it). For the first time all year, I really enjoyed watching a Mets game. (OK, again, not really true - I enjoy watching them all...but I'm never really rewarded like I was on Thursday.) Everything fell into place, everything came together, it was a great all-around game. To wit:

Eric Valent (don't forget I wrote 3 months ago in this space how much I like him) goes 4-for-4, hitting for the cycle.
David Wright blasted two doubles, and is on his way to stardom.
Mike Piazza busted out of his slump with a 2-RBI single - when the game was still close, he broke it open.
Mike Cameron hit two home runs.
Al Leiter continued to pitch great - and he was more efficient, throwing 105 pitches in 6 innings.

The only thing that went wrong on Thursday was the Braves' win. The Braves scored two runs in the 9th against Pittsburgh to come back and win, and maintain their 6 game lead over the Mets. Let's take a quick look at the NL East for a second. The Braves are on top, 55-46. Then the Phillies and the Marlins are tied at 52-50, 3.5 games back. The Mets are 6 back. The Marlins crushed the Phillies again Thursday, 10-1, to move into the second-place tie. The Marlins absolutely own Philadelphia. They're 11-1 against them this season, and are 23-3 against them over their past 26 meetings. That's why I said it before, and I'll say it again - the Mets don't have to worry about the Phillies. They have to worry about the Braves and the Marlins...and this weekend brings three huge games against the Braves. Ideal situation, the Mets sweep the Braves, get back to .500, and move to within three of Atlanta. They really can't afford to move further back in the division.

I'm telling you, Thursday's game was fun. The Mets were having fun, and they went out, and killed the Expos. I have a feeling we'll be looking back at this game as the turning point. The broadcasters actually made some very good points about the team's chemistry and why Mike Cameron is such a valuable member of the team. Hopefully they do build off this game, and they start a winning streak. The bad seeds of this team are gone (Karim Garcia, Shane Spencer, and Scott Erickson...OK, maybe not bad seeds, but the guys who didn't belong), and depending on who comes aboard before the deadline, these guys really enjoy playing together. I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be fun to watch.

The latest report out of Peter Gammons is the Mets are going to trade Matt Peterson and a player to be named later to the Pirates for Kris Benson. Not a bad deal - as long as the Mets don't give up more than one of their minor league pitchers before the deadline, I can handle any trades. The Mets have a real chance to make a move this weekend...or see their season come to a crashing end. I'll recap it Sunday night. Let's go Mets!!!!

And a quick Get Well soon to THE GREATEST (AND MOST FRAGILE) BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes. We need you!

Mets 7, Reds 6 (38-39, 3 GB)

Thursday, July 1, 2004

Al Leiter's reactions on the mound are usually priceless. For example, one of the best I've ever seen out of him came yesterday in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cliff Floyd made a bobbling catch after the ball ticked off his glove, bounced back in the air, then Floyd gathered it in with his bare hand. Fox Sports showed a replay isolated on Leiter, where after Floyd makes the catch, Leiter throws his hands up in the air, and gives a little celebratory jump, then shoots Floyd a look, kind of like, "I can't believe you almost dropped that". Something he could only get away with, because he's so likable.

Anyway, I bet there were some less likable reactions coming out of the clubhouse after Leiter left the game. He pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up just 2 hits, and left with a 6-0 lead. Ricky Bottalico gave most of that lead back in the 8th, and Braden Looper saved it.

It was almost a horrible loss, in which the Mets would have wasted homers by Eric Valent, Shane Spencer, Richard Hidalgo, and THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes. It would have also sucked a lot of wind out of the Mets before they played the Yankees. But it wasn't a horrible loss...it was a plain ol' win. And that's important.

Last week I wrote how I've been disappointed lately with Steve Trachsel. That can change 100% tonight if he comes through against Mike Mussina and the Yankees. This is the biggest game he'll pitch yet this year. Until his next start, which will come in Philadelphia.

It's so weird watching Leiter pitch. He just keeps letting guys get on base...but you just know he's not going to let them score. It's awesome...By the way, Leiter's ERA is 2.12, 0.04 ahead of Tom Glavine's, but he is 2/3 of an inning short of qualifying for the league lead...It's much easier listening to the Mets games when Matt Loughlin teams up with Fran Healy. Or Keith Hernandez teams up with Fran Healy. Notice the common denominator. No Ted Robinson. We need him to go cover tennis more often. Or at least I do. I think I actually enjoy Fran Healy a little bit. He's just so strange. It also makes me wonder if Healy and Robinson don't get along - there's an element in the booth that makes me uncomfortable when the two of them work together. Or maybe it's just that Robinson talks too much.

Just a final observation - there's nothing quite like experiencing a baseball season in Boston. Up until yesterday, I didn't enjoy it. I find most Red Sox fans annoying (I said MOST - not the faithful readers of this website who also happen to be Red Sox fans), because they almost enjoy it when their team's season falls apart, like it did these past three games in New York. It's tough to root for a team whose followers are so friggin' negative ALL THE TIME. I mean, this is a team that's 2 games out of the wild card, and the fans are done with the team. If you want to see some good turmoil, check out the Boston papers online every once in a while this summer, because this team is falling apart fast, and there are a lot of big name players who are going to be free agents at the end of the season. Those players are also not known for keeping their mouths shut. On the plus side, and to tie this in to the Mets site I run here, two Red Sox fans I know (you know who they are) have pledged their allegiance to the Mets because of the Red Sox struggles (although one of them is contingent on free agent Pedro Martinez signing with the Yankees next year). Welcome aboard, friends!

WRIGHT WATCH: David Wright was 0-for-3 last night, with a walk and an RBI. He was also caught stealing. The average is at .355.

Mets 4, Phillies 1 (25-26, 4.5 GB)

Tuesday, June 1, 2004

It's been a week, and the Mets are pretty much right back where they started the 12-game stretch against the Phillies and Marlins. They're a game under .500 again, and with Tom Glavine pitching tonight, there's a good chance they'll get to 26-26. But let's not jump the gun.

Last night's game was great. Al Leiter looked good, pitching out of a couple of jams in his first start back from the DL. Unfortunately, he only went five innings. David Weathers was decent in relief - but that balk was ridiculous. What was he doing?! If that doesn't happen, the Mets win the game 1-0, without extra innings. The announcers were saying they weren't sure it was a balk...but it sure looked like a balk to me.

Todd Zeile was clutch, saving Weathers with a game-tying homer in the top of the eighth, and then getting Kaz Matsui home with the game-winning run in the tenth. Vance Wilson provided the insurance with a 2-run, pinch-hit homer in the tenth.

One side note - I feel like the Mets taking Mike Piazza out for defensive purposes, like they did last night in the eighth inning, is going to come back to bite them someday. It didn't last night, but I just think taking his bat out of the lineup, especially when you have trouble scoring runs like the Mets do, is like playing with fire.

Notes: The Daily News reports today that Kaz Matsui is going to start wearing glasses in the field. They say coaches feel he can't see the catcher's signs, and therefore is having trouble positioning himself defensively. So he might start wearing Jason Phillips-type goggles at short. If that improves his play, I'm going to be pissed. This guy's been playing blind all this time?! He'd better wear the glasses at the plate too...Dontrelle Willis goes for the Marlins this afternoon against former Met Cory Lidle and the Cincinnati Reds. Those Reds, at 31-21, own the National League's best record. I still say they won't last. But we might as well ride the wave and hope they beat the Marlins one more time.

Mets 5, Phillies 3 (24-26, 5.5 GB)

May 31, 2004

Mother Nature screwed me over yesterday. The Mets were supposed to be on ESPN2 at 1pm. The start of the game was delayed by rain, but it started around 2pm. So I watched the first few innings. Then the rain came again, keeping the game off until after 4pm. By then, ESPN stuck with its regularly scheduled games, and blew off the rest of the Mets-Phillies game. So I didn't watch much of the game, but I did see Matt Ginter's full outing. Nice. It's too bad the rain prevented him from going five and qualifying for a win. Ginter continues to pitch well - remember, last week he went six scoreless against Philadelphia before leaving and seeing his 3-0 lead turn into a loss. Everytime he pitches well is a huge boost to the team.

Jason Phillips homered again, and Kaz Matsui looked good. I read Mike Cameron had a clutch hit. Hopefully the offense develops some consistency. I did notice in the box score, though, that the Mets left five runners in scoring position with two out. Not sure if they left the bases loaded at all (although using some math skills I've retained from high school I think I can detect that they didn't), but that's still a problem that needs fixing.

I forgot to write this yesterday, but I think Mike Piazza is going to love hitting in the new ballpark in Philadelphia. Apparently the ball jumps out of this park, especially out to right-center field. He hits the ball well to that part of the field. He went 1-for-3 yesterday, we'll see how he does over the course of the year, and whether or not this is a stat that's worth following.

A couple of other things. First of all, the Mets finished the month of May 15-12. That's good. That's probably one of their best months in years, sadly enough. Let me put a 15-12 month in perspective for you. There are roughly 6 months in a baseball season. If you play 15-12 ball every month, you go 90-72. That's enough to win the NL East this year...at least in my mind. Now, the Mets went 9-14 in April, so they have some ground to make up. But the 15-12 per month is very manageable. Especially considering a couple of things - first, they finished May very badly, with a 4-game losing streak on the final days of the season. They also had 3 other stretches of back-to-back losses. Another good sign coming up is the Mets play the AL Central in interleague play. A weaker division in baseball is tough to find. The Mets play at Minnesota (27-23) next week, and they've been depleted by injuries. Then they play at Kansas City (17-31) - one of the worst teams in baseball. After that, the Mets host Cleveland (22-26) and Detroit (23-27), two not-so-good teams. The Mets don't even have to play the White Sox, the best team in that division! Of course, the Mets being the Mets, they're not going to dominate these teams like they should. But it's safe to say the Mets should win more games in June than they did in May. That's a johnnymets guarantee.

One last thing. Last night on WFAN, a caller says he was at the Binghamton Mets game. Says he saw scouts there from the Kansas City Royals and the Boston Red Sox, among other teams he couldn't identify. "Hmm", I'm thinking. "This guy sounds intelligent. Could be some good info coming here."
Those teams are there to check out some of the Mets' minor-league talent in the hopes of working out a deal, as the caller states the obvious.
Now, the Mets are in the market for pitching. So those scouts are there, I'm thinking, because if they're giving up pitching, they want to see who the young guys they'd be getting from the Mets are. (Assuming the teams were there to watch the Mets and not the Yankees' double-A team, as this guy said they were.) So anyway, the presence of the scouts assumes the Mets are buyers, not sellers. Because if the Mets turn in to sellers this year, it's not to get rid of minor league talent. Then this clown caller says, "I bet the Red Sox guys are there because the Mets are going to send Al Leiter to Boston."
What an idiot. There is just so much wrong with that statement. Yes, the Red Sox could very well be interested in Al Leiter. But if that's the case, WHY WOULD THE SOX SCOUTS BE WATCHING THE METS' MINOR LEAGUE GUYS?!??! DO THEY WANT TO SEE WHERE THE YOUNG TALENT THEY WOULD NEED TO GIVE UP FOR A GUY LIKE LEITER WILL BE PLAYING NEXT SEASON?!?! I was so disappointed that the host didn't call this guy out. All he said was, "I don't think the Mets are going to get rid of Leiter, especially at this point of the season." That story wasn't really worth telling, I just needed to get it off my chest.

By the way, speaking of Leiter, he comes back from the DL tonight to pitch against the Phillies. Hopefully he's a little more efficient, and doesn't have to come out of the game after just five innings. Glavine will go tomorrow. These next two games are huge, before four more against Florida.

Expos 2, Mets 1 (6-8, 3.5 GB)

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

This is getting bad. The Mets were not regarded as a contender coming into the 2004 season. (Except by me.) Here's one way to know a team is not respected - their appearances on national television are few and far between. Here's a way to tell their status has fallen even further - their appearances on digital cable's "Extra Innings Package" get eliminated in favor of "better" games in the third week of the season. That's what I faced last night when I tried to tune in to the Mets and Expos. The Mets game was bumped. And the Mets are not doing anything to improve their standing in the eyes of observers. (I'm even starting to get down on them.) They've got to fix the bullpen.
So, despite my best efforts, I didn't see last night's game, but I've looked into it, and seen the hi-lites. I know that Al Leiter had his scoreless innings streak snapped - but he ONLY GAVE UP ONE RUN!!!! And he didn't factor in the decision! Come on, guys, you've got to start hitting. And the bullpen has to stop giving up runs. (Wanna look on the bright side? The bullpen broke a trend of giving up infinite amounts of runs in the late innings. Of course, to the Expos, one run is an infinite amount.)
David Weathers (1-1) was the culprit this time - again. He gave up a home run to Jose Vidro, breaking a 1-1 tie. The Mets only got four hits off Montreal pitching. Not going to win too many games that way. Tom Glavine goes tonight. The Mets need to score some runs.

Notes: The Expos are 2-3 against the Mets, and 1-8 against the rest of the league. Yikes....Jason Phillips is getting a little upset about losing playing time to Todd Zeile. I remember reading during spring training that Phillips is a bit of a hothead when things don't go right for him. I hope this doesn't become a clubhouse distraction. And I hope Art Howe doesn't try to get Phillips dealt out of spite. (Although I have a sneaking suspicion Phillips' future in NY is a bit more secure than Howe's.)...As of right now, the Mets are slated to be on the "Extra Innings" package tonight - hopefully they don't get bumped.

Mets 4, Braves 0 (5-4, 3 GB)

Thursday, April 15, 2004

This might have been the Mets' best win of the year so far. Al Leiter (1-0), David Weathers, Orber Moreno, and Braden Looper combined for a 4-hit shutout. Leiter hasn't given up a run in his two starts this year, and has a scoreless innings streak of 24 1/3 innings, dating back to last season. The big spot in this game, though, came with Weathers on the mound. Leiter left with men on first and second, and one out in the sixth. The Mets were up 2-0. After walking Andruw Jones, Weathers got Julio Franco to ground into a double play, ending the inning. That's the type of play that the Mets have been on the other end of the past few years.

Karim Garcia and Jeff Duncan padded the Mets lead in the eighth with RBI singles, making it a 4-0 lead. That's another good sign - the Mets kind of twisting the knife - not settling for just the 2 run lead.

That blew the save opportunity for Looper in the 9th, but he was still pretty good. And I'll take the W over the save any day.

Notes: Ralph Kiner, again, bringing his A-game last night. When Julio Franco comes to the plate with the bases loaded in the sixth, Kiner says, "The old man's up now." Haha. Ralph Kiner calling someone else an old man. But he was great....Another interesting point with Kiner - when he retired, with 369 home runs, he was number six on the all-time list. Now, he's number 57...Interesting situation when Bobby Cox was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the fifth inning. Up until that point, Leiter was cruising, no-hitting the Braves. Then he threw a 3-1 strike that Cox argued vehemently over, and it didn't look like he made that much of a case. But the papers this morning point out that it was probably an attempt to upset Leiter's rhythym. If it was, it worked. On the next pitch, Leiter gave up his first hit.