RANDOM PREDICTION: AL CENTRAL

The American League Central will be the most competitive division in baseball in 2009.

Let's break this down - in the AL East, the Orioles and Blue Jays will be below .500. In the AL West, Seattle is terrible. In the NL East, the Nationals will be bad, the NL Central has the Pirates and Astros, and the NL West is the worst division in baseball.

Bringing us back to the AL Central:

The Twins barely missed the playoffs, losing a one-game playoff to the White Sox, who enter the season as defending division champs. The Indians are now two seasons removed from their disappointing ending to the 2007 season and can't be counted out as a threat. This is the year the Royals get back above .500. And then you have the Tigers, who have to be chomping at the bit to avenge last year's disaster of a season.

I think, if it's mathematically possible, you have 5 teams right there that play better than .500 ball all year...making the AL Central the most competitve division in baseball in 2009.

For the sake of argument, here's my order of divisions in terms of competitiveness:

1) AL Central
2) NL East
3) NL West (the Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks, and Rockies really all could win the division)
4) AL East (a very good 3-team race)
5) NL Central (a bunch of teams have a chance, but none are all that good...that's right, Cubs. Win a playoff game sometime then we'll talk)
6) AL West (the Angels comfortably win this division...maybe even the American League)

ANALYSIS THROUGH EIGHTEEN WEEKS

Sorry not to give you advance notice, but obviously I didn't write all weekend. Luckily, it's time for another bi-weekly analysis, which will allow me to catch up on a variety of things at once.

MOST IMPRESSIVE: I've been meaning to write about this for a while, and now's as good a time as any since we're starting to see the promotion of a lot of the Mets youngsters. First and foremost, 33rd overall draft pick, Bradley Holt (though he seems to be going by Brad now) - who we've written about before - is having a great season with the Brooklyn Cyclones (3-2, 2.06 ERA, 58 K in 43 IP). And the Mets just called up Eddie Kunz, a closer at Double-A. He joins Dan Murphy, Nick Evans, and Carlos Muniz, already at the Major League level. And then there's Brandon Knight, off to play in the Olympics, and Jonathan Niese, who will be with the Mets at some point this season.

It's funny - only Niese and Knight are with Triple-A - the rest are all at lower levels...and while the talent in New Orleans (AAA) is some young, mostly veteran retreads, the lower levels of the Mets system seem chock-full of talent (Fernando Martinez, their top outfield prospect, is also at Double-A.).

Why is this relevant? Well, first off, I think the Mets have better minor league arms than they're given credit for. Secondly, with the Sports Illustrated article about David Price's importance to Tampa down the stretch, and the references to what Joba Chamberlain did with the Yankees last year...is it such a stretch to think that a couple of these young arms could help the Mets bullpen heading into September this year?

We'll keep an eye on the progress of all of these guys.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: I can't believe the Mets didn't make a trade deadline move. Parts of this I'm fine with - I didn't want them to trade for Manny Ramirez. Other parts I'm not sure how to feel - I think they need a corner outfielder who has a little more experience than Dan Murphy. But with the farm system coming along like I've already mentioned, I'm going with the thought process that it's a good thing the Mets didn't get rid of some young talent.

LEAST IMPRESSIVE: Billy Wagner blew another Johan Santana win on Sunday, and now he's hurt...or, I guess he's been hurt for a while and now he's getting it checked out again. Whatever...he's hurt the Mets a lot this year - my confidence level in him is at Braden Looper-type levels heading into the last couple of months.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: The Mets battled back to first place only to go 1-5 in their last six games, including this weekend's sweep in Houston. Now they're three out, and they're behind the Marlins and Phillies in the standings. The Phillies were reeling, and the Mets didn't pull away. Now it's going to probably be a battle the rest of the way.

MOST IMPRESSIVE: I don't think I've talked about him since the first or second bi-weekly analysis, when he was just terrible, but CC Sabathia has been just the opposite since being acquired by the Brewers. All he's done in 6 Milwaukee starts is go 5-0 with a 1.88 ERA.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Tampa Bay is still not going away, but let's also add the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins. This was supposed to be a throwaway year, and here they are leading their division the first week in August.

LEAST IMPRESSIVE: Saw the Oakland A's at Fenway Park against the Red Sox on Friday night (more on that tomorrow). They are pathetic. They're 53-57 right now, but fading fast. Frank Thomas is the only threat in that lineup.....and is he really even a threat anymore?

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: My pick to win the American League, the Cleveland Indians, sits dead last in the American League Central. They've been awful all year long.

Shifting gears.....

He's not winning himself many friends around the league, and count me out when it comes to defending Brett Favre. If he had at least considered a trade to the Jets I'd sing a different tune...but to hold a team hostage the way he's doing and only accept a trade within the division....he should be arrested.

And one more football note:

The Southern Bureau has kept us on top of a number of things in baseball and football...he's done fine work keeping the blog updated through comments when I've been away (enough so that I just realized I should give him total access to the blog, something only The Wife has had up to now). It's because of the Southern Bureau that we knew of Brad Holt before the draft...and if you're a Chiefs fan, it would have been the Southern Bureau that let you know about rookie kicker Connor Barth before he came to Kansas City.

Well, the Southern Bureau's own blog is where you can get an inside look at NFL Training Camp through Barth's eyes - it's good stuff, and he's involved in a competition for the job, too.

2008 PLAYOFF/AWARDS PREVIEW

Above you see my picks for division winners (you already knew those, from the previews), and wild cards (you didn't already know those). I think Atlanta and Cleveland emerge as the wild cards, and you can also see that I think Cleveland is able to rebound from last year's heartbreak (revenge over the Red Sox - in a best 3-out-of-5, where maybe they're better suited to beat Boston) to make it to the World Series, and lose to the Mets. Again, only because of Johan Santana. If not for him, this would be an Atlanta-Detroit World Series, based on my new theory, and the Edgar Renteria trade (thanks for picking up on that theory a couple of weeks ago, Dave in Brighton. But there's no way I could have gone Florida-Detroit). Here are my other picks:

NL MVP: Johan Santana will certainly get a lot of votes here, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say Ryan Braun gets the award, as he will lead the Milwaukee Brewers to their playoff appearance.

AL MVP: A la Justin Morneau a couple of years ago, this year it will go to Travis Hafner.

NL CY YOUNG: This is where Johan Santana gets his hardware. They might as well engrave the trophy now.

AL CY YOUNG: Because he's on my fantasy team this year, Roy Halladay.

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: I really have no idea who the rookies are this year. Just looking randomly at a list of rookies in 2008 I'll go with this Jay Bruce of the Reds. He's an outfielder, and maybe he'll lead the resurgence I think they'll have.

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: I don't know. Jacoby Ellsbury.

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: I think Joe Torre might get some sentimental votes, and if the Dodgers play better than last year, which I think they will, he might get some legitimate votes as well.

AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: John Gibbons. I actually had to look this up to make sure he was the manager of the Blue Jays. But he is, and I think a couple of second-place team managers get "Manager of the Year" recognition this year.

PREVIEW: AL CENTRAL

For the first time in I don't know how many years, I haven't bought a baseball preview magazine. I peeked through it the last time I was in the supermarket, and the one I picked up didn't even have the Johan Santana deal. So I figure, why bother? And I also figure, why don't I just write my own. So this week I'll quickly preview each of the divisions, culminating in my playoff picks and my award winners. Today we look at the American League Central.

I guess I'm sold on Detroit. But I'm not 100% sure. They look great on paper. But so did the 1993 Mets. And I think with these Tigers, there's some potential for clubhouse explosions - between Miguel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield, and Kenny Rogers, someone's going to get a black eye. But I think the big difference between those star-studded Mets failures and this team is Jim Leyland - he won't take crap from the players, and he probably won't have to. One big thing to realize about Detroit is there's this strange Florida Marlins connection:

1) Jim Leyland managed the Marlins to their first world championship in 1997.
2) On that team was current Tigers DH Gary Sheffield.
3) The Tigers acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins this off-season. Both players were on the 2003 championship team.
4) The catcher on that Marlins team was Ivan Rodriguez....starting catcher for the 2008 Detroit Tigers. (Also, that 2003 Marlins team began the year with Jeff Torborg as their manager. Torborg also managed the 1993 Mets. Whoa. Spooky.)

I don't think the Tigers will go all the way in the American League playoffs. (Who will beat them? - find out next week when I publish my playoff picks!) But I do think they'll be good enough and veteran enough to win what might shape up to be a tough division.

Why is it such a tough division? Well, the Indians have that year of experience, as a young team, of having gotten to within one game of the World Series (three times). And they have that bitter taste in their mouth after blowing the 3-games-to-1 lead to Boston. And they still have a very, very good pitching staff.

The White Sox are strange. I think they'll get back to being good - but they really fell off the pace last year. They went from world champs to 90 wins to 72 wins over three seasons - you have to think last year was the aberration. They managed to keep Mark Buerhle, and that was important - would he have stuck around if he didn't see potential? They're not going to threaten the Tigers, but they'll finish with a better-than-.500 record and win some important games.

I always want to pick Kansas City to finish better than they do. And I do think they're on an upswing. I think this will be a breakthrough year for them - a year where they don't finish in last place, but more importantly, a year they build on. The last time they didn't finish in last place was the year they won 83 games....then lost 100+ for three straight seasons. I like rooting for Kansas City, and they're one of those teams like the Reds, which I wrote about yesterday - I keep expecting them to pull out one of those miraculous turnarounds and surprise everyone. Maybe this year.

And then the Twins. 2008 is a year for the Twins to find out what they have in 2009. Francisco Liriano needs to come back healthy and dominant. Carlos Gomez needs to show that he was worth being the centerpiece of the Johan Santana deal (I think he'll be exciting for Twins fans to watch). And then the Twins need to figure out what else they have so they can gear up for the following year - because I think this will be a year of mourning in Minnesota:

MOST AWKWARD BOOK PLUG EVER...AND OTHER WORLD SERIES THOUGHTS

Fresh off of me praising him as a former Met done good, Paul Byrd spent the hours before Game 7 of the American League Championship Series denying that he cheated by taking HGH. Byrd insists he didn't cheat - he seems like a fine, upstanding guy, I'll believe him. He really went full-bore in seeming to tell the truth (as far as athletes go), so I'll believe him. It's fine...I've been lied to by sports figures I've cared more about, so I'll deal with this if it turns out he was lying.

But the real reason I'm addressing it is the fact that during his diatribe, Byrd threw in a plug for his book...and when Paul Byrd is writing a book, I think you need as many plugs as you can get, no matter what the circumstances. Here's what he said (I lifted the transcript from this link, so thanks to them for that):

I've also made comments, and this is things that I've talked about. I have a book coming out next year. This is not a promo for my book. But I do talk about this in the book, where I have had temptations to cheat. I have been asked by people, by pitching coaches, here's how you scuff a ball, here's how you put saliva on a ball, and I talk about that in the book. I also talked about the fact that I was prescribed a hormone, that I did inject it and I did have the temptation to take more of it than what was prescribed so my fastball would reach into the 90s on a consistent basis.

It sounded awkward - I don't know if it reads awkward as well. I just found it humorous while listening to him talk on Sunday.

POSSIBLE TITLES FOR PAUL BYRD'S BOOK:

Please Read My Book: The Story of Paul Byrd
(If he gets arrested) - I Know Why The Caged Paul Byrd Sings
(if he gets arrested for shooting a heckler) - How To Kill Someone Mocking Byrd

ON A RELATED NOTE: I'm not going to delve into areas that I'm not an expert in, because there's a lot of legality involved in this, and I don't know enough about the entire situation here...but the fact that George Mitchell has an association with the Red Sox, and this Paul Byrd thing broke the day of Game 7, seems awfully suspicious. It's almost like the Red Sox said, "You want to have our star pitcher's ex-girlfriend sing the National Anthem before he pitches at your place? Fine. We've got something to throw at you at our place..."

This steroids report, by the way, when it is released, which could be anywhere within the next couple of months, will be huge. And I don't know what my future as a baseball fan will be like when these names come out. There will be a lot of disappointment on my part.

WHY THE INDIANS LOST: If you read my previous posts, in which I predicted Fausto Carmona would win Game 6 for Cleveland, but wouldn't have bet money on it, I think there's something you should know. I think the Carmona prediction was with my heart, because I was sort of pulling for the Indians, like I've been pulling for the Rockies. But my head was saying, "You dope. The Red Sox are going to win these next two games at Fenway - there's no way the Indians will win." And I think the 'wouldn't bet anything on it' was my subconscious popping in with its two cents. So I think that's how you need to read into my predictions - I just can't make a sensible prediction.

That said, here's why the Indians lost: If you ever wanted to see what a team full of Jose Reyeses looks like, it was the Indians in Games 5, 6, and 7. You know how when Reyes presses (which for some reason he has been doing since August...had been, I should say), he pops everything up? That's what every batter in Cleveland's lineup was doing. Cleveland will be back in the future, because they're so young, and they should go far, because their star pitchers ought to pitch better in the big games. So they'll learn from the pressing they did this year, and I think they have a legit shot at winning in the next couple of years.

PREDICTION: With the World Series starting Wednesday night, I'll say this: The Rockies haven't really been intimidated by anyone this season - remember how they killed the Mets and Yankees back when both teams were playing good ball during the regular season? So I don't think they'll be intimidated by the Red Sox, or by the big stage. And I think this series will go 6 or 7 games. And though my head is saying the Red Sox win this (since they have home field in Games 6 and 7), I'm taking the Rockies, let's say in 6. It's hard for me to pick against the team I endorsed the day the playoffs started...and deep down (or actually, not very deep down...it's right out there on the surface) I'm a National League guy.

Understand, though, some of the people who I'm closest with in this world are Red Sox fans, so for them, I wouldn't mind seeing the Red Sox win. But, to quote Justin from NYC, when it comes down to it, with the Mets not involved, I "nothing" this World Series.

WE'RE DISAPPOINTED...WE DIDN'T GET MORE OF YOUR MONEY

Baseball is a business. I wish it wasn't, I wish it was all 'for love of the game' and everything, but it isn't - it's a business. And even when the baseball season stops, the business end of the game needs to continue. That said, here's part of a letter my dad received from the Mets this week:

First of all, I don't envy the guy who has to do this sort of thing - tread lightly, my friend, because there are some mad fans out there...who might immediately rip this letter up. Click the image if you need it bigger to read it. But I love how formulaic this is...

"Thanks for your support. We are as disappointed as you are that things didn't work out. We're working to improve....but don't forget that we have an exciting new stadium coming in just a year! And please give us some money for next year, too!"

As you may or may not remember, my dad had a Tuesday-Friday night plan last season. I have no idea at this point whether or not he'll have something again next year (although this letter was sent on the 15th, and they want a decision by the 26th as to whether or not you want to put your playoff deposit towards tickets for next year or get a refund...so he'd better decide fast)...but I think the timing is pretty bad on the Mets' part to try to convince him to come back. "Hey - it's World Series time! The Mets aren't involved - remember!? Pay us for next year."

I really didn't get a chance to take advantage of my dad's tickets last year - my brother and sister were able to attend a few games, and my dad even made it to multiple games, which is rare, but I only made it to one. I don't know if it's worth my dad getting tickets again. Sadly, my strongest interest in Shea Stadium next year may be the Billy Joel concert that's rumored to be taking place there right before they tear it down.

MY TWO CENTS ON THE ALCS: First of all, I wrote the other day about Jake Westbrook...remember in July, the family and I went to Ohio for our stadium trips, and we saw an ALCS preview - Red Sox and Indians in Jacobs Field. Westbrook started the game we saw in Cleveland - and got rocked. He gave up four runs before getting an out. (That was the game Jon Lester returned from cancer.) Anyway, just thought that might help illustrate how bad, or at least streaky, Westbrook was during the regular season, and how late it continued - that was the third week in July.

I have no idea what Fausto Carmona's career-high for innings pitched in a season is, but I'm guessing he's never gone this deep into a season. A few years back he was a reliever, and now that he's starting for the first time, he has to be getting tired. He was starting to fade down the stretch of the regular season, before bouncing back and having a good September. His arm has to be getting tired at this point. That said, I do think the Indians will win Game 6 of the ALCS....but that's just my opinion. I really wouldn't bet anything valuable on it...I just think Carmona will step up with a trip to the World Series on the line. And then the Indians will play the Rockies in the first World Series to have a game postponed by snow.

JUST A COUPLE OF POST-SEASON THOUGHTS

These things have occurred to me as I watch some of the ALCS and NLCS (keep in mind, though, that I can't stay up much past 11pm, and that severely restricts what I have and have not seen):

*Grady Sizemore seems like he just belongs in the post-season, doesn't he?

*I like rooting for the Rockies. For one thing, they always win. For another, they're just a likeable team. I've always sort of liked Todd Helton, too, so it's nice to see him having post-season success.

*Believe it or not, I'm going to come to the defense of Manny Ramirez here. I still wouldn't want him on my team, but I'm going to defend him. After he hit that walk-off home run against the Angels in the ALDS, I heard some Red Sox fans (some, not all, some) say something to the effect of, "it's about time, he hasn't been clutch at all." I asked for clarification...and heard back, "when you look at what Ortiz has done....". I'm sorry. First of all, Manny Ramirez was MVP of the 2004 World Series - he doesn't make an out in the post-season. Secondly, he hits behind Ortiz, and in a lot of game-winning situations, he's left on-deck because of how well Ortiz performs in those situations. So there are a couple of things to defend him. I still don't want him on my team.

*It's weird that Jake Westbrook is the #3 starter for a team this deep in the playoffs. He's really had an up and down year. I had him a couple of times on the fantasy team that involves players from outside the East divisions, and I had him for 57.2 innings, where he went 1-4, with an ERA of 4.99. Overall, he was 6-9 with a 4.32 ERA. Most of the time I owned him was earlier in the season, and he had a good second half (5-5 with a 3.44 ERA after the All Star break)....and he was injured for part of the first half. But he's one of those guys who just surprises you come the money games after pitching so poorly for so long.

THEY ONCE WERE METS

With the ALCS and NLCS teams set, it's time to take a look at the rosters of those teams, and figure out which players once played for the New York Mets:

BOSTON RED SOX
There are no players on the Red Sox who used to play for the Mets. This surprises me. Should it? I feel like with all the player turnover in the majors, there should be a former Met on every team. Might be an interesting experiment to find out how many rosters don't have former Mets on them.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
Paul Byrd - I really liked Byrd when he was a Met (during the lean years of 1995 and 1996). He pitched pretty well with them...then became a Brave. And it was all over for me, as far as Paul Byrd was concerned.

COLORADO ROCKIES
Kaz Matsui - It's no secret in this space that I've always liked Kaz Matsui. I always thought he was a tremendously clutch hitter. He just couldn't perform in New York...and the Rockies are reaping all the benefits.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Tony Clark - Same role, different team.

I'm pretty surprised how few former Mets there are in this final four. But they're all pretty east former Mets to root for, to be honest.

ONE MORE THING: Apropros of pretty much nothing, other than to draw attention to it...Rafael Betancourt is having an amazing year. I had no idea until Monday night, when he came in to pitch the eighth inning for the Indians against the Yankees, and had a pretty dominant 1-2-3 inning. Among his numbers: a 1.57 ERA, 80 strikeouts, and just 9 walks. The other numbers, which are not in my head right now, were just as impressive.

Also, as I was doing my lookover of the rosters for the former Mets, I noticed there are quite a few former Red Sox among the final four (and a whole team of current Red Sox!). Most noticeably, Trot Nixon back in Boston as a member of the Tribe, with everything on the line. Also...how about Nixon owning Roger Clemens?! He homered off him again Sunday. I only know how dominant he is against Clemens because I always used to pick him in 'Beat the Streak' when the Red Sox played the Yankees and Clemens was pitching...but he's still got it. I missed the homer live - but I hope TBS played up how great Nixon's numbers are against Clemens.

LEFTOVERS FROM THE OHIO TRIP

Things I forgot to mention/didn't realize:

• I was reading through the Indians yearbook (the Indians don't sell programs - they sell their yearbook for about 5 bucks, and then throw in a scorecard...the Reds sell "Reds Magazine"), and I guess new this year is an area called "Heritage Park", celebrating the Indians' history. It looks very nice, and I'm sorry I missed it. It's out beyond centerfield, and it opens at 4:30 for 7:05 games. Maybe that's why they keep the other gates closed for so long (remember, we didn't get in until 6pm). But they do not do a very good job of advertising it - there were a lot of people just waiting outside the gate we were at, and no one seemed to have any inclination to check out Heritage Park.
• The Reds have cheerleaders - I only saw them make one appearance - they did a dance about a half-hour before the game started, and we didn't see them again.
• Thom Brennaman is riding the coattails of his dad, Marty...because he seems to be very popular in Cincinnati. They have all these ad campaigns, with people with signs that say, "We love Marty and Thom!" I'm sure people just really love Marty, and they don't want to offend Marty by saying, "We love Marty, and we're quite indifferent to Thom, but we don't want to upset Marty, so we'll just say 'We love Marty and Thom!'". Luckily we went on Frank Robinson bobblehead night. Sometime this month the Reds are having Marty and Thom bobblehead night.

SWEET ENDING: Thursday night's Astros-Braves game was pretty awesome. I turned it on in the seventh inning, and the Braves were up 9-5. With a man on first, there was a grounder to short, and Edgar Renteria turned his ankle bending down to field it (this part wasn't satisfying - Renteria was placed on the DL on Friday). What was satisfying was that when Renteria left the game, Chipper Jones was moved from third base to short, and Willie Harris moved from the outfield to third base. Naturally, the next player hits it to third, and Harris boots the grounder, so the bases are loaded. Pinch-hitter Mike Lamb then hits a grand slam. 9-9. Turned out the Astros took an 11-9 lead in extras, but the Braves tied it, then the Astros finally won in 14.

NL EAST/NL CENTRAL CHALLENGE: The Mets did some damage to the Brewers by taking two out of three, and now have a chance to help Milwaukee against Chicago. The Mets beat the Cubs in a good win on Friday afternoon, scoring 4 in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie...too late to support El Duque's great start - he got a no decision - but a good win nonetheless. Meanwhile, the Phillies, after playing the Cubs, swap with the Mets and now take on the Brewers. The Cubs and Brewers are tight in the Central race - the Mets are still keeping their distance from the Phillies and Braves.

INJURY UPDATE: Pedro Martinez* has thrown a simulated game, but the Mets are apparently being very cautious about his return: if and when it will be. It's sounding a little too cautious to me...it seems like the date for his return is getting pushed back further and further, and now the information is vague. Hopefully he comes back and is effective...

CLEVELAND: JACOBS FIELD

I had no idea what Jacobs Field looked like. Sure, I've watched plenty of Indians games, and I've seen the big wall in left (an ode to Fenway, if I remember correctly when it was built), but I didn't really know many details about the park, other than the fact that it was one of the beautiful new ones. I was very surprised how the park looked from the outside - but in a good way - the park is indeed one of the prettier parks in the majors.

What I like best about Jacobs Field is that it is original. Yes, they took parts of older stadiums and incorporated them into their look, but along with Camden Yards, Jacobs Field was among the first of the "new" ballparks, so much of what it looks like is an inspiration to other new parks...not inspired by them. The thing I was most shocked by was Jacobs Field from the outside - it has a very unique look. Remember last year when I was confused by the shell-like exterior of Petco Park (where the Mets go)? I thought it looked nothing like a baseball stadium...well, it does. It looks like Jacobs Field. (Note the outside walls in the pictures below - it's kind of tough to see in the Cleveland picture, but I think you get the point.)

As I've mentioned before, The Wife planned this trip, and we had an excellent hotel - right in downtown Cleveland. The view from the window:

You can see Jacobs Field on the left above that parking garage...and that's Quicken Loans Arena on the right. I have no idea how they handle the crowds when the Cavaliers and Indians play the same night - it must be insane. I wonder if the Indians were home any nights when there was an NBA Finals game. The city must have been jam-packed. Funny thing is I took this picture on a Sunday, when downtown Cleveland had nothing going on. Note the empty parking lot. The next morning, the parking lots were jammed, and the parking garage on the left was packed, with people going to work.

Anyway, we walked to the game, which is always a nice experience. If you take the path to the left of the parking lot in the picture above (obscured by the trees), you get the view of the ballpark at right, entering the gate above the left field wall. This picture was taken as we were heading home - in the fifth inning - The Baby didn't take too well to the game. We had great seats - 11 rows back, sitting down the left field line...but unfortunately we were surrounded by Red Sox fans. This wouldn't have been a problem, except the Sox scored four runs before an out was recorded, and this created a high level of excitement and volume in our area, making The Baby a little upset. So I spent an inning in the seats, and the remainder of our time at the game walking around, mostly hanging out down the left field line by the foul pole in the standing room section. We left after Jon Lester (in his return) pitched out of a bases loaded jam.

Also as a result, I didn't get a chance to explore the entire ballpark. I never made it down the right field line. But from what I saw, there weren't very many extras at Jacobs Field. It isn't as much of an attraction (as you'll see later in the week with Cincinnati) as it is a ballpark - and I'm quite all right with that. It's a really beautiful park. The food was just OK - but I didn't get too adventurous - a hot dog and a sausage late in the game. The Wife and I split a souvenir drink. The coolest non-baseball part of the park is what you see at left, which was above and behind our seats - a really well-placed restaurant. In Arizona the restaurant is out in left field, in fair territory - I like where this one is better.

As for the field, I love the wall in left, and the Indians have a great scoreboard behind the left field wall. As a fan, the seats were comfortable, and our seats down the left field line didn't necessarily point us towards home plate, but they weren't at all uncomfortable. The concourses were open down the lines, closed between third and first behind the plate...but there were TV's by the concession stands - including a huge screen behind third base by a picnic area. I mentioned above The Wife and I had a souvenir drink - on the cup was Grady Sizemore and his stats - and his birthdate. 8/02/82. Pretty cool.

For what it's worth - the Indians play some great music as they introduce their lineup - it's the best I've heard for a home team...and it's a looped intro to some song, I just don't know which one. Good choice, whatever it is.

Overall, a trip worth taking. I would not recommend the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if you're taking a trip to Cleveland (too much stuff in too small of an area), but definitely make sure you check out Jacobs Field.

REMEMBERING BILL ROBINSON: Lost in the attention given to the death of Bill Walsh (attention which he deserved, incidentally) is the fact that Bill Robinson passed away on Sunday. Robinson was the Mets' hitting coach for most of the 80's, including the 1986 season. I'm reading reports that he invented one of the Mets' handshakes that year - the "Low Two", opposite of a high five. As a player he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 70's. He was a good player, with good numbers, but by all accounts Bill Robinson was a great person. And at age 64, he passed away way too young.

TRADE REACTION: Not much to react to. The Mark Teixeira deal became official, and I'll just say this: The Braves have been scoring runs. In their 8 wins since the All Star break, they've scored 4 runs once, 5 runs 3 times, then 7, 10, 14, and 10 runs. The problem is they've lost 9 games, where they didn't score as many runs. My point is, they've been capable of putting some runs on the board, I don't know that Teixeira makes a huge impact, which I mentioned yesterday.

The Phillies added Kyle Lohse. I think that just makes them even more beatable.

The Red Sox have a pretty formidable bullpen with the addition of Eric Gagne. They certainly gave up a lot for him, though, in Kason Gabbard, David Murphy, and this 16-year-old prospect who is supposed to be very good.

Exciting day today for the family. We bought the 'ESPN The Magazine' with the picture of David Wright on the cover. We also got our first look at the baby in an ultrasound. Maybe someday soon I'll post that picture on this site. I'll probably also try to post the picture of the baby.

The Mets beat the Indians, 6-3. Cliff Floyd hit a homer, and Tom Glavine pitched three innings of one-run ball. The game was on ESPN, but I forgot to set the TiVo. Hope there wasn't anything important said that I missed.

PUCKETT: Sadly, Kirby Puckett died today at age 44. He was forced to retire early from baseball because of blindness in his eye, after contracting glaucoma, and then he put on lots of weight, and suffered a stroke yesterday. Puckett is, apparently, still a god in Minnesota...but I think outside of Minnesota he will be remembered for two things: His role in the 1991 World Series, and the accusations of sexual harrassment against him a few years ago (he was cleared). Sadly, I think that's what he'll be remembered for - not that he was a Hall of Famer.

BABY NAMES: The Wife compiled this list and sent it to the mailbag - seems fitting to publish it on the day we got our ultrasound picture. (Keep in mind the Wife roots for the Red Sox, in addition to the Mets...as well as the Patriots):

Shea
Carter
Pedro
Mookie
Chad
Becht
Theo
Manny
Curt
Beckett
Brady
Buckner
Wally
Remy
Cosmo
Omar

Our consensus favorite: Mookie.

Mets 6, Indians 2 (31-34, 5.5 GB)

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Lots going on this morning. First of all, great trade. The Mets got Richard Hidalgo from the Astros for David Weathers and Jeremy Griffiths. Hidalgo will play everyday in right field, which automatically makes the Mets better. And as much as I'm sad that Karim Garcia wasn't included in the trade, now he's an extra left-handed bat off the bench. Hidalgo had a great April, but right now he's hitting .256 with just 4 homers and 30 RBI. The Mets only gave up an aging reliever who hasn't done too much for them this year, and is very replaceable, and in Griffiths, a young guy who time will tell whether or not he pans out. I'm not sad to see him go...but I hope he doesn't turn into a star. Hidalgo is probably only going to be here until the end of the year, unless the Mets can work out a more economical deal with him, but they didn't sell the team to get him. So I'm happy overall. Maybe the change of scenery will get his power back. At the very least - even a .256 average would be among the Mets' team leaders right now - so he's bound to boost the offense.

And the Mets won last night. They busted out of the rain delay and won, 6-2, spurred by a homer by the ever-so-slowly-heating-up Mike Cameron. He's getting it back. A bunch of others contributed key hits as the Mets expanded their lead. It was a good overall effort. Jae Seo pitched well again before the rains came - four scoreless innings. I've been impressed by him. I feel like every other start is great...and he's only had a couple of disastrous ones.

Tonight is the big Mike Piazza party. The Mets are honoring Piazza before the game for becoming the all-time leader in homers by a catcher. Among those in attendance will be Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Lance Parrish, I think, and Hall of Famer Gary Carter. The Tigers are in town, so it would be sort of classy for the Mets to include Ivan Rodriguez. The Mets need these games against Detroit, to get back to .500 before 12 straight games against the Reds and Yankees. I'll be happy with two out of three, but I'd be thrilled with a sweep. Tom Glavine, Al Leiter, and Steve Trachsel go this weekend. They need to be in top form.

WRIGHT WATCH: David Wright's first Triple-A game without a hit. He went 0-2 with a walk as Norfolk lost again.

REYES WATCH: Saturday's game is the earliest we'll see Jose Reyes back with the Mets. We'll see...At the very latest, as it stands now, the return will be sometime next week. Let's hope.

Indians 9, Mets 1 (30-34, 5.5 GB)

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

First of all, I need to clarify what I wrote yesterday. I think Don Baylor will be a fine hitting coach...I just think the Mets surge Tuesday night was due more to the fact that they were facing a sucky pitcher than it was the fact that Denny Walling had been fired. The offensive explosion was no more a reflection of the firing than the blackout last night was a reflection of Don Baylor as a hitting coach. The firing of Walling though, will have a direct correlation to the firing of Art Howe, if that happens. I still like Howe, although some of the things he does leave him wide open to criticism. I just wish he'd get the Mets to go on one of those tears his A's teams used to go on...soon.

C.C. Sabathia shut the Mets down last night, but Mike DiMuro also contributed to the Indians win. DiMuro is the same umpire who called two balks on Steve Trachsel Tuesday night. Last night, umpiring first base, DiMuro called CoCo Crisp safe at first on what would have/SHOULD have been an inning-ending double play. Instead, Crisp was called safe when he was out by a half a step, and the Indians' run crossed the plate, making it 2-0 instead of 1-0. Then, in the sixth, DiMuro called Crisp safe again on a little roller. Matt Ginter threw high to Mike Piazza, but Piazza's foot clearly came down on the bag before Crisp did. Art Howe got ejected for arguing. Two close plays, but two blown calls. The final score was 9-1, but those calls changed the texture of the game...both of those happened before the game got out of hand. DiMuro will work the plate tonight...we'll see if he still acts like a pompous ass towards the Mets like he did the previous two nights.

So Sabathia was really good, but he had some pretty good defensive plays behind him. Ginter had no such luck. The Mets committed three errors (one by Ginter), Piazza should have made another play at first base, and this game could have gone the other way. What the Mets needed to do was knock Sabathia out of the game, and get to the Indians bullpen. Maybe tonight. Scott Elarton pitches against Jae Seo. If the Mets don't hit Elarton, Baylor should be fired immediately. By the way - here's an interesting fact. Ginter got the loss last night - his first major league loss. It was his 70th major league appearance...but most of the previous outings (with the White Sox) were out of the bullpen.

Tyler Yates coming out of the bullpen so far is even worse than Tyler Yates the starter. Yates pitched the ninth inning last night, and gave up 4 runs on five hits, ensuring the Mets would not be able to come back. If he doesn't turn it around he'll join a long list of bust pitchers.

Vance Wilson was placed on the 15-day DL, and Tom Wilson was called up from Norfolk. Tom Wilson now wears number 6. He's the third number six this season. Timo Perez wore it in spring training, then Gerald Williams wore it for a day before switching to number 21, I think, and now Tommy Boy. Vance Wilson blames the fact that he had to catch 15 innings last week against Minnesota, then had to start in an emergency for Jason Phillips when he wasn't expecting it as a contributing factor towards the hamstring injury. What's the problem, Vance? You were complaining you weren't playing enough, now it's too much?

WRIGHT WATCH: Either all pitching in the minor leagues sucks, or this guy is the next Ted Williams (or Gregg Jeffries). David Wright went 2-for-4 last night for Norfolk, hitting his first Triple-A home run. He had an RBI and a run, and another double. He's now hitting a fat .583 (7-12) in three games with Norfolk. He's also struck out just twice in 12 at-bats.

****One more thing**** I forgot to mention this yesterday in the note about Armando Benitez' blown save. The save ensured that my wife's jinx on Benitez still exists. She was watching when Frank Thomas and Timo Perez homered for the White Sox.
The jinx started in 2000, when Benitez gave up the game-tying home run to J.T. Snow in the 9th inning of Game 2 of the NLDS Series against the Giants in San Francisco. (She wasn't my wife then...we had been dating about 10 months.) She switched seats before the 9th inning, and I yelled at her, telling her to go back because she jinxed him. She almost dumped me. But we persevered, through many Benitez blown saves...all attributed to her. (A few of which came with her in attendance at Shea Stadium.) Anyway, the jinx held true Tuesday night...I just wish she was watching the Mets-Marlins games in late May more attentively. We'll have to make sure she does the next time the Mets face Florida.

Mets 7, Indians 2 (30-33, 4.5 GB)

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

First of all, I don't want to hear how the Mets responded to the firing of hitting coach Denny Walling with an offensive breakout. Last night's game had nothing to do with Walling or interim hitting coach Don Baylor. It had everything to do with Jason Davis. The Indians pitcher has given up 106 hits in 78 and 2/3 innings this season, and has an ERA of 5.72 so far this season. So I'll buy into the hitting coach theory if the Mets score 7 runs on 11 hits against C.C. Sabathia tonight.

Still, last night was a good win. Finally, a good start from Steve Trachsel. It had been a while.

And I mentioned it the other day - it looks like Mike Cameron is getting back to himself at the plate. Last night, in the first inning, the big hit came from Cameron - a 2-run single with the bases loaded. And Ty Wigginton is swinging an unbelievably hot bat right now. He looks great.

Vance Wilson in the first inning ended the threat by striking out looking. At least swing the bat, Vance. And he left the game in the fourth after coming up lame trying to score from second. He was out. Jason Phillips replaced him and immediately threw out a runner trying to steal second. I don't think we'll be seeing Wilson for a while.

A couple of player progress notes: Stop me if you've heard this one - Jose Reyes is making progress. He's in the middle of a three game stop with Double-A Binghamton. After those three games, he'll be re-evaluated.
And ESPN is reporting the Astros have talked to the Mets about trading them Richard Hidalgo. He would fit nicely in right field. And the Astros would take on much of Hidalgo's salary. The price would be a prospect - no word on who that prospect would be.

WRIGHT WATCH (new feature, tracking 3B David Wright at Norfolk): Last night, Wright went 2-4, scoring 3 runs and driving in 2 in Norfolk's 15-8 win. In 2 games in Triple-A, Wright is 5-8 with 2 RBI and 4 runs scored.

In case you missed it: Last night, the Florida Marlins led the Chicago White Sox 4-0 in the top of the 8th inning. With two men on, Jack McKeon calls in Armando Benitez to slam the door. First batter, Frank Thomas - 3 run homer, to make it 4-3, Marlins. Florida gets another run in the bottom half to make it 5-3. Top of the ninth, man on, Timo Perez homers off Benitez to tie the game, the Sox go on to win it in the 11th! I always knew there was a reason I still liked Timo.