The Mets were off on Monday, preparing for a homestand against the Pirates and Nationals. So I will clear up a few things. First of all, I said in my last post that the Mets were three back of the wild card - it was actually four, and now it is four-and-a-half because the Astros beat the Cubs on Monday.
I forgot to mention a quote I read from Doug Mientkiewicz. He reacted to David Wright's great bare-handed diving catch last week in San Diego by saying it was the "play of the year. [Wright] better not get a girlfriend before February, because I want to go with him to the ESPY'S."
The Mets are really keeping the information on Carlos Beltran* very close to the vest. It's making me worried. Mike Cameron will most likely be out the rest of the season. But Beltran*, they first made it sound like he wasn't hurt at all. Then it turned out he spent the night in the hospital, and now Beltran* may undergo some facial surgery. It's not only affecting the Mets' lineup, but it's affecting my fantasy lineup. I just wish they'd make a declaration about him.
It doesn't have anything to do with the Mets, but Randy Winn hit for the cycle in his first four at-bats on Monday. He has found new life since his trade to San Francisco. And in other baseball news - Curt Schilling is the worst closer ever. Monday he blew a win for Bronson Arroyo in Detroit. Last week he gave up about ten homers in the weekend series to the White Sox. (Have you noticed yet that when I'm not sure about the exact number of some stat I make up some outrageous number to cover up for that fact? Man, I do that a lot. Maybe I should start looking stuff up.)
There is an e-mail to check, so I'll do that:
"JohnnyMets-
Quick baseball question for you: in yesterday's Sox game that was rained out, do the stats count? This has been weighing on my mind all morning.
Thank you.
-Your Wife"
Hi, Wife. No, the stats do not count. This is unfortunate for White Sox fans, who may have cared that their players' RBI's or Runs scored don't count. But for Matt Clement, who gave up five runs, it's a great feeling. If it were a Mets game, and David Wright had a double erased by the rain, I'd be mad.
Sometimes, if it rains torrentially in the 7th inning and the game is tied, but it's an official game, the stats will count, but the game will be started over when it is made up. That's about the only time stats from a rained out game will count.
WRIGHT WATCH: Wright is now tied for fifth in the National League with 32 doubles.
WRIGHT NEEDS 12 DOUBLES IN THE TEAM'S FINAL 45 GAMES TO TIE THE TEAM RECORD.
Seems pretty do-able, doesn't it?
THE KID'S KIDS: A 9-0 win for the Gulf Coast Mets. Now 31-14, 11 games up in their division. 10 games left. They've clinched something, but I have to call down there and figure out if that means anything.
Showing posts with label Mike Cameron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Cameron. Show all posts
Monday, August 15, 2005
Thursday, August 11, 2005
BIG LOSS
Padres 2, Mets 1 (SD: 58-56; NYM: 58-56)
The game is almost an afterthought after something like the collision between Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltran* in San Diego. That was ugly. If you didn't see it, you will - it will probably be played ad nauseum this weekend. In the bottom of the seventh inning, David Ross hit a blooper into shallow right center field. Both Cameron and Beltran* ran full speed after the ball, and both players dove (dived?) head-first in an attempt to catch it. Neither one did. They collided head first. Cameron is already on the DL, suffering a broken nose and multiple fractures in his cheeks. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and is being held at the hospital overnight. Beltran* walked away from the collision, but looked like he was having trouble lifting his left arm, holding his shoulder, and he suffered a mild concussion. He was said to be OK, but I don't expect him to play much this weekend.
The runner ended up on third, and ended up scoring on a single two batters later. It was a rotten way to end the three-game series in San Diego, because the Mets looked really good on Wednesday night bouncing back from the bad loss Tuesday. Tom Glavine pitched a very good game, and the Mets couldn't come back in the top of the eighth to get him off the hook.
The Mets made wholesale changes after the collision, so Jose Reyes, scheduled to have a day off, led off the eighth, and walked. After Jose Offerman (in Beltran*'s spot in the lineup) struck out (an at-bat during which Reyes stole second - he started the steal slowly, because it was supposed to be a hit-and-run, and then when Offerman swung and missed he turned on the speed, and still beat the throw - it was something to see), Cliff Floyd was hit by a fastball in his knee. He went down in a heap, and it looked like the Mets lost their entire outfield in the span of an inning. But he managed to get up and go to first, only to have David Wright hit into a double play to end the threat.
I was listening to Steve Somers on WFAN Thursday night, and he probably put it best. He said we could have seen the Mets' summer end out in San Diego with that play, but it all depends on how the Mets respond. They could stew over the collision and let it affect the rest of their games, and just pack it in for the season, or they can battle through it and inspire themselves to play better ball. We'll find out when the road trip continues in Los Angeles Friday night.
The instant Cameron and Beltran* collided I thought of a game back in 1986 or 1987 at Shea Stadium. I don't remember who the Mets were playing, but I know Lenny Dykstra was in center and Mookie Wilson was in left. I remember I went with my friend Steven, and the big draw was that the Mets were giving out Spider-Man comic books, and before the game there was a big ceremony - Spider-Man married Mary Jane on the field. It was thrilling. But during the game, on a fly ball into the left-center field gap, Dykstra and Wilson collided. It was the ugliest collision I had ever seen (probably still is, even after Thursday, because there was lots of blood visible - Thursday's blood wasn't visible to me). Wilson and Dykstra banged faces, and Dykstra's mouth was open, and Wilson's nose got hit with Dykstra's teeth. They were both OK - I think Wilson needed some stitches, but that was a bad one. I expect we might see some replays of that one this weekend too. Just remember- I was there. I wonder if I'll find that scorecard. I think I drew a picture of the collision on the scorecard. It was probably good therapy.
I forgot to mention David Wright's catch Tuesday night against the Padres. If you haven't seen this yet, you haven't been watching sports channels. Wright dove out towards shallow left field, and caught a pop-up with his bare hand. It was a great catch. I don't know that it ranks as one of the all-time great catches, though. MSG replayed the great highlight of Ozzie Smith back when he was with the Padres, one of the only great plays we ever see of him when he was with San Diego, where he dives for a ground ball up the middle, but the ball hits something and bounces back towards Smith's right. He grabs the ball bare-handed, still diving up the middle, and then makes the throw to first to get the out. I think that's the greatest play I've ever seen - at least by an infielder.
The play did draw some national attention to Wright, though. Ironically, it was for something defensive when he's been struggling defensively, and lighting it up offensively. But it won't be the last we hear of that kid, I'll tell you that.
A couple of e-mails in the inbox:
"You miss a Boston University hockey game for Lion King. Now you miss a Mets game for Momma Mia.
Johnny….what’s happened to you??
kevin
JMDBSDC Southern Bureau"
Kevin - first of all, it's Mamma Mia. Not Momma. Secondly, it's all the wife's fault. Speaking of which, Happy Birthday, wife. Also, speaking of which:
"Dear JohnnyMets-
Doing some catching up on my blog reading... I noticed a while back you lamented the fact that I call TV ads "ads". As you know, "ads" is short for "advertisements". I consulted Merriam-Webster and found the following entry for "advertisement":
Main Entry: ad·ver·tise·ment Pronunciation: "ad-v&r-'tIz-m&nt; &d-'v&r-t&z-m&nt, -t&-sm&ntFunction: noun1 : the act or process of advertising 2 : a public notice; especially : one published in the press or broadcast over the air
Note the "broadcast over the air" part of that ... I believe you owe me a public apology?
Sincerely,
Your Wife"
You owe me a public apology for not reading that entry until yesterday. That's from 10 days ago!! Geez. Also, yes, all COMMERCIALS are advertisements. But not all advertisements are COMMERCIALS. The public notices broadcast over the air have another name - they're called COMMERCIALS!!!! Think about that for a bit. No public apology from me. And again, happy birthday.
ELTRAN*'S: This might be the last Eltran*'s for a little while. He's talking like he's coming right back, but I find it hard to believe he'll be playing Friday, at the least. Before leaving the game, Beltran* again showed some signs of life, despite an 0-for-2. He scored a run and stole another base.
27-for-99 (.273 AVG.) 3 HR, 15 RBI, 20 Runs, 6 SB
WRIGHT WATCH: 0-for-4 on Thursday, but Wright did ground into a double play. Thanks to Dave in Brighton for pointing out that double plays sounds sort of like doubles!
SECOND HALF: 8 SEASON TOTAL: 30 TEAM RECORD: 44
WRIGHT NEEDS 14 DOUBLES OVER THE TEAM'S FINAL 48 GAMES TO TIE!!
THE KID'S KIDS: Wow. A 10-4 victory for the Gulf Coast Mets over the Nationals. They're 29-13, with a 10-game lead. There are just 13 games left, so they have to be close to clinching something. I might call down to Port St. Lucie to get the scoop on the Gulf Coast League post-season.
The game is almost an afterthought after something like the collision between Mike Cameron and Carlos Beltran* in San Diego. That was ugly. If you didn't see it, you will - it will probably be played ad nauseum this weekend. In the bottom of the seventh inning, David Ross hit a blooper into shallow right center field. Both Cameron and Beltran* ran full speed after the ball, and both players dove (dived?) head-first in an attempt to catch it. Neither one did. They collided head first. Cameron is already on the DL, suffering a broken nose and multiple fractures in his cheeks. He was taken off the field on a stretcher and is being held at the hospital overnight. Beltran* walked away from the collision, but looked like he was having trouble lifting his left arm, holding his shoulder, and he suffered a mild concussion. He was said to be OK, but I don't expect him to play much this weekend.
The runner ended up on third, and ended up scoring on a single two batters later. It was a rotten way to end the three-game series in San Diego, because the Mets looked really good on Wednesday night bouncing back from the bad loss Tuesday. Tom Glavine pitched a very good game, and the Mets couldn't come back in the top of the eighth to get him off the hook.
The Mets made wholesale changes after the collision, so Jose Reyes, scheduled to have a day off, led off the eighth, and walked. After Jose Offerman (in Beltran*'s spot in the lineup) struck out (an at-bat during which Reyes stole second - he started the steal slowly, because it was supposed to be a hit-and-run, and then when Offerman swung and missed he turned on the speed, and still beat the throw - it was something to see), Cliff Floyd was hit by a fastball in his knee. He went down in a heap, and it looked like the Mets lost their entire outfield in the span of an inning. But he managed to get up and go to first, only to have David Wright hit into a double play to end the threat.
I was listening to Steve Somers on WFAN Thursday night, and he probably put it best. He said we could have seen the Mets' summer end out in San Diego with that play, but it all depends on how the Mets respond. They could stew over the collision and let it affect the rest of their games, and just pack it in for the season, or they can battle through it and inspire themselves to play better ball. We'll find out when the road trip continues in Los Angeles Friday night.
The instant Cameron and Beltran* collided I thought of a game back in 1986 or 1987 at Shea Stadium. I don't remember who the Mets were playing, but I know Lenny Dykstra was in center and Mookie Wilson was in left. I remember I went with my friend Steven, and the big draw was that the Mets were giving out Spider-Man comic books, and before the game there was a big ceremony - Spider-Man married Mary Jane on the field. It was thrilling. But during the game, on a fly ball into the left-center field gap, Dykstra and Wilson collided. It was the ugliest collision I had ever seen (probably still is, even after Thursday, because there was lots of blood visible - Thursday's blood wasn't visible to me). Wilson and Dykstra banged faces, and Dykstra's mouth was open, and Wilson's nose got hit with Dykstra's teeth. They were both OK - I think Wilson needed some stitches, but that was a bad one. I expect we might see some replays of that one this weekend too. Just remember- I was there. I wonder if I'll find that scorecard. I think I drew a picture of the collision on the scorecard. It was probably good therapy.
I forgot to mention David Wright's catch Tuesday night against the Padres. If you haven't seen this yet, you haven't been watching sports channels. Wright dove out towards shallow left field, and caught a pop-up with his bare hand. It was a great catch. I don't know that it ranks as one of the all-time great catches, though. MSG replayed the great highlight of Ozzie Smith back when he was with the Padres, one of the only great plays we ever see of him when he was with San Diego, where he dives for a ground ball up the middle, but the ball hits something and bounces back towards Smith's right. He grabs the ball bare-handed, still diving up the middle, and then makes the throw to first to get the out. I think that's the greatest play I've ever seen - at least by an infielder.
The play did draw some national attention to Wright, though. Ironically, it was for something defensive when he's been struggling defensively, and lighting it up offensively. But it won't be the last we hear of that kid, I'll tell you that.
A couple of e-mails in the inbox:
"You miss a Boston University hockey game for Lion King. Now you miss a Mets game for Momma Mia.
Johnny….what’s happened to you??
kevin
JMDBSDC Southern Bureau"
Kevin - first of all, it's Mamma Mia. Not Momma. Secondly, it's all the wife's fault. Speaking of which, Happy Birthday, wife. Also, speaking of which:
"Dear JohnnyMets-
Doing some catching up on my blog reading... I noticed a while back you lamented the fact that I call TV ads "ads". As you know, "ads" is short for "advertisements". I consulted Merriam-Webster and found the following entry for "advertisement":
Main Entry: ad·ver·tise·ment Pronunciation: "ad-v&r-'tIz-m&nt; &d-'v&r-t&z-m&nt, -t&-sm&ntFunction: noun1 : the act or process of advertising 2 : a public notice; especially : one published in the press or broadcast over the air
Note the "broadcast over the air" part of that ... I believe you owe me a public apology?
Sincerely,
Your Wife"
You owe me a public apology for not reading that entry until yesterday. That's from 10 days ago!! Geez. Also, yes, all COMMERCIALS are advertisements. But not all advertisements are COMMERCIALS. The public notices broadcast over the air have another name - they're called COMMERCIALS!!!! Think about that for a bit. No public apology from me. And again, happy birthday.
ELTRAN*'S: This might be the last Eltran*'s for a little while. He's talking like he's coming right back, but I find it hard to believe he'll be playing Friday, at the least. Before leaving the game, Beltran* again showed some signs of life, despite an 0-for-2. He scored a run and stole another base.
27-for-99 (.273 AVG.) 3 HR, 15 RBI, 20 Runs, 6 SB
WRIGHT WATCH: 0-for-4 on Thursday, but Wright did ground into a double play. Thanks to Dave in Brighton for pointing out that double plays sounds sort of like doubles!
SECOND HALF: 8 SEASON TOTAL: 30 TEAM RECORD: 44
WRIGHT NEEDS 14 DOUBLES OVER THE TEAM'S FINAL 48 GAMES TO TIE!!
THE KID'S KIDS: Wow. A 10-4 victory for the Gulf Coast Mets over the Nationals. They're 29-13, with a 10-game lead. There are just 13 games left, so they have to be close to clinching something. I might call down to Port St. Lucie to get the scoop on the Gulf Coast League post-season.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
CAM DO
The Mets game is still going on as I write this, but I need to go to bed, and I wanted to weigh in on some things.
First of all, Victor Zambrano was awful Tuesday night. He gave up 4 homers to the first eight batters, and couldn't make it through the second inning. Aaron Heilman, Jose Padilla, Jose Santiago, and Roberto Hernandez were awesome in relief, giving the Mets a chance to get back in the ballgame.
Ramon Castro played great - he got the Mets to within 7-6 in the 7th (following David Wright's 30th career homer) and then Marlon Anderson got his 1,000th pinch hit of the season, tying the game at 7. The Mets just battled and battled in this game - it definitely has the potential to be a turning-point type of game.
Hernandez gave up the go-ahead homer to Geoff Jenkins (his second of the game) in the top of the ninth, and then after Wright struck out against Derrick Turnbow, the least clutch hitter of all-time shed his moniker. Mike Cameron is a brand-new ballplayer. I think he's been bothered by trade rumors for a very long time. He's happy to still be in New York, and it's showing on the field. He needs to stay as hot as he is right now, and play like he played when he came of the DL at the beginning of the year - and he needs to play at that level for the rest of the year. Incidentally, that was the first run Turnbow had given up since June 23.
I may overuse the preface, THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED in referring to Jose Reyes. But let's revisit why he is THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED. Reyes causes things to happen. He sparked the Mets when he first came up, and last year when he came back from his injury. This year, he's gotten better as the year has gone on. He's fifth in the National League in hits. Whenever he gets on base, he scores, and he's always in the middle of Mets' rallies. The offense revolves around him. He's also very clutch. His speed causes pitchers to balk. Sure, he doesn't walk a whole lot - but he gets a lot of hits. He's got the greatest arm in the history of the game (OK, that might be an exaggeration, but he's got a great throwing arm). The Mets need to make the playoffs so the entire country can get an extended look at THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes.
The game's going to extra innings, so I'm going to go. ELTRAN*'S and WRIGHT WATCH will return tomorrow, but you only need to know Wright homered instead of doubled, and Beltran* blew a bunch of opportunities to drive in runs early in the game...he hit the ball hard, but he's 0-for-4 right now.
THE KID'S KIDS: Mets split a doubleheader with the Marlins, losing 4-1 and winning, 5-2. The Mets are 23-11, 6 games up.
First of all, Victor Zambrano was awful Tuesday night. He gave up 4 homers to the first eight batters, and couldn't make it through the second inning. Aaron Heilman, Jose Padilla, Jose Santiago, and Roberto Hernandez were awesome in relief, giving the Mets a chance to get back in the ballgame.
Ramon Castro played great - he got the Mets to within 7-6 in the 7th (following David Wright's 30th career homer) and then Marlon Anderson got his 1,000th pinch hit of the season, tying the game at 7. The Mets just battled and battled in this game - it definitely has the potential to be a turning-point type of game.
Hernandez gave up the go-ahead homer to Geoff Jenkins (his second of the game) in the top of the ninth, and then after Wright struck out against Derrick Turnbow, the least clutch hitter of all-time shed his moniker. Mike Cameron is a brand-new ballplayer. I think he's been bothered by trade rumors for a very long time. He's happy to still be in New York, and it's showing on the field. He needs to stay as hot as he is right now, and play like he played when he came of the DL at the beginning of the year - and he needs to play at that level for the rest of the year. Incidentally, that was the first run Turnbow had given up since June 23.
I may overuse the preface, THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED in referring to Jose Reyes. But let's revisit why he is THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED. Reyes causes things to happen. He sparked the Mets when he first came up, and last year when he came back from his injury. This year, he's gotten better as the year has gone on. He's fifth in the National League in hits. Whenever he gets on base, he scores, and he's always in the middle of Mets' rallies. The offense revolves around him. He's also very clutch. His speed causes pitchers to balk. Sure, he doesn't walk a whole lot - but he gets a lot of hits. He's got the greatest arm in the history of the game (OK, that might be an exaggeration, but he's got a great throwing arm). The Mets need to make the playoffs so the entire country can get an extended look at THE GREATEST PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes.
The game's going to extra innings, so I'm going to go. ELTRAN*'S and WRIGHT WATCH will return tomorrow, but you only need to know Wright homered instead of doubled, and Beltran* blew a bunch of opportunities to drive in runs early in the game...he hit the ball hard, but he's 0-for-4 right now.
THE KID'S KIDS: Mets split a doubleheader with the Marlins, losing 4-1 and winning, 5-2. The Mets are 23-11, 6 games up.
Monday, August 01, 2005
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.
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.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
'STRO-ING IT AWAY
Astros 3, Mets 2 (HOU: 55-47; NYM: 52-50, 6 GB)
This is not good. I'm mad. The Mets are wasting chances. They had their shot at the division lead, and they blew it. They had a huge chance to make up ground, and they ended up falling further back. And they wasted a great outing by Pedro Martinez* on Thursday night in the game they needed to win against Houston. None of these next three games is going to be easy - they needed to win with Pedro* on the mound.
The Mets dropped two out of three in Colorado - just awful. Granted, the Rockies have played a lot better at home than on the road - but that's not going to stop the Phillies from taking two games this weekend - probably even three or four. The Mets blew it there. Now they have four games in Houston - the Astros have the best record at home in the league.
Thursday night's game was very frustrating. The home plate umpire - I'm not sure who it was - had the tiniest strike zone I've ever seen. It worked both ways, the Mets were getting calls that should have been strikes called balls too, but the umpire forced Pedro* to throw a lot more pitches than he should have had to. In all, he threw 117, and left after 8 innings, with 8 strikeouts. He left a 2-2 tie, Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth, and gave up a single, sac bunt, and then a gapper to score the winning run.
The problem is, it never should have gotten to that point. The Astros started Zeke Astacio (picture a guy named Zeke....that's exactly what this pitcher looked like. Seriously. He looked like a Zeke.) The Mets loaded the bases against Zeke with no one out in the first. They scored A run. One run. They had the chance to blow the game open early, and didn't. It cost them. Mike Piazza had a good day at the plate, David Wright had a good defensive game, but they both couldn't come through in that first inning. Cliff Floyd, at least, had a sacrifice fly, scoring Jose Reyes (it wasn't even a deep sac fly, the only reason the Mets got that first run was THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED'S SPEED). Miguel Cairo was the one who took advantage of the short left-field porch to give the Mets a 2-1 lead with a solo homer later on. Piazza, Wright, and Cameron better hit some homers in Houston before the weekend's through.
Pedro* didn't get hit hard. He gave up the two runs, one on a solo homer, then the second on a squeeze bunt by Brad Ausmus.
The Mets need to get the bats going. Carlos Beltran* is becoming a serious problem. I'm starting to think it's a little psychological. I think he knows people are expecting him to have a huge second half, and he's feeling as much pressure as he did to start the season. Just a thought. Cliff Floyd has cooled way off...so much so that he's probably not even going to finish in the top 15 of the Greatest Seasons Ever By A Met. Mike Cameron (I alluded to this earlier in the week) is the least clutch hitter of all time. I wrote that, I think, on Monday. Tuesday night, he struck out with the bases loaded in the seventh inning in Colorado, with the Mets down by a couple, then made the last out with Jose Reyes on second base and the Mets trailing by one in the ninth. That was part of a 4-strikeout night, by the way. Just can't perform in the clutch. He's the last person I want up with the game on the line.
Jose Reyes and David Wright are playing out of their minds right now. Wright has a 15-game hitting streak, Reyes an 11-gamer. They're setting the tables, but no one's finishing the job. I think it's time to throw Cameron down in the six-slot in the batting order, put a decently-performing Mike Piazza back at number five, and put David Wright second. I think Wright's a lot like Michael Young in Texas - and the two slot works well for Young.
Something's gotta happen. The Mets have to start winning games they should be winning. I'm starting to wonder if they even deserve the high expectations I have of them right now. The San Diego Padres team they swept last week is clearly not good - they've lost 9 out of 10, and I think they're now a game below .500 (but still in first place). The Mets need a first baseman. Marlon Anderson is a great pinch-hitter. He is a good infielder. He is a bad first baseman. Jose Offerman is worse. Chris Woodward isn't a lot better. Make up your mind about Doug Mientkiewicz - either use him for his defense and hope he improves on offense, or make a trade. We can't go on with this disaster at first.
I need to go to bed. I'm very upset right now. But I have a couple of other things to mention. One is that I have decided I hate 9:05 pm start times. It only happens, I think, in Colorado. It's too in-between. With the West Coast 10:05 start times, you know what you're getting - a late game. It's 7 o'clock out West. With the 9, they fool you into thinking it's a little early, because it's earlier than 10, but man, those games go late. And they take you (me) out of your (my) game-watching rhythm. Sometimes I forgot to change it back to the Mets when I'd switch around during commercials. Just a very tough thing to get used to. So perhaps that's why I haven't seen a lot of Rockies games this year (or perhaps it's because they friggin' SUCK). But all that said, I have to say, they have a great broadcast team. I really enjoyed watching the Mets-Rockies games on the Rockies feed. Drew Goodman and George Frazier. They were outstanding. I'm going to try watching them some more. They were amusing, but not goofy, they knew their baseball...it was very refreshing.
That's it for tonight. I'm dreading Sunday. Kaz Ishii versus Roy Oswalt. The Mets need another strong outing from Kris Benson Friday night, because we all know he's not going to get a lot of run support.
ELTRAN*'S: 0-for-4 on Thursday, in his return to Houston. He was booed all night. He'd better not expect a much nicer reception at Shea, unless things turn around.
14-55 (.255 AVG.), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 5 Runs, 1 SB
WRIGHT WATCH: 15-game hitting streak includes another double on Wednesday night.
SECOND HALF: 5 SEASON TOTAL: 27 TEAM RECORD: 44
THE KID'S KIDS: I don't know when the record improved, but the Gulf Coast Mets are now 20-9, 5 games up in the division. It looks like they got rained out again on Thursday...but I'm not sure.
This is not good. I'm mad. The Mets are wasting chances. They had their shot at the division lead, and they blew it. They had a huge chance to make up ground, and they ended up falling further back. And they wasted a great outing by Pedro Martinez* on Thursday night in the game they needed to win against Houston. None of these next three games is going to be easy - they needed to win with Pedro* on the mound.
The Mets dropped two out of three in Colorado - just awful. Granted, the Rockies have played a lot better at home than on the road - but that's not going to stop the Phillies from taking two games this weekend - probably even three or four. The Mets blew it there. Now they have four games in Houston - the Astros have the best record at home in the league.
Thursday night's game was very frustrating. The home plate umpire - I'm not sure who it was - had the tiniest strike zone I've ever seen. It worked both ways, the Mets were getting calls that should have been strikes called balls too, but the umpire forced Pedro* to throw a lot more pitches than he should have had to. In all, he threw 117, and left after 8 innings, with 8 strikeouts. He left a 2-2 tie, Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth, and gave up a single, sac bunt, and then a gapper to score the winning run.
The problem is, it never should have gotten to that point. The Astros started Zeke Astacio (picture a guy named Zeke....that's exactly what this pitcher looked like. Seriously. He looked like a Zeke.) The Mets loaded the bases against Zeke with no one out in the first. They scored A run. One run. They had the chance to blow the game open early, and didn't. It cost them. Mike Piazza had a good day at the plate, David Wright had a good defensive game, but they both couldn't come through in that first inning. Cliff Floyd, at least, had a sacrifice fly, scoring Jose Reyes (it wasn't even a deep sac fly, the only reason the Mets got that first run was THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED'S SPEED). Miguel Cairo was the one who took advantage of the short left-field porch to give the Mets a 2-1 lead with a solo homer later on. Piazza, Wright, and Cameron better hit some homers in Houston before the weekend's through.
Pedro* didn't get hit hard. He gave up the two runs, one on a solo homer, then the second on a squeeze bunt by Brad Ausmus.
The Mets need to get the bats going. Carlos Beltran* is becoming a serious problem. I'm starting to think it's a little psychological. I think he knows people are expecting him to have a huge second half, and he's feeling as much pressure as he did to start the season. Just a thought. Cliff Floyd has cooled way off...so much so that he's probably not even going to finish in the top 15 of the Greatest Seasons Ever By A Met. Mike Cameron (I alluded to this earlier in the week) is the least clutch hitter of all time. I wrote that, I think, on Monday. Tuesday night, he struck out with the bases loaded in the seventh inning in Colorado, with the Mets down by a couple, then made the last out with Jose Reyes on second base and the Mets trailing by one in the ninth. That was part of a 4-strikeout night, by the way. Just can't perform in the clutch. He's the last person I want up with the game on the line.
Jose Reyes and David Wright are playing out of their minds right now. Wright has a 15-game hitting streak, Reyes an 11-gamer. They're setting the tables, but no one's finishing the job. I think it's time to throw Cameron down in the six-slot in the batting order, put a decently-performing Mike Piazza back at number five, and put David Wright second. I think Wright's a lot like Michael Young in Texas - and the two slot works well for Young.
Something's gotta happen. The Mets have to start winning games they should be winning. I'm starting to wonder if they even deserve the high expectations I have of them right now. The San Diego Padres team they swept last week is clearly not good - they've lost 9 out of 10, and I think they're now a game below .500 (but still in first place). The Mets need a first baseman. Marlon Anderson is a great pinch-hitter. He is a good infielder. He is a bad first baseman. Jose Offerman is worse. Chris Woodward isn't a lot better. Make up your mind about Doug Mientkiewicz - either use him for his defense and hope he improves on offense, or make a trade. We can't go on with this disaster at first.
I need to go to bed. I'm very upset right now. But I have a couple of other things to mention. One is that I have decided I hate 9:05 pm start times. It only happens, I think, in Colorado. It's too in-between. With the West Coast 10:05 start times, you know what you're getting - a late game. It's 7 o'clock out West. With the 9, they fool you into thinking it's a little early, because it's earlier than 10, but man, those games go late. And they take you (me) out of your (my) game-watching rhythm. Sometimes I forgot to change it back to the Mets when I'd switch around during commercials. Just a very tough thing to get used to. So perhaps that's why I haven't seen a lot of Rockies games this year (or perhaps it's because they friggin' SUCK). But all that said, I have to say, they have a great broadcast team. I really enjoyed watching the Mets-Rockies games on the Rockies feed. Drew Goodman and George Frazier. They were outstanding. I'm going to try watching them some more. They were amusing, but not goofy, they knew their baseball...it was very refreshing.
That's it for tonight. I'm dreading Sunday. Kaz Ishii versus Roy Oswalt. The Mets need another strong outing from Kris Benson Friday night, because we all know he's not going to get a lot of run support.
ELTRAN*'S: 0-for-4 on Thursday, in his return to Houston. He was booed all night. He'd better not expect a much nicer reception at Shea, unless things turn around.
14-55 (.255 AVG.), 2 HR, 10 RBI, 5 Runs, 1 SB
WRIGHT WATCH: 15-game hitting streak includes another double on Wednesday night.
SECOND HALF: 5 SEASON TOTAL: 27 TEAM RECORD: 44
THE KID'S KIDS: I don't know when the record improved, but the Gulf Coast Mets are now 20-9, 5 games up in the division. It looks like they got rained out again on Thursday...but I'm not sure.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
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.
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.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Brewers 5, Mets 4 (Mil: 15-15, NYM: 17-15)
What's going on with Tom Glavine? Back when the Mets signed him, I was bummed. I didn't want to root for him, because he's a Brave...but more importantly, I knew he wouldn't be effective with the Mets, because up until 2005, no one who ever signs with the Mets as a free agent is ever as effective with the Mets as they have been in their careers to that point. Then Glavine had an OK 2003, followed by a better 2004, and I'm thinking, nothing's going to stop him in 2005!!! He has easily been the worst pitcher on the Mets staff this year. Easily. I'm mad. After I write this, I'm cutting him from my fantasy team. I don't know what else it's going to take to get him going in real life.
I hate to begin my first posting in two weeks on such a negative note, because the Mets have done so well in the absence of my writing. They have just two losses since May began, but the problem is, they easily could have won on Sunday, completing a sweep of the Brewers and moving up in the NL East standings. But Glavine gave up 11 hits and 4 earned runs in 6 innings (lowering his ERA to 6.87), and the Mets came back to tie, only to lose the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Mets tied it in the eighth, at 4, then in the bottom of the ninth, Mike Piazza (who hadn't started) came in on defense after Cliff Floyd (who also hadn't started) pinch hit for Ramon Castro in the ninth. With one out, Junior Spivey singled, then immediately stole second. I couldn't watch this game, because it wasn't on DirecTV, but it sounds like, from the AP article and Mets' quotes, Piazza actually got Spivey. The Mets pitched out, and Miguel Cairo says he tagged Spivey before he hit the bag...but the ump didn't see it that way. So after Mike DeJean got a strikeout, he gave up a 2-out single to J.J. Hardy, and the Brewers won. DeJean said the game-winning hit came on what was probably his best sinker of the year. Too bad the Mets didn't win this one.
Notes from the past couple of weeks: Whenever the Mets get hot, everyone else in the National League East gets hot. Until Sunday, everyone in the East had a winning streak of at least 2 games, and were within 5 or so games of first. The Braves crushed Houston Sunday, 16-0, but other than that game, the rest of the division lost, so the Mets just drop a game to the Braves.
In my writing absence, Future Hall of Famer David Wright cooled off, then heated up, then cooled off again. He hit career homers number 17, 18, 19, and 20 since I last wrote.
Piazza might be finally finding his stroke. At one point Friday into Saturday he homered in three consecutive at-bats. Let's hope the wind is blowing out at Wrigley, and boosts his confidence a little more.
Kris Benson is back, and so is Mike Cameron. Cameron has been on fire - I wonder if Victor Diaz's recent success helped light that fire in Cameron. In order to activate Benson and Cameron, the Mets sent down Jae Seo and Royce Ring. I wouldn't be surprised if Seo ends up getting traded now that he's shown he can still be an effective Major League pitcher. A nice showcase by him the past week and a half.
Aaron Heilman also continues to impress. With Benson on a pitch count in his season debut, Heilman came in in relief (I think he got the win) and went three innings, giving up just one hit.
I apologize for the lack of writing...I have been very busy with school. But now things should cool down a bit - I'm just looking for a job. I figured what day to get back into the baseball blog then on the one-year anniversary of my marriage. Happy Anniversary Kathy!!
I realize, as I check the mailbag, my absence was noted. I apologize:
"Dear JohnnyMets,
Where ya been? I've been doing my part -- logging on to JMDBSDC every
3-4 times each waking hour -- but I'm disappointed each time.
I had to learn about the tarp fiasco in Washington on the wires. Now when my
grandchildren ask me where I was when I learned about the Great Tarp
Fiasco of 2005, I'll have to tell them on the AP instead of on JMDBSDC.
Please return soon.
Dave in Brighton"
Dave refers to the last game in Washington, where the grounds crew did a horrendous job putting the tarp on the field, resulting in a called game in the eighth inning, when the Mets could have made a comeback. They protested, that protest has since been denied. The Tarp Fiasco was reminiscent of the Mets' first trip to Miami to play the Marlins back in 1993. Bad groundscrewing then too. Maybe it was 1992...
More e-mail:
"I know you don't like to cross-polinate your blogs, but I have to know what you think of the Jets taking a kicker in the SECOND ROUND of the draft. The second round??
kevin
JMDBSDC Southern Bureau"
The Jets had a better draft than people give them credit for. Tune in to johnnyjets.blogspot.com soon for a draft recap and season preview. I am still not pleased they let Anthony Becht sign elsewhere.
Mets go to Chicago for three beginning Monday night. I'll try to be better about writing.
I hate to begin my first posting in two weeks on such a negative note, because the Mets have done so well in the absence of my writing. They have just two losses since May began, but the problem is, they easily could have won on Sunday, completing a sweep of the Brewers and moving up in the NL East standings. But Glavine gave up 11 hits and 4 earned runs in 6 innings (lowering his ERA to 6.87), and the Mets came back to tie, only to lose the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Mets tied it in the eighth, at 4, then in the bottom of the ninth, Mike Piazza (who hadn't started) came in on defense after Cliff Floyd (who also hadn't started) pinch hit for Ramon Castro in the ninth. With one out, Junior Spivey singled, then immediately stole second. I couldn't watch this game, because it wasn't on DirecTV, but it sounds like, from the AP article and Mets' quotes, Piazza actually got Spivey. The Mets pitched out, and Miguel Cairo says he tagged Spivey before he hit the bag...but the ump didn't see it that way. So after Mike DeJean got a strikeout, he gave up a 2-out single to J.J. Hardy, and the Brewers won. DeJean said the game-winning hit came on what was probably his best sinker of the year. Too bad the Mets didn't win this one.
Notes from the past couple of weeks: Whenever the Mets get hot, everyone else in the National League East gets hot. Until Sunday, everyone in the East had a winning streak of at least 2 games, and were within 5 or so games of first. The Braves crushed Houston Sunday, 16-0, but other than that game, the rest of the division lost, so the Mets just drop a game to the Braves.
In my writing absence, Future Hall of Famer David Wright cooled off, then heated up, then cooled off again. He hit career homers number 17, 18, 19, and 20 since I last wrote.
Piazza might be finally finding his stroke. At one point Friday into Saturday he homered in three consecutive at-bats. Let's hope the wind is blowing out at Wrigley, and boosts his confidence a little more.
Kris Benson is back, and so is Mike Cameron. Cameron has been on fire - I wonder if Victor Diaz's recent success helped light that fire in Cameron. In order to activate Benson and Cameron, the Mets sent down Jae Seo and Royce Ring. I wouldn't be surprised if Seo ends up getting traded now that he's shown he can still be an effective Major League pitcher. A nice showcase by him the past week and a half.
Aaron Heilman also continues to impress. With Benson on a pitch count in his season debut, Heilman came in in relief (I think he got the win) and went three innings, giving up just one hit.
I apologize for the lack of writing...I have been very busy with school. But now things should cool down a bit - I'm just looking for a job. I figured what day to get back into the baseball blog then on the one-year anniversary of my marriage. Happy Anniversary Kathy!!
I realize, as I check the mailbag, my absence was noted. I apologize:
"Dear JohnnyMets,
Where ya been? I've been doing my part -- logging on to JMDBSDC every
3-4 times each waking hour -- but I'm disappointed each time.
I had to learn about the tarp fiasco in Washington on the wires. Now when my
grandchildren ask me where I was when I learned about the Great Tarp
Fiasco of 2005, I'll have to tell them on the AP instead of on JMDBSDC.
Please return soon.
Dave in Brighton"
Dave refers to the last game in Washington, where the grounds crew did a horrendous job putting the tarp on the field, resulting in a called game in the eighth inning, when the Mets could have made a comeback. They protested, that protest has since been denied. The Tarp Fiasco was reminiscent of the Mets' first trip to Miami to play the Marlins back in 1993. Bad groundscrewing then too. Maybe it was 1992...
More e-mail:
"I know you don't like to cross-polinate your blogs, but I have to know what you think of the Jets taking a kicker in the SECOND ROUND of the draft. The second round??
kevin
JMDBSDC Southern Bureau"
The Jets had a better draft than people give them credit for. Tune in to johnnyjets.blogspot.com soon for a draft recap and season preview. I am still not pleased they let Anthony Becht sign elsewhere.
Mets go to Chicago for three beginning Monday night. I'll try to be better about writing.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Not much going on down in Florida. The Mets had their spring training game rained out on Wednesday, and scheduled starter Pedro Martinez* threw a simulated game instead.
Steve Trachsel will start in Fort Lauderdale against the Orioles. He's reportedly added a slider to his repertoire this year, and plans on unveiling it in that game.
The only other noteworthy thing is that Mike Cameron has come out and said he doesn't want to be traded. Well, thanks for finally coming around, Mike. This upsets me a wee bit. Here's why. Cameron is all whiny and unhappy about moving to right field because the Mets added someone who is considerably better than him (and almost all other major league baseball players) with the glove and the bat at his position. So Cameron raises a stink, says I'm not happy about switching positions, I want a trade. He hangs around until he sees what the Mets have on the field, and realizes, hey, this isn't so bad...we're actually a decent team. I think I want to hang around here. So he tells his agent to tell the Mets, if you're looking to trade me because you think I want to be traded, then forget it. I don't want to be traded. It's just the epitome of the spoiled ballplayer.
I think Cameron realized a couple of things: 1) He does not like playing center field at Shea Stadium (evidenced by his pathetic performance there last season....maybe not pathetic, I should probably say disappointing). 2) There was a good amount of pressure on him to relieve the Mets' defensive woes last season, and he didn't exactly meet those expectations (remember missing the cutoff man against Minnesota when the Mets were swept? That still sticks in my craw.). I bet Cameron sees himself having a big season because he's in a very low-pressure slot - batting seventh and playing right field. (At least I see him having a big year.) And 3) Cameron and Cliff Floyd are really, really good friends, and Floyd probably convinced him to lay off the trade talk, because he needs Cameron to be a good right fielder so other teams don't notice that Cliff Floyd is the only defensive weak link on the team (outside of maybe catcher).
Anyway, that's about all I have for today. 25 days until Opening Day.
Steve Trachsel will start in Fort Lauderdale against the Orioles. He's reportedly added a slider to his repertoire this year, and plans on unveiling it in that game.
The only other noteworthy thing is that Mike Cameron has come out and said he doesn't want to be traded. Well, thanks for finally coming around, Mike. This upsets me a wee bit. Here's why. Cameron is all whiny and unhappy about moving to right field because the Mets added someone who is considerably better than him (and almost all other major league baseball players) with the glove and the bat at his position. So Cameron raises a stink, says I'm not happy about switching positions, I want a trade. He hangs around until he sees what the Mets have on the field, and realizes, hey, this isn't so bad...we're actually a decent team. I think I want to hang around here. So he tells his agent to tell the Mets, if you're looking to trade me because you think I want to be traded, then forget it. I don't want to be traded. It's just the epitome of the spoiled ballplayer.
I think Cameron realized a couple of things: 1) He does not like playing center field at Shea Stadium (evidenced by his pathetic performance there last season....maybe not pathetic, I should probably say disappointing). 2) There was a good amount of pressure on him to relieve the Mets' defensive woes last season, and he didn't exactly meet those expectations (remember missing the cutoff man against Minnesota when the Mets were swept? That still sticks in my craw.). I bet Cameron sees himself having a big season because he's in a very low-pressure slot - batting seventh and playing right field. (At least I see him having a big year.) And 3) Cameron and Cliff Floyd are really, really good friends, and Floyd probably convinced him to lay off the trade talk, because he needs Cameron to be a good right fielder so other teams don't notice that Cliff Floyd is the only defensive weak link on the team (outside of maybe catcher).
Anyway, that's about all I have for today. 25 days until Opening Day.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Before I get to the mailbag, I want to make one more comment on the rotation. It doesn't effect the rotation this year, but it's something to keep an eye on down the road.
Mets first round draft pick Philip Humber is having a good spring so far. People like the way he throws, and he says he's learning a ton from guys like Pedro Martinez*. It also can't hurt that Humber gets to hang around Rick Peterson. Peterson took a bunch of pitchers to Alabama to have their motions recorded on some high-tech computer thing - Humber was among the pitchers who went. So we'll keep an eye on Humber throughout the season.
Also, good news from the Mets' first intrasquad game. Jose Reyes was picked off twice by Mets' minor league pitchers. This is good news because he was rarin' to go. He has shown in this one game that he is again THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED. He just needs to stay healthy, because I want to keep writing that.
Funny note - apparently, future Hall of Famer David Wright got hit by a pitch in the game, and the pitch was a very slow change up, but Wright let out a girlish yelp right before he got hit. His teammates let him hear about that one.
OK. Now to the e-mails:
"Dear JohnnyMets,
While doing preparatory work for my stint at the helm of THE GREATEST
BLOG THAT EVER LIVED, I read today that Mike Cameron's hand is hurt
and that he might miss opening day.
What did he do? Punch a wall when they signed Beltran*?
Dave in Brighton"
Good one. Actually, I feel bad for not reporting this - Cameron's hand has been hurting him since the end of last year - he had surgery during the off-season, and should be back in April, but it might not be Opening Day. He says he thinks he will be back by the opener, Willie Randolph isn't saying anything. Cameron took some swings the other day against soft tosses, and has felt no ill effects, so that's good news...things are progressing. In the meantime, Victor Diaz took Cameron's place in right field in Monday's intrasquad game.
Dave will be writing in this space Wednesday night for Thursday's blog...recapping the Mets' first Grapefruit League spring training game (hence the preparatory work he was doing). Thanks, Dave.
The snow gods were kind to me, giving me a snow day on Tuesday. Now I need to respond in kind and get to bed, so I am refreshed when the school gods take over on Wednesday. Enjoy Mets spring training baseball!! (1:05pm, ESPN)
Mets first round draft pick Philip Humber is having a good spring so far. People like the way he throws, and he says he's learning a ton from guys like Pedro Martinez*. It also can't hurt that Humber gets to hang around Rick Peterson. Peterson took a bunch of pitchers to Alabama to have their motions recorded on some high-tech computer thing - Humber was among the pitchers who went. So we'll keep an eye on Humber throughout the season.
Also, good news from the Mets' first intrasquad game. Jose Reyes was picked off twice by Mets' minor league pitchers. This is good news because he was rarin' to go. He has shown in this one game that he is again THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED. He just needs to stay healthy, because I want to keep writing that.
Funny note - apparently, future Hall of Famer David Wright got hit by a pitch in the game, and the pitch was a very slow change up, but Wright let out a girlish yelp right before he got hit. His teammates let him hear about that one.
OK. Now to the e-mails:
"Dear JohnnyMets,
While doing preparatory work for my stint at the helm of THE GREATEST
BLOG THAT EVER LIVED, I read today that Mike Cameron's hand is hurt
and that he might miss opening day.
What did he do? Punch a wall when they signed Beltran*?
Dave in Brighton"
Good one. Actually, I feel bad for not reporting this - Cameron's hand has been hurting him since the end of last year - he had surgery during the off-season, and should be back in April, but it might not be Opening Day. He says he thinks he will be back by the opener, Willie Randolph isn't saying anything. Cameron took some swings the other day against soft tosses, and has felt no ill effects, so that's good news...things are progressing. In the meantime, Victor Diaz took Cameron's place in right field in Monday's intrasquad game.
Dave will be writing in this space Wednesday night for Thursday's blog...recapping the Mets' first Grapefruit League spring training game (hence the preparatory work he was doing). Thanks, Dave.
The snow gods were kind to me, giving me a snow day on Tuesday. Now I need to respond in kind and get to bed, so I am refreshed when the school gods take over on Wednesday. Enjoy Mets spring training baseball!! (1:05pm, ESPN)
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Mets 11, Brewers 6 (52-55, 8 GB)
Let me begin with a couple of stat lines.
First, this pitcher's line: 5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 7K, 6 R, 4 ER. Pretty crappy, but good enough for a win by Victor Zambrano. He got a nice little welcome to the Mets gift. Usually the Mets hang new pitchers out to dry by not scoring any runs. But Zambrano is now 1-0 in the National League (despite a 6.75 ERA), mostly because........
......of this stat line: 3-for-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, 6 RBI!!!! You know who put those numbers up Thursday afternoon. None other than future Hall of Famer David Wright. If you didn't see Wright's first inning home run, turn on ESPN now, and wait for them to show it. It was a BOMB. This guy's good. His line yesterday looked like something from when he was tearing up Double-A. He's really starting to find his stroke. Watch out Pete Rose and Hank Aaron. Not to mention Tris Speaker. He's the all-time doubles leader. Or should I say, WAS, the all-time doubles leader. After hitting 2 doubles yesterday, 6 of Wright's 15 hits have been doubles. In 13 games, Wright has 6 doubles. Let's just say he plays about 150 games a year (assuming he doesn't break Cal Ripken's consecutive games streak), for 10 years. That averages out to 750 doubles in his career. And we all know Wright will play at least 20 years, if not 30. That means he'll shatter Speaker's record of 792 career doubles. We're watching history here folks.
OK. So the Mets swept the Brewers. I'm very happy about it. But if they could just hit like this against other teams, namely the Braves, it would probably feel a little better. Believe it or not, statistically, the Brewers are not a bad pitching team. They rank tenth in the majors in ERA. So you figure if the Mets could hit their pitching, they could hit others. Maybe the bats are coming around. Hope it isn't too late.
Mike Cameron sure is smoking the ball. And the Mets seem to have figured out how to hit with the bases loaded. Mike Piazza is still slumping pretty bad, so that's very worrisome. Sadly, I almost prefer to see the Mets 1,2, 6, 7, 8 hitters to the 3, 4, 5 hitters lately. Hmm..no offense, Kaz, but has anyone missed Matsui these last few games? I still feel he's one of the best clutch hitters on the team - if not THE best - but THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED Jose Reyes just looks so much better at shortstop.
So neither Zambrano or Kris Benson have been too impressive in their Mets debuts. I hope that means they'll only get better for the rest of the season. But who knows, this is the Mets we're talking about. But I think Zambrano was very, very nervous before this start. So maybe it's the best possible thing that he was given a 6-0 lead, almost blew it, and then held on to get a win. Maybe now he thinks he'll only get better, and he'll be more relaxed when he pitches at Shea. I'm reaching folks, but we need these guys to perform lights out, or else it's lights out on the season.
This weekend will be yet another test for the Mets. It's the Mets at Saint Louis. Here's a refresher on how the Mets did in their last series with the Cardinals. A 5-4 win, come-from-behind, when the Mets scored 2 in the bottom of the ninth to beat Jason Isringhausen. The Mets followed that up with a 1-0 loss, and then had one of their worst games of the season on a Thursday afternoon, getting pummeled 11-4. Just an ugly game. So the Mets lost 2 out of 3, but they held their own against a very good team. Now we'll see if they can beat a very good team 2 out of three. Because the Mets can't afford to lose another series the rest of the season. The pitching matchups for this series look phenomenal:
Friday: Tom Glavine vs. Matt Morris
Saturday: Kris Benson vs. Woody Williams
Sunday: Al Leiter vs. Jason Marquis
Let's Go Mets.
First, this pitcher's line: 5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 7K, 6 R, 4 ER. Pretty crappy, but good enough for a win by Victor Zambrano. He got a nice little welcome to the Mets gift. Usually the Mets hang new pitchers out to dry by not scoring any runs. But Zambrano is now 1-0 in the National League (despite a 6.75 ERA), mostly because........
......of this stat line: 3-for-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 R, 6 RBI!!!! You know who put those numbers up Thursday afternoon. None other than future Hall of Famer David Wright. If you didn't see Wright's first inning home run, turn on ESPN now, and wait for them to show it. It was a BOMB. This guy's good. His line yesterday looked like something from when he was tearing up Double-A. He's really starting to find his stroke. Watch out Pete Rose and Hank Aaron. Not to mention Tris Speaker. He's the all-time doubles leader. Or should I say, WAS, the all-time doubles leader. After hitting 2 doubles yesterday, 6 of Wright's 15 hits have been doubles. In 13 games, Wright has 6 doubles. Let's just say he plays about 150 games a year (assuming he doesn't break Cal Ripken's consecutive games streak), for 10 years. That averages out to 750 doubles in his career. And we all know Wright will play at least 20 years, if not 30. That means he'll shatter Speaker's record of 792 career doubles. We're watching history here folks.
OK. So the Mets swept the Brewers. I'm very happy about it. But if they could just hit like this against other teams, namely the Braves, it would probably feel a little better. Believe it or not, statistically, the Brewers are not a bad pitching team. They rank tenth in the majors in ERA. So you figure if the Mets could hit their pitching, they could hit others. Maybe the bats are coming around. Hope it isn't too late.
Mike Cameron sure is smoking the ball. And the Mets seem to have figured out how to hit with the bases loaded. Mike Piazza is still slumping pretty bad, so that's very worrisome. Sadly, I almost prefer to see the Mets 1,2, 6, 7, 8 hitters to the 3, 4, 5 hitters lately. Hmm..no offense, Kaz, but has anyone missed Matsui these last few games? I still feel he's one of the best clutch hitters on the team - if not THE best - but THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED Jose Reyes just looks so much better at shortstop.
So neither Zambrano or Kris Benson have been too impressive in their Mets debuts. I hope that means they'll only get better for the rest of the season. But who knows, this is the Mets we're talking about. But I think Zambrano was very, very nervous before this start. So maybe it's the best possible thing that he was given a 6-0 lead, almost blew it, and then held on to get a win. Maybe now he thinks he'll only get better, and he'll be more relaxed when he pitches at Shea. I'm reaching folks, but we need these guys to perform lights out, or else it's lights out on the season.
This weekend will be yet another test for the Mets. It's the Mets at Saint Louis. Here's a refresher on how the Mets did in their last series with the Cardinals. A 5-4 win, come-from-behind, when the Mets scored 2 in the bottom of the ninth to beat Jason Isringhausen. The Mets followed that up with a 1-0 loss, and then had one of their worst games of the season on a Thursday afternoon, getting pummeled 11-4. Just an ugly game. So the Mets lost 2 out of 3, but they held their own against a very good team. Now we'll see if they can beat a very good team 2 out of three. Because the Mets can't afford to lose another series the rest of the season. The pitching matchups for this series look phenomenal:
Friday: Tom Glavine vs. Matt Morris
Saturday: Kris Benson vs. Woody Williams
Sunday: Al Leiter vs. Jason Marquis
Let's Go Mets.
Labels:
Brewers,
Cardinals,
David Wright,
Jose Reyes,
Mike Cameron,
Tris Speaker,
Victor Zambrano
Thursday, July 29, 2004
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!
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!
Labels:
Al Leiter,
Cycle,
David Wright,
Eric Valent,
Expos,
Injuries,
Jose Reyes,
Karim Garcia,
Kris Benson,
Mike Cameron,
NL East,
Shane Spencer
Friday, July 23, 2004
Expos 4, Mets 1 (47-48, 3 GB)
I'm starting to think the Mets may be no better than a .500 team. Luckily, that still leaves them just 3 games out of a playoff spot. But when you can't do better than a split against Montreal, let alone score more than a run in a game, you have to look at your team and think something's wrong.
I have a bunch of problems with Thursday's game. Here's a couple. Tom Glavine pitched great again, and again he gets nothing in return. At least he didn't get the loss. That went to John Franco, who served up a 2-run homer to Tony Batista in the 8th inning, breaking a 1-1 tie. That followed a dribbler of a base hit with two outs. I'm telling you, the Mets can't catch a break. Still, Franco can't keep giving up homers.
OK, another problem...HUGE problem. Why don't these major league baseball players run like they mean it? Good God, you just have to run hard a few times a game, will you do it once in a while?!?! Some instances, and they definitely cost the Mets yesterday:
Bottom 4: Kaz Matsui lines one to center field leading off the inning, Endy Chavez dives for it, misses it, the ball rolls all the way to the wall. Should absolutely be an inside-the-park home run, but Kaz is taking his time getting out of the box, and only ends up with a triple. The Mets go down 1-2-3 after that, so it stays scoreless instead of 1-0, Mets. I have a couple of problems with Matsui's baserunning. I've not once seen him slide into second base to break up a double play - he bails out as soon as the bag is touched. It wouldn't kill him to show a little more hustle.
Top 6: The only run off Glavine, a solo home run. The ball just cleared the wall by a little bit. Why does Mike Cameron give up on it so quick? He just stood and watched it, when I think he might have been able to catch up to it...I'm not positive that he would have robbed the homer, but he sure has done it enough in his career that I wouldn't be surprised if he did. But, oh, I forgot, he's wearing a Mets uniform now, so mediocre fielding is good enough right now.
Bottom 6: With Richard Hidalgo on first, Mike Cameron rips a double into the left field corner, with the score tied at 1. Hidalgo is being sent home, but after a few steps around third, he stops for some reason. The Expos catch Hidalgo in a rundown. They chase Hidalgo back to third. For some reason, as he's being chased back to third, Hidalgo stops, and runs back towards home. WHEN THIRD BASE IS LEFT UNCOVERED!!!! He could have easily dove (dived?) back into third base safely. But I don't know. Maybe I'm the only one who saw this. Ted Robinson and Fran Healy were too busy talking about everything else under the sun to bother to point it out. So maybe I'm wrong. But man, the Mets are killing me.
Good news: David Wright was 2-for-4, picking up his first two major league hits. His first hit was a double. He's just 2,998 hits from the 3,000 hit plateau, en route to the Hall of Fame. By the way, Wright also scored the only run of the game for the Mets. He was driven in by his co-first-ballot-inductee into the Hall, Jose Reyes. On his plaque, it will read, "THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED". Unfortunately, David Wright's Major League Baseball winning streak is over at 1. And the Mets are now 0-1 in games in which Wright gets a hit.
This weekend the Mets host the Braves. The two teams play for the first time since early April. If the Mets don't take the series, it might be time to spark up johnnyjets.blogspot.com.
I have a bunch of problems with Thursday's game. Here's a couple. Tom Glavine pitched great again, and again he gets nothing in return. At least he didn't get the loss. That went to John Franco, who served up a 2-run homer to Tony Batista in the 8th inning, breaking a 1-1 tie. That followed a dribbler of a base hit with two outs. I'm telling you, the Mets can't catch a break. Still, Franco can't keep giving up homers.
OK, another problem...HUGE problem. Why don't these major league baseball players run like they mean it? Good God, you just have to run hard a few times a game, will you do it once in a while?!?! Some instances, and they definitely cost the Mets yesterday:
Bottom 4: Kaz Matsui lines one to center field leading off the inning, Endy Chavez dives for it, misses it, the ball rolls all the way to the wall. Should absolutely be an inside-the-park home run, but Kaz is taking his time getting out of the box, and only ends up with a triple. The Mets go down 1-2-3 after that, so it stays scoreless instead of 1-0, Mets. I have a couple of problems with Matsui's baserunning. I've not once seen him slide into second base to break up a double play - he bails out as soon as the bag is touched. It wouldn't kill him to show a little more hustle.
Top 6: The only run off Glavine, a solo home run. The ball just cleared the wall by a little bit. Why does Mike Cameron give up on it so quick? He just stood and watched it, when I think he might have been able to catch up to it...I'm not positive that he would have robbed the homer, but he sure has done it enough in his career that I wouldn't be surprised if he did. But, oh, I forgot, he's wearing a Mets uniform now, so mediocre fielding is good enough right now.
Bottom 6: With Richard Hidalgo on first, Mike Cameron rips a double into the left field corner, with the score tied at 1. Hidalgo is being sent home, but after a few steps around third, he stops for some reason. The Expos catch Hidalgo in a rundown. They chase Hidalgo back to third. For some reason, as he's being chased back to third, Hidalgo stops, and runs back towards home. WHEN THIRD BASE IS LEFT UNCOVERED!!!! He could have easily dove (dived?) back into third base safely. But I don't know. Maybe I'm the only one who saw this. Ted Robinson and Fran Healy were too busy talking about everything else under the sun to bother to point it out. So maybe I'm wrong. But man, the Mets are killing me.
Good news: David Wright was 2-for-4, picking up his first two major league hits. His first hit was a double. He's just 2,998 hits from the 3,000 hit plateau, en route to the Hall of Fame. By the way, Wright also scored the only run of the game for the Mets. He was driven in by his co-first-ballot-inductee into the Hall, Jose Reyes. On his plaque, it will read, "THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED". Unfortunately, David Wright's Major League Baseball winning streak is over at 1. And the Mets are now 0-1 in games in which Wright gets a hit.
This weekend the Mets host the Braves. The two teams play for the first time since early April. If the Mets don't take the series, it might be time to spark up johnnyjets.blogspot.com.
Labels:
David Wright,
Expos,
John Franco,
Kaz Matsui,
Mike Cameron,
Richard Hidalgo,
Ted Robinson,
Tom Glavine
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Mets 7, Reds 5 (37-38, 3 GB)
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
WRIGHT WATCH: Yes, this morning we begin with the Wright Watch. And not just because he went 1-for-3 last night with a run scored, and an HBP. No, not because his average is at .364. Well, kind of. Last night, just before 2am on WFAN, Joe Benigno says, "The rumor around the station is that Wright is going to be with the Mets on Monday in Philadelphia." I quote because this is some serious stuff, and I want to make sure I give credit where it's due...and because I don't want to be blamed if it's wrong. I'm just throwing it out there. Benigno says they don't want him to be involved in the Yankees series, but that he'll come up for the Philly series.
Now, this opens up a lot of cans of worms. Does that mean the Mets make a trade this weekend to open up a spot for Wright? Will they move Wigginton and start Wright "wright" away? Will Wigginton start for a little while longer to increase his trade value, with Wright coming off the bench at first? Things could be getting a bit interesting this weekend.
As for last night's game, I only saw the last couple of innings. Braden Looper is an interesting sort. I feel the utmost confidence in him when it's a one-run game. But when it's a non-save situation, or a save situation where the Mets are up by 2 or 3 runs, I feel like he's not going full tilt. He's saying he didn't have his best stuff last night, but I just think he doesn't focus so much in those types of save situations. Regardless, after he loaded the bases, Looper managed to get the double play he needed to get out of the jam and close the game.
One other thing I want to touch on that's being written about this morning. The papers are touting Cliff Floyd's big game, even though he almost didn't make it to Cincinnati because he and Mike Cameron were stuck in traffic in New York trying to get to the airport to catch their private charter flight. Then when they boarded the plane, takeoffs were delayed because the Vice President was in town. None of the articles mention why those two were traveling to Cincinnati separate from the rest of the team, though. And I want to know why. Teams travel together in order to prevent the type of situations that Cameron and Floyd encountered last night trying to get to the game. Now, Monday was an off day, and Floyd and Cameron could have been staying behind for some kind of charity event or something. But if you're going to base your whole game story on how Cliff Floyd almost didn't play last night, tell me why he was late...and why he didn't travel with the team. Otherwise I'm going to draw (probably wrong) conclusions that make me think there are divisions on the team. (OK - after writing all that, I just checked Newsday - it appears Floyd and Cameron just wanted to spend the off-day at home. I bet Howe takes that policy off the table after this near-miss.)
Another note - Art Howe in the papers this morning defends his decision to not change the rotation for Tom Glavine to pitch in the Yankees series this weekend (he didn't pitch in the Bronx last weekend either). Howe says he'd rather have Glavine pitch the opener of the series against the Phillies on Monday. I agree. Good for you, Art. (I especially agree if David Wright is also in the lineup on Monday.)
Here's something you shouldn't know, but because I'm psychotic, I do: the Mets, with their win last night, improved to 9-3 on Tuesdays this season. Their best day of the week.
Tonight Tom Glavine goes against Cory Lidle as the Mets try to wrap up June on a winning note.
WRIGHT WATCH: Yes, this morning we begin with the Wright Watch. And not just because he went 1-for-3 last night with a run scored, and an HBP. No, not because his average is at .364. Well, kind of. Last night, just before 2am on WFAN, Joe Benigno says, "The rumor around the station is that Wright is going to be with the Mets on Monday in Philadelphia." I quote because this is some serious stuff, and I want to make sure I give credit where it's due...and because I don't want to be blamed if it's wrong. I'm just throwing it out there. Benigno says they don't want him to be involved in the Yankees series, but that he'll come up for the Philly series.
Now, this opens up a lot of cans of worms. Does that mean the Mets make a trade this weekend to open up a spot for Wright? Will they move Wigginton and start Wright "wright" away? Will Wigginton start for a little while longer to increase his trade value, with Wright coming off the bench at first? Things could be getting a bit interesting this weekend.
As for last night's game, I only saw the last couple of innings. Braden Looper is an interesting sort. I feel the utmost confidence in him when it's a one-run game. But when it's a non-save situation, or a save situation where the Mets are up by 2 or 3 runs, I feel like he's not going full tilt. He's saying he didn't have his best stuff last night, but I just think he doesn't focus so much in those types of save situations. Regardless, after he loaded the bases, Looper managed to get the double play he needed to get out of the jam and close the game.
One other thing I want to touch on that's being written about this morning. The papers are touting Cliff Floyd's big game, even though he almost didn't make it to Cincinnati because he and Mike Cameron were stuck in traffic in New York trying to get to the airport to catch their private charter flight. Then when they boarded the plane, takeoffs were delayed because the Vice President was in town. None of the articles mention why those two were traveling to Cincinnati separate from the rest of the team, though. And I want to know why. Teams travel together in order to prevent the type of situations that Cameron and Floyd encountered last night trying to get to the game. Now, Monday was an off day, and Floyd and Cameron could have been staying behind for some kind of charity event or something. But if you're going to base your whole game story on how Cliff Floyd almost didn't play last night, tell me why he was late...and why he didn't travel with the team. Otherwise I'm going to draw (probably wrong) conclusions that make me think there are divisions on the team. (OK - after writing all that, I just checked Newsday - it appears Floyd and Cameron just wanted to spend the off-day at home. I bet Howe takes that policy off the table after this near-miss.)
Another note - Art Howe in the papers this morning defends his decision to not change the rotation for Tom Glavine to pitch in the Yankees series this weekend (he didn't pitch in the Bronx last weekend either). Howe says he'd rather have Glavine pitch the opener of the series against the Phillies on Monday. I agree. Good for you, Art. (I especially agree if David Wright is also in the lineup on Monday.)
Here's something you shouldn't know, but because I'm psychotic, I do: the Mets, with their win last night, improved to 9-3 on Tuesdays this season. Their best day of the week.
Tonight Tom Glavine goes against Cory Lidle as the Mets try to wrap up June on a winning note.
Labels:
Art Howe,
Braden Looper,
Cliff Floyd,
Mike Cameron,
Reds,
Ty Wigginton,
WFAN,
Wright Watch
Friday, June 11, 2004
Twins 3, Mets 2 15 innings (28-31, 5.5 GB)
Thursday, June 10, 2004
You sure do think about a lot of stuff during the course of a 15 inning game.
Things like, When is Mike Cameron going to break out of his slump? When is Jason Phillips going to break out of his slump? Why does Cliff Floyd get hurt so much? Is Jose Reyes trapped in the body of an 87-year-old? Why does Fran Healy always sound so excited about concession stands? John Franco's ERA is over 5?!? How much longer is this game going to go on? Why can't the Mets score with the bases loaded? Is this game going to end before I have to go to work? And just when I think that, it ends. And not in a good way.
Giving the Minnesota Twins the chance to win in their last at-bat this year is like playing with fire. They have that magical win-in-their-last-at-bat vibe going on. Going into extra innings just makes that feeling linger even longer, and makes it more painful when it happens.
The Mets should do some kind of DNA test and make sure they really signed Mike Cameron as a free agent and not his handicapped brother (if indeed Mike Cameron has a handicapped brother, I am very sorry for that previous comment). What's going on here? Yes, the guy strikes out a lot. But he doesn't hit below .200! Why can't he make contact? (And, by the way, it doesn't help that when he does make good contact, and blasts one to right center field, it dies in Torii Hunter's glove.) But the lack of offense would be tolerable if he didn't look lost sometimes in center. He plays well most of the time, but when he plays poorly, he looks like a lost little leaguer. The Mets should have won last night's game (again)! If Cameron throws to a cut-off man, Matthew LeCroy is nailed. He'd be out 60 feet from home plate (home plate is 90 feet from third base, just to explain the exaggeration)! I wonder if his offensive struggles are affecting his defensive play.
The Mets blew a lot of chances in the extra innings too. They left the bases loaded in the 11th inning, and the man who strikes out looking to end the inning is none other than one Karim Garcia. Earlier that inning, after a Shane Spencer walk and steal of second, Kaz Matsui bunts him to third. I love Matsui in clutch situations, and twice last night he bunted when I would have liked to see him swing away.
Another rally died in the fifteenth inning when Torii Hunter made two outstanding catches. First, he makes a running and jumping catch on an absolute BOMB by Jason Phillips. It wouldn't have been a home run, but it would have been a double. And then he ended the inning by chasing down a Todd Zeile fly ball. Those catches were probably the difference in the game. (Hmm...just occurred to me...those both looked good off the bat - maybe they do pump the air conditioning in when the opponent is at bat in the Metrodome.)
Another great start by Matt Ginter was wasted. But he looked great, and the bullpen pitched great, for the most part. Braden Looper got screwed on the missed cut-off man, and Ricky Bottalico ended up with the loss. Tough break for him...I can give or take Bottalico. Not sure what that means, but I think I mean to say, I don't love him, but I don't hate him the way I hate Karim Garcia or Gerald Williams. (I think this is one of the first times in my life where I downright hate some Mets...wait, that's not true. Most of the 1993 Mets...and Armando Benitez towards the end of his tenure. Never mind.)
This was a bad loss. But let's remember this - everytime this team seems dead, they come back strong. There was the 3-game sweep by the Pirates, Cubs, Cardinals, then the Marlins, and now the Twins. Let's see how the Mets bounce back, with games against the Royals, Indians, and Tigers. Dare I say, 7-2?
Oh, one more thing: I really like Keith Hernandez in the booth. He's very honest, and his criticism is good, informative criticism. (Unlike the second-and-first guessing of the likes of Ted Robinson.) But it makes me wonder, how does Hernandez put up with Robinson and Fran Healy? He's so critical of the action on the field, I wish he'd be that critical of his broadcast partners. I would love to hear him just turn to one of them one night and just say, "Will you just shut up? SHUT UP! Just Shut the Hell UP!" That would make my night.
You sure do think about a lot of stuff during the course of a 15 inning game.
Things like, When is Mike Cameron going to break out of his slump? When is Jason Phillips going to break out of his slump? Why does Cliff Floyd get hurt so much? Is Jose Reyes trapped in the body of an 87-year-old? Why does Fran Healy always sound so excited about concession stands? John Franco's ERA is over 5?!? How much longer is this game going to go on? Why can't the Mets score with the bases loaded? Is this game going to end before I have to go to work? And just when I think that, it ends. And not in a good way.
Giving the Minnesota Twins the chance to win in their last at-bat this year is like playing with fire. They have that magical win-in-their-last-at-bat vibe going on. Going into extra innings just makes that feeling linger even longer, and makes it more painful when it happens.
The Mets should do some kind of DNA test and make sure they really signed Mike Cameron as a free agent and not his handicapped brother (if indeed Mike Cameron has a handicapped brother, I am very sorry for that previous comment). What's going on here? Yes, the guy strikes out a lot. But he doesn't hit below .200! Why can't he make contact? (And, by the way, it doesn't help that when he does make good contact, and blasts one to right center field, it dies in Torii Hunter's glove.) But the lack of offense would be tolerable if he didn't look lost sometimes in center. He plays well most of the time, but when he plays poorly, he looks like a lost little leaguer. The Mets should have won last night's game (again)! If Cameron throws to a cut-off man, Matthew LeCroy is nailed. He'd be out 60 feet from home plate (home plate is 90 feet from third base, just to explain the exaggeration)! I wonder if his offensive struggles are affecting his defensive play.
The Mets blew a lot of chances in the extra innings too. They left the bases loaded in the 11th inning, and the man who strikes out looking to end the inning is none other than one Karim Garcia. Earlier that inning, after a Shane Spencer walk and steal of second, Kaz Matsui bunts him to third. I love Matsui in clutch situations, and twice last night he bunted when I would have liked to see him swing away.
Another rally died in the fifteenth inning when Torii Hunter made two outstanding catches. First, he makes a running and jumping catch on an absolute BOMB by Jason Phillips. It wouldn't have been a home run, but it would have been a double. And then he ended the inning by chasing down a Todd Zeile fly ball. Those catches were probably the difference in the game. (Hmm...just occurred to me...those both looked good off the bat - maybe they do pump the air conditioning in when the opponent is at bat in the Metrodome.)
Another great start by Matt Ginter was wasted. But he looked great, and the bullpen pitched great, for the most part. Braden Looper got screwed on the missed cut-off man, and Ricky Bottalico ended up with the loss. Tough break for him...I can give or take Bottalico. Not sure what that means, but I think I mean to say, I don't love him, but I don't hate him the way I hate Karim Garcia or Gerald Williams. (I think this is one of the first times in my life where I downright hate some Mets...wait, that's not true. Most of the 1993 Mets...and Armando Benitez towards the end of his tenure. Never mind.)
This was a bad loss. But let's remember this - everytime this team seems dead, they come back strong. There was the 3-game sweep by the Pirates, Cubs, Cardinals, then the Marlins, and now the Twins. Let's see how the Mets bounce back, with games against the Royals, Indians, and Tigers. Dare I say, 7-2?
Oh, one more thing: I really like Keith Hernandez in the booth. He's very honest, and his criticism is good, informative criticism. (Unlike the second-and-first guessing of the likes of Ted Robinson.) But it makes me wonder, how does Hernandez put up with Robinson and Fran Healy? He's so critical of the action on the field, I wish he'd be that critical of his broadcast partners. I would love to hear him just turn to one of them one night and just say, "Will you just shut up? SHUT UP! Just Shut the Hell UP!" That would make my night.
Labels:
Extra Innings,
Fran Healy,
Karim Garcia,
Keith Hernandez,
Mike Cameron,
Torii Hunter,
TV/Radio,
Twins
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