I KNEW I LOVED SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

Over the years, Sports Illustrated and I have had our ups and downs. We went through a stretch where I just wasn't reading it, so I cancelled the subscription. When I had time again and renewed the magazine, my free gift was stolen in the mail and they never made up for it.

But all is forgiven.

Sports Illustrated is picking the Mets to win the World Series.

I actually can't disagree with much that Sports Illustrated has picked in terms of this year's standings. If I were to have gone through the standings, I would have had the Mets over the Angels in the World Series, like they do (and like I've had every year since 1999, probably).

They also have the tight race in the AL Central that I'm predicting, though the records of the teams there were significantly lower in their opinion than in mine.

So I'm thrilled...at least someone is on board with the Mets, besides me.

But, technically, I haven't picked the Mets to win the World Series. Just in case that matters when it comes to karma.


THE YANKEES OPENED THEIR STADIUM, TOO: Justin in NYC was there for the Yankees' exhibition game at their new stadium last night. He wrote about it here. Part of me wants to ignore the fact that I wasn't at the 'first-ever' game at Citi Field (or the second-ever, or the third-ever, if you count the St. John's game)...but I'll be at the first game that counts, which is good enough for me.

BEST WEEK OF THE YEAR

I've decided to postpone my baseball season picks until Sunday. It's not that I haven't finished them...they're done, just waiting to be put out there. It's just that there's something else that's occupying my mind this week.
As far as anticipation goes, nothing beats the first week of the NCAA Tournament. I love it. Tomorrow I'll get into just how much I love it. This week also comes with a warning/pleading: Please don't lose respect for me. You already know I'm a little bit crazy.

The first thing you need to understand is that I'm a creature of habit. And one of my habits is filling out the NCAA bracket in the New York Daily News. So every year at this time, the race is on to find a Daily News near here (in Framingham, Massachusetts) to fill out my bracket. Tonight, on my way home from work (en route to the best corned beef and cabbage in the world courtesy of The Wife - Happy St. Patrick's Day, incidentally), I stopped at a supermarket with lots of different newspapers (no dice), a CVS in Sudbury (no dice), and the CVS right here in Framingham. There, buried beneath about five New York Posts, was Monday's Daily News. Fantastic.

I have one more mission before Thursday (and in recent years this has carried over into Friday and sometimes Saturday) - I need to get my hands on a Sports Illustrated for this week. Ever since I cancelled my subscription, this has been a problem. Used to be I'd get this SI in the mail on Tuesday, well in advance of Thursday's noon tip-off. Now, I have to hunt down the tournament edition. Why, you ask? So I can keep track of the tournament winners and losers, and then I fold the SI pullout section around my picks. (In addition to the original bracket from the Daily News, I usually make myself a shrunken copy of my picks to carry around in my pocket.)

I will join a pool or two - but it's always the same bracket, just in case you were wondering. I'd drive myself nuts if I tried to keep track of more than one.

Now, believe it or not, I don't have a system for picking games. I just pick based on gut instinct. And as you'll see tomorrow, that hasn't brought me a lot of success in the past. So this year, I'm going to develop a system. As soon as I finish this, it's off to the papers to try to figure out a formula for success. And on Wednesday, I'll let you know what we're rooting for, and why.

Tomorrow, you'll lose any remaining respect you have for me.

WHY I PLAY FANTASY SPORTS: As you know, I play fantasy NASCAR (this is my 2nd year), and now fantasy golf (in my first year). I'm not doing very well in either right now, but the reason I'm playing has been accomplished. The NASCAR reason was twofold - to learn more about the sport, and to while away the Sundays between football and baseball. Both have been accomplished.

For golf, it was something I thought I'd be good at (not yet), but it has also allowed me to follow the sport closer than I ever have. And as a result, I witnessed one of the most outstanding sporting events I've ever seen on Sunday. Not unbelievable or the greatest ever, mind you, but just an outstanding performance.

I've been following tournaments closely through the weekend these days - from Thursday all the way through to Sunday. Usually I'm lucky enough to have a rooting interest. Well, this week my rooting interest was to root against Tiger Woods - it was a calculated gamble that I won't get into right now. (And obviously, it didn't pay off.) Woods trailed by nine shots after Thursday (I think), cut into that on Friday, and was a co-leader after Saturday. He took the lead, and was tied on the final hole on Sunday. A par would force a playoff, and a birdie would win the tournament - keeping him undefeated for the season. You just look at Tiger, on a course where people haven't hit their putts all weekend, and you knew he was going to sink it. And it was a tough putt. And sure enough, he sinks it. There is no other athlete in any other sport right now who is that clutch. No one. It was a signature moment. And last year I wouldn't even have noticed it.

MEET THE METS - JOHAN SANTANA

A preview of the 2008 Mets, presented in the expected batting order, followed by pitching rotation, followed by impact bullpen/bench players. Today we focus on starting pitcher Johan Santana.

2007: 15-13, 3.33 ERA, 235 K's, 52 walks, 219 IP

"I can breathe. It's like a big glass of cold water when you're thirsty. That's how bad we wanted Johan. I'm glad he's on our side. He's somebody who, now, everybody can rely on. Actually, he's somebody I'll love to be around. He's a great person. I'm really proud to have him here. I can't wait to give him a big hug and say, 'Hey, we're together now.' One from the left side, the other from the right side."

Pedro Martinez*, like many Mets fans, is very excited about the Mets' acquisition of Johan Santana, speaking the above words almost immediately upon his arrival in Port St. Lucie.

Johan Santana makes the Mets pitching staff deeper, allowing everyone else to move down a slot, and instead of pitching ahead of where they belong in the rotation, the Mets pitchers are now among the best in the league where they are slotted. (In other words, John Maine is not a number two starter...but he's better than most teams' number threes. Same with Pedro Martinez* at number two, and Oliver Perez at four. Even El Duque at five.)

Santana also gives the Mets a threat - someone who could very well go out and win every start he makes. He won't, though. As much as I love this acquisition, this is going to be a tough year for Santana. He'll pitch great...but he won't get the wins to show for it. He will leave a lot of games tied 0-0 or 1-1 in the sixth or seventh innings...and the Mets might win those games, but they'll have trouble getting on the board early against the Cole Hamels, John Smoltz, Roy Oswalt, etc. of the National League. That's my prediction for Santana - his strikeout numbers and ERA will be out of this world, but he'll suffer in the wins department.

I'm looking at Johan Santana's numbers, and I didn't realize that he was a reliever for the first three and a half years of his career. But that just helps prove my point further. The point I want to make is that the Mets could be getting quite possibly the best pitcher at age 29 in history. Here's why - the Twins take care of their pitchers. They probably eased Santana into his role as a starter - that's why he was a reliever so early on (speculation here - I really don't know this as a fact). His innings increased each year until they dipped last year (last year was a bad season, statistically and relatively speaking, for Santana). So his arm is probably in good shape entering this six-year deal.

And here's my big point - some people are pointing to a 17-strikeout performance by Santana last year as a negative, because he left the game after 8 innings and didn't try for 20 K's. I ask these people - how many times does someone go out there, looking for a personal record, and end up blowing a game for their team because they were looking for individual gain? And how many times do we rip that person? I think it's a great thing that Santana didn't go out there for the ninth, because he had already thrown 112 pitches. If he goes out there and hurts his arm in the ninth, or loses the game, he gets bashed. He knew he was handing the game over to his closer, and was willing to set personal glory aside in order for the team to pick up a 'W'.

Sounds to me like Johan Santana has sound judgment about his body, is a good teammate, and bottom line - he wants to win. Doesn't seem like there's anything wrong with that to me.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: Johan Santana is on the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated (thanks to the Southern Bureau, a loyal SI subscriber, for the heads-up). Hopefully there will be no SI jinx. The article was decent - I read it online, though SI doesn't make it easy to find their magazine articles on their website. The article is about how Santana helped shift the mentality of everyone in the Mets organization. Nothing really new in there, except that along with landing the best pitcher in the game, the fact that he acquired Santana also landed Omar Minaya a new pair of expensive shoes in a bet he made with Mets owner Jeff Wilpon.

SWEETEN THE POT, SI

I'm pretty sure I've written about this before, but it has fallen under different contexts. So now I'm devoting an entire entry to it.

I cancelled my subscription to Sports Illustrated about three years ago - maybe four. When I started teaching, I started reading so many children's books and educational publications that I just wasn't reading the magazine, so I viewed it as a waste and cancelled.

Now, I have since subscribed to two magazines - TIME and American History. I read both cover to cover, but American History is quarterly, so it's not a big time investment (but it was a great idea to subscribe to it - I highly recommend it). TIME, obviously, is weekly, but I make time for it. As I progress through my teaching career, I have less planning time, more time not devoted to school work, so I can read a magazine. Maybe two. But I don't know that I'm ready to go back to SI.

And they aren't making it easy for me to come back. Each time they send me an offer, the free gift with the subscription is the same - it's an NFL windbreaker. No one must be biting, because they seem to be having a hard time getting rid of these things:

I think I would go back to SI - but I'm waiting for them to offer something really good. There's a chance I'll go back in October, 2008, if the Mets win the World Series and there's some kind of related gift offer. Anything Mets or Jets-related would draw me...but they need to do better than a windbreaker.

I'm still a little leery about these free gifts. The whole reason I got TIME was because they were offering a free AM/FM radio. I am under the impression that someday I'll find a radio that will allow me to tune into New York's SportsRadio 66/WFAN (660 AM) from my home here in Framingham, Massachusetts. So I bit. Suffice it to say, this radio is not the one - I'm lucky to get an FM station in Massachusetts on this thing, let alone AM in New York City.

So, Sports Illustrated, I'll come back. But I need something good - and it needs to be of good quality. I'm waiting for your next offer.

GOLF: Because I am doing fantasy golf this year, I now have an excuse to watch all of the tournaments, which is why I spent part of this snowy Saturday watching the Pebble Beach Pro-Am. A couple of thoughts:

1) Last year, HBO aired a documentary about Kevin James and Ray Romano participating in the event. It was awesome...but it didn't get a lot of airtime. I saw about 50 minutes of what I think was an hour-long show, and I didn't see it on again. Anyway, it was pretty intriguing, especially when Romano almost made the cut. I wonder if they're doing a follow-up this year, because Romano is in good shape to make the cut this year.

2) The probable joy of James and Romano when they found out they would be golfing together (with their pros) after the pairings came out could only have been rivaled by the agony felt by Don Cheadle when he found out who his amateur partner would be.....Kenny G.

A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: This e-mail from Rob in Jersey serves the purpose of informing, after yesterday's post about the Jets' schedule in 2008:

"Hi John. Regarding the NFL schedules, I don't think many people have caught on to the general change in the weighting procedure since the last divisional realignment. Before Houston joined the league and they went to six four-team divisions, it was three five-team divisions in the NFC, two five-team divisions and one six-team division in the AFC.

Each team played four out of five teams from a given division in the opposite conference. The team that was skipped was based on the previous year's finish. (In other words, a last place team from the year before would get to miss the first place team on the crossover.) Then there were, of course, 8 intra-divisional games (for a total of 12). The final four games were intra-conference games based in part on the previous year's finish and not restricted to just one division.

Now, teams play an entire pre-determined four team NFC division, six intra-divisional games and an entire pre-determined intra-conference division (for a total of 14). There are only two games on the schedule that are based on previous year's finish. Next year, for instance, the Patriots play both of the other AFC first place teams, Indy and Pittsburgh, in addition to the entire AFC West. I'm sure you've known all that silly minutia for eons, but I thought it might be instructive to some of your legions of readers. Call it a pre-emptive strike against people wondering why the Patriots have such a joke of a schedule after going 16-0!"

Thanks for that, Rob.

A COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: The Southern Bureau weighed in on the Erik Bedard trade, and just to respond/clarify: I did think about him leaving the AL East, and how that could be a benefit...but I just get a feeling. And perhaps it will be just a one-year adjustment, and then Bedard is back to his old self. I don't know....again, just a gut feeling. And I will be rooting for him to do well, though I fear he might not do well in 2008.

STILL WAITING ON TWO WINS IN A ROW...

I've been a little slow the past week or so. I keep thinking of things I a) wanted to write about or b) should have written about in my postings within 24 hours or so after I publish them. I guess I'm only just getting back into the swing of everyday blogging. Regardless, since I'll be long asleep before Monday night's Mets-Twins tilt ends, I'll go back and do what I should have done on Sunday.

I kind of breezed past the fact that the Mets are on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and I made a passing reference to the fact that it jinxed them...but I didn't go into it in depth. Well, here we go (click the picture for the writing to be bigger):


The mystery of the Mets' recent struggles is over - it has to be since they took this picture. The magazine was delivered to subscribers last week, so I'm sure the picture was taken at the beginning of June...just about the time the Mets started their slip. Just about the time John Maine went from 5-0 to 6-4. Just about the time Endy Chavez got hurt. The magazine comes out and El Duque has one of the worst starts he's had as a Met. I'm just waiting to see what happens the next time Oliver Perez pitches.

And I didn't notice this the first time I looked at the cover...but I just noticed an inset over Orlando Hernandez's shoulder...I've blown it up for you below:

LINKS:

• Dave in Brighton, the Southern Bureau, Justin in NYC, and I had our first radio show Monday night. Not sure what the regular schedule will be for the show, but we have kicked it off, and we will continue it. It's about 23 minutes, so if you feel like giving it a listen, we'd appreciate it, and your feedback. Dave, Justin, and Kevin all do a great job - the show would be better if I just let them talk the whole time. Catch the show here at www.blogtalkradio.com/eastcoastbias
• Also, naturalbl0g.blogspot.com occasionally does a "Separated at Birth", where he finds people who resemble each other and puts their pictures together. Totally original and hilarious! But you'll never believe why Endy Chavez made an appearance on Monday.

A JINX?

The Mets-Yankees are in progress as I write this, so I'm not going to address the Sunday Night Baseball game (it's 6-1 Yankees in the 7th, but I suspect the Mets have one big rally in them tonight. Not sure if it's enough to win the game, but they'll finish with more than just the one run, I'm sure of it). Instead of talking about the game, I'll spend this posting talking about something I forgot to mention on Saturday night.

This comes courtesy of the Southern Bureau, always with an ear to the ground for things that happen to catch his attention that has to do with the Mets, without him having to exert himself too, too much. Anyway, Southern Bureau brought to my attention the fact that this week's Sports Illustrated cover story is about Omar Minaya. So the Mets are on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and all of a sudden, the best team in baseball can't win a game.....?

Now, you might be wondering how it is that I needed to be informed that the Mets were the SI cover story, and I didn't already know this? I forget if I've said this, but about 6 months ago, I cancelled my subscription to Sports Illustrated. One reason was that I never have time to read the magazine during the school year (although I have two subscriptions that I make time for....more on that later). Another reason is that I found more and more stuff in there didn't interest me. The straw that broke the camel's back was the fact that as I was becoming more disgruntled with SI, I signed up for their fantasy football supplement, and they never sent it to me. So I cancelled the subscription. I have a thing about calling people/businesses, and I wasn't going to call them to tell them that they never sent me the fantasy football stuff. I probably could have finagled something free out of them, but I'm not that type of telephone caller. So I just called and cancelled. I think it was all automated.

Now, as for the 'having time to read the magazine' thing, (I'm realizing I have brought this up before, after I went through how I read a baseball preview, and Justin from NYC gave us his hilarious rendition of how he reads SI), I didn't make time for Sports Illustrated, but since cancelling my subscription I have subscribed to TIME and American History magazines. TIME got me with a free offer for a clock radio...which really bites. I have this dream that someday I'll find a radio that will allow me to listen to WFAN while in Framingham, during the daylight hours...and this dream allowed me to believe that radio was going to come to me free by subscribing to TIME. I can barely get the local FM stations, let alone AM from New York City. American History is one of the best decisions I've made...it's going to make me a better teacher, and I love the content.

But, once again, I digress. I was able to access the entire article on Omar (justifying my decision to cancel my subscription - I figured if there was anything I really wanted to read, I could get it online...which I did), and it was great. I recommend reading it. At first I was intimidated - it was 11 pages of text online. But when I saw the byline, I knew it was worth it. Gary Smith is a fantastic writer. I know nothing about the man, but I love everything he's ever written. I'm engrossed in stuff he writes about soccer, which I also know nothing about. His writing unfolds like a well-written song, starting slow, like a single drum beat...thump...thump...thump...building to a crescendo, with lots of action/information, and then coming full circle to the beginning. Just great stuff, and this article on Minaya was no different. (I questioned a little bit when he started off comparing Shea Stadium to a castle...but he even made that work!)

Finally, there's a part in the article where they talk about Minaya and his old Queens buddy Dave Valle, and their charity. Just to connect the story to me, Dave Valle and I went to the same high school. The baseball coach at said high school was very proud of the fact that he had Valle on his team (Valle was the starting catcher for the Seattle Mariners for a number of years). Alas, I was cut from the team roughly four times (let's see, four years in high school, so, yup, four times), so I was not destined to follow in Valle's footsteps as catcher. I had many issues with the coach who did said cutting...but that's a story for another time. Suffice it to say, Dave Valle, who I have never met, connects me to Omar Minaya.

Mets return to Shea on Monday night to begin a three-game set with the Twins. (A World Series preview, if my pre-season predictions come true.)

PURE HILARITY

A couple of funny items, the first an e-mail, of course from none other than Justin in NYC, and then a joke of my own making:

"IM A COUPLE DAYS BEHIND.. I JUST READ ABOUT HOW YOU READ BASEBALL PREVIEWS.. AND IT ONCE AGAIN REINFORCED HOW YOU ARE INSANE.. JUST LIKE ME.
WHILE I DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC SYSTEM FOR READING PREVIEW ISSUES (EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT I FORCE MYSELF TO READ EVERY WORD AND NOT SKIP AHEAD TO MY FAVORITE TEAM, NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE LISTED IN THE TABLE OF CONTENTS).. I DO HAVE A VERY SPECIFIC PROCEDURE FOR READING SPORTS ILLUSTRATED...

1) LOOK AT THE THREE PICTURES AT THE FRONT
2) I ALWAYS SKIP THE EDITORS NOTE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
3) I READ EVERY LETTER, AND COMMENT OUT LOUD ON WHETHER I AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THE LETTER WRITER'S OPINION
4) I READ THE SCORECARD SECTION (WHICH AS OF TWO WEEKS AGO HAS BEEN MELDED WITH THE SI PLAYERS SECTION, WHICH IS GOOD CAUSE THAT'S A COOL SECTION THAT I ALSO LIKE AND USUALLY READ 5) NEXT)
6) THUMB THROUGH THE MAGAZINE AND DECIDE WHICH ARTICLES I WILL EVENTUALLY READ AND IN WHAT ORDER (AGAIN.. THIS IS DONE OUT LOUD)
7) I READ THE INSIDE SPORTS SECTIONS (INSIDE BASEBALL, HOCKEY, THE NBA ARE MUSTS..AS IS THE ONCE A YEAR COLLEGE HOCKET ONE... NFL AND COLLEGE BASKETBALL ARE READ 75% OF THE TIME... TENNIS AND OLYMPIC SPORTS ARE ONLY READ IF IM TRAPPED IN THE BATHROOM AND I'VE READ EVERY OTHER WORD IN THE MAGAZINE. INSIDE MOTOR SPORTS IS NEVER READ UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES
8) FINALLY I GO BACK AND READ THE ARTICLES IN THE PREVIOUSLY DETERMINED ORDER."

I feel like Justin just got through yelling at us. I've just come to the decision I prefer all lowercase to all caps. The funniest thing from Justin's e-mail has to be the fact that some of this is done out loud. The saddest thing...when I did get Sports Illustrated, I read it the very same way, but then I stopped reading the articles due to time constraints, and cancelled my subscription.

AND THEN THIS: The other night during the Rangers-Islanders game, Chris Simon swung his stick viciously and nailed Ryan Hollweg. Simon was suspended indefinitely by the NHL.

The NHL is trying to make players think of the consequences before they behave carelessly with their sticks. The NFL is now thinking about adopting a similar protocol for Tom Brady.

The Mets were off Monday, as the gigantic graphic to the left seems to indicate. I'm stil trying to work out the bugs here - I'm trying to get these pictures going, but it might be a while before I get them right. I still don't know how I went as long as I did without a computer - so computer with no pictures is better than no computer at all. A few thoughts on this off day, with not much news coming out of the Mets' camp today.

SATURDAY'S GAME: I forgot to mention one more thing from Saturday's game against the Cubs, which was a disaster. Ever since Harry Caray died, the Cubs have had someone different sing 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame' during the seventh-inning stretch to the crowd - something Caray used to do. Saturday's guest - one Bill Buckner. It was awful - embarrassing, really...but I suppose with all the former athletes they have doing this, they must get a lot of clunkers. I wasn't prepared for this clunker, though, I'll tell you that. It was bad. Anyway, not only do the Cubs trot out Buckner (a batting champion with the Cubs during his tenure there) against the Mets, the team who he has his worst memory against (a la the Red Sox celebrating the 1986 American League championship against the Mets), but WGN shows his name in a graphic that says "Bill Bucknor". That's just unacceptable. Now, CB Bucknor happened to be the home plate umpire, so they could probably blame spell check or something - but get a clue. That's awful.

One more thing about Buckner - I believe he wasn't off scouting colleges with his teenage son during the 1986 celebration at Fenway last month, as the reporters said he was. I think he just didn't want to come. During the interview with Buckner, he stressed how much he loved playing in Chicago, how the fans were so knowledgable, like no others he played in front of (he also played with the Dodgers, Angels and Royals), and the fans in Chicago appreciated the players. He really stressed the appreciation part. Sounded like a shot at Boston fans to me...but then again, he never cost the Cubs a World Series championship (or, as I like to say, the chance to continue playing Game 6 of the World Series - because, if he caught that grounder, the game was going to the 11th inning). So I don't know - I just think Buckner has a grudge against Red Sox fans, as well he should. People talk about how the 2004 World Series absolves people like Buckner for their roles in Red Sox collapses...but that doesn't make up for all the harrassment he has received since then. If I was Buckner, I wouldn't have come back, either.

SI COVER HIJINKS: It was brought to my attention last weekend that the Mets were on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week. I would have known that myself if the mailman had delivered my copy on time - usually I get it on Thursday - I didn't receive mine until Monday. I can draw just one conclusion - the mailman is a Mets fan, and wanted to read the article over the weekend. Which I'd be fine with. Something tells me, though, that's not the case.

I read the article - it's about what great team chemistry the Mets have. The headline sure is an attention-grabber, though: "Welcome to Rip City: The Adventures of Captain Red Ass And the Intrepid Mets". They mention the term "red ass" once in the article - it's apparently Paul LoDuca. And the fact that it's mentioned once in the article means Tom Verducci probably didn't even want to mention it once, but his editor heard the nickname, and said, "That's AWESOME! We have to run that." And Verducci probably protested a little, but lost...and thus, the magazine-selling-headline. Anyway, great team chemistry, highlighted by the fact that the Mets have silly nicknames for everyone, and they make fun of each other relentlessly. Good article.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Going slightly under the radar this weekend - the Mets signed former Met Edgardo Alfonzo to a minor league contract on Saturday. Alfonzo is now 32, and he was fun to watch hit coming up through the organization....but has really hit the skids recently. Last season he was with the Giants, and hit .277. This year he started with the Angels, hitting .100 through April and May. He was released and signed by the Blue Jays, spending part of June in Toronto, hitting .162. He was released again, and now the Mets signed him. Monday was his first day in Norfolk, and we'll keep tabs on him to see if he could be a contributor late in the season. I think Last-Place Lastings (Norfolk is still a half-game out of last, by the way) has had its day - since he came to the Majors and we saw what he has to offer it's not much fun following his minor league days anymore, so maybe now we'll follow Alfonzo in the minors. I expect if the Mets have any designs on promoting Alfonzo, it would be as a second baseman...perhaps making a guy like Chris Woodward or even the hot Jose Valentin expendable....if Alfonzo proves to be a legit alternative. If he can't hit anymore, though, he'll be released again, I'm sure.

THE KID'S KIDS: A Mets win, over Jupiter, 6-3. The Mets take on a couple of teams from the western division next, then a big series with Daytona, who they're chasing in the second half.

ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: Edgardo Alfonzo was supposed to be with the Norfolk Tides Monday, but didn't play. We'll keep you posted.

BEAT THE STREAK: Chipper Jones didn't get an extra base hit, so at least he didn't set a record, which makes me happy. He did have a few singles, though, to keep my hitting streak going. I'm at 3 now. Tuesday night I'm taking Mike Piazza - did you know he's got his average back up to .290 entering play Monday night? I'm happy for him about that - hopefully he hits .300 this year.

COMING UP:

• The Southern Bureau has been working hard, and has blown me away with a fantastic article comparing the 2004 Red Sox and 1986 Mets. It's so good I almost scrapped this whole article to run it. The Mets don't have another off day for a week and a half, but they play really early on Thursday, so I think I'll run the Southern Bureau's article then.
• I'm also expecting an article from Justin in NYC, entitled, "My Dinner With Don Mattingly". Of course, Mattingly's not affiliated with the Mets, but Justin's article should be entertaining enough to merit printing on this Mets site.

AND FINALLY.....

A year ago at this time, I probably could have gotten away with a frivolous purchase like the one you see at the right. But now I'm having a child, and apparently having children affects the way one can spend money. So for now, I'm not allowed to order johnnymets.blogspot.com t-shirts in bulk. But nothing's stopping you from e-mailing me with your interest level, and your shirt size. And nothing's stopping me from checking out the cost of customized baseball caps.

NO SWEEP

Phillies 5, Mets 3 (NYM: 28-18, PHI: 24-22)

The Phillies averted disaster by beating the Mets during an afternoon game at Shea. The Phillies jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first against Jeremi Gonzalez, the Mets tied it at 3 in the second on a 3-run homer by the suddenly powerful Jose Reyes, and then Pedro Feliciano gave up two runs in the seventh to let the Phillies win it. Gonzalez pitched OK, but he'll be sent down, as El Duque will take his rotation spot on Sunday. Heath Bell pitched well - and he's been pitching very well at Norfolk - I wouldn't be surprised if Bell takes Jorge Julio's bullpen spot.

Brett Myers pitched very well. The Mets are allowed to lose one out of every three to the Phillies - I'm OK with that. Now a three-game series at Florida - the Mets need to sweep. Simple as that. And Pedro* needs to get a win against the Marlins - finally breaking his string of no-decisions.

I didn't get to see much of Thursday afternoon's game - but I made it home in time to see the bottom of the ninth. And it should be noted that the Mets again managed to get the tying run to the plate against Tom Gordon. Even in a game where it didn't seem likely that the Mets would win, they had a faint threat of tying the game. Good signs, when that happens.

MEDIA CORRECTION: Since I was out all day, I was going to TiVo this game, and I said yesterday Mike & The Mad Dog were going to broadcast it on SNY. Turns out I forgot to TiVo the game, but as I was driving home, faintly I got WFAN on the car radio - and Mike and the Mad Dog were broadcasting the game on WFAN (which makes sense, since that's where their radio show is, and since YES carries it on TV, not SNY). So I ended up hearing a little of their play-by-play. It was OK. They did it for charity, so I guess I can handle that. But since it's always been my dream to do play-by-play, I still get a bit jealous when guys get these chances that would never in a million years fall my way.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DEAL: Omar Minaya said Wednesday after he traded for Orlando Hernandez that he had other deals cooking. He proved himself Thursday, when he traded minor leaguer Robert Manuel to the Reds for pitcher Dave Williams. Astute readers will remember I've mentioned Dave Williams before. (In case you're too lazy to click the link, here's what I wrote:

"BEAT THE STREAK: Back to taking it seriously, after vacation. I'm on a modest 3-gamer, after a Jimmy Rollins hit tonight (actually, 2 hits, I think). I took Alfonso Soriano for Tuesday, against Dave Williams of the Reds (formerly with the Pirates). He is bad.")

He is bad - he's been sent to Triple-A, probably to learn how to pitch. The Mets didn't give up much - Manuel was in Single-A...with decent numbers, but who knows what he'll turn into. Minaya says you can never have too much pitching. We'll see what else he's got going on.

WRIGHT IN SI: David Wright is the subject of a story in this week's 'Sports Illustrated'. Everything you hear about Wright is positive. He and Derek Jeter are two of the best people ever produced by a New York city farm system (actually, you could probably throw Bernie Williams in that category too....maybe even Mariano Rivera - although I don't know much about him as a person). Wright is just such a good person - everyone raves about how humble he is, and has stayed, even with his success. I just hope it lasts - and based on the type of person he is, and was raised to be, I think it will.

THE KID'S KIDS/LAST-PLACE LASTINGS: Both St. Lucie and Norfolk entered Thursday's action with just a game difference between themselves and their next-closest competitor. The Tides were just a game away from tying for last place, and the St. Lucie Mets were just a game up on Brevard County for first place.

St. Lucie was playing too late for this writing...I'll update them over the weekend.

Norfolk is really close to leaving last place - they beat Syracuse again on Thursday, 7-2. Milledge followed up his 3-for-6 in last night's game with a 1-for-5 on Thursday - and it was a solo homer. He's hitting .291.

FANTASY UPDATE: The Southern Bureau, owner of the What If Nationals/Expos, e-mailed me to say, "What's going on with this what if league? I win 12 in a row, lose 8 in a row, it's the same team! Nothing has changed...why are they so streaky?" I agree. Wholeheartedly. A day after winning all three of my games, I've lost all three of my games. I just had a feeling it might happen. What a pain. I go back and forth between liking this game and HATING it. Right now, I hate it. But I'm still 5 games out of first, tied for second.

BEAT THE STREAK: Ichiro didn't get a hit - Rodrigo Lopez picks today to throw a gem. Wonderful. Back to 0 again. This is the most frustrating part of 'Beat the Streak' - trying to get a streak past 9 or 10 games, so that you can actually care about it. Maybe this will be the streak that gets me going. I'll take Jose Reyes against the Marlins, since he's swinging a hot bat these days.

The Mets are taking on the Giants in San Francisco as I write this...I'll try to do next-day updates of the West Coast games.

TRIP PIC: I was going to end with this, but I'm afraid what I've spent most of my time writing about (venting about) is boring, and I didn't want you to miss it - in case it's worthy of a Pulitzer. So here's one of the pictures from the trip out West (a possible semi-regular feature, until I'm out of pictures):

I love this picture. This is from our trip to McAfee Coliseum, and the A's-Rangers game. It was Huston Street Bobblehead Doll Day. Unlike the Mets, who only give bobbleheads to kids, the A's give them to everyone. So I got a bobblehead. But that's beside the point. The A's took a 3-1 lead into the 9th, and Street comes in to nail it down. I'm telling the wife and the other two women we went to the game with how everyone always does very well on their Bobblehead Doll day. Well, Street proceeds to give up 4 runs, including a single and homer to the first two batters to tie it. I saw this kid waving the bobblehead, with Street in the background, and said, I should take a picture of that. I did. It was on the pitch that Street gave up the homer to Mark Teixeira. Glad I snapped it when I did - this was the last time the kid waved the bobblehead. I think if you click on the picture you'll get a large version of it - I love that the players are all following the ball as it heads over the fence. Walter Iooss, eat your heart out. Crap, I just realized I should have tried to sell this picture to SI.

I read in the Sunday paper that Street was the first player to blow a save on his bobblehead day, or something like that. I forget the actual stat.

And now these messages:
I need to throw the gloves down. I'm really disappointed in SportsNet New York (SNY)'s non-baseball coverage. (And to be honest, the jury's still out on the Mets games - I love Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez, but my sample size of seeing these games is very, very small.)

To the point, 'Daily News Live' is awful. (Maybe if SNY would have made me the official blogging partner, and had a show called "johnnymetslive", we could have avoided all this.) I've mentioned this show before - hosted by Gary Apple. He is brutal, and the show is bad. It's a roundtable featuring some guests, Apple, and three writers from the New York Daily News who have no business being on TV. (I have been anti-newspaper people on TV for a long time here in Boston, and now it's happening a lot in New York. It just doesn't work for me, outside of a select few who appear on ESPN. I just can't believe the egos on some of these newspaper writers.) Anyway, the main thing that has me fuming from Monday is an interview I saw on 'Daily News Live'.

The interview focused on Mets announcer Keith Hernandez, and a female trainer for the Padres. If you missed this story, here it is (I didn't see this happen live because I was flying back from California): Mike Piazza homered off Pedro Martinez*. The SNY cameras showed Piazza slapping hands in the dugout with teammates, and then a woman. Hernandez, on the air, said something to the effect of, "Whoa, what's she doing in the dugout? Players, personnel, and staff only! She doesn't belong there. I'm not going to say she belongs in the kitchen, but get her out of the dugout." Now, later in the broadcast, the Mets found out she was a trainer on the Giants staff, and Hernandez rescinded his comment a bit, making sure as long as she belonged there, it was OK for her to be there. On Sunday, on the air, Hernandez apologized to anyone he might have offended with his "inappropriate" comment.

So it's a big non-story, pretty much. Hernandez even called the trainer to apologize. So 'Daily News Live" does a big live interview with the trainer, with Gary Apple and the News writers asking her questions. What does she do for the team? She's a massage therapist. Does she belong in the dugout? Absolutely, she says. What exactly does her role with the team entail? She is a massage therapist, and a personal trainer...but not an athletic trainer. Not licensed as an athletic trainer.

OK. Dud interview. Then Bill Madden gets on, and he comes off like an absolute idiot. Let me paraphrase some of their exchange:

Bill Madden: So let me get this straight, you're a masseuse?
Trainer: I'm a massage therapist....
BM:(Cutting her off) yeah, a masseuse. So you give the guys massages?
Trainer: If that's what the player needs that day, that's what I'll do. But it depends on the situation - if I need to work a guy out...........(she continues, explaining her job)
BM: And you think it's perfectly OK for you to be in the dugout during a game?
Trainer: Absolutely.
BM: Now, do you usually wear that hideous camouflage uniform when you're in the dugout?
Trainer: (explains the Padres were wearing the camouflage uniform to pay tribute to the military on "Military Opening Night", then says if you think those uniforms are hideous, that's your opinion, but we were wearing them along with the team with good intentions).

From here on, the questions just got silly and irrelevant, and as the wife says, made Hernandez's comments look tame compared to what they were saying to her.

Hernandez was then interviewed by Apple, and he was clearly steamed that this had taken on new life. He said, look guys, I apologized for an inappropriate comment, the issue isn't that she was in the dugout, it was what I said. He was starting to call out the guys in the studio for trying to crucify the woman for being in the dugout. It was just awful, and I think I've wasted too much space trying to recount it here. I need the Mets to get off the West Coast.

Bottom line: it made the New York writers look like a bunch of ignorant jerks, with nothing better to write about. What a disgrace.

By the way, the Mets are already down 3-0 after an Alou first inning homer. Also by the way: despite his comments, the wife is still a fan of Keith Hernandez.

THE KID'S KIDS: After my lengthy time away from the site, the St. Lucie Mets are now 10-6. They're actually in third place in their division. I'm not sure if the record includes the Mets' 5-4 win on Monday night, though - over the first place Brevard County Manatees.

BEAT THE STREAK: Back to taking it seriously, after vacation. I'm on a modest 3-gamer, after a Jimmy Rollins hit tonight (actually, 2 hits, I think). I took Alfonso Soriano for Tuesday, against Dave Williams of the Reds (formerly with the Pirates). He is bad.

PLAYING CATCH UP...

That's what I'm doing after missing a day of big news. The Mets announced on Tuesday that Brian Bannister would indeed be the fifth starter, meaning Aaron Heilman will be pitching out of the bullpen. This means a lot of things.

• First and foremost, Heilman is in the role he didn't want, and Bannister got the job Heilman felt he earned. Heilman, though, says he wants to be a part of the team, because he knows this team could be special, and he's willing to do this for the team. Willie Randolph says the whole point of this decision is that it makes the team better. Another note is that Heilman and Bannister have developed a friendship this spring, which has tempered Bannister's enthusiasm for being named the starter, and probably makes this a slightly easier pill to swallow for Heilman.
• This does make the team better. The Mets are counting on Heilman to be the primary bridge from the starter to Billy Wagner. Think Mariano Rivera to John Wetteland...or, a slight downgrade from that.
• Heilman pitches very well against lefties. That means the Mets, when they break camp, could possibly carry one less lefty in the 'pen. The Mets have a strange situation because they have Chad Bradford, a specialist brought in to face only righthanders. So when there is a lefty that Bradford would have to face, chances are he's coming out...so he's almost a waste of a pitcher's spot. Darren Oliver and Pedro Feliciano are the favorites to make the team from the left side (although I have my doubts about Oliver - he might very well have had some impressive springs in recent years, which might explain some of his sorry Major League seasons the past few years - not counting last year, when he wasn't in the majors).

All in all, I think the Mets are a better team. And I think they really want to appease Heilman...just not this year. I think in 2007, Heilman will graduate to number three starter, or thereabouts. But this year, in the hunt for the World Series, Heilman will be strengthening the bullpen.

SI PICKS: Got the 'Sports Illustrated' baseball preview edition today, and I haven't had much of a chance to go through it yet, but I did see that they pick the Mets to be a wild card, but bow out of the playoffs in the first round (losing to the Cardinals - no way). They pick the White Sox to beat the Cardinals in the World Series. It's fashionable to pick the White Sox this year (see my picks), but I'm having second thoughts. They've had a bad spring, and I'm reading bad things about Bobby Jenks. But they have a deep rotation, and that could take them far. I'm standing by my pick of the White Sox losing to the Mets in the World Series, but consider this paragraph the White Sox disclaimer.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE: The Bensons are breaking up. I've been seeing on some other blogs that Anna Benson has filed for divorce from Kris. I hope I'm not spreading a false rumor here, but it isn't a stretch. I feel kind of bad for Kris Benson in all of this. He seems like a fairly normal guy. He has three kids, and a wife who, let's say, makes life a little difficult. And she's filing for divorce from him. I bet he gets the kids.

BEAT THE STREAK: My pick for Sunday night (in case I don't get to write again this weekend) is Grady Sizemore. All he needs to do is get a hit to get me off on the right foot. I forgot if I've already mentioned this, but keep an eye on the Phillies Opening Day - Jimmy Rollins is taking a 36-game-hitting streak into this season.

Sunday, 4pm, Jets (5-0) at Patriots (5-0) - Gillette Stadium

I've been accused of being a homer. A person who roots blindly for his team, no matter what the situation. A person who always thinks his team is going to win, despite all evidence that seemingly points to the contrary. And all that has nothing to do with why I'm picking the Jets to beat the Patriots this weekend. The reason I'm picking the Jets to beat the Patriots this weekend is because the Jets have played the Patriots very well during New England's recent stretch of dominance, and if anyone is going to put an end to this winning streak, it's going to be the Jets. This weekend. I'm almost positive of it.

FYI, Jets fans, good article in this week's Sports Illustrated about the relationship between Chad Pennington and Herman Edwards. Two of my favorite men in the whole universe. And it is because of these two men that the Jets will find a way to beat the Patriots. Throw in a little Curtis Martin, and that's like a bonus. I've previewed this game all week - there's not much else for me to say about it. I'll keep quiet until Sunday...but I'll end with this: the Patriots are favored by six points over the Jets. That's way too much. I'm glad the Jets are underdogs by that much, and that not a lot of people are picking the Jets this weekend, from what I've seen. That can only help matters. I'm taking the Jets, 24-21. It's going to be a close one, but the Jets will pull through.

Here are the rest of my picks for this weekend, for entertainment purposes only, of course (I went 9-5 last week, a strong showing, but nothing compared to the 13-1 posted by Dave from Brighton...nice work Dave. Perhaps next year in this space we can compete against one another. We'll have to talk. Have your person call my person. Anyway, I'm 47-39-2 on the season.):

In Baltimore, the Ravens are a 5-and-a-half point favorite over the Bills. I haven't liked picking the Ravens much all season, but I have a feeling this one will be all Baltimore.

The Giants are home to the Lions, and New York is favored by six-and-a-half points. That seems like a big spread to me, considering we're talking about the Giants. I've been impressed by them so far this season, and I think they'll win, but I don't think the Giants will cover. I'll take the Lions plus the points.

Philadelphia's a 7-point favorite over the Browns in Cleveland. The only reason this might be kept close is because it's in Cleveland, but the Eagles are looking really good right now. I'll take the Eagles.

The Colts are a 9-point favorite over the Jaguars. Jacksonville kept themselves alive as contenders in my eyes last week...I'll take them plus the points in Indy to stay competitive.

The Vikings are giving six-and-a-half points to the Titans in Minnesota. Tennessee already pulled off an upset (or at least an upset in my eyes) at an NFC North opponent this year when they blew out Green Bay in Green Bay. I don't think it'll happen again, and Minnesota is a lot better than Green Bay right now. The Vikings are my pick.

Carolina is a 3-point favorite over San Diego in Carolina. I'm not sure why. I think San Diego is playing a lot better football right now than the Panthers. I'm taking the Chargers, getting points.

The Rams are a 6-point favorite over the Dolphins, in Miami. There's a slight chance the Dolphins will pull off this upset, since St. Louis is on the road. I don't know why I think that, I just feel it in my bones. But if I were putting money on the game, I'd take the Rams. So that's what I'll do here. Rams, -6.

Tampa Bay is a 7-point favorite over Chicago. This game's in Tampa, and it's probably the worst game of the week. Not probably, definitely. I'll take the Bears.

The Chiefs are a 3-and-a-half point favorite over Atlanta. The game's in Kansas City, but the Chiefs are not better than the Falcons. At least, I don't think they are. I'm taking the Falcons, getting points.

The Cowboys are reeling, and they're underdogs this week. Dallas gets three-and-a-half from the Packers in Green Bay. I'm taking the Packers. I think they're recovering from their recent struggles...Dallas has some recovering to do still.

In Arizona, the Cardinals are getting six-and-a-half from the Seahawks. Two losses in a row for Seattle. They'll put an end to that in emphatic fashion against Arizona. I'll take Seattle.

Oakland is home to New Orleans on Sunday night. The Raiders are favored by three points. Actually, this is the last game listed on the list, but I wonder if there's a Sunday night game this week opposite Game 2 of the World Series. Oh well, this might be a 4 o'clocker. Either way, the Raiders are favored...I'll take the Saints, getting points.

Monday night (for sure), the Broncos are giving six to the Bengals. Denver should run all over Cincy. I'll take the Broncos.

Enjoy the weekend - World Series and Football! And check out johnnymets.blogspot.com for an update there. I'll try to keep updating that site for the World Series.