NO RELIEF

The verdict is in from one visiting team, and Citi Field drew less than rave reviews. At least, its visitors' bullpen did.

Todd Coffey of the Brewers (I had the Brewers' feed of the game on Sunday) says that from the visitors' bullpen at Citi Field it's a terrible view - you can barely see second base. He says he has no idea what's going on in the game. There's a monitor, he says, but it's on a time delay. Coffey called the bullpen "poorly designed".

And upon further review, he's probably right.
All in all, it doesn't bother me. The visitor's bullpens always get the short shrift in new places - call it part of the home field advantage.

It's a unique design, the bullpens at Citi Field. The benches are right next to one another. The other day the SNY cameras showed Pedro Feliciano just hanging out and talking to one of the Padres' relievers.

What I wonder is when things turn sour out there. The image of bench-clearing brawls is always of the bullpens emptying and relievers trickling in from the outfield to join in the fray on the field.

Citi Field may become the first park in baseball history where the players leave the bench...and head for the bullpen for the brawl that starts out there.

MORE APPRECIATION: Just publicly showing appreciation for what you already know - the Southern Bureau rocks. I love the series-ending recaps. It's also comforting to know that when I'm sick, like I was this weekend, the blog won't go for days without an update. Also, good nuggets of information - no sooner did the Southern Bureau suggest that Luis Castillo would be back to batting second than he was...for a day.

FINALLY COMING TO BLOWS?

I’m not trying to stir up trouble. And all things considered, I’d rather the Mets fought with members of another team than among themselves.

But I have a bad feeling that this is the year Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado finally come to blows in the dugout or in the clubhouse.

I’ve written about this before, and I’ve never been fond of it...and I can’t imagine it’s not getting old for Reyes.

Any time Reyes makes a bad throw, or even a throw that makes Delgado move the slightest bit off the bag, Delgado stares down Reyes. It happened again on Wednesday night, when Reyes threw a ball to Delgado’s right that Delgado didn’t even make a good effort to get in front of. It could have easily been an error on Delgado, but it was scored a throwing error on Reyes. Delgado gave Reyes a look as if to say, “Enough with the bad throws.” The camera I saw (I was watching Fox Sports Ohio, the Reds’ channel) showed a reaction shot of Reyes where he gave a look back to Delgado.

Now, I don’t know anything about their relationship. Maybe they have worked this out in the past that Reyes says he needs the reminders from Delgado to get pumped up and make good throws. It certainly seems that the next time after these situations Reyes throws a strike to Delgado.

But if I were Reyes, I wouldn’t like it. It might have flown when he was younger, but he’s a veteran now, and probably doesn’t want to be treated like a rookie. And Reyes has shown a resistance to authority - remember Jerry Manuel’s debut in Anaheim, when he tried to lift Reyes from the game and Reyes publicly pouted? He wouldn’t fight a manager, but he’d fight a teammate.

One other thing that bothers me about this situation is that it’s one thing for Delgado to shoot a look when someone else isn’t perfect, but he’s not perfect himself. He is notorious for coming off the bag too quickly on forceouts - too close for comfort in some instances. Wednesday night (I fell asleep, but read about this afterwards...I’ll try to watch the video) he got called on it, in the 9th inning, when he came off the bag to throw home after a throw to first.

I bet no one shot him a look....but I hope someone did.

OTHER THINGS: I love that the Southern Bureau is fully on board writing this season...David Wright had a double Wednesday night - too early to count those game-by-game, but the first one's worth mentioning (Ryan Church already has 3)...Just an absolute tragedy for the Angels. I wouldn't be surprised if this derails their season.

REASON #5 - FANTASY BASEBALL

Reasons To Look Forward to MLB 2009

I am not a great fantasy baseball player. I go with my heart too often rather than my head. But the first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem...and slowly but surely I'm improving at fantasy baseball.

So this year my first pick in 'East Coast Bias' (the fantasy baseball league I pay the most attention to, featuring only the AL and NL East players, trophy pictured at left) was Ryan Howard. Last year I drafted Chipper Jones, for example (on-base percentage is a huge factor). I am using my head...not letting my hatred of those teams get in the way.

Now, none of this has paid off yet. My best showing in East Coast Bias was tying the Southern Bureau for first place two seasons ago (after blowing a season-long lead). But it will this year. I feel like I have a very good team (which is my typical late-March feeling).

This year, I'm also involved in another league which uses all MLB players. And instead of a random draft, which we've done in past years, we did a live draft. And that was fun - and I feel I have a great team there, as well. Headlined by none other than Ryan Howard.

So I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to fantasy baseball this year. Also games like 'Beat the Streak' on mlb.com, and my 'New Baseball Pool'...all little extras that will help move the season along.

And at the very least, if I've put the kibosh on Ryan Howard by putting him on my fantasy teams....the Mets will benefit from that.

This idea was going to originally be "Reasons to Look Forward to the Mets in 2009", but I realized there are probably going to be some general baseball reasons as well as Mets reasons. So I've expanded it. Most will have to do with the Mets. Also, I'm counting up, rather than down, as we head towards the baseball season, because I'm just not sure how many items there will be in this feature. We'll go until we hit Opening Day.

PATCHING THINGS UP?

Perhaps reactionary, perhaps always in the works, the Mets unveiled a patch that they will wear on their hats this season to commemorate the first season at Citi Field.

I say reactionary, because you may remember that the Southern Bureau was among the first to comment on how terrible the design is for the sleeve patch the Mets will wear this season. Others followed in the criticism.

Anyway, the Mets are not doing away with the sleeve patch, but they have added a hat patch (a 'hatch'?) for the season.
All told, it's a better patch...but one's enough. And this is the one that should have been on the sleeve in the first place.

The real crime here is that this hat sells for $35.99. When did the hats get so expensive? I used to collect MLB fitted hats - gave it up about 13 years ago or so...but I don't remember spending more than $25. Maybe $21.99? Seriously, $35+ for a hat?

2008 - YEAR OF THE GAG?

Looking back at the 2008 NFL regular season, I think the one theme that stands out is the fact that a lot of teams blew a lot of chances this year. Sure, there were teams that pounced on opportunity: the Arizona Cardinals took advantage of being in the worst division in football to win said division, the Miami Dolphins took advantage of their schedule to be good enough to win the AFC East, and the San Diego Chargers took care of their business to put themselves in a position to win and get in in the final week of the season.

But the Chargers were only able to do that because the Denver Broncos wasted their (very good) chance. And the Dolphins wouldn't have won had the Jets held their ground. And they were joined by the likes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears, who at one point controlled their destiny, only to let those opportunities slip away. Throw in teams like the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, and it seems like there was an inordinate amount of teams this year who had a chance to make things happen for themselves, and blew it. (Teams like the Bills don't count - though they got off to a really hot start, they faded too far too fast.)

I noticed a couple of patterns with these teams - the Jets, Broncos, Bucs, Redskins, and Cowboys. The first is, other than the Jets, who lost too many games to beatable teams, the teams really beat up on their weaker opponents - meaning maybe they didn't really deserve to be in the positions they were in because they didn't have the most difficult schedules. (I noted how easy the Broncos' schedule was way back in August.)

But the other thing is a lot of these teams had a big win, followed by a big collapse. Look:

1) The Jets beat the Patriots and Titans in back-to-back weeks on the road, improving to 8-3, then went 1-4 the rest of the way.

2) The Broncos started the Jets on that downward spiral, but that was their high water mark - after beating the Jets, Denver beat Kansas City, then lost their final three, all with an opportunity to clinch the division.

3) The Buccaneers were 9-3, coming off a win that pretty much buried the Saints, then lost to Carolina in a big divisional matchup as part of their 0-4 finish to the season.

4) The Redskins started hot, became everyone's favorite darkhorse, were sitting pretty at 7-4, and then finished 1-4 - including a loss to Cincinnati - to finish the season.

5) The Cowboys' chokes have been well-documented, but they fit this pattern, too - after regaining some hope by beating the Giants, they lost their final two games of the season with everything on the line.


I guess this is all just to point out that as horrible as the Jets season was, they had plenty of company this year. It's just hard to notice that other teams and their fans are sharing your plight in the heat of the moment.

ON THE OTHER HAND, MY YEAR WAS PRETTY GOOD: I have to admit, on this last day of 2008, that I got really caught up in my number of posts this year. When I changed format sometime last year, the new page kept track of posts per month and year. And I decided I wanted to try to post as much as I could in 2008, watching those numbers very closely.

I ended up posting a record 284 times in 2008. Of course, it was a leap year, so you have to subtract from 366 to see how many days I missed instead of 365, but still...I'm impressed.


April and May were tough - a busy time at school. October, a month into having the new baby, was also sporadic. But I wrote this year more days than ever before - by a long shot.

And the reason I did it was because people were reading. I was picked up a couple of times this summer by other blogs, which was a first. And I have my small, small circle of loyal readers, who I really appreciate taking a couple of minutes out of their day to read what I have to say, and either comment on it in writing or in person. Thank you, because I'd like to think I'd do this in a vacuum, but I'm not sure I'd continue if no one read it.

I'm proud of the fact that I was able to keep the writing up this year. And I doubt that I'll be able to match that output in 2009. But I'll try. And I'll have help. I'm excited to announce that in 2009, as I floated out as a possibility in early August, the Southern Bureau will become a regular contributor - I've officially handed over a set of keys. Maybe I can get The Wife to do some more contributing in 2009 as well.

But just like a year ago, there's a lot to look forward to in the coming year. And I will write about it. And who knows, it might just turn out to be more often than in 2008.

HERE'S HOW IT IS TODAY

OK. So I'm rooting for Chad Pennington today. For one lonely NFL week out of my 30 years on this earth, I'm rooting against the Jets. Strangely, that means I'm rooting for the team I've had a burning hatred for every other year - the Miami Dolphins.

Now, with the strong winds in Buffalo today, anything could happen, and the Bills might beat the Patriots...and if that happens, and a Jets win puts them into the playoffs as a division champ, maybe I'll root for the Jets. But I can't say right now - I need to see what I decide when and if that situation presents itself.

I'm less angry with the Jets now than I was a week ago. I'm very angry, though, with Jets fans. That's much of the reason I want Pennington to win on the Jets' home field, to stick it to the people who cheered when he was hurt a year ago. And that's part of the reason I'm not going to be there - first of all because I'm not going through that hassle of attending a Jets game in New Jersey with zero parking for a team that will most likely lose (though I will do it next week for the playoffs if they win the division), but mostly because I don't want to be around more people booing Pennington.

A COUPLE OF OTHER THINGS:
-I apologize for the lack of images the past few days - I'm not at the home computer, so I'm going sans pictures.

-I thought it was funny the other day that the Southern Bureau suggested I root for the Panthers. Funny because here I am this week rooting for the Dolphins, who the Southern Bureau, if he rooted for any NFL team his entire life it was Miami, and he's suggesting I go to Carolina. For the record, I'm not looking for a new team. But I do enjoy occasionally rooting for Carolina anyway.

-I'm actually rooting against them today, now that I bring it up, because I want Atlanta to win the NFC South. One of my favorite stats in sports right now is that the team that finishes last in the NFC South one year wins the division the following year. And if Atlanta wins and Carolina loses, that will happen again.

Enjoy the final regular season week of the 2008 NFL season. And good luck, Chad Pennington.

OVERHAUL UNDERWAY

Quite an eventful winter meetings for the Mets. Clearly, the bullpen needed to be re-worked, and that's what the Mets did.

Gone are Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith, Billy Wagner (though he'll still be paid...a LOT of money), and now Scott Schoeneweis. Even Endy Chavez off the bench.

In are Francisco Rodriguez*, J.J. Putz, Sean Green, and now Connor Robertson. Even Jeremy Reed on the bench.

It's a good shakeup. As they stood, the Mets were not built to win - obvious the past two seasons, when not enough was done to shake things up between 2007 and 2008.

But there's still work to be done. Now the Mets have to address the starting rotation. I'm a little envious of what the Yankees have done - they played the initial game, too - getting C.C. and A.J. (The Mets only landed J. J.) I would have loved Burnett as a Met. I have no idea which direction the Mets will go - but I'm kind of hoping the Mets don't go for the 'big-name' starter (Derek Lowe) and go more towards the middle...I'm just not sure Lowe's the guy.

I like the direction the Mets are going this off-season...though I'm not going to go overboard until the Mets make it through September intact.

I'm just afraid now that with all the addressing of the bullpen needs the Mets have done this off-season they haven't left themselves with a 2009 rotation that will remind us of the 2008 bullpen.

THE SOUTHERN BUREAU WOULD WANT ME TO MENTION THIS: News out of Atlanta is that the Braves will not offer a 2009 contract to Chuck James, who will miss the season recovering from shoulder surgery.

FRUSTRATING FAVRE

Got a text from the Southern Bureau during the Jets game Sunday, while communicating about Wilmington, North Carolina's own Connor Barth - kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs. It read:

"Watched the first half. Brett Favre must be frustrating to watch."

And the Southern Bureau is right. He is frustrating to watch. But I came into this season eyes wide open on Brett Favre.

I knew that last year was more exception than rule from Favre. I knew that he throws a lot of interceptions. I knew that the bad sometimes outweighs the good. But in the past two weeks, he has put the Jets in position to lose, then led them back to a chance to win (one resulted in a loss, one in a win). (And of course, the problem here is that both games should have been easy wins.) So it's been a whole lot of the bad mixed with the good....which is what I expected, having watched a considerable amount of Favre with Green Bay.

But I've watched Favre much closer this year than I have in the past, because of the uniform he's currently wearing, and I've noticed a couple of things that I'd like to share here:

1) Regardless of the fact that Favre might be hurt, resulting in these subpar performances the past couple of weeks, I've noticed this - after Favre takes a big hit or looks like he might have been hurt in some way, the next pass or two that he throws are absolutely rifled.

I mean, he rears back and throws them about 100-mph. Almost to prove that he's not hurt - even if he clearly is. No one can possibly catch these throws - often thrown inaccurately. But there's that.

2) Favre is not seeing the field well. I don't know why it is - but he's throwing passes that are right to defenders. A couple of times the past few games I'll give him a pass because a receiver fell down, but a couple of times he's thrown to defenders and been picked off, a couple of times the defender dropped the ball.

3) Favre forces way too many throws into spots that he has no business throwing to. He either needs to take more sacks (he's getting hit anyway - it's not like he's doing it to avoid the hits) or throw more balls away and save some face.

4) And this one might be the most important - for every time they show the stat that Favre has 35 (or something like that - my brain zones out the stat every time they show it on the screen these days) 4th quarter game-tying or go-ahead drives, I think even more telling is the one that came on NBC during the Chargers game a month or so ago:

I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was something to the effect of 'Favre has never led a team back from a 14-point or more halftime deficit'. Isn't that something? Probably because of 1, 2, and 3 above - he starts throwing too wildly and things go the other team's way.

As though the past two weeks weren't bad enough - that stat is not much of a sign of pleasant things to come.

NFL WEEK 4 RECAP

For the sake of my sanity, I'm going to take another day to cool off about the Mets. Just know that I'm pissed. I'm going to do the NFL Week 4 wrap-up instead (and probably forego the final baseball analysis).

BEST GAME OF WEEK 4: Washington 26, Dallas 24. Not just a big win for Washington, upsetting the best team in the NFC in Dallas, but an entertaining game.

BEST PERFORMANCE OF WEEK 4: How about the Jets' own Brett Favre? He threw 6 touchdown passes and moved the Jets up and down the field with ease. Larry Johnson was also very impressive for Kansas City, rushing for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns.

WORST PERFORMANCE WEEK 4: The Cardinals' defense allowed the Jets to go up and down the field with way too much ease - 56 points allowed is a disgrace. Kurt Warner and the offense were putrid in the first half, turning the ball over a lot, allowing the Jets to have great field position. The Jets' defense wasn't much better - 35 points in a half is just as bad.

BEST GAME IN WEEK 5: I like a bunch of games on the Week 5 schedule: The Colts in Houston, Seattle at the Giants, Washington goes to Philly coming off the Dallas win, and after that disaster versus the Jets the Cardinals host the Bills, which should be interesting. I also think San Diego and Miami is intriguing, based on how both teams have been playing (the Chargers not looking too impressive, the Dolphins coming off their bye week following the big win in New England). But I don't think any of them beat the Sunday night game - Pittsburgh at Jacksonville. Not just a playoff rematch, but a tough matchup whenever they meet.

BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN WEEK 5: I have nothing to back this up, but I like Matt Forte going against the Lions in Detroit. I'm going to say 145 yards and 2 TD's.
-Last Week: I gave you Jake Delhomme for 265 yards and 4 TD's in a 38-13 win. I was close enough, I think - he went for 294 yards, 2 TD, and the Panthers won 24-9.

MY TWO BASEBALL CENTS
I can't completely ignore baseball.
-Looks right now like the Twins and White Sox will be playing for the Central title Tuesday night. I think the Twins might be my post-season team this year.
-I guess it would have been nice to be at the final game at Shea, but how crappy must it have been to sit through that ceremony after such a devastating loss?
-More evidence of what a good friend the Southern Bureau is - this e-mail sent to me today: "Whatever you do, don't read the Post online today. They're brutal towards the Mets." I didn't. (Didn't really intend to.)
-I don't know whether to be sad or angry. I don't know who to direct my anger towards. This was not a good feeling last year. Still isn't this year.

PLAYOFF BOUND? YEAR 2

11:12am - Well, here we are, one year later. Early returns on the day are not promising - the rain is coming down in buckets, which is interfering with my DirecTV. For some reason, the channel that has the most trouble coming through is SNY...or maybe I just notice that more because I want to watch it.

So it looks like I will not get to see the pre-game Shea ceremonies...but as long as it clears up in time for the game I'll deal with that - my parents are recording it for me. (Incidentally, I just called my mom, and she says if they played yesterday, the weather today should also allow them to play. Funny how the weather hasn't wreaked havoc on the games like I thought - just my ability to watch them.)

Speaking of watching the games - I have to start out with huge, huge thanks to the Southern Bureau. Not only has he been the biggest fan of 200 Miles From the Citi from its inception, but yesterday he did the nicest thing ever.

No sooner had I finished loading up the crappy ol' GameCast to virtually 'watch' the Mets-Marlins game than I got a text message from S.B. asking if I wanted his MLB.TV password to watch the game on-line. I did. (And I might need it again today.) I was able to watch every pitch of Johan Santana's masterpiece thanks to the Southern Bureau. And here we are today.

11:30am - This is so eerily similar to last year. I just read through last year's posting - my Sunday routine hasn't changed much - Sunday is still laundry and garbage day here. I did the laundry yesterday to make sure I had nothing in my way today. And last week, I put out the garbage Sunday night at around 6pm. It had no sooner gotten dark then by 8:30pm there was a raccoon in my driveway feasting on the trash. So there's no chance I'm even setting foot outside after dusk tonight. The garbage will be done tomorrow morning before I go to work. And speaking of work, I did as much as I could last night - something tells me not much will get done today.

I will not be having Riley's Roast Beef this year - that was unlucky last year...plus, I don't think they're open on Sundays anymore. We have some burritos from Whole Foods that I just ran out to get.

Also on the list of things that haven't changed since last year - I suspect The Wife is rooting against the Mets so that she doesn't have to put up with this anymore. Because there's one big difference - instead of neglecting my parental duties with one child this year, now there are two.

And let me tell you this story about our 2-year-old...she woke up about 5am today, and came into bed with us. After tossing and turning a little bit she sat straight up and said, "Watch baseball?" I turned on the TV to watch ESPNEWS and catch some highlights. Little did she know she'll be getting her fill of baseball today.

Weather update from Mom via Instant Message - "a little drizzly" in Queens.

11:45am - If I believed in conspiracy theories, I'd believe the Cubs were manipulating this weekend to avoid the Mets. (Yesterday's Cubs win probably makes this point moot, but I'll continue anyway.) If I were the Cubs, I think I'd rather face the Dodgers...wouldn't you? Maybe that's what Carlos Zambrano was thinking when he said he'd rather throw a side session against the Brewers today instead of pitching in the game (maybe he can pinch-hit and help the Mets that way). His replacement, though, is named Angel - hopefully that signals divine intervention for the Mets, not Milwaukee.

Incidentally, the Cubs were 5-2 versus LA this year - not having matched up since late May and early June (read: before the Manny Ramirez trade). The Mets gave them fits just earlier this week.

It's also a bit of a relief that there won't be a 3-way tie (thanks to Philadelphia clinching the East last night), and the only tiebreaker, if necessary, will be Mets-Brewers Monday at Shea. The 3-way tie would have dragged into Tuesday. It would have been nice, had the Mets won the division and the Phillies gotten the wild card, for the Mets to have L.A. in the first round, but at this point, I'll take a playoff appearance through the path of least resistance.

11:47am - I'm wondering if I should have written this bottom-up, instead of top-down?

11:55am - Still nothing on the satellite. Interesting note via mets.com - Brian Gorman will be an umpire in today's game - the last regular season game at Shea. His father, Tom, was an umpire who called the first game at Shea. Pretty cool symmetry there.

12:10pm - Incidentally, if the Mets were in the position the Brewers are in, facing a September call-up with a 7.04 ERA, they would be shut out on two hits. I have a feeling the Brewers won't be. As it is, the Mets are facing Scott Olsen - they've had his number this year - in 4 starts he's 0-3 against the Mets with a 6.95 ERA.

Oliver Perez, going on short rest, pitches against the Marlins. It's probably the biggest game he's pitched for the Mets since the 2006 NLCS, when he was great. Let's hope he's still a big game pitcher. For the record, he's 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 5 starts versus the Marlins this year.

**I haven't mentioned this yet - please feel free to weigh in with your comments by e-mail or in the comments below throughout the day.

12:45pm - Similar to last year - looks like I might have to watch this game on the Marlins feed. I can't stand the announcers on Fox Sports Florida...but it's better than nothing. I don't get DirecTV, though - why do I not get SNY or TBS, but get Fox Sports Florida? Luckily, too, there will probably be a rain delay - so more time for SNY to tune in. (Also, mom says "weather not good - raining a bit heavier now." It definitely won't be a rain out - could be a long day of waiting.)

The delay will also mean closer start times between the Mets and Brewers games - Chicago-Milwaukee's first pitch is 2pm.

1:05pm - Jets punted on their first possession. SNY is in and out - briefly I caught a look at some of the VIP's arriving for today's game. Ralph Kiner, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez, Buddy Harrelson, Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry, Jesse Orosco, and Hall of Famer Gary Carter. I'm thrilled Carter was there - I was afraid there might have been some hard feelings with that whole Willie Randolph thing. Rain delay to start the game, by the way.

1:30pm - End of 1st quarter for the Jets - no score. The Jets have had a huge sack to knock the Cardinals out of scoring position, recovered a fumble, and blocked a field goal. Unfortunately, due to a Brett Favre interception, they haven't scored either. But they're on the doorstep - 2nd and goal from the 2 (or 1) - Thomas Jones has already been stuffed there once.

Still not sure what's going to happen with the Mets - I'll check back after this Jets possession, I guess.

1:35pm - Favre to Laveranues Coles - a double-whammy against me in fantasy football, but I'll take it. This, after FOX came back from commercial after an apparent TD pass, called back due to a holding penalty.

Still no Mets - I only have the Florida channel right now (Sun Sports, by the way, not Fox Sports Florida) - and they're showing fishing. My dad tells me it's sunnier now, though.

1:42pm - Jets just returned an interception for a TD - 14-0. And the Mets are about to start. Oh boy.

I have a wonderful wife, by the way - this is hard to do with two kids...she's changing a diaper right now that I should be changing...and she argues with my earlier point - saying she is actually rooting FOR the Mets so that she doesn't have to put up with me being miserable.

2pm - OK, now the Mets are starting for real. And Favre just threw another TD to Coles. 21-0. Much better than last year so far (when the Jets lost to the 0-3 Bills).

2:03pm - A 1-2-3 inning for Perez. That's how you show up for an important start. Oliver Perez 1, Tom Glavine 0.

2:15pm - 1-2-3 for Sabathia, too. The Mets got nothing in the bottom half of the 1st. I think it's really important for the Mets to take a lead before the Brewers do - both teams are scoreboard-watching, the Mets are tight enough at the plate as it is - they don't need to see Milwaukee up before they're up.

2 minute warning for the Jets - they just forced another Kurt Warner fumble. What a disaster the Cardinals are today.

2:30pm - Don't have to worry about the Jets this week - after another Coles TD and Warner turnover, it's 34-0 at halftime.

Oliver Perez has had two good innings - the Mets need to score some runs.

2:50pm - Sun Sports' roving reporter just interviewed Gary Carter. He was pretty low-key, but not without hyperbole - when asked about Shea Stadium, Carter said, "It's one of the greatest stadiums of all time, because of the fans." Uh, thanks Gary, but come on, really. I love Shea as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to go that far. (For my Shea Memories, click here.)

Also, no mention by the Florida guys of Carter's minor league championship. Guess they don't read the blog.

Jets just gave up a touchdown, so it's 34-7. No score through 3 for the Mets. And the Cubs have a 1-0 lead in Milwaukee - the run scored on a very close almost-double-play by the Brewers (the right call was made, though).

2:55pm - 4 great innings by Perez. You may have heard the Cubs might not go more than two innings with any pitcher today. They're keeping to that - Chad Gaudin started the third, and retired the side without difficulty. Mets need some runs.

3:10pm - The Jets are now ahead 34-15. I don't really think they're going to blow their lead, but I hope the defense stops letting Arizona march right down the field.

Whole Foods has crappy chips - they break the minute they touch the dip.

If the Mets don't get on the board soon I'm going to be really upset. I can't stand that they make everything so difficult.

3:21pm - A double and a bloop single have the Marlins up 1-0. I'm nervous. I also just switched back to SNY - I wonder if that was bad luck. Maybe I'll try out TBS.

3:26pm - Oliver Perez's day is done. He leaves with the bases loaded (an intentional walk to load the bases after runners on first and second tagged up) and one out - Joe Smith is on.

Brewers still trail the Cubs 1-0 through five. The Cubs aren't exactly trotting out a Murderer's Row of relievers...the Mets need to get on the board....but first keep the Marlins from adding more.

3:34pm - A bases-loaded walk by Joe Smith and two outs later, the Mets dodged a pretty big bullet. 2-0 Marlins, going into the bottom of the sixth. 1-0 Cubs, going into the bottom of the sixth. The Mets have a pinch-hitter, then the top of the lineup coming up - they need to get runs NOW.

3:42pm - I love Carlos Beltran. And until Wednesday night (or Thursday) I love each of these relievers the Cubs keep trotting out. 2-2!

And Anquan Boldin just scored against the Jets - good for my fantasy team, matching some of the points Coles has put up.

3:50pm - OK. New life, heading to the 7th tied at 2. But now I echo the Southern Bureau's sentiment - uh-oh on the bullpen being in the game now.

Sabathia looks strong - he's through seven, having just given up that 1 run. His third start in nine days. Jeez.

Beltran's homer came when I was watching TBS. Not two minutes later, I lost reception and had to resort back to Sun Sports....a Marlins conspiracy, no doubt.

4:01pm - The Jets defense looks horrible. I'll worry about that in two weeks though, after the bye week. The Mets defense looks great - Endy Chavez made an awesome running catch to end the seventh inning. The Brewers have the bases loaded...uh-oh.

4:06pm - Wuertz just walked in a run, so the Brewers tied it up 1-1. Is it just me, or does it seem like this year there have been tons of bases loaded walks? Drives me nuts - just throw a friggin' strike.

4:08pm - I don't think the Jets are going to lose...but watching them the past couple of weeks is like playing a game of Madden. Ridiculous scores against them.

The Cubs got out of that inning - it's 1-1 heading to the 8th. At this rate it looks like the Mets will be tied going into the 8th as well.

4:17pm - Scott Schoeneweis - are you kidding me? 3-2 Marlins in the 8th. The top of the lineup will be coming up again...hopefully the Mets bullpen doesn't give up more runs, because the Mets can't score too many the way they're playing.

4:23pm - Dan Uggla just got one off Luis Ayala. And now the Brewers just got a 2-run shot. Not good.

4:26pm - The Mets have made things tremendously difficult for themselves. The Brewers are now taking a 3-1 lead into the ninth - they got clutch hits when they needed them. The Mets need to do the same.

On a much more serious note, Anquan Boldin just suffered a really serious injury in the Jets game. He's taken off in an ambulance - bad news.

4:34pm - Well, it's over in Milwaukee. Nothing the Mets can do about that - just have to win and force a game tomorrow.

Marlins pitching change with runners on first and second - clutch double by Reyes, walk by Beltran. Now, with two outs, it's up to Delgado. Otherwise, those bats are all out of the way in the 9th, and I'm not crazy about that scenario.

4:37pm - Delgado flew out. I feel like I'm going to throw up.

4:52pm - Marlins 4, Mets 2. Here comes either the final three outs of the season or a great beginning to the end of Shea Stadium.

5:09pm - Wow. Brutal. And making it worse for me was having to watch the Marlins broadcast. I strongly dislike Rich Waltz and Tommy Hutton.

5:10pm - I am so pissed off...but in the end the Mets didn't deserve the playoffs. The Brewers won 5 of their last six games - the Mets lost two out of three to the Marlins. The Brewers got a clutch homer from their star, Ryan Braun, the Mets couldn't get a hit from David Wright in their biggest game (Wright hasn't had a clutch hit in his career). The Mets had no bullpen. They couldn't hold a lead, they couldn't keep a game tied. It happened a bunch throughout the season (just think if the Mets had held five leads - a few Johan Santana starts, and last Sunday against the Braves - they would have won the division by three games and not been in this position on Sunday) - it would have happened again in the post-season. I'd like to think things would have been different in the playoffs....but I doubt it - the Mets would probably have bowed out in the first round.

So there will be no playoffs. The last game at Shea Stadium has been played. The Mets will not open Citi Field as defending champions.....they will just be another team opening another new ballpark.

GOING OUT ON A LIMB

Here are some predictions that didn't really fit in with my final 2008 standings:

-The Giants will not repeat as Super Bowl champions.

-The Patriots will not win the Super Bowl.

-There's a lot of talk about the Vikings. They won't make the playoffs. You just have to view a team like that as 'in trouble' when you see that they cut someone like Brooks Bollinger and you think...that's not a good move. I guess I don't believe in Tavaris Jackson and Gus Frerotte. And here's a telling remark - I don't believe very much in Bollinger either - that's just how much the Vikings are in rough shape at QB.

-The NFC is weak, so I think this one is me going out on a limb, but I'm not buying into all of this Saints hype either. I don't know why - they seem to have a good team. But I'm saying they won't make the playoffs.

And to answer the Southern Bureau's question, here's my quick breakdown of the Jets schedule (remember, I did write that everything there should be considered with a plus/minus two wins...but I'll stand by 12 wins for the Jets):

Week 1: @ Miami - W
Week 2: vs. NE - W
Week 3: @ SD - L (or a loss in Week 2, win in Week 3 - I think the Jets will one at least one of these games)
Week 4: vs ARI - W
Week 5: (BYE)
Week 6: vs CIN - W
Week 7: @ OAK - W
Week 8: vs KC - W
Week 9: @ BUF - L
Week 10: vs STL - W
Week 11: @NE - L (the Jets split with New England this year - it wouldn't shock me if they lost week 2 and won this one)
Week 12: @TEN - W (tough...but I think the Jets will be the better team)
Week 13: vs DEN - L
Week 14: @SF - W
Week 15: vs BUF - W (probably splitting with Buffalo this year)
Week 16: @SEA - W (another tough but winnable game)
Week 17: vs MIA - W

I know 12 wins is a lot - but that's a schedule that can produce 12 wins. And listen, I'm a Jets fan - I've been disappointed many times before. They don't usually get 12 wins when they should. But maybe this year will be different.

Here's how the recap will look per week once the season is in full swing, probably appearing on Mondays, so the Monday night game won't really factor in:

BEST GAME OF THE WEEK JUST COMPLETED
BEST PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK JUST COMPLETED
WORST PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK JUST COMPLETED
BEST GAME IN THE UPCOMING WEEK
BEST PERFORMANCE PREDICTED IN THE UPCOMING WEEK

SHEA MEMORIES: BIG EVENTS

The fourth in an occasional (OK, you caught me, weekly) series. I'm not going to sit here and try to defend Shea Stadium as one of the best ballparks of all time. I can honestly tell you, though, that I never walked into Shea and thought, "This place is a dump." The bottom line is, Shea is where the Mets play, and for me, it will always be special. I realize these are pretty individual memories, but I hope reading them stirs up something in your mind about some place that you may take for granted.

Got to talking to my friends last weekend about the biggest games they ever attended. Among the answers: Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS (Aaron Boone), Derek Lowe's no-hitter for the Red Sox, a 2004 World Series game, Game 6 of the 1986 World Series (though the 8-year-old Southern Bureau left that one early), and Game 6 of the 1996 World Series (the clincher for the Yankees...and how about those two Game 6's a decade apart for the Southern Bureau?). The interesting thing about all of those examples is that the team you would have wanted to see win in each of those scenarios won the game.

My experience with big games is not as exciting. Sure, I've been to playoff games. And I've never seen the Mets lose a playoff game - I've been to two and they were both wins. Game 3 in 1988 was an 8-4 Mets win and Game 4 in 2000 was a 10-6 win, notable because Armando Benitez closed out the game without blowing it.

I only remember three things about the 1988 game, when I was 10 - 1) It was supposed to be on a Friday night, after which my dad and I would drive up to see my cousins for a weekend in Vermont, but the game got rained out and was played on Saturday instead, putting a damper on the weekend. 2) I forgot my glasses at school that weekend, so I didn't see the game very well. My dad was mad about that. And 3) I remember Keith Hernandez taking a digger running from second to third base. I guess it wasn't very costly, so that's good.

But that's the extent of my big-game experience at Shea Stadium. Big games, sure, but not really eventful ones. Of course, being a Mets fan, I've never been to a no-hitter at Shea. The big games I remember at Shea are for events that don't even come close to playoff games in terms of importance, but for some reason they stick out in my memory even more. Here's one example:

I was at the game where Spider Man married Mary Jane. The sports angle here is that this was the game where Lenny Dykstra and Mookie Wilson both dived (dove?) for a ball in the left-center gap, and collided. One's mouth hit the other's nose...neither was seriously injured, but it was pretty bloody...and pretty cool for a 9-year-old.

So was the "wedding". It took place before the game, with live-action characters. Spider-Man got married in his costume, and for some reason Doctor Octopus was there. Not sure I would have invited my mortal enemy to my wedding (as a matter of fact, I didn't), but to each his own. And the kids in attendance got the commemmorative comic, seen at left. I must have that somewhere - I bet it's worth keeping.

As the season winds down, I'll chronicle my other 'big games' at Shea. They don't quite match up in my mind with what my friends have seen...but when you deal with the Mets everything is relative.

BOSTON: FENWAY PARK

It occurred to me recently that when I write about the new stadiums that I visit, there are a bunch I have been to before the blog existed that I've never written about. Part of the reason is because there's really no reason to review the ballparks, since they've been around for many years....but it's also not fair to them (as though they had feelings).

Fenway Park is one of those parks that I've gone to for years without singing its praises. I'm very lucky to be able to go every once in a while - every time I'm there I get a little bit of the same thrill that I got the first time I went.
Sure, the seats are small, it can be uncomfortable to sit for long stretches there, and it would have been nice to live so close to a new ballpark had they not chosen to renovate, but it still is a special place.
Friday night I had the opportunity to go with Justin From NYC, Dave in Brighton, and the Southern Bureau (thanks to the Southern Bureau's dad), and decided I'd take pictures to show on the blog. There's another thing about Fenway - from certain places in the park, it's impossible to take a bad picture. The other neat thing about Friday night's game was that it was the first for Jason Bay in a Red Sox uniform (the Red Sox acquired him at the deadline Thursday in exchange for Manny Ramirez plus much more). He got a huge standing ovation, which you can see below.
The one thing I couldn't capture in picture is how awesome the view is coming out of the tunnel to get to your seats at Fenway. I remember getting chills the first time I did, seeing the Green Monster in person for the first time, thinking about Gary Carter hitting two home runs into the screen in Game 4 of the 1986 World Series. I tried to recapture that feeling, but when I came out of the tunnel on Friday, it was way too crowded, and all I got was this:
The first time I went to Fenway was 1995. We drove up to see Red Sox-Twins. It came a few months after we saw the second-to-last regular season game at Boston Garden, which was on Patriot's Day in 1995. We drove up to see Celtics-Nets, and on the way we went on a tour of Boston University, which turned out to be my future college. Since BU was so close to Fenway, we stopped by the ticket office and bought tickets for later that summer. The Red Sox game was very hot and pretty uncomfortable, but I was so psyched to be there that I didn't notice much. I've been many times since - definitely more to Fenway in the past decade than to Shea or Yankee Stadium combined - and the same is true now as it was then - even though it has its faults (which in a ballpark that is pushing 100 years old makes it 'charming', I guess), Fenway is a great place to see a baseball game.

ANALYSIS THROUGH EIGHTEEN WEEKS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shifting gears.....

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

And one more football note:

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

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

ALL STAR QUICK THOUGHTS

I was going to just mail it in tonight, and save the comments I thought of while driving back home for tomorrow...but then I saw all the hard work the Southern Bureau put in over the weekend while I was gone and I figured I owed it to at least him to write something new.

HOME RUN DERBY: I don't love the Home Run Derby. It's just OK, it runs too long, it's too much Chris Berman, and it makes me think it would be better if it were like the old black and white one-on-one home run derbies the old ESPN Classic used to show about 15+ years ago. But every once in a while it redeems itself, and tonight it was in the person of Josh Hamilton.

Not only is his a great story, but he hit some bombs...and in record-setting fashion in that first round. And seeing the bombs land in places in Yankee Stadium where home runs rarely go was pretty cool.

One thing, though. So he has 95 RBI at the All Star break. His team has played 96 games. That's not like 95 through 81. I feel like this is really late for an All Star Game. Maybe it's been this late before, but let's not make such a big deal that a guy has this many RBI at this point of the season...or at least tell it like it is and say that it's through so many games. Same with Francisco Rodriguez's saves total - it's impressive, but it's not like this is the exact midpoint of the season.

MORE ON TEXAS: I heard a couple of interviews with Ian Kinsler today...for the most part the Texas Rangers seem like a likeable group of guys. This was the same team, remember, that won over Mets fans last month during the rain delay by sliding across the tarp in that game that ended up getting rained out...just seem like a group of guys that enjoy playing ball and being around one another. Just thought I'd mention that.

DAVID WRIGHT, ALL STAR: So obviously I'm thrilled that David Wright was named to the All Star team as an injury replacement. But up until I heard that on Friday, I was thinking that maybe it was a blessing in disguise that Wright wasn't part of the festivities. He has faded the past couple of years (although less so last year), particularly in 2006 after coming in second place in the home run derby. So I thought the rest would do him good. After seeing him named to the team, though, I think he'll be OK - there's no travel involved, with the game in New York, and he's not starting - he's just another player there. So that might prove to be beneficial. And from what I've read, he really wanted to be a part of the game at Yankee Stadium. So I think it'll end up being a good thing.

FIRED UP

I like it when a ballplayer gets good and fired up. I've mentioned a number of times that's something I think this Mets team could use - whether it's a brawl or just someone getting the team to act like they care.

It's not just the Mets - it's all around baseball. Last night, the Marlins lost to the Rockies 18-17. I saw a bit of the seventh inning, when the Marlins led 17-12. Logan Kensing was brought in with two men on, and I think no one out. He had nothing. Absolutely nothing. He walked the first batter he faced, loading the bases for Matt Holliday. Then he grooved one and Holliday hit it out. And then he proceeded to give up another base hit. He just kept grooving it in there. How about going high and tight on someone? No one ever does that anymore.

So I think there needs to be more emotion. Somewhere between Willie Randolph, whose greatest show of emotion was a glare from the dugout, and the likes of Joba Chamberlain and Jonathan Papelbon, who overdo it a little bit. A happy medium would be nice.

In the past week or so, though, there have been four instances of the type of emotion you would like to see out of a ballplayer, but in the wrong scenarios and for the wrong reasons. Let me break them down for you:

Shawn Chacon - Chacon was released by the Astros after allegedly throwing his general manager to the ground and then almost beating him up. This all apparently happened because Chacon was being summoned into the manager's office...although some reports indicate that while Chacon wasn't in the right, GM Ed Wade didn't necessarily handle himself in the most professional manner. (Speaking of unprofessional - the MLB Players' Union filed a grievance over this....what a joke.)

Regardless, there's no excuse for assaulting your boss. I don't care how unhappy you are with your own performance, or how the club is handling your situation - this is not the place for this kind of behavior.

Manny Ramirez - Manny was "Being Manny" (one of the worst aphorisms [am I using 'aphorism' correctly?] since 'it is what it is') last week, shoving the Red Sox's traveling secretary in a dispute over Ramirez's ticket allotment while the team was in Houston. First of all, is there something in the water in Houston? Secondly, it's like this never happened - there has been a murmur about it, but hardly an uproar. Thirdly, this is the second internal incident of its kind involving Ramirez...but no one seems to be putting two and two together here. Remember in the game where the Sox and Rays fought, there was a dugout incident between Manny and Kevin Youkilis? All reports after that indicated that Youkilis was the one who was at fault, because he threw equipment around or something, and Ramirez asked him to stop. Well, Youkilis isn't the one going around shoving 65-year-olds.

Joe Girardi - Well, at least with this one we're getting closer to some on-the-field action. After exploding for 18 runs on Wednesday, the Yankees were shut out by the Red Sox on Thursday. And Girardi was mad. He was short-tempered with the press, but he wasn't too much of a jerk. He got really mad when one reporter (Joel - I'm not sure who that was) kept asking the same question, trying to find out what Girardi told his team in a players-only meeting, but was pretty responsive to the rest of the questions. Basically, Girardi said, he was mad about losing - no matter who the opponent is.

Jose Reyes - Finally, Jose Reyes and broadcaster Keith Hernandez had a heated argument on the team plane traveling to St. Louis last week. (Let me just say that I first heard about this from my mom - which meant I had to go and check to make sure it really happened. Sometimes she mishears things on the news. And the real story here is that she got this story 94% correct.) (Also parenthetically, the Southern Bureau had a tongue-in-cheek response to this story that's worth reading.)

Apparently, Reyes was upset about what he heard Hernandez had said about him on the air. I didn't see this play, but last week after a throwing error against the Yankees, Reyes threw his glove to the ground. Hernandez said, "Well, he's got to get over that. Enough babying going on now. He's a grown man. He's been around a long enough time. Take off the kid gloves." (That quote is from mets.com.) Reyes's defense is that when you make an error, you're supposed to be upset about it.

OK, fine. But some people interpreted the throwing of the glove as a shot at Carlos Delgado, who I've read could have caught the ball (again, I didn't see it - I was at NASCAR). It wouldn't surprise me if Reyes was showing up Delgado, because Delgado always....and I mean always...shows up Reyes. Dating back to 2006 - if Delgado had to step off the bag for a throw, he would stare down Reyes. I guess they had a good relationship about it - but it was really ridiculous. Anyway, I wouldn't be shocked if Reyes was showing up Delgado.

The bottom line here is that Reyes should be fired up - but not because Keith Hernandez is calling him out. He should be fired up that his team is losing.

There's one thing that all four of these situations have in common. They're not motivated by the right reasons. They're all motivated by selfish reasons, which is a commentary on the people who play the game today. I think the Chacon and Ramirez situations speak for themselves. Though the Girardi situation is very close to being appropriate, the fact that it comes just after he heard from his outspoken boss and comes during the most important series he'll probably face all season (in fourth place, with the Red Sox in town) makes me second-guess the timing and the real reason for his anger.

And the Reyes thing isn't about baseball. It's about his image.

Jose Reyes is the most important player to the Mets. The stats speak for themselves (I'll probably get into it more around the All Star break). But his attitude leaves a lot to be desired. And until he acts like someone who wants to win, Keith Hernandez, a winner, has every right to criticize the way Reyes acts on the field.

ALL-STAR SNUBS

I was all set to do a preview of the All Star Game today, with my picks for who should and should not make it in, based on fan voting. But that's been done and done again...and I really have nothing new to add.

So I decided to take a look at some pitchers who should be chosen to the game, and I'm looking at the snubs before they happen - because you know some deserving player is going to get passed over for the All Star Game because someone from the San Diego Padres has to make the team.

STARTING PITCHERS

Without taking into account who is on the proper rest or anything like that, let me start with the starters. I think it's hard this year to pin down the best starter in each league. Can the National League's best pitcher really be Edinson Volquez? He's 10-3, with a 2.24 ERA and 113 strikeouts. His past two outings haven't been his best, but it looks like he gets the nod for the National League - his ranks in wins, ERA, and K's are 3, 1, and 2 in the NL - you come that close to the pitching triple crown, I think you deserve an All Star start.
For the American League, I think Cliff Lee will get the start, even though I feel like he will fall apart in the second half of the season (but that doesn't factor into what he has done the first half of the season). Joe Saunders of the Angels is having a great year, and Justin Duchscherer of Oakland, a converted reliever, is having a great season without the wins to show for it, so they both deserve spots on the team, but Lee probably starts.

I'm not sure how the politics will work here either - Terry Francona will be managing the AL team - does that mean he shortchanges the Yankees (in Yankee Stadium no less), or puts a couple of Yankee pitchers on his team to save his Red Sox arms? Either way, I think Mike Mussina deserves a spot on this team, and if I had to choose between him and Andy Pettitte, I'd go Mussina. Mariano Rivera makes the team as a reliever, and the Yankees pitchers will be well-represented on their home mound.

Interestingly, I don't think too many pitchers will get snubbed, because of injuries. Shawn Marcum and Felix Hernandez will both probably get named to the team, but both are hurt, and won't play - so two people should take their spots. I think that results in a well-earned nod for Zach Greinke of the Royals, and maybe Matt Garza, the second Rays pitcher, after Scott Kazmir, who I think will get named despite an early injury that limited his innings.

I also want to take this opportunity to note that despite a 9-1 record and 3.21 ERA, Daisuke Matsuzaka has not pitched like an All Star this year - those are very deceptive numbers. I don't think he deserves to be on the team - again, we'll see how Francona approaches that.

I think the National League gets dicey, and to be completely honest with you, I feel more knowledgable about it, so I'm more comfortable naming the snubs here. I'll start with the Mets - if no Met made the team, I'd say no one got snubbed. That's how bad they've been - no one has been stellar either. Billy Wagner might be the only player to merit a spot, but he's been spotty. If you twisted my arm, I'd say David Wright and Jose Reyes have earned a spot, but I don't mind seeing them sit out a year as punishment. Even Johan Santana hasn't been super-special...but I guess that's a product of the way the team has played.

The one guy I'm kind of campaigning for, and built this entry around, is Jon Rauch. He should be a set-up guy for the Nationals, not their closer. But when Chad Cordero got injured (again), he stepped up and has been pretty reliable all year. I don't know that anyone else on the Nats gets the automatic bid ahead of him, so he probably will make the team, but I think he's the most deserving.

For the most part, the voters have the positions right (in both leagues) - and the players who are on the fringe will most certainly get the at-large selections (I'm thinking Ryan Braun, 4th among outfield voting, or anyone in the AL DH voting, over the undeserving [this year] David Ortiz).

The Giants will see a pitcher get snubbed - Tim Lincecum will be the player selected from their team, but you can make a case for Matt Cain as well - his 5-6 record will cost him, even though he has a 4.13 ERA and is third in the league with 107 strikeouts. Their closer, Brian Wilson, leads the league in saves with 23, but I don't think he'll make the team - he has a 4.41 ERA.

There will be a couple of closers who will get left out - I bet Brad Lidge gets in at the expense of someone like Kerry Wood. Or vice versa. Or they both make it, and Jose Valverde of Houston gets left off because Lance Berkman already made the All Star team representing Houston.

Speaking of first base, which should (deservedly) go to Berkman - Adrian Gonzalez is a deserving member of a spot from San Diego. He should be their lone representative - I don't think he'll get snubbed (at risk of a plethora of NL first baseman - one can DH, I guess), but if he doesn't make the team, that would be a snub.

Selecting the team must be a hard job, making sure every team has representation while trying to make sure all of the deserving players get recognition. There are certainly going to be good players watching on TV next week...I'll let you know who the others are when it's not such an abstract concept as making these predictions is.

ANALYSIS THROUGH TWELVE WEEKS

I guess with the collision of the end of school and the tenth week of the season, I plum forgot about this bi-weekly entry. But it's back, probably through the end of the season. "Impressive" is a loose term these days with the Mets.

MOST IMPRESSIVE: How about the fact that the Mets were able to pick up Trot Nixon - a heretofore unmentioned fact on the blog, other than in the comments by the Southern Bureau when I was away last weekend. Nixon was tearing it up in Triple-A for the Diamondbacks, and although he's hitting just .190 so far with the Mets, it's a very good pickup - the Mets need more of his type of player on their team.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: The fact that the Mets are just 3 and a half games out, and at an even .500 right now is pretty surprising. It gives some hope for the rest of the season - almost like they have a chance to start fresh from this point on.

LEAST IMPRESSIVE/BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: The whole organization gets a demerit in this analysis - both as least impressive and biggest disappointment. The firing of Willie Randolph was a disaster, it turned the Mets into a laughing stock...they were already losing, they didn't need insult added to injury...but that's what happened. I've gone into plenty about how the firing was botched, so I'll leave it where it is.

*This didn't get much play over the weekend, but it might get mentioned more today (Monday) as the weekend recaps are done on the talk shows - the Mets hired Wayne Krivsky as assistant to the GM, or some title like that. That officially puts the heat on Omar Minaya. Krivsky was fired earlier this year by the Cincinnati Reds - but he didn't do a terrible job building up that team...so I think the Mets fully expect their next GM to be Wayne Krivsky...unless Minaya does something to save his job.

MOST IMPRESSIVE: Home dominance by the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. The best teams in baseball win at home. The Cubs are 32-8, the Sox are 29-9.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: Somewhat surprisingly, even though they are nowhere near as dominant at home (22-18 at home, 24-12 on the road), the Los Angeles Angels have the second-best winning percentage in baseball (barely better than Boston), and lead the American League West.

LEAST IMPRESSIVE: The Arizona Diamondbacks specifically, but the National League West in general, have been pretty terrible. The Diamondbacks, after starting the season 20-8, are now just two games over .500, at 39-37. That means they're barely better than the Mets (although you've heard a lot less negativity surrounding the D-Backs), but the second-best team in their division is the Dodgers, at 35-40.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: I didn't pick them to win the division, as a lot of folks did, but I did expect better from the Seattle Mariners this year. They fired their manager last week after a season in which all they've done is be the worst team in baseball so far. The Mets host Seattle for three beginning Monday night. This would be a good time for a Mets sweep.

A LAST PLAY AT SHEA PREVIEW

Let me tell you about my weekend:

The Wife and I had a weekend packed to the gills. We went up to Hanover, New Hampshire Friday and Saturday for her 10-year reunion at Dartmouth, but I'm not here to tell you about that. Sunday was more eventful.

Billy Joel is in the midst of about 10 shows at Mohegan Sun, so we drove down there Sunday evening to see him. It was in the works for a while, a Father's Day gift of sorts. As you probably know, I love Billy Joel. There are a handful of pop culture/sports people I put on the proverbial pedestal, and Billy Joel is one of them (along with Hall of Famer Gary Carter, the Mets, the Jets, and the likes of David Wright and Chad Pennington). I certainly see these people's faults (moreso these days than ever), but I will always hold them in high regard.

Anyway, I've seen Billy Joel a bunch of times, and the last few times I've seen him he's been great - really energetic - better than you'd expect.

Sunday night, though, was about what you'd expect...which is to say, still very good, but I guess he's showing his age. He spent less time dancing and running around (though still got up for a few songs in a row), and a lot more time just sitting at the piano. And that was awesome.

But it got me thinking...my brother is still efforting getting me down to the "Last Play at Shea" in mid-July. Last I heard, Billy Joel is doing two shows at Shea - the last concerts there. I'm sure Billy Joel will be awesome there - and since it's such a high profile show, I imagine he'll be even better at Shea Stadium than he was at Mohegan Sun on a Sunday night.

And I thought how sad it is that in their final season at their home of 44 years, the Mets will be outperformed in their last season at Shea by a 59-year-old musician. Because unless the Mets have a dramatic turnaround in the next month, that's what will happen. Not what I expected coming into the 2008 season.

3 More Things:

1) Thanks to the Southern Bureau for the updates over the weekend. The "Willie Watch" was a nice touch - and just so I'm on the record - the Mets are really doing themselves no favors by stringing Willie Randolph along day by day. The "lurking shadow" is not helping matters - obviously they want to get rid of him - just do it already. If Omar Minaya looking over Randolph's shoulder hasn't worked by now, it's not going to work just because he flew out west with the Mets. At the very least fire the coaching staff - do something - we all know it's inevitable anyway.

2) This just isn't fair - but it's the way the schedule goes sometimes. Just two weeks after playing a Sunday night game in New York, then playing in San Francisco on Monday night, the Mets finished up a doubleheader late on Sunday (7-ish) against Texas in New York, then flew out to Los Angeles to play the Angels Monday night. That looked tough enough when the schedule came out, before the day game against the Dodgers became a night game and the Rangers game on Saturday was rained out, forcing the doubleheader. Things like that (along with all the losing) make it seem like it just won't be the Mets' year.

3) Interesting that the Mets will probably be naming their new manager on the west coast, the current residence of one Hall of Famer, Gary Carter. Coincidence? Maybe...maybe not.

LET THE SECOND TRIMESTER BEGIN

I discovered something the other day thinking about the way I watch baseball these days. My summer can basically be divided up into three unequal trimesters, and I'm very excited because the second of these is about to start. Interestingly, The Wife is also paying a lot of attention to trimesters these days...but I won't get into hers so much because it doesn't really involve my summer vacation.

FIRST TRIMESTER
This is the sort-of-official beginning to summer, when baseball starts, up until mid-June, when school ends. It's exciting, yet not fully formed (or developed). If I stay up too late in the evening watching the games to their very end, I wake up not feeling well in the morning. (Interestingly, The Wife also had some morning sickness.) I certainly follow things closely during this period of 2 to 2-and-a-half months, but I don't have instantaneous access to news, as I would in the....

SECOND TRIMESTER
This begins on Thursday, when school is done, and nothing stands between me and sports information until September (except the All Star break, when nothing happens). It's two-and-a-half full months of pretty much uninterrupted baseball. Basically, for the second trimester, I live like the Southern Bureau, able to make fantasy baseball moves or gather information at the drop of a hat, up-to-date on almost anything that happens....as though I had no other life. Like I was 11 again. And, let me again stress, like the Southern Bureau lives his life now.

THIRD TRIMESTER
Again, back to school, but with pennant chases and playoff pushes going on, my attention is a little more focused. I'm still feeding off the restful summer, so I can stay up late for some games, into the playoffs even, if necessary. And if the past couple of years hold true, my fantasy team is usually involved in some down-to-the-wire excitement, so that gets my continued intense attention if needed.

This year the beginning of my third trimester coincides with the end of The Wife's. It'll be like a clash of the titans. It'll be interesting to see which one of us gets to stick to their routine in the final trimester.