IT ENDS TONIGHT

I haven't been following the ALCS as closely as I would have liked to. I forget if I mentioned this already, but it's probably a good thing for me the Mets didn't make the playoffs...I'd either:
1) Not be able to watch past the third inning,
2) Be way too tired to function during the day, or
3) Be dead, what with all the parenting and working and baseball watching I'd have to do.

I throw that in about the NLCS to make it very clear that I saw none of the Red Sox' dramatic comeback in Game 5. My thought process when I shut the downstairs TV and went up to fall asleep in front of the bedroom TV (while lying in bed, rather than sleeping on the couch) was that I would either wake up during the Rays' celebration (I saw until 7-0) or see what the final score was in the morning.

The Wife got up with the Baby for a feeding, and said to me, "The Red Sox tied it." I thought I was dreaming. When she whispered, "The Red Sox won," I was really confused. I had to see highlights in the morning to convince myself.

Nevertheless, I think I was probably more bothered by the extension of the ALCS to Game 6 than the Rays were. They were going home anyway, their reaction was probably, "Well, I guess we'll win it on Saturday night."

I know it's impossible to count the Red Sox out, when you look at the ALCS deficits they've overcome in recent years (heck, stretch it back to 1986 - their last World Series before '04 - even then they overcame a 3-1 deficit), but this year feels different.

I get the impression the Rays just don't get intimidated. And I think Joe Maddon has a lot to do with their mindset. They could have been crushed by Game 1. They could have been disheartened when the Red Sox kept coming back on them in Game 2. But in both cases they rebounded pretty well. They took the first two at Fenway and darn near swept the Sox in their own park.

Coming home to Tampa just means they'll win it in front of their own crowd. And close out the Red Sox. Because these Rays are a better team than the Cleveland Indians of last year....so they'll do what that team couldn't.

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.

ONE YEAR LATER

A year ago at this time the Mets were sitting pretty atop the NL East, and the Jets were coming off a playoff appearance...things were looking good.

Which is why it's hard to get too excited as a Mets and Jets fan with the Jets 1-0 heading into a showdown with New England, and the Mets 3 games up with 17 to play.

But there's a little excitement.

And I haven't been this excited about watching football in general (not just the Jets) in a few years. I couldn't get enough of it this past week - two Monday night games was the perfect topper for me. So I'm looking forward to Week 2...and the OSU-USC game on Saturday night should be a good appetizer.

But what I really wanted to mention here is the baby situation. Still nothing - for about three weeks now they've been telling us this could be the week....and nothing. So, clearly, I am not going to the Jets game on Sunday - Brett Favre's first home game.

And at this rate, the one game I have solid plans to attend - versus the Bengals on Columbus Day weekend - is approaching being in jeopardy. I'll keep you posted on that.

With everything going on - baby, school stuff, preparing school stuff for the days I have to miss when the baby comes - postings will be sporadic. Thanks for checking back.

NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND THIS ONE

I made what I thought to be a very reasonable request tonight. The Wife seems to disagree. I know because she made a terrible face when I asked the question (note I didn't even demand it - I merely requested it). I'm chalking it up to the ol' pregnancy hormones - she'll be more reasonable after she has the baby.

The baby is coming soon - real soon. Which is why I made the request in the first place.

See, the due date is September 15. The Jets home opener is September 14. I requested permission to maybe attend the Jets home opener, and see Brett Favre's first home game as a Jet. Really, I'm the one putting myself in a bad position - I have school the next day.

But I'm forgetting the most important part. The baby is probably going to come early - our estimate has it coming in the next week or so. So I think it's quite reasonable that I head down to New York for a day a couple of weeks after the baby is born, provided someone comes and sits with The Wife and our older child for the day.

My suspicion is that The Wife enjoys the time we spend watching the DirecTV Sunday Ticket together and would be upset if I left her flat to go watch the Jets in person that day. In which case, I totally understand where she is coming from.

Otherwise, I can't imagine what the problem is. I welcome your comments.

LAST DAY AT SHEA

As part of our vacation, The Wife and I made a pretty much last-minute decision to go to the Mets-Giants game last Thursday, thinking it would be our last chance to see a Mets game at Shea Stadium. (For her, it definitely was, for me, I'll be going to see Billy Joel on Friday, and I'm holding out hope that even after the new baby comes in September I'll be able to sneak in a playoff game.) It also allowed us to take The Baby to her first and only game at Shea. The trip gave me my first up-close look at Citi Field. I can't wait. There's not much more I can add to that.
Unfortunately, in order to park in the very limited parking spots that are available near Shea, we had to get there very early - so we were there around 11:20am for the 1:05pm start. This did not make it a pleasant experience for The Baby. She was pretty worn out by the time the first pitch was thrown, so we didn't last very long.

The good news, though, is that most of the stuff to see was before the game. I got to take the pictures of the new stadium that you see here.
I also got to see one of the Shea Countdown numbers come off - this day marked 39 games left at the stadium. With all due respect, I was less than thrilled by the person who changed the sign - Joe Pignatano. Sure, he was an original Met and coached with the team for many years, but I was hoping for someone I could more closely relate to. I was occupied with The Baby at this point, but The Wife snapped an awesome picture:
The Mets won the game, 7-3, their sixth game in a row as part of their current nine-game-winning streak. John Maine pitched for the Mets, this is him in the first inning, throwing one of his too-many pitches. We left in the third or fourth inning...and one of the bonuses of my parents' house location is that we made it home in the same inning. Great souvenir by the way - I bought a souvenir soda and it came in a Shea Stadium Final Year cup. That's just a great idea by the Mets. (Although I rarely use these souvenir cups I get, I am gathering a nice little collection.)

ALL STAR GAME ROUNDUP: I wasn't feeling 100% last night, so I think I might post multiple times today. Keep checking back, if you don't mind. I'll have at least an All Star Game roundup, but I also plan on doing a look-ahead for the Mets.

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.

ALMOST A DISASTER

The Wife carefully planned our Memorial Day weekend trip to Washington, D.C. to see Nationals Park. The reason we did Washington this year was because she is pregnant. Originally, we were going to go to Chicago over the summer to see both of those ballparks, but I guess pregnancy makes you uncomfortable or something, so The Wife didn't want to travel that far. So we stuck closer to home, and did our traveling earlier in the pregnancy, and went to Washington.
But the careful planning factored in with the timing of our traveling. We left Massachusetts Friday afternoon, hoping to get a jump on Memorial Day traffic - it worked. We breezed to New York City, meeting my parents, and spent the night at their house. We wanted to leave Saturday morning at 6am, but by the time we got going it was after 7. No problem...we hit little pockets of traffic here and there, but we did pretty well considering Memorial Day weekend is usually a heavy traffic time, and we had lunch at our hotel a little after 1. (An aside - it's a long drive through New Jersey. And, with apologies to Justin in NYC - who's originally from Jersey - I think I figured out on this drive why Jersey is such a dump. In Connecticut, the fine for littering on the highway is $219. In Maryland, it's more than $100. But in New Jersey, it's $50. I almost threw stuff out the window just because it was such a bargain, comparatively. Everyone must do it.)

Thus began the bad decisions I made over the course of the weekend, which could have ruined everything for everyone (or, at the very least, me):

1) We walked from our hotel to the White House. That was fine. But I suggested, since we already came that far, that we go to the National Archives, which was only a little (a lot) farther, and see the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. So I made my parents and pregnant wife (The Baby was asleep in a stroller) walk all that way to see that the line was an hour-plus long, and we didn't go in. We just hopped on the Metro (the subway) and went back to the hotel.

2) On our way to brunch on Sunday morning, I pulled into a parking garage that cost $12. This may not seem like a big deal, but Sunday morning is pretty quiet in Washington, DC. There was a lot of street parking. I felt pretty stupid.

3) There was a big motorcycle rally in DC this weekend. We knew that going in, and we knew there would be some sort of rally by the Capitol Building. Turns out, it was right when we were on our way to the game. We had to cross right where the motorcycles were parading. Every street I turned down was the wrong one. The Wife somehow got us across and into the game.

4) This one affects no one but me. You may or may not be aware that the Nationals' big attraction (besides the baseball, I guess, but only by a little) is the "President Race", where four big mascot-type people race, dressed as Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Teddy Roosevelt (Franklin would race, but the wheelchair gives him an advantage) start in center field, run around the warning track, and end their race at a finish line down the right field line. As you can tell from my picture of Tim Redding yesterday, our seats were right at where this finish line would be. I realized this as soon as we sat down. Sadly, my first thought was, "These are going to be great seats for the President Race." Well, I assumed the race would be in the sixth or seventh innings, so come the end of the third, I decided to hit the souvenir stand, and because we weren't as early to the game as I wanted, because of the aforementioned motorcycles, I hadn't toured the park yet. So I walked around the stadium.

I came out of the Team Store behind home plate and around the third base side just in time to see Redding fan the opposing pitcher, Parra, with the bases loaded and two out (it was a long top of the fourth). So I'm walking, and the PA Announcer says, "Ladies and Gentleman, it's the moment you've all been waiting for..." or some such thing like that. I turn, and sure enough, it's the President race, and I was sorely out of position. I managed this picture - click on it, though, for an enlarged version, and you can see how engrossed everyone is. I love the people out in the outfield peering over the wall to see Jefferson go by. Incidentally, Lincoln won.

One last thing about the Nationals - Cristian Guzman was born on March 21. Wily Mo Pena was born January 23. That's a 3/21 and a 1/23, if you're scoring at home. Needless to say, I was thrilled.

WASHINGTON: NATIONALS PARK

Today I'll spend some time giving my opinion of Nationals Park in Washington, DC. It was a nice park, but nothing spectacular. The picture above was the best I could do as an establishing shot - the really nice view of the park I would have had to cross a river to get. But my mom took a picture out of the back of the car of that view...I'll post it if it came out nice. Anyway, the park really wet my whistle thinking about how good Citi Field is going to be. Because as un-spectacular as this park was, it was still pretty great, comparitively speaking. And I know Citi Field will be better. The details:

As much as Jacobs Field reminded me of Petco Park (and I know Jacobs came first, but I went to Petco first, so Jacobs reminded me of Petco), Nationals Park was definitely inspired by Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. I'm even more sure of this after watching the Nationals and remembering the Cincinnati connection of GM Jim Bowden. He must have had some say in the ballpark design. The outfield concourse especially reminded me of Cincy - there was more in Cincinnati, but the way the concession stands were set up, and the attractions (I think I described them as amusement-park like when I wrote about Cincinnati) were similar. (The Baby and I did not wait on line to use the play structure you see to the right.)

Do you notice in that picture the big blank green areas to the upper left? I think those are supposed to hold advertisements. And I think the outfield walls in Nationals Park are supposed to have more ads than they do. But the ballpark looks plain. It's weird for me to remark on the outfield walls of a Major League park as plain, because that's the way they all used to look, but nowadays everyone has advertisements on the walls, like the minor league parks. I think the Nats are having trouble scratching up some advertisers. Didn't seem like they were strapped for cash when we were there (it was the second-largest crowd of the season, and they did seem unprepared - certain vendors ran out of some elementary things like hot dogs), but maybe the fact that this brand-spanking-new ballpark is called Nationals Park instead of "Geico Park" or something is another indication they're having trouble selling the idea of baseball in the nation's capital.
See that middle picture above? That's another similarity to the Cincinnati design - there's not just a center field seating area - it's a strange part of the design. In Cincy, it's a steamship. In Washington, it's this rotunda thing. It's like they're trying to disguise that you have crappy seats.
Anyway, as I show you Tim Redding getting ready to throw the first pitch of the game, I'll tell you that I was psyched when I found out I'd have rooting interest - Redding is on my fantasy team, and he was starting against the Brewers. Redding has also been the best Nats starter by far, and he cruised for about 5+ innings. Then he fell apart. And the more I realized how bad the Nationals pitching is, the more I realized how sad the Mets' state of affairs is, because they make the Nationals' pitching look ridiculously good whenever they play them.

One weird thing about the ballpark is that in the parts where the concourse was open, there were all sorts of TVs. But behind home plate, in the areas where the concourse was closed, there were no TVs - the spot where you couldn't see the game at all. That puzzled me.

And lastly, it seems Milwaukee fans travel well. I'm always surprised when Brewers fans crawl out of the woodwork. We saw the Brewers in Cincinnati, and there were a good number of Brewers fans at that game. The Wife commented that it wasn't such a long ride for them. But there were a bunch at this game, too. And recently, although I spent part of that weekend traveling, when the Brewers were at Fenway, all sorts of Brewers fans were around town. I was surprised. But maybe I shouldn't be as surprised anymore.

Two more things (I'm squeezing all of my Nationals writing into two days, I guess, not the whole week like I said yesterday) - the ballpark is not in the greatest area, and here's another bad thing - just 5,000 parking spaces. Small little lots a block or so from the ballpark. The radio ads try to convince people to take the Metro...but we were able to park in a lot. And finally, there's no Expos history anywhere that I saw (no Gary Carter retired number - I guess all Expos records are gone), but there are Salutes to Hall of Famers throughout the building, and little bits throughout about the history of baseball in Washington.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about my weekend of bad decisions, and how we still survived.

200 METERS FROM THE CITI

Took a quick trip down to Queens for a family function this weekend. One of the ol' Saturday morning arrivals, Sunday morning departures. As a result, I set myself back about a month in the "tired" department. Too much schoolwork+end of the year+traveling = less blogging. Sorry about that.

Anyway, couldn't not post some pictures of the Citi Field progress. You can see how far they've come since my last pictures. The Wife knows this wasn't her finest moment in photography. Of five pictures she took reaching across The Baby from a moving car, this was the best one to show what the stadium looks like. The coolest thing was coming east on the Whitestone Expressway (north/south? I'm just not sure) and seeing the light towers pop up over a hill. That's the hallmark of a cool new stadium - M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore was that way, off I-95, I think. Anyway, Mets are on the west coast, so I won't be seeing much of them these next few days. But I will get to some e-mail I have.

(Shea is not pictured here - it's just out of view on the right.)

YOU'RE NOT EVEN GOING TO BELIEVE THIS

First of all, I can't believe how little publicity this has gotten...or maybe I'm just out of the loop (it is a busy time of the school year). But I had a Barnes & Noble gift card with about $30 left on it, so The Wife and I went to the bookstore tonight. I figured I'd get some kind of sports book that I had meant to get for a while, but hadn't. So I'm walking down the aisle with The Baby (one-and-a-half-year-old, actually), mostly just keeping her from ripping all kinds of books from the shelves, and I come across "Still A Kid At Heart: My Life in Baseball and Beyond", by Hall of Famer Gary Carter and Phil Pepe!

I'm psyched. I've been reading "John Adams", but I'm obviously going to have to put that book aside temporarily while I tear through the Carter book. And this book must be brand-new - it mentions his new managing job, and is copyrighted 2008...and I can't find a clean image of it on the computer to show you.

I hesitated a half-a-second before buying the book, thinking maybe this was just the same book I already have about Carter ("The Gamer", his second book), with an extra chapter...but the blurb talks about the book being about Carter's playing career and beyond.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Carter has done a lot since leaving his playing career behind. He started off as a broadcaster with the Florida Marlins, then was a coach, and a minor league manager. Of course, there was also the election to the Hall of Fame.

I can't wait to start the book - I'll have a full review when I'm done - with school vacation week next week, I'm sure it won't be long.

MARCH MADNESS

I go a little overboard when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.

Let me start, though, by saying that it's one of my favorite sporting events of the year. In the years before I became a teacher, I used to take off from work both the Thursday and the Friday of the first round of the tournament, and sit in front of the TV for 12 hours straight.

Now, I can't do that anymore, but I take the free time I have on that Thursday and Friday and look for the scores - and last year a friend introduced me to the cbs.sportsline.com link that allows you to watch the four games at once. We spent our lunch duty watching the games. (What's worse is now parent conferences are scheduled for the Friday of the first round - so not only do I not get to head straight home after our 12:30 dismissal, but I have to stay until about 5:30 to meet with parents. I guess I have to grow up sometime....and I just found out that this year, the calendar is different - so I might be off the hook, if nothing gets scheduled in on Friday.)

But my obsession with watching the tournament isn't even where I go overboard. It's not gambling either. While I enter a pool each year (and am intrigued each year by different people's scoring systems in the traditional bracket pools, or different pools involving the tournament that don't even revolve around brackets), it's not about the gambling for me. Last year if Georgetown had won it all I would have won some money, but I wasn't heartbroken when they lost to Ohio St.

Nope, for me, it's not about any of that. For me, the NCAA Tournament is all about my personal statistics.

I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but since 1993, I have kept track of my picks in each round of each tournament. So for me, each time March rolls around, it's a chance for me to improve upon my personal best. And last year, I did.

I have no strategy. I just pick the games based on what I know about the regular season, and I like to think I've done so in a more intelligent fashion as the years have gone by (the numbers don't bear that out). Here are some of the numbers:

*Best 1st round performance: 26-6 in 2000
*Best 2nd round performance: 12-4 last year
*I've never done better than 5-3 (6 times) heading into the Elite Eight
*I've never picked all four Final Four teams (I've gotten 3 of 4 three times)
*In 2004 I went 0-for-4 on the Final Four
*My worst year ever was 2006, with a 28-35 record
*My best was 45-18 in 2007
*I've picked the champion just four times in 15 years
*I average 37 wins a year, and there are interesting cycles - when I went to college, I saw a significant dip in total wins, it increased again until I graduated and had to work, and then it increased again until I got married.
*Speaking of marriage, I've also kept track of The Wife's brackets since 2001. She averages 37.5 wins. (The other day I asked The Baby, North Carolina or Duke. She didn't respond. Too young for a bracket.)

If our brackets went head-to-head, I am 3-2-1 against The Wife all-time. But it's not about how I fare against her....it's how I do against myself. And every year at this time, there's always a chance my bracket will end up 63-0.

Postscript: I am using a system this year for games I'm not sure about. I'll update you tomorrow.

ENDORSEMENT OF A PRODUCT I'VE NEVER USED

This has the potential to be the best Christmas gift I've ever received. Problem is, I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet. And you know how it goes with potential....sometimes the prospect is hit, and sometimes it's miss.

I strongly suspect this one is a star - it's like a 5-tool player. It's called the "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard", and it was given to me by my brother and his girlfriend. They got it at Brookstone (so there's the mandatory product placement information).

By picking up satellite feeds, the "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" gives me the current scores, standings, and schedules for every Major League Baseball team. At least according to the book in the box it does.

I haven't tried out the "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" yet - I'm nervous. This has the potential to be awesome. You might be wondering, how can it be awesome for someone who has the baseball television package, and watches roughly 4,000 of the 4, 860 baseball games in a given season anyway? Here's why:

1) The first and foremost reason is those Mets games that aren't on SNY. There's a few every year - in the past it has been weekends, where the games are on the CW11 in New York. I don't get those games on TV, and I've tried, fruitlessly, to tune into WFAN (it doesn't carry to my portable radio in Framingham, Massachusetts) to listen in. Staying at the computer is an option, but it's summer, and I have a one-and-a-half-year-old child now....I can keep her locked up in one tiny room only so much longer. Now I don't have to worry about that. With my "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" I can theoretically take The Baby for a walk - a three-hour walk - where I have the "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" in hand the entire time. I can even claim exercise and take the thing on jogs!

2) Long car rides to New York on summer weekends. Sure, I could always listen to the Mets games - that was never a problem. What I would also have to do would be wait for Howie Rose to update the out-of-town scores. Not with my "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" - now, theoretically, I can get instant updates while still in the car!!!!

3) When I reach my destination on those rides (usually my parents' house), I don't have the baseball package for an entire weekend. I'm relegated to watching only the Mets and Yankees (though it does solve the CW11 problem). Now, theoretically, with the "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard", I'll get instant updates of the rest of Major League Baseball from my parents' house. I'll never have to depend on the crawl on ESPNEWS again.

4) I could keep the "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" in my desk at work and theoretically sneak glances during the day when there are day games.

5) I won't even get into how easy the "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" could theoretically make my running of the New Baseball Pool.

So, back to my point. I'm scared to turn the "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" on. You see how much I've built it up. If it doesn't live up to the expectations I've piled onto it, I'll be immensely disappointed. It's like Paul Wilson, Jason Isringhausen, and Bill Pulsipher all rolled into one. It could go from being the best Christmas gift I've ever received to the time when I got a comforter right before I went away to college.

I've taken all the precautions. The "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" book says it works best when it's near a window. All of the places I've mentioned are either outside or have windows. They give you a website to check to see if your area is covered by their service. My area is covered. It takes 4 "AA" batteries. I have 4 "AA" batteries. All I need to do is put in the batteries and turn it on. But I'm afraid when I do, it won't work as well as I want it to.

The "SportsCast Wireless Baseball Scoreboard" claims to even update spring training scores. You see how long I've gone with it having the potential to work (since spring training started) without having used it yet. I'll get there. I still have a few more weeks. I just want it to live on in my imagination for a little while longer.

ALMOST AS PERVASIVE AS STEROIDS

Not too long ago, had you asked me what cribbage was, I would have responded, "That's bed time at the 'House Sponsored by DirecTV'":

Wow. I can't believe how clean that room looks in that picture (from before The Baby was born). It's a disaster right now. Nevertheless, turns out there's a different kind of cribbage, and it's sweeping the Major League Nation. It looks like this:
It also involves cards, and at this point, that's all I know about the game of cribbage. But I'm going to learn more, because I think it's becoming cool.

I got the first hint of cribbage in relation to baseball when I heard that my favorite manager, Terry Francona (2 days in a row!), plays it before almost every game. I think it was a habit/superstition thing where Francona played Dustin Pedroia in cribbage before every game last season.

Then, it was reported that the game has made its way into the Mets clubhouse.

Before I get into that, a word on John Maine. It was also reported that last week was the first time John Maine had ever used the internet. He didn't even know what it was used for until last week. I like Maine, and I think I'm liking it even more that he's kind of an aloof space case. (And the good kind of aloof space case - the one whose actions don't affect the rest of the team.) He spends his days (when he's not throwing, which is four out of five days, for the most part) doing crossword puzzles and throwing around big vocabulary words. He also proclaims himself the best chess player in the clubhouse now that Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green, and Mike DiFelice are gone. Although Aaron Heilman insists he's a challenge.

Which brings us back to cribbage. Heilman says he'll beat Maine at his game (chess) this year. But apparently, Heilman's game is cribbage. So speculation out of spring training is that Heilman will gladly take on all comers in cribbage....but I don't think everyone knows the game yet.

Well, I think that's about to change. I suspect, once this becomes more and more common knowledge, cribbage is going to take off like Texas Hold 'Em a few years back. And I'm getting in on the ground floor. And I know exactly who I can learn the game with and practice against - Dave in Brighton. He excels at stationary sports. I wouldn't even be surprised if Dave in Brighton already owns a cribbage board (or whatever it's called).

COVER BOY

Another Met will grace the cover of a video game. This time, Jose Reyes will do the honors. Unlike the last time, I will not be rushing out to buy this game. (The enthusiasm for that game lasted about a week...it has collected dust ever since. Chalk one up to The Baby.)

I'll take advantage of this news, though, to comment on the Winter Meetings....

Anyway, the Mets were quiet during the Winter Meetings, other than to have Omar Minaya raise false hope at times (giving Mets fans reason to believe the Mets still had an outside chance at Johan Santana), or telling us that the Mets are set the way they are right now (doubtful).

I do believe the Mets have a chance at Santana. I don't think he's going anywhere now until the trade deadline. Unlike Mark Buehrle, I don't think Santana will work out an 11th hour deal with the Twins. He will be traded, but it will come later. And I think the Mets have a real shot, and....full circle here....I think the MLB 2K8 cover boy still could be wearing a different uniform by the end of the season.

Sorry I didn't update during the meetings like I thought I would. My mind is focused on the two weeks left until winter vacation. We're getting there...

FOOTBALL NOTES: I'm not a betting man, but for entertainment purposes only, I'd take the Steelers plus the points this week. I think they might beat the Patriots. If not them, I think the Patriots might finish the regular season undefeated. And if they do, I have a feeling they're going to lose in the playoffs. Just my two cents on that.

ANOTHER BLOG: Joining the Southern Bureau (see the 'Orange Couch' link to the right), and Dave in Brighton (naturalbl0g), Justin From NYC finally has his blog. I say finally because of the four of us, he's the one who should have had one from the beginning. It's about politics, and it's through 1010 WINS in New York. See the link at the right - Talking Politics. Should be lots of fun.

CINCINNATI: GREAT AMERICAN BALLPARK

Note: A temporary malfunction with the digital camera forced me to buy an overpriced disposable camera for the Cincinnati game. The flash was brutal, and not a lot of these pictures came out too well. Also, the CVS where I had the film developed does not have the capability to do a photo CD, so I had to scan the pictures. Therefore, there are not many....and the good ones didn't even come out. The above picture is not mine. I took one just like it, where the flash must have failed me. But it was a beautiful picture, of that I'm sure. Johnnymets.blogspot.com apologizes for any inconveniences this situation may have caused.

Whereas Jacobs Field is all business (you go to see a baseball game), Great American Ballpark is an experience (you go, and if you have time, sit in your seat and take in the baseball game). The park itself is beautiful, sitting right on the water. And I didn't realize this, but across the river is Kentucky, and The Wife and I actually stayed in Kentucky for our trip to Cincinnati.

I can't quite put my finger on why I love traveling to these ballparks so much...but there are a couple of conclusions I've drawn, and it could be one of these or a combination of them. 1) I'm crazy. 2) I like the new ballparks and the architecture involved. 3) I like using them as an excuse to see different cities and the rest of the country. So many of these ballparks/stadiums are the centerpieces of their cities, and I think 4) the biggest thrill for me is driving into a new city and seeing the skyline, with the beautiful ballparks in the middle. This wasn't so much the case in Cleveland, at least the direction we drove, with Jacobs Field - we drove straight towards the Browns stadium, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But when we drove into Cincinnati, and there were Great American Ballpark and the Bengals stadium, I loved it. It's a wonder we make it through these trips without me crashing the car.

We got to the ballpark early, and I had the chance to walk all around and explore (unlike Cleveland, the gates were opened an hour and a half before the game...for some reason Jacobs Field only opened at 6 for a 7:05 start). This was Frank Robinson bobblehead night, so we got our bobbleheads...but upon arriving home, discovered one was not a bobblehead at all - it was a severedhead. (As you can see in this poor photograph.) I'm considering writing the Reds a letter.



Part of my problem with PNC Park in Pittsburgh was I felt like the Pirates had a lot of history that wasn't captured in their new park. That was not a problem in Cincinnati. The Reds have a Hall of Fame right outside the ballpark (you can access it from the street or from the ballpark), and I think ticketholders get in free on the night of a game. We checked it out without actually going in - it looks great. They had a feature on Pete Rose (who was actually at the same game as us, I discovered later), and they have all the pennants the Reds have accumulated over the years. In the concourses, there are bigger-than-poster-sized newspaper headlines from Reds history hanging from the ceiling.

The concourses are gigantic. They're closed right behind home plate, open everywhere else. And they're divided. So behind a wall, down in right field, behind where we were sitting, there was a sort of playground and all kinds of activities for kids, like running to first and getting timed, and seeing how fast you can throw a ball. There's also a stage where they have live music leading up to game time.





Out in center field, there is a deck that looks like the deck of a ship. My investigative journalism (I asked the teenager taking tickets) revealed that the deck was exclusive to Cincinnati Bell employees. I don't know if he meant only that night, or if that is always the case - but that would stink if you could only get into that area if you worked for the phone company. Although, I guess our seats were better, not sitting there.

The food, like Jacobs Field, was nothing to shout about - notably, though, the Reds don't have souvenir cups at the drink stands. The seats, to be honest, weren't the most roomy things I've ever sat in either. And one more complaint - from our seats, when the sun was setting, the glare off the scoreboard in left was so bad you couldn't read any statistics at all.

And this is worth saying: One of the neatest things about these ballparks is how nice everyone is who works there. It's like they go through these training sessions where they make the people who work at the stadiums be nice to everyone who walks through the turnstiles (the nicest people by far were the people in San Diego...but why wouldn't they be nice? They live in San Diego.). And don't get me wrong - most of the people in Great American Ballpark were very nice - the souvenir stand girls who directed me to the 4th floor to get a ripoff of a disposable camera saved my night from feeling like it was ruined. But when we got to the fourth floor, and took some pictures from the upper deck, and asked one of the ushers if he would take our picture, we met our first not-nice person of our stadium trips.

He was standing off to the side, watching these tourists (us) take pictures with their crappy disposable camera. If you could read his mind, I'm sure he would be saying, "These people BETTER not ask me to take their picture." But we did. And he said, "I'm not a very good picture-taker." I gave him the camera anyway, and we stood and smiled. He goes, "What am I supposed to do? Press this button here?" Now, keep in mind, this wasn't one of them new-fangled digital cameras. It was a crappy green disposable camera. There's only that one button. "Yes, sir, press that button." Now, truth be told, he didn't take a bad picture - the flash failed him like it failed me (although I took note that his finger was in front of the flash...and made sure the girls behind us at our seats took another safety picture). But I guess the Reds knew what they were doing when they put this guy on the fourth floor...much less populated up there...and he was definitely not a people person.


Finally, the other attraction of the game - I guess occasionally the Reds have a former Red come and sign autographs before the game. This night it was ex-Met George Foster. I walked by him when I was exploring the park, and seriously considered stopping to take a picture. I didn't. I wanted to tell him that he was the guy who set the example from which I learned about people getting fired. But I didn't. Maybe if The Wife and Baby were walking with me I would have stopped...but I was alone, and didn't have the gumption. I felt like he might not like me. I'll say this about George, though - he looked almost exactly as he did in his playing days - which means he was a powerful, compact man. That guy on the left hit 52 homers in a season back in 1977. That's some kind of strong.

Incidentally, in the game, the Reds beat the Brewers. The Baby handled this game much better, and we stayed until the game slowed considerably after six innings.

CLEVELAND: JACOBS FIELD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BACK FROM VACATION

I don't expect you all to be monitoring my whereabouts at all times, but I will tell you that I am back in Massachusetts after logging roughly 1800 miles on the Johnnymets-Mobile (see graphic above). I think I've mentioned this, but since The Wife took over the scheduling of the stadium trips, the whole experience has been much more fluid and organized. Instead of hitting a random stadium on a whim, we have well-thought-out trips that cover a couple of places. This year, it was Ohio - visiting Jacobs Field in Cleveland and Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. We also stopped in Rochester, New York on the way out, and drove through Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the way back. All very nice stops (except Rochester...not much going on there).

For those of you wondering, The Baby did very well considering that's a lot of time for a baby to be cooped up in a car. She's so good. There will be more on the trip later in the week, but before I get to a recap of what's happened with the Mets in the past week, a few of the highlights during the trip (not counting the ballparks) and since we've gotten back:

• A real treat on the ride from Cincinnati to Gettysburg (aside: The Wife originally thought this was a 4-hour trip, which would have been a breeze. She discovered last week it would be a 7-and-a-half hour trip. Whoops. It was not a breeze.) - While looking for some good radio to keep me awake one hour into the long trip (lots of Christian music out there, incidentally), I found ESPN Radio - Mike & Mike in the Morning, with Mike Greenberg and Tim Kurkjian. And they had as a guest none other than Hall of Famer Gary Carter. This was Thursday morning, and he was preparing for Hall of Fame festivities, and plugging something for MasterCard. Then, I started to lose reception on ESPN Radio right after that interview, so I found Fox Sports Radio, and they had none other than Hall of Famer Gary Carter plugging MasterCard. Back-to-back Gary Carter interviews....good start to the day.
  
• Before I left, I used the search function on TiVo to find a 'Scrubs' episode in syndication - the episode where Janitor organizes an air band. When we came back, it was waiting for us, so that was a nice mini-surprise. It's probably my favorite episode, a laugh a minute, though I wanted there to be more air-banding. It really came in the 'Scrubs' wheelhouse, too - where they were treating Mrs. Wilk, and Mandy Moore was J.D.'s girlfriend. That was a great stretch of episodes. On a related note, Comedy Central seems to have done away with the 11am-12 noon back-to-back 'Scrubs'. That was always a nice treat for The Baby and I for her 11:30 bottle...we'll have to change our routine...because we don't watch MADTV.
  
• Also a bonus - two 'Flight of the Conchords' waiting for me on the TiVo. The first was the first bad episode I've seen...I deleted it so it doesn't ruin The Wife's blossoming enjoyment of the show - she doesn't have to know about that episode. The second one from this past Sunday was funny enough - lots of Murray, that's always good.
  
• The digital camera worked all through Cleveland, and then for the Cincinnati Zoo...but when we got to Great American Ballpark, the camera gave some sort of error message. After a lot of cursing and frustration, I went to Plan B (Plan A is that I need plenty of pictures of these stadiums, using the digital camera), buying a disposable camera at the team store. $20. Yikes. So the Cincinnati pictures need to be developed from a store, and then I'll write about the trip - that's why Cincinnati comes late in the week (approximately Thursday. Cleveland will be tomorrow.)
  
• Did lots of reading over the trip, mostly Harry Potter. For those of you wondering, the final Harry Potter was a much more satisfying ending than The Sopranos. I like my closure. I'm not going to spoil anything here, but I'll give this piece of advice - it was very helpful for me to re-read the sixth book before reading number 7. I had forgotten a lot of important details. JK Rowling is a genius.

ONE MORE NOTE BEFORE THE METS: MLB.com has what seems to be a cool contest going for the post-season. You've probably seen the commercials, with Dane Cook (why?), that have the actober.com website. They are releasing certain sets of classic post-season games on their website, and fans can re-create the moments however they want...the cleverest would win tickets or some such thing. I'm going to keep checking back, and when I see a scenario that inspires me, I'm going to win that contest. I have not been inspired yet...and I'm not sure I even understand all the rules yet. But I will.

THE METS

So the Mets played Pittsburgh and Washington while I was away, and they did OK. They took two out of three from the Pirates, and then split 4 games with Washington. The Washington series was a bit of a disappointment because of the way the Mets lost Saturday night's nightcap of a day-night doubleheader (the first day-night doubleheader at Shea Stadium in 35 years - pretty wild stat, I thought). They fought back a couple of times to tie the game, then gave up the lead one last time, and had a rally fall short.

People are criticizing Willie Randolph for a complicated situation Saturday night where he pinch hit Marlon Anderson, after he already knew he had to insert Ramon Castro into the game because Paul LoDuca got hurt running the bases (he might be hurt bad, incidentally). By putting in Anderson, Randolph used his last bench player, and was forced to pinch hit Tom Glavine in the ninth inning. The problem here is Carlos Beltran, who is hurt again, but hasn't been placed on the DL yet, so the Mets are wasting a roster spot waiting for a decision. He'll probably go on the DL Tuesday. Randolph defended his move, and I'm fine with his defense (that Anderson is a pinch-hitter, Castro is less comfortable in that role), and the bottom line is that the Mets had another chance to tie in the next inning and left a runner at third, so that wasn't the deciding play of the game. But I think Randolph's hands are tied with the Beltran situation.

The Mets have injury problems right now - Moises Alou is back, but Beltran and LoDuca might be out for a while now. Mike DiFelice was called up to replace Mike Pelfrey, who was needed for the doubleheader, and DiFelice gives the Mets depth at catcher, and then David Newhan was called back up and Anderson Hernandez was sent down because the Mets need outfielders, with Beltran now out (though not yet on the DL) and every other outfielder seemingly injured. Expect another roster move in the next couple of days if Beltran is disabled.

All told, though, the Mets are holding on. They're 3-and-a-half up on the Phillies, who play the Cubs Monday night in the only National League game. The Braves are a game behind the Phillies.

SPEAKING OF WHICH: The reports right now are that the Braves have agreed to a deal for Mark Teixeira in which they get the first baseman and pitcher Ron Mahay in exchange for Jarrod Saltalamacchia and another top prospect. They're saying this is going to shift the balance of power in the NL East. I know that Andruw Jones is playing better now, Tim Hudson has been pitching great, and Chipper Jones is having a very good season, and I acknowledge that Teixeira is a better option at first base than ex-Met Julio Franco, but I don't think Teixeira is a difference-maker. (He might be in East Coast Bias, where my lead is slipping more and more everyday...but that's another story. Hurry back, Pedro*.) I think it makes the Braves better offensively, but I don't know that it gives them the oomph to pass the Mets in the division.

The Mets have just countered (at this writing) by trading two minor leaguers for Luis Castillo. Castillo is coming from Minnesota, but you'll remember him making his mark in Florida. The important thing to note here, and what makes this a great trade for the Mets, is that Castillo has been an outstanding hitter over his career at Shea Stadium. He had one of the longest (if not the longest) hitting streaks at Shea for a visiting player, and definitely has a great career average there. He hasn't done as well recently, but the career numbers are staggering - I'm sure they'll be all over the papers tomorrow...I don't even know where to search for them right now...maybe Yahoo!.....they don't split the career stats. Castillo was 1-for-13 at Shea this year for the Twins. Maybe now that he's back in the National League, though.....

COMING TOMORROW: Jacobs Field Review, lots of trade reaction, I'm sure, too

RED SOX VS. INDIANS MONDAY NIGHT

Cleveland, OH - Writing a quick update from the hotel in Cleveland, right across a parking lot from the Quicken Loans Arena...just beyond which the light towers from Jacobs Field are visible. That's where we (The Wife, The Baby, and I) will be Monday night for the Red Sox vs. Indians.

It's an exciting game for The Wife because she's seeing her Red Sox. It's exciting for The Baby because she's going to be wearing her cute little pink Red Sox outfit, and she's hoping the NESN cameras will find her. For me, that was going to be the exciting part of the night as well, besides seeing the stadium. Wednesday night will be a bobblehead night in Cincinnati - I just felt the American League game was lacking something. Not anymore.

The news came out today that the Red Sox will be recalling Jon Lester for the start on Monday night in his return to the Majors after a battle with cancer. That's a far cry from a Julian Tavarez start. I'm really psyched. I should have realized something was up when earlier in the day I saw that the Southern Bureau had picked up Lester in the fantasy league. I liked watching Lester pitch - I like seeing some of these young guys come up and do well - and by all accounts Lester seems like a good guy to root for. Which I'll be doing in person Monday night.

METS INJURY NEWS: Lots has been happening while the Mets have been out West, thought it was worth catching up on.

Thursday (or maybe it was Wednesday) the Mets signed Marlon Anderson - I forget where he was released from this year - but the former Mets' bench specialist has been getting significant playing time in left field this weekend. Now that I think of it, Anderson might have been released by the Dodgers before the Mets signed him. I could look it up...but I'm on vacation.

Then Jose Valentin fouled a ball off his leg on Friday night, and it turns out the leg is broken. I saw Valentin limp off the field Friday night as I was packing heard the injury news driving across New York state on Saturday. The Mets recalled Anderson Hernandez (Name Game alert - Marlon and Hernandez = Anderson Anderson!), who had been hitting very well recently at Triple-A. Ruben Gotay will still see the majority of time at second base. I hate to say an injury is good news, but Valentin was hurting the Mets by being in the lineup - his knee was really in bad shape, and he said he was playing through the pain to reach an incentive for at-bats in his contract which I think kicked in another year for him. And Willie Randolph kept playing him, even though he was visibly only at 50-60%. So it's nice that now there's no choice in the matter...unfortunately, Valentin might not be back all year.

Finally, from the injury front - about a month until the return of Pedro Martinez*.

OOPS: I don't know what I did to poor Mike Maroth - but he gave up 10 earned runs in his last start for the Cardinals, and he's just been awful since coming over in a trade. I hope he turns it around.