STILL LOSING...

My outlook is a little rosier today, despite the Mets losing again to the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Perhaps because I made it through the day without crashing a car into anything. Perhaps because another issue we had on Tuesday at the House sponsored by DirecTV was resolved. I forgot to mention it on in Tuesday's posting, but the hot water was out. That was fixed early Wednesday. Perhaps it's because I found the old "Umlauts" standings from 1999 between johnnymets, the Southern Bureau, and Justin in NYC.

"Umlauts" was a game whereby you had to throw a CD (usually played with the "Umlauts" CD, so called because it was only identified by a U with umlauts over it) onto a shelf across a hallway. The shelf was divided up into different squares and rectangles, and you earned more points for getting the "Umlaut" to settle into the smaller areas. It was tougher than it sounds, but by the end of the year, we were experts. The game took place at Boston University's radio station, WTBU. The creation of this game, sadly, may have been among our greater accomplishments during our college years. At least I know it was for me. So, since the parents are cleaning out their house during a renovation, all my old stuff is popping up...and the "Umlauts" standings were a recent find. Very exciting. For the record, Justin finished in first place in the standings.

I think the preceding two paragraphs illustrate the point I was going to make tonight. I've just spent two paragraphs talking about a game I made up 8 years ago...I'm afraid that I'm no longer the true blue Mets fan I've always been. Or...I ask the question, what makes a true blue fan? I used to think I was going to lose my status as "#1 Mets Fan in the World" if I missed one pitch during the course of a game, even if it was the late innings of a blowout. Now I'm lucky if I can stay awake past the seventh inning stretch...let alone the first pitch of a west coast game. Worse still, I might not even care when I see the score in the morning whether the Mets won or lost. What does that say about me?

I've become someone who rationalizes losses - if the Mets lose to the Phillies and Cole Hamels is pitching, for example, I say, "Well, if they were going to lose, at least it's to someone on my fantasy team." I didn't even realize until this morning that the rest of the National League East is right back on the Mets' tails because they've won just one game so far this month (although that may serve more as a commentary on my common sense than anything else). And it didn't make me run down to the computer to issue a call to arms on the blog.

I think steroids has a lot to do with this. I think slowly I'm separating myself from what I've been very close to, so that I'm not as disappointed as I might have been when names I've convinced myself were not involved get released as being involved in the scandal. I know fatherhood has been a major part of this, because I look forward to seeing my daughter every day far more than David Wright or Jose Reyes. But her bedtime is 7pm, just in time for the east coast games, and if something else comes up, I'm not as disappointed about missing the game as I once was.

So I'm having a fan identity crisis. Maybe all I need is the Mets to come back East, play at reasonable times, and get back to playing exciting, winning baseball. Maybe that's this weekend when they're playing the Yankees.

All that said, though, it only makes me more confident that the Mets are going to win it all this year. I wanted this blog to be a running record of the season - with Players of the Game following every game, all year long. I've lost that option, because I've missed so many postings. I missed major events of the season such as the emergence of Carlos Gomez, the surprise contributions of Jorge Sosa, and the Endy Chavez injury. So because of that, based on the way things work out for me, this will be the year the Mets win it, and I will only have a partial history recorded. It will have to suffice, but it could have been much more. Does that make me less of a fan? I don't know. I do know that the johnnymets of a year or two ago would have said that it certainly does.

COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: Thanks to everyone who commented on the return posting from Tuesday. The Sister even weighed in! FYI, the 'system' she refers to in her comment is her so-called 'system' for the "New Baseball Pool". I'm convinced she picks a random team each week - she claims to have a 'system'. I know people enjoy leaving comments on the site, but also don't forget that you can e-mail at johnnymetsmail@yahoo.com.

AT LEAST HIS NAME'S NOT DICK: I keep forgetting to mention this, but every so often, the guys in the SNY booth will bring up a certain player from the Chicago Cubs who played in the late 70's, whose name happens to be Pete LaCock. Usually Keith Hernandez instigates it. But they'll allude to him, call him Pete or something, but never mention his full name. This has been happening for about a year, about once every other month...not very often. Last week, they did it again, and Gary Cohen, in what I'm guessing was coming through on an off-air bet that he couldn't say the name and keep it together, came right out and said, in response to Keith's hint at the player, "You're talking about Pete LaCock, right?" Well, they all lost it. And Hernandez goes, "Sorry folks."

I don't know what to make of this. First of all, I laugh every time they hint at his name...it makes me think of my old internship (the same internship for Southern Bureau and Justin in NYC), where the executive producer had LaCock's baseball card prominently posted in the office. But I also cringe, because Hernandez probably got Cohen in trouble for the whole thing. I like to think that Cohen is a little more professional than he gets when Hernandez is around. Again, I'm going to apologize for devaluing Ron Darling when he first came to SNY from Washington. He has been one of the best analysts I've ever seen/heard. I can take or leave Hernandez these days.

BEAT THE STREAK: I'm still playing, haven't really threatened Joe DiMaggio. I'll post this again when I get past 8 games, maybe.

UGH-LY

Phillies 11, Mets 4 (NYM: 71-47, PHI: 58-60)


Blow the Mets out once, good for you. Blow the Mets out twice in a row, shame on them.

The Phillies have now outscored the Mets 24-4 in the first two games of this four-game series, and the Mets are inching dangerously close to being compared to the St. Louis Cardinals - owners of the title "Worst Team to Lead a Division This Late in the Season". The Cardinals, you may remember, have been blown out a bunch of times this year - giving up lots of double-digit run totals, and tallying losing streaks of 8 games a couple of times this year. The Mets aren't there yet - but they're inching closer. Two wins in a row in the final two games of this series will go a long way to helping people forget about these first two games.

The Mets, again, fell victim to their starter getting torched early. Orlando Hernandez gave up four runs in the first, on two homers, and a total of 11 earned runs in 4 innings. The bright side from the pitching perspective? 4 scoreless innings by the bullpen (Pedro Feliciano, Roberto Hernandez, and Aaron Heilman).

The other bright side came on the hitting side. THE GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED, Jose Reyes, was the entire Mets offense. He homered on the first pitch of the game, homered in his second at-bat, was walked, then in his fourth at-bat, hit a 2-run homer, becoming the seventh Met ever to hit 3 homers in a game (among others, Hall of Famer Gary Carter accomplished this feat). Reyes does not need to be swinging for the fences all the time, but it's nice to see him flex his muscles on a night where it really didn't matter what he did - the Mets weren't going to win.

Wednesday night the Mets will turn to Tom Glavine to stop the bleeding - he goes against Jon Lieber.



MAGIC NUMBER: Again, no change. The Mets can still knock four games off the magic number with wins in the final two games of this series. It'd be nice to lower it a little bit before the Mets come back home this weekend.

METS MEDIA: Keith Hernandez was back in the booth Monday, after 10 days off (not sure if that was a vacation, scheduled time for Ron Darling, or some sort of punishment). I'll be honest, I'm not missing him too much when he is gone. I was off-base at the beginning of the year with my critique of Darling, and comparing him to Hernandez. Darling is head and shoulders above Hernandez in the broadcast booth...and I think SNY is starting to realize that.

Don't get me wrong - occasionally, Hernandez has a nugget or two of insight to offer. But Darling is on from the first pitch through the final out. Hernandez gets into a little of the "I'm a bit bored by this" schtick, which I hate. The other thing about Hernandez is that in the past, he was a treat - offering much-needed relief from the team of Ted Robinson and Fran Healy. Now, it's Hernandez who I often need a break from. I think part of my apprehension regarding Darling back in March/April was the fact that he wasn't exciting as part of the Nationals' telecasts last year. In retrospect, the Nationals weren't exciting to watch, and that's going to wear on a broadcaster. Also, who knows if Darling had an inkling that at the end of the year, he'd be going back to New York, to work on the Mets' new station? That could be a distraction as well. Either way, I'm glad he's on SNY, and I hope he's the voice of the Mets for as long as David Wright and Jose Reyes are manning the left side of the infield.

MY UPCOMING WEEKEND: This weekend is the one I've been waiting for for about 4 months now - Saturday morning I'll have my fantasy football draft, and then I'll be going to the Mets game that night. The Mets are playing the Rockies, but the important part is the before-the-game ceremony that will honor the 1986 Mets - a 20th anniversary reunion. I received my 20th anniversary shirt from the game my parents attended (thanks mom and dad!), so I'll be wearing that, and I'll be getting a 1986 pack of TOPPS baseball cards (thanks, Hyundai!).

The only thing I don't understand is why this is happening against the Rockies. There are 81 home games in a season - the Mets couldn't pick a game against a team that actually existed 20 years ago? Maybe the Astros, who they beat in the playoffs? I'd like an explainer on that. Supposedly the seats my dad and I will be in aren't too good - but I'll try to have some pictures, especially of a certain Hall of Fame catcher.

THE KID'S KIDS: Daytona lost, but St. Lucie also lost, so no change in the standings - the Mets are still a half-game back. Palm Beach also lost, so they stay a game behind St. Lucie.

ALFONZO'S COMEBACK: A 1-0 win by Norfolk - they only had one hit off Ryan Vogelsong, but it was a Chris Basak homer, the only hit the Tides would need. Edgardo Alfonzo did not play, but Brian Bannister pitched 8 innings for the Tides, giving up just 3 hits, and striking out 7. Quite a turnaround from his last outing.

The Mets pulled out the win last night, thanks to a bad play by Nationals pitcher Gary Majewski. But it looks like they're headed for a split with the Nationals, with the Nats leading 6-1 in the 7th. I didn't see much of Tuesday night's game either...here's the deal. Tuesdays in the spring are tough, because the wife watches "American Idol". So we TiVo it, but she has to watch it eventually. Tonight, I'm cutting my losses, and she's watching it now, while the Mets are down by 5 late.

Tomorrow night she'll probably watch the results on another TV, so that works out well....although I suppose I could always use that other TV....

Anyway, I would've counted the Mets winning tonight as a bonus. This was Brian Bannister's next scheduled start, and since he's on the DL, the Mets called up John Maine to make the start. As far as I can tell, Maine did OK. (Ooh - I was just looking for some numbers from the game, and I saw on espn.com that Willie Randolph was ejected.)

OK - now some play-by-play on the ejection. (God bless TiVo.) So David Wright got called out on strikes on a low strike three (but not an awful pitch...and the announcers said the low strike was being called a strike all game). So Wright goes back to the bench, and there may have been some jawing going on from the bench. And the home plate umpire (Jeff Nelson) keeps looking back at the dugout. You could hear the Mets bench calling out "Watch the game, watch the game", telling Nelson to stop looking back at them, and Nelson ran Randolph. Ron Darling, analyst on SNY tonight, said that's what irks managers - when umpires pick fights by not letting something go, and following a player to a dugout, or looking for a fight. Nelson didn't physically follow Wright to the dugout, but a pitch had been thrown to Cliff Floyd in the next at-bat when he turned his attention back to the dugout.

Anyway, a little fire out of the Mets in what appears to be a losing cause. Maine gave up 4 ER in 5 and a third, but he struck out 6. That's notable because he's not a strikeout guy, from what I've heard. Mike O'Connor of the Nationals held the Mets to 2 hits (one a homer by Paul LoDuca) - apparently their offense was frustrated.

Here's a good note from the game - Carlos Beltran* stole third base. It appears it might have been as part of a double steal...but he had said we'll know his hamstring was feeling better when he starts running. I'm taking the steal as a good sign.

I have a feeling the Mets offense gets going again tomorrow night, when Pittsburgh comes to town for 2. That's why David Wright will be my Beat the Streak person....Jose Reyes doesn't have a hit yet tonight, I don't know if he'll be up again.

THE KID'S KIDS: No word on Tuesday night's game against Palm Beach, but the Mets beat Brevard County Monday night, 1-0, behind Cuban Alay Soler. He's now 2-0, with a 1.64 ERA. (He'll probably be put up in AA soon.) St. Lucie is now 15-9, one game back of first, one-half game ahead of third. OK - I swear I just read this after I wrote about Monday night's game...there's no way I can prove it, you'll have to believe me. I read just now on the Mets official website that the Mets promoted Soler to Double A.

MINOR LEAGUES: Also of note Tuesday night: Boof Bonser started against Norfolk, the Mets' Triple A affiliate, in Norfolk. (It must be noted here that Norfolk has been just awful so far this year.) Bonser didn't get a decision but went 7 innings, giving up just 2 hits and walking one, with one ER. He also struck out 7. The Twins have to be noticing Bonser and his 1.47 ERA. They have some awful pitching right now, and I would have to think he'd make his Major League debut soon. He's not some minor league retread - he's only 24 - we might be onto something here.

FANTASY NOTES: The much-anticipated "What if Sports" season starts on Thursday, May 4th. You better believe I'll keep you updated on how those Mets do.

UP NEXT: Pedro Martinez* looks to improve to 6-0 (en route to a potential 29-0) when he starts Wednesday night at home against Pittsburgh.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TEAM!

Good news, as far as I'm concerned, from mets.com Sunday. There was a big article about Cliff Floyd, and how he's convinced he will be hitting sixth this season. The reasoning: Carlos Delgado is hitting fourth, in the cleanup spot. That's pretty much as definite as things get this season. Floyd says Randolph won't hit the two lefties in a row, so that eliminates the third and fifth spots in the order, and Floyd says he definitely isn't hitting second. So he's hitting sixth. The big deal, though, is that it isn't a big deal.

I have seen a lot of maturity out of Floyd in his years with the Mets. It's not that he was ever a selfish player - I've always liked him. But he was injury-plagued, and the Mets had some very unsuccessful seasons during his tenure, so he had nothing to pursue but individual accomplishments. Last year, during the first half of the season, Floyd carried this team...and he did it because he sensed they could do special things. Now, he knows this season can be even more special...and I think he knows that his time is running short. So Floyd (and, it seems, everyone else on the team) is really playing up the "if we're going to win a championship, we're going to do it as a team". He says even though he was the cleanup guy last year, he will hit sixth if that's what it's going to take for the team to win. The "we" and "team" aspects of the article on mets.com were very good to see - and the number of players who feel this way is also very encouraging. I think a big clubhouse guy this year is going to be Julio Franco - and I think his influence is already starting to show in the way the Mets are acting.

2B UPDATE: Jeff Keppinger will be in New York Monday to have his back checked. He apparently tweaked it doing some jumping exercises...I may have to take back what I said about Keppinger taking over 2B for the Mets. This injury, combined with Kaz Matsui's conditioning really point towards Matsui winning back his job.

WBC: I was looking for some information on the World Baseball Classic today, and found the World Baseball Classic Website. It's pretty thorough, and looking through that website a bit will get you psyched for the tournament. It starts Thursday, by the way, with games in Japan. I figured out why it hasn't been talked up that much here yet (at least the games - the players who won't be playing have certainly been talked about plenty) - it's because there are opening round games in Japan, then North America. From what I can tell, the Japanese games start first, so that by the time the North American games end, the teams that come out of Japan will be able to travel, and won't be at a disadvantage when they have to head this way. The North American games, by the way, start a week from Tuesday - around March 7th.

'86 METS ROUNDUP: A couple of bits of information here - I was driving back from upstate New York early Sunday morning, and caught some WFAN programming. I was listening to a little of Ed Randall's 'Talking Baseball', live from Shea Stadium with members of the 1986 Mets (who were greeting fans buying tickets at Shea). Unfortunately, I could only hear one complete interview, but it was a good one. I heard Ron Darling talk about a few things - among them growing up a Red Sox fan, and his experience the night of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series (a good story, which I will relate in a future '86 Mets roundup). And I have to apologize - the other day I wrote that Ron Darling wasn't as good an analyst as Keith Hernandez. He's a captivating speaker, at least he was on the radio Sunday morning. And I thought about his work for the Nationals, and I am realizing that the Nationals played a very boring brand of baseball. So I'm not going to hold that against him. I'm looking forward to Darling's analysis this season.

Also in '86 Mets news: Darryl Strawberry will be at the Mets' Spring Training Complex all next week in many different capacities. Strawberry is apparently a huge draw still for fans and for players. He will serve as an advisor for players, and a P.R. draw for the rest of the organization.

SNY UPDATE: I am working very hard to make sure that the Mets' new network, Sports Net New York, is going to be carried on DirecTV. I've been looking forward to this Mets' new network ever since I got the dish, and I would be heartbroken if they don't end up carrying the network. This week, time permitting, I am also going to step up a new effort: I want to be the official blog of SNY. Think about it - I can link to their website - they can link to mine! (I might benefit from that relationship a little more than them, but still....) This has some very good potential. I went looking for some information about the new network, and I will say this - right now my website is in much better shape than theirs. But that means nothing - I still want this partnership to work!

No news out of the Mets' first spring workout, which took place Thursday morning at 9 o'clock. No news is definitely good news - we don't need to be hearing about injuries or camp mishaps on Day 1.

That said, I'll spend a little bit of time today talking about the future of the Mets.

2B Anderson Hernandez and OF Lastings Milledge are the two big Mets prospects to keep an eye on this year. Both seem to have made it through the off-season without being traded (though I wouldn't put it past Omar Minaya to trade Milledge for whatever pitchers might become available...I hope he doesn't). Both Hernandez and Milledge will be in Triple-A this season. (Milledge has yet to make it to the majors, Hernandez was 1-for-18 in his September call-up last year - but is better known for his fielding.) But I'm thinking ahead - to 2007. Cliff Floyd is playing his last season under his current contract. Negotiations with the Mets won't happen until after this season. But if Floyd doesn't re-up with the Mets, Milledge could get his shot in 2007. And the big question mark at second base could be filled by Hernandez in 2007 (providing Jeff Keppinger doesn't take it over this year and not give it up). Point is, the Mets, offensively and defensively, could be set for quite a while, considering the relative youth at all the other positions (Wright, Reyes, Beltran*, Nady/Diaz) - only Carlos Delgado and Paul LoDuca are on the wrong side of 30.

BUT - I'm not sure the Mets are built for too far into the future - because their pitching staff is getting very old. The trades of Jae Seo and Kris Benson really hurt this year's depth in the rotation, but did some damage to the rotation of the future as well. It's realistic to think that Victor Zambrano and Aaron Heilman could be around for a while, but Pedro Martinez*, Tom Glavine, and Steve Trachsel are all up there in age (35, 40, 36 this season), and could contribute MAYBE one more season after this one (depending on how successful even this year is). Billy Wagner, even, is on a 4-year-deal, which will be his last one in the majors, he says. And the rest of the bullpen isn't the greatest in baseball this year - let alone in years to come - but more on that as spring training progresses.

There's not much help in the minors - the number one pitching prospect, Yusmeiro Petit, was traded to the Marlins in the Delgado deal, and none of the other minor leaguers are sure-fire prospects. So that's one area the Mets really need to work on. There's plenty of hope for a championship the way the team is constituted this year...but I'm looking for more than just one year of glory. And for that to happen, the Mets are going to need to bolster certain areas. The good news is, the core is there - some pieces are in place - but there's lots to go to make this a team to dominate for years to come.

PEDRO'S TOE: It seems like Pedro* will not pitch in the first round of the World Baseball Classic. I had mentioned that I didn't think the toe was that big a deal, in other words - it wouldn't cost Pedro* time with the Mets, and it wouldn't stop him from being effective this year. I still believe that. But I also mentioned I think it's Pedro*'s way (along with the Mets) of not having to do something extra-curricular, i.e. the World Baseball Classic. He doesn't like stuff like that. But I do think he really does want to pitch for his country - so I think Pedro* and the Mets are reaching a compromise, where Pedro* will pitch later in the Classic, when he works up his arm strength, and when he would be more intense during spring training anyway. I think that's where we're headed, and I'm thrilled about it - because I could easily see the Mets' hopes for 2006 going down the drain with a Pedro Martinez* injury from the World Baseball Classic.

FIGHTING WORDS: Andruw Jones told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he isn't worried about other teams (i.e. the Mets) unseating the Braves atop the NL East. He says every year they hear about different teams coming in ready to take over the division, and they never do it (citing the Mets last year and the Phillies the year before). He says the Braves have been there each and every year, and know what to expect, and know how to win, and the other teams are still learning how. He's right of course...but the Mets can use that as bulletin board fodder.

Another interesting point, Braves-related: Julio Franco talked the other day about how the Braves don't get up for any particular opponent. They treat every game the same, no matter what uniform the other team is wearing. This would be well-received advice, if he shares it with his new Mets teammates. The Mets tend to get a little more riled for games with the Braves, though those games have met with very limited success in recent years.

UNBELIEVABLE: I'm still on my mission to stop this word from being so overused. I've written about it before, both here and on johnnyjets.blogspot.com. It's especially overused in the sports domain, mostly by broadcasters. It's a crutch, when there's nothing else to say, to throw this word in to describe an event. (I've noticed it a heck of a lot in the Winter Olympics - especially in those sports where very new people are being used to broadcast - i.e. A.J. Mleczko doing women's hockey - she described everything that happened as "unbelievable"...and certain people as "unbelievable talents". They're in the Olympics - I believe they are talented.)

Anyway, it bothers me, and I'm hoping the Mets' new sports network, which I know monitors this site, will make sure their broadcasters avoid overusing the word (I must say, baseball is the sport where the word is used the least - football is the more guilty culprit). Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez are the new color men, and I'm sure Hernandez won't be using the word - he's been awesome when he's done Mets games. Darling I'm not so sure about - he was doing Washington Nationals telecasts last season, and while his analysis was good, he wasn't very exciting to listen to - I can see him slipping into "unbelievable" territory this season. I'm going to be watching for the overuse of "unbelievable" this year - and hopefully eliminate it from my own vocabulary - unless something truly "unbelievable" happens. (In case you're wondering what would be a proper use of "unbelievable", I mentioned the Cardinals' comeback/Albert Pujols' home run in the Game 5 of last year's NLCS. That is a truly "unbelievable" event - because no one saw it coming. We need to save the word for those types of situations!)

'86 METS ROUNDUP: In the season's first installment of the '86 Mets Roundup, Darling, Sid Fernandez, Howard Johnson, Tim Tuefel, and Mookie Wilson will all be at Shea Stadium Sunday morning at 9am, when individual game tickets go on sale.

ONE MORE THING: This afternoon I was watching some of the NFL Network's coverage of this weekend's scouting combine (more on that here), and I was thinking that if there was an MLB Network, I would never change the channel. Imagine - coverage of all the different spring training sites this time of year....non-stop coverage of the hot stove...classic baseball games to fill the gaps...get going on this Bud Selig!