Steel City Inspiration – Mr. Metsmerized Has Resurfaced
I’ve regretfully been absent from the blog-o-sphere for nearly two full years. There was a time during the 2008 and 2009 MLB seasons when I was burning up the keyboard with rant after rant, but like the baseball club I love dearly, I fell into the deep abyss.
Thankfully those days are behind us all now. And as the Mets have resurfaced, so have my spirits and my desire to share my thoughts on the world-wide web.
Also, to be honest, life has settled down a bit, too. I’m engaged to a wonderful woman (Yes, she’s a Mets fan, anything less would be unacceptable) and I’m in a good spot in my professional career.
So, put that all together and add a quick trip to Pittsburgh and it yields this blog post.
I’ll get into more of what I witnessed in the Steel City later this week (let’s just say I like what I see from TC and Scott Hairston is not one of my biggest fans). For now, I am just going to take a few deep breaths in an attempt to shake off this tough 3-1 Monday night loss to the Buccos.
I had thought I’d seen some strange umpiring in this series live-and-in-person on Saturday and Sunday, but what I saw on the tube back home on Monday night topped it all.
No, Reyes did not obstruct the baserunner in the 1st inning, and yes, his “sac fly” was trapped. Unfortunately, the Men In Blue saw it the opposite way and their erroneous calls made the Mets pay.
Silver Lining for September?
There hasn’t been much to talk about concerning the Mets the past couple months. Unless, of course, you fancy bizarre injuries, poor play, and even more bizarre behavior by the team’s front office.
As I pinch myself daily, still hoping that this summer of baseball may be some evil dream, I’m hoping for a bit of silver lining during September.
Notching their first win of the month, the Mets avoided the sweep in Colorado Thursday afternoon. All eight starting position players hit safely with five of those players enjoying multiple-hit performances. NYM-COL Boxscore
Angel Pagan (3), David Wright (3), who was back to wearing a standard batting helmet, Anderson Hernandez (2), and Daniel Murphy (2) were all part of the multiple hit parade, but the silver lining lies with Josh Thole.
Thole, a 22-year-old catcher, made his MLB debut at Coors Field where he caught winning pitcher Pat Misch and belted two hits (1B, 2B) to go along with a stolen base. The only blemish was a rather harmless passed ball.
If memory serves you well, you’ll remember that back on August 14 this very blog was clamoring for Thole’s immediate call-up for the Mets’ imminent homestand. It took Mets’ brass until expanded rosters were permitted in September, but at least they listened.
At that point in mid-August, Thole was batting .331 at Class AA Binghamton where he finished the minor league season with a .328 overall average. The left-handed hitting catcher was equally productive (.328) against both lefties and righties. Thole’s MILB Stats
Unfortunately, due to Omar Minaya’s reckless reign over the organization’s depleted farm system, the Mets don’t have another Thole or two to bring up for the remainder of the season.
Angel in Outfield Come 2010?: Angel Pagan put together another three-hit day on Thursday in Colorado. The switch-hitting Pagan continues to prove he deserves a roster spot next season. The 28-year-old outfielder has batted .303 with 27 extra-base hits through 234 at-bats this season.
Unfortunately, he’s been putting up those numbers in what are essentially meaningless games, but he deserves the chance to in real games next April.
No, he shouldn’t be the starting leftfielder come 2010. Yes, he would make for a better reserve outfielder than most teams have.
If you’ll remember back to April 2008, following a blistering Spring Training, Pagan made the final 25-man roster and made some big plays before a season-ending injury. His MLB record dates back to 2006 when he played 77 games for the Cubs followed by another 71 the following year. Through 240 career games, he’s a .275 hitter.
Send Minaya Packing, But Keep Sheff Cooking
I never been a huge fan of sports writer Larry Brooks (I think it has something to do with his eerie headshot), but I can only hope he Mets brass read his column in Wednesday’s New York Post.
In terms of Gary Sheffield, Brooks offers a dead-on assessment.
I still don’t understand why the Mets would throw him back on waivers without the possibility of receiving anything in return via trade.
Leave him in the lineup and give those season ticket holders, who were slapped with a huge price hike and are now being undercut by more Mets greed, something to watch for the rest of the season.
Better yet, keep him in a Mets uniform for the rest of 2009 and 2010 as well.
Even at the ripe age of 40, the man can flat out hit.
Did you see him Wednesday night?
Look back at the fourth inning when the Mets pounded Derek Lowe for a club record 10 hits. It was quite an accomplishment for a depleted lineup, and definitely stands as one of the Mets top moments in a season overflowing with disappointment and dead dreams.
So there we were on a humid night at Citi Field, finally with something to cheer about, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Sheffield.
It wasn’t quite Fernando Tatis in 1999, but Sheffield belted two RBI doubles in the same inning. There have been days, way too many, when the Mets haven’t gotten an extra-base hit. This man hit two in the same frame.
Although magical Met moments have been few and far between, Sheffield seems somewhat responsible for a healthy number of them.
I still have felt Citi Field come close to rockin’, but there was no better buzz in mid-April when the Mets season still meant something. It was the first Friday night affair at Citi Field and the 2008 NL Wild Card Winner Brewers were in town.
The Mets trailed 4-3 in the seventh when Sheffield swatted a majestic game-tying home run down the left field line for Career Long Ball No. 500.
The building erupted and would only get louder, when Luis Castillo delivered the game-winning run via a walk-off infield single in the ninth.
Also, don’t forget Sheffield’s the bombs he launched on back-to-back days at Yankee Stadium. He homered in the Mets’ four-run fifth inning of what will always be known as the dropped pop game. Then, one day later, Sheffield went deep in the seventh inning of the Mets 6-2 victory over the Yankees, their only victory in six tries this season over the Evil Empire.
Yes, he struggles to walk up to the plate at times, but his bat speed hasn’t suffered one bit and the ball still explodes off his bat. He hasn’t played an awful outfield either considering his hamstring problems.
Yes, it’s risky to bank on a 41-year-old-to-be, but you wouldn’t be banking on him to be a savior, something he has no interest in trying to be at this point in his career.
Instead, you would be asking him to be the tough, clutch bench player he can be and every championship team needs.
You’d be silly not to give this guy a contract for 2010. But then again, they’re the Mets.
Click Here to read Brooks’ Column
We’re Slumping too: It’s just more evidence that interest in the Mets is waning as this season from Hell winds down. Mr. Mets-merized received nearly 1700 hits between Opening Day and the All-Star Break. But with our new hit counter, which we installed mid-July we had yet to break 100 hits as of the morning of August 19, but then again we haven’t exactly been breaking any records for posting frequency. Just as it has you, the season has taken a toll, but we aren’t going away just yet. So please continue to visit and share your thoughts on the Mets and MLB. Always Believe.
More of Same Missteps for Mets
They were two games playoff teams win. Two games that a team on the outer brink of the wild card race absolutely must win.
The Mets incurred tough defeats each of the past two nights at Citi Field, failing to complete a four-game sweep of the Rockies and dropping the series opener against Arizona.
The downturn follows a five-game win streak that had the Citi Field Faithful believin’, even if it were only a bit, once again.
It appeared the magic was back in the seventh inning last night when David Wright sent Doug Davis’ 3-2 offering deep into the left field seats to tie the game at 2-2.
More magic struck in the top of the eighth inning. After the Diamondbacks loaded the bases with none out, Daniel Murphy started a stunning double play that cut down a run at the plate.
It looked as if the Mets would dodge a bullet and move onto the bottom half of the eighth inning unscathed with a chance to win, but all that good feeling would not last another pitch as Sean Green’s next bounced back to the back stop.
The result was more disappointment in a season of disappointment. Yet another missed opportunity with the clock ticking down.
Jose Where You Be?: Mets shortstop Jose Reyes has been said to have suffered another setback in his y rehabilitation. Click here to read the story from MLB.com and are you really surprised?
Did Niese Spark Miracle in Making?
Jon Niese got it all started on a rather pedestrian Saturday in Houston.
Now it’s up to the young southpaw to keep it rolling.
The Mets won their fifth straight on Thursday afternoon, something that looked like an improbable task only days ago, behind a five-run second inning and seven scoreless frames from ace Johan Santana.
With traditional doubleheaders facing extinction, the Mets will go at it again on Thursday night as they make up Wednesday night’s rainout.
For the first time this homestand, I will not attend Citi Field, but hopefully that interfere with the team’s plans to complete the four-game sweep of Colorado.
The Rockies are a prime example of why this season is far from over.
Colorado was 20-32 following a loss to Houston on June 3. Clint Hurdle, who had taken them to the World Series in 2007 (on the heels of a miracle stretch run), was shown the door.
The Rockies responded by reeling off 17 wins in 18 games from June 4-22. And as you’ve seen the past few days, they did it with a rather modest lineup and solid to mediocre pitching.
A run half that magnitude put the Mets right back into the middle of the wild card race.
It’s been 40 years since 1969. Another miracle in the making?
It would certainly help if Niese can make it six in a row tonight.
Nice to See Niese
Great moments have been few and far between for the Mets in September. Not much to remember during the year’s ninth month, unless you fancy dreadful baseball.
Although there were those two hours and 24 minutes last September 13, the second half of the final doubleheader in Shea Stadium history, that Jon Niese definitely sees worth remembering.
The young southpaw struck out seven Braves over 8.0 innings of shutout ball to earn a 5-0 victory. Click Here for MLB.com Game Recap (9/13/08)
Niese will get another major league start tonight, and thankfully so.
He has experienced his trials and tribulations, but what 22-year old hasn’t, especially in this humbling game.
After losing the fifth starter spot to Livan Hernandez, Niese went down to Buffalo logged an 0-4 record through his first seven starts spanning April and May. After an 8.44 ERA in the season’s first month followed by a 7.47 mark in May, Niese has that number down to 3.82 and his win-loss tally up to 5-6.
The bottom line is he is lefty. He has a 90-92 mph fastball and a solid hook. The Mets don’t have much in terms of young capable personnel thriving in the minors, but it is time to see exactly what they’ve got.
Play Niese. Play Evans. Play Wilmer Flores even. They aren’t exactly the reinforcements we have been waiting for, but the results they produce can’t be any worse than what’s been happening lately.
Click Here for Jon Niese MILB Profile
Mets Fall to New Low in Nation’s Capital
The Nationals were 40 games under the .500 mark until Tuesday night. Long Island born lefty John Lannan mowed down Met after Met to give the Nationals their 27th win in 93 games this season.
Being shut out for the fifth time in the last two weeks, this time by the lowly Nationals, a club that owns baseball’s worst win percentage (.290), the Mets dropped to a new low, both metaphorically and literally.
The Very Un-Amazin’s now trail the Phillies, who outlasted the Cubs in 13 innings Tuesday night, by a season-high 10 games in the NL East standings.
The Mets are officially a mess, and besides a few talented, hard-working individuals, they really don’t give their fans much reason to watch.
For some reason, I’m still subjecting myself to the torture. I haven’t stopped watching, game after game, fundamental mistake after fundamental mistake, embarrassing loss after embarrassing loss.
Even one of the loyalist of fans, I’ve been tempted to tune out on the season out of sheer disgust for the club’s mismanagement and its failure to produce a competitive product despite carrying the NL’s highest payroll.
This isn’t good news for the Wilpon’s, who have already been taken to the cleaners by one Bernard Madoff. Unfortunately, this embarrassment of an ownership group stands to lose more money when fans stop coming to the ballpark for their sub-par product.
Usual Suspect Sinks Mets, Season Slippng Away
The Mets will play October baseball simply because their regular season schedule doesn’t end until then.
But the team has given no reason for one to think it will, or even can, make a miraculous run into the postseason.
The very un-amazin’ Mets sit 7.5 games back of the surging Phillies after Bobby Cox and Chipper Jones had their way with Jerry Manuel’s Mess last night.
Another loss in which they failed to score more than three runs. Another game that they could have won, but didn’t.
It’s becoming more and more likely that the Wilpons won’t even get their “meaning September games” this year. You always have to wonder if we’ll ever win when ownership’s goal was to just be in the race when the season’s final month rolled around.
Way to shoot for the stars.
I guess aiming for a championship is a bit too ambitious for the club that carries the NL’s highest payroll.
Omar Minaya has had the luxury of spending more than any of his NL counterparts in each of the past three seasons yet he will likely have not one postseason appearance to show for it.
If the Wilpon’s were good owners, or simply good business people, (remember this is all hypothetical), then Minaya would be on the unemployment come October.
Francoeur Brings New Face to Fading Mets
The only thing a Met fan needs to know about Jeff Francoeur is the newly-acquired outfielder posted back-to-back 100+ RBI seasons before the age of 24.
You’ll get no complaints about Ryan Church here. He was a solid gap hitter and above average defender, but the 30-year old outfielder’s career high for runs batted in stands at 70 (2007).
Maybe Francoeur can return to his earlier run-producing form, but unfortunately I don’t think he’s bringing an AED along with him.
As the Mets’ season stands at near death, only time will tell if adding one new live body will make any difference.
Click Here for Francoeur MLB Profile … Click Here for Church MLB Profile
Hoping for History
I hope I’m worng, but I may have witnessed the death of a ball club Thursday night at Citi Field. The Mets were decked, 11-2, by the Dodgers to fall 5.5 games back of first-place Philadelphia.
They squandered yet another chance to win a series, something they’ve done once in their last nine tries.
And they just weren’t defeated, they were destroyed … rocked, something that has been happening all too often of late.
It seemed to start more than one month ago in Pittsburgh. After having lost two games to the bumbling Buccos, the Mets surrendered 11 runs, nine of which were charged to Mike Pelfrey, and were swept away by a franchise which has finished below .500 in every single season since 1992.
I’ll point back to a radio interview I heard back in April when Milwaukee avoided the sweep by stealing the finale from the Mets, 4-2.
The Brewers entered their three-game set with the Mets at 3-6 before dropping a pair of one-run decisions to the Amazin’s (probably two of the best wins the Mets have had all season – a 5-4 comeback sparked by Sheffield’s 500th and a 1-0 Santana-Gallardo duel).
Fortunately for the Brew Crew, reliever Todd Coffey stepped up on Sunday to snuff out a huge Mets rally and allow just two hits over 2.2 innings for the save.
In his post-game chat with WFAN’s Eddie C, Coffey said he wasn’t worried about the Brewers record because they were competitive in each of their losses and have what it takes to turn it around.
Once 3-8, the Brewers sit at 44-41 and that is despite a season-ending injury to starting second baseman Rickie Weeks who played in only 37 games.
That brings us to the Mets.
They haven’t even been close in an alarming number of their losses and their last three wins have all been dogfights decided by one run.
There is no reason to think that will change either. This team is lucky to win at all, never mind win easy.
Yes, they are only 5.5 games out. But they are also one nightmarish week away from being 10 out.
It’s very conceivable for the Mets to go 1-6 over the same seven-game span during which the Phillies go 6-1.
I’ve seen this game do too many funny things during my short life.
I’ve heard stories about the 1973 Mets emerging from the ashes and stealing the NL East title with an 82-79 record. That team went onto beat the Reds, 3-2, in the NLCS before falling in seven games to Oakland in the Classic.
I was in Shea Stadium when Yadier Molina’s ball fell into the visitor’s bullpen and tthe 83-win Cardinals went onto the World Series with none other than Jeff Suppan winning NLCS MVP.
Stunned and disappointed (still to this day), I witnessed first hand anything can happen in this game.
In fact, every single one of the Mets great moments is proof of that – the Miracle Mets of ’69, the Buckner Play, the Game 7 comeback, Todd Pratt hitting it over the fence, Bobby J. Jones one-hitting the Giants to clinch the 2000 NLDS.
Who would’ve ever predicted that?
Who now would ever predict given the state of the Mets today that this club will even sniff something called a pennant race this summer.
It’s gonna take a whole lotta magic, luck, and fundamental play, but maybe this team will make for a happy ending (in spite of the Wilpon’s and Omar’s mismanagement).
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