Fun 'N Games

I'm Baaaaack! And so are the Mets, well, at least for now that is.
Mets open up a can on the Braves for a 3 game sweep
at Atlanta. Braves are now sitting 7.5 games back
and hopefully we have ruined their season as they
have done to us so many times before. Lot's of
positives from the sweep.

1. Pelfry winning a game.
2. Pelfry nailing Franceour. (who acted like a little
bitch about it)
3. Beating Hudson AND Smoltz in the same series.
4. Return of the long ball.

Also coming back is Pedro Martinez today against the Reds. Braves and Phils beat on each other for the next 3 games.

Getting Back

The Lone (Relocating) Met Fan is back for a quick update to let you know that Denver traffic sucks as bad as Mota and Heilman. You would think that Mota and Heilman is a fine wine of some repute. Turns out it's the new flavor of Tums I bought at the store after watching them stink it up this past weekend. They are both my daily douche bags for the last 2 days, but unfortunately, I do not have access to my pics to update so Tony L and his love brigade will stay there for a while longer.

Under Construction

The Lone Met Fan is currently the Lone Relocating Met Fan. Heading to Denver this week, moving the next, posting with more consistency after that.

2nd Verse, Same As The First

The Mets began the 2nd half of the season much the same way it began....leaving runners on base. Going for some insurance runs late in the game, the Mets had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out, and failed to score a run. Somewhere Rick Down is chuckling. Ah yes, Mr. Down. Yesterday, hitting coach. Today; scape goat. Minaya had to shake something up and releasing 68 yr old Julio Franco wasn't going to be enough. Of all the coaches, Down was the most fireable. Keith Hernandez had a 6 inning diatribe on hitting coaches, but for time's sake, I'll give you the short version. The hitting coach has little to no influence on hitters. There, that was easy wasn't it Keith?

Any win is a good win, and it's always good to start the 2nd half off positively. El Duque looked decent, Reyes played with hustle, and the Mets still suck at hitting. "Fitty Cent" Milledge made his return last night in what I think is a showcase of his talents for a trade by the end of this month. Milledge hit the ball hard and scored from first on a single (!). Franco would just NOW be rounding 2nd.

Mid-Season Time

All-Star break is here, and not a moment to soon for many of the 40+ year old Mets. Glavine, Franco, Alomar Jr.(!), et al really could use the time off for cortisone shots in their hips and other arthritic joints. It's been a weird first half for the boys in blue and orange, one in which I really, really want to label as "disappointing". But, if I were to just look at the standings without having seen a game this year and saw that we are 2 games up on the Braves, and 4.5 up on Philly, disappointing probably would not come to mind. In fact, I might actually be excited. The Braves were almost a no-brainer to be improved over last year, and the Phils are always a dangerous offensive team. Instead, I HAVE watched 95% of all the Mets' games this year and can't get over the fact of how poorly we've played since June 1st. This team has too many offensive parts to be hitting as poorly as they are. Del Gado Del-Sucks ass so far, Beltran is way behind last years production, David Wright didn't start hitting until late May, and Moist Alou hasn't been seen since he was put on the 15 day DL almost 2 months ago.

Now, let's look at this another way. Injuries have certainly hindered this team. No Pedro Martinez. No Alou. Endy Chavez has been out for a while now. Shawn Green went on the DL for the first time ever. Alou's replacement's replacement, Carlos Gomez is on the DL as well. Now we have Jorge Sosa and Oliver Perez out as well. Beltran even missed some time with injuries and probably SHOULD HAVE gone on the DL. Jose Valentin missed more than a month as well. So, the 1st half grade should probably be "Incomplete" rather than disappointing.

Bright spots:

John Maine. 10 wins in the first half of the year. Has become the new ace of this staff. Crime that he is not on the All-Star Team.

Damion Easley. Omar Minaya looks like a genius for this pick up. Valentin went down early with a tweaked knee and Easley has stepped in and provided decent defense and needed power.

Oliver Perez. This is not the same Ollie that went 0-85 last year. He has shut down the Braves 3 times and the Yanks twice.

Not so bright spots:

Injuries. The Mets got rid of Cliff Floyd because he was a 35 yr. old, cranky kneed, cranky achilles tendon having injury risk. The Mets answer for right field this year was Moist Alou. A 41 year old cranky kneed, cranky quad, cranky hip, cranky ankle, cranky elbowed, injury risk. Omar Minaya looks like a jackass for this one. (Not to mention the "pissed on hands")

Tom Glavine. Why the Mets were counting on him as anything other than a back end of the rotation guy is beyond me. Yes, it's swell he'll get his 300th win in a Met uni, but really, who gives a crap? Is this someone we want pitching or us in the post season? He can't get his change up over for strikes on a consistent basis making his 81 mph "fastball" that much more hittable.

Bullpen. Supposed to be a strength coming into the year, but is the most glaring weakness. How do you think Colorado felt watching Mota come in for Glavine, Schoenewies coming in for Mota, and Aaron Sele coming in for Schoenewies? My sons 7-9 year old team would love that pitching lineup, yet the Mets are throwing these guys out on the Major League level. Any trading to be done by the 31st HAS to address this problem.

All in all, it's been a crazy first half. The only other thing I can think of is that the Mets are following the Card's blueprint from last year:

1. Play uninspired, barely .500 baseball all year. (check. for the first half.)
2. Fall ass backward into the playoffs by playing in the crappiest division in the NL. (Check.)
3. Pray that we play the worst of the division winners in the first round of the playoffs. In this case that will be the Brewers. (To be determined)
4. Pray that the best team in the NL all year, in this case the Dodgers, has 4/5's of it's starting rotation on the DL at time of NLCS. (To be determined)
5. After squeaking by in the NLCS and advancing to the World Series, pray that the opposing team's pitchers suddenly forget how to field a ground ball and throw to any base with anything that resembles accuracy. (To be determined)

Mets have 2 of the 5 steps nailed. Just need the last 3 to fall into place to be this years "Tardinals".

PS Thank You Lord for keeping David Wright out of the HomeRun Derby.

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Hopefully the "Jason Vargas Experiment" is over. The Colorado Rockies went LAPD on him last night in an 11-3 beatdown. Rodney King even thought it was excessive. Those types of ass kickings are usually reserved for The Cardinal Fan and a cat. Vargas "earned" the start after The Cardinal Fan put Ollie on the DL and instead of walking to a pitchers mound at Coors Field, he wandered into an abandoned underground basement into Fight Club 2: The Revenge of Tyler Durden. Maybe the Mets can swing a trade for Anthony Reyes, I hear he's not busy these days. How bad did Vargas pitch do you ask? He gave up 5 hits to Kaz Matsui bad. KAZ MATSUI!!

Luckily for the Mets, they play in the worst division in baseball. After another 3 game losing streak, they still hold a 4 game advantage over the Scareds and the Cheesesteaks stay 5 behind after both lost as well last night.

El Duque and The Fogg go at it tonight as the Mets try and avoid a sweep. (To the Rockies?)

Quiz

What do you get when you cross A. a rooster B. Lance Bass? The Cardinal Fan should nail this one. Anyway, the end result of crossing those two is Heilman and Glavine who have single handedly lost the last 2 games for the Mets. Heilman came in late to Sunday's Philly game and got slapped around for 2 runs after the Mets had tied it up, including a bomb from everyone's enemy (seriously, why do Mets fans hate this guy?) Jimmy Rollins. I had an awesome post all ready to go just as soon as the final out was made but it was not to be. I shouldn't count my posts before they hatch.......or something like that. Heilman's act is growing tired and is coming close to replacing Schoeneweis as "Met most likely to get booed unmercifully". We are 29 days away from the trade deadline and would love to see Heilman NOT on our team come August. I feel the same about Schoeneweis, but no one is going to be dumb enough to take on that contract. Well, besides the Mets that is. Nevermind. Moving on.

Glavine continues to erase the "ace" label, getting shelled again last night at Colorado. Not only did he get shelled, but in the 6 run 3rd, EVERY ball was hit hard. Even the outs were smoked. It's one thing to throw a bomb to an all-star outfielder (Holliday) It's another entirely to get slapped by the opposing pitcher for 2 steaks when the pitcher had ONE career hit. Too many times this year the Mets have counted on Glavine to be their "stopper". Stop a losing streak, or to stop a losing streak from happening but he doesn't seem to have the ability or the mental make-up for that role anymore. Scary thought......he could be becoming Steve Trachsel. Well, with out the 8 minutes between pitches.

Perez and Sosa to the DL. Vargas (yuck) gets another shot tonight.

Feeling Full-Philled

Mets win their 3rd straight over the 'Phils today, 8-3. Carlos Beltran not only made one of the better catches I've ever seen, he also Bel(tran)ted 2 more home runs. This win feels really good after having to watch the Phils celebrate and cut up and just generally have an all around good time after they swept the Mets at Shea. So to quote The Cardinal Fan, "nanny nanny boo boo, stick your head in doodoo...." Ah, immaturity feels good sometimes. Jorge Sosa was shaky at times giving up a mammoth shot to Ryan Howard, but hey, who hasn't given up a mammoth shot to him? Sosa seemed to getting under control when again (anyone remember Endy Chavez vs. these guys?) someone from the Phillie dugout shot him in the leg running out a double play in the 5th, ending his day and possibly earning him some time on the 15 day Eckstein. Speaking of great chatches, Aaron Rowand damn near made what could have been the best catch anyone has ever seen EVER. I guess the baseball gods were in the Mets corner this time (remember Rowand breaking his face on the fence while robbing X. Nady of a triple, if not a homerun?) as the ball popped into, then out of his glove and over the fence. Phils fall to 6 back, the Scareds (opposite of "brave". Get it? Nevermind.) win in Fla to keep pace at 4 games back.

Possibly disturbing news. With Sosa possibly headed for the DL, word has it that Jumping Bean Perez will miss his scheduled start with a strained lower back. ****Note to The Cardinal Fan: Not a word about how he hurt himself jumping over the damn line between innings, you hear??

When You Absolutely, Positively Have To Sweep Every Phillie In The Room, Accept No Substitutes

John Maine and El Duque did their best double-barreled shot-gun impression, blowing holes in the 'Phils plans of winning either game in the twin-bill. Delgado carried the boys in the first game doubling and powering a 2-run Molina in a 6-5 win. Mota continues to detox from the 'roids on the mound, making the game closer than it should have been. El Duque was strong, going 6 innings, allowing 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7 (he did give up 2 solo Molina's) thus saying GOODBYE (for now) to his EL DOOKIE moniker.

Game 2 was again Carlos' party, only this time, it was Beltran smacking 2 (and almost 3) homers. John Maine was absolutely brilliant all game, going 8 strong innings, only 4 hits given up, walking 0 and had 6 k's to out duel the Phillies "ace". Speaking of Colon Hamels, he sure made a stink about Loducca "styling" after a Molina he hit off of him the last time he faced them, all but coming out and saying he was going to throw at him. Paul might have gotten plunked had Hamels been able to find the strike zone. The "ace" walked 5 in 5 innings while throwing an astonishing 110 pitches. Oh well, maybe next time. Mets increase their lead to 5 games over the Cheese Steaks and 4 games over the Tomahawk Choppers. 2 rookies go in the next 2 games for Philly, while the Mets counter with Jorge Sosa and Oliver "Mexican Jumping Bean" Perez. On a side note, the Tards avoid another Izzy meltdown in the 9th to finally win a ball game.

Shorter Really Is Sweeter

Rain shortens the continued dominance the Mets have over the Tards this evening, winning in 6 innings, 2-0. These short games make it impossible for Willie to bring in Schoenewuss, Heilman, or Mota, keeping my Tums consumption to a manageable level. Glavine was sharp for the 2nd straight game, retiring the last 13 batters he faced and allowing only one hit. (Even in a rain shortened game, we can't get a no-hitter....). The 'Cards Reyes falls to an Anthony Young-like 0-10 for the year as Glavine wins number 297 in his career. Mets try and finish off the series and add to their one year too late revenge with Wainwrong on the mound.

Nice game Schoeneweis. Pick any previous post where I've mentioned him coming into a game, and insert it here. Valentin didn't help matters with his Tiger like defense, but he shouldn't have been put in a situation to have to make a play at all if Schoenewuss would have done his job. There has to be a point where Willie decides that this guy can't be trusted in any circumstance outside of an 11 run ballgame in either direction. Minaya needs to eat his mistake (and the 3 year contract he gave him) and just release this guy for his own safety. We are one more bad outing away from a crazed Shea fan running out of the stands and impaling him with debris from the new construction site. Schoeneweis blows the Mets 4 game winning streak, and any good vibes they were building from what has been a horrible month of June. Mets go out tomorrow and try to shake off tonights horrible loss.

Walk (Off) This Way

Shawn "I Likes The" Green (Sorry, Jew joke for my BFF The Cardinal Fan) rips a walk off homer in the 11th inning off of Jerry Springer, allowing him to pass "GO" and collect his $200 in Jew Gold. (Again, to ANY Jewish person reading this, I apologize, but my BFF REALLY likes the Jew jokes. I think your salt of the earth people. Really. I do.) Mets now have a 4 game winning streak overall and a 4 game winning streak over the Tards.....er, Cards. Red-bird reject Jorge Sosa pitched solid again tonight once again showing the overall dominance in genius that Peterson has over Duncan Donuts. The bullpen even pitched well tonight throwing 5 shut out innings not allowing Poop-Holes to inflict any damage. Mets offense was stagnant all night against yet ANOTHER soft-tossing lefty, (The place where they found "Pug" Maroth can be found here) managing only 3 basehits. Good to see this team scrap out a win after losing these types of games for a month. Game number 2 of the series tomorrow night.

The Brooms Are Back

Only this time, the Mets were on the good side of them. Don't look now folks, but the Mets have an actual winning streak now. 3 solid games from the pitchers; including Glavine, El Duque, and Maine equals 3 wins against a decent/good team. The sky is bluer, the Dr. Pepper's colder, the grass greener, the kids all behave better after a sweep. Needed some help from the Card's today to extend our lead over Philly, but it doesn't look good at this point. (5-1 Phils in the 9th). Speaking of the luckiest team of the last century, the Mets start a 4 game set with them tomorrow night.

The Braves have made news for all the wrong reasons this week. Bobby Cox tied the career whine record, getting ejected for the 131st career time. A lot is made of Cox winning a shit load of games, and that run of 1st place finishes. Some people go so far as to call him the greatest manager of our time. To those people, I say, WHAT?!?!?!?!? It's one thing to win when you have a Smoltz, Glavine, Avery, Maddux, Schmidt, Smith, Neagle, et al, in their PRIME!! Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko, David Justice, Ron Gant, again, IN THEIR PRIME!! How can you NOT win? The test of a truly great manager to me, is what you get out of your team when the chips (or Chipper, more on that in a minute) are down. Not when you have the Yankees of the NL at your disposal. Starting last year into this year; age, injuries, trades, free agency, etc. have all taken their toll on the once mighty Braves. Things are starting to unravel. Chipper Jones and John Smoltz have been at each other IN PUBLIC THROUGH THE MEDIA!!! Is this the sign of a GREAT manager? No, it's not. Not to mention that through 14 straight playoff appearances, he managed to win only ONE!! World Series. Give him some of those 90-100 loss Mets teams from those 14 years, and see how he would have done. Same can be said for Joe Torre. All you need to be a great manager now a days is a rich owner and an agressive GM. The wheels are falling off in Braveville and it's a great day for The Lone Met Fan.

The Good New Is....(Part 2)

I'm not getting excited (yet). See yesterdays post.......

The Good New Is....

Hey, at least we didn't lose today!!

Son Of A $*#)$

The $%@!^&%$#@+@! Mets %$#$&#$ lose again. I'm sick and tired of this $@&&$^$! Wake the $&#^#^$ up and start $^#%&$@ hitting the @##%#$^@% ball. $&#^$**#&!!


On the other hand.......^#%#&$& $&$#*@@^ !!%@#^#&! and then to go out and #$^@&#!! just really tops it all off. Don't ya think?

I Give Up

Not even thru a full 5 innings and it's 9-0 Twins. Again, some momentum built winning last night's game shot down the drain. I realize going against Santana is a tall order, but once again one of our starters fails to step up and at least keep the Mets in the game. Re-read the other nights Yankees/Mets post only insert Aaron Sele in for Schoenwies. Thanks to Sosa I can flush tonights game along with his effort, down the toilet.

Still Too Many Ducks On The Pond

Mets win a big game tonight, taking the 1st of three from the Twins 8-1. Instead of rejoicing with a friend in the win, The Lone Met Fan is venting his frustrations. Frustrations on the fact that on 15 hits, the Mets only scored 8 runs, leaving 11(!) men on base. The clutch seems to be sticking in Beltran, although he did get an RBI double (then looked like a tool standing there watching Wrights drive go off the wall and not running) late in the game to help break it open. John Maine pitched well, going 7.1 innings allowing only 4 hits and the 1 run (Thanks Feliciano). Delgado looked good at the plate tonight as did most of the Met batters. The hitting with men on base has got to get better. It's exposed this team badly over the last 15 days. I'm surprised pitchers aren't walking the 1st two batters of every inning to get the puking down the leg started. It's a win, and I'll take it. There hasn't been enough of these in June so I will enjoy this one for at least 24 hours before Santana takes the mound tomorrow night.

Duex-Que

El Dookie once again Mr. Hanky'd himself on the mound, giving up 6 runs in 6 innings. He and Glavine must be sharing kool-aid because they both have a horrible case of pitching diarrhea. At 9:03 pm Oklahoma time, the score is 6-0 Skanks, and The Lone Met Fan has run out of hope. Why, you ask? Because Willie told me too, that's why. Any time he trots out Schoenweis, that's Willie's way of saying, "Game over, boys". "Appreciate the lack of effort, so fudge you, we're bringing in the mops." Bill Parcell's always said that you are what your record says you are. 99% of the time he is right, but the records show the Mets as a 1st place ball club, which just is not true right now. I haven't seen a collective pounding like this since Marcellus Wallace fell into a pawn shop chasing Butch. As the Mets continue to let Chen Ming Wang Chung Shi-Shek Bai Ling look like Dizzy Dean, The Lone Met Fan signs off for tonight, along with hope of a victory, because Willie told me so.

Glavine Would Look Great In a Zephyrs Uniform

Tom Glavine once again killed all momentum (however small) the Mets had built during their 1 game winning streak. Instead of putting the Hiroshima-like beating he took against the Tigers behind him, he came out and laid another egg. As per his M.O., the offense gave him a lead and Tom gave it right back serving up a gopher ball to Adulta-Rod to end his day. For those of you scoring at home, here was his line for today: 4 innings, 8 hits, 7 runs, 7 earned, 3 walks, 0 k's, and 2 bombs. Not a bad day if your name is Kip Wells or Adam Wainwright. When your name is Tom Glavine, and your closing in on 300 career wins, this kind of shit doesn't fly. The way he is pitching now, Glavine's 300th win is projected to be sometime in 2021, just before his 71st birthday.

Knockout

Mets take another one on the chin, listlessly going down 9-1 to the Dodgers to complete another broom job. Mets, 1-9 in their last 10 games are showing no signs of life. I'm not ready to pronounce them clinically dead yet, but the paddles are charging at their highest setting. Chances are good the Dr.'s may call time of death if the Mets don't respond to one more shock.

I have questioned before; and over, the course of this season, various aspects of this ball club. Their starting pitching, in one way too old, in another, too inexperienced. Same questions about their bullpen. The outfield with an aging Shawn Green and a Moist Alou roaming the spacious caverns of Shea. Would LoDucca hold up another season behind the plate at his age? There is one thing I NEVER questioned with this team, and that is their manhood. Until now that is. Forget the sweep to the Dodgers. Losing streaks happen to the best of teams. Slumps claim the best hitter's confidence. A mistimed grandslam will make the best of pitchers shakey. What I don't and CAN'T understand is how a pitcher who hadn't hit a home run presumably since Pee-Wee ball, can turn on a pitch, nail it, and THROW HIS BAT like he's Barry Bonds as he stands there admiring the shot. John Maine saw it. You KNOW LoDucca saw it. The whole damn ballpark saw it replayed over and over. LoDucca is one of the fiestiest players in baseball. I sat there with a smug grin on my face knowing that Maine was gonna ear hole Kuo in his next at bat. Finally!! Some signs of life! Uh....not so much. Not even a hanging curve ball near his head next at bat. Unbelievable. And pathetic. Where's the fire? Where's the urgency? Where's the sac? Someone needs to have a wall-eyed hissy fit and break and throw shit in the clubhouse. Take a page out of Barret's book and have LoDucca start a fight with Heilman in the dugout. Something to show some spark. It's a little too Art Howe'ish in the dugout for my blood.

Mets get a day off then start up with the suddenly (no surprise)RED HOT Yankees. I can see the sweep coming now. Joe Morgan proclaiming the Yankees all the way back where they belong as THE team in New York.

Stay tuned for more. For now, I'm going to go chase 11 Xanex with a bottle of Captain Morgan's.

El Dookie

Another day, another loss for the once mighty Mets. El Duque continued the Mets pitching slump, pitching like El Dookie for 5.2 innings. Nice effort by the bullpen, but this losing streak we're on has taken all the posititves out of me. The Baseball Gods re-instated the Mets offensive ban after roughing up Randy Wolfe for 3 early runs, getting exactly squat after the 6th innning.

All things considered........

Never mind. I can't do it. I'm not in a real positive frame of mind right now to say anything good about this team. Right now, I'm scared of a 4 game set with the Royals, let alone how we are gonna deal with the Dodgers.

Rock Bottom

OK. So a 3 game sweep at the hands of one of your division rivals ISN'T hitting rock bottom. My mistake. And to prove that theory, Tom Glavine went out and sharted himself on the mound today, turning in one of his worst performances EVER. (Women and children may want to leave the room before reading the next line.) 4.1 innings, 11 hits, 9 runs, 9 earned, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 1 homerun that hasn't come down yet. So, hopefully, having your ace pounded like a young catholic boy after Sunday Mass, is hitting rock bottom. I suppose Glavine can't complain anymore about the Mets not scoring any runs for him, once again putting 7 across. I mentioned this about Heilman the other day, about him being a professional, buckling down, knowing they are in a MUST win situation. Did not think that would be a problem for Tommy. Who is more "professional" than Glavine? Maybe no one. So to go out there and lay a humpty sized egg on the mound today, ESPECIALLY after Wright drilled a 3 run homer in the first, is pathetic.

Joe Smith went from having the hiccups, to having the full blown shits. His line was not much better than Glavines today, Willie just showed him some mercy and pulled him after an inning of work. We can't afford to have one of our better relievers get the yips right now.

Mets get back to work with 3 against a very good Dodgers team. Maybe a trip to the west coast with blond babes and big breastessessess will help the team out.

Good News, Bad News

Good news and bad news today, which do you want first? The good new? OK then. The good news is the Mets scored more than 3 runs today, putting 7 across the plate. More good news is that David Wright hit another homer extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

Bad news is, even though the Mets plated 7, the Tigers pushed across 8. Oliver Perez was not so good today getting the Mets in an early 3-0 hole. The boys mounted a strong comeback, but came up just short. I will gladly swallow this loss if it means the offense has woken up and will start scoring some runs. If we don't figure this thing out soon, I'm gonna have to see Lucy to help my mental health. On the bright side of things, at least we are not as bad as the Cardinals are right now.

Potentially bothersome news:

The Mets bullpen (supposedly their strength) is starting to concern me. Heilman's struggles this year have been well documented (mostly by me). Schoenweis is walking at least one batter everytime he comes in. I hate to be insensitive, but severed leg tendon or not, he has to get some command of his pitches. Joe Smith has been a bright spot early, but he's had the hiccups the last few outings. We thought we were getting some help in getting Mota back, but he's been horrible as well. Willie can't keep trotting out Feliciano, Smith, and then Wagner every night unless he's a master seamstress and can sew the arms back on each of them when they've fallen off. Minaya is a shrewd dude and will handle the situations as they arise, but I'll be a nervous wreck until then.

Got to get the win tomorrow to salvage the series. Glavine has gotten no run support in his last 4 starts. He needs to take a page out of Sosa's book and just pitch 8 shutout innings and give the ball to Wagner.

It's Niiiiice!

Very nice to be back in the win column tonight. Willie finally found a way to keep the ball out of the hands Heilman, et al. Just have your starter go 8, give the ball to Country Time in the 9th and there you have it; a nice, neat, and efficient 3-0 scrubbing of the Tigers. Jorge Sosa was freaking masterful tonight. 8 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, and 5 k's. Wagner with the bounce back save showing no mental damage from last night. The offense still not blowing anyone away, but the cavalry is coming. Green should be back Sunday and Valentin, sans porn 'stache is already back. Still no word on Alou. Shouldn't milk cartons be out by now with his face plastered all over them? Where the hell is this guy? Who goes on the 15-day DL for 36 days? Was he eaten? Did he miss his hands and pee on the wrong guy and get murdered? Someone needs to be looking into this.

Braves go down again thanks to 3 dingers by Soriano. Phillies are losing to the Royals?? Sweep the best team in the NL, lose to the Royals.........sigh.

Perez and Bonderman tomorrow as the Mets look to get an actual winning streak going.

And The Hits Just Keep On (Not) Coming

Mets, actually; Schoenweis, waste back-to-back-to-back homers from Delgado, Wright, and LoDucca throwing the game away (again) in extra's (again) to lose to the Phils (again!) 6-3. Good news is the Mets actually scored more than 2 runs. Bad news is, as of 10:17 pm Oklahoma time, Armando Heilman and Scott Shoen-Wuss are still Mets. Hard to blame Wagner for this, even after giving up the tying home run in the 9th. He's been rock solid all year, so it's tough to see him let down like he did tonight. Unlike Heilman and Shoen-Wuss, Wagner usually bounces back the next night.

Not a lot to add, the best thing about this series is that it's over. Good series by the Phils, and if you take anything away from this series as a Mets fan, remember this: It took 2 extra inning games, 3/4's of our rotation in the outfield being hurt, AND Armando Heilman and cousin Scott Benitez giving away games for this sweep to take place. Still feel real good about this team and the direction they are headed. Seem to have a few housekeeping issues to resolve and some way to get the bats heated up, but this team will be fine.

Gotta wipe away the Phils series and go get 2 of 3 from the Tigers starting tomorrow.

Something Stinks

Aaron Heilman made the mess tonight, and once again the Met offense couldn't break the 2 run mark to clean it up for him, losing once again to the Phils, 4-2. El Duque was masterful, shutting down the Phillies offense for 6 solid innings. Well, The Lone Met Fan then got his wish to see Heilman in the 7th inning instead of the 8th. Different inning, same result from Heilman who will now be referred to from now on as Armando Heilman. His effort tonight was simply pathetic. Here is a major league pitcher, who knows his offense is in one hell of a rut right now. One would think he would buckle down, concentrate just a little bit harder on bailing his slumping offense out. Instead, he shit himself on the mound, and on El Duque's performance tonight. As I mentioned yesterday, it's a long season, teams go through ups and downs. Pitching and hitting are bound to struggle at points throughout the season. It's at those points that one or the other step up and bail the other out. When Delgado was slumping horribly, Shawn Green picked up a lot of the slack. Wright struggled out of the gate, Reyes, LoDucca, and Alou (anyone remember what Alou looks like?) stepped up and got the clutch hit. Now that the offense as a whole is depleted AND slumping, the Mets needed Heilman to step it up a notch, and all they got was more of the same. Hopefully he has some trade value left for Minaya to get some middle relief with. Speaking of another piss poor effort, Scott Schoenweis pitched again tonight. And again gave up a run. It just feels like Willie is waving the white flag whenever he puts him in to pitch, and maybe he was tonight. A one run deficit right now is like being down 10-0.

In even worse news, Endy Chavez appeared to have suffered a pretty serious hamstring injury running out a grounder to first base. Mets outfield is in serious trouble if he has to spend time on the 15-day Pavano. Alou apparently is never coming back, Green still out, Beltran is at about 80%, and now Chavez may be down. An outfield of Beltran, Gomez, and Newhan is not gonna scare anybody. Neither is the trio of pitching that Willie trotted out their tonight. Mets have some work to do, definite must win tomorrow, although a sweep seems likely with ace Cole Hamels going for the Phils. Mets counter with John Maine. Let's hope he proves to be a better teammate than Heilman, Schoenwies, and Mota.

Jobu Is Fired

The Mets finally treated Glavine to an "explosion" of offense, giving him a 2 run lead early. As Glavine often does when he gets a lead, he gives it back up the next 1/2 inning. No change tonight as he got 2 quick outs then got drilled for 4 straight hits tying the game at 2. Met offense held a secret team meeting to tell Glavine to go screw, we finally score you some runs, we're tired of you giving them back up! Mets held fast to the "no offense" stance racking up absolutely 0 more runs. Reyes even went so far as to commit a little league base running gaffe so as not to score any un-necessary runs. They tried so hard not to score for Glavine, that by the time ol' reliable Feliciano came in (and came in off his game for the first time this year) the Mets couldn't get the bats going fast enough to overcome a 4-2 xtra innings loss.

Mets need to find the issue with the bats. If Jobu needs more rum, then fill er' up. If a live chicken needs to be sacrificed, then get someone's ass down to KFC and get a chicken. If bats need hats to keep bats warm, I'll spring for some bat hats. I think we're at the point that they need to tell Jobu, "Fudge you!! I'll do it myself!!

Every team hits slides like this in a long year. Still 14 games over .500 and still in 1st place by 3.5 games. The pitching is gonna falter at times as well, but the bats need to be able to offset that or it could turn into a losing streak.

So boys, sacrifice those virgins, or chickens, or whatever and let's get some hits out of em...

Not a Bad Off Day

Turns out the off-day for the Mets (and The Lone Met Fan) didn't turn out too bad. Braves go down to the Marlins, and as a bonus, The Yanks go down the Sox tonight (White). Gotta love gaining a 1/2 game in the standings when you don't even play.

Good news here.

Even better news here.

Mets Piss Mediocrity

You can run your usual outfield lineup with just Alou missing. You can run your usual outfield lineup with just Beltran missing. Hell, you can even run your usual outfield lineup with just Shawn Green missing. What you can't do, is run your outfield lineup with Alou, Beltran, AND Green missing for any kind of a stretch of games. The offensive power outage continued today being held in check by Doug Davis. This dude looked like he was throwing wads of tissue paper up to the plate. Jamie Moyer thinks that Doug Davis throws slow. He has a worse mound delivery and worse stuff than Ed Harris of this Cleveland Indians team. Willie should have had the umps check the ball for Gyne-Lotrimin or the snot from a vienna sausages can. Mets had some opportunities as they usually do, but with Delgado and Ben Johnson wiffing on 58 mph fastballs, they couldn't take advantage of having runners on base. Arizona's closer is rapidly advancing up the Lone Met Fan's hate ladder. Tell me he doesn't look like this guy on the far right. As of right now, the Braves are down 9-0 to the psychotic Cubs so barring a Cub meltdown (what? that's already happened twice this week?) it looks like the Mets keep their 3.5 game advantage. Good news ahead, Beltran should be ready to go by Tuesday. I thought Alou was out with a quad injury, but as long as he's taking to come back, the Mets should just release that he had hip-replacement surgery done, and is on the 60-day Carpenter.

Observations:

Oliver Perez had his 2nd just OK outing in a row. He did keep the Mets in the game giving up only the 3 runs. I'm still trying to figure how he walked 3 batters with the strike zone that the umpire had back there today.

Speaking of the hate ladder, Heilman managed to move up another rung today. I know he didn't commit the throwing error that led to the run, but bad shit happens when he's in the game and in the big picture of the ball game, his unearned run meant very little. It just seems like whenever he comes in, no matter what kind of stuff he has for the day, the opposing team is gonna figure out a way to score a run. Call it jinxed or bad karma, but this is what he's turning me into whenever he pitches.

Mets get a day off to try and heal then start up 3 with the Phils.

The Mets Piss Excellence

Mets slight upgrade from the C-Squad last night beat down the Diamond backs 7-1 today behind Jorge Sosa's pitching and Ruben Gotay's 3-run blast. How much of a genius is Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson? Sosa is a Braves reject that even the "great" Leo Mazzone couldn't get straightened out. After he was dumped, the Cardinal's own (self-proclaimed) genius Tonya LaRussa and, Mr. Nepotism himself, Dave Duncan, failed to brainwash him, then sold him for a box of twinkies. Mets take a flyer on him (I've always wanted to use that phrase) and besides one bad game against the Braves (I guess he didn't want to appear to be TOO re-habbed, lest the Braves try and get him back) he's been as steady as this guy. A certain hitter (superstition again) continues to rake and the outfield trio of Newhan, Johnson, and Chavez win a game the Mets probably had no business winning.

On a side note, as both of my readers know, I have absolutely NO love for the Yankees or Doug Mankevichkrzyescshkigluskiwicz, but after this, I do hope that he's OK enough for me to continue hating real soon.

Perez and Davis on the hill as Mets try and continue pissing excellence in winning series.

AAA

The New Orleans Zephyrs/Mets go down 5-1 tonight against Arizona and Brandon Webb. No Alou, Green, Beltran, or Wright tonight. What we had was Ben Johnson, David Newhan, and old reliable Endy Chavez in the outfield and Pops (Julio Franco) at 3rd. When the Mets fell behind 2-0 Gary Cohen said it best, "It might as well be 13-0." Alas, the Diamondbacks showed no class in piling on a troupe of minor leaguers running up the score with a 3 run homer off of Mota late in the game to win going away 5-1. (If the sarcasm is literally dripping from your computer on to your desk, my apologies.) Maine pitched well enough, minus one pitch. Mota needs to get back on the 'roids to be effective. Braves win, Mets lead down to 3.5 games.

Jorge Sosa and El Duque's brother on the bump tomorrow.

Update

I'm going to hell for laughing at this. But this is too funny.

Trends

If you've watched the Mets all year, and especially in the last 3 games, you will have noticed some trends taking place.

#1. Winning series. This is a good trend. One with value and if one so choosed, one with a high monetary value in a place like Vegas. Look up Mets winning trends, see that their wins are shooting up the charts, place some money, BAM, you make money.

#2. Jose Reyes is a thief. He stole his 29th base tonight. This is also a good trend. Reyes gets on, he pilfers bases, Mets score runs, more runs means more wins. More wins means more revenue. (See above)

#3. Mets Futures Market is trending upward. Underdeveloped stock like Carlos Gomez, Joe Smith, John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Mike Pelfry have all seen plenty of action this year. The Mets future in these players is trending upward which means more wins, more etc., etc., etc.

#4. Mets present stock in outfield is disturbingly unstable. Moises Alou stumbled first with various geriatric ailments, Shawn Green fell next with a damaged foot, and tonight the disturbing trend continued with Carlos Beltran tweaking his knee in a collision at 1st base. 100% of the outfield market is now hurt. NOT A GOOD TREND. If your invested in this group, I advise you to call your analyst and buy stock in Endy Chavez, Carlos Gomez, and Ben Johnson while the price is low.

#5. Continued trend of allowing 2 runs in the 1st inning. Again, not a good trend. This obviously puts the Mets future 9 innings of winning baseball in doubt. Which means Carlos Beltran will try that much harder to bust it down to 1st base on a grounder (you reading this Barry Bonds?). Which means dangerous collisions with crappy Giant stockholders occur leaving future earnings in doubt.

Following these trends and this reliable source, still a good bet to buy stock in these Mets making a World Series run.

4-2 win tonight with the Braves off moves the Mets another .5 ahead. Start a 3 game set with Diamondbacks tomorrow.

This is what happens when you wind up as the Daily Douche Bag twice. Behold the power of the Douche!!

Mets Get Zito Runs

This represents the number of runs the Mets scored in a 3-donut loss to Barry Zito and the Giants. No shame in losing to Zito or the Giants. What's a shame is we hadn't been held to a cops favorite breakfast all year. Zito's hook was working well and the bats just never woke up as 3 pitchers not named Benitez held the Mets to just 6 hits. Mets had some chances getting the first 2 runners on in the 3rd but couldn't get the clutch hit to put them on the board. Braves win today moving back to within 4 games.

Not much to speculate about tonight, but Guillermo Mota was back after spending the last 50 games cycling down. He worked 2 solid innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 2. Little conflicted on him being back, on one hand, he cheated; blatantly. On the other hand, if he performs well and takes away innings from Schoendick and Hell-man, so be it, The Lone Met Fan will find it in his heart to root for him while he's out there. What I won't do is root for this steroid abuser.

Rubber game tomorrow as the Mets try for their 8th series win out of the last 9.

This is a snapshot of me directly after seeing the Giants starting lineup before tonight's game. With names like Fransden, Feliz, Ortmeier, and Vizquel, and Barry Bonds on the bench with a lefty pitching, where the hell was the Giant offense going to come from? That evil grin quickly turned upside down when I also saw a Molina's name in the lineup. This one being Benji. Turns out, my Molina theory is dead on balls accurate. Randy Winn opens the game with a solo Molina, and then 2 batters later, Molina bombs the token Molina that Molina's always hit when they play the Mets. (Guess that answers where the offense was going to come from. Some tool named Ortmeier bombed a Molina too.) Perez allowed 3 solo shots in 7 innings. Working around a slider that wasn't sliding, throwing mostly fastballs, he still managed to strike out 8, and walk none. Not his best outing but what more can you ask from your pitcher when you just don't have your best stuff. Normally, Perez' off night stuff resulted in 7-8 runs, 7-8 walks, and a couple hit batsmen. Perez at least "Art Howe'd" his way to a 7th inning tie, then watched as Scott Schoenweis tried (once again, The Lone Met Fan is getting tired of repeating himself with this guy) tried to lose the game all by himself. After giving up a hit, and yet another walk, he gives the game to Heilman(!) with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Heilman made it out of the inning(!) and the game stretched to extra innings. Joe Smith gave up the lead in the 12th to make way for everyones favorite ex-Met, Armando Benitez. Turns out, Benitez was Benitez becoming the first person since this guy, to balk twice in an inning, tying the game at 4. As usual, Benitez became discombobulated, and grooved one to Delgado, who won the game in the 12th with his very own 420ft walk-off Molina. (The best type of Molina money can buy if you ask me) Braves lose again as well, so the Mets have a 5 game lead in the East.

Glavine and Almost Met Barry Zito in game 2 tomorrow.

Watched the Rockies spank the Cards today. Saw our old "friend" Kaz Matsui. Got me to thinking all the way back to 2004 when the Mets signed the "next big thing" from Japan. Looking back, let's take at look at the selling points of Mr. Matsui.

Selling Point A: Durability

Kaz played in a string of consecutive games in Japan. (I don't know how many in a row. I am too lazy to do the research.) But he brought comparisons of Cal Ripken's "Iron Man" durability to the states with him.

Return on Investment? NO. Matsui had a string of injuries starting with back spasms in August of 2004. He went on to hit the 15-day Rolen a number of times, including this year with the Rockies, again with back spasms.

Selling Point B: Defense

Matsui was billed as a solid defensive short stop in Japan. He was a 7 time all-star, and won the Japanese version of the "Gold Glove" a number of times.

Return on Investment? NO. In 2004, Matsui's first year, he committed a league leading (for shortstops) 23 errors, and another 1 at 2nd base where he started 3 other games.

In 2005, when not on the DL, again, he committed 9 errors in 64 starts at 2nd base, missing most of the year to nagging injuries.

Selling Point C: Speed

The next great leadoff man from Japan, in the same mold as Ichiro. Can steal bases, bunt for hits, and generate runs with his legs.

Return on Investment? NO. In his rookie year, Matsui stole 14 bases in 114 games. Putting him on pace, for a full 162 game season, of 20. 20? Turns out, 14 would be his career high to date as he stole all of 6 bases in 87 games, for a pace of just under 16 for a full year.

Selling Point D: Offense

A .300+ hitter in Japan, it is widely known that, unless your Ichiro, it rarely translates to hitting .300 against MLB pitching. .280-.290 was expected with about 35-42 doubles and 10+ triples.

Return on Investment? NO. Again, back to 2004, his best year, his offensive numbers weren't horrible. .272 avg. 32 doubles (114 games, not bad) and 2 triples. 7 homers (including his famous first at-bat of his career against John Smoltz of the Braves) and 44 RBI. Taken out over a full season, it's not that bad.

After 2.5 unproductive, injury riddled, error filled, years, and being booed with the gusto usually reserved for the Roger Cedeno's and Bobby Bonilla's of the world, the Mets pulled the plug in '06 and traded him and $4 million to the Rockies for backup to the backup catcher, Eli Morerro, ending an expensive experiment.

Looking back, it's hard to be mad at how things worked out. The Matsui era brought an end to the almost unbearable Art "We Battled Out There" Howe era. Also ending was Jim Duquette's reign as GM and brought forth the Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph era. Pretty decent trade off if you ask the Lone Met Fan.

How Sweep It Is

Got to love sweeps when they happen. Especially when they happen right after a horrible Braves series, who, by the way, got the broom treatment themselves from the Phils. Whore-Hey So-Sosa can now go back to being known as Jorge Sosa after a solid performance getting the W in a 6-4 Mets win.

Disturbing number of men left on base today. Twice today the Mets left the bases loaded with no runs being scored. Gotta have someone coming up clutch soon or this will catch up with them.

Open note to Willie Randolph:

Dear Willie,

Dude, are you trying to make The Lone Met Fan die of intestinal gastroitis and a bleeding ulcer? That's what is going to happen soon if you do not remove Heilman from 8th inning duty. I know your a loyal guy. How else to explain all the Steve "Human Rain Delay" Trachsel starts? But this is no longer a case of "1 bad outing". This is now a pattern. A habit if you will. Joe Smith has shown he's capable of getting major league hitters out, so please, please, if you value your fan base and their lives, remove or even TRADE Heilman. He's scaring the women and children. Listen, watch him in the bullpen sulking, check and see if he's serenading the Duncan Donuts sign with a version of Color Me Badd's "Mi Amore" while whittling voodoo dolls out of cornbread and then make the trade to the first GM that offers anything more than a box of toothpicks. It's time. Time for him to go and get help and new surroundings, and time for the women and children (and the Lone Met Fan) to feel safe again.
Thank you.

Maine Attraction

John Maine locked down Marlin batters for 6 innings Saturday night, a 7-2 Met victory, allowing 4 hits and 2 runs and striking out 8. His control was still a bit off, walking 4, but his pitches looked more lively than they had in his past 3 outings. Still a solid performance as the Mets take yet another series from a team (hell, ANY team) not named the Braves.

Speaking of the Braves, our new best friends, the Phillies knocked them around again putting us ahead by 3.5 games.

Pretty satisfying moment in the 5th when Miguel Cabrera launched one, threw his bat aside, and stood there and watched what amounted to be a 440 ft. blast go foul. To put icing on the cake, baseball's biggest baby struck out on the next pitch.

Superstition prevents me from mentioning anything about this headline.

Whore-Hey Sosa on the mound tomorrow as the Mets go for the sweep.

ER

Green out. 2/3's of starting outfield out for a while. Endy and another Carlos will get more playing time. This may not be a bad thing. Avg. age of injured outfielder's: 58. Avg. age of replacements: 24. Alou is due back Tuesday, but the more I see of the newest Carlos, the more I'd like to see him get some extended playing time.

"El" of a Return

Glad to have El Duque back in business. After a stint on the 15-day Carpenter, The Duke came back strong, slinging 6 innings of 2 hit, 0 run ball. He threw 88 pitches, 57 for strikes. Special thanks to the Phillies who did what we can't seem to do, and that's beat the braves. Well, if we had someone other than these guys calling games, maybe we could win a few.

Mets offense still in a bit of a funk. They scored their first run of the game on a douche bag play by the Daily Douche Bag winner. The bats came alive in the 9th with 5 runs, but Sergio Mitre did a nice job of keeping the lineup off balance all night.

Still waiting for Willie Randolph to promote Joe Smith to 8th inning hold duty. I hate to keep bagging on the guy, but Hell--dammit--Heilman is killing us. I realize he didn't cause Beltran to fall down in center field, but he did walk the batter, and he couldn't pitch down in the zone low enough to induce a ground ball, letting a sac fly tie the game in the 8th. By the way, if YouTube ever gets around to posting that slider that Joe Smith threw in the 7th, I will have it linked here. That was one of the nastiest moving pitches I have ever seen. I could throw like that with RBI Baseball 95 on Nintendo.

Petey was back in the dugout tonight. Looks like an August return for him. Will be good to have him back. Bet it was fun in the dugout with him back for tonights game too.

Looks like Jason Vargas will be back in AAA with El Duque coming back. When can we get Schoenweis on that train out of town??

Ollie-Right!! That's More Like It!!

Oliver Perez OWNS the braves. He moved to 3-0 this year against them, including 2 wins at Turner Field. Overall he's sitting at 6-3, tied for the NL lead in wins. While it wasn't as dominant as some of his earlier performances, his bottom line looked good. 7 innings of shut out ball, 4 hits, 2 walks, and 2 hit batters. A little wild at times, but nothing of the 7 walk-wild from earlier this year. David Wright continues to rake the ball, hitting his 4th homer in 4 games. Was nice to see Joe Smith take the mound for the 8th instead of Hellman, er, Heilman. Country Time pitched the 9th for his 11th save on the year. Mets move back to 2.5 games in front and really need a win tomorrow and get a little breathing room.

Observations/Thoughts:

Is there a call that Booby Cox doesn't argue about? No pitch is ever a strike on his batters, and his pitchers throw no pitches out of the strike zone. I'm all for working the umps, but he's acting like a 16 year old rich girl who got the keys to her new BMW taken away. i guess if I only had 1 World Series ring out of 14 playoff appearances in a row, I'd be cranky too.

In an earlier post, I bitch-slapped Sir Joe Morgan and his Yankee fetish. Being the fair guy I am, I need to bring light to an extremely valid point he did make in Sunday's broadcast. While watching Delgado get pitched inside time after time, he mentioned how his swing looked to him, like Delgado's wrist is still bothering him after off-season surgery. If this is truly what is causing him to slump, should Met brass bite the bullet and put him on the 15-Day Edmonds? (15-Day Rolen would have worked too.) I'm not all that giddy about watching Julio Franco and his arthritic body man 1st base for 15 days, but if it gets us a happier, healthier Delgado, I can make do for 2 weeks of whiffing on 68 MPH changeups. It won't be much different production-wise than what we are getting right now.

Rubber game tomorrow. Glavine and smoltz face off for the 3rd time allready this year.

One last thing. I hate to admit it, but I find this hilarious.

I Have No Words

Timmy thinks the Mets suck. And so do I right now.

Closet Yankee Fans

Ah, Joe Morgan. One of the top baseball players of all time. Just ask him. He will tell you. Also one of the best announcers of all time. Ask him that too, and again, he will graciously tell you the same thing. Now, ask him if he is a Yankee fan. I have $100 that says he will say "No, I'm a baseball fan." or something toolish of that nature. If I were to ask him that question, and get THAT response, my response to him would be, "You F*#&#^$ Liar!!!" Anyone that watched the ESPN broadcast of the Mets and Yanks last night would probably agree with me. With 7 year old Tyler Clippard pitching well enough to win last night, you would have thought that Roger Clemens clone was on the mound. (Good news for Yankee fans, Julian Tavarez now has competition as the ugliest man in baseball. That Clippard chap is brutal.) Yes, Clippard got the win. Yes, Clippard held the Mets offense to 1 run. But it's not like he spun a gem out there. He pitched in and out of trouble all night, and kudos to him for coming through and getting the big out, but (Mark this down) I've got another $100 that says he gets BOMBED in his next outing. He doesn't have impressive stuff. Well, his curveball is a B+, but outside of that, he has no movement on any of his pitches. I know Yankee fans will say this is sour grapes, but the Mets got themselves out more than he got them out. Now, back to Sir Joe. (I doubt he's been officially sired, but can't you just see him on his knees in his kitchen, with a butcher knife, knighting himself..) According to the orgasm Joe had on TV last night, the Yankees are the favorite to win it all this year. Nevermind the fact they are 10 games out of first. Nevermind that the Red Sox are the best team in baseball. Nevermind the fact that with another ass kicking by the Sox this week, they will be looking UP at the Devil Rays. The Yanks are the team to beat. Just to remind Joe, and the Yankee fans, the Mets DID win 2 of 3 from them. That fact got lost in last night's broadcast. As did the fact that the Mets went 7-3 on their homestand. And the fact that the Mets gained another game on the braves in the process. Here is what I ask. From now on, I would like ESPN to have their anchors just wear Yankee hats on TV. Lead every SportsCenter with Yankee highlights. In fact, why even bother with the rest of the league. Just call it ESPNY. The 24 hour Yankee sports channel. All Yanks all the time.

Observations:

Good pitching again from Ollie. Who knew he would be our best pitcher this point in the season?
Good pitching from Glavine. He's not gonna wow anyone anymore, but you know what your gonna get when he pitches. 6+ innings, 3 runs, hope the bullpen doesn't go nuclear with his lead.

What in the hell is Scott Shoenwies still doing on this team? Are the Mets brass waiting for him to reach 8+ with his ERA? Time to cut ties with him and admit letting Darren Oliver go was a mistake.

When is Shawn Green's court date? He needs to man up and address the restraining order the baseballs have on him. Why else would he never be within 100ft of a fly ball?

Would have been nice to bring out the brooms for this, but we win another series. braves up next and we badly need to get 2 of 3 from them and re-establish our dominance in the East.

NO SWEEP FOR YOU!!!

And I Thought It Was Hard Being a Mets Fan

Man. Fun, frustrating, exciting, depressing, scary ass 4 game series with the Cubbies. Game 1 saw Glavine not having his best outing, but keeping the Mets close enough to expose one of the Cubs many weaknesses: Their bullpen. The 'pen tried to make a 4-0 lead hold up and couldn't making for one of the most exciting plays in all of baseball!!!! The walk-off walk. And before you ask, NO, it's not as sexy as a walk-off Molina, but it counts. Delgado had a great at bat to end that game, fouling off tough pitches and finally getting to ball 4 to win the game. Can't really fault Lou Peniella for walking Beltran to get to a season long slumping Delgado, but he wound up looking like a tool for it anyway.

Game 2 was not as much fun. John Maine was not the "Maine Man" that he was to start the season, walking the ballpark again. But, as Glavine did in Game 1, he kept the Mets in it long enough to get to the Cubs 'pen. Well, that would have made a great story had Scott Schoenweiss not walked the bases loaded and then finally threw a strike that Aramis Ramirez launched towards an airplane flying over the stadium for a grand slam and a 10-1 Cub victory.

Game 3 saw Jorge Sosa once again dominate. 7+ innings of 1 hit ball and in typical bounce back fashion, the Mets took the previous game on the chin, and came out and delivered a haymaker of their own, winning 9-1. That's twice in the last 2 series that the Mets got spanked in one game and have come right out the next game and given it right back. 12-3 loss to the Brewers, next day, 10-1 win. 10-1 loss to the Cubs, next game, 9-1 win. Gotta love this teams resolve.

Game 4 today. Saw the lineup and man I was pissed!! I realize that they played a late rain-delayed game last night that ended less than 12 hours before today's game was to start. I don't know what kind of business or job everyone else has, but I have worked plenty of night's till midnight or later, and have gotten up and gone to work at 7a.m. the next morning. My bosses could give a damn about how late I was up the night before. They wanted results dammit!!! There was no bench player to come to work for me when I was a little tired. Anyway, the only everyday players to start were Shawn Green and Carlos Delgado. Jason Vargas was brought up from AAA to start on the hill. (Yes, Jason Vargas of the AAA ERA of 5.85) What really ticked me off about it was this; We are in a very tight race with the braves, where one game at the end of the season may and probably will make a huge difference. It just felt to me like (with the exception of Jose Reyes and his tight hammy, and Paul LoDucca who is a catcher and needs the rest) we were "giving this game away." Well, I'm sorry, but a 2/2 split with the Cubs is not a successful series. This is a bad team we should sweep or very easily take 3/4 from. Anyway, the game went about as expected, Vargas giving up two 2-run bombs and leaving trailing 5-1. The offense was inept most of the game, and for all the world, going into the bottome of the 9th, this game was over. Well, I forgot 1 thing while pouting during the game. THE CUBS BULLPEN IS LOOSER THAN (Brittany Spears' lawyers have edited this comment.) After a single by David Newhan (this dude is lucky to be on a big league team, why he is on a contender's bench right now is beyond me....) Ramon Castro lined out hard to right field. At this point I have no doubt we are winning the game. Ok, that last sentence was a lie, I fully expected Carlos Gomez to ground into a game ending double play. What can I say?? I've seen enough of these games to know what to expect....Well, for the 2nd time in my life I was wrong as Gomez singled to center field to move Newhan to 3rd. Carlos Beltran came off the bench to pinch-hit for the pitchers spot. Gomez "stole" 2nd on fielder's indifference and Beltran worked a walk to load the bases. Lou Piniella came out and and gave new meaning to Big League Chew when he snacked on Dempster's back-end for a good 3 minutes. He was still talking to himself walking off the field, high comedy right there. Anyway, after a colon cleansing from the boss, Dempster WALKED Endy Chavez making it a 5-2 game. Lou left Dempster in long enough to face Ruben Gotay (Was REALLY 2nd guessing Willie not sending up Reyes for this at bat). Once again Willie Randolph showed why he belongs in a dugout and I belong doing this goofy blog on my computer as Gotay singled in a run to make it a 5-3 game. At this point I know there was a pitching change, because Scott Eyre came into to the game, but I never saw Dempster leave. I'm not sure that Lou Piniella didn't shoot him from the dugout with a high-caliber rifle during commercial. Anyway, he brings in a lefty to face Shawn Green. Kind of a dumb move by Lou knowing Willie had David Wright still on the bench. Willie sends Wright out in place of Green and Willie's golden touch continued as Wright singled home another run to make it 5-4. So, bases still loaded, only 1 out and up comes a double play waiting to happen in Delgado. I'd love to tell you that by now, my confidence was soaring, that I KNEW Delgado would come through, but that would be another lie. In fact when Delgado hit the grounder towards second, I very clearly yelled "M (Bloggers Mother has edited this line.)!! because I thought he grounded into a double play. It took a minute to sink in that the BALL GOT THROUGH FOR A HIT!!! 2 RUNS SCORE!!! METS WIN!! METS WIN!!

I knew it would happen all along..

It's Ollie Good

Awsome bounce back win for the Mets today. After getting spanked handily 12-3 in Saturday's game, the boys came out hot against 5-0 Capuano, striking for 3 runs in the first inning. Turns out, the Mets would pour it on later, but the 3 run 1st inning cushion was all that Oliver Perez would need in a game that wound up 9-1. Perez didn't have any of the control issues that plagued him earlier in the year. He wound up going 8 1/3 with 2 hits allowed, 1 walk, 6 k's, and the cheap homerun he gave up to Bill Hall. Speaking of Hall, I don't know that I've ever been as tired of hearing about someone as I was him today. All that talk about him from last year's Mothers Day was enough to make me wish for a Roger Clemens story.

David Wright had 2 more hits today and stole 3 bases. He may now be officially out of his slump. In other good news, Mike Pelfrey was mercifully sent back to New Orleans last night. I think he will eventually be a big contributor to the team, but he just was not ready to handle big league hitters yet. Better to get him some confidence built up in AAA.

With his departure, the Mets brought aboard another Carlos. I have read quite a few stories about Carlos Gomez, and his potential, but had never seen him play. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw today's line-up and his name was in it. It's looking like he will have at least a 15 day stay with Alou hitting the DL for menopause, or arthritis, or whatever old age ailment seems to be troubling him this week. I love Alou and the way he approaches the game, but this guy is hanging on by a few strands of what's left of the ductape they patched him up with 6 years ago in Florida.....

As for Alou's replacement, Gomez could not have asked for a better big league debut. He doubled in his first at bat, singled later in the game, made a diving catch in the outfield, and stole a base. Something tells me that Lastings Milledge is now trade bait for a pitcher come trading deadline day.

Jose Reyes stole his 21st base and hit his 7th(!) triple as well today. About the only bad spot was 48 year old Julio Franco who struck out three times with men on base. (I never heard the announcers say what pitch it was, but I'm fairly certain he whiffed on a CHANGEUP because he couldn't get the bat around fast enough......).

Sosa Far, Sosa Good

Great game tonite. Looked like two heavyweight fighters going at it. The Mets struck first and hard in the 4th inning sending 9 guys to the plate. Wright homered again, Beltran beat out a bang, bang play at first and Delgado hit another one out to the opposite field. Follow that with Alou belting a 410 ft. double, Lo Ducca singles him in and it's 4-0 Mets. Milwaukee struck back with a jab in the top of the 5th with Geoff Jenkins bomb. The next strike also came from the Brewers when Prince Fielder hit a 260 mph line drive over the wall nearly knocking over the score board, making it 4-2 Mets. Sosa ran into trouble in the 6th again so with 2 on and 2 out, Feliciano came in and got a huge out.

The Mets punch back hard in the 7th with "Mr. Clutch" Damion Easley's bomb to make it 5-2. On to the 8th inning and Aaron Heilman. By the way, is it just me, or does Heilman always look like a 300lb bully punched him in his jugular and took his lunch money? Anyway, in comes Heilman, and after a tough to handle comebacker (sarcasm) he gives up a 2 run uppercut bomb to make it a one run game. He escaped the inning with no more damage and handed the game over to Billy Wagner who got the Brewers to go 1-2-3 in the 9th to seal the win.

Observations

The Brewers are for real. Anyone thinking that it's just because they play in the weak Central are just fooling themselves. They have enough young talent in J.J. Hardy, Billy Young and Prince Fielder to score on anyone. Their pitching staff is outstanding as well. As long as Ben Sheets stays healthy, no one will want to play them in a 5 game series come playoff time. Mark it down, the Brewers aren't going anywhere.

This was a good test for the Mets. After going 2-4 against better competition in the braves, they needed this win to establish themselves as contenders and not pretenders getting fat on weaker teams. Will feel alot better if we can pull 2/3 from this team. May take some of the sting away from the losing both early season series' to the braves.

I'm not going to get too excited about Delgado's homerun (it was nice to see him go the other way with the pitch instead of trying to pull it) because every time I think he's coming out of it, he hits another 1-25 skid.

So, round 1 goes to the Mets. Round 2 sets up to be just as much fun.

The More Things Change.....

Nice to see Benitez blowing games for someone other than the Mets. Now, I pick on Benitez, probably unfairly so because his save % for the Mets was 88, but he always seemed to blow the BIG games. Atlanta numerous times and 2 against the Yankees in the World Series come directly to mind. But he was in a big spot again today with the chance of getting 2 out of 3 games for the Giants and couldn't hold the lead. Delgado splashed one down and I hope this will get him out of his brutal funk he's in. Wright with a clutch double in the 9th as well for one of his 2 hits. Jose Reyes was Jose Reyes and John Maine pitched out of trouble all game. (6 walks?!?!?) All in all another series win for the good guys. Fun matchup coming up Friday with the Brewers. Excuse me, the Best Record In Baseball Brewers. (By the way, I googled that exact phrase, and all I got was a WTF?? error message.)

On another fun note, almost the entire Mets team Brittney Spears'd their hair before last nights game. Glavine was not in on it, but you don't mess with a veteran pitcher on his day to pitch. Pretty loose team if you ask me, get spanked in game 1 handily, and the next day, everyone shaves their head. Whatever works. As long as it doesn't mean the entire team will be in and out of rehab and smashing cars with umbrella's, I'm all for it.

**RIP Grammy**

Glad I went to bed

Sho' is glad I decided to go to bed right after Reyes' doubled home a run in the 4th. Damion Easly and Shawn Green decided to play defense like my sister; shut your eyes, and pray the ball doesn't hit you in the face. Oliver Perez was outstanding for the first 4 innings, but completely lost his concentration after the errors. The errors WERE bad, but he has got to toughen up out there a little. Only 3 of the 8 runs were earned, and he only walked 1. If your gonna get smoked, at least have some positives come out of it eh?

I sincerely hope the Lino Urduletta (sp?) experiment is over. Yes, yes, it's WONDERFUL how his ERA is not infinity anymore, but 65.00 doesn't sound too much better to me.

We seriously need a "Molina" cap in Major League Baseball. Bengie, one of 48 Molina brothers playing baseball went deep twice in the same inning last night. After Yadier Molina's HR off of Heilman in last year's NLDS game 7, I had seen enough of the family. C'mon Bud Selig, whadda ya say we make a rule that no more than 2 Molina's can be on a big league roster at any given time? Pretty soon, every team but the Mets will have a Molina playing catcher for them and we've now seen that getting a Molina on your roster means your good for at least one devastating bomb off Met pitching per outing. Hell, we may even rename the homerun after them. The next time Heilman or "Pepto" Burgos gives up a dinger, I can call my dad and say, "Yeah, we were up 3-2 but Heilman came in a gave up a 3 run Molina".

Hopefully the Mets shake last night off and get going against impressive youngster Matt Cain. Glavine still looking for win #4 and #294 overall.

Quickie

I will have my thoughts on tonights Mets/Giants game tomorrow. (0-0 4th inning right now.)
In the mean time, look to the right of the screen, under my profile, for my new Daily Douche Bag winner.

Also, check this out. Looks like I'm not the only one that thinks Clemens is a, well, Douche Bag, for his ridiculous demands.