Thursday, August 10, 2006

How Sweep It Is!

Excuse the corny headline - but you gotta love the Met sweeping the Padres right out of Shea Stadium. The naysayers can doubt all they want, these Mets are for real and look to be steamrolling right ahead into October. Give Willie a ton of credit for keeping these guys on their toes and avoiding complacency. I got to experience this afternoon game with a combination of MLB.com's Gameday and Gameday Audio at my desk at work. Gotta love seeing Wright get hot, and El Duque settle in as the Mets beat the Padres 7-3. Now the Kings Of Queens head down to D.C. for a weekend stint with the Expos. My cousin Neil will be in attendance for at least one of the games. I'll be at the beach with the in-laws.

Mets Magic Number is 36!

Mike Piazza Night at Shea

Friday night was a lovefest for the Mets' former face of the franchise, but last night was the real Mike Piazza night as Mikey hit two long homeruns of Pedro Martinez and a third shot of Aaron Heilman that came with a few feet of a three-run homer. The first homerun was so thrilling that Piazza even gave a curtain call, which has to be a first for a visiting player at Shea. Ultimately, Pedro (9-4) and the Mets came away with the victory, their fourth straight, 4-3 over the San Diego Piadres.

When he hit that long fly-out off Heilman, Piazza and I had the same thought:
"I remember back to the last out of the World Series. I hit the ball good but not good enough. It was definitely bittersweet."

Speaking of bittersweet, Cliffy The Big Red Dog was put on the 15 day DL yesterday, and veteran actor Michael Tucker , perhaps best known for his role as Stuart Markowitz on L.A. Law, was called up to take his place.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Tough Night To Be A Transplanted Mets Fan

It was hard not to get chills while watching Piazza step up to the plate last night at Shea Stadium. But while my buddies Tubby and Scott were at Shea Stadium, giving Mike a three minute standing ovation, causing Mike to doff his helmet several times before finally standing in against Stevie Trachsel, I was watching the game on TV, in North Carolina where the average person doesn't even know who Mike Piazza is, but a Dale Junior cameo in Talladega Nights sends cheers through a movie theatre.

Anyway, it was a great night for Piazza and an even better night for Steve Trachsel, who managed to improve his record to 11-5 with the Mets beating the Padres 3-2. Piazza went 1-4 while the new faces of the franchise shined for the Mets - David Wright drove in two runs, Carlos Beltran hit three doubles, and Jose Reyes stole two bases off Piazza.

Meanwhile, franchise-player-to-be Lastings Milledge drew the ire of the crowd by grounding into a double play with the bases loaded and no outs. I believe the fan's frustration stemmed from Milledge's unwillingness to be patient in that spot, but I think the impatience on Milledge's part is to be expected at his young age and there should be more patience on the fans part.

After the game, the Mets designated future-trivia question Eli Marrero for assignment and filled his spot with ex-Yankee Ricky Ledee whom they claimed off waivers from L.A. on Monday.

With the Phillies falling to the Braves, the Mets Magic number is now 38. By the way, my Dad was in town this weekend and made me realize that all this time I should have been pulling for the Braves to win the wild card because Atlanta is just a four hour drive and I could have gone to a playoff game there... Oh well, screw 'em anyway.

Trivia Question of the Day: Who did the Mets trade Kaz Metsui to the Rockies for?

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Series Preview: What's Up With The Padres?

We're just moments away from game time, as Mike Piazza and the Padres square off against the Mets at Shea Stadium. Stevie Trachsel faces Woody Williams (4-3) tonight, Pedro faces 26 yr. old righty Clay Hensley (7-8, 4.33) tomorrow, and El Duque matches up against 27 yr old righty Chris Young (9-5, 3.78) in the finale Thursday afternoon.

Transplanted Ex-Met Mike Piazza is having a decent season for San Diego, batting .297 with 16 homers and 49 RBI's with an .879 OPS. Mike's homer total leads all NL catchers, and his RBI total ranks 3rd.

Transplanted Ex-Met Mike Cameron is hitting .262 with 15 HR's and 48 RBI's. This week Padres GM Kevin Towers was quoted as saying the club will "probably" pick up Cam'Ron's 2007 option.

The Padres lead the NL West by 1.5 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles. They have won two straight, but went 4-6 over their last 10 games.

By the way, the Mets Magic Number is 40.

Lets Go Mets!

Monday, August 07, 2006

The Streak Stoppers

On Friday the Mets pitchers ended Chase Utley's hitting streak at 35, though the team lost 5-3.

On Saturday Tom Glavine and David Wright ended the Philadelphia Wifebeaters winning streak at 4, winning 4-3.

Yesterday Jose Reyes and John Maine the Phillies streak of winning series at 3, as John Maine kept his own streak of 23 scoreless innings with an 8-1 win.

The Mets also announced they had come to terms on a contract extension with David Wright, locking the Golden Boy up for six years with an option for a seventh. Nice. Between him, Beltran and Pedro, it's nice to have our choice of Franchise players.

Speaking of which, tomorrow night marks the return of Mr. Michael Piazza to Flushing. Show Up at Shea and give him a warm welcome, won't ya?