Now This Is A Rivaly. Mustache Throws Julio Franco Under The Bus

John Delcos of The Journal News has by far the best of the Major Media blogs. Tonight he quotes Willie Randolph and Jose Valentin as saying Julio Franco's clubhouse leadership as being vastly overstated by the public:

“If you play, you have to produce. That clubhouse stuff is overrated,’’ manager Willie Randolph said.

Jose Valentin offered up that Franco was a less than eager participant in the club’s pre-game stretching. He also said Franco wouldn’t hesitate to get in the face of some of the younger players about doing their jobs even though he was hitting .200.

“To be a leader for me, it’s not enough to talk all the time,’’ Valentin said. “You have to go out and do it yourself.’’

Now I'm really looking forward to the August series against Atlanta.

Transplanted ex-Mets Update: Ty Wigginton is on FIRE!!!

Ex-Met Ty Wigginton has eight hits in his last eight plate appearances, matching Aubrey Huff's 2004 Devil Rays team record (The major league record is 12). Wigginton had one hit in his previous 21 at-bats at Tropicana Field. "I've been doing the same thing I've been doing all year," Wigginton said.

En Fuego!!

Consistency On The Left Side Of The Mets' Infield? Wow!

Wright and Reyes, each 24, started their 396th game together last night in San Diego. It's the most by any third base-shortstop combination in club history. The old mark was 394 by 3B Howard Johnson and SS Kevin Elster.

Tansplanted Ex-Mets Update: Julio Franco A Brave, Again

The Braves have picked up Julio Franco... I guess they are looking for some mojo or something because this guy was completely useless in a Mets uniform, save for sending Carlos Beltran out for a curtain call fourteen months ago. Matt Cerrone is confident Franco is going to beat us in a big spot sometime this season but I just don't see it. As far as I'm concerned, let Franco continue to set the record for Oldest Position Player To Ground Out To Second Base In A Road Game, in any other uniform other than the Mets.

I Get To Watch The Mets Win on SNY

Well, that was fun. El Duque was inspiring, Beltran was a hitter, LoDuca and Valentin were clutch... well worth staying u until almost 1 AM for. Mets win, 7-0, defeating Jake Peavy to move 3 games up in the loss column over the Bravos, who fell again to Cincy.

There were quite a few odd sights tonight, not the least of which was El Duque with a straight steal of second base, but the weirdest thing to me was briefly seeing some Mets fan wandering around the stands directly behind homeplate wearing a pristine #44 Jay Payton jersey. Remember when he was the next big thing for the Mets? Speaking of which, Lastings Milledge had an 0-4 with a sacfly RBI tonight. Will Milledge really be the next Darryl Strawberry? Or the next Jay Payton?

Transplanted Ex-Mets Quote: Gary Carter on Barry Bonds

From an article on ESPN.com:

Carter, an 11-time All-Star who hit 324 homers, said Bonds has had "a great career," but questions if he could have gotten so big without performance-enhancing drugs.

"I saw him when he first broke in. He was a scrawny, skinny, 185-pound guy that had great talent. And then he turned himself into a freakin' power hitter with, what, 245, 250 pounds, and his head got twice the size. So, you know, you figure it out," he said.

"I know he likes to go to the gym. We all like to go to the gym. You just don't get that big," he said.

Stupid Schedule

My life has started to calm down (a little), but of course I couldn't watch any games with WPIX being unavailable on my DirecTV, and of course now the Metropolitans head west for 10:00 games.  Ugh.  Well, at least they're winning now, right?

What I'm most thrilled about is the performance of our youngsters.  Whatever the standings at the end of the year, we have to be thrilled about our future considering the performances of Lastings Milledge, Oliver Perez et al.  I happen to think there's no chance in hell of Omar unloading Lastings.  His rap career might bug the old white suits in the front office, but no way is Omar unloading a kid with this much potential whose contract is under control for the next several years.