Tales Of A Transplanted Mets Fan

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Star Mets - the Next Generation

I almost shuddered when I saw the back cover of today's Newsday (online of course). It reminded me too much of another image.

The corresponding article to today's Newsday back cover lists several players the Mets consider "untouchable," even if they could bring back a top starter like Dontrelle willis. The untouchables are supposedly David Wright,Jose Reyes, Aaron Heilman, and prospects Lastings Milledge, Mike Pelfrey, Phil Humber, Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez. One line in the article stuck out to me:

"No way," a Mets higher-up said when asked if they'd trade Milledge, Heilman or even Pelfrey for Willis.

Okay, I am calling b*llsh*t on this one. The Mets would't trade Heilman and Pelfrey for Willis? The D-Train??? Give me a break. Don't get me wrong, I am all for bringing guys up from the farm, but even in their wildest dreams Pelfrey would still be only almost as good as Dontrelle Willis. Sure, the Mets have egg on their face for the Kazmir trade, but only because of what they brought back. If you can bring back a legitimate star pitcher for pitching prospects and/or middle relievers, you do it without thinking about it for ten seconds.

I wouldn't trade Milledge for Willis, but only because Milledge has the potential to be a star for the Mets every day, while Willis can only go every five. There's no need to trade Milledge because it would only make sense if you could bring back a top offensive player, and the Mets don't have a spot for a guy like that anyway. Unless, maybe you could trade Milledge and Nady for say, Miguel Cabrera...

TransplantedMetsFan Poll:
The Kaz: Should He Stay Or Should He Go?

Willie Randolph says that Matsui has improved his game enough to keep his spot, even when Anderson Hernandez is ready to come back. Jon Heyman says the Mets are actually actively shopping Metsui because they want to give the second base job back to AHern when he's ready.

So here's the question for the readers: Forgetting about potential player(s) he could net in a trade, has Matsui showed you enough to keep his job? Or are the last two years still etched into your minds to where you still want him outta here?

Monday, May 08, 2006

Braves Necks Remain Footprint Free

As Newsday's headline captured it perfectly, yesterday was more like Lemon Time than Lima Time. Nevertheless, the Braves fans around here are mighty quiet. When you start reading quotes from John Smoltz like this...

"If we get double digits down, we're not going to come back," Smoltz said. "As it is right now, it's almost a hard trek for us to crawl back into this.

...you know the Braves are sweating. But with the Mets final two spots in the rotation being, for all intents and purposes, empty, the Mets get a well-timed day off, not only allowing the front end of the rotation to face the charging Phillies this week, but also leaving them five full days to figure out who to plug in those spots. Here's a rundown of the probable starters over the next couple weeks:

Tuesday, May 9th at Philadelphia - Pedro Martinez. Billy Wagner has used the day off to stir up some controversy with his old club. Hopefully he'll get a chance to shut up the Philly crowd and make up for blowing a save in Petey's last start.

Wednesday, May 10th at Philly - Glavine. (uh, oh. Tommy has an extra day's rest. Prepare to read between the lines of articles for some whining. Sort of surprised Petey and Tommy don't get flip-flopped for these starts)

Thursday, May 11th at. Philly - Trachsel. As Kranepool writes, Mr. "Maybe I should have thrown a no-hitter" Steve Trachsel has to step it up for this game.

Friday, May 12th and Saturday May 13th at Milwaukee - Here's where things get dicey. Do the Mets call "Time Out" on Lima, or do they give him the ball again? Jeremi Gonzalez is available in AAA, and will likely get one of the spots, while Pelfrey and Soler are available in AA. As for trade candidates, the Dodgers' Perez is available, and The Daily News's Adam Rubin has a funny rundown of the "other" candidates to take a spot in the Mets rotation.

Sunday, May 14th at Milwaukee - If Petey goes tomorrow, he'll get this spot, but then Glavine would have to wait until Wednesday the 16th to pitch vs St. Louis, again on extra day's rest. Glavine likes going every five, and the Mets usually prefer to give Martinez the extra rest, so I still speculate they'll flip-flop these guys.

Monday, May 15th - Off

Tuesday, May 16th at St. Louis - Glavine or Pedro
Wednesday, May 17th at St. Louis - Trachsel
Thursday, May 18th at St. Louis - Lima/Bannister/Gonzalez/Soler/Dontrelle Willis

And that's when the Yankees come to town...

Friday, May 19th vs. NYY - Glavine or Daddy
Saturday, May 20th vs. NYY - Big Gaping Hole In The Rotation Right Here
Sunday, May 19th vs. NYY - Glavine or Daddy

The Mets get another day off before a three game set with Philadelphia. Obviously these next fifteen games should tell us everything we need to know about these Mets.

As Mets Scramble For Starting Pitching, Braves Necks Remain Footprint Free

Mets Pitching Probables (or Possibles)

As Newsday's headline captured it perfectly, yesterday was more like Lemon Time than Lima Time. Nevertheless, the Braves fans around here are mighty quiet. When you start reading quotes from John Smoltz like this...

"If we get double digits down, we're not going to come back," Smoltz said. "As it is right now, it's almost a hard trek for us to crawl back into this.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Tom Glavine Will Chase #300 With The Mets in 2007

Although it went completely ignored at the time, in March of 2005 the Mets restructured Tom Glavine's contract and added a club option for 2007. According to Jon Heyman, the Mets have decided to pick up that option.

Zambrano Done For Season

An MRI has revealed that Zambrano suffered a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow, and is done for the season. His best friend on the team, Pedro Martinez, was apparently one of a bunch of players who knew that Zambrano was suffering beforehand, and after the game Petey blamed the media for Zambrano pitching through the pain and ultimately having to miss the rest of the season.

Martinez said Zambrano's right elbow has been hurting since the start of the season, though Zambrano apparently told no one else and forced himself to pitch because he was worried about his reputation.

"It was because of the damn pressure you guys put on him," said Martinez, who spoke to the devastated Zambrano before he left for the MRI. "He was crying because his elbow blew up like that. You could see it from far away."

Martinez said some even warned Zambrano not to pitch yesterday. When he leaped off the mound, their worst fears had been realized.

It's amazing to me how much injury this club has already suffered this early in the season, and yet they still have managed to play to a record 11 games over .500, with the most victories in the majors, and a five game lead in the NL East.

If our ace pitcher and Mets idol Pedro lashes out in anger over this injury, us fans I guess are supposed to feel a little guilty. But I am willing to admit I don't. I am mad about it, but because it takes Mets management off the hook. Here is a guy who really shouldn't have been pitching all this time, not because of his injury, but because he has been our worst pitcher for the past two years. The Mets management has refused to admit that they made a bad tradem and continue to wheel him out every fifth day. Now the decision to replace him in the rotation has been made for them.

But know they'll have to find a pitcher. Too bad they traded away Kris Benson. There's a deal that still pisses me off too. They traded away a guy because his wife was a pain in the ass. Well, newsflash: everyone already knew Anna was a pain in the ass before the Mets traded for Benson. He didn't just meet this woman since coming to New York.

So this is how the rotation looks right now:

Pedro
Glavine
Trachsel
Lima
?

Today at 1PM is Lima Time, when the Mets will attempt to step on Atlanta's neck.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Meet The Mets Lyrics

Headed to Shea? Make sure you know the lyrics to the Mets ORIGINAL theme song, 1962's Meet The Mets. When I attended the game on Wednesday, I had to listen to Our Team Our Time, which is just an atrocity. But the Mets have decided to re-embrace their roots and will be having sing-a-longs during home games of their original theme song. Us transplanted Mets fans will just have to sing to ourselves at home.

Here are the lyrics:

Meet The Mets
Meet The Mets
Step right up and greet the Mets
Bring your kiddies, bring the wife
Guaranteed to have the time of your life!
Because the Mets are really socking the ball
Knocking those homeruns over the wall
East Side, West Side, everybody's coming down!
To meet the M-E-T-S Mets!
Of New York Town

Well the butcher and the baker and the people on the streets
Where do they go?
To Meet The Mets!
Well they're hollerin and cheerin and jumpin in their seats
Where do they go?
To Meet The Mets!

All the fans are true to the orange and blue
So hurry up and come on down
'Cause we got ourselves a ball club
The Mets of New York Town

Give 'em a yell!
Give 'em a hand!
And let them know you're rootin' in the stands!

Come on and Meet The Mets, Meet The Mets
Step right up and greet the Mets
Bring your kiddies, bring the wife
Guaranteed to have the time of your life!
Because the Mets are really socking the ball
Knocking those homeruns over the wall
East Side, West Side, everybody's coming down!
To meet the M-E-T-S Mets!
Of New York Town...
Of New... York... Town!

Zambrano Injury

Victor Zambrano ran off the mound after recording one out in the second inning of today's game against the Braves. The injury is being described as "discomfort in the elbow."

Darren Oliver came on in relief. With Lima Time tomorrow, this may turn out to be an audition for Oliver, as the Mets may look to him to make the start in Zambrano's next turn.

Grand Slam Ground-Rule Double

I don't even know what to write about last night's game. I thought Petey shutting down the Braves in Atlanta would become the defining game of the season. A week later we get a full-fledged all-time classic of a game that will be remembered no matter what happens teh rest of the way. Floyd ties it in the 11th, and then David Wright, game winning hit, 14th inning, 8-7 over the Braves. Just sick.

Don't feel bad for Reyes by the way, not being able to tie Edgardo Alfonzo for the most hits in a game. Don't forget that Fonzie was never the same player after that.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

One Of These Nights I'm Going To Need To Take Back All The Nasty Things I've Said About Tom Glavine

Wow Wow Wow. Seriously someone needs to do an investigation into who kidnapped Tom Glavine from 2003 - June of 2005 and replaced him with the spineless, excuse-making, non-strike-throwing wimp during that time, and then all of a sudden let the old Tom Glavine who used to KILL the Mets made a miraculous return around the All-Star break last year? It is AMAZIN' watching this guy pitch. Ladies and Gentlemen how lucky are we as Mets fans to get an education in pitching on consecutive nights every week? Just awesome.

I watched tonight's game from the comfort of my Dad's house in Oceanside tonight. It's a good thing we didn't take too long to eat dinner or else we would have missed this game that was pretty much over after two hours. My one question for Willie is why he took Glav out so soon? As much as I love seeing Sanchez dominate, this seemed like a great chance for Glavine to get a complete game and re-set his career mark for strikeouts in a game. Even Jorge Julio got in on the action, finishing off the 6-0 win over the Pirates and getting a nice "wow"-type reaction from Ron Darling who seemed in awe of Julio's slider tonight.

I have no complaints about the game, except to regret that Jose Friggin Valentin got a hit and an RBI tonight, likely ensuring he'll keep his roster spot for a little while longer. Of course, the Mets did re-sign Jose Offerman...

So the Mets sweep the two game set with the Pirates, improve to 10 games over .500, and hold a 5 game lead over second place Philadelphia. They also hold a 7 game lead on the third-place Braves, who come into town this weekened for a three game series. The Mets will send Trachsel, Zambrano and Maine to the mound for the three games against Davies, Hudson, and Sosa. Yeah, I would say that a seven game lead on the Braves is a pretty good thing to have heading into this weekend...

Pedro Gets Soaked, Then Hosed; Mets Win Anyway

I may live in North Carolina, but I earned my stripes as a Shea Faithful tonight. I took the John Rocker Express train to Shea and arrived early enough to get a free bag of Cheez Doodles from a Wize Potato Chip giveaway canopy, and pick up a couple of $5.00 Upper Reserved seats for myself and my buddy Tubby. For five clams, our seats were phenemonal. Way up in Row P, but right behoind the plate. The best part was when it started to pour, and all the folks below us in the $19 seats came up to under the eave with us to stay dry. Right before the rain started to come down though, we were treated to a pretty cool shot of a rainbow. I took a shot of it with my camera phone - can you make it out, between the lights?

Anyway, Pedro was awesome tonight, striking out 9 Pirates despite getting soaked by Mother Nature throughout the game. He left the game with a 3-1 lead, thanks to sixth inning heroics by Endy Chavez who drove in Floyd with a double, and then scored on a Jose Reyes triple. Pedro came out of the game after throwing just 78 pitches, and was pinch hit for by Jose Valentin, who of course struck out, and who is now hitting .125 on the season. Valentin has just two more hits than Pedro Martinez on the season in twice as many atbats.

We stepped into the corridor to get out of the rain for a bit, to use one of the highly modernized, clean and spacious Shea bathrooms, and to treat ourselves to a "hot" soft pretzel. My buddy Tubby said the pretzel tasted "like a box." He was being kind. It was just plain awful. We watched a few more innings in the corridor, then moved back into the seats to see Aaron Heilman pitch two perfect innings for the Mets.

So the game was moving nicely along in the pouring rain, and The Best Bullpen In Baseball seemed to have Pedro's sixth win one tied up rather nicely. When Sandman entered, the Shea crowd was feeling very jovial. Especially when the announcement was made that everyone who sat through tonight's rain-soaked adventure were entitled to come back to Shea in June for a game against the Reds, compliments of Freddy Wilpon.

That was when Pedro got hosed. Billy Wagner, despite reaching velocities of 98mph, and despite the full support of the crowd, shouting WAG-NUH!! WAG-NUH!! WAG-NUH!!, walked the leadoff batter and Jason Bay. Then, with two outs, he gave up two runs at the hands of Jose Hernandez (with his .174 average coming into the game), and backup catcher Ronny Paulino. Why the hell is Billy Wagner the weak link in the Mets bullpen??

Beltran, Delgado and Wright went down quickly in the ninth, and it was on to extra innings. Even though I have to be awake for my seminar in the morning, and have a report to do for work due tomorrow AM as well, I was in it for the long haul. Duaner Sanchez started the 10th, and so did the Mets new rhythm section. A group of young guys with various percussion instruments and a plethora of Dominican Republic flags started up playing Latin rhythms and choruses. It was great! I felt a little bad for Cow Hyphen Bell Man though, whose playing sounds kind of weak against these guys. The percussionists made the cold, wet night easier to bear, as Sanchez and Chad Bradford shut down the anemic-except-against-Wagner Pirates offense.

So we would not leave! And as the crowd dwindled to the point where one could probably count them, Delgado led off the bottom of the twelfth with a game-winning homerun that just cleared the left field wall.

What a great day in New York! I started the morning off with a coffee from Dunkin Donuts (sweet nectar of the gods), had a bagel sandwich for lunch, and for $5, the price of nine innings of Mets baseball, we got three innings free, plus an option for nine more in June. What a deal!

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Mets Loss A Spike Lee Joint - Lame

Spike Lee was in attendance tonight, sitting in Omar Minaya's booth. SNY's Chris Cotter spent a half inning asking a bunch of lame questions where we learned nothing except that Cotter is a terrible interviewer. Cotter should have been asking him why he was wearing Mets gear and acting like a Mets fan even though during the 2000 Subway Series he showed up wearing Yankees garb? Or why he designed a Yankees cap? Or to answer Kranepool's allegation that Lee at one time switched allegiances from the Mets to the Yankees because the Mets were "too white."? Lame

Spike was only the latest celbrity in attendance, with Jerry Seinfeld and George Wallace at Shea last night. So the stars have shown up - too bad the Mets hitters didn't. The Mets fell to the Nationals, 6-2. Lame.

John Maine was decent tonight, but not extraordinary. The biggest damage came off a Soriano moon shot to left field. So much for the theory that Sori wouldn't have enough power for Shea Stadium. Meanwhile, the only two Mets runs came from solo homers from Paul LoDuca and Carlos Beltran. Apparently LoDuca heard about the Mets' old catcher and decided he needed to fill his homerun hitting shoes. Hey Duke, don't worry about the dingers. Just keep our pitching staff in line and your batting average over .270 and Mets fans will be happy. The rest of the offense was, lame.

I watched the first seven innings at my sister- and brother-in law's apartment in NY, and then headed back to the hotel to watch the rest of it. But the damn Sheraton doesn't carry SNY on their TV's! What a ripoff! MLB Gameday Audio saved the day for me though again, although I might have been better off skipping the end of this one. Lame.

I was glad I was able to see the part of the broadcast that I did, because David Wright make some sweet defensive plays during the game. On the negative, and I don't know why this bugged me so much, but Gary Cohen reported that John Maine is the first player in MLB history to have the same name as one of the fifty states. Except for players named Washington. Well, what the hell kind of "first" is that? Does Washington State carry some kind of stigma that makes it less of a state than the rest? Lame.

Okay, enough of that. I'll be taking the John Rocker Express to tomorrow night's game - Lets Go Mets!

Monday, May 01, 2006

Zambran-OH!

I watched the first six innings of tonight's game on SNY. The Mets starting pitcher was a guy I hadn't seen before, but I don't know who it was because he stole Victor Zambrano's jersey and wore it during the game for some reason. Anyway, this imposter allowed just one run in six innings, with five hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Nationals pitcher Russ Ortiz matched his results, allowing just a Carlos Delgado solo homer over six innings as well.

After the sixth I had to shut off the TV so the TiVo could switch channels and record '24'. I'm actually three episodes behind. I'm sorry, but even though it's my favorite show, it hasn't been a must-watch ever since it was revealed that Pres. Logan is behind all this. I just don't buy the character development. Anyway, I turned on the laptop and listened to the last three innings on GamedayAudio.

So, from there on it was bullpen vs. bullpen, with Billy Wagner making a lights-out, two-strikeout ninth inning in a non-save situation.

The bottom of the ninth was really something. I'm looking forward to watching the highlights on the post-game show once 24 stops recording. Nationals reliever Gary Majewski started off the inning by striking out Kaz Matsui, who went 1 for 4 with a strikeout, and left four men on base tonight. Next, Julio Franco got on base with a walk. We needed Franco to run, however, so Randolph had Endy Chavez pich-run for him. Reyes singled behind him, and Chavez made it all the way to second.

Paul LoDuca followed up with an easy-double play ball that Majewski decided to to centerfielder Marlon Byrd instead of to second base, allowing Chavez to score from second base. Mets win, 2-1!

The Braves and Phillies also won, so the Mets remain six games up.

I'm off to New York tomorrow afternoon, and might check out one of the New York Mets bars to watch tomorrow night's game!

Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad

I got a little confident yesterday morning. I was admiring my broom, and preparing to load it into the ol' Hyundai to bring it into work this morning to sweep around the feet of my co-workers who are Braves fans. Alas, it was not to be. But taking two out of three from Atlanta, in Atlanta, is still pretty sweet.

My wife and I volunteer with the local chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and we have a seven-year-old "little brother" that, as part of providing a good influence, I am doing my darndest to convert into a Mets fan. Timing is everything, and I was so pleased that right after I loaded him into the car yesterday afternoon to bring him back to our place to throw the ball around, Carlos Beltran hit a two run homer and we celebrated in the car. Later, when the game was over and the Mets had lost, I reminded him that the Mets were still very much in first place. He understood, but he still things the Grasshoppers would have a good shot at beating the Mets in a head-to-head game. Brainwashing takes time, folks.

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Time To Face Facts

These Are The Facts About Last Night's Game Against The Braves:

FACT: The Mets managed just one run of John Thomson and the Braves bullpen, continuining the trend of a lack of run support for Tom Glavine. The Mets have scored a total of four runs in his last three starts, and just 14 in his last six.

FACT: Carlos Beltran is still recovering from his hamstring injury, saying before the game he was less than 100%, and not even 98%.

FACT: David Wright continued his defensive struggles, botching a Larry Jones grounder in the ninth.

But Sometimes, Facts Don't Tell The Truth:

TRUTH: Tom Glavine didn't need more than the one run to beat the Braves. Glavine and the Mets bullpen combined to allow just five hits and two walks with four strikeouts to shut out the Braves.

TRUTH: Carlos went 1 for 3 last night with a double and a walk and said after the game that "The good thing about it is I played the whole game and my hammy didn't feel tight," Beltran said. "I didn't feel anything. I felt good. I got to the balls quick. I wasn't afraid at all."

TRUTH: Billy Wagner picked up Wright, inducing a double play en route to his seventh save, preserving the Mets 1-0 win over the Braves. The Mets are now seven full games ahead of Atlanta and Philadelphia.

EXTRA NOTES:
One benefit about where I transplanted myself to, is that I can pick up Braves games on local radio. So, when my wife and I went on a quick errand last night, we listened to the game on 790 "The Ball." This station is normally excrutiatingly terrible, but when the Mets play the Braves I appreciate it!

Look for John Maine to start on Tuesday against Pittsburgh. He's the only AAA starter on schedule, and Willie has said he won't have Oliver or Heilman come out of the bullpen to make a start.

Pedro Martinez will look to improve to 6-0 on the season on Wednesday, and I'll be in attendance! I'll be in New York this week to attend a seminar, and will be able to Show Up At Shea for my third Mets game of the season. That's more than I was able to get to all of last year.

If Anderson Hernandez were ready to come back today, who you start at second base every day? Him, or Kaz Matsui?
	AHern
	Metsui

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