Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Mookie Spawn

The best part about Preston Wilson's home run tonight is that somebody in the highly priced luxury box might have broken a nail while trying to catch it.

That ball that Mookie's kid hit to give the Nationals a four-three lead was so violent it knocked the whole stadium out. It knocked the Mets out, their fans, the cotton candy vendors, and hopefully a rich girl in the luxury box.

See the ball? See how the ball mocks us like Yankee fans at a subway series game? That was Preston Wilson's home run...laughing at us as it pours salt in our festering wounds.

I mean...Mookie's kid for crying out loud!!! First Fred Wilpon's kid sabotages the Mets, now Mookie Wilson's kid. Who's next...Shea Jones?

***

Kris Benson has run out of gas. His arm has been on empty for a few starts now and it has shown...it sure has shown tonight with back to back bullets (on back to back pitches) by Wilson and Vinny Castilla. It's sad that for as well as Benson has pitched for the Mets, his record is only 9-8. It speaks to unfortunate bullpen hijinks. But it also speaks to some dead arm issues with Benson.

Why is this scary? Because starting pitching is supposed to be a Mets strength...there are a lot of other holes to fill for Omar Minaya regarding the 2006 season. Benson has been a major reason the Mets stayed in it for as long as they did...but he's also a part of the Mets 2005 collapse as he is winless in five starts. The Mets can't go out and patch up every other hole in the sinking ship only to have another one pop up.

***

Twins up-and-comer Francisco Liriano threw 5 innings and struck out six against the Tigers today. Liriano apparently throws all of his pitches three mph harder than Johan Santana. Liriano went to the Twins along with Joe Nathan for A.J. Pierzynski. I mentioned to a Twins fan today about how that trade might fall along the lines of Zambrano for Kazmir...Fregosi for Ryan...Samuel for Dykstra and McDowell.

You know how the Twins fan responded?

"That's not fair, you have so much more fodder since you're a Met fan."

Ouch.

***

From the revisionist history department: Ron Santo talks about how 1969 brought Chicago "alive" during a Chevy commercial.

Now is a good time to remind Mr. Santo that YOU LOST!

***

Carlos Beltran went three for four during today's 5-3 loss with 2 RBI's that meant nothing to nobody.

This is the streak folks...he's coming around now!

Just in the nick of time. Thanks!

(Insert sarcastic tone).

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Uncle. This two-game losing streak feels like six, Pedro be blessed.

According to the following "news item," The Mets reached deep into their bag of good luck tricks tonight. Also, Mets.com thought now would be a good time to subject us to another godawful pun; to cheer us up, you know?

from Mets Notes:
Socks up, boss: For reasons not abundantly clear, the Mets wore their uniform pant legs differently Wednesday night. The bottoms were above the calf, so much more sock showed. Not everyone was in on it in the first inning. Kris Benson and Mike Piazza had their pants legs pulled down to their ankles. So evidently, batteries were not included.

Anonymous said...

Tomorrow the Braves risk getting swept by the Phils in a four-game series. The game will be on TBS so people all over the country can watch the glorious collapse. And then the next day the Braves head to Shea...

I.M. Forme said...

its about time someone noticed: kris benson has sucked when it matters the most. why does he have dead arm, the f*cker got to take it easy for the first part of the season? didnt he have this problem last year too, or am i crazy?
Listen to yer wife buddy, and try conditioning,not conditioner.

Anonymous said...

Benson threw 200 innings last year--he is at about 150 now--I suspect more than tiredness. With his injury history, I quake at the thought. But he has pitched well for the most part. I just wish he had another pitch. I think his slider is good but his changeup makes me gag. None of his pitches have a lot of movement. If his location is not primo, he is meat. And lately he has been leaving stuff in the middle of the dish.

Anonymous said...

As I have mentioned before and I will say it again...Benson was never worth the money or the players we traded to get him...we were never in the race last season and we still made trades that will hurt the rotation for years to come until Kazmir signs a seven year deal with Mets at age 33....The best thing about Kris Benson is his wife, Anna....
J.C. I think it is time to start the Jets and Rangers Blogger....No need to beat a dead horse....
Mario

Metstradamus said...

Kyle, Can we use pant legs to strangle Jose Offerman?

And wouldn't it be so that the Phillies sweep the Braves, then the Braves come in and sweep the Mets? We are their elixir.

Metstradamus said...

e-love, I used this exact website to put together those tables...

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/web_graphics/article.php/3480021

Metstradamus said...

Mario,

The only player of consequence they gave up for Benson was Justin Huber. He is up with KC now and struggling.

Yes, they overpaid for Benson...but let's face it, the Mets were last season, and if they finish under .500 this season, will be in a posititon where they have to overpay to get players to play here...just as they did with Pedro and Beltran. Was there a better option available than Benson?

And who is this J.C. you refer to? I am Metstradamus, not Jesus Christ...you overestimate my abilities.

Metstradamus said...

e-love, sorry. It's not something I can explain to you properly. I just took it from that website.

Anonymous said...

So, when was the last time two Mets were intentionally walked in the same inning? My local ESPN affiliate is too ashamed to show today's game, even though the Nats are the closest thing to a local team we have here, but GameDay tells me that Joey Eischen came in to the game in the 7th inning with Reyes on first and Kaz at the bat; Kaz sacrificed Beltran to second and then, with one out and, again, in the 7th inning, intentionally walked Carlos Beltran so that he could pitch to Cliff Floyd, who had just hit a grand slam in his previous at-bat.

Then he committed a balk. And struck Floyd out and IBBed David Wright. But the lesson is: Yes, Virginia, even non-Mets make stupid decisions sometimes.

The bad news is non-Mets don't always stay non-Mets forever. Let's hope Omar didn't notice Eischen's move, or Willie might have him playing right field next game.

Anonymous said...

Metstradamus, J.C., whatever...
The Mets acquired Kris Benson's services from the Pirates on July 30 along with infielder Jeff Keppinger in exchange for infielder Ty Wigginton, pitcher Matt Peterson and infielder Jose Bautista. I would rather have those players than him...and then we outbidded....OURSELVES for his services....I hope that Anna gives great hummers to the rest of the team. That is the only way you can justify the move....

Mario

Metstradamus said...

Mario,

Justin Huber was dealt to get Jose Bautista to make the deal happen. So it's funny you say that you would rather have Bautista when you obviously don't know anything about him because he's never been in the Mets system.

And if you're telling me you'd rather have Ty Wigginton than Kris Benson then there's no saving you.

Anonymous said...

So Jose, Marlon Andersen just worked Dough Face Stanton for a 12-pitch AB, complete with three pickoff throws to first. Think Stanton might be a little tired? A little frazzled? One of those pitches was the "ball in the dirt" pitch Franco taught him, think his command might be a little off? Cairo's on first, two outs, maybe you can move him into scoring position and get yourself on base for the redhot KazMat...

Or you could swing at the first pitch.

Personal note: During my last two years as a student at UVA, I used to watch Ryan Zimmerman play almost every week during the college baseball season. My favorite players were on the right side of the infield, so I didn't pay too much attention to him, plus we already had a reliever named Zimmerer and I had a hard time handling two Zimmers, but I have photographs of him and know I clapped for him whenever he came to bat... I think I even shared a bathroom with him at a game in Richmond once... and it's weird to now see him getting clutch hits against the Mets.

Metstradamus said...

I'm glad you brought up Ryan Zimmerman. He will be the main subject...next time on: "The Musings and Prophecies of Metstradamus"

Anonymous said...

Here's a photo I took of Zim during a more innocent time in 2003. The players are, from left to right, Ryan Zimmerman (Nats 2005), Andrew Dobies (BoSox 2005), and Joe Koshansky (Rox 2004).

http://onlyconnect.topcities.com/2003.jpg

Metstradamus said...

And e-love,

trust me when I tell you you don't really have to read anything on that web page I gave you...just scroll down to the example.