Breathin' Easy

Finally, a game that's just a game. No O.C. type drama, and no plunkings or beanings (apparently, there's a difference...who knew?) The only questions were whether Marlins starter Jason Vargas would get to the ballpark (he took the E the wrong way and ended up in Battery Park), whether Jose Reyes would hit for the cycle (he missed the triple of all things), and whether Jorge Julio was going to rip off his jersey and reveal a number 49 BENITEZ jersey. As it was, he just performed his Benitez impression in the eighth as Julio has seemingly joined the Manny Aybar/Danny Graves club, only coming in with an 8 run lead either way.

But even Armando Junior couldn't destroy what became a 9-3 Mets victory tonight...a major league pounding of a minor league team. Now I know you all believe that it's what the Mets do against the Braves that decide the division race. But consider this: The Mets finished 1986 with 108 wins. The Pirates finished with 64. The Mets record against the Pirates was 17-1. Seems like that would have been the case, no? But now consider the previous season when the Pirates were actually worse...they won 57 games. The Mets were only 10-8 against the Bucos. And where did the Mets finish? A lousy three games behind the Cardinals, who took care of business against Pittsburgh going 15-3. With Washington falling below the equator, and Florida falling off the baseball map completely, this is a great opportunity for the Mets to fatten up against baseball's have nots. Beat the teams that they're supposed to beat, and the rest takes care of itself. Tonight was a great start.

But the best part of tonight's game is David Wright's continued hot start...hitting his second home run of the year all the way out to College Point while getting two hits and three RBI's. Why is this important? My fantasy team...of course. I usually stay away from hometown guys because that strategy will kill you if you're not careful. The player who picked directly behind me during the odd rounds of this draft is just the opposite. He has littered his team with the likes of Tom Glavine, Aaron Heilman, Jae Seo, Steve Trachsel, with an inevitable free agent pickup of David Weathers not far behind. So when the first round came, I was pretty set on picking my usual fantasy stand-by, Jake Peavy. Peavy never disappoints me. But when the 13th pick of the draft came, David Wright still available, and the guy who drafts all Mets right behind me, it was either stay away from the home team, or completely screw the guy behind me knowing that Wright was going at 14.

Well all is fair in love and baseball...Wright was mine. And he's paying quick dividends.

And Peavy still almost fell in my lap, but the guy I screwed in round one screwed me right back in round two...taking Peavy with the pick before mine. And I knew it was a "screw you" pick because the guy he really wanted, Ichiro Suzuki, was still out there. So I had to "settle" for Ichiro in round two. Funny how things work out.

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More on the Beltran Boos: Gary Cohen mentioned the fact that on the Met message boards on the internet, most fans were against booing Beltran so early in the season, to which broadcast partner Keith Hernandez agreed. The advent of the internet, Gary noted, has brought a quicker shift in the cheering/booing habits of the Met fan. And this brings up the most important query of the night:

Gary Cohen reads Met fan message boards?

I for one am pleasantly stunned...think of it, an announcer that keeps track of the pulse of the fan base. I love it! Now if we can get Gary to come visit this blog once in a while, then my world domination can commence.

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I was asked to provide some soothsaying on the Mets new ballpark. And to be honest with you, it will be a highly emotional time for me when the wrecking ball finally hits the building where I spent the majority of my childhood...especially my time in high school and college. So I'm going to remain in denial until then. However I will acknowledge that a baseball town such as New York deserves a beautiful new park, especially when cities and states that care more about other sports, such as Detroit, Texas, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Houston, and soon to be Minnesota get these palaces while New York is behind the curve. So it will also be a happy time. I do have some suggestions for the new park:

• You have to have a landmark outside the building where everyone can meet. Yankee Stadium has the bat...how about The Mitt for us? Something like this can honor many players at the same time. For example, you can color The Mitt gold to honor Doug Flynn, and also put a hole in the webbing to acknowledge the time Kaz Matsui spent with us.
• If not that, how about an arch style gateway to the main concourse? But instead of a conventional arch, you can style the arch in the shape of Bill Buckner's legs...and everyone can go through them to get in the new park.
• You're going to have restaurants in the new stadium...how about calling one of them "Kiner's Korner"? A great tribute to the man who has been with the organization longer than anyone. But be careful...when you order the "Gary Carter", you'll sometimes wind up with the "Gary Cooper".
• There apparently will be a steel bridge motif...why not make it authentic and clog all the bridges with model cars to give tourists visiting the park the true New York traffic experience?
• "Pignatano Park"?

Update: In case you haven't seen it, look who's blogging now! None other than the man who's going to ride my fantasy team to victory, David Wright. His blog is called "Getting it Wright", and he's looking for suggestions for a new name. I actually kind of like the title as is, but if he really wants to change it, I can come up with some suggestions:

• "Carrying Cliff's Bags"
• "99 Problems But a Pitch Aint One"
• "We've Had How Many Third Basemen?"
• "Stop Booing Carlos!"
• "The Musings And Prophecies of Wrightstradamus"

Hey I kind of like how that last one sounds! Anyway, you can find David's link in the sidebar. Good luck David! And remember to wear some extra body armor against those Nationals!