Howie Rose: The Unwilling Soothsayer

Orlando Hernandez gave up three hits on Thursday for his first complete game since 2000. But let’s go inside those numbers a bit…

The first hit Hernandez gave up was a Luis Gonzalez single in the second inning. Mets announcer Howie Rose joked that Hernandez had a perfect game going immediately before the hit. The third hit Hernandez gave up was a Craig Counsell double in the ninth, immediately after Rose noted that Orlando was going after his first ever two-hitter.

So basically, without Howie Rose, the only hit given up tonight would have been a double by the opposing pitcher…proof that sometimes, people don’t have a complete handle on the power of their words.

You know what else Howie said?

“It’s a long way from Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez isn't it?”

And that's proof that sometimes, words can be powerful.

Because look what we have here all of a sudden…

• Steve Trachsel: One run in seven innings.
• Alay Soler: One run in seven innings.
• Orlando Hernandez: One run in nine innings.

Remember when the back end of the rotation was a weakness?

All right all right, so that was like, two weeks ago. But it is a long way from Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez, isn't it? And for Orlando, it’s a long way from the desert. His reaction after the last out, ripping off his helmet and letting loose with a primal scream (most likely in Spanish), was priceless. Maybe he was upset that the Diamondbacks didn’t provide him with a Hummer or a La-Z-Boy or even a tribute video to honor his return to the place where he provided stellar memories for so many weeks. But wouldn't you be happy if you faced a lineup specially designed to end your career...and you wound up with strike one on everyone and gave up only three hits?
By the way, Steve Kline says that some of the Giants didn't appreciate Orlando's reaction after the game. (I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Well, Hernandez is happy. Metstradamus is happy. And most importantly, Howie Rose is happy.

***

When the season opened, I had devised a formula to keep track of how much of Carlos Beltran's $12,000,000 contract was being earned this season. Admittedly, it was a device I came up with to tweak Beltran as much as it was to make Beltran look good if he bounced back. But after the boos that Beltran endured on Opening Day, my formula would have seemed pettier and snarkier than it actually was...so I shelved the idea.

But now that Beltran is one home run away from tying last season's total, and after his stellar game tonight, I think it's time I share with all of you my “Beltran-Meter”.

All right, so his contract is worth twelve million this season. So what I did is come up with a hypothetical yet reasonable season for Beltran, and came up with a dollar amount to reach for each category, splitting up each statistic into a dollar amount per.

• 25 HR’s at $80,000 each.
• 100 RBI’s at $20,000 each.
• 180 hits at $11,111.11 each.
• 30 steals at $66,666.66 each.
• 110 runs scored at $18,181.81 each.
• 300 total bases at $6,666.66 each.

Reaching all of those milestones exactly on the button would add up to $12 million.

I was also going to add cash for extras such as walk off hits (of which he has one), clutch rbi's (of which he has five), and outfield assists (of which he had three). But without those extras, Beltran is currently at:

(drum roll)

$4,639,392.80

Seems right on target to me.

***

Every position player in the Mets lineup had at least one hit on Thursday. Take note that this was a lineup that included Jose Valentin, Endy Chavez, and rookie Lastings Milledge.

With three more games against an Arizona team that is obviously mentally worn out, is the any need for Cliff Floyd to return before the Phillies series?

Hey, just asking. Rest up Cliffy!