It was a glum mood in Flushing tonight, where Dontrelle Willis pitched 8 and 1/3 innings, hit two home runs, drove in three, and after the 6-3 win over the Mets announced his plans to adopt a child from the Philippines and name him "Shea".Dontrelle's first home run was the first tally off of Oliver Perez, who pitched well up until that point. Perez's other blemish came when Matt Treanor (also known as Mr. Misty May) lashed one to left with the hobbled Mike Jacobs at first base, where it would have taken a misplay of little leaguish proportions to score the slowed Jacobs. But there was Lastings Milledge to provide it...perhaps thinking the wall had large spikes coming out of it, he lept a little too early and also seemed to strain a muscle in his side doing it. Neat trick.
(Seriously, does it seem to you that Lastings is significantly more comfortable in right field than in left?)
Dontrelle's second tally was off of Roberto Hernandez, making that two home runs tonight of Met pitchers who might not make the postseason roster. All together this season, Willis had three home runs...all against the Mets, all at Shea, and all off of guys who will probably be nowhere near Shea in October (I'd say definitely but you never know with Hernandez...I think he's out due to the fact that he might be the victim of a numbers game, but do we really have to wonder about Ollie Perez and freakin' Jose Lima?)
Willis is also 11-2 in his career against the Mets, making "Dontrelle" the new "Chipper".
Or maybe the new "Burrell".
Or maybe the new...uh, "Vance Law".
After the game, an obviously thirsty for blood Larry Beinfest offered Willis to the Mets for David Wright, Jose Reyes, Mike Pelfrey, Lastings Milledge, Phil Humber, Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez, Joe Smith, Matt Lindstrom, five players to be named later, and three as of now unborn fetus' of Willie Randolph to be conceived later.
After Omar declined, Beinfest offered Willis and Miguel Cabrera to the Yankees for three bags of infield dirt. Even though it is past the deadline, Bud Selig is expected to invoke the "Best Interests of Tom Verducci" clause to get this deal done...before of course announcing that he would never let a deal like this go through unless the money raised from extra Sports Illustrated sales would be able to cover the difference and provide the Yankees with an extra revenue stream to cover the costs of the extra contracts.
***
2006 is the season we've all been waiting for. It's also the season where Miguel Cabrera has officially gotten on my nerves. First it was his lackadaisical attempt at an all-star game ground ball which could have gotten the Mets home field advantage. Then, his bitching and moaning about Heath Bell pumping his fist. Now, it's his "we're going to win tonight" boast towards Willie Randolph before Wednesday's game.
Way to go out on a limb there Miggy, predicting a victory in a game that Dontrelle Willis is pitching...then getting scratched from the game with a sore shoulder. Good job, clutch.
8 comments:
Miggy should STFU.
If he plays tonight, I hope Pedro buzzes his fat mouth.
Your "Look Out Lastings!" headline, used during that wonderful series in Boston, comes to mind whenever a ball is hit to him. Can this guy be trusted in the field at any point in the post season? I think not. As a right handed bat off the bench, or a DH against lefties, maybe. But imagine if he pulls one of his fielding gaffes in the WS?
I was hoping Pedro would smack Cabrera tonight after O. Perez didn't, but why risk suspension? Olsen and the rest of the Fried Fish would like to smack their lazy 3rd baseman themselves...
Unser, you're right. I don't think, at this point, he's on the roster. The only thing Willie can do at this point is to use him as a pinch hitter and see how he responds, because that's all he'll wind up to be in the postseason. But I get the feeling the organization is hesitant to do that with him. Besides, pinch hitting has a lot to do with being as mentally ready (if not more) than physically ready. Can you trust a player that young to mentally be above the top of his game?
Metstradamus....
While I agree with you regarding Millings, this is the very reason why I hated the Nady deal with a passion...because there in a situation where they do not want to take away the confidence of a young player by making him pinch hit when he is supposedly the "future" of the franchise...As much as I love our bullpen, I come back to the fact that we "overpaid" dearly to acquire Hernandez. At this point, Nady would be our third outfielder...Floyd is still not healthy and he is dealing with emotional issues in his personal life, Chavez is and always be a fourth outfielder and Michael Tucker can not hold a job in KC....and then you have Milledge...I believe that you are at a point where you have to sit him down and make him understand that he will get other opportunities to play in the playoffs, but we need veterans to make it happen....and I know you hate Jeanne Zelasko's boyfriend, but he watched the 1995 playoffs against Seattle before taking the job full time in 1996...it should be made to be a learning experience...and I am confident that Willie can portray that reasoning to him....
Beezer,
First off, did you know that The Beezer threw out the first pitch before Monday night's clincher at Shea? Bet you didn't know that.
Second, yes I hated the Nady deal as well. You read what I wrote like everyone else did. And still at this very moment, if it was me I wouldn't have made the deal for reasons I've gone over before.
But in your rant you failed to acknowledge the existance of Shawn Green...yes Beezer, he's on the team. And you may want to tell me that Green isn't as good as Nady, you may want to tell me Green makes the lineup too lefthanded, but I say that Shawn Green isn't there to carry the team. He's there to provide protection for David Wright and to a lesser extent the rest of the lineup.
And when you look at what Ollie Perez has done with the Mets, he hasn't been that atrocious and he's made strides. So yeah, Nady for Roberto and Perez may seem like a heavy price to pay, Omar got Green to replace Nady for a soft tosser who didn't even crack their top ten prospect list, but he got Guillermo Mota for even less than that. And, scored Perez who's low risk high reward at this point. So even though I hated the Nady trade, Omar has more than made up for it.
Which brings us to Milledge...what we're really talking about is a spare outfielder. And I doubt at this point...after the high five controversy, after the disaster in Boston, after the lateness issue, after one trip to the minors, I doubt that pinch hitting or not being on the roster at all is going to mess with his head all that much. There's no reason to coddle him here.
The problem is their right-handed hitting options are limited to Franco and Woodward, neither of whom give me that warm and fuzzy feeling. When we face a lefty (Wells, Hamels, Wolf, Moyer), we will be vulnerable from the 6th to the 9th batters in the line-up. One of those guys (Floyd? Green?) will have to step up. Remember Olerud's blast against the Big Unit in Game 1 of the 1999 NLDS? It was the first and only home run by a lefty against Johnson that entire year. Moral of the story: you never know what can happen in the wacky world of post-season play.
If Omar knew Mota would be available, and would pitch this effectively, he never would have made the Nady deal. This is why I thought Omar should have at least waited until the 8/31 waiver deadline. He may still have acquired Green as insurance for Floyd, or to platoon with Nady. But it doesn't matter - what's done is done. Taking all of Omar's moves as a whole, he deserves nothing but praise.
The thing about the Nady deal is that it had our future in mind, not just our present. Outfielders like Nady are a dime a dozen. All I know is I'd feel mighty comfortable with an outfield or Carlos Lee should the Mets sign him, and if they dont theres PLENTY of other options), Beltran, and yes, Milledge, starting next year.
But somebody with the talent to do what Ollie did 2 years ago (and that he's shown signs of this year) doesn't come around too often. I like to think that if Ollies ever gets back to where he was, this trade could be one of the biggest steals we've ever made.
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