Don't Mess with Mother Nature

I tried to be cute, picking up Dave Williams for my fantasy baseball team with the express purposes of tonight's start, then immediately drop him for a middle reliever to continue the first round of my playoffs. I probably should have waited to drop him for said middle reliever until I got tonight's weather report. Now, whatever Williams does during Wednesday's make up game, the front end of a single admission doubleheader will not count for me.

You think Mother Nature is trying to tell me that I should spend less time on the computer playing fantasy sports? That Demeter...what a sense of humor.

But let's look at the bright side:

• Flowers need rain.
• Reservoirs need rain.
• Carlos Beltran needs rain.

And there's more good news, as Pedro Martinez looks close to coming back, with the plan of making three starts before the playoffs. Petey's backyard could probably use some rain too.

The good news keeps coming as Philip Humber, just a year removed from Tommy John surgery, is getting a look in the show. It's easy to forget that Humber, like Pelfrey after him, is still a prospect with high upside. I for one, am encouraged to see Humber make it to the majors so soon after surgery...even if it is as a September call up who will probably pitch a total of two thirds of an inning.

And congratulations to Jose Lima on being the 2006 ping-pong champion of the Norfolk Tides (possibly the last ping-pong champion the Norfolk Tides, as a Mets farm club, will ever know.) Lima was confident going into the tournament because of his fast hand-eye coordination. But his secret weapon was his serve. The Jose Lima serve, you see, is so enticing that players are tempted to hit it hard...that every serve gets hit out of the clubhouse...and that's exactly what happened during this tournament. In fact, Kelly Stinnett reportedly hit one Jose Lima serve 500 feet.

Must have rained a lot in Norfolk.