Friday, October 06, 2006

Expert Analysis

Oh yeah. Our starting pitching really is terrible, isn't it?

We've got no chance without Pedro or Orlando, do we?

Tom Glavine, and his 290 wins, are no match for Hong-Chih Kuo and his one major league victory which counts for three hundred because it came at Shea Stadium, right?

Not that the Mets needed bulletin board material tonight, but hearing how many of the so-called "pundits of baseball" bet the ranch on the Dodgers and Kuo tonight made me want to go out there and grab a bat.
"You know if the Dodgers don't have two runners thrown out at the plate, they win the game 7-6, so I'm picking the Dodgers today." -John Kruk, significantly paraphrased from earlier today.
Not to burst the bubble of you "experts", but did it ever occur to anyone that the Mets won 97 games because they didn't turn baseball games into "Stupid Human Tricks" on the bases? Gee, if the Dodgers don't get two runners thrown out at the plate, and actually cared to play some heads up baseball, then maybe they're a good enough team to win 97 games and not have to sweat it out until the final Saturday of the season to make the damn playoffs? Yeah? Ya think?

But why bother with the bitter beer face? The Mets are up two games to none. And that's because Mets starters have given up one run in 10+ innings...the same Mets starters that were deemed to be the most horrible wastes of human life in the history of civilization.

Consider all of the Dodgers love being handed out like flyers from your local psychic by the media...and combine it with all the people that declared Tom Glavine's career over early last season (yours truly included), and you have all the makings of the perfect opportunity to stick it to anyone and everyone.

Never have I been happier to have been proven wrong.

Kuo, with his one total win, was good tonight...but with Glavine putting the team on his back Kuo had to be perfect tonight. And Hong-Chih learned that playoff baseball is plenty different than a September start...especially for a guy who pitches exclusively from the stretch. Good teams have no business losing to a guy who's been a starting pitcher for a month and a half, and whaddaya know...the Mets are a good team!

No further proof of that is needed other than the scratching they did tonight for runs. Bunting, sacrificing, putting the bat on the ball when needed. Just look at Endy Chavez's game tonight. Like Wally Backman before him...and J.C. Martin before him, Chavez utilized the drag bunt to scratch for offense in the third inning. He would score without the benefit of a hit to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Along with giving Chavez a load of credit, give our manager a little credit too. He claims it was a hunch, but Randolph also understands the need to generate offense in the playoffs, especially against a hard throwing lefthander.

Chavez also singled in back of Jose Valentin's walk to set up Paul Lo Duca's sac fly for the second run. Along with Julio Franco's 6-4-3 double play that wasn't due to Rafael Furcal's lack of urgency, (instead of the bases, it was "Stupid Dodger Tricks" on the field tonight...but you know if they don't make any errors then they're a sure bet to win so let's pick them for Saturday, eh?) three of the four Mets runs were scored on outs. Funny, weren't the Dodgers supposed to be the ones who create runs with cheapie little hits and outs?

On the backs of Tommy and Endy (sounds like a failed folk group from the late seventies), along with two ribbies from Jose (Jose Jose Jose) Reyes, the Mets hold serve in Queens. It's on to some place called Chavez Ravine (what map can you find that on) with Steve Trachsel on the hill for Game three on Saturday. Call me crazy, but the soothsayer sees good things on Saturday for the reviled and maligned Trachsel.

Hey, someone has to see good things for the Mets...nobody else does.

Memo to Planet Earth: the Mets are good.

18 comments:

The Metmaster said...

I was at the game tonight and Shea was rocking. The icing on the cake (besides the Yankees losing) was the entire "Curly Shuffle" video played on the jumbotron. I mean ever verse and chorus. 56,000 people doing "nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk" in unison is a hoot. It always broke up Hernandez and McDowell in 1986. Hope it stays a part of the 2006 playoffs. Hey, it couldn't hurt. It worked 20 years ago.

Anonymous said...

Great game from Everyday Endy. Is it wrong to hope that Shawn Green hails a cab in pursuit of Jewish cuisine tomorrow night at around 1am? Cuz if it is, then I don't wanna be right....

LET'S GO METS

Metstradamus said...

Well, if Shawn chooses to grab a hot dog and a potato pancake from Ben's Best on Queens Boulevard (as you all should), then there would be a fair chance he gets into an accident on what is known as "The Boulevard of Death".

But yes, it's wrong. Besides, you don't want to miss that top of the ninth Shawn Green dinger of Saito to win the series, do you?

Anonymous said...

Mestra, my thoughts exactly. I've actually become a sarcastic, agitated jerk at work whenever the playoffs get brought up because it's just enraged me how the pundits, columnists and others are regarding the mets right now. So I'd rather pretend I'm an underdog, although if we make it to the series, I'm sure I'll be reminded by these same folk of our payroll and that we should have been there.

Being a Mets fan means not getting respect. But hey, at least I don't have to deal with A-Rod.

Anonymous said...

Jabair-

Not in the official stats. But trust me, as a guy who remembers every post-season win by Ojeda, Jones, Hampton, Orosco, etc, I'll put Tommy's win in my stat book.

Metsra-

Don't let the Baseball Idiotocracy get you down! Enjoy the WINS. Embrace the victories. Who gives a Flying Betamit what John Kruk or Eric Byrnes thinks? Last time I checked, no rings on any of Kruk's fat fingers.

I'm feeling Trachs on Saturday, too. I'm also feeling the seismic acrtivity in LA as Maddux's meatballs meet Met lumber.

Now all we gotta do is find someone to "neutralize" mr. Pujols.

Let's. Go. Mets.

Anonymous said...

Metstra...why aren't you posting your articles on ArmchairGM? You'd be a star over there!

Anonymous said...

"The Mets beat you with their power, but the scrappy Dodgers know how to eek out runs."

- Steve Lyons, Joe Morgan, John Kruk, etc. etc. etc.

Anonymous said...

Metstradamus, you're already a star.

Anonymous said...

First things first - great win. Love da small ball. Glavine - you are now truly a Met. On to L.A.

Second, it's official - FOX absolutely sucks. I'm sorry but part of my post-season enjoyment is the national television coverage which used to be decent when NBC and ABC were in the loop. Can we avoid blocking a fly ball to centerfield with stupid graphics? Brenneman asks why Kuo was not sacrificing with a man on second and ONE out? Maybe because it would be pointless? Can we get some real baseball people to call the games please? Steve Lyons reminds me of Fran Healy - marginal player who has no business in the booth. Oh, wait, he pulled his pants down in the middle of a game - that warrants a career as a broadcaster.

Anonymous said...

OJ WAS Framed by MARK FOREMAN!

The Metmaster said...

Excellent point Sheadenizen. I also don't care for the boobs screaming "We want the Yankees" at the end of the game. Here's the scenario I would prefer: we go to the Series and the Yankees stay home. They get swept this weekend in Detroit. WE have October all to ourselves. The backpages are OURS. They watch US revel in a trip to the Big Show. THEY are the ones making tee times. Steinbrenner in his bunker in Tampa thundering "how the hell could this happen??!!" Oh baby, does it get any better?

Anonymous said...

Sheadenizen--

I was at the game as well, and I regret to inform you that there WAS a wave sighting. Right-field, upper deck. Some guys were trying to start it, and a very faint wave began but died off once it got parallel to the dugout...

I stood up and screamed, "Dammit, NO. We do NOT do the wave during the playoffs. It's JUST NOT DONE." Thank the gods it didn't catch on; I might have had an aneurysm then and there.

Also, I do believe my new favorite chant, as introduced to me by the man sitting behind me, is him screaming "EndyEndyEndy!" and several of us around him screaming "Oi!Oi!Oi!"

EndyEndyEndy!
Oi!Oi!Oi!

Keep the magic going, boys.

Anonymous said...

Fox does suck. I miss the SNY crew.

Anonymous said...

Is anyone talking about starting John Maine in game 4 (if neccessary)?

I haven't been able to follow much commentary cuz I'm watching most of these games many hours after they occur (Tivo) so I haven't heard much one way or the other.

Maine looked great and only threw 80 or so pitches. It's only one day short rest and the guy is still a kid with a healthy arm. I say do it.

(Sorry if this has already been established as a foregone conclusion. Like I said, I'm many hours behind the news cycle on these games).

Metstradamus said...

Adoniram,

Willie actually did mention in passing that Maine in Game 4 was a possibility for that very reason (low pitch count).

If this does go to game four, it will be a 2-1 lead so I think Ollie Perez is still the play.

Metstradamus said...

I can't get on Eric Byrnes. Byrnes is still playing the game, so when he makes his predictions, he bases them on "who do I play more often, and who am I going to piss off less?" Current players make predictions based on self preservation.

But Kruk is a moron. I really grow to despise him more and more by the day. It's a shame, because he likes beer, and I like beer. So you would think we would get along. But he broke that potential bond.

Anonymous said...

"It's a shame, because he likes beer, and I like beer. So you would think we would get along."

Hahaha. I see it takes a lot to earn your respect and admiration, Metstra

Metstradamus said...

I have high standards.