And it has nothing to do with saving money on car insurance.
Feeling as if he has "a golf ball in his shoe", Braves third baseman Larry Jones was placed on the 15 day DL on Monday. Jones, who once said that Met fans are going home to put on their Yankee jerseys, hurt his foot coming out of the batters box after an eighth inning swing on Sunday against the Pirates. Jones had been playing with pain in the foot since April 24th, and the Braves aren't sure how long he'll be out.
Could this finally be the year the Braves relinquish the throne? Mike Hampton, John Thomson, and Larry Jones are all hurt...the bullpen is a mess, and the Braves are finally back in the pack. It's not July 4th yet so the Braves should always get the benefit of the doubt, but the signs aren't good. They'll need to continue to get great pitching from rookie Kyle Davies, and don't be surprised if they pull another starter out of their hat to either team with Tim Hudson and John Smoltz, or send Smoltz back to the closer role. The performance of Chris Reitsma will chart the Braves course for the rest of 2005. It very well might be safe for the rest of the N.L. East to start being optimistic about overtaking the Braves...of course the Mets would actually have to beat them first for them to be the team to do it.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Look Who's Not In Last!
Yeah, it's that kind of division. A sweep of the Giants puts the Mets in first. A sweep of the Mets puts them in last. A 12-1 victory in their doubleheader nightcap gives them a split, and puts them in third place, splitting the best division in baseball.
Unlike Lloyd McClendon, I can't say enough good things about Kris Benson. 7 innings, 98 pitches, and everyone made contact (no K's, no BB's). Carlos Beltran set the tone for Benson early, robbing Michael Tucker of a HR on the dead run, which put Benson in a good mood and made up for a tough day in the field during the matinee.
Kris Benson, right now, is the very definition of a pitcher who has total confidence in his stuff. He trusts it enough to let the batters hit it, knowing it won't sail 3 miles. It's good to see. Petunia's daddy also had a good day at the plate, smacking a double and driving in a run with a walk against Jason Schmidt, who was erratic in his four innings of work.
David Wright had a monster game from the 5th spot in the order, going three for five with a HR and two singles driving in two. As I said in the game one recap, and others have been saying for weeks and weeks and weeks, David Wright should stay in that 5th spot. Funny what 10 hits gets you. In game one, 10 hits = 3 runs. In game two, 10 hits (the first ten) = 10 runs. Coincidence the Mets are more efficient with Wright hitting 5th? I think not.
Cliff Floyd is finding his MVP stroke once again, going 3 for 4 with four ribbies, and two loooooooong home runs, both to center. (Note to the D.J. in the Shea scoreboard; is Macho Man by the Village People really the best option after a home run?) Floyd now has 14 dingers on the season. Victor Diaz also homered while giving Mike Cameron a rest in right field, and Jose Reyes went 3 for 5 in the leadoff spot.
It's June 5th, and all 5 teams in the N.L. Beast are seperated by 1 and 1/2 games. Let the pennant race begin.
Unlike Lloyd McClendon, I can't say enough good things about Kris Benson. 7 innings, 98 pitches, and everyone made contact (no K's, no BB's). Carlos Beltran set the tone for Benson early, robbing Michael Tucker of a HR on the dead run, which put Benson in a good mood and made up for a tough day in the field during the matinee.
Kris Benson, right now, is the very definition of a pitcher who has total confidence in his stuff. He trusts it enough to let the batters hit it, knowing it won't sail 3 miles. It's good to see. Petunia's daddy also had a good day at the plate, smacking a double and driving in a run with a walk against Jason Schmidt, who was erratic in his four innings of work.
David Wright had a monster game from the 5th spot in the order, going three for five with a HR and two singles driving in two. As I said in the game one recap, and others have been saying for weeks and weeks and weeks, David Wright should stay in that 5th spot. Funny what 10 hits gets you. In game one, 10 hits = 3 runs. In game two, 10 hits (the first ten) = 10 runs. Coincidence the Mets are more efficient with Wright hitting 5th? I think not.
Cliff Floyd is finding his MVP stroke once again, going 3 for 4 with four ribbies, and two loooooooong home runs, both to center. (Note to the D.J. in the Shea scoreboard; is Macho Man by the Village People really the best option after a home run?) Floyd now has 14 dingers on the season. Victor Diaz also homered while giving Mike Cameron a rest in right field, and Jose Reyes went 3 for 5 in the leadoff spot.
It's June 5th, and all 5 teams in the N.L. Beast are seperated by 1 and 1/2 games. Let the pennant race begin.
Look Who's Not No. 1!
With a sweep of the doubleheader today, the Mets would have been in a tie with the Washington Nationals for first place. Instead, they will try to avoid fourth place as the Giants held on to defeat the Mets 6-3 in game 1 of the DH.
You can lay blame in many places. You can blame Kaz Ishii, who's walks have been down (only two today), but when he's not on, you get games like today. There were ten hits in 6 and 1/3 innings, and most of his outs were hit hard as well. He still should have gotten out of the sixth inning with the game tied at 1-1, but...
You could also blame Carlos Beltran, who heard the boos again during the first game. Ray Durham hit a fly ball to what Mike Cameron has called the most difficult center field in the game...Shea Stadium. The wind and sun wrecked havoc with the ball, and Beltran looked like the town drunk trying to field it. In fairness, the Mets don't play a lot of 4PM afternoon games, and I think the sun had more to do with it than you think. (Beltran returned to normal in the first inning of the second game, robbing Michael Tucker of a dinger while on the dead run.) Earlier in the inning, Jose Reyes looked awkward fielding a line drive which quickly went from the shadows to the sun.
You could blame Kaz Matsui, certainly. Kaz came up as a pinch hitter (which should have been David Wright's spot, who was removed in a double switch, but more on that later) in the 8th with the bases loaded, and after working the count from 0-2 to 3-2, struck out on a weak swing at a pitch which should have been ball 4 by Scott Eyre. What made the K worse was Doug Mientkiewicz doubling off Eyre to lead off the ninth. Assuming Eyre's pitch sequence would have been the same in the 8th with the bases loaded as it was with Mientkiewicz leading off the ninth, the double would have brought the Mets to within 6-5, and they probably win the game.
But I blame Willie Randolph. Now I don't get on Randolph at all (nor should I because he doesn't deserve it, and I haven't really addressed the fact that Piazza continues to bat in an important roster spot even though he's been reduced to a seeing-eye singles hitter, while David Wright continues to languish at 7th in the order. But today, Randolph's loyalty to Piazza killed them. And every Mets blogger who says that Piazza should be dropped in the order for David Wright is absolutely correct.
I realize that double switches are dictated by the game situation, and that there will be days that David Wright will be pulled from a game for a double switch no matter where he bats. But if Wright was batting 5th today, as he should bat every game, then he would have been up in the ninth as the tying run, and there would have been some hope. As it was, Piazza ended the game in the ninth with a broken bat tapper to third. It's time for Willie Randolph to realize that in general, Mike Piazza doesn't scare anybody anymore, and he should not be batting 5th.
Consider this: Gary Carter came off a fairly productive season in 1986, but the next season he struggled. And at 33 years old in 1987, he spent over half his at bats in the 6th hole rather than his customary cleanup spot. There was no loyalty for past achievements and a hall of fame career...he was dropped in the order for the good of the team. There should be no such loyalty for Piazza either, who is making it painfully obvious with each at bat that he is a shell of his former self at 36, three years older than when Carter started his decline. Each time Mike Piazza bats fifth is an admission that the inmates still run a piece of the asylum, and also telling that there is a fear of losing Piazza's little remaining love for the game (if what Buster Olney says is indeed true).
As I write this, with Mike Piazza sitting out game two of the doubleheader, David Wright has just given the Mets a 2-0 lead...batting 5th.
Something to think about.
You can lay blame in many places. You can blame Kaz Ishii, who's walks have been down (only two today), but when he's not on, you get games like today. There were ten hits in 6 and 1/3 innings, and most of his outs were hit hard as well. He still should have gotten out of the sixth inning with the game tied at 1-1, but...
You could also blame Carlos Beltran, who heard the boos again during the first game. Ray Durham hit a fly ball to what Mike Cameron has called the most difficult center field in the game...Shea Stadium. The wind and sun wrecked havoc with the ball, and Beltran looked like the town drunk trying to field it. In fairness, the Mets don't play a lot of 4PM afternoon games, and I think the sun had more to do with it than you think. (Beltran returned to normal in the first inning of the second game, robbing Michael Tucker of a dinger while on the dead run.) Earlier in the inning, Jose Reyes looked awkward fielding a line drive which quickly went from the shadows to the sun.
You could blame Kaz Matsui, certainly. Kaz came up as a pinch hitter (which should have been David Wright's spot, who was removed in a double switch, but more on that later) in the 8th with the bases loaded, and after working the count from 0-2 to 3-2, struck out on a weak swing at a pitch which should have been ball 4 by Scott Eyre. What made the K worse was Doug Mientkiewicz doubling off Eyre to lead off the ninth. Assuming Eyre's pitch sequence would have been the same in the 8th with the bases loaded as it was with Mientkiewicz leading off the ninth, the double would have brought the Mets to within 6-5, and they probably win the game.
But I blame Willie Randolph. Now I don't get on Randolph at all (nor should I because he doesn't deserve it, and I haven't really addressed the fact that Piazza continues to bat in an important roster spot even though he's been reduced to a seeing-eye singles hitter, while David Wright continues to languish at 7th in the order. But today, Randolph's loyalty to Piazza killed them. And every Mets blogger who says that Piazza should be dropped in the order for David Wright is absolutely correct.
I realize that double switches are dictated by the game situation, and that there will be days that David Wright will be pulled from a game for a double switch no matter where he bats. But if Wright was batting 5th today, as he should bat every game, then he would have been up in the ninth as the tying run, and there would have been some hope. As it was, Piazza ended the game in the ninth with a broken bat tapper to third. It's time for Willie Randolph to realize that in general, Mike Piazza doesn't scare anybody anymore, and he should not be batting 5th.
Consider this: Gary Carter came off a fairly productive season in 1986, but the next season he struggled. And at 33 years old in 1987, he spent over half his at bats in the 6th hole rather than his customary cleanup spot. There was no loyalty for past achievements and a hall of fame career...he was dropped in the order for the good of the team. There should be no such loyalty for Piazza either, who is making it painfully obvious with each at bat that he is a shell of his former self at 36, three years older than when Carter started his decline. Each time Mike Piazza bats fifth is an admission that the inmates still run a piece of the asylum, and also telling that there is a fear of losing Piazza's little remaining love for the game (if what Buster Olney says is indeed true).
As I write this, with Mike Piazza sitting out game two of the doubleheader, David Wright has just given the Mets a 2-0 lead...batting 5th.
Something to think about.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Casting Spells Around The Majors
Item: The Mets are one of seven teams interested in signing former Reds closer Danny Graves.
His ERA is abysmal (7.36), his batting avg. against is abysmal (.357), his WHIP is atrocious (2.29), and Graves gave up at least one hit in nine of his ten saves, and in that tenth save he only pitched 1/3 of an inning. He's also given up at least one earned run in 4 of those 10 saves. And we're not even talking about the four runs he gave up against the Mets on the 18th of May, and the 5 runs in his final appearance against Cleveland on the 22nd. Yet seven teams are apparently interested in him. Is anybody's bullpen that bad?
Item: Mets on pace to strike out about 200 more batters than last season.
ESPN Tim Kurkjian enlightens us on SportsCenter with this nugget: Pedro Martinez advised Tom Glavine that he was holding the ball in his glove too long during his delivery, helping with Glavine's turnaround this season. I suspect that the Mets would have put up with a little "diva" from Martinez in his tenure. But so far, not only has there been none of that, and not only has Martinez been lights out his own self, now we find out that he's giving tips to Tom Glavine of all people. Combine that with the buzz that has returned to Shea when he pitches, Pedro has already earned his money this season, on June 4th.
Item: Former Met Octavio Dotel to have Tommy John surgery and miss not only 2005, but maybe 2006 as well.
And this is his walk year, so Dotel will not be earning a paycheck next season. Not only that, players who have Tommy John surgery performed on them usually take a full season to really shake off the effects, so Dotel most likely is looking at 2008, when he'll start the season at the age of 34, until he's back to his old self. That won't bode well if he only gets a one season deal to prove himself in 2007.
Item: George Steinbrenner says the Yankees are letting down the entire city.
Not quite the ENTIRE city, boss.
I can deal with the argument that the designated hitter adds a run to your ERA, and I can even see that there are more monster lineups one through nine in the A.L. than in the N.L. But when hitters are at a .314 clip against you (Carl Pavano), when you haven't reached 10 K's this season and have given up a hit an inning (Randy Johnson), and when you get swept by the Royals (not a monster lineup), then something's wrong. Sure, some A.L. teams have stronger 7-8-9 hitters than their N.L. counterparts, but not all of them. Certainly not the Royals and Twins. And it can't all be attributed to the designated hitter. Randy Johnson is 41 years old, and while he's pitching well for 41, you can't expect him to be the Randy Johnson of even last season much less his prime. Pavano is proving himself to be a one and a fraction year wonder (his great 2004 actually started in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, when he kept the Marlins in the game until Alex Gonzalez sabotaged their season), which is surprising. Jaret Wright was a mistake from the start, but the moves the Yankees have made as a whole really should have panned out and they haven't. And the middle of the order should be hitting and they're not.
The Yankees, in my mind, have done enough over the past 10 years to get the benefit of the doubt this season and be given an opportunity to turn it around. But this is the Yankees we're talking about; the same Yankees who proved once and again that they had no soul when they felt the need to get another all-star to replace the serviceable Miguel Cairo, who performed well last season for the Yanks. (They probably should have given prospect Robinson Cano the opportunity from the beginning, unless they knew that Womack would eventually be needed to replace Bernie Williams in the outfield.) So you know something will happen before too long.
In any event, it should be fun to see what the Boss does next. I for one, can't wait.
His ERA is abysmal (7.36), his batting avg. against is abysmal (.357), his WHIP is atrocious (2.29), and Graves gave up at least one hit in nine of his ten saves, and in that tenth save he only pitched 1/3 of an inning. He's also given up at least one earned run in 4 of those 10 saves. And we're not even talking about the four runs he gave up against the Mets on the 18th of May, and the 5 runs in his final appearance against Cleveland on the 22nd. Yet seven teams are apparently interested in him. Is anybody's bullpen that bad?
Item: Mets on pace to strike out about 200 more batters than last season.
ESPN Tim Kurkjian enlightens us on SportsCenter with this nugget: Pedro Martinez advised Tom Glavine that he was holding the ball in his glove too long during his delivery, helping with Glavine's turnaround this season. I suspect that the Mets would have put up with a little "diva" from Martinez in his tenure. But so far, not only has there been none of that, and not only has Martinez been lights out his own self, now we find out that he's giving tips to Tom Glavine of all people. Combine that with the buzz that has returned to Shea when he pitches, Pedro has already earned his money this season, on June 4th.
Item: Former Met Octavio Dotel to have Tommy John surgery and miss not only 2005, but maybe 2006 as well.
And this is his walk year, so Dotel will not be earning a paycheck next season. Not only that, players who have Tommy John surgery performed on them usually take a full season to really shake off the effects, so Dotel most likely is looking at 2008, when he'll start the season at the age of 34, until he's back to his old self. That won't bode well if he only gets a one season deal to prove himself in 2007.
Item: George Steinbrenner says the Yankees are letting down the entire city.
Not quite the ENTIRE city, boss.
I can deal with the argument that the designated hitter adds a run to your ERA, and I can even see that there are more monster lineups one through nine in the A.L. than in the N.L. But when hitters are at a .314 clip against you (Carl Pavano), when you haven't reached 10 K's this season and have given up a hit an inning (Randy Johnson), and when you get swept by the Royals (not a monster lineup), then something's wrong. Sure, some A.L. teams have stronger 7-8-9 hitters than their N.L. counterparts, but not all of them. Certainly not the Royals and Twins. And it can't all be attributed to the designated hitter. Randy Johnson is 41 years old, and while he's pitching well for 41, you can't expect him to be the Randy Johnson of even last season much less his prime. Pavano is proving himself to be a one and a fraction year wonder (his great 2004 actually started in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, when he kept the Marlins in the game until Alex Gonzalez sabotaged their season), which is surprising. Jaret Wright was a mistake from the start, but the moves the Yankees have made as a whole really should have panned out and they haven't. And the middle of the order should be hitting and they're not.
The Yankees, in my mind, have done enough over the past 10 years to get the benefit of the doubt this season and be given an opportunity to turn it around. But this is the Yankees we're talking about; the same Yankees who proved once and again that they had no soul when they felt the need to get another all-star to replace the serviceable Miguel Cairo, who performed well last season for the Yanks. (They probably should have given prospect Robinson Cano the opportunity from the beginning, unless they knew that Womack would eventually be needed to replace Bernie Williams in the outfield.) So you know something will happen before too long.
In any event, it should be fun to see what the Boss does next. I for one, can't wait.
Comfortable Shoes
All the married guys have done it...you know, accompany your wife to the mall so that she could buy a new wardrobe for your upcoming trip. Well today was my day; although I did manage to stop and buy a Pedro Martinez jersey, so my presence was not at all wasted.
You may ask where I'm going with this. I'm amping up to give a shout out to Nordstrom's at the Roosevelt Field Mall. If you're near the island (or as they say out there; "Lon Gisland"), encourage your better half to buy all the shoes she wants at Nordy's. But don't tell her about the televisions in the men's shoe section that were tuned to the Met game today...or the chairs situated around the televisions for easy viewing. It's where I saw the pivotal 5th inning where Mike Piazza drove in two runs with a bloop single today (with a terrible swing on a pitch he had no business swinging at on a full count) to break a 1-1 tie and help beat the Gigantes 5-1.
Nordstrom's has always been the leader in providing comfortable chairs to men to lounge in while their wives spend the paycheck. But the TV's were an added treat today. And to that I say "thank you, Nordstrom's". Now, if they can find a little extra in their budget for a bucket of potato chips, I'd go shoe shopping every week.
So remember guys: Roosevelt Field, Nordstrom's, men's shoes, and TV's (one with open captioning for the hearing impaired).
You're welcome.
You may ask where I'm going with this. I'm amping up to give a shout out to Nordstrom's at the Roosevelt Field Mall. If you're near the island (or as they say out there; "Lon Gisland"), encourage your better half to buy all the shoes she wants at Nordy's. But don't tell her about the televisions in the men's shoe section that were tuned to the Met game today...or the chairs situated around the televisions for easy viewing. It's where I saw the pivotal 5th inning where Mike Piazza drove in two runs with a bloop single today (with a terrible swing on a pitch he had no business swinging at on a full count) to break a 1-1 tie and help beat the Gigantes 5-1.
Nordstrom's has always been the leader in providing comfortable chairs to men to lounge in while their wives spend the paycheck. But the TV's were an added treat today. And to that I say "thank you, Nordstrom's". Now, if they can find a little extra in their budget for a bucket of potato chips, I'd go shoe shopping every week.
So remember guys: Roosevelt Field, Nordstrom's, men's shoes, and TV's (one with open captioning for the hearing impaired).
You're welcome.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Cats, AND Dogs
Friday's Giants/Mets game has been washed out.
Here are the new pitching matchups according to the Mets website:
Saturday afternoon's game will feature tonight's washed out matchup, Noah Lowry vs. Tom Glavine.
It's not often Tom Glavine gets to use one of his patented excuses a day beforehand in case he loses. But now it's built in for him. Great.
It gets interesting on Sunday. The first game will feature Brett Tomko and Kaz Ishii. Tomko was originally slated to go against Kris Benson for the ESPN game. Now, Benson will face Jason Schmidt, who was originally set to go on Saturday. After having a strained right shoulder, Schmidt could use all the extra rest he could get. The prime time matchup becomes a matchup of former Pirates; one blossomed after he left, the other hopes to be on track for the same thing.
Here are the new pitching matchups according to the Mets website:
Saturday afternoon's game will feature tonight's washed out matchup, Noah Lowry vs. Tom Glavine.
"Obviously, I would have liked to have pitched [Friday], but there's nothing you
can do about the weather." -Tom Glavine
It's not often Tom Glavine gets to use one of his patented excuses a day beforehand in case he loses. But now it's built in for him. Great.
It gets interesting on Sunday. The first game will feature Brett Tomko and Kaz Ishii. Tomko was originally slated to go against Kris Benson for the ESPN game. Now, Benson will face Jason Schmidt, who was originally set to go on Saturday. After having a strained right shoulder, Schmidt could use all the extra rest he could get. The prime time matchup becomes a matchup of former Pirates; one blossomed after he left, the other hopes to be on track for the same thing.
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