Golden Arms Coming to Shea

With every loss my smile widens.

This Memorial Day weekend was basically the perfect baseball weekend for the Sip. The Mets swept. The D-Backs swept. The Yankees got swept. Three-for-three.

Watching Joe Torre get booed after pulling Scott "Everyday Till My Arm Falls Off" Proctor on Sunday may have been the highlight. Or maybe it was Monday when I can honestly say that the Yankees played baseball like they were going to lose. The body language was there. 25 guys who looked like they were sitting naked in a classroom.

If the Yankees get swept in Toronto, Joe Torre will be out of a job. That's a guarantee.

As you can see there is a lot to be excited about. This Mets/Giants series has me about as excited as any we have had in recent weeks.

It's not because Barry Bonds is in town. The same Barry Bonds who, when asked about donating memorabilia to Cooperstown, replied: "I'm not worried about the hall. I take care of me." (Espn.com)

Honestly, is there a bigger prick in the world?

But it's not Bonds that has this baseball geek excited for three games at Shea. And it's not the rest of lineup surrounding Barry Bonds, maybe the worst supporting cast in the history of support.

Nope, Sip is fired up to see what may be the best starting pitching rotation in the National League and 2 of the 5 or 10 best young pitchers in all of baseball.

This week we're going to see Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain, just missing a pair of 5-game winners with sub-3.00 ERA's in Noah Lowry and Matt Morris.

First, Lincecum. Lincecum went 10th overall in the 2006 draft, but not because of his talent. I remember watching some draft previews all of which had Lincecum as the best pitcher in the draft.

Fear of signing bonus demands caused the former Washington Huskie star to slip to the Giants at 10 (Read: Jered Weaver, Scott Kazmir). It took him less than a year to make it to the bigs and he has already impressed. He has 25 K's in 26.1 innings and is an impressive 2-0, 3.08 ERA.

Wednesday, we get Barry Zito. I can't remember the Mets ever facing Zito at Shea, can you? That should be cool to watch. I've always liked Zito and would still love to have him at Shea. But not for the 7 years, $126 million joke that he signed in San Fran.

Thursday, Matt Cain arrives. First off, this dude is a Hoss. He's just a truck, a brick shit house, a beast.

This guy is 22 and in his third big league season. When arguing with my buddy KFC I claimed that Matt Cain would be the second pitcher that I would take based on age, durability and contract of any pitcher in baseball (Danny Haren, #1). This guy has electric stuff. His fastball hits the mid-high 90's and he can make some secondary pitches, too. When he is on, he is unhittable.

With Zito, Cain, Lowry and Lincecum all locked up for at least the next 5 years, Brian Sabean has put together what could be an unfair rotation out in San Fran for the rest of the decade.

Fortunately for the rest of the National League, this team has probably the worst lineup ever. It is frighteningly bad.

Randy Winn, Omar Vizquel, Rich Aurillia, Pedro Feliz, Bengie Molina. This would be a decent lineup if this was 1998. The Giants have no one to protect or setup Barry Bonds.

Of course, this shouldn't really matter. After all, Bonds will take care of "me."

Vaya con dios,

Sip

(Pics courtesy of cnn.com, Laist.com, mlb.com, rosinbag.com)