Coming to Terms with Scott Kazmir

So who else saw the sports section in the New York Times today? Splashed across the top of the page was an article about a Mets prospect turned Major Leaguer, a prospect so highly regarded that he forced his way to the Majors before being legally allowed to purchase alcohol.

Lastings Milledge? On the day he debuted? Nah... too obvious.

Scott Kazmir? Ahh, there's the ticket!

As I gazed bleary-eyed at the lead article of the NYT sports section this morning (click the title above to read), I almost thought my buddy Nails had taken over as Sports Editor of the New York Times.

For those not personally familiar with Nails, he's basically your classic pissed off Mets fan, except that instead of being a Democrat, he's a frothing conservative.

More important than his political inclinations, however, is that he's a former employee of the Mets. In his one summer at Mets, Inc., Nails studied the reports from the Mets' minor league system, most likely because the product on display at Shea Stadium, in the summer of 2003, was simply too depressing.

All of us hardcore Mets fans had heard about Scott Kazmir by then. We'd been aware that the Mets had stolen the jewel of the pitching crop in that year's draft with the 15th overall pick in the draft, where Kazmir had fallen due to fears that his agent, Scott Boras, would seek undue compensation for his client's services.

But it wasn't until Nails started his summer at Shea that I began receiving my weekly e-mails about Kazmir's latest performances, complete with Nails' amateur scouting reports indicating that Kazmir had a plus-plus fastball, plus makeup, plus-plus muffin ass, etc., etc., etc.

Zoom forward to the present day and Nails no longer sends his scouting reports, but in the e-mails he sends every 5th day, he makes certain that none of the five or six Mets fans on his listserve ever escape into the ignorance is bliss camp vis-a-vis Scott Kazmir.

Reading the article, which was written by actual NYT Sports Editor Lee Jenkins and which quickly shot up to the No. 2 most e-mailed sports story on the Times' website (and will doubtless take over the top spot later in the day), you come to understand that perhaps it wasn't conceived as a cruel joke to be played on Mets fans, nor was it meant to rain on the Mets' Milledge parade.

Instead, the article casts the Kazmir trade as the monsoon before the blossoming Mets careers of Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, who were acquired, "in part," Jenkins writes, "because [the Mets] needed to restore credibility and regain fan confidence that had noticeably eroded after the Kazmir trade."

I'm not sure that anything can quite make up for the Kazmir trade. As I wrote to the Hound in an e-mail earlier today:

"At some point you've gotta realize that nothing is ever going to make you feel better about the trade. It was so ill-conceived on so many levels that even any silver lining will inevitably be obscured.

"However, if, 5 years from now, Lastings Milledge and Mike Pelfrey (the former of whom I'm convinced would have been traded at last year's deadline if not for the Kazmir deal, and not just because of this article) are established stars on the Mets, then perhaps a wrong would have helped make a right.

"If you've gotta think about the Kazmir trade, try and think of it that way."

That's a palliative cliche, sure, but that's really as good as you can do.

Take last night as an example. You can either look at it throught he prism of Alay Soler getting lit up and think, "If only Scott Kazmir was here," or you can look at it through the prism and think, "Well, if we had to trade Scott Kazmir to save Lastings Milledge, so be it."

It's fool's gold on some level, because really there's no reason that you shouldn't have them both, but try and remind yourself that a small part of the Scott Kazmir trade factored into the Lastings Milledge era, as we hope to call it some day.

As Lee observes, without the Kazmir trade, the Mets might well have traded Milledge for Manny Ramirez at the trade deadline last year. Now, that's a trade a lot of you would have been willing to make, but I'm willing to bet that 5 years from now Milledge looks a lot better than Manny does.

And last night at least, it looked like Milledge belonged.

As he swung his bat ferociously before the pitcher got set, he couldn't help but remind you of Gary Sheffield.

As he swung his bat ferociously through each hack at the ball, again he couldn't help but remind you of Sheffield.

As his massive wooden cross bobbed from side to side, he couldn't help but remind you of the man upstairs.

And as his major league career progresses, and as he hopefully becomes a premier player in the league, let his star remind you of the Kazmir trade, and let it remind you that sometimes a wrong can help make a right.

As a Mets fan watching the career of Scott Kazmir unfold, that's really the best you can do.

At least until free agency, at which point I insist that we break the bank to bring Kid K home.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The Perfect Win for Sip and Things Are Starting to Click

The Diamondbacks are in town which means one thing.

It's Byrnesy Time.



As many Y2k loyalists will remember, Eric Byrnes holds a huge piece of my heart as a sports fan. After an amazing night at an SF club followed by a freak run in at IHOP at 3 a.m. on a Thursday filled with conversations on 9/11, how he was just thankful that anyone in baseball would sign him and topped off with him pouring coffee on his pancakes because he thought it was the syrup, all I can say is that I love this guy.

I just spent a weekend in Vegas with my SF crew, the Big Fella taking the lead. Of course he took down 7 grand playing blackjack in like 2 hours after sitting down with $500 bucks. It just makes sense.

Vegas this weekend was a sports fan's paradise. I sat down at the tables with David Lee and Al Horford and hit the clubs with basically the entire NBA (Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison, Josh Childress, Paul Pierce (sporting a XXXXXL shirt), Corey Maggete).



What I have learned about all these pros is that most of them are pretty good guys. They were dealt a really solid hand which in most cases causes some warranted cockiness.

But then there is Byrnesy. This guy is just in his own little planet. He is probably the most likable athlete a fan will ever meet and now he is at Shea Stadium.

So so far this year Byrnesy has been killing it. After a dreadful 2005, Byrnesy came to Shea hitting .322 with 6 dongs and 5 stolen bases. Not bad for a guy desperate for a job.

Which made tonight's game so enjoyable for me. In what seems to be 2000 all over again, The Mets pulled out another one in the 9th.

Paul Lo Duca had another great game. Between Me and Nails and a bunch of my inner circle, this guy is slowly becoming one of our favorite Mets. He just gets the job done. There is only word to describe this guy, professional.

The Mets moved to about 20 games over .500 in games that Kaz Matsui doesn't start.

And of course, my man Byrnesy earned his paycheck. The guy was the star of the game mashing two dongs and looking, as always, like the jack of spades.

But back to the Mets. Of late it really feels like this team is starting to role. El Duque got us a win in his first start and even before the game started it felt like we had a shot. That is all you can ask for from a 4-5 guy.



Now, today, Alay Soler makes start #2. After a miserable first inning in his first start, Soler looked great. Great enough to make Happy Will talk about the Mets' rotation being dominant for years to come with Soler now in the back.

Not too fast, H Man. Let's see what this guy can do in start 2 and start 3 and maybe even start 4 before we deem him as a worthy replacement for Jeremi "More of a Met than Randy Johnson is a Yankee" Gonzalez.

AND THEN THERE IS A-ROD

And speaking of the Yankees, I caught one of the best blurbs in last week's Sports Illustrated. There was a poll amongst Major Leaguers of the player that they would most like to see hit by a pitch.

The first three on the list went as expected.

AJ Pierzynski, Bonds, and Pedro.

Pierzynski is known throughout the league for being a giant asshole. He isolated himself from the entire Giants clubhouse which forced his departure to the Chi Sox.

Bonds is pretty obvious.

And Pedro is a guy who proudly hits people to intimidate them. In simple terms, he is the most likable ASSHOLE in the world.

The 4th guy on this list was what was the pleasant surprise.

#4: Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod is a guy that you wouldn't expect players to dislike. He is a cliched superstar that says the right thing. He is basically a textbook superstar.

So what is it? It must be that most players see what I see. Pure phoniness. The guy is probably a huge asshole on the field that turns into a statue the second the cameras get on him.

He is probably hated in the same way Gary Carter was. Mainly, the guy is a D-bag.

Throughout my years of Jeter bashing what always killed me is how much players throughout the league respected him. He was the leader of the best team in the game who just seemed like a phony. Yet throughout the league he was truly liked.

At last year's All Star Game players talked about how it didn't feel like an All Star Game cause Jeter wasn't there. That killed me.

For the first time, this year, I am starting to come around with this guy. He really just is that damn good. For 10 years he has been consistent and other than his annoying fist pump and bullshit interviews, the guy has never really done anything wrong.

I realize now that these Newer Yankees, those of the Yankees 2000 curse, are the ones to truly despise.

Most notably, the A-Rod's and Randy Johnson's of the world.

So to the players of MLB, well done. Between you guys and Met Killer Eric Byrnes, my respect for all of baseball is up a little bit in the last couple of days.

VCD,

SM

The 6 Positives of Going 7-8

Let me take you back to Monday, May 8. One day earlier, the Mets learned that their No. 4 starter, Victor Zambrano, would be lost for the season. Zambrano's injury came on the heels of Brian Bannister's hamstring injury two weeks earlier.

Uncertainty abounded as the Mets boarded the plain, train, or automobile that took them from scenic Shea to unfriendly Philly, where the Mets began their most trying stretch of the season to that point.

We had all heard the whispers of uncertainty. Yes, the Mets were 11 games over .500 to that point, but who had we beaten? Well, the Marlins and Nationals mostly, and a Braves team that stumbled out of the gate.

The next two weeks were to be the litmus test for this club. How would we fare on a tough two-week stretch against four of the better teams in baseball, played mostly in opposing parks?

Things started out poorly for the Mets, as they lost 2-of-3 in Philly, Milwaukee, and St. Louis, but the club rebounded to win the final two series' at home against the Yankees and Phillies.

All in all, it was a 7-8 stretch. Not normally the stuff that celebrations are made of, granted, but consider a few things:

1. The Mets ran Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez out there for 4 of those games.

The Mets' record in those games? 1-3, and the one win (a week ago against the Yankees), could hardly be credited to Gonzalez.

Do the Mets win all these games if Lima or Gonzalez don't start? Can't make that conclusion. Would the Mets have had a better shot at winning had neither started? I'd say that conclusion is fair.

2. The Mets lost one game 2-0 in five innings.

I mean, salt, it happens, but not exactly representative.

3. The Mets won 5 of their games by 1 run.

Not sure this is worth mentioning, I mean, the bullpen is a minor part of a team after all, but this is still pretty impressive.

(For more on how unimportant the bullpen is, read Matt Gelb's article over at MetsGeek: http://www.metsgeek.com/articles/2006/05/26/a-real-relief/).

4. In 6 of their 8 losses, the Mets brought the tying run to the plate in their half of the 9th inning.

It's become a little cliched to note how this time never gives in, how it always keeps fighting, but that doesn't mean it's not true. The statistic above speaks for itself. Would it have been nice to get the big hit and to have won those games? Of course, but speaking of that...

5. The Mets erased early deficits to in 4 of their 7 games; 3 times that meant overcoming deficits of 3 or more runs.

... it turns out the Mets do get the big hits from time to time, but chances are you didn't need me to tell you that. Chances are you saw Mr. Glass get that clutch home run in the bottom of the 8th on Tuesday. Or you saw Delgado crack a 3-run homer against the Yankees on Sunday. Or you saw Beltran announce that the Mets weren't about to go quietly against the Deflating Unit last Friday.

There are qualities that latch on to a winning ball club. Winning the games you should. Playing hard for 27 outs, or more if necessary. Staging comebacks. Check, check, and check, for the most part, so far.

(For more on this, be sure to read Mike Lupica's excellent column in today's NY Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/421156p-355526c.html).

6. The Mets are still 4.0 games up on their closest NL East opponent.

This one's the real kicker for me. When we began this tough 15-game stretch, we owned a 4.0 game lead on the second place Phillies, who at that point had won 8 straight games. Today our lead on the Phils is likewise 4.0 games.

The Braves have made strides, we knew they would, and are now 4.5 games out of first, a difference of 3.5 half games from May 8, when they were 8.0 games out.

But all in all, the Mets just played through 5 tough series' against 4 tough teams, some of the best in baseball, at least among the teams the Mets will see in the regular season.

They are none the worse for wear, and now, having won 4 of their last 6 ballgames, having gained a No. 4 in Orlando Hernandez and having gained hope of a No. 5 in Alay Soler, you might say that the Mets are sitting a hell of a lot prettier than they were two weeks ago.

Tonight we're in Florida with our ace on the hill. Tomorrow we throw Tommy Glavine, who's matched Pedro pitch for pitch this year, or maybe bettered him. Then on Sunday El Duque makes his debut.

Having weathered the storm these past two weeks, it's time to take care of business in Miami.

And for a lot of us, it's time to take care of business on a 3-day weekend. So enjoy yourselves, Mets fans, and be sure to keep checking in with Y2K over the weekend -- you just never know.

- A.F.O.M.G.

No. 4 Starter? Check.

All I've been saying in this blog and to my friends is exactly what happened Wednesday.

The Mets traded a non-prospect for a starting pitcher that could fill our 4 or 5 spot.

Wednesday night the Mets traded Jorge Julio for Orlando Hernandez. Blockbuster? No...

But this trade does a couple of things.

First, We as fans and the Mets as a team feel that with El Duque, whatever he may have left, we are sending a #4 out there that has a shot to win.


Three starts and we gave that up with Lima.

It is definitely an important feeling.

Secondly, and what I believe is a very direct goal of this trade, was that Omar Minaya was saying, Aaron Heilman, you're in the pen.

By trading Julio all of a sudden the pen needs Heilman or at least a bit more than it did 24 hours ago.

Who's to say if this deal will work out. El Duque could absolutely stink. But I am of the school of thought that a pitcher coming to Shea can only get better. This guy has proven in the past that he can win and he could just be crafty enough to pull something off for us.

Most importantly, we didn't give up pretty much anything of value and we have another shot at a decent starter.

If one start is any indication for Alay Soler(which it clearly isn't) then we may have a 4/5 with this guy.

All it takes is one more and our rotation could fill out.

It is my opinion that we should go after every El Duque available, most notably the Reds Dave Williams and the Twins Kyle Lohse.

We only need 1 guy to step up and as long as that guy doesn't cost us anything, I say go for it.

For now though, be content with El Duque. We turned a guy we had no confidence in at all into our No. 4 starter, a guy who has thrived in New York before and thrived in big moments before.

It's starting to come together, Pepper, it's starting to come together.

VCD,

SM

Hillary Clinton: Not Just Salting Wild Bill's Game Anymore

Hey everyone, A Friend of Mr. Glass here with a minor morning update for you before today's posts about the El Duque trade and the game last night.

I was sent an article this morning by loyal Y2K reader Pootsum, in which New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton vociferously denied the charge that she was a Mets fan.

"I cannot let stand that I have ever, ever been a Mets fan: Let's set the record straight," Clinton said at the National Press Club on Tuesday.

Think about her phraseology there, particularly the repition of 'ever'. Saying it once dismisses the idea, saying it twice mocks it. "No, I have never been a Mets fan -- do you even have to ask that? What kind of jackass do you take me for?" she seems to be asking.

"The Cubs and the Yankees -- those were my teams and remained my teams growing up and now in my mature years," she insisted.

She was there, man! She's not your typical Midwestern transplant-turned-Yankee-fan. She was there as a youngster, living and dying with every pinstriped swing of the bat as she grew up in... Chicago.

Hey, makes enough sense to me.

- A.F.O.M.G.

(Thanks also to Shabasito for sending word of this story along. If you want to read the article that these quotes come from, check it out here: http://www.amny.com/news/politics/am-hill0524,0,7592933.story?coll=am-topheadlines)

I Need Some Greenies

(Note: Two pieces about yesterday's game, the first by A.F.O.M.G., the second by Sippy Momo. Enjoy.)

Hey everyone, it's a very frail and tired A.F.O.M.G. coming at you today. Sip's already done a writeup of last night's dramatic 9-8 win, but I wanted to throw up some impressions of what the game was like from inside the stadium.

This isn't a full-fledged post from me, just some thoughts, observations, and questions for any readers out there who might be able to provide answers:

1. The biggest question I had was why on earth Willie decided to pinch hit Ramon Castro for Chad Bradford.

It had just taken Bradford 8 pitches to toss a scoreless 12th and he was our second to last reliever; granted the last reliever was the long man Darren Oliver, but still.

The pitching aspect aside, using Castro eliminated the team's backup backstop (the emergency catcher, Chris Woodward has been used, most effectively it should be noted, in the 8th inning). Using Castro in a bases empty situation, 1-out situation basically wasted our final pinch hitter.

I don't want to harp on this one, but I couldn't make sense of this move. Earlier today I checked the message boards at MetsGeek, where I expected to find a series of posts calling for Willie to be fired, or perhaps just calling him an idiot, but there were no such posts.

Was nobody else scratching their heads over this one, or was it just me and the Hound? Did Gary, Keith and Ron have any theories on the broadcast?

2. Billy Wagner did not throw a single warm-up pitch for a strike.

Not one. His line? 17 pitches thrown, 11 for strikes, 2 Ks, no hits, 1 scoreless inning.

3. The greatest pitcher the Hound has ever seen throw live was Doc Gooden.

Better than Seaver, if only for a short while. Meanwhile, I just learned that if you run a Google search for images of Doc Gooden, one in five is a mug shot.

4. Phillies fans, some of them at least, are going nuts about yesterday's game.

Reading some of the Philly message boards is really quite amusing

(Note: This is not something I normally do. I don't get some sort of schadenfreudic delight from reading about the misery of other teams' fans. I was just reading Buster Olney's blog this morning and I came across an article, then I came across a link, and then I came across the misery.)

At the Philadelpha Daily News (http://pod01.prospero.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=371.3&nav=messages&webtag=kr-phillytm), MEG writes: "I am finished with this team. They're a bunch of gutless-pukes."

KEE writes: "Boy that 13-1 streak meant a lot didn't it? Same old Phils, same old bunch of losers."

Boycotter: "Now Playing: 2005 PHILLIES part II."

I think Phillies fans might be taking the loss a little too hard, but it's tough to blame them. They had last night's game in the bag and they let it slip away. When you're in second place and you're in a bit of a skid, that can be really infuriating.

5. They don't play "Lazy Mary" after the 14th inning stretch.

I had not known this.

6. The Braves lost last night as well.

Their game started at 10:05 and was over well before ours was. Nonetheless, the news of their loss was greeted warmly by the crowd.

7. Around the time of Chase Utley's walk-in hit-by-pitch, the crowd really started to turn on the umpires.

Question to those watching: was Utley's beaning really as absurd as it looked? From my vantage point down the third base line, it literally looked like he walked right into it.

In any event, one spirited individual had some funny cat calls to the third base umpire.

"You are a disgrace to umpiring!"

"Your refereeing is questionable!"

"Stand down, sir!"

"As a linesman you do not rank favorably!"

"You besmirch the legacy of Don Pollard, the greatest living umpire of our times!"

Reading these over now, I find that some are funnier that others, but it occurs to me that you all might find none of them amusing. By the 15th inning, a certain brand of cabin fever dementia begins to set in, and perhaps that explains why I was laughing my ass off.

8. After the Mets had been retired in the bottom of the 11th, Beltran nearly got thrown out of the game.

That inning he had been called out trying to advance to second when his hand slipped off the bag (evidently he was safe, as Lister informed me via text message), and when he walked out to centerfield, a shouting match erupted between him and the second base umpire, Andy Fletcher.

Both men had to be restrained, and it's a damn good thing Beltran, who was really in Fletcher's face, didn't get tossed, not least because of his heroics in the 16th inning. The Mets were out of outfielders at that point; they would have shifted Endy Chafez to center, but who would have played right? Tom Glavine? Pedro?

- A.F.O.M.G.

What a F***ing Game

16 innings, 8 glasses of water, 2 theraflus, 3 #1's, 1 very solid #2, 9 complaints from my roommate (all very much justified), 6 phone calls to my buddy pushing back the bbq, and 278 pitches caught by Paul Lo Duca later and the New Mets had their defining win of the season.

I remember sitting there in the 3rd inning after Shitty Trachsel got out of a bases loaded jam with the Mets down 2-1, thinking to myself, if the Mets go on to win this game, that may be the biggest inning of the season.

A huge strikeout to the very intimidating Ryan Howard followed by a ground ball to Shane Victorino and a fly out to David Bell and the Mets still had a shot. The game was not over in the 3rd inning.

The game went on. The highlight for the first half of the game at least was when the cameras caught Keith Hernandez eating popcorn and laughing at Garry Cohen as Ron Darling tried to continue with his point.

After a failed attempt, the Terrific Trio went off for about 2 minutes about Keith eating popcorn. Did I mention how I much I love these guys?


Then there was Jose Reyes, who did his best Phil Mickelson impression driving a ball in the dirt out of Shea to tie the game 8-8. There is not a single person who can swing at bad enough pitches to drive that ball out of the park. That, my fellow Mets fans, is why we love ourselves some Glass.

From there, the game very much resembled Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS, Robin's Grand Slam Single Game.

For 7 extra innings the game appeared like it would never end.

Darren Oliver, the 75 year old reincarnation of Octavio Dotel gave us the best 4 innings of his 28-year major league career. This guy really deserves a ton of credit.


One other group deserves a ton of credit. Throughout the course of the game our perfect broadcasters paid their respects to the fans that stuck it out.

We here at Y2K will do it again. Great job guys. It looked like about 10,000 stuck it out and that is just awesome. 1 of those 10,000, of course, was AFOMG. Wish I could have been there with you.

I thought back to the memorable day in October when Me and the Kid sat at the top of the upperdeck and watched Robin hit it out to give the Mets one last glimmer of hope.

I remembered my mother giving me the day off from school that Monday even before I asked. She really is a good shit.

So it was only fitting that my first postgame text message came from Timmy the Kid. Much love TK.

And then there was Carlos Beltran. This guy hasn't been what we would have hoped but he is starting to show signs.


If Julio Franco encouraging him to take that curtain call early in the season was step 1, then hopefully this will be step 2. If we can get this guy going, then watch out. Seriously, watch out.

I gotta say I am pretty drained. Six hours on the same recliner and even the laziest of the lazy start to get antsy.

This was a heck of a win.

As my good pal Goat added, "Thank goodness they won because as tired as I'm gonna be tomorrow it would be way worse after a loss."

Think about all your Yankee fan friends who have argued how long the season is or how they know they will be there in October.

Mets fans wait it out. God bless you all.

VCD,

SM

$155 Million Dollars Worth of Paris Hilton

So the Yankees marched into Shea this weekend. As always Derek Jeter led the way for our crosstown rival/nemesis/team we want to kill.

Only this team from the Bronx that showed up at Shea was far less intimididating. 1-3 the lineup was great.

Damon-Jeter-Giambi


Their 4 guy looks about as intimidating as Ross from Friends at a science lecture.

And their 5-8 Cano-Williams-Cabrera-Stinnett looked a ton like a decent AAA team.

Then there was the pitching. Johnson, Mussina and Small. It really just seemed like a bunch of pretty old guys in their last days.

So what was going on? These are the Yankees. The team that we all hate and fear. Couldn't be.

Then I realized, these weren't the Yankees that we all know and love (to despise).

These were the homeless Yankees.

This Yankees team only made roughly $155 million dollars!!!

To think that I could overlook this! With the $45 mil that makes up Matsui, Sheffield, Posada and Pavano, this Yankee team was so far from the $200 million behemoth that we've grown so accustomed to -- of course they wouldn't be intimidating.

Quoting Bobby from the Bronx, "These weren't the real Yankees. Maybe if we took Delgado and Beltran from the Mets it would be alright. But this game didn't even matter. Our payroll was only like $150 million."

So the Yankees were missing roughly $45 million (that's the D-Rays and Marlins combined, for those keeping score at home) and it showed. The best team money can buy all of a sudden seemed unimposing.

The fact is, only one player in this lineup scared me the entire weekend, Derek Jeter, which was really weird to think. I actually sat there and said to myself, "Good for this guy."


Ten years later and he is the only thing consistent to show of this team.

Damon swings like a girl and throws like a retarded girl.

Giambi is amazing at walking.

Then there is A-Rod. I was glad to see he went deep on Monday night against the Red Sox, leading the Yankees' charge down 9-0 in the 9th. This guy is just hateable. My god is he hateable.

Finally, the starting pitching. There just isn't a lot there anymore.

Randy Johnson is throwing 93 mph. That's not 98 mph. The result? All of a sudden dudes are crushing him.

As good as Mussina has been, he's getting up there.

And the rest of the staff just isn't good.

I think it is really important to realize how bad of a job Brian Cashman has done putting this team together. How can you have a $200 million payroll and not one dominant starting pitcher? Not one.

I don't know why it is that baseball insiders love this guy. He did nothing to put together the championship teams of the late 90's.

Fact is, this guy is about as good at putting together a baseball team as he looks like he would be. That is, he is an angry little man who doesn't belong in the game.

So over the course of the weekend it killed to me be watching the subway series games with 1 and 2 Yankee fans.

Jordan, a pretty solid Yankee fan, watches pretty much every game and knows his stuff. Then big Maciej, a diehard, who had the presence of mind to enter for the 9th inning of Sunday's game to throw in a couple of "good fights" during Miguel Cairo's AB against Wagner.

They were good fights. Kind of like the Mets "battling" on a daily basis, an Art Howe soundbite that always got Mets fans oozing with love for the old skipper, a guy named Bobby Valentine.

I knew that I hated the Yankees. I knew I hated their fans. I knew I hated everything about them.

Yet, when I tried to argue with my Yankee fan friends I found myself not being able to dominate the conversation. I was clearly right and they were clearly wrong as all readers of this site can agree, yet the words couldn't make it out of my mouth.

But then as I was watching E! it hit me as America's princess, Paris Hilton, mozied across the screen.


For some reason, despite bringing zero to the table and being very hateable, America loves this girl.

People like to talk about hating her yet she still is always there, always in the spotlight making tons of money. There are just enough shitty people that actually like her, that believe her autograph is worth seeking that she stays afloat.

She is famous being for famous.

The Yankees, my friends, are the Paris Hilton of baseball.

They are so hateable. They are loved for having more than everyone else. Yet there is nothing likeable about them. The team has no personality and certainly no heart.

They are simply the best thing money can buy and for America that is enough. That is why we see more Yankee hats than anyone else and why Yankee games are always sold out despite so many people finding the team truly wrong.

The Yankees are famous for being the Yankees. To the casual baseball fan/New York transplant, the Yankees are what is cool and hip about baseball. They are America's past time. For that reason, people like them.

I need more time to expand on this one and I would appreciate some feedback in the comments section, but I am pretty sure I hit this one on the nose here.

Whenever I need to tool a Yankee fan or just feel right and happy with the team that I will root for I will just think of Paris Hilton and everything will be ok.

Yeah the girl is hot, but would you ever be proud to bring her back to your mother? I know Mama Momo ain't having that, even if her name was Paris Hiltonsteinowitzberg.

VCD,

SM

Interleague Play, Reloaded

In the run-up to this past weekend, debate raged in broadcast, print, and blog media as to whether interleague play had worn out its welcome. "Just another series" was the oft-repeated mantra of many a Met, Yankee, journalist, and blogger.

We can all admit that the fever-pitch excitement that accompanied that first Mets-Yankees showdown in 1997 at Yankee Stadium is gone. To be honest, the Glass himself was beginning to worry about the relevance of interleague play.

I distinctly remember talking the matter over with friends last year, saying that the Mets and Yankees should get one crack at each other during the regular season. Why not have the Mets play 3 at Yankee Stadium one year, the Yanks play 3 at Shea the next, and then take the third year off?

I was pretty convinced at the time that tinkering with the formula was the only was to preserve the luster of Mets-Yankees baseball.

This past weekend changed my mind, and my sense is that it changed the minds of a lot of different people. I saw several media reports mention yesterday that for all the talk of interleague fatigue, attendance at each of the three games this weekend surpassed 56,000.

That's impressive enough, but speaking personally, it wasn't the fans I saw at the ballpark who put the jolt back into this series, it was the fans I saw out and about in the city of New York.

I graduated from college just short of a year ago now, and I've gotta tell you, the feeling of walking around town Friday night proudly displaying my orange Mets t-shirt was simply electric.

It was a feeling I hadn't had in a while. Everywhere I turned there was somebody new wearing Mets gear, even at a hipstered out nightspot in Alphabet City. With each of those people I shared a high five.

We reveled in talk about Carlos' blast in the first. Or Randy's implosion. Or Heilman's 3 shutout innings. Or Wagner striking out three of the Spanks' best hitters. Or, of course, your boy and mine, D-Wright hitting the game-winning double.

Friday night was perfect.

Saturday, not so much.

I sucked it up though and wore my Mets hat with pride around town. With my body language I tried to project an attitude announcing to all the people in Yankee hats, What? You think I lasted this long as a Mets fan without being able to stomatch a tough loss?

I shared conciliatory glances with the men and women wearing Mets gear that evening. That sucked, we said, but look, we still got a chance to win this series tomorrow!

And then we did, somehow.

We did it in spite of a less than stellar day of Mets pitching, a day on which saw four of our best horses (Tommy, Heilman, Suaner, and Wagner) allowed Yankee batters to reach second base in 8 of 9 innings.

We did it in spite of being on the ropes all night.

We did it in spite of the fact that no one had confidence in Billy Wagner anymore.

And it was glorious. And it was glorious again today.

As I rode the subway to work today I heard pockets of people talking about the game last night. When I got to work all the same conversations were going on on my floor. When I got to my desk no less than 6 people came by immediately to talk it over. When I climbed the stairs to lunch 20 minutes ago I heard people several floors up talking about Delgado's 3-run blast.

For the fans in the thick of New York, interleague play was most definitely back. Had it ever left? I can't say really. I was gone the last 4 years, and watching these games on a television far away from the five boroughs just can't compare.

Don't get me wrong, it still meant the world to me when the Mets swept the Yankees in 2004, but when it was over and I walked outside, I saw a lot of people who just didn't care. I can't fault them for that, but that was my reality.

Being back in the city changed all that, and it changed my impression of Mets-Yankees back to what it should have been all along.

That doesn't mean interleague play is perfect. All you had to do was monitor this past weekend's Blue Jays-Rockies grudge match to know that not all is right with this sytem.

But in this city at least, the formula works. It works because of the people in the Mets and Yankees hats you see roaming the streets, huddling in subway cars, happily greeting each other in bars throughout the town, or dissecting each moment at work.

It's a special feeling.

And it doesn't hurt that the Mets took 2 of 3.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Three Days in May

Baseball’s a funny game. For 3 days the Mets and Yankees fought tooth and nail through 29 innings. When it was over, the Mets had scored 15 runs and the Yankees 14.

On Friday the Mets erased a 4-run deficit and beat the Yankees’ prized closer.

On Saturday the Yankees erased a 4-run deficit against the Mets’ prized closer.

On Saturday the Yankees won a game they had every reason to lose. On Sunday the Mets won a game they had every reason to lose, or at least 15 reasons to lose – 15 being the number of runners Yankee batters left on base.

So go figure all of that. Somehow when all was said and done the Mets had taken 2 out of 3.

It’s tempting now to say that we should have won all 3. Resist that urge. Resist that urge no matter how devastating Saturday’s loss was when it happened.

After the game on Saturday I wrote the following:

In the end, we decide how heavily this loss will weigh on us. The decision is ours, not the Yankees', not their fans'. Ours.

And you know what? It's just one loss. Today is just one day. Tomorrow we wake and the season begins again.

I was proud of how the team played yesterday. I don’t think there’s one player you could point to on our roster and say that he played well. Glavine? Gutsy, sure, but not well – this wasn’t vintage Glavine.

Heilman? Not quite. Duaner? Definitely not. Wagner? Wright? Delgado? They had big moments, but yesterday was no tour de force for a one of them.

And yet somehow we found a way to win the ballgame. And in doing so, we decided the worth of Saturday’s loss. It sucked, yes. There’s a feeling of missed opportunity, sure. But having won last night, that’s the end of it. The negative thoughts about Saturday subside, replaced by the ultimate satisfaction of a series won on Sunday.

I’m emotionally drained right now, just totally exhausted after 3 days of gut-wrenching baseball. I’ll try and get something a bit more coherent up later in the day today, but for now that’s all I got. For now, I dream the dreams of a happy Mets fan.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Game Log: Mets-Yankees - May 21

8:00 - Alright, that broad with the "Certified Yankee Hater" is officially Little Miss Shea Stadium for the night of May 21... and we're off. Glad to have you here.

8:03 - I like that the Mets are playing Star Wars music in the background. I'm a sucker for orchestral shit. It pumps me up. I'm nonetheless embarrassed to say that I know the name of that song. "Battle of the Heroes". Salt.

8:09 - Alright, Tommy. We need a big start. You know it. We know it. Deliver.

8:10 - Billy Wagner is in the background every time the camera hits on Johnny Damon. I still feel sick.

8:10 - Love to start a big game with the other team getting a little piece of crap single.

8:11 - We have not done a good enough job holding baserunners in this series. One of the papers made a good point about that 11th inning yesterday. Miguel Cairo walked and got to third via two uncontested stolen bases. It's not good enough to just let the other team waltz around the bases. I mean, isn't that why we didn't reup with the Monster?

8:12 - Deej.

8:13 - And there's a stolen base.

8:14 - Just got him - great play. No jumpman bullshit. Well executed, M.G.

8:15 - One of the most welcome aspects of SNY broadcasts are the overhead camera angles that show you exactly where a pitch is vis-a-vis the plate. I'm not exactly pissed about the strike zone yet, but I have been missing that angle on a couple of these pitches.

8:17 - Who else is certain that A-Rod is now going to get a base hit here?

8:19 - Glavine is missing down in the zone, a lot. It's better than missing up, but 11 of 20 pitches for balls isn't gonna cut it.

8:23 - You know, a lot of people are down on interleague play. They think the idea is oversaturated. I understand their beef on some level, but I'll say this.

Few things are so enjoyable for me as walking around with my Mets hat on or a Mets t-shirt on during a Mets-Yankees series. You pass someone with Mets gear you share a look, a "Let's go Mets", a "New Mets!" -- it's special. You pass a Yankee fan, you share a dirty look, or give a little smile. It's a feeling you don't get when you play even your biggest division rival.

8:25 - Keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn!

8:27 - Did it seem to anyone else that a piece of debris was floating around the infield that entire first inning or was it just me?

8:28 - If you don't have an all new 2007 Chevy Avalanche you're nothing to me, you're less than nothing to me.

8:29 - It bears mentioning that both the Braves and Phillies won today. The H is O.

8:31 - Hmm... walk Stinnett here? Not in the 1st I guess.

8:32 - Let's go Tommy, get tough.

8:33 - THERE YOU GO TOMMY!!!!!!!!! Good time to get that first low strike.

8:36 - That 7 train is really taking its sweet time, isn't it?

8:37 - Shit. The old Jeromy Burnitz Special. RIP, J-Burn.

8:38 - Those bags floating around the infield are beautiful.

8:39 - Aaron Small has had a LOT of movement on his curveball so far.

8:42 – PSA: I should mention that blogger.com is susceptible to technical difficulties. I encountered these yesterday. If we go like 10 minutes without an update, it doesn’t mean I’ve stopped.

8:42 – Boy did Melky Cabrera misplay that one.

8:43 – Good call by the announcers, the wind looks brutal out there.

8:43 - He made it look easy, yes. Perhaps because that play never looked difficult. Maybe I'm just bitter.

8:46 - I was a lot more worried about Aaron Small after the 1st inning than I am now. Two real hard hit balls by Cliffy and Delgado.

8:47 - I don't know that I've seen Reyes make a ton of spectacular plays necessarily, but he's looked much surer-handed out there this year than he did in 2005, at least in my opinion.

8:48 - Jon Miller just touched on an important point. What makes the Yankees different from any other team in baseball is that if the Mets, say, or the Red Sox, lost one of their best bats, they'd be fucked. The Yankees? You lose Shef and Hideki Matsui and you've still got Giambi, A-Rod, Jeter, Damon...

8:50 - Funny thing about A-Rod. When he's up in a pressure spot, I never worry about him coming through. Consider that I'm perpetually convinced that something bad is going to happen against the Yankees and that really says a lot about his performance.

Watch A-Rod get the gamewinner today. Fuck. You really put yourself in a bad position when you're doing one of these things.

8:53 - These grapes I'm eating right now really go way beyond the call of duty. Really phenomenol.

8:53 - First strike against ESPN's broadcast: No Kaz Matsui theme music.

8:58 - On a somewhat unrelated topic, in case you didn't know, Alay Soler has been called up to start in place of Jose Lima. Lime Time, is officially over.

8:59 - Nice throw, Paul.

9:00 - Yes Glavine has been in trouble each of the first three innings, but there haven't been any particularly hard hit balls I'd say. Any port in the storm.

9:01 - Unbelievably pathetic. Ugh.

9:01 - Yeah, really great to see Miller. Hmm, where the fuck was that pitch?

9:02 - Nice. I couldn't overemphasize how important it is for a pitcher to maintain his composure after a bad break like Bernie's "double". Accept it, suck it up, get back to work. So far so good.

9:03 - Terrence Long? Richard Hidalgo? It's a regular who's who of shitty Mets outfielders over in that Yankee farm system isn't it?

9:04 - Not a good spot to walk the 8 hitter.

9:05 - Am I wrong or have they had first and second in each of the first 4 innings now?

9:06 - Fuck me. Second batter in a week to make absolutely no effort to get out of the way of a Glavine pitch. FUCK.

9:07 – File Jeter under “Yankees I always expect to get a hit in a big spot”.

9:08 – God damn it. God damn it. Think about what’s happened this inning. Bernie leads off with a 15 foot double. Glavine walks the 8 hitter. Beans a guy. 2 runs in on an error. Aye-aye-aye.

9:09 – Wait. I couldn’t have possibly heard that correctly. They gave Jeter a base hit there?

9:09 – Uhh, yeah. I think I speak for all Mets fans: that play should have been made. What aspect of that play shouldn’t have been made?

9:10 – 73 pitches for Glavine. 3.2 innings. Jeezum Crow.

9:11 – Jesus does Glavine look old. Physically I mean. He looks old.

9:11 – Well that wasn’t confidence-inspiring, now was it?

9:12 - That was a really bad time to go dark. Thanks, Blogger.

9:13 - OK. What do you say we answer here, Mets? Give us a little something to be confident about here (cuz lord knows Glavine isn't providing it on the hill).

9:14 - Know what I take absolutely no solace in? The fact that the winners of the first two games came from behind.

9:15 - Does Paul Lo Duca really swing and miss that infrequently? I mean, he's got great bat control, I'll grant it, but are we really at a point where it's newsworthy every time he swings and misses?

9:16 - There you go, Paulie. Seems like he always gets a hit in a spot like this. Pretty vague, but that's as precise as I can get right now. He just seems to come up with a big AB when you feel like the team could use a lift.

9:18 - Question: What happens to Beltran in years 5, 6 and 7 of Beltran's contract after Delgado's deal expires?

9:18 - 2009 can wait -- atta boy Beltran!

9:19 – Come on Delgado. Really important to answer here.

9:19 – GET OUT!!!!!! GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

3-2 Mets – LET’S GOOOOO!!!!!

9:20 - GET GOING!!!!!!!!!!! GET GOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"He's feeling a little better about that play in the field now I'll bet." - The Hound.

9:22 - So much for Aaron Small pulling a Dave Mlicki. OK. Le's go baby!!!!!!

9:23 - Interesting point about Aaron Small here. He was just moved out of the bullpen to the rotation. Don't want to make more of this than there is, but, well, let's just say I'm thinking of another Aaron we know. Before I get lit up on the comment board by Happy Will, et al, let me just say that I am certain Aaron Heilman is a better pitcher than Aaron Small.

9:25 - That Reyes-Wright handshake wasn't Reyes-Anderson Hernandez cool, but it was pretty dope in its own right.

9:25 - What do you think, any chance Kaz jacks one here?

9:26 - In a word... no. I accept full jinx responsibility. But OK!!!!!!!!!! 4-2!!!!!!!! Come on Glavine, settle down some.

9:27 - I'm gonna say it now. I want Wagner to enter this game. I want him to enter this game so he can have the chance to shut the Yankees down like he did on Friday. Call me crazy.

9:28 - OK. Deej's "I live for this" commercial? Not nearly as cool as Pedro's.

9:31 - This would be a good time to get your first 1-2-3 inning Glavine.

9:31 - THE WARRIOR!

9:32 - The 1-2-3 inning will have to wait. What are we looking at here from Glavine tonight? 6 innings? Discuss.

9:34 - WOAH THAT WAS A NICE DOUBLE PLAY! Was that Kaz Matsui!!!!???!!!!!

9:37 - I hate Miguel Cairo.

9:39 - Like I really hate Miguel Cairo.

9:39 - Alright M.G.!

9:40 - Reyes has not gotten good jumps in this series. Just by the way.

9:41 - Ahh yes, the Verizon Business K-Zone.

9:42 - Anyone have a thought as to whether Heilman would be at full capacity today after going 3 innings on Friday?

9:42 - Oh boy was he out.

9:44 - Great point by the Hound: we've gotten screwed by the umps enough times this year for me to not feel bad about one Jose Reyes stolen base.

9:45 - Remember when Willie Randolph was an idiot for batting Lo Duca second and Beltran three?

9:45 - Yo, this Yankee bullpen is stretched pretty damn thin.

9:48 - I know I said I wanted Wagner to get a chance in this game. Fuck that. Let's park one here, Carlos.

9:51 - Can't say I like this matchup of lefty-with-funky-delivery against Delgado.

9:53 - I mean, that's just a tough matchup for Delgado there. Oh well.

9:54 - Any chance they ask Willie about bringing Wagner into that game yesterday?

9:56 - You know, say what you want about Wagner's performance yesterday, but I feel certain that he wants to be in this game today, and that's not something I'd have said about Braden Looper or Armando Benitez the past several years.

9:58 - "Oh, shit!" - Tom Glavine. Yeah, that's not what he wanted to do here. Come on, Tommy, 2 more outs.

10:00 - Come on Tommy, get tough. Pick yourself up here.

10:01 - Glavine's "out" pitches are just not going to fool anyone right now.

10:02 - Fucking huge. Just absolutely huge. Thank god. Alright, Tommy, not your best outing, you labored, but you persevered. Good work.

Now let's get us a run or two here, huh?

10:06 - Is Colter Bean looking to get moisture on his fingers or get bulemic out there?

10:09 - Fight him, X.

10:09 - There's that theme music. Nice.

10:10 - The end of Peter Gammons' report was music to my ears. And Nails' too I'm sure. Meanwhile, I cannot believe X just stole a base.

10:12 - Alright. Heilman to Sanchez to Wagner. Now let's get it done.

10:13 - Any chance Angelina Jolie makes a cameo in "The Breakup"? Anyone ever realize that Vince Vaughn played Brad Pitt's best friend in "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"? AWKWARD!!

10:15 - On a night of extreme winds like this, it wouldn't take much to convince me that Endy Chavez should be subbed in for Nady here.

10:17 - 96 MPH from Heilman, huh?

10:20 - OK, Aaron. Come on now, put him away.

10:21 - For fuck's sake, Paul.

10:21 - For fuck's sake, Aaron.

10:23 - Wait, didn't we see this act yesterday?

10:25 - Thank god he called that a strike. Thank. God.

10:26 - Excuse me: THANK GOD!!!!!!

10:28 - Heilman to Sanchez to Wagner. Heilman - Check.

10:29 - Glad to see Phillip Seymour Hoffman taking someone's seat at Shea. Go Orioles!

10:30 - Know who doesn't think it would have been a better fit for A-Rod to go to the Red Sox? Red Sox fans.

10:31 - New Jose Valentin! This is a no-brainer situation to bunt with Reyes here as far as I'm concerned.

10:32 - Wow, Joe Torre really looks like shit. What happened to his leg?

10:35 - You really don't see the mid-at-bat pitching change very often do you?

10:37 – Nice pitch selection on those bunt attempts, Jose.

10:37 – NEW JOSE VALENTIN!!!!!!! NICE PLAY!

10:38 - Wow did Reyes look bad in that at-bat. Wow.

10:40 - See that look in Glavine's eye? It's the fear of 2-8-2 being blown by Billy Wags.

10:41 – No!!!!!!!! Get it off!!! Get it off!!!!!!!! Please, I can’t take this abuse. Anything but Scott Kazmir's stats!!

10:44 - Alright, Duaner. Here's looking at you, pal.

10:46 - Not sure you can say that this umpire has been consistent with his strike zone here today. Meanwhile, I swear to god don't walk Miguel Cairo.

10:48 - For fuck's sake. For. Fuck's. Sake.

10:49 - Oh fuck.

10:51 – Fuck.

10:53 – OK. Think of it this way. We’re a sac fly and a ground ball away from being out of this jam. Just bear down, Duaner.

10:54 - Come on, Duaner. Come on, Duaner.

10:56 - Just re-read my post at 8:50. Fuck.

10:57 - I. Could. Not. Possibly. Be. Happier. 8:50.

10:59 - I wonder what every Yankee fan watching this game right now is thinking. Alright, this is what I asked for: Wagner in the game to hold a lead.

11:00 - OK. I want to ask for another run. Or 3. Just so I'm on the record with that.

11:01 - Scott Erickson. Jesus.

11:03 - Hear those A-Rod chants in the background?

11:03 - Come on David. Come on David. Please.

11:04 - Needless to say, we're all thinking about the top of the 9th inning with Wagner right? Hey, at least it's 5-6-7 coming up for the Yanks.

11:06 - Give credit where it's due: That was a nice grab by Cano.

11:07 - No fear, Billy. No fear.

11:08 - Meanwhile, the right side of my right wrist is hurting. Carpel tunnel. That's the price I pay to bring you this game log. Extreme blogging!

11:10 - I mean, somehow you knew it would come to this, didn't you? Mets with a 1-run lead in the 9th, Wagner on the hill? Somehow you knew.

11:10 - Strike 1. Strike 2. Strike 3. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

11:13 - Fuck X. Fuck. Pick your fucking game up out there.

11:14 - Oh my god. 2 pieces of crap. 2 pieces of crap.

11:15 - I've got MY razorblade.

11:16 - Bear. Fucking. Down.

11:16 - YES!!!!!!!!!

11:16 - Miguel Cairo.

11:16 - For the love of god, please.

11:18 - Thank God. Thank God. I am emotionally drained. What a win. What a series. Thank you, Billy. Thank you, Miguel. Thank you, A-Rod.

Follow Tonight's Game With Y2K

Dear Readers,

As some of you know, we chronicled yesterday's game with a running game log. For those interested, I will be doing the same again tonight during the rubber game of the series -- hope you tune in to check it out. The site will be updated constantly throughout the game, so keep reloading the page after 8 p.m. if you want to follow along with Y2K.

Meanwhile, the Phils and the Braves both lost yesterday, so the question of the day is whether you're a glass half-empty or a glass half-full kind of feller. Did the Mets blow a really, really good opportunity to pick up a game on their division rivals or did they drop a tough one and come away unscathed divisionally? You decide.

One way or another, we can all agree that we should be thankful as shit that yesterday's disaster didn't come at the expense of a game in the standings.

So yeah, I don't know about the rest of you, but that glass looks half full to me.

- A.F.O.M.G.

As All Things Do, This Too Shall Pass

I want all the readers to do one thing tonight. Forget about this game today. Just forget about it. Don't use it as a reason to get in a fight. Don't use it as a reason to get sloppy drunk. Don't use it as a reason to hammer your girlfriend in an overly aggressive manner. Just forget about it.

Tomorrow the Mets and Yankees will play again. On Friday the Yankees blew a 4-run lead. Today we blew a 4-run lead. I won't say it's entirely the same, but try and think of it that way.

And try to remember how good Tom Glavine has been all year. If you weren't going to have Pedro going the next day after a game like this, you'd sure as hell want Glavine.

In the end, we decide how heavily this loss will weigh on us. The decision is ours, not the Yankees', not their fans'. Ours.

And you know what? It's just one loss. Today is just one day. Tomorrow we wake and the season begins again.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Game Log: Mets-Yankees - May 20, aka, The Scroll of Agony

(Note: First running game log here at Y2K. Continuously updated during the game so refresh this page if you're reading this as the game is played. Also, be sure to read Sip's recap of last night's classic win over the Spanks. Enjoy.)

1:19 – FOX leads off with a pair of decidedly weak intro pump-up montages. The first is basically an instance of corporate prostitution, as FOX sells itself like a common street whore by mixing clips of Mets/Yankees and White Sox/Cubs in with dialogue from X-Men III – The Last Stand. If I were an X-Men fan, the image of Pedro Martinez standing next to Wolverine or A-Rod having light beams coming out of his eyes like whatshisname might have been fun. As it is, I’m not, and this montage sucks.

Lamer still was the official intro to the Mets-Yankees game narrated by Joe Buck. There was mention of the 2000 World Series and how now, 6 years later with new faces and whatnot, there is excitement in New York again with both teams doing well.

The truth is, I generally despise FOX. I would much, much rather listen to Gary Cohen and the boys at SNY than Buck and his partner in Yankee jocking, Tim McCarver. But I’m normally a sucker for those intro montages. FOX just mailed it in this time. This broadcast just blew what figured to be its finest moment.

1:21 – Joe Buck appears to be wearing an orange “Let’s go kids!” Mets bracelet.

1:27 – Pedro’s fastball is coming in at 91 today. I read in a notebook this morning that Guy Conti says his arm strength is now at full bore. 91 is a lot better than 89, even if it doesn’t sound like it. It only improves the differential on his off-speed stuff; definitely a positive development.

1:28 – Jason Giambi is such a bitch. I can’t remember who it was, but some blogger noted recently that it’s gotten to the point where umpires don’t call strikes on pitches he doesn’t swing at, and that he feels entitled to determine himself what is a ball and what is a strike. That is, if he doesn’t swing and it’s a called strike, he’ll turn to the umpire and pout about the call. Maybe it’s flaxseed rage.

1:30 – Pedro fans A-Rod to retire the side. FOX has redeeming moment as Buck says “You know how Pedro wants this first half inning to end…” pitch is thrown, strike three called… “Like that”. Buck’s not as bad as McCarver.

1:33 – Oh my god, 2-0 on Reyes. You know, he’s walking more this year, but I still never expect him to actually walk. And I say this a day after he walked twice. Maybe it’s not fair.

1:34 – Great statistic. In games we win, Reyes hits .339. In games we lose, Reyes hits .098. Say what you want about the kid, but as he goes, so goes the team. Oh, and leadoff single. LET’S GO@!!!!

1:35 – Kaz Matsui’s intro music is truly awesome. During the game last night, me, Lister, Steve and Jewbiscuit would turn the music up as loud as possible every time he came to the plate.

1:36 – Moose has now fallen behind the first two batters 2-0

1:37 – Just to recap. This inning, Reyes reached base on a nubber to third and forced an error with his speed. Reyes breaks for second, steals the bag, goes to third as throw goes into centerfield. Kid just makes it happen, I’m happy we’re friends.

1:38 – Kaz strikes out in a big spot. Does not give the patented Kaz Matsui spin-around strikeout. Maybe next time.

1:39 – This fucker Beltran better get this run home.

1:39 – LET’S GOOO@!! 1-0 Mets.

1:40 – Best part of that play? Miguel Cairo misplaying the ball in left. Would have been a hit either way, Beltran might have had 2 either way, but either way, I’m really, really glad that Cairo looked retarded out there. I’ve hated Cairo from that first day in spring training 2005 when he rolled in with his Yankee duffle bag, and let’s just say his futility in the 2-hole last season didn't endear him to me any more.

1:41 – Nice hand for David Wright. Good to see. Earlier today, my mother announced that she feels like Wright never does anything clutch. What can I say, you don’t choose these people in your life (love you mom).

1:44 – I am so happy Johnny Damon misplayed that ball. You all know how we feel about that asshole here at Y2K. Mr. Unclutch just got another clutch hit, good thing my mother isn’t here to see it – 2-0 Mets.

1:49 – This Pedro commercial for MLB is awesome. The way it ends with him fleefully pointing at the camera and saying the tagline “I live for this” is perfect.

Meanwhile, I’m just gonna say it, I miss Pedro’s Jheri-curl. The puff tuft he’s sporting this year is pretty dope in its own right, but it’s just not the same. Oh well.

1:56 – The Burkger King Have it your way Home Advantage is exactly the sort of thing I hate about watching sports on FOX. A song plays in the background as the announcers tell you nothing at all about the stadium. Just completely worthless.

1:57 – The Mets seem to have unveiled new seating on the grassy knolls in the right and left field corners. I have 3 seasons left to sit in one of those seats. This is a must.

1:58 – McCarver has revealed that it is possible to be eccentric by doing crossword puzzles. Did I mention this guy is an idiot?

2:03 – Buck snaps at McCarver when the latter again calls Mussina eccentric for doing crossword puzzles. Maybe he hates him as much as I do.

2:04 – Holy shit. Michael Barrett just duffed AJ Pierzynski out in Chicago. I understand he just got nailed at the plate, but Pierzynski’s play was clean – shame on Michael Barrett.

2:07 – I hate to offer any semblance of a compliment to Johnny Damon, but sometimes when he’s at bat you get the feeling he could just foul off pitches all day long.

2:08 – Buck announces this is a situation in which Derek Jeter, Deej, always comes up big.

2:09 – 3-0 count on Deej, Damon now on third. I’m nervous. The fact is that this whole ballpark expects DJ to get a hit right here. Except maybe the guy on the mound.

2:11 – YES!!!!! FUCKING HUGE@!!!!!! SUCK IT BUCK!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile, I swear to god I wrote that last bit about “except maybe the guy on the mound” at 2:09 when the count was 3-0. No revisionism here.

2:15 – Hmm, tough Capital One Trivia Question here. Who was the last Mets pitcher to fan 200 batters in his first season with the Mets? I’m gonna guess Al Leiter, although I suppose it might have been old number 3-2: Mike Hampton.

2:16 – Sometimes I see Kaz Matsui swing and wonder how he ever gets a hit.

2:18 – Soothing guitar strumming sends us off into commercial. Why not?

2:22 – A strikeout looking on Giambi is becoming one of my favorite things in the game. Sit down, Creamer.

2:23 – Having now seen the replay of the collision in Chicago, I now better understand why Barrett took a swing. Pierzynski didn’t just bowl him over, he showed him up by slapping his hand down hard on the plate. Not saying it’s the right move for Barrett to punch him in the face, but the slap of the plate is an important angle here.

2:27 – Your Capital One Trivia Answer: Doc Gooden. Go figure. Meanwhile, checking ESPN.com just now I learn that Leiter struck out 174 and Hampton 177 in their first seasons (and only, as the case may be) with the Mets. Hampton has never struck out 200 in a season, while Leiter did so once: he struck out an even 200 in the year 2000. Sigh.

2:32 – Wow. From the other room I hear the Hound utter a “Holy Shit!” as Delgado’s arm flick swing lands over the fence in left-centerfield. In one of those what can you do situations, the TV in the kitchen, where the Hound is, seems to be about 5 seconds ahead of the one in the living room, where I am. This makes for a series of drama-killing hollers from the other room. Salt. Oh, 3-0 Mets.

Meanwhile, I love it that David Wright comes to the plate sometimes with “Brass Monkey” by the Beastie Boys playing in the background. Like to see that New York styling.

2:34 – As Delgado and Reyes play wrestling in the dugout, I hold my breath and pray that Reyes won’t get hurt.

2:37 – Roger Clemens… True Yankee?

2:39 – The Burger King commercial with the father-son hamburgers is almost good enough to make up for the Burger King Have It Your Way Home Advantage segment earlier in the game. “I wish I’d never been broiled!” the son says. I love that adolescent drama shit!

2:40 – Melky Cabrera breaks his bat. How awesome would it be if one of Giambi’s bats cracked open to reveal a massive syringe-shaped cork?

2:42 – Pedro’s thrown 71 pitches through 5.1 innings, and the fact is that he seems to be losing his command a little bit. You really want to see him get through 7 today before handing it over to the bullpen.

2:43 – Cliff flies into the stands to make a catch. Maybe they’ll still be talking about this one 2 years from now, too. Incidentally, I was wrong about Pedro’s command.

2:45 – I hate to write a negative word about 24, but that line “Right here, right now you are going to face justice!” can’t help but sound lame on a commercial. THERE ISN’T ENOUGH TIME!!!!

2:47 – I read on MetsBlog that the Mets have called up Anderson Garcia to take over Lima Time (http://www.metsblog.com/blog/_archives/2006/5/20/1971907.html). Interesting thing to note here: Garcia is a reliever. Heilman to the starting rotation, anyone?
2:48 – I like watching Pedro run to first base. He really more kind of skips than runs. Gotta love Pedro.

2:49 – EVERYBODY CLAP YO HANDS!!!!!!!!!

2:50 – For a second time today, Reyes’ speed makes all the difference in the world. Botched routine grounder to first base ends up a 2-base hit for Reyes. Let’s see if Kazuo can make good on this RBI chance (not bloody likely).

2:55 – I have no words for what I’m seeing right now. There is an artist’s rendition of Tim McCarver with Johnny Damon-with-Red Sox hair and beard. Did I mention I hate FOX?

3:00 – Last night, Lister pointed me towards a video I had never seen before. I won’t explain it to you, just watch:



There were 2 outs when that play happened. The Nationals went on to score 4 runs after that play (Play-by-play link: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playbyplay?gameId=260514115). That clip’s a week old but you still gotta love it. Fuck the Braves.

3:06 -- Not sure which I hate to see more: a lead-off single by A-Rod or the FOX Pepsi Fan Cam. Come on, Van Morrison, you're better than this.

3:07 -- That's how you execute a rundown, BIOTCH!!!

3:10 -- Shit. The key here is for Pedro to forget about the error on Cairo's piece of crap. Kelly Stinnett is up. Pedro has thrown 97 pitches. This will be his last batter. Come on, Pedro.

3:11 -- "Come on, strike this bum out!" - the Hound.

3:12 -- Come on Pedro!

3:13 -- 101 pitches thrown. Stinnet steps out. Bitch.

3:13 -- YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! "DELAYED CALL BUT WE LIKE IT!!!!!!!!" - THE HOUND. Remember when those "Who's Your Daddy" chants used to follow Pedro around when he pitched against the Yankees? Yeah, so do I.

3:14 -- Burger King is now 2-for-2 with these burger family commercials. "Pull your head out of your bun!" Classic. Almost enough to make me not miss The King.

3:16 -- Love that celebration from Pedro!! I love that kind of shit.

3:17 -- LET'S GO CLIFF!!!!!!!! THAT'S HOW YOU KEEP OUT OF A PLATTOON, CLIFFY, YOU SACK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3:22 -- My holler of "Take 4, Julio" goes for naught as Old Man Franco trots into 2nd. Oh well.

3:26 -- There is nothing I want to see less than for Duaner Sanchez to walk the lead off guy.

3:27 -- Not a walk but instead the first career hit for Kevin Reese. Had to happen sometime.

3:28 -- Huge double play. The truth is I was startng to feel nervous about young Duaner. Let's get Deej here and turn the ball over to Wags.

3:30 -- Awesome. 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th. Good to see Duaner back to his old self after that rough patch. We've been leaning on the guy all season, but if Heillman moves back into the rotation we're going to need him to be as automatic as he was that first week of the season. That 8th inning was a good sign.

3:31 -- Yo, Mandy Moore is not as hot as the animators on The Simpsons are making her out to be. Don't get me wrong, she's still a Y2K all-star ever since a friend of B.O.A.F.O.M.G.'s dated her years ago, but still, ya know?

3:33 -- For all the discussion about Billy Wagner using "Enter Sandman" as his entry song, I was stunned that there was no real reaction to him entering the game. I feel certain they would have mentioned it if the Yankee fans had booed or taunted Wagner's use of "Mariano's song", but no such mention was made. No big shock I guess. Wouldn't be the first time Mike and the Mad Dog made a mountain of a mole hill.

3:35 -- I really wish I'd told people I was gonna be doing this. Oh well.

3:37 -- Like that heads up baserunning from Kazuo there. Another run here would be really nice.

3:39 -- Damn it, Delgado.

3:40 -- Come on Cliff. Channel The Power of Positive Thinking. A base hit and I go nuts.

3:41 – Alright, fair enough. He put a good swing on that ball. Yankee fans will have nightmares tonight of an outfield containing Miguel Cairo, who looks almost as lost out there as Roger Cedeno used to. I can live with that. 4-0 lead – let’s go.

3:45 – HOUSE!!!

3:45 – Come on Billy, throw strikes.

3:45 – McCarver: That’s baseball’s form of plagiarism isn’t it? Rivera had it first! Now Wagner’s got it!

So fucking wrong, really just shameful that FOX runs this clown out there for these important ballgames. Ugh.

3:47 – Seriously, Billy, throw strikes, huh?

3:48 – Oh come on, what bullshit. Where the hell was that pitch? Shit like that can really turn an inning.

3:48.21 – Fuck.

3:48.34 – Fuck.

3:48.42 – Fuck.

3:49 – Shit. This is bad. This is really bad. At least Miguel Cairo has never had an RBI. This is really counterproductive, but just think of how different everything would have been A-Rod had been called out like he should have been. Hate to blame the umps but shit.

3:50 – I will be devastated if he blows this win for Pedro. Devastated.

3:51 – He is just not getting that inside corner. I’m not sure how close these pitchers really are, but fuck.

3:51 – Good old Cairo. One down, two to go.

3:52.08 – Strike 1.

3:52.20 – Strike 2.

3:53 – I got one thing to say to you, Wagner. Strike this motherfucker out!

3:54 – Buck notes the uneasy feel among Mets fans. Uhh, yeah.

3:55 – COME ON!!!!! FUCKKKKKKKK, GIVE HIM THE FUCKING STRIKE YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!!

3:55 – I am getting a really, really bad feeling here. Really, really, really, really bad.

3:56 – Shit.

3:56 – If he blows this, I venture to say it would be worse than anything Braden Looper ever did.

3:57 – For christ’s sake. It’s Kelly Stinnett, throw him a fucking strike.

3:57 – Wow. This just won’t work. I see no way he can get out of this inning.

3:58 – I can hardly watch.

3:58 – Three balls, zero strikes. Against Kelly Stinnett. Unbelievable.

3:58 – Walks in a run. A single ties the game. This is unbelievable.

3:59 – OK. This is a new batter. Just focus here Billy. Just focus on Bernie.

3:59 – Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. I can’t believe how quickly this game unraveled.

4:00 – I don’t know what I’ll do if we lose this game. Even a double play ball right now won’t excite me. I am simply numb. My fingers are shaking and my extremities feel cold.

4:02 -- OK. Strike 1.

4:03 -- COME ON. COME ON. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

4:03 -- Just unbelievable.

4:06 – OK. Forget what’s happened. Put it out of your mind. Chad. Just get this motherfucker out.

4:07 – Chad. What are we doing here?

4:08 – 2 balls, 2 strikes. Please.

4:08 – Are you there God? It’s me, AFOMG.

4:08 – I was certain Kaz would boot that ball. I feel no happiness. I feel nothing.

4:09 – “Alright, time to show some character!” – The Hound. He’s right.

4:09 – I ask myself if I’ll be happy if we win this game. I ask myself if I’ll weep if we lose. I can’t answer the first. As for the second, I don’t think I’ll cry. I think I’ll shut down. Picture the mother of the bag guy in American Beauty. Simply not there.

4:11 – If X jacks one, I wouldn’t shout anything out. I am emotionally drained without any conclusion reached.

4:13 -- 4 runs on 2 hits in the top of the inning. Unbelievable. Come on Blastro.

4:14 -- Somehow, Scott Proctor is dealing.

4:14 -- It occurs to me now that I will never feel confident with Billy Wagner on the hill against the Yankees. Their players will never feel out of it. Some things you never live down.

4:15 -- New Jose Valentin? Maybe? Beuller?

4:17 -- Hmm, well that was a fat pitch.

4:20 -- New Jorge Julio?

4:21 -- Let's just say this is not an auspicious start.

4:22 -- In fairness, I was just thinking that. Why didn't they just leave Sanchez out there? You keep Wagner fresh for Sunday (remember, back before this happened that's something you would have been happy about).

4:24 -- Well I certainly didn't see that coming. A-Rod. Mr. March. Long live The Curse.

4:25 -- If I were my father, I'd be worried about my son's emotional well-being.

4:26 -- New Jorge Julio. No exclamation point. The world is dead to me.

4:28 -- Remember the bottom of the 8th when we had a runner on third with 1 out and Delgado up? Shit on me.

4:29 -- This is interesting, Reyes batting Rivera from the right side as opposed to the left.

4:30 -- I just re-read what I wrote around 3:30. I was so happy then.

4:31 -- OK Kaz. OK.

4:32 -- Barry Bonds has hit home run No. 714. I used to not like the idea of him passing Ruth, but somehow this game has me thinking differently.

4:34 -- Oh boy. If he gets a gamewinner here and I'm a Yankee fan, I'm really pissed.

4:34 -- Hmm, no such luck. Come on Delgado.

4:36 -- I wonder if I would be so depressed if I hadn't written this game log.

4:41 -- WHERE THE FUCK WAS THAT PITCH? WHAT THE FUCK??>?

4:41 -- By this point I'm really less watching the game as I am staring at my computer, seeing pitching movements out of the corner of my eye, cringing, and waiting to hear what the announcers say before looking up.

4:44 -- By this point I'm not even upset when close pitches aren't called strikes. Whatever.

4:45 -- Interesting that we just surrendered the bag there. I mean, the strikeout is no better than a bunt.

4:48 -- New Jorge Julio. No exclamation point.

4:49 -- I'm glad he didn't throw there, but I'm also nervous as shit now.

4:49 -- And we're losing.

4:52 -- I'm considering changing my voicemail message to "You've reached AFOMG. Whatever."

4:53 -- Is there anything on David's mind here other than hitting a homerun?

4:55 -- Cliff.

4:56 -- I remember when the Red Sox lost Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS (the Aaron Boone game). I was at college in Massachusetts, lot of Red Sox fans but a number of Yankee fans too. The day after the Yankees beat the Red Sox, the Yankee fans didn't rub it in. They knew that doing so just wasn't right, like being happy when your worst enemy dies. I wonder if this will be the same.

5:00 -- I mean, this isn't the playoffs or anything. Maybe that comparison isn't fair.

5:01 -- Seamus O'Toole. Let's get drunk.

An Instant Classic

Jeremi Gonzalez took the mound in the first inning. 10 minutes later and we were down 4-0. Young Sip caught this entire inning...VIA GAMECAST.

Of course Comcast decided not to show this game on the league pass and MACs decided that they don't like MLB TV.

So, gamecast it was.

Happy Will was snickering, I told you so, as Jeremi Gonzalez tanked and Aaron Heilman sat in the bullpen.

A 3 run ding dong by Carlos Beltran instilled some hope in us. Beltran 2k6 sure is an improvement. My confidence level is at about 7.

So the game went back and for till the 5th inning. The Mets were down 6-5.

Proctor-Farnsworth-Rivera vs. Heilman-Sanchez-Wagner.

Vegas opened the line at Mets -1.5 +100.

Controversial Aaron went on to dominate innings 6-8. I've never seen ESPN Gamecast move so quickly. I could only imagine what it was like in person.

6-6 going into the top of the 9th after the first clutch hit of Kazuo's life and in comes Billy. His first test in Mets-Banks. Looper and Benitez combined for an 18.00 ERA against the assholes from the Bronx.

Again, Gamecast looked really really pretty. Three strikeouts in a row and the battle for Enter Sandman took a 1-0 lead for the New Mets.

So then came the bottom of the 9th. This isn't 2000 anymore. Mariano Rivera, one of the two best baseball players we have ever seen, has lost a step. He has shown he is human many a time in many big games. The 2001 WS against Arizona, 2004 against the Sox and though far less significant, 2006.


A double to Lo Duca on an ill-advised fastball that caught too much plate was followed by a Beltran strikeout and an intentional walk to Delgado. The scene was set.

D Wright.

I had spent most of the game talking to my good pal Kenny from Camp (who I went to college with). Kman is one of the best, a good friend and loyal Mets fan. We have always been known to argue about a lot of things, the most recent being the Heilman situation, but that isn't the point.

We have been talking a lot of late about how 9th inning D Wright has really been struggling. K Man has been really down on the young one of late and I have been trying to restore faith.

I always tell people down on the young phenom that he is 23 and that all players go in slumps. Meanwhile the dude is still hitting .300.

Here was our online convo.

Kenny from Camp (7:15:14 PM): BIG test coming up
Young Sip (7:15:33 PM): tell me about it
Young Sip (7:15:39 PM): this would be one word...
Young Sip (7:15:41 PM): Nice
Kenny from Camp (7:16:31 PM): he needs to do this
Kenny from Camp (7:16:33 PM): for me
Young Sip (7:16:43 PM): for us
Kenny from Camp (7:18:26 PM): hmmm.....
Kenny from Camp (7:19:01 PM): see it....
Young Sip (7:19:41 PM): NEW METS!!!!!!!
Kenny from Camp (7:19:47 PM): NEW WRIGHT!

It took me a while to find that word, "nice." But that's what it was. Like when you say something that you realize reminds you of your father, something that he would say, this was just one of those good things.


Our young guy, who bleeds orange and blue but has been struggling in these situations coming through in the absolute biggest moment against our hated crosstown rival.

Nice...

I gotta say I am in great spirits.

A game like this is really hard to lose, but really sweet to win.

Some other notes from the game.

Yankee fans will crush Randy Johnson for the rest of the year and that is awesome. This guy demanded a trade to the Yankees, the 26-time champion, highest payroll, always competitive Yankees. He asked for this and deserves everything and more that comes to him.

You can make a couple of arguments about Aaron Heilman in this game. I still want him in the pen. With him in the pen we will dominate the 6-9 innings.

I'm not saying that a move shouldn't be made, but I still don't want to move Heilman. The Frenchmen suggested Kyle Lohse. Truth is, I would take a flier on anyone. Pitching in Shea, despite Minnesota being a pitchers park, is often a fresh beginning for pitchers.

Yes, Heilman went 3 innings, which is 3 short of 6. But remember this, His 93-94 mph fastball could easily slip a few ticks if he is throwing 100 pitches. That is a huge difference for a guy that relies on a fastball/changeup.

Can't say enough about Billy Wagner. His adrenaline must have been at an all time high. We needed him to dominate.

Now we have Glavine and Pedro going these next two games. Could be sweet. As I said before, for any momentum to truly transfer in this city the Mets need to sweep the Yankees this year. Otherwise, this will remain the Yankees' town.

Great Win.

SM

Not The Same

(Note: Double the content for you today. First up, a piece by Sippy Momo about the Mets-Yankees series that begins tonight. The second, by A.F.O.M.G., is a piece pleading for Jose Lima to be replaced by Aaron Heilman in the starting rotation. Enjoy.)

I remember the night the Mets clinched a trip to the World Series. I couldn't sleep that entire night, I was so excited. And I remember the following day when the Yankees beat the Mariners, clinching a Subway Series. I still couldn't sleep.

I spent the next 24 hours writing e-mails to a giant chain of Mets fans. Anyone I knew who was connected to the Mets was involved.

I remember writing my Jerry Maguire mission statement. It was somethiing like 7 pages of why if there was a god, the Mets would win the World Series. Unfortunately AOL couldn't save this piece and my attempt at duplicating it fell short.


But I was truly convinced.

I had seen so many movies where the underdog beat the giant and everything was just right. It all made too much sense.

So when I watched the Monster's fly ball float into the glove of Bernie Williams from the third highest row at Shea, I kind of lost faith in a lot of things.

It just felt like the wrong thing happened. Like when Kelly 'chose me.' I just felt empty.


Since then I've been to a ton of Mets-Yankees games. Going back to before the actual Subway Series, I caught the first ever Mets-Yankees game with the real Momo and big Jour when Dave Mlicki threw the one good start of his Mets career.

I was there for 2 of the 3 games of the 4th of July sweep a couple of years back.

But since 2000, it hasn't been the same. I don't remember what year this series switched from 3 games to 6, but the year baseball made that switch, for clear financial reasons, I feel like this series changed a little bit.

I think this subway series has been worn out.

There is only one thing that can be done to change how I feel about this. And what we need is not going to happen.

We would need to win 6 games from this team.

Anything short and the Bankee fans can resort to 2000 and I will grow sick inside. I will want to fight people, and I do not like to fight.

So it all starts tonight, Big Unit vs....uh oh. Jeremi Gonzalez.

Honest truth, this is the best matchup we will have all weekend.

For the same reason that I felt like the Mets should win the 2000 World Series, I believe that there is something so fundamentally wrong with Randy Johnson in pinstripes.


This guy being a Yankee is the one thing that truly embodies what makes baseball an imperfect game.

This guy, forcing a trade to the Yanks, over all things, is what took the sail out of my wings. It put me over the top. Baseball was a business of sad players as opposed to a game of Wannabe Heroes.

So Gonzalez vs. The Unit.

The journeyman vs. the biggest sellout/coward in the game. Not even Yankee fans can root for this guy.

So take it down Jeremi.

I can proudly say that after 1 start, Jeremi Gonzalez is more of a Met than Randy Johnson will ever be a Yankee.

Let's get one tonight.

NEW METS!!!

VCD,

SM

And remember, if you get bored, the FMC is playing Point Break not once, not twice, but three times in a row tonight, so enjoy.

I've Seen Enough; RIP Get Up Kids

In college I covered the men's soccer team for 4 years. We had one of the best men's soccer programs in the country; I was used to covering a winner.

But naturally, every now and then the team would stumble. Our winning percentage in those years must have been over .800, but when we lost I wouldn't sugarcoat it in the newspaper or in the articles I wrote for our Sports Information service. If the team played like shit, I let the audience know.

That said, I had a policy of reserving my harsher critiques for losses that came at home, losses I had actually seen. You can learn a lot from reading box scores and gathering quotes from the head coach, but you just can't muster the authority to really rip the team when it suffered a loss you didn't see first-hand.

I mention this all because I haven't seen a single start of Jose Lima's. I DVR'ed the first one, a Sunday game against the Braves, but didn't watch because the Mets got blown out and I didn't want to spoil a good weekend.

The second was a Friday night game against the Brewers which I didn't DVR because I wasn't going to be able to watch it on account of my brother's graduation from law school.

And then the third was yesterday, which I experienced through Gamecast but did not see a moment of.

So I haven't seen Lima Time pitch. But I do know this: something is seriously, seriously wrong when you can allow 4 earned runs in 4.2 innings and see your ERA go down.

Something is seriously, seriously wrong when your ERA goes down and it's still at 8.79.

Something is seriously, seriously wrong when a starter fails to go more than 5 innings in any start.

Something is seriously, seriously wrong when a pitcher has 1.81 WHIP and a .305 batting average against.

So I'm breaking with the deal I struck between myself and the team I covered in college: Jose Lima should not, given the current circumstances, get another start with the Mets. I haven't seen him pitch, but I've seen the box scores and I've seen enough.

So send him back to Norfolk. If he goes on some sort of Drysdale streak of scoreless innings, we'll talk. Until then, he has no business being on a major league team with pennant aspirations, he's proven an automatic loss.

The worst news of the day yesterday wasn't that Lima Time lost again, however, it was that Brian Bannister made it through 5 pitches before being sidelined due to pain in his injured hammy.

So you can cross Bannister off the savior list, and now that means the best option is Aaron Heilman. The only other viable options to take over the starting job are Alay Soler and Mike Pelfrey, both of whom could use more seasoning as far as I can tell.

Readers of this site know that I don't consider Heilman a sure thing as a starter. The numbers he's put up in his career are simply not good.

People point to his 1-hitter against the Marlins as proof of his potential. I don't want to discredit his potential, but Glendon Rusch also threw a 1-hitter once upon a time.

Steve Trachsel won consecutive 1-0 ballgames against Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez to become the first American League pitcher in 24 years to accomplish the feat.

I'm not saying none of that is important, nor am I saying that Heilman doesn't have a higher ceiling than either Trachsel or Rusch. Based on his stellar work out of the bullpen, he clearly does.

The point is that pitchers (and all ballplayers for that matter) are judged on a large body of work, not on one 6-for-6 game or one 1-hitter. So far, the large body of work Heilman has scripted as a starter is not impressive.

But he's certainly worth running out there every fifth day. As posters like Nails, Lister and others have said, at some point we owe it to ourselves to get a fix on what we have with Heilman. Where is his optimum potential, as a starter or as a reliever?

Maybe his success as a reliever will give him more confidence if he moves back into the rotation. Maybe he's simply a better pitcher now than he ever was before. No matter what, he couldn't be worse than Lima.

Between that irrefutable fact and the solid numbers he has put up out of the bullpen this year and in Winter Ball and Spring Training over the offseason (although I would caution against reading too much into those latter numbers), Heilman has earned the chance to start.

The good thing about Heilman, in marked contrast to Lima, is that he has use if things don't work out for him as a starter. If he fails, move him back to the bullpen and see what your options are on the trade market or with Soler or Pelfrey.

So is it a given that Lima Time is over? That Lima's reign of terror is over? Don't be so sure. As Matt Cerrone notes in his writeup of Willie's postgame comments (here: http://www.metsblog.com/blog/_archives/2006/5/18/1967815.html), Lima may still get another start.

Why? Don't ask me. Maybe Willie saw something out of Lima on the mound. Me? I just see the box scores, and right now, they're unacceptable.

RIP Get Up Kids

On a matter completely unrelated to baseball, I wanted to take a moment to write a brief requiem for The Get Up Kids, who I learned last night broke up about a year ago.

As should be clear from the fact that I'm only learning of their dissolution now, The Get Up Kids weren't one of my absolute favorite bands. They're just a band I liked a good deal, a band that put out albums that I enjoyed for a month or two and then forgot about until their next record came out.

But they hold a special place in the Glass's heart because they were the first band that I really got into at college. I can't remember who exactly it was that turned me on to them, but I liked what I heard from the get go.

Their earlier work was pretty emo'ed out, and truth be told I don't enjoy the older stuff as much as I used to. Their newer stuff, however, particularly their last release, Guilt Show, is just good, clean American rock music.

If that's not your thing, move on. The Get Up Kids have nothing to offer you. Their music is by no means gritty. But if you enjoy a good rock album give a listen to Guilt Show sometime.

Give a listen to songs like "Martyr Me", "The One You Want", "Sympathy", "In Your Sea", or "Wouldn't Believe It" if you want to sample the Get Up Kids at their best. Thirty seconds are free on iTunes, why not?

I'm saddened to learn that they're no more, but not devastated. Things change, you know? Music grips you and college is fun. But bands break up and college ends. One way or another, life goes on.

So Get Up Kids, here's to you; a fine job done, lo these past 10 years. I'll pour some out for you tonight.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Rough One

So it's my junior year of high school. We are in Arizona for baseball spring training.

On our off day our coach takes us to watch the A's practice. We get there and our coach points out how seriously all the players are taking their stretching, an unnecessary lesson.

I look at the field and while all the players are stretching one player stood out. Instead of stretching his arms or legs he gave a stretch to the old twig and berries.

There he was chewing seeds and scratching himself while his teammates took care of their bodies. There was my favorite player, once considered more untouchable than Jesus Christ himself: Jason Isringhausen.


Izzy, he who once formed part of the Big Three of Generation K along with Paul Wilson and Bill Pulsipher, he who I have a picture with from Crosstown Sports circa 1996, was the man. His 10-2 break-out season was the most exciting thing to hit Shea since Dr. K himself. Unfortunately, his success in a Mets uniform was short-lived.

Then there was Wednesday night. It's bittersweet. Bases loaded in the top 9 and LaRussa signals for old 44. This was my guy going against our guy. The Old Future vs. the New Future.

And the Old Future took it down.

This could have been one of those over the hump games. A big comeback against an elite team with our kid hovering on superstardom with the shot to make it happen. It really was a setback.

It was a lot to swallow. All we needed was a flyball and the game was tied. We would have gotten our grand revenge against B Poops, who was readying himself for the 10th.

It just didn't happen. D Wright didn't rise. And the way he has been going, you didn't give Cliffy much of a chance, no matter how many times he reads The Power of Positive Thinking.

Old Mets.

Still, a lot to be positive about.

First, we aren't Yankee fans. Those guys root for Randy Johnson.

Second, Trachs pitched a gem. This was his first superb start of the season and it came against a strong St. Louis lineup, a very welcome sight.


Third, we are really putting up a dogfight on the road against the Cardinals. The Mets have looked good on the road all season, a very strong indicator of a consistent team.

Either way, the Brewers did their work again. Those guys are starting to really come into their own and it's nice to see. And while it is way too early to be watching the scoreboard, it is still really nice to be in first place.

In the same way, it is really nice to see the return of Eric Byrnes. Since our random nights out in SF and him being named Player of the Year at Y2K, this guy's head is back in the right place. And he is flat out mashing the shit out of the ball.

That's all I know.

This Friday on the Fox Movie Channel, TV has finally gotten it right.


In some weird Friday night scheduling, the FMC is showing Point Break not once, not twice, but three times in a row.

That or Mets/Yankees?

VCD,

SM

Winning Like Men

Down 9-0 in the 4th inning, the Yankees looked done. Shawn Chacon, last year's hero proved for about the 5th time this year that he was a one year wonder.

Somehow they did it. They came back. They won those games that the Yankees just win that absolutely kill you. They're so hatable.



So Jorge Posada drove the ball over the fence in right center field. He ran around the bases, euphoric. He had forgotten that he hasn't really hit for 4 years or that he throws about as well as Johnny Damon.

Then it happened. He reached the mob of all-stars with no personalities, Jeter at the forefront with A-Rod boxing out his other teammates trying to pretend that in any way the Yankees are his team.

Posada jumped up for glee and he looked like the biggest thing in the world that rhymes with Momo.

Not to be inappropriate or offensive, it's just that this guy looked like the singers of the Yankees classic, YMCA. He jumped up for joy and my goodness was it embarassing. He kicked his legs back towards his ass and held his arms to the side. You couldn't try to act like that. Even my Yankee fan roomate laughed. As big Maciej said, "I really wish I was a Mets fan."

(For those who missed this, it is worth catching the replay on YES. That's how painful it was.)

So the New Mets had a big win today.

Tommy had another solid start and the Mets were able to overcome a horrid rain delay to beat the class of the NL, the Cardinals 8-3.

Nothing about the game screamed out. Mr. Glass went ding dong and we got 2 more shutout innings from Team Heilman and Sanchez.

But of most importance was the Jose Reyes/Jose Lima handshake.

Anything that Reyes had done with his other handshake partners, Hernandez, Delgado or Wright failed to compare to what was about 45 seconds of the best television coverage of the year.

These are the New Mets. Young, dumb, and full of the ability to speak very broken English.

I remember catching a Jeter/Posada handshake a while's back. The handshake was the Cheddar Bob to Reyes' Rabbit.



Fact of the matter is, the Yankees are really a gigantic bunch of herbs. Just true herbs.

Not these New Mets.

With the Phils losing to Capy, Turnbow and the Brewers, we had ourselves a big night. We are back up 2. Wednesday will be a fun one. It would be awesome to clinch this series going into this weekend's showdown with the Bankee$ before Lima Time makes his third start on Thursday.

VCD,

SM

Heilman, Gonzalez, Pelfrey, and the State of the Mets Rotation

(Note: Two posts for you today. First, the following from A.F.O.M.G. Second, a post from guest-writer Drew about Kobe Bryant and Barry Bonds. Enjoy.)

As some of you may have seen, there were fireworks on the comment board yesterday when Happy Will posted a polemic about the "criminal" pitching decisions that have been made by Willie, Omar and Co., and which have, for the most part, been endorsed by Y2K.

It goes without saying that the Mets rotation is currently in shambles. The injuries to Brian Bannister and Victor Zambrano have left us with gaping holes behind the Pedro-Glavine-Trax triumvirate.

When the injuries first occurred, I advocated patience. Keep Aaron Heilman and the rest of the bullpen intact. It was the principal strength of the team through the first month, I argued, don't mess with it.

As for the holes in the rotation, I said give Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez a chance, and if they fail, consider other options.

Let me start with Gonzalez. As much as I don't like the prospect of him pitching against the Yankees or the Cardinals this week, he turned in an altogether serviceable effort on Saturday.

We can all agree that Gonzalez's final line would have looked a lot better had that ball that Prince Fielder Timo Perez'ed off the top of the wall not been ruled a home run. Take that away and Gonzalez's ERA drops from 5.40 to 3.60, the latter being altogether acceptable for a 5th starter.

As for Lima, he's had two tests and he's failed both of them. Luckily, his turn in the rotation will come only one more time given that Brian Bannister is expected back after the weekend.

What to do in the meantime, namely, Thursday? This is where the HW's and many others scream START AARON HEILMAN!!

Look, I'm a big Aaron Heilman fan. I think he's got a bright future in the organization, and I'm determined to give him another opportunity to be a starting pitcher.

But I don't like moving him to the starting rotation so long as the team remains as currently constituted. If we package Victor Diaz and Jeff Keppinger for an effective reliever, that’s one thing, but as for now, moving Heilman would mean replacing him in the bullpen with someone like Heath Bell, a guy who's never gotten it done at the major league level.

So for now I don’t want to cut off our nose to spite our face by strengthening our rotation at the expense of our bullpen.

It's not because I'm part of the criminal conspiracy devoted to destroying the Mets' season, it's that I don't think doing so is the right move.

Why not?

1. Heilman-Sanchez-Wagner is the key to the Mets' bullpen.

Jorge Julio. Chad Bradford. Darren Oliver. Pedro Feliciano. What do all these names have in common? If you're like me, none of them inspire confidence.

The Mets bullpen lives and dies with Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, and Billy Wagner. Call it poor team construction or whatever else you like, but that's the way it is.

It's not that Bradford or Julio are altogether incapable; they show flashes every once in a while. But they're not lights out the way Heilman, Sanchez, and Wagner are, and if you’re going to be a top-flight team, a top-flight bullpen is part of the package.

We can talk about trade possibilities all we want, but of this I am near certain: No one we could find to replace Heilman in the bullpen would be as effective as he has been.

2. Heilman, Sanchez, and Wagner are as vulnerable to slumps as anyone else in baseball.

We like to think of relievers as being automatic, but they're like any other ballplayer – they have their ups and downs.

Sanchez is perhaps the best example of this. He started the season on fire. He was perfect in April and the first week of May. Zoom forward from May 8 and Sanchez has allowed 6 earned runs in 2.1 innings.

You've gotta give Sanchez or any slumping reliever a chance to work out of his troubles, but having a complement like Heilman gives Sanchez an opportunity to get back on track without having to be called on in the eighth inning of a tight ballgame.

Imagine this bullpen right now without Heilman. Sanchez is getting knocked around like a rag doll, who are you gonna turn to? Jorge Julio?

3. Yes, the bullpen is important.

Of everything Happy Will said in his comment yesterday, I found the following statement to be the most confounding: "now they [me and Sip] can see what such an insane fascination and obsession with this [the bullpen] ABSOLUTELY minor aspect of regular season baseball does to a ballclub and how it destroys your team."

Reading that, it's almost as if 2005 never happened. It's almost as if HW didn't see the Mets' postseason hopes fade with a bad bullpen. It's as if he didn't see the debacle that was Opening Day 2005, post-Pedro.

The bullpen is an incredibly important part of any team as far as I'm concerned. Frankly, I didn't realize there were people out there who considered the bullpen an "ABSOLUTELY minor aspect of regular season baseball".

But if you take a step back from HW’s overzealousness, the question is whether the team is better served by the effective relief work it’s enjoyed thus far or by improving the starting rotation.

No one is arguing that a top-flight team doesn’t need a top-flight rotation. But as far as I’m concerned, a top-flight team can get away with two excellent pitchers (Pedro and Glavine), two average pitchers (Trachsel and Bannister) and one piñata (Gonzalez), for a certain period of time.

And that leads us to the question at the heart of the debate…

4. Are we looking at a short- or long-term problem?

Happy Will seems to believe that a 2-week stretch is going to ruin our season. I’m not as worried.

But are we dealing with a 2-week problem or a 2-month problem? If it’s a 2-week problem, keep Heilman in the bullpen.

Bannister will be back in a week. He didn’t dominate by any means earlier in the season, but he was effective, and getting him back eliminates the need for Lima.

What about No. 5? Consider the Mike Pelfrey factor.

Bob Klapisch is reporting that the Mets have internally decided that Pelfrey’s next jump will be to the majors, not Triple A. As Joel Sherman wrote today, that confirms that Pelfrey’s arrival is a matter of when, not if.

If the Mets keep Heilman in the bullpen, that would seem the surest sign that Pelfrey will be with the big club come June, roughly two or three more Jeremi Gonzalez starts from now.

What I’m saying is, I can live with that. Remember earlier when I said no one we would acquire for the bullpen would be as effective as Heilman? I don’t believe this is true about the starting rotation.

Yes, Heilman would be better than Gonzalez. But I'm not entirely convinced that Heilman would be better than Pelfrey, and given the issues of arm strength and endurance that Heilman would have to work through, I'm not convinced that it makes sense to move Heilman on a short-term basis.

It's also worth considering that these arm strength issues would put added pressure on an already weakened bullpen in Heilman's first several starts. Knowing you need the bullpen ready for Heilman's start effects the day before (can't use too many arms), the day of (gotta use a lot of arms), and the day after (have a lot of tired arms). That's a lot of strain for a short-term move of Heilman to the rotation.

If you told me, however, that we were looking at 5 or 7 starts from Jeremi Gonzalez, then I agree that Heilman should be moved to the rotation. Asking for 12 to 18 innings from Gonzalez is one thing, asking for 30 to 42 is another.

If what we need over the next 2 months is 3 starts from Gonzalez to be followed by X many starts from Pelfrey, keep Heilman where he is. If we're going to need 5 starts from Gonzalez, move Heilman to the rotation.

Unfortunately, I don't know what the team's timetable is. My guess for Pelfrey all along was mid-June, but reading Klapisch and Sherman today, I'd believe it if he were starting June 1.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Kobe, Barry Both Damned If They Do

On Kobe

I might have relished in seeing Kobe Bryant humbled yet again but, in all honesty, I wanted him to win. I wanted him to demolish Steve Nash and for Nash to have the most illegitimate Podoloff trophy since b-ball curmudgeon Gnarls Barkley.

But by the time the Mayorga-De La Hoya undercard began, the L.A. faithful must have been straining not to change channels. I haven't seen Kobe in this state, degenerated and disgusted by team basketball, hoping for a swell conclusion without imposing it himself.

The guy is great and he should not have to feel depressed because there is a vicious media (Drew included) waiting for him to crack. It's not right.

I was flummoxed by his lack of shots and seeming surrender in Game 7 until I realized what kind of thoughts must have enveloped him as his team went down 14...then 25...then 30.

Here is my interpretive inner Kobe-logue; it may provide some perspective for the reader.

As Suns go up 15: "Damn. If I take more shots, these guys will be colder than they are now...scored 50 on 'em with no cigar. Maybe Smush and Sasha need some buckets?"

As Suns dominate by 20: "What's an MVP anyway? One hundred and twenty six guys in America think this guy is better than me. Are they right? They're gonna be creaming their pants when we lose. At least I made them sweat for that silly choice. Silly."

Down 30: "Long as Wade don't win one, I'm good. When do they start playin' again...I'ma have Vanessa program the TiVo. To-do list: Send Shaq congratulations card for the baby before he sends to me."

Now, for those who might errantly suggest that Kobe is a quitter, I'll ask you this: do we know the same No. 8? Didn't everyone get at least a bit excited in overtime of Game 6 when he hit that first three ball over Marion?

(Interesting sidebar: My buddies and I had the penultimate game behind by about 3 minutes when one of us gets a text saying "Kobe is the most vicious player in basketball" which prompts us to a debate over whether or not to fast-forward and one shouting "there's no way they came back! there's no way!")

He plays to win the game but he was plastered by a better group of players.

This all leads to the age-old aphorism. Walk a mile in his shoes. It's not like the placid Peyton Manning commercial that mocks the zeal of fans by turning the QB into an intrusive fan.

It's more like being Jack Johnson and knowing that the scale of your accomplishments will be made relative to the amount of criticism you face for...well...greatness.

The great black athlete with any smack of arrogance will soon be destroyed my the media. It happens every time.

The "race card" term amuses me in the sense that there is a faction of people who wholeheartedly believe that we only apply race when there is a troublesome situation, that blacks are only interested in bemoaning injustice.

How laughable that these athletes, who predicate their career and spirits on triumph, would so easily bask in the implication of social defeat. Please.

On Bonds

I want Barry to crush Babe Ruth's homerun record even more than I wanted Kobe to reach for the Finals and not because I'm an avid baseball guy.

The rise of the Steroid Era was marked by Canseco, McGuire, Giambi and Caminiti more than it was by Barry Bonds.

Barry Bonds was a 40-40, Gold Glover before he began to allegedly juice. His indulgence in performance enhancing drugs could be likened to Jordan taking them during his Wizard days.

The greatness had already been established and the legacy was undoubtedly there.

I would never excuse cheating but for a man who has been cheated by the MLB and fans, had his life threatened and lived to swing another day, I could dang sure understand it.

I could understand his impulse to disprove the people who thought that McGuire was a better power-hitter or that Barry Bonds was not the premier player of his time.

Like Kobe, he must face a media that has been more focused on his prickly responses to constant inquiry than to his ability to dominate year after year.

Give him his 715, let him keep his 73. You don't know his plight (just like I don't) and you never will.

Bud Selig drew my disdain for his callous comment about refusing to commemorate Bonds' achievement. Selig made a glib remark about "not reading into it" before then offering a token to fans with specialized balls for the record-breaking at-bats.

So yes, it is about race and it is about overcoming difficulty. Sports is the struggle for fairness more than it is about the dollar signs. Kobe and Barry will never be afforded the former and for that I respect their persistence.

- Drew

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...

So for the first time since Opening Day, the Mets are playing on their heels. All of a sudden the Phils sit just 1 game behind us.

Even me, a known pessimist, had visions of October a few weeks back. I know Happy Will and KFC were already printing their World Series T-shirts (which they ordered at our affiliate, Fratbucks.com).

It's good though. Time to start sweating. You knew everything was going too easily. So here we have the Good, the Bad and the Ugly from this past weekend, in reverse order...

The Ugly

1. David Wright's 9th inning glove.

With two more errors in the 9th inning this weekend, Wright's Total is at at least 5 for the season. This is all psychological, of course, but now that we've got a lefty closer who jams righties for a living, D Wright should get a lot of work over there in the 9th inning for years to come. There is nothing we can do but hope that this will go away.

2. Duaner Sanchez on Saturday.

For the first time in 6 weeks this guy didn't look like an all-star. He looked John Franco. This isn't really ugly though. Every RP will have a bad outing and we can not ask anything more out of young Duaner.

But blowing a 4-run lead on Saturday... that was really ugly.

The Bad

1. Pedro.

Two straight starts that Pedro has been touched up early. Yes, in each game he has ended up with an ND, but still, if we don't have him giving us the chance to win, we have a long season ahead.

2. The Phillies.

This team is just really, really, ridiculously hot right now. We all knew they could mash. Ryan Howard is starting to crush the ball.



With Ryan Madsen moving back to the Pen (their Aaron Heilman: aka, a dominant setup man who can't pitch 6 innings with his stuff and repeatedly fails in the rotation) and Tom Gordon appearing like Boston Flash, their pen is very strong.

With the excitement of the promotion of Cole Hammels (their Mike Pelfrey) to go along with a decent rotation, this team will be able to compete.

The starting pitching will cool down, but that may not matter.

Watch out.

The Good.

1. Jose Valentin.

This guy's bat has woken up. He looked great spelling Uncle Cliffy this weekend with a couple of big hits. If this guy can get going it will only add to one of our biggest strengths. Waluigi looked done, but now he appears to have caught his second wind.

2. Carlos Beltran.

Over the last 2 weeks this guy looks like a changed player. He really looks comfortable at the plate, especially from the right side. He is in the top 10 in slugging and on-base percentage, and he's really driving the ball.

While his problems reading flyballs continue, it looks like this guy is returning to 30-100 form.

3. Look at the standings.

We can't get greedy. We are still in 1st place. This hasn't happened in a long, long time. If someone can dig up the last time the Mets were in 1st place for 6 weeks, well, good research. My guess is '88. Either way. We've played great baseball for almost 2 months. That's pretty cool.

4. Jeremi Gonzalez.

1 start. 1 quality start. Sure it is only 1 but the guy looked decent. His next start is huge.

5. At least we are not Yankee fans.

That team is so hatable. Nothing more enjoyable to see than what is going on with Randy Johnson. I wrote at the start of Y2K's run about how the Big Unit is the biggest coward in sports.



He was a dominant, team-changing pitcher, who demanded a trade only to the Yankees so that he could coast instead of carrying a team on his back.

The Anti-Schilling you might say.

So Randy deserved to suck. Last year he choked and this year he is plain terrible. He got crushed by an A's lineup that has looked more like the Old Mets than a Major League lineup.

This really makes me happy. There is nothing I hate more in sports than players demanding trades. You just signed this huge contract to be a part of a team, deal with it. No one forced you to sign there in the first place.

But worse, demanding a trade to the one team that doesn't need you, only because you want someone to win for you, you don't want to have to carry a team on your back and win on your own.

So Unit, enjoy your failures. Maybe you should demand another trade back to a small market that will embrace your soft, ugly demeanor.

VCD,

SM

Into The Great Unknown

So I'm not going to expend a lot of energy talking about last night's game, or the Phillies series in general.

The reason is that I don't think any of the last three games are a good barometer of what the two teams can do. Tuesday night the Mets lost on an error. Wednesday night we won thanks to a series of Philadelphia errors. Last night we lost a rain-shortened game.

No use complaining about the loss yesterday. Rules are rules, and, yes, the timing was infuriating, but it might have just as easily bounced our way.

Give the Phillies credit: they played excellent defense, exceptional really, particularly Aaron Rowand's face-sacrificing grab against Xavier Nady, and through 4 and a half innings they deserved to win the game. The rules of baseball being what they are, that was good enough last night.

But it won't be good enough most of the other times we play them. For now, don't blow this series out of proportion. We might just as easily have won all three of those games.

The key for me is that we never looked overmatched the way we always did against the Braves in years past. We lost two out of three. Accept it. Move on.

Moving on may be the hardest part, however, as tonight begins a 2-game journey into the great unknown.

Read it and weep, Mets fans, your starters the next two games: Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez. Ooh, boy.

I mean what can you say really? Injuries happen, we know that. I say, be thankful that the injuries happened to Victor Zambrano and Brian Bannister rather than Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine (I've knocked on wood 8 times since writing that sentence).

Moreover, you can be thankful that Bannister could be back in the rotation for next weekend's showdown with the Yankees, a pox be upon them.

I tend to think the Mets would prefer to exercise restraint and give Bannister a go in the minors before recalling him, but that will all depend on how Gonzalez fares tomorrow.

One way or another, this stretch right now is just something to be endured. It's unfortunate that these turns in the rotation come against capable teams like the Brewers, Cardinals, and Yankees, but there's no fixing it so chin up and soldier on.

If nothing else, Jose Lima is a very colorful personality on the mound, and so long as he's not being battered six ways to Sunday, he could make for an entertaining watch. Maybe his new cornrows will help.

For his part, Gonzalez has a good line in the minor leagues so far in 2006. He's 1-2 with a 3.03 ERA. Mets brass likes what it sees out of Gonzalez because he's managed to keep the ball in the yard, but don't be fooled here, this guy isn't a prospect.

Gonzalez is 31. His first season was 1997. His second was 1998. His third was 2003. His career numbers are bad. He is not a good pitcher. Doesn't mean he can't pull a gem out of his ass this weekend, but realize that's what it would take for him to shut down the Brew Crew.

One final word about the game yesterday: I am officially concerned about Steve Trachsel. I learned last night that coming into the game he had not retired a side in order in his previous two starts.

That number is now up to three.

Trachsel hasn't been altogether awful this year, but he's been worse than what you'd expect out of a No. 3 starter.

Opposing batters are hitting .303 against him. Their on-base percentage is .370. His WHIP is an unsightly 1.58. ERA 4.91. None of these numbers are good. They're all quite bad actually. The more that I think about it, maybe he has been altogether awful this year.

If this team is going to A) make the playoffs and B) go far into the playoffs, they're going to need something much more consistent and something much better from the third arm in the rotation.

Anyway, that's all I got. Be sure to check in this weekend as we just may have some content up for you.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Los Nuevos Mets!

So we caught a cheap one yesterday. The Phillies fielded themselves out of it in the first couple of innings, and the game was essentially over by the 3rd inning.

Glavine pitched like vintage Glavine or its reincarnation, Tommy 2.0, our new friend since last All-Star Break.

It was a big win and it lacked drama which I was happy about -- my nerves took a beating this weekend against the Braves and then again on Tuesday so a night off was a relief. But I was much happier about what I saw out of this team.

The moment when Jose Reyes returned to the dugout after his 2-run HR was the capper. It was then that Mr. Glass unveiled his special handshake with D Wright. When complemeneted by his go to Anderson Hernandez, this guy is really creative.

Then there was Jose Lima walking up and down the dugout, smiling, newly dreaded and looking good.

There was the flash of Mr. Glass sitting in the dugout with Pedro standing in front of him, saying something that had the 22 year old bursting in laughter.



Then there was Ramon Castro. This generation's reincarnation of Roger McDowell, the team funny guy and resident jokester.

What we have here is something special.

We are the 2001 Oakland A's reincarnated.

Except instead of being tattooed meathead white dudes we have crazy, hilarious Hispanic dudes.

This team is having fun and they are a pleasure to watch.

I think of the Yankees dugout with Jeter boxing everyone out for face time and all the other high-priced players fighting for their respective egos and I almost feel bad for Yankees fans. They might be awesome baseball players, but they sure are boring.

Think Pedro vs. Randy Johnson. Thank god we have our guy.



The 2004 Red Sox had a similar flare. People who find baseball boring saw something in that group of "Idiots." It is hard for a baseball team to find an identity, but that team did.

As T Kid always put it, man they all look exactly a like. He was referring to Mueller, Varitek, Trot, Millar, Damon. They were those generic white guys that crushed beers and slayed chicks.

Then there was Pedro, Big Papi, and Manny. Not the typical mold of the rest of the team, being of Hispanic descent, but still very much liked.

D Wright is just that. He is the token white dude. And man is he white. But still he is right in the middle. He is the star who the fans love and is loved even more by his teammates.

Not too many Mets teams have had identity. Robin Ventura certainly tried to bring it to the Mets in the late 90's postseason runs. But there was something missing.

The '86 Mets had it though. Be it the baseball or the cocaine and booze, those guys were a team. They walked into the clubhouse every game and they liked each other.

Sure they had Gary Carter the herb, and I'm sure Steve Trachsel is an outcast too, but so be it.

We have personality. And that is really fun to watch.

VCD,

SM

Remember to Breathe

Alright. I did like I said I would. I slept on it. I put the bad thoughts out of my mind and fell in to a deep slumber, hoping the new day would bring a new perspective.

It was a nice thought, but no such luck.

Instead, sleeping on it brought a raging stomach ache and general feeling of queasiness when I woke this morning. I mean that literally. I feel like shit. I hope it's not a physical response to last night's stomach-turning loss, but who can say, really?

In spite of the gnawing feeling in my gut, I have calmed some since last night. I seriously considered rechristening last night's polemic "So Shitty On So Many Levels: Part I" and then titling today's piece "So Shitty On So Many Levels: Part II - Still Shitty", but I'm going to try a different tack.

I'm not going to talk about the bottom of the 9th. I said my piece about that unsavory subject last night, and you're all free to read it if you're interested. Other than that, the bottom of the 9th is dead to me.

Let's think about the rest of the game. What did we see?

1. Simply put, Xavier Nady is a bad fielder.

I love the X-Man. I think he's a welcome addition to the club. He might be the best 7th hitter in the league. But one thing he's not is a good fielder, and last night it burned us twice.

We'd seen flashes before. The bad breaks on balls that fall in. The times balls have hit his glove and popped out. Last night, Nady's bronze glove was on full display, and played a rather conspicuous roll in two of Philadelphia's three scoring innings.

I don't want to blow it out of proportion, because both would have been nice plays if he'd made them. Indeed, it would be unfair to say that either was a routine play.

But neither the play at the wall in the second inning nor running down David Delucci's lazy fly ball turned triple looked like a particularly difficult play.

I'm not saying you bench the guy or anything; as evidenced by the 2-run shot he hit to start our comeback, Nady's bat is too potent for that. I guess what I'm saying is get used to Nady's bronze glove, Mets fans, it's just part of the package with this guy.

And Willie, we saw you do this in the Braves series this past weekend, but don't be shy about subbing in Endy Chavez late in games when we have the lead.

2. You have to like the resilience on this club.

It would have been really, really nice to complete the comeback and win the game last night. It would have sent a message that there's a new sheriff in town, and he's kicking ass and taking names.

But even if we fell short of that, the Mets have sent a message in three of their last four games. It's that nothing's over until the final out has been made. Up until then, we've got the pieces and the heart to stage a comeback.

These Mets don't go quietly, they don't go out with a whimper. It's a nice change from the past few years.

3. Speaking of not going out with a whimper, Pedro Martinez.

Another thing I liked last night was Pedro's performance. Not because it was his best of the season (it wasn't), but rather because he found a way to bear down and keep the game close.

Everybody's favorite gardener got off to a rocky start last night, walking two guys in the first and allowing a barrage of hits to open the second inning as the Phillies opened up a 3-0 lead.

Thereafter, however, Pedro was dominant. He retired 13 batters in a row before plunking Aaron Rowand with two outs in the bottom of the 6th. Pedro responded by striking out David Bell to end the inning, and then sent the Phillies down 1-2-3 in the 7th, his final inning of work.

Pedro kept the game close and gave his team a chance to win.

Yes, we're hoping for more from Pedro at the moment given that the back of our rotation consists, officially, of Jeremi Gonzalez and Jose Lima, at least for the time being. But if, after the 2nd inning had ended, you'd have told me that Pedro would limit the Phils to 3 runs on the night, I'd certainly have taken it.

4. Duaner Sanchez is human.

It was bound to happen eventually. 21.2 innings into his Mets career, Sanchez allowed the first run to score against him. Here's to you, Duaner, now let's start a new streak tonight.

And let's show those bums in Philadelphia what we're made of tonight.

That's all I got. If you want the companion piece to this one, you can find last night's post immediately following this one.

- A.F.O.M.G.

So Shitty On So Many Levels

You know how they say to never send a letter when you're really, really pissed off? That's kind of how this is.

I had originally thought to write a piece titled "That Fucking Sucked", but decided to heed the old advice, watch my words, sleep on it, and see if I don't feel any better about things in the morning.

So I'm gonna try and bite my tongue for the most part, but that said, let me just say three things about what we just witnessed there in the ninth inning.

1. What in the hell happened to Doug Eddings' strike zone? He punches out Kaz Matsui on a ball at his eyes to end the top of the 9th, then he puts the squeeze on Heilman throughout the bottom half? Was it payback for Julio Franco's jawing in the dugout? Was it because Aaron Heilman isn't John Smoltz?

As Gary, Keith, and Ron noted after every absurd strike was called, Eddings' zone was wide all night, but it had been consistent. That all changed in the bottom of the 9th.

I hate to blame the umps, and I'm not going to blame the umps because in spite of everything, Heilman should have gotten out of that inning. But it was pretty damn frustrating nonetheless.

2. I really, really hated the decision to throw that pitch in to Jimmy Rollins. You're up 0-2 in the count. The umpire theoretically has a wide strike zone, you've gotta pound the outside corner there. See if Rollins chases one. See if Eddings "Eddingses" one. But don't come inside. Really.

3. I really wanted to win that one. As the Hound said just now, it's not the same sting you feel when you blow a big lead. Point taken, but there is the sting of missed opportunity, and we sure did blow a lot of momentum.

But OK. I said I would sleep on it. Until tomorrow.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The Real Brokeback and the Broken Rotation

So my gmail account was flooded all days with the "what do we do" e-mails.

What do we do about the fact that we are looking at Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez as our 4 and 5 guys?

More on that in a second.

While the Mets are always at the front of my mind, my hatred for the Yankees is always somewhere close behind.

I think it goes family, friends, Mets, eating, hating the Yankees, sleep.

So anyway, today I got "the e-mail." If The Sports Guy has his pantheon, then I guess I have something similar (someone think of something creative that I can call it.)

Well anyway, this was the best of the best. I think it has to be the best e-mail I have ever received.

Close friend, Y2K Enthusiast/Cynic/Resident Happy Man/NYC hoops legend Happy Will sent it my way, a video clip a little over 2 minutes long that will change the life of every Mets fan, baseball fan, Yankee hater, and person with a soul.

Please watch. If you don't like it, I will wear a Yankee hat for the next month.


www.kickina.com/chokeback


I don't know what more I can add, except that whoever made that... way to go.

It's like when Camper Zach and his family bought me that hard to find Marc Boerigter jersey for my 21st birthday. He was my favorite obscure white WR for the Kansas City Chiefs who singled-handedly won me my fantasy football league with a 126 yd 2 TD performance in week 16. He was always my guy. So when young Zach made the delivery I looked at him and I smiled. It was just Right...

NOW THE ROTATION

Right now I think the Mets are in a bundle of fuck. It's time like this when you wish we hadn't made that Kris Benson deal.

We have many problems. There is really no one in the system ready to step in. The two guys closest to the bigs are probably Alay Soler and Jeremi Gonzalez.

Soler from my side is the brighter star there mainly because Jeremi Gonzalez has spent many a year doing just this, hovering between AAA and the bigs and nothing has ever really worked.

I'm happy to report that Aaron Heilman remaining in the bullpen has become a pretty broad view among Mets people. He is too dominant of a setup man to move.

So what are the options?

The two big ones circulating the sports wires are Barry Zito and Odalis Perez. Both come with some major issues.



1. Barry Zito

Zito is a big name. He's a legit 1-2 guy who will pitch you 200 innings and win you 15 ballgames while maintaining his really, really weird lifestyle.

He's a lot like that dude Graham who tried to steal Jessie Spano's heart during cut-day but came up a bit short. He's just a weird guy.

Zito will cost us a ton. Lastings Miledge to start.

Is he worth it? I really don't think so. I just can't justify this. Miledge appears to be as can't-miss as we are going to find, and as my good friend Nails constantly points out, we are getting this guy for 300k for 3 years. Add him to the mix of Wright, Reyes and Beltran and we have our brightest young nucleus in a long, long time.

At the same time, I just don't think Zito is that good.

This isn't the same Barry Zito who won the 2002 Cy Young award and went 23-5, 2.75 ERA.

This is the Barry Zito that from 2003-2005 was 39-36 with an ERA hovering around 4.00 (3.30, 4.48, 3.86).

This isn't the Barry Zito that averaged the 193 K's from 2001-2002.

This is the Barry Zito that averaged 160 K's from 2003-2005.

The fact of the matter is that Zito isn't an ace anymore. As my good friend Chris Martin would add, his star is fading.

To further complicate things, Zito is in his 6th year of service, meaning that he is eligible for free agency this winter. Zito is sure to command $12-13 million per year and could corner the Mets to pay more with the fear of losing out on their prize mid-season pickup.

Further, there is a great chance that the Mets could sign this guy anyway, without losing our top prospect, arguably a top 5 prospect in all of baseball.

I'm selling Zito.

2. Dontrelle Willis.

Do I trade Miledge for Dontrelle Willis? Faster than you can say "Keanu Reeves is the most underrated actor of our generation."



Willis is 24, would be locked up to the Mets for 4 more years and of greatest significance in my eyes, though a controversial subject to some, is that he could make a huge impact on the African-American population of New York City.

Unfortunately I don't think Dontrelle is going anywhere, not now at least. Things may change in the run-up to the trading deadline, but until they do, consider this a backburner option.

3. Odalis Perez

This guy is very much a 3-4 starter. Unfortunately for his current team, The Los Angeles Dodgers, he is making $19,000,000 over the next two seasons.



If the Dodgers would eat $4-5 mil of his contract, acquiring him would make sense financially, and it would not cost us a whole lot, talent-wise. It wouldn't take a big name prospect, heck they may give this guy away.

Would the reward be great? Probably not. But there is very little risk in this one.

Still, it's not too exciting. The guy was hurt last year and has looked pretty bad to start this season. Still, if healthy, the guy can pitch us 180-200 innings.

The Conclusion

I haven't left you with much. I don't like the idea of trading Miledge for Zito. I'm not crazy about Odalis Perez and we don't have much in the farm.

In short, I really think we are kind of fucked.

There is one positive. The Mets will only need a #5 starter 1 time until May 24th. We can go with a 4-man rotation for the next 2 weeks until Bannister comes back while keeping pitchers on regular rest.

If I were Omar Minaya I would try and wait this one out. We need to wait until more of a market develops. There aren't teams yet looking to make moves with their starting pitchers.

I say, give everyone we have a shot. Who knows if one of these guys will pan out.

One thing that will kill me is if we get over-zealous. Remember, we are replacing Victor Zambrano, not Cy Young. We should not be in too big of a rush.

Unfortunately, we are in a bad situation. Injuries suck, they just do.

But trading Kris Benson afforded Omar Minaya the ability to say (like he has said many times of late in the press) that the Mets shed $10 million dollars in payroll this offseason despite all their moves.

It could come back to bite us in the ass.

Big Week this week.

VCD,

SM

The Good, the Bad, and the Amazin' From the Past Weekend of Mets Baseball

So before I get going let me just say that AFOMG threw up some solid posts this weekend. We're going to try and get the weekends going more and more as the season continues.

So anyway, how bout these New Mets? 21-10... This weekend marked the good, the bad and of course the AMAZIN'.

The Good.

We took 2 of 3 from the Braves. Friday's marathon was a classic, they type of game that we will remember in November if, knock on wood, we want to reflect on this season.

Duaner Sanchez took his scoreless innings streak to 21 and already has my Yankee fan roommate talking about making him the closer.

Carlos Beltran showed his first glimmer of a resemblence to Beltran circa October '04. He knocked a couple of dongs and powered the Mets past our big rival.



Most importantly, we got 2 full games off for Heilman, Sanchez and Wagner. This season will be made by our pen and we need to keep these guys fresh. As nervous as Jorge Julio made us Saturday afternoon, that save was huge.

The Bad.

Billy Wagner is starting to scare me a little. Everything that my Philly fan friends were telling me, about how Wagner has lost a step... let's just say this is cause for concern. He's blown 3 saves now and could have lost us Friday's game. Hopefully these days off will get him going.



The back of the rotation is, well, hurt. The thought of seeing Jose Lima (whose 4th inning flare today made him really likable) and Jeremi Gonzalez 2 out of every 5 starts is very disconcerting.

I absolutely love the fact that they are not considering Heilman for the rotationm but this could get really ugly. I don't know what the answer is. But this will definitely catch up with us.

The Amazin'.

Addition by subtraction. While granted we are 0-1 in the post Victor era there is a very good chance that this guy will never put on a New Met uniform ever again. We need this guy away from our team. We need to forget Scott Kazmir and every time Victor the Loser takes the mound, we get a pleasant reminder.

The Uber-Amazin'.

Keith and Gary Cohen. These two are absolutely unreal. Their rapport is the best we have had in an extremely long time.

Between Keith thinking he knows all and Gary quickly pointing out Keith's shortcomings, we have ourselves the best 1-2 since Harry Doyle and Monty from Major League.

For my money it doesn't get better than Saturday's discussion of the reincarnation of Mel Rojas, Bartolome Fortunado.

One particularly memorable episode was when Cohen referred to the flame thrower as Bart, which prompted Keith to squirt out "BART!!! I didn't know we were there yet," (or something like that), which was followed by Keith referring to Bart as a "Portugese Circumnavigator."

A PORTUGESE CIRCUMNAVIGATOR!!!

I love Keith, I think it is great to have him and Cohen calling every game, and when Ron Darling's there with them, all the better. It brings back that winning feeling that we haven't felt in a long time. and with his most recent comment, I have my new team name for Fantasy Football 2K6.

New Portugese Circumnavigators!!!

That's all I got. In case you missed the articles this weekend and want to relive the glory of Friday night or consider the Mets' options in lieu of Zambrano, be sure to read the following two posts.

VCD,

SM

Victor Zambrano RIP

"I'm sick of Victor Zambrano. I'm sick of his grimmace. I'm sick of his sad-sack, loser's demeanor. I'm sick of feeling that it would take a miracle for the Mets to win a game with him on the hill."

- April 19, 2006 (http://yankees2000.blogspot.com/2006/04/help-us-mike-pelfrey-youre-our-only.html)

As evidenced by the above, I've never been reticent about my disdain for Victor Zambrano. Like a lot of other Mets fans, I've never been able to forgive him for the Scott Kazmir trade in summer 2004, nevermind that it was by no means his fault.

But I've gotta say that I was stunned when I opened the paper today and saw the news for the first time that Zambrano had been lost for the season.

I feel as though I should be elated. I mean, I really, really dislike Zambrano. But there are competing emotions here.

The truth is, I feel bad for the guy. My heart goes out to him when I hear that he was crying in the clubhouse because he's not going to be there to take the ball every fifth day.

My heart goes out to him (if only for a brief moment) when I put myself in his shoes and consider the unfair burden of expectation that accompanies his every moment in a Mets uniform.

So I'm not happy that he's been lost for the season due to injury, even for reasons that extend beyond baseball.

But focusing in on baseball, his injury presents us with a gaping hole in our rotation, and the fact is that we're pretty thin on options right now.

Let's consider the options:

1. Move Aaron Heilman to the starting rotation. Probability: 10-1*

Chances are there are a lot of you out there who want to see this happen. I haven't been over to the message boards at MetsGeek (http://www.metsgeek.com) yet, but I'm positive there are already several posts saying that this move has to be made.

I don't want to see it happen, and my reason's got a lot to do with yesterday's game. Look at our bullpen situation yesterday.

Remember that exceedingly uncomfortable feeling you had after Darren Oliver came out of the game? That certainty that the Heilman-Sanchez-Wagner-less bullpen couldn't help but implode?

That feeling would define all 7th innings for the foreseeable future if Heilman were slotted in to the rotation.

Moving Heilman into the rotation would weaken our team's greatest asset. We have the best bullpen in baseball by all metrics (unless that changed yesterday, which it might have), you can't tamper with that.

2. Trade for middle of the rotation starter. Probability: 15-1 in the short term, 5-1 in the long term, 1-1 if Mike Pelfrey can't fill the void (see below)*

Steve Trachsel has been inconsistent on the young season, and there are question marks around Brian Bannister, as good as the results with him have been.

As discussed below, Mike Pelfrey could make this discussion irrelevant. If he falters in the minor leagues, however, acquiring a starter via trade is basically a foregone conclusion.

We can lament the loss of Kris Benson all we want (I assume nobody's going to complain about the Jae Seo-Duaner "Best Reliever of All Time" Sanchez deal), but Benson's gone and he's not coming back.

So now with Zambrano out and Pelfrey not quite ready to make the jump to the pros, the possibility of a trade swells. For more on the Pelfrey scenario, let's move to option 3.

3. Promote Mike Pelfrey. Probability: 8-1 in the short term, 2-1 in the long term*

As some of you may remember, the title of my Zambrano-bashing piece three weeks ago was "Help us, Mike Pelfrey, You're Our Only Hope". In it, I wrote the following:

"I think our best hope is that this Zambrano saga resolves itself with a certain fitting conclusion. We trade Kazmir to get Zambrano, and I'm fairly certain the pitcher to save us from Zambrano is Mike Pelfrey."

So yes, I think Pelfrey is the long-term solution, and I think now more than ever that he will be in our rotation by the end of the season.

Actually, my guess is he'll be on the team by mid to late June. That way, Mets brass can see him perform at the Major League level, and decide whether they need to make the aforementioned trade for a third starter on the basis of how he fares in the 5 starts or so he'd get in before the trade deadline.

So for now, my bet is that Pelfrey stays in the minors for another month or so. He had the first rough outing of his professional career his last time out, and the Mets will want to see him rebound and make adjustments in the minors before calling him up to the show.

Provided he doesn't get shelled in AA, look for Pelfrey to join the big club next month.

4. Use some combination of Jose Lima, John Maine and Jeremi Gonzalez. Probability: 2-1 in the short term, 30-1 in the long term*

It may inspire fear in some of you out there, but this seems to me the odds-on favorite to fill the void at the back end of the rotation for the next month.

The team probably figures it can take a flier on one of these guys and hope to catch lightning in a bottle. If he fails, he'll be replaced by Pelfrey in good time. If he succeeds, happy days are here again.

Lima-Time is going today. He was awful last year but has had as schizophrenic a career as you could possibly have. He could be terrible for us, or he could win his first 5 starts.

(Photo courtesy of CNNSI)

Neither would shock me, but put it this way: if the former happened, none of us would be shocked; if the latter happened, we'd all know we were living on borrowed time.

As for Maine and Gonzalez, Maine's on the DL for now so forget about him in the short-term. I know nothing about Gonzalez, but I think I read he's got a 3.02 ERA at AAA this year. If one of our readers know anything more about him please fill me in on the comment board.

* * * *

So there you have it, Mets fans, the four possibilites for replacing Zambrano.

Lest it be at all unclear, my theory is we will seek to replace Zambrano from within in the short term, go to Pelfrey in a month or so, and then decide if we should make a trade based on how he fares.

If Pelfrey can be the pitcher we project him to be, or even just another Brian Bannister, a rotation of Pedro-Glavine-Pelfrey-Trachsel-Bannister should be no worse than Pedro-Glavine-Trachsel-Zambrano-Bannister, and may be better.

Three last thoughts before I go.

1. Who would have ever thought that it would be the back end of our rotation, featuring Zambrano and Brian Bannister, that would suffer from the injury bug? For all our fears about Glavine's age and Pedro's toe, we almost considered the 4 and 5 guys invincible. So much for that.

2. The Daily News and New York Times looked to assign blame for Zambrano's injury. It wasn't a witch hunt or anything, they were just raising the question of how Zambrano was still pitching with an elbow that was about to burst.

I don't have any answers for that myself, but I did get a flashback to the hospital scene in Varsity Blues when I read the following in David Picker's NYT piece:

"General Manager Omar Minaya and the Mets' pitching coach, Rick Peterson, said Zambrano never discussed the pain with them."

Am I the only one conjuring up images of Coach Kilmer telling the surgeon that Lance Harbor "Never said anything to me" about the pain that foretold his career-ending knee injury? You're a liar, Kilmer, you did so know that his knee was barking! That's why you ordered all those cortisone shots! LIAR!!!!

3. As shaky as the bullpen looked yesterday, it was great to see them come through and to see the Mets win the ballgame. Up against one of the top pitchers in the league and down our starting pitcher and our bullpen, the boys came from behind, again, and beat the Braves, again.

By the way, we're now 9 games up on the Braves. My god would a sweep be sweet.

- A.F.O.M.G.

* - Probabilities are purely speculative.

Great Moments in Broadcasting, Greater Moments in Baseball

Hey everyone, A Friend of Mr. Glass' here. Regular readers know that weekend updates are rare, but after a win like yesterday's you know we've gotta throw something up.

If you're like me, you didn't get to see a lot of the game as it happened. I know, I know, pretty fucking weak on the Glass' part. I make no excuses.

So I wasn't able to watch a lot of the game, but I covered my bases during my absences. I caught the first three innings, then relied on text message score updates from Sip through the next 8 innings.

The text messages read as follows:

9:06 p.m.: 2-4 bot 6

9:31 p.m.: 2-6 bot 7, mets suck when i give u scores

9:47 p.m.: 6-6 top8, new mets!

10:09 p.m.: 6-6 top 9. Blew reyes leadoff triple salt

10:30 p.m.: Going to extras

11:41 p.m.: Top 14

And that's where it ended. Thankfully, I was able to skip out on the bill at a restaurant (relax, Hound, I left 60 bucks with my friends), and find a bar that was showing the game shortly after Cliffy went yard.

This was no easy feat, mind you. It seems the clientel down in Alphabet City is decidedly pro-Yankees. This is not altogether surprising given the number of New York City transplants down there, many of whom define their existence by being trendy, but still pretty f'ing weak.

So it didn't come easy for the Glass. I charged a few blocks downtown on Avenue A, peering into every bar I could find, collecting about 3 stamps at the door as evidence of being over 21, but no dice.

So with spaghetti bolognese and three appetizers fresh in my belly I sprinted the long block up to First Avenue, turned the corner, and found about the most perfect dive bar in the city.

I can't recall the name of the place, but my conversation with Ken, a Bizarro Coach Miranda who roots for the Yankees but has love for the Mets (normally this would be severe salt, but what can I say, Ken pulled it off), was priceless.

In between innings of Mets baseball, Ken expressed his frustration at being unable to pick up white girls generally, but more specifically three pseudo biscuits from Michigan who were seated next to him.

He talked me back from the ledge when Jorge Julio let Chipper reach base leading off either the 13th or 14th, saying "The Mets are what this city is all about!"

I feel the same way, Ken.

And that's when it happened. David Wright got the game winning hit, I jumped out of my chair, clapped my hands, screamed an elated "LET'S GO!!" scaring the shit out of Ken's white girls, gave Ken and two other dudes seated nearby high five, shouted out "NEW METS!!" and was on my way to meet back up with my friends.

Hell of a finish. Hell of a ballgame.

Yeah, it's only one game, but it's only been one game 20 times this year in 29 games. NEW METS!

Oh yes, there is one more thing. We like to kid around about SNY here at the site, but the fact is that it's one of the best things to happen to New York sports since the Mets won the World Series in 1986, and Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez are a big part of the reason why.

I didn't hear the commentary live last night, but I had the Hound record the late innings of the game and that gave me a chance this morning to catch Gary and Keith at their best.

Their game-calling and -analysis prowess were never in dispute, but last night we saw another side to the two broadcasters.

We saw them wearing rally hats even as they repeatedly defended their impartiality.

We heard classic lines from Keith about his long commute, his scorecard system, and the Braves bullpen coach, who Keith theorized had been alive in 1898.

And it was all an absolute pleasure. Relating the lines here wouldn't do them justice, it was as much the comedic timing as anything else, but all in all, very funny stuff. Well done!

That's all for now. Still two games left in this series, but a great win last night. LET'S GO!!

- A.F.O.M.G.

Tom Glavine: Insert Gushing Superlative Here

(Note: For those of you who missed it, there was an early evening post yesterday about Matt Yallof's blog over at SNY.tv. You can check it out immediately following today's recap of Glavine's gem last night.)

With the look of a man who's just been informed that his AIDS test came back negative, Tom Glavine could finally exhale.

Xavier Nady had just clubbed a 430-foot shot over the wall in dead centerfield, and the Mets were on their way to staking Glavine to a 6-0 lead, or 2.6 times the average amount of runs he had enjoyed in his previous 6 starts (2.3 entering the game).

From there, Duaner Sanchez and New Jorge Julio would breeze through the final 6 outs of the ball game (setting aside the final 4 via strikeouts), and just like that, the Mets were 10 games over .500.

Back when he was a struggling Old Goat, Glavine was roundly criticized for his preoccupation with reaching 300 career wins. Just focus on finishing a season over .500, why don't you? New York fans would ask.

But throughout his first three seasons in New York, Glavine insisted that his dream of reaching 300 wins wasn't nearly as self-centered as it seemed.

After all, he reasoned, if he was drawing closer to 300 career wins, that would mean the Mets were winning games.

By this point, it's a safe bet that the knuckleheads out there who ever argued with that logic have started to come around.

Indeed, whether you count last night's victory as No. 4 (of his season), No. 19 (for the team), or No. 279 (of his career), you can't argue with what Glavine's late-career renaissance means for this club.

Yes, there's a long season to go. Yes, the risk of injury always looms. Yes, they're both pretty (Pedro) and very (Glavine) old.

But through the first month of the season, that's seven starts and counting, between Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine, the Mets have something they haven't had since Mike Hampton and Al Leiter toed the rubber at Shea in 2000.

The Mets have a playoff-caliber front of the rotation.

That's important, so let that sink in. It's important for the health of the club today because Glavine and Pedro make the Mets fearsome at least twice a week.

And it's important for the health of the club tomorrow because it eliminates the need for a Barry Zito, which eliminates the threat to Lastings Milledge.

Now that doesn't mean the Mets are set for the season, or even for the playoffs should we be so lucky. You need a quality third starter, and thus far Steve Trachsel has been too schizophrenic to qualify.

But it does mean that the Mets have two guys you feel confident going to battle with. Two guys who you can pencil in every fourth and fith day and feel that you've got a good chance to win.

They said last year that Pedro made the Mets matter again every fifth day. Glavine will never be as sexy a personality and as irresistable a draw as Pedro is, but over his last 22 starts now he has made the Mets almost as imposing as on the days Pedro pitches (statistically even more so).

And you know what, for all the shit Rick Peterson takes (and will always take) for wanting to spend 15 minutes in heaven with Victor Zambrano, he sure has helped the Mets discover the talent they thought they had signed in that winter before the 2003 season.

It was Peterson, after all, who encouraged Glavine to throw more breaking balls, and to work both sides of the plate with more confidence.

He likened it to Tiger Woods toying with his swing: sometimes even the best need to make adjustments (he probably didn't emphasize then that Glavine wasn't the best, that in fact he was pitching like shit, but that's beside the point).

"Once they went back to the 17-inch strike zone, the transition was imperative," Peterson was quoted by the New York Post's Jay Greenberg. "Some games now, it's almost 50-50 working both sides of the plate. Tommy has a third-degree black belt in his pitching delivery. He has mastered it. He has a doctorate degree in glove hitting."

Although Peterson failed to mention it, Glavine also owns a Booker Prize in bat missing, not that anyone's counting.

And as dumb as Steve Phillips looked for including a bunch of easy-to-reach benchmarks that would immediately mean a fourth year of a 40-year-old Tommy Ballgame, we're all lucky to have the guy right now.

That's because he's winning ballgames and shifting the Mets' needs. We won't need to mortgage the future to bring in a No. 1 or a No. 2 at the deadline this year. We've already got those.

I would take a No. 3 (Where have you gone, Rick Reed?), especially when you're staring down a weekend like this one against the Braves with Trachsel, Zambrano, and John Maine.

It's a big test for the back of the rotation, but no matter how they perform, it's good to know that they'll have Pedro and Glavine backing them up when we head into Philadelphia next week.

Because between those two guys, we've got one of the best 1-2 punches in baseball. The way they've been pitching this first month, it may be the best.

19-9. You know the feeling of being 10 games over .500? You haven't felt it since 2000.

Let's go!

- A.F.O.M.G.

Matt Yallof: Straight. Streets.

(Note: Sippy Momo has a piece about last night's rain-soaked win immediately following this post from A.F.O.M.G.)

Hey guys, A Friend of Mr. Glass' here. So I was killing time at work when I hopped on over to get my New York sports online, there, at SNY.tv. And there it was. The lead story. Our man Matt Yallof had finally made it: his blog was featured as the lead story over at the SNY website.

One of the increasingly familiar faces over at SportsNet New York, you'll remember Yallof from many a broadcast of Pre Game Live... excuse me, North Fork Bank Pre Game Live, or Nissan Post Game Live.

Now a little confession here. Perhaps it's that he simply has no chance of measuring up to resident SNY frat boy Chris Cotter, who always looks like he's desperate for his next keg stand or the next chick to show his "Oh" face, but I had always thought Yallof a little soft.

That all changed when I read the latest entry on his blog (link: http://www.sny.tv/article.jsp?content=blog_yallof).

That's because Yallof, in the midst of gushing about the Mets' offseason acquisitions, notes with a mix of pragmatism and street sensibilities that we can only hope will become his trademark, "Sure, [the Mets] have the money to spend, but how many times in the past have we seen teams with money -- the Mets included -- spend mad-cash and come up empty?"

I mean, it's true. We've definitely seen the Mets spend mad cash before and come up empty. Like, hello, 2002 anyone?

But not this time. Like our man B.I. up above used to say, fuck a dollar and a dream -- with Omar in charge and the Mets 18-9, we've got a dollar and reality, son.

And that's basically what Yallof's post reminds us of. The Mets made a bunch of solid moves this offseason, and with the team sporting a .667 winning percentage and a 5-game lead in the NL East after 27 games, the proof is in the pudding.

Yes, the Kris "Slump-Stopper" Benson deal isn't looking too pretty right now, but Yallof's point is that Duaner Sanchez is our best reliever and the likely heir to the Billy Wagner throne (a la Mariano Rivera-John Wetteland).

It's that Carlos Delgado... he's at first base!... is everything Mets first basemen weren't in 2005, Mike Jacobs aside.

And it's that Xavier Nady and Paul Lo Duca have been everything you could have asked for in the early going.

And after all that, Yallof still finds time to vent about the pitfalls of hosting a small gathering with friends: "A Mets team that is always in search of good starting pitching (I guess every club is also looking because starting pitching is like ice at a party -- you never have enough)". So true!

All kidding aside, the blogs at the SNY website are a very solid feature. I always loved reading the notebooks of Keith Hernandez, Howie Rose, and all the rest over at MSGNetwork.com (RIP), and the blogs at SNY are the heirs-apparent of those.

The commentary isn't as expert perhaps as when Joel Sherman was writing up his impressions, but the blogs are nevertheless worth checking out in the waning hours of work.

But if you see Matt Yallof roaming the streets this weekend, well, just try and stay out of any 1-D battles.

Yallof: Money! Cash! Hoes! Money-Cash-Hoes!!

- A.F.O.M.G.

UPDATE: Alright. Who else saw Jeromy Burnitz on Pre Game Live just now? Possibly the greatest interview of all time. Be sure to watch the re-run of Daily News Live tonight at 11 p.m. to catch all the highlights. J-Burn!

Who'da Thunk It?

So go back to April 1st. If you had told me then that the following would be true on the morning of May 4:

Reyes and Beltran would each be hitting .240;
Wright would be barely cracking .270;
Billy Wagner would have blown 3 saves; and
Cliff Floyd would be hitting 69 points below his 260 lb frame (.191);

What would I have said?

Well the first thing out of Young Sip's mouth would have been a typical but sarcastic, "NEW METS"!!! Followed by another typical Mets shrug and a "Same old Mets."



Three of our top five hitters with averages well below their career norms.

Our budding superstar/savior/messiah not living up to his mega hype.

Our lights out, unhittable closer with as many blown saves in a month than he had all of last year.

As Kenny From Camp told me today, this is a 10-17 team. Maybe if it were the Yankees or the Cardinals this would be a 13-win team, but the Mets... The fucking Muts are a 10-win team.

So what the hell is going on here? Is this really possible?



The same moron that would tell me that these Mets would be good would tell me that the best record in the NL would belong to the David Weathers-led Cincinatti Reds.

But, amazingly it is true.

The Mets are dominating baseball. Truly dominating baseball.

There are two keys to this season. Pitching and swagger.

First off, you can't say enough about the pitching. Pedro and Glavine are pitching perfect. You couldn't ask for more out of them.

Bannister-Trachsel-Victor the Loser are over.500 in their starts.

The middle relief has been the team's MVP. Heilman and Sanchez (the former of whom was dominant last night) are both All-Stars right now, probably our 3rd and 4th right now after Pedro and Glavine, possibly 5th to Delgado. But these guys are lights out... So far.

And then there is Wagner. Wagner has 2.5 blown saves. The game in SF can be chalked up to D Wright's throwing error to set up Bonds.

So the pitching has been great.

But there is something more.

The Mets look like winners. Every time they walk on the field, they are going to win. This team has swagger.

Everytime the opposing pitcher looks at our lineup card, they are shook. Even when the lineup isn't hitting it's still imposing. Pitchers get through the big guns and get to players like Endy Chavez. They sleep, and get burned. Nady has been burning them all year. It's pretty cool.

Then there is Wagner. As average as he has been, when teams see him at the end of the game they feel like they have lost. You don't go into the 9th against Wagner and think you have a shot. You certainly do against Braden Looper.



So now the Mets have the swagger. They have the mojo. They have the Quan.

We walk onto the field and we are the better team. It took us a month to earn this, but this team looks like it is here to stay. Teams like this win games like last night's. Games where you blow a lead that you shouldn't only to come back in extras.

Good teams win these sort of games.

Maybe these Mets are a good team.

New METS!!!

VCD,

SM

Watch the Game! Just Watch the Game!! Ugh.

(Note: Two pieces for you today. First, a recap of last night's game by A.F.O.M.G. Second, a response by Sippy Momo to the Tom Glavine/Johnny Damon comparisons that erupted on yesterday's comment board. Enjoy.)

For those of you who suffered through last night's lackadaisical 6-2 loss at the hands of those pesky Nats, the words that adorn the title to this piece may sound familiar.

They were the audible cries of manager Willie Randolph, who in the wake of his ejection earned the distinction of being one of two people in a Mets uniform to bear a pulse last night, Paul Lo Duca being the other.

And beyond that there really isn't much to say. I mean, last night's game sucked.

It sucked largely because our offense sucked, yet again. All players go through their ups and downs, but watching this team swing the bats right now is almost uniformly depressing.

David Wright, 0-for-last-14, 7-for-last-54. Carlos Delgado, 4-for-26. Carlos Beltran, 2-for-10. Cliff Floyd, 0-for-the-season in spite of smoking the ball virtually every time up.

(Hat tip to Matthew Cerrone over at Metsblog for the misery index, and for replacing the word "thanks" in my vocabulary with "hat tip".)

In any event, like everyone else, I have no doubt that the 3-through-6 guys in our lineup will straighten themselves out, because they're all too good for this.

But the light at the end of the tunnel doesn't make the team-wide slump any more palatable, nor does it make it any easier to do as Willie implored home plate umpire Jeff Nelson and watch a game like yesterday's.

It was Kris Benson Trade Night at the ballpark last night, and almost miraculously, the crowd never had occassion to break into another "We want Ben-son!" chant, a la the second game of the season.

That's because John Maine looked alright last night, aside from the homerun he allowed to Alfonso Soriano. He allowed a distressingly high 5 extra base hits in 5.1 innings of work, but his strikeout rate was good and both of the first inning doubles were pieces of crap.

I wouldn't expect him to replace Victor Zambrano any time soon, but he looked capable enough that I'd have no problem with him making another start in place of Brian Bannister.

Besides, Maine deserves credit for delivering a fine quote about the gopher ball he allowed to Soriano. "That's the pitch that bothered me," Maine said. "I didn't throw that pitch with any kind of conviction."

Conviction! I love it. Such a refreshing change from the industry standard "I didn't hit my spot." Somebody remind me to throw a "put a cork in it, Maine!" his way if future quotes don't live up to this standard.

For his part, Jorge Julio looked good in his 1.2 innings of work. I understand he's been doing better lately, but I confess I've learned this only secondhand as his resurgence coincided with my vacation last week.

New Jorge Julio? We shall see.

Meanwhile, they're calling Kris Benson the "slump-stopper" in Baltimore. Salt.

So yeah, yesterday was just one of those bleh type games. You suffer through it, you accept it, you move on.

I was reminded of the importance of moving on this morning during a brief exchange with a doorman as I was leaving for work:

A.F.O.M.G.: Hey Steve, what's going on?

Steve the Doorman: Hey [A.F.O.M.G.], what's happenin'?

A.F.O.M.G.: Not much, man, shitty game last night, huh?

Steve the Doorman: Yeah, ugly one. Can't win 'em all, you know?

A.F.O.M.G.: Yeah, I know.

Steve the Doorman: Besides, wouldn't be no fun if you did!

Steve was on to something; he, like every Mets fan out there, has come to keep the downs in perspective -- doing so is part of our ethos after all.

So with that in mind, I say we dwell on yesterday for a few more hours, come to terms with it, and then hope that Pedro can remind us how good winning can feel tonight. Let's go!

- A.F.O.M.G.

UPDATE: Was in the cafeteria at work just now. An instrumental version of the love theme from Titanic was blasting over the speakers. Talk about a tune that grabs at the heartstrings and just won't let go. Wow.

Glavine vs. Damon

So this rare for me to respond to a comment via a new column, but the discussion on yesterday's comment board merits weighing in on. AFOMG and Happy Will have been slugging it out on the comment board, but this argument didn't begin with them.

Quoting anonymous: "How do you reconcile what Tom Glavine did to the Braves with your stance on Damon?"



On the surface, the similarities seem plain enough.

Star player leaves his team for main division rival mainly because of money/length of contract.

I couldn't agree with this more. But that is where the similarity ends. Below are a series of arguments for why Damon's departure is far worse than Glavine's.

1. The rivalries were different.

The Yankees vs. Red Sox was a rivalry on both ends. The Yankees and Sox hate each other. When the schedule comes out every season, each team and their fans know the 19 games when the other is on the schedule. Everyone in America knows cause ESPN won't shut up about it.

Mets fan know when the Yanks are in town. Most know when the Braves are. But do you think the Braves are worried about the Mets in any given year? Maybe in a year like this, where the Mets have a team, but the rivalry there is defined by the opposition being good, not by long-running antipathy.

2. Damon went from David to Goliath, Glavine left from Goliath for David.

Damon took the easy way. He went where all the stars go. He went from weak to strong.

Glavine on the other hand left the Braves for the Mets following the year when the Braves won the division and the Mets came in last.

3. The Damon sweepstakes was between The Sox and Yanks, Glavine was deciding between the Mets and the Phillies.

Glavine made it clear that he wanted a 4 year deal. He wanted 4 seasons to reach 300 wins. The Mets were willing to offer him 4. The Phillies were offering him 4. The Braves would barely offer 3. It was clear cut that Glavine was choosing between the Mets and Phillies and both the Braves and their organization were aware of that.

The Damon situation is far different.

In 2005 he swore he would never become a Yankee. During his negotiation period it was always the Sox and the Yankees. It's not like the Sox did not want him. He chose the Yankees and their 12 million over the Sox. Plain and simple.

4. Damon was a part of the most special moment in the history of his franchise, beating the Yankees.

When the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the 2004 playoffs, it was arguably the biggest moment in baseball history. He was right in the middle of that. While Happy Will argues that Schilling and Ortiz are the faces of the Sox, Damon was the face of the "Idiots," the identity of the 2004 Red Sox.



Glavine never had a single magical moment against the Mets. He owned the Mets for years. They may have been his main division foe, but the Braves' biggest rival was whoever they were playing in the playoffs every year, which was never the Mets.

Hope that clears up some things, at least from my end.

When the Mets signed Glavine I didn't really know how to react. The truth is I wasn't too high on it for practical purposes; mainly I was concerned that the Mets had invested a ton of money in a guy who suffered through a terrible second half of 2002.

But at the same time, the Mets and Braves were not a rivalry at the time. We sucked in 2002. Did bringing in Glavine effect our chances against the Braves in 2003? Maybe a little. But was Shea selling out against the Braves in 2003? How about 2004? 2005? 2006?

It's just a different rivalry. If the Mets and Braves played every year like it was '99 and '00 then Glacine leaving for the Mets would mean more. But up until the first 25 games of 2006, the Braves have owned the Mets for 15 years and Mets fans know this.

VCD,

SM

Karma Police

Everything went right on Monday. Things were the way they were supposed to be.

The Mets won a game where Victor the Loser pitched like a winner. That is huge. But, that is not today's story.

The story came out of Boston where the Yankees' new CF Nina Myers got what he deserved. And More. And More. And, well, he got everything that he deserved.

I woke up today fired up for this game. I wanted Boston fans to kill this guy. I expected them to and they did.

They littered Damon with boos as he led off the game. He claimed that he heard enough cheers to merit him tipping his cap, but this is really just one of two things.

One, Damon is as dumb as he sounds, as dumb as he acts in interviews, and as dumb as his quotes read in the papers.

Two, this guy is in such denial that he just doesn't know how to take it. He knows he fucked up, and he's desperate to get past these days of increased scrutiny. And all this in the type of series that he once dominated for the blue and red; but those days are gone for him now that he has the 5th supporting role for the DB's in pinstripes.

So everything that was supposed to happen happened on Monday night.



1. The good people of Boston abused Damon. They threw fake and real money at him in CF, a gesture he possibly didn't understand, but so be it.



2. David Ortiz, the other fan favorite who has never even spoken about playing for another team was the hero. Big Papi went slamalama dingdong in the 8th to put the game out of reach.

3. Aaron Small, who for a full year was deemed a "good pitcher" by moron Yankee fans caught his first loss, in his first big game, of his second season. That on top of Chien-Ming Wang having yet another subpar start. Of all the things that happened in 2005, what killed me was the hype that these stiffs got. Sure they pitched well, but they are not good pitchers. Remember Jae Seo in 2005.

4. Mike Myers, the Yankees' lefty setup man who throws as hard as Mrs. Sippy Momo gave up the key hit to Papi. I love how Yankee fans assume that this guy at age 93 is the answer to all that is lefty.



5. On the same day that karma is going all the right directions, the Clippers took their first playoff series in 30 years, or roughly right around the name when that greedy jerk Johnny Damon was just learning to speak with a terrible lisp.

6. Derek Jeter, who has been somewhat exonerated over the years by Yankee haters as even he doesn't top the hatability of this team, making the big baserunning blunder in the 8th. Was anyone else expecting him to get called out, then start running for the bleachers? I mean, this guy is a WARRIOR!!!

7. 9th inning: A-Rod aka Mama Sippy Momo at the plate getting crushed by Boston's newest cult hero John Papelbon.

8. Most importantly, the Red Sox, their fans and the city of Boston beat Damon.

I never drank at baseball games until I was about 19. I always used to say to myself that baseball was a kids game, and as much as I was drinking like every other high schooler out there, that it was some how disrespectful to the innocence of baseball for Young Sip, the kid, to be drinking at games.

AFOMG and many others didn't see my rational nor do I expect any of you. While I've seen a lot of shit in baseball that hasn't been right, that has corrupted the innocence that once united me and Sr. at Pee Wee League, nothing is worse than what Damon did.

He took by far and away the biggest rivalry that we have seen in the last 25 years and corrupted it. Baseball truly was a business that day. I'm glad I was 23 at the time and not an innocent kid. God knows I have no idea what fathers in Boston had to tell their sons the day Johnny Damon left for the Yankees.

So as many of you may remember, this site started because I believe the Yankees are now cursed. Since 2000, they have truly taken baseball into their own hands and made it a business and not a game.

Someone is punishing them. That someone/something made tonight right, as it needed to be, and that someone/something will continue to make things right.

17-8.

SM

2006: The Cool Mets and the Sellout Returns

God knows I embraced Carlos Beltran's labelling the Mets as the "New Mets" upon his signing. I say "New Mets" maybe 20 times a day, 19 of these times being completely non-sensical.

What's ironic about the whole situation is that this brand of baseball the Mets are putting on the field is, well, new.

All of a sudden these Mets have a swagger to them. A month into the season they remain the talk of the game. And more importantly, everything around the country is really positive.

We have the quirky Ace in Pedro.



We have the uber-talented smiling kids in Wright and Mr. Glass (Reyes).

We have the imposing presence at the back of the 'pen in Wagner.

We even have the dong-mashing Spanish dude who gets intentionally walked more often than anyone not named Barry Bonds.

These New Mets are pretty fucking cool.

Now lets face it. As much as I loved the Monster, he sure made the Mets and their fans an easy target. With the Sam Champion rumors and the regrettable comments about Juan Gonzalez's 'King Kong' arms, Mets fans caught the south side of many gay jokes.

Add that to the fact that we were constantly losing and being a Mets fan wasn't all too great.

Times have changed. And change is good.

All of a sudden Brokeback Central has made its way to our crosstown rivals.

So I don't know if you guys caught SportsCenter today, but it showed a clip of Johnny Damon walking into Yankee Stadium with his good pal and proud owner of the Steve Francis/Stephon Marbury Award for fucking up teams, Alex Rodriguez.

I want to thank SportsCenter for this image as it makes it really easy to hate this guy more before he returns to Fenway. Basically Damon was GQ.

He had spikey hair, a snazzy shirt and tight pants. He looked like every 'Bobby' that you hate. He was the guy going into Marquee thinking he owned the place. Man this guy sold.



In one year Johnny Damon went from the scruffy, tough, rugged 'Idiot' to the pansy, toolish 'Yankee.'

He has fully embodied the Yankee image of clean living which to me is really sad. This guy went from being really really likable, to really really unlikable with one signature of his name.

So tonight Damon returns to Fenway. This may be the one day in my life that I wish I were a Red Sox fan.

I hope they destroy this guy. I hope they make him cry. I hope he returns to his posh hotel room in Boston and for at least a minute realizes what he has done.



He commited baseball treason. He is the Nina Myers to Boston's CTU. He is a turncoat. And worse, he is a fake.

At the same time, I am glad that Damon is a Yankee and that he is embrassing in his Yankeeness. All it is doing is making that team more hatable. Even SportsCenter is spotlighting their pussiness. Is there any other reason they would show two players walking into the stadium?

The fact is, the Yankees being hatable is becoming national news. Just as the Mets take off.

I really don't know what all this means. What I do know is that we have a 6 game lead at the end of April and that feels really strange and really good.

Vaya Con Dios,

SM