Some thoughts: The draft and the Sweep.

(AFOMG wrote this sweet little Jawn that is right below this one. A lot more insight, better writing. I would give it a look)


"I was shocked. I just wanted to get drafted."

-Renaldo Balkman



It's pretty funny that Isiah snatched up this kid at 20 because he was worried that the Suns were going to take him at 21.

Only then to see the Suns sell away their picks when there was guys that they could definitely use (Marcus Williams, Alexander Johnson etc.) still on the board.

At a time when people are protesting your team, this one tops it off. Everything I have read about this guy says that the Knicks could have gotten him in the 2nd round. And from what I remember seeing about this guy, oh dear. Marcus Williams could have gone in the top 5. How do you possibly pass that up? It's unreal.

Truly hilarious.

Can't wait to see my boy Shannon Brown with Lebron. That will be really special.

The Bulls are becoming really really good. I don't know anything about Thabo Sefolosha, but man do I love him. Going to pick up my buddy Zimmy a jersey soon.

I think the Celtics are nuts to trade No.7 for Telfair.



I love Bassy and "Thru the Fire" as much as the next. But Foye or Roy next to Pierce would be awesome.

I can't wait till next year when the Knicks send their #1 pick to Chicago again, and lose out on Greg Oden. I really love the Knicks.


As for the New guys.

We lost three in a row and I'm not even that upset. This is good for us. We needed to be humbled as fans and as a team.

That said, this weekend is huge. New York has been the Mets' city all year. We need to maintain that confidence.

Also, I'm kind of happy to give the Sox a bigger lead.

Re: Afomg- Fenway really is a gem. Really looking forward to the new stadium.

Have a Great 4th all.


VCD,

SM

Some Post-Debacle Thoughts

Hey troops. How we feeling today? Not good? Got a bad taste in your mouth? Yeah, me too.

I mean, at least last night's game was competitive. Those of you who read my post yesterday know that what bothered me more than anything else about the first two games of the series was the Mets' apathy.

It's one thing to go down swinging, it's another to go down looking. In games 1 and 2, the Mets went down looking.

Yesterday was different, and good thing too, especially for A Friend of Mrs. Glass', who would have had a most despondent companion had the Mets looked anything like they did on Tuesday or Wednesday. The Mets showed some fight, they didn't piss the game away, and all in all it was the kind of game that should have been on display throughout the series.

That said, there's not a lot of good you can take away from last night. As far as I can tell, the question facing the Mets right now is how much to draw from this series.

1. Lastings Milledge.

I don't care how cocky the kid is, this series will stick with Milledge longer than it will with any Met not named Pedro Martinez. He must know how horrible he looked. He must know that the series might have turned out entirely different had he not misplayed those two routine putouts.

So there's understandably a lot of frustration directed at Milledge right now. One person who's particularly upset with Milledge is our loyal reader Nails. Here's what he had to say last night:

"Milledge sucks... There is no reason not to trade Milledge at this point for a stud pitcher if we can get one. Somebody who will be with us for a few years. But we need more than what we got. And we don't need Lastings Magellan."

First off, it's not fair to say that Milledge sucks. He's a 21-year-old kid. Let's do a comparison:

Player A: 24 games, .213 avg., .215 OBP, .337 SLG, .552 OPS, 1 HR, 19 RBI

Player B: 24 games, .233 avb., .287 OBP, .419 SLG, .706 OPS, 3 HR, 12 RBI

Player B's statistics probably look pretty familiar to you. They belong to Lastings Milledge. As for Player A, that's my pal Mr. Glass' line after playing 24 games in the big leagues as a 20-year-old kid in that enchanted summer of 2003.

All I'm trying to illustrate here is that few young players break into the league and immediately look good. Almost all look like a shell of their future selves, David Wright included.

A crucial difference between Reyes and Wright on one side and Milledge on the other is that Reyes and Wright had the benefit of breaking in with Mets teams that were so far out of contention that their growing pains weren't back page stories (as Milledge's gaffes might have been). We could overlook them for the good of the team.

With Milledge though it's different. The team isn't in a pennant race, but it's in a race for credibility, and our credibility took a big hit with our performance in Boston.

To run Milledge out of town for it though is foolhardy. He's not the answer this year, that much seems clear, but a year or two from now he may be. And that's the standard that he needs to be held up against when we consider potential trades.

I wouldn't trade him for Barry Zito unless we could pull off a trade-and-sign, but that's not gonna happen. I would definitely trade him for Dontrelle Willis, but it would probably take Mike Pelfrey to make that deal happen, and that price is too steep for my tastes.

I say patience. Let Lastings return to Norfolk and hone his game. Cliff Floyd is scheduled to return tonight, but he's not scheduled to return next year. Rather than panic and trade Lastings to the highest bidder based on his first 24 games, let's do what we would hope our organization would do and not trade our top prospect at the first sign of failure.

2. The Pedro situation.

I'm not a doctor, but I know what I've read, and what I've read is that Pedro is suffering from various ailments at the moment, a hip injury suffered in Florida being most prominent.

Would that our rotation woes began and ended with Pedro! Pedro's not the half of it. Alay Soler's inconsistency. Shitty Tracshel's general shittiness. El Duque's complete eh-ness.

So we can't pretend that Pedro is the only rotation issue we've got, but I think he may be the key to getting it figured out.

If Pedro really is hurt, we need to get him healthy. Put him on the 15-day DL. We're 3-7 in his last 10 starts; a lot of that isn't his fault, but the fact is that we won't necessarily miss his production during the 3 starts he would miss.

In the meantime, give Pelfrey a shot. This is the perfect time. We've got one month until the trade deadline. See how Pelfrey does over the next 3 starts. If he impresses, that gives you options. Trade Tracshel? Send Soler back to the minors? I'm not sure what the right move would be.

What I do feel sure of is that a trip to the DL for Pedro has a lot of upside. The Mets are 11 games up. We're playing with house money at the moment, even if we did just get swept. If losing Pedro for 3 starts now would pay dividends in the other 12 he should make this year, then this is the time to do it.

And if Pelfrey comes along and impresses, all the better.

Anyway, that's all I got. Tough series against Boston, but now it's on to face the Yanks. Let's put it behind us and move on.

Last thing: Fenway really is gorgeous. God damn.

- A.F.O.M.G.

For Two Games Now, the Mets Have Looked Absolutely Pathetic

And I hope they know it.

I hope they know how overmatched they've looked in the first two games against the Red Sox, getting blown out of games before they've even seemed to start.

I hope they know how tentative they look in all aspects of the game. Lastings Milledge -- I mean, what can you say by this point? They guy just looks lost out there. Somehow, when that ball went up last night and the camera caught its first shot of Milledge lining it up, you knew he wasn't going to come down with it.

We can apologize for the kid all we want, but the fact is that there's a big difference between a 3-2 game and a 5-2 game (Tuesday night) and a 2-0 game and a 4-0 game (yesterday).

But that said it's not all his fault. On Tuesday there was Manny Acta sending Reyes for absolutely no good reason at all, and the complete inability to get a hit with the bases loaded.

Yesterday there was Pedro's double clutch on a tailor-made double play ball that turned into a 1-3 fielder's choice, the worst of all possible worlds, especially with David Ortiz running.

The Mets haven't been able to get anything going offensively for two nights now, no matter how many A-Rod homeruns they've hit in that time.

(Side note: I caught the 2nd through 7th innings at Blondies yesterday, and seated next to our table was none other than Michael "Joseph Goebbels" Kay, accompanied by a blonde trophy. Between the beers I'd had that night and my general foul mood on account of the Mets, I was seriously tempted to ask Kay how on earth he ever got a job in broadcasting, and still more impressively, how on earth he ever managed to keep one.

In the end, I asked neither. But as two of my party sardonically congratulated him for his call earlier today, I gave him the dirtiest look I could possibly summon up. He looked dead into it, and I'm confident that my complete and utter disgust for his life's work was effectively conveyed.)

It's all been pretty unbearable to watch. I love the Mets, and the two of us have been through a lot of tough times together -- that's just part of the deal.

But through all those tough times, I've never quite felt like this. Go back to those playoff series' in 1999 and 2000. Yeah, we lost to the Braves in '99 and to the Yankees in 2000, but I'll be damned if a one of you out there says we went down without a fight.

No, we gave both teams everything we had, and we lost. It doesn't make the end result any more gratifying, but at least you could be satisfied that those Mets teams looked like they cared, like they believed in themselves, and that they were going to battle (RIP Art Howe) every step of the way.

And that's what has made the last two days so disheartening for me. We haven't seen a single trace of that. We haven't seen any fight, heart, or resolve from any of our players.

Instead, we've seen 25 guys who look like they're playing scared, guys who look like they've bought into the hype of an impossibly superior American League. They've looked like boys going up against men, or, as I was saying yesterday, they look rather like a college team out there against the pros.

What happened to the team we've been watching all season? Do they know how bad they've looked the past couple games? I hope they do.

But more than anything, I hope they realize they're better than this. I hope they realize they didn't get to be 17 games over .500 by accident; that it wasn't just playing in a weaker league, but by being a genuinely superior ball club.

After the Toronto series, someone with the Blue Jays (I believe it was their manager but I can't recall) said the Mets had the best lineup they'd seen all season. High praise coming from a guy who plays all but exclusively against the pumped-up offenses of the American League.

And yet the team that played Toronto so well for 3 and the rest of the league so dominantly for 72 other games is nowhere to be found.

The good news is there's one chance left. We've got Tommy Ballgame on the mound, and the Glass will be there.

I'm hoping to see a little more out of the Mets tonight.

Honestly though, I'm just hoping to see the Mets be the team they were before they ever rolled in to Boston. That's all it would take.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Reflections From Fenway: Two Brothers Reunited

(Note: A banner day here at Y2K, no matter what the scoreboard read last night. What follows here are Sip's reflections on the game last night, which he took in at Fenway Park with his long, lost sports-loving brother. Below is another piece from Sip about the NBA Draft. Third is a priceless link featuring photos of David Wright, Cliff Floyd, and Paul Lo Duca out on the town. Enjoy.)

I walked around Boston during the last 24 hours with Elliot Smith's "Miss Misery" ringing in my head. Unlike most New Yorkers, I love the city of Boston. Maybe it's because of Good Will Hunting. Well almost definitely.

But that said, a lot of it has to do with Fenway.


Fenway may be my favorite place in the world. The stadium is perfect. There is not a shitty seat in the joint. There is tradition. There are loyal fans.

Then there is the area around Fenway. Bar after bar filled with baseball fans. Batting cages and bars, like Good Will, are at the top of my list. Combine it all with the slightly cooler temperature of the Boston summer, and the stage was perfect.

There are so many reasons why last night, a 9-4 rout was one of the most pleasant games that I have ever been to. I'm going to focus on two.

1. Camaraderie

As I was walking to the T stop at about 5 p.m. last night, I called Old Chipper to talk about plans for the NBA draft. After business was taken care of, he wished me a good night and of course to be careful. He was worried that Sip (little did he know that this was the New Sip - a brick shit house) sporting a New Mets jersey and a few too many ales might get into a scuffle of sorts.

I was ready for it, too, but so be it. This was Mets vs. Red Sox. The New Mets playing in my favorite place. A beautiful night. I needed to enjoy it. Fight or not.

When I got on the T I expected your classic visitor's greeting. I expected the "fuck you's" and the "(New) Mets Suck" and the "Go back to Queens." Instead, I was greeted with warmth.

The bond that united Mets and Red Sox fans for the last 10 or so years was what greeted me.

We both HATE the Yankees.

There were no fights or badwill. Instead, it was lost cousins reunited and about to watch their dad's softball game. There couldn't have been less tension.

I received similar greetings at Game On, a bar at Fenway where a friend of mine works. Once again, a family picnic.

Then there was the 2nd inning. The Tribute.


That is where it all kind of made sense. For about 5 minutes between innings, the entire Fenway crowd, Mets fans, Red Sox fans, god fearers, got out of their seats.

We all united. It was time to salute Boston's Latin son. It was time to pay homage to the most dominant pitcher of our life time, and one of the newer of the New Mets, Pedro Martinez.

As much as we appreciate him now, he is 60% of how dominating he was as a pitcher for the Sox. They loved him and they let him know. We loved him, which he definitely knows.

As "Simply the Best" rang over the loud speaker I got chills. I love the chills. I looked over at my brother, Jawn Momo, and I smiled.

2. This was the first Mets game that I had been to with Jawn Momo in about 15 years.

Unfortunately for us, the kid traded in sports for being a genius back in '94 and hasn't looked back since.

As much as my brother and I have zero in common, we have a pretty cool relationship. We both kind of excel at what the other sucks at, which leads to the solid relationship.

I owe my brother a lot. For the early years of my life, when he wasn't beating the shit out of me or my friends, he was teaching me about sports. He applied his abnormal brain capacity to memorizing everything there was about sports: Stats, players, METS.

This kid was the biggest Met fan in New York city. He was the reason I embraced the team. As kids we watched games and traded baseball cards. We played catch and took BP, a fireballing Chipper on the hill.

Jawn was my mentor, my hero, my sports guy.

Things have clearly changed, as stated above. He dropped sports a long time ago to become a genius. He doesn't know who David Wright or Carlos Beltran are and he couldn't care less.

But when I mentioned going to Fenway for the Mets-Sox game, a part of him lit up.

Twenty years ago, when he was the heart of Mets fans, the Mets beat the Sox in the World Series. He was 8 years old, an innocent kid and probably the happiest person in the world.

This game was special. He understood the significance without knowing 3 players on the field.

He was there with his little brother, Young Sip, for the first time since Paul Wilson's first start as a Met, which was cut short for us because Mama Momo insisted that we come home for a Passover dinner... Jew... Salt.

All these reasons are why yesterday's loss didn't mean much to me.

History, baseball aestheticism, and family -- big bro and little -- dominated this game.

I was at my favorite place to watch a baseball game with the man that taught me how the game -- my favorite thing in the world -- worked. I sat there and gave him a quick refresher course on the '06 Mets and felt that role reversal.


Only he was 7 and I was a gritty and fiery 3-year-old. Instead of D Wright and Glass, Jawn was teaching me about Nails, and Keith and Doctor K.

The Mets got crushed and it didn't matter.

I was reminded of every reason why I love baseball. The game, the beautiful summer day, the fans and most importantly, the people that you share it with.

Tonight is going to be special. I really hope for his sake that Pedro comes out and pitches a gem.

There wouldn't be a person in the stadium that wouldn't glow.

VCD,

SM

One of My Favorite Days: The NBA Draft

(Note: Sippy Momo will be back with a post about catching last night's game at Fenway a little later on. Beneath this article is a link to a website featuring photos of David Wright, Cliff Floyd, and Paul Lo Duca out on the town. Can't-miss.)

As much as I dislike the NBA, I really love the NBA draft.

Maybe it's the warm part in my heart where I know 60 kids, most of whom grew up poor, are instead millionares.

A lot of it has to with the idea of 60 players joining new teams and redefining themselves.

Either way, I love it.

I couldn't be more excited to join the many Knicks fans from sellthegarden.com in their march to MSG. Jimmy Dolan and Isiah in combination with just how lovable these New Warriors are have turned me away from the Knicks, the team I once loved.

Do I like the Knicks? No.

Do I love them, of course.

They are one of the 3 members of my family that I will always love.

The Mets are my dad. I love the team and the sport, plus I think they are just a great thing.

The Giants are my brother. I don't neccesarily understand the game, I never played it (despite a fucking cannon), but Sunday's are still at the top.

Then there is the Knicks. They are my tough grandmother Sylvia. She always kind of irked me. She was a tough lady to deal with. But at the end of the day she was always family. I always loved her, even if she gave me a hard time.

But back to the draft.

I'm not going to give you my predictions of how everyone is going to end up. There's really no point. You are drowned with that everywhere on the internet. I'm just going to buy or sell (pretty much every big prospect in the draft) the shit out of some of the players in the draft and talk about which teams will fuck up.

Starting at the top.

Buying (People I love in this draft):

1. Shannon Brown, Rodney Carney, Rudy Gay.

For all you basketball fans out there, you can probably see a trend. These guys are all freakish athletes.

Brown is my favorite player in the draft. He is 2 inches too small to be the protottype. Otherwise he is 6'3, 200lbs of insane muscle. He is the best athlete in the draft and has a very solid and perfectly formed stroke. He can defend and he can score and he can get to the rim.

In a game being redfined by the D Wade, Brown can really excel. Michigan St. has been my team for the last couple of years and Brown was their guy. There wasn't a lot of hype because he played with Mo Ager and Paul Davis, two of the top 25 players in the country. But this guy can be special. His game definitely translates to the pros.

Carney, a big guy on my NBA pal the Coach's list is similar to Brown. He's about 6'7 and can jump out of the gym. He is among the faster players in the draft and can really shoot. People don't talk about this guy a lot because he went to Memphis, aka Thug U, where every player can jump out of the gym. Doesn't matter. As long as this guy isn't a moron, which I'm not sure of, he will be fine on the next level.

Then there is Rudy Gay. At the last minute this guy is moving up on teams' draft boards from 7-10 to potentially going No. 1. The reason is simple, he is the best player in the draft. At 6'9, 222lbs, this guy has the perfect NBA body. He has long arms, natural talent and is apparently a good guy.


The one knock on him was that he didn't dominate in college. That he didn't try. Did Paul Pierce dominate in college? No...Does ANYONE try in the NBA? Not one bit, sans MD.

Fuck that. He was playing on a team with 4 potential 1st rounders and maybe 6 guys that will be drafted. Scottie Pippen never dominated a basketball game. That's who Gay can become. The ultimate 3 guy. He can score, rebound and defend. He can jump through the rough, but isn't an athlete. He is a basketball player. This is the guy I would definitley take #1.

GUYS I AM SELLING.

This should probably be called, "Meet the potential top 6 picks."

I was at the gym the other day playing 1 on 1 when of course, Andrea Bargnani rolled in. He was there for a shootaround, so of course I watched. The guy is a legit 7'1 with range out to 30 feet. He has a quick first step and is a good kid. Sounds like Dirk... right? It also sounds like Maciej Lampe and Nikoloz Tskitashvilli.

I just wasn't sold. The guy looked awkward around the rim and just looked like there was something missing. Combine that with the fact that Chad Ford loves him and I am down on the guy.

Then there is Adam Morrison. Mark my word, this guy will SUCK in the NBA. He just isn't that good. He dominated a small D 1 conference.


He didn't show much in the tourney and if not for games against Mich St. (who had no one good over 6'4) this guy would have been knocked for choking in big games. He is too slow, too white, and not a perfect enough shooter to excel. He won't score on NBA small forwards and he'll get worked defensively. SELL HIM.

How bout Lamarcus Aldridge? Did anyone else see this guy struggle with Mark Zoller, Steve Danley, and the rest of those pesky beasts from Penn?


For that matter, has anyone seen this guy really have a good game? I have ZERO idea why people like this kid so much. Yeah he's big. My buddy the Hulk's a big guy, but he works at a restaurant.

Seriously though, what is this guy's move? Sure he has long arms, but is he a shot blocker? I just don't know why this guy is a consensus top 3. I've never seen anything out of him.

Finally, Tyrus Thomas. Of the consensus top 4, he is my go-to. I don't see Shawn Marion in his game because he doesn't have Marion's range. I do see the rest of Marion's game and then some.

This guy will average 9 rebounds as a rookie and block shots. He will have an immediate impact on games cause of his long arms and his athleticism. Behind Gay, he is my #2 prospect on the board.

THE REST

What will the Knicks do? Doesn't really matter. Isiah's dream philopshy of undersized and overpaid me-first players combined with multiple picks in the 20's every year hasn't exactly worked out.

Who knows in this hectic draft who will be there when the Knicks pick. My hope is that Mo Ager from Michigan State is around and maybe Kyle Lowry.

This team needs likable players who have won. They need guys who can defend. Despite having guys that love to shoot, the Knicks aren't going to outscore anyone. Why not grab some athletes who can defend? This is, after all, the NBA. If James Posey can make an impact, so can you.

Not sure about the Dukies. JJ Redick will play forever in this league because he is the best shooter we have ever seen. Better than Kerr. Better than Danny D Legler. Better than Craig Hodges. I see no reason why Shelden Williams can't become Boozer 2.0. He is long and can score and rebound.

Other than that, there are a few players I am very excited to see in the league. Mo Saer Sene, the 7'1 freak who is supposed to be Dikembe. A rich man's Dasagana Diop, which as we saw over the last couple of weeks, can make a huge impact in the league.

Randy Foye and Allan Ray.


I wish Ray was 6'4 instead of 6'2. I think he is a better player that Foye, minus the body. I can see him being this year's Luther Head and making an impact off the bench.

Guillermo Diaz will be funny. The Knicks are going to potentially draft him just because Pat Riley loves him. Man do I love this management. This team may go 0-82 this year. Perfect right, get Greg Odenin next year's amazing draft... Negative, that pick will also go to Chicago.

Then of course, my Euros... Olexse Pecherov, Joel Freeland, Thabo Sefolosha and the kid from Israel. I don't know anything about these guys that Chad Ford doesn't know, but since purchasing my Brother Hedu jersey back in '02, things have never been the same for me. I love these guys.

Enjoy tonight. Let us pray that the Warriors stay away from a small forward and that the Knicks catch a couple of gems @ 20 and 29.

VCD,

SM

If You Look at One Website Today, Make Sure It's This One

Got a scoop from my buddy Nails this morning about some pictures of David Wright, Cliff Floyd, and Paul Lo Duca slamming shots, crushing Red Bulls, and basically being the envy of everyone at whatever bar they were at.

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/baseball/meet-the-mets-181663.php

Be sure to absorb the meaning of the photos. Do you see what I see? That's right: three guys with lives that will always be better than yours.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Beasts of the Easts?

Hey everyone, A Friend of Mr. Glass' here. I was involved in a lively e-mail debate this morning about the significance of the next 6 games. Amid all the hoopla surrounding Pedro's return to Fenway, the fact that the Mets have 6 games against two tough American League opponents has not gotten as much ink as it deserves.

At the end of this 6-game stretch, 81 games will be in the books for the Mets. But though our season will only be halfway complete, these 6 games (and to a lesser degree, the preceding 3 we just completed against the Blue Jays) will arguably feature the stiffest competition the Mets will face in the regular season. There's a 3-game set with the Cardinals in August; other than the Cards (and possibly even including them), there does not figure to be as strong an opposing team on the Mets' schedule the rest of the season.

And that's the basis of my response to those out there who are going into this series saying it doesn't matter, that it's just another meaningless interleague series against two teams that don't really matter to the Mets in the grand scheme of things.

These games matter because it's not enough anymore to measure ourselves against the other 4 race-to-the-bottom teams in the NL East.

Perhaps that's too dismissive of our inter-divisional foes. It's important to maintain a certain level of caution in our optimism. As Lister and others have pointed out, trades and injuries can happen at any time and dramatically impact the rest of the season.

That's true, but that's not the way to analyze your team's strengths and weaknesses against any other team's. If we eliminate the unknowable variables from our calculus, I think we can all agree that this Mets team is too good to surrender a 12-game lead.

We haven't lost 3 straight all season. The Phillies won 13 of 14 games at one point and they're still 5 games under .500, still 12 games back. We've been too consistent and all the other teams have been too inconsistent. Simple as that.

That doesn't mean the Mets are a lock or that no team will make a bid. No team that has won 13 of 14 games should be counted out so early in the season.

All I'm saying is, for now, the Mets appear to be the beasts of the NL East. And what's more, many of us are comfortable talking about the Mets being the class of the National League.

That train of thought naturally leads to October. We all know that anything can happen in a playoff series. We all know that the NLDS and NLCS won't be a cakewalk. But we can probably all appreciate that the teams we figure to face in a playoff series aren't as talented as the best teams in the American League: the White Sox, Red Sox, Yankees, and, somehow, the Tigers. And if we really fancy ourselves as better than any other club in the NL, eventually we're going to start thinking about those teams in the AL.

And for me, the opportunity provided by these 6 games is to not only think about those teams in the AL, it's a chance to see them up close and personal, to see how they match up against our boys.

How the Mets fare in these 6 games won't make or break our season. One way or another, the Mets will be in first place when the dust settles, and for some people, that's all that matters.

For me, these 6 games are a good mid-season test. If we go 3-3 or 2-4 I'll probably just shrug my shoulders, tell myself, "hey, we were on the road, it happens," and be done with it. If we win 4-of-6 I'll be quite happy.

But if we win 5 or 6 games, that would make a statement, just as much as a 1-5 or 0-6 week would. If the Mets have a rough week, I wouldn't say that we've got to blow up the team and start all over again, but it might be an opportunity to assess our strengths and weaknesses a month shy of the trade deadline.

But I don't think that's going to happen. I'm excited for these next 6 games. The truth is, I think we're better than both the Red Sox and the Yankees, and I'm anxious to see us up against worthy competition.

We're one of the best teams in baseball. Now let's go out there and play like it.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The Week That Was, the Week That Will Be

(Note: A post about the Mets' win yesterday and a day at the Rogers Centre, from first-time, long-time Cheddar Ben, follows below. Enjoy.)

This past week was one of the most special weeks in the franchise's recent history. It wasn't the 4-3 record. It wasn't our 6th straight victory in a road series. Believe it or not, it wasn't even Young Sip's return to NYC.

The truth is, it wasn't even David Wright. For months now D Wright has had his coming out party. He emerged from a great young player to a great player. He went from a potential All Star to a perrenial All Star. He went from a team leader to a league leader. We've known this for at least a little bit of time.

That is why D Wrigh't 4HR, 14 RBI and an AVG north of .400 is something that we can almost expect every once in a while. The Sox expect it out of Manny from time to time. We now do from this kid.

Over the last 3 years there were always two kids coming through Shea. There was Wright, and there was Jose Reyes.


Wright always seemed to be the top dog. He was more of a natural baseball player to Reyes' freakish athleticism. He was the handsome charasmatic uber-talented Met equivalent to Derek Jeter.

Reyes, though still highly regarded, never quite shared the spotlight of Wright. He was always that guy who could run like the wind but still needed to become more of a baseball player.

That time looks like it may be now.

Jose Reyes may have had the best week this past week that I have ever seen in my entire life as a sports fan. This guy dominated every single game he has played in putting up numbers that are basically unthinkable.


He went an insane 19-for-31 (.631 BA) with 2HR, 4SB and 10 Runs. He had three 4-hit games, 6 multi-hit games, and two leadoff homeruns. He hit for the cycle in a game that he should have singlehandedly won for a sluggish looking team. If not for Wagner's blown save, the Mets are 5-2 and this week may have gotten more documentation.

Still, this week to me is one of the bigger ones in my life as a fan.

It is really weird how I feel about this team right now. It's been three years with this kid and two with the other, and now they are both 23. The future of the Mets was always Wright and Reyes. Those were the Mets of the future.

The present Mets were Beltran's and Pedro's. They were the big name free agents that represented the New Mets.


But that feeling has changed. For the first time and long before the time I thought it would happen, I truly see this team belonging to David Wright and Jose Reyes.

Wright and Reyes are the face of the 1st place Mets. Not because of what they may become (though that could be truly frightening for the rest of the league) but for who they are now.

It is a really cool feeling. These are our kids. Our homegrown guys. And we have never seen anything like this. The 2006 Mets will go with our young guns and truth is, I am happy to go to war with them.

And guys. This week is WAR.

Last week our team truly defined itself. This week marks the biggest challenge of our young season. The Mets start a 6-game span Tuesday in Boston and then at the Bankees.

For the past 3-4 years these two teams have been baseball. They may have only won one World Series between them, the Yankees being cursed and all. Still, this rivalry has defined baseball.

During these same years, the Mets have been a joke. We stunk, we sucked, we were never close.

Which is why the shock that is this year excites me every day.

But this week is a humungous test. If we are the new class of baseball then we are going to have to go through the old throne. It's almost sad how bad the Braves are, that we don't seem to have to worry about them.

But if we are going to win a championship this year, there is a decent shot it will go through Boston or the Bronx. So Tuesday the Mets enter Fenway, with a fired up Sippy Momo in the bleachers ready to support them.


As great as we have been, this week could be very demoralizing. We can't go up against the best and get blown out of the water. We need to hold our ground on the road, where we have been so great all year.

Last week we grew up as a team. This week we emerge in the eyes of baseball.

VCD,

SM

Y2K Goes Canuck

Hey everybody, it's Cheddar Ben, your friendly neighborhood Y2K Buffalo Bureau Chief, in with a dispatch from parts to the cold and merciless north.

I caught Los Mets' series finale up in Toronto yesterday afternoon, getting to take in the latest in a fine string of performances from Mr. Glass and a characteristically crappy showing from Steve Trachsel.

More on them in a second. I don't imagine much of Y2K's readership has been able to hit up the Rogers Centre (nee SkyDome) in downtown Toronto.

It is, from my admittedly limited vantage point, one of the more unique stadium experiences that the big leagues have to offer. The Rogers Centre is located in a fantastic neighborhood right in the city's heart, spitting distance from the CN Tower and more new housing developments than I can count.

My traveling party of three passed the delightfully kitschy Canadian Broadcasting Company studios, complete with an elevated overhanging booth for the Hockey Night in Canada crew. Let me tell you, it's something else.

That's to the good. In contrast, the atmosphere at the field level is decidedly surreal. The Jays seem to have been going for a "family-friendly" sheen in their pitch and tenor, and perhaps their ministrations ring true on native souls.

For me, it's a typical Canadian cock-up. The font used on all the scoreboards around the stadium is this weird, childlike crayon scribbles, lending the whole proceeding a nursery-room feel.

The big board lit up early in the game with a series of totemic animated montages of the Jays' players that came off as half Home Star Runner, half voodoo-laced South Park. Animated Greg Zaun was depicted as a hockey goalie, animated B.J. Ryan as a hunter. Animated Eric Hinske ... well, even the animated Hinske sucked. All very bizarre and inexplicable.

And the JForce. Oh, sweet mercy, the JForce. It is, unfortunately, the Jays' own in-house breakdancing crew, a crew of b-boys and one markedly mannish b-girl who performed after the eighth inning atop the two dugouts.

They took us by surprise, too, changing out of their t-shirt launching equipment before the seventh-inning stretch, when they showed up in tight black gear to lead the Rogers Centre in a vaguely fascististic mass calisthenics display. Then, with our guards lowered, they got crunk to a bad Chemical Brothers-knockoff beat a few half-innings later. For shame.

At the very least, they could have called this embarassment the JTeam, just so I could have gone back to the "In 2004, a crack breakdancing unit was sent to prison by a provincial court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security disco to the Toronto underground ..." jokes. At long last, there was no satisfaction.

But to the game.

The big picture is all good. In the rubber game of a series against a nominally contending team from the superior American League, the Mets looked like the superior squad from the get.

Mr. Glass launched a 2-0 offering from the soon-to-be-unemployed Josh Towers into the upper deck in right field, and New York never really looked back. That's important.

Then, they didn't let up. The box score doesn't flatter the aforementioned Mr. Towers in any case, but it's hard to convey how little faith the Blue Jays faithful had in this guy.

The Mets were clobbering pitches constantly, and though some wound up foul (DWright's massive bomb down my third base line) or caught (Julio Franco's laser in the fourth inning, sending my old-guy-boosting dad into a brief sulk), there was no disguising the fact that Towers was a dead man walking. Nobody was surprised by Beltran's game-opening blast.

In the same vein, everyone was shocked when Reed Johnson caught up to Mr. Glass' liner in the top of the seventh, the only one of his at-bats in which our young hero was retired. His season batting average has nosed above .300 (to .302), and in practically all the criteria for improvement you could imagine (selectivity, bad speed, attitude, defense), he continues to shine.

Even a few months ago, A.F.O.M.G. was considerably more bullish on his namesake than was I, but if what I saw Sunday wasn't the face of meaningful and lasting improvement, I'm not sure what is.

I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. But this is a team with loads of potential, one that is extremely easy to root for. Maybe it was just the polite Toronto fans, but there were a whole lot of smiles on all sorts of faces when the Mets came to the plate.

Endy Chavez earned some love in the field, Carlos Delgado was being ovated by his old audience (respect), there were the predictable but still pleasureable mutterings about Bradford's delivery and Franco's pact with the devil. A lot of conversation, a lot of positive vibes.

The caveats? Well, Trachsel was pretty subpar. Those who were watching on TV will know this as well, but the game was almost lost in the bottom of the fifth inning, after the Jays loaded the bases with one out.

With Lyle Overbay at the plate, Trachsel grooved a fastball down the middle that Overbay sprayed to the opposite field warning track, a couple of feet away from a go-ahead grand slam.

Instead, it was a sac fly to make the score 6-4, and after Shea Hillenbrand's smoked drive to right was caught, he had gotten out of it. Good enough on this day, I suppose. But not for many others.

Still, with an 11.5-game lead and Lastings in a leather skirt (check the AP writeup if you haven't heard...dude is HOT) there wasn't much to complain about. With a Moosehead Ale to boot? Not half bad.

Soon enough, I'll have the chance to go through the routine at Shea itself, and I'm looking forward to that experience, but this here was nothing to sell short.

For now? Keep your ear to the grindstone, I guess, and keep the faith.

Best,

Cheddar Ben

This, That, and the Other Thing on a Busy Friday

Hey everyone, A Friend of Mr. Glass' here. Sorry to say but I've gotta keep this brief -- things got a little crazy here at the office and I've gotta get back to business of the non-blogging variety.

But you know we here at Y2K could never leave you in the lurch, so in that spirit I do have a few thoughts for you:

1. If you read four articles today (this being the first, naturally), be sure to read Lisa Olsen's "Wilpons Getting It All Right" in the Daily News, Mike Vaccaro's "Jugger-Mets Kept Their Promise to Pedro" in the Post, and Ben Shpigel's "Reyes and Wright Are Hitting, and Hitting Their Stride" in the Times.

If you want to understand the current state of the Mets, read them in that order.

As the Mets extended their lead in the NL East to 10 games for the first time since Oct. 2, 1988, there is much to be excited about.

You can take your cue from Olsen and be excited that the House of Wilpon finally smartened up and took a step back sometime late in the summer of 2004. By then it was too late to save Scott Kazmir, but as the standings suggest, it wasn't too late to save the Mets.

Or you can take your cue from Vaccaro and be thankful that Pedro Martinez ever brought his show to Shea Stadium, leaving the world champions behind in favor of a bunch that had gone 71-91 a year earlier. David Wright may soak up the "M-V-P!" chants at Shea, but it was Martinez who brought the buzz back, it was Martinez who put the key in the ignition and got the Mets rolling.

Or you can do as I did and take your cue from Shpigel.

Believe me, I give a lot of credit to the Wilpons. One of the hardest things in life is admitting one's failures and shortcomings, but sometimes it's necessary.

I doubt very highly that the Mets would be where they are today, 18 games over .500 with a present and future as bright as any team's in baseball, if the Wilpons hadn't been able to look themselves in the mirror and accept some of the blame for the horrible seasons from 2002-to-2004.

And I give Pedro a lot of credit for taking a chance on the Mets. I don't want to romanticize it too much -- we all know he went where the money and the years were -- but I think we all agree that none of this would have been possible this quickly without him signing with us.


But for me, my enjoyment of this team begins with the two kids on the left side of the infield. Pedro's put the key in the ignition, yes, but those two are the horsepower that will keep this franchise kicking for the next decade (we hope).

They've each been saluted this past week by Sippy Momo and in countless other corners of the Mets blogosphere, so I'll spare everyone yet another tribute to these two.

2. Speaking of Pedro...

I'm really happy happy he got the win yesterday. Something about him showing up at Fenway with a 6-3 record, let alone 6-4, just didn't sit right.

Nevermind that he could easily have 10 wins by now -- he doesn't have to prove anything to people who have been following him all year.

We all know he hasn't been quite himself his last four times out, but what those fans in Boston are gonna see when they open their newspapers next Wednesday is the entirely respectable following line: RHP P. Martinez: 7-3, 3.01.

I don't quite know what Red Sox fans think of Pedro. I know they would have liked having him last year. But most of all I wouldn't want them to think that he was a shell of his former self.

It's kind of how I feel about the day that Mike Piazza returns to Shea. He's gonna come back with something like a .260 batting average, 14 home runs, 50 RBI, and he's gonna be hitting cleanup in spite of it all and it's gonna be kind of depressing.

In some ways, of course, Pedro is actually a shell of his former self. He's not the guy from 1999 anymore, he's a different kind of pitcher. But what hasn't changed is his success; he might not win 20 games this season, but I sure as hell wouldn't bet against him winning 15-17.

When he returns to Fenway, he won't get the awkward courtesy applause that belongs to former greats who have lost their edge. He'll be the guy that got away, the one they should've never let walk, the one the fans will say "man, if only we'd held on to Pedro..." and for some reason, that makes me happy.

3. Great point by Nails.

My buddy Nails made a great point in an e-mail this morning, here's what he wrote:

"You know what's amazing? I was thinking this yesterday... How many teams could have a prospect as good as [Lastings] Milledge and only need him to pan out to be the 4th best player on our team? It's amazing. If he ends up better than Reyes, Wright or Beltran it is just pure gravy."

Great point. The horses are healthy boys and girls, the horses are healthy.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Franco. Benitez. Looper. Wagner.

(Note: Sip's written a piece of his own about last night's debacle, today's USA-Ghana match, and the firing of Larry Brown. See below for more.)

They say misery loves company, so in that spirit I decided to read what I had written on Nov. 29, 2005, the day after the Mets locked up Billy Wagner for the next 4 years (link is available by clicking on the title above).

I entitled that piece "Closing the Book on 15 Years of Futility". Re-reading it brings back a lot of memories.

The memory of losing $170 to Sip's friend Joel in a 30-minute time span.

The memory of Jay Feely missing field goal after field goal in that game against the Seattle Seahawks, and of Jeremy Shockey showboating for the crowd just a little too soon.

But most of all the feeling of excitement that came with the idea that the Mets had finally found the answer to the back-of-bullpen woes that had surrounded the team and its fanbase for a decade and a half.

Needless to say, the excitement was premature.

The dejected trudge off the field that was immortalized by John Franco, Armando Benitez, and Braden Looper all those years has been on full display this year. In case you missed it any of the other four times, it was on full display yesterday as Wagner blew his 5th save of the season.

It pisses me off that the Mets lost a game they should have won. Through 8.2 innings, last night was pretty much perfect.

My buddy Mr. Glass hit for the cycle, electrifying the stadium with every step.

Jose Valentin continued his resurgence (remember when this guy was so bad that there were websites devoted to lampooning his very existence?)

Aaron Heilman looked sharp, and then, through the first 2 batters, so did Wagner. And then something weird happened. Wagner, Carlos Delgado, and Ramon Castro had a little conference on the mound.

Maybe they were just talking about how to approach Austin Kearns, but the whole thing struck me as odd when it happened. I mean, he had just cruised through the first two batters of the inning, was counseling really necessary?

But whatever, it's not important.

What's important is Wagner blew the save. Again.

What's important is that the Mets lost a game they should have won.

What's important is that all the good vibes that would have emanated from a 5-4 win were erased by a 6-5 loss.

And what's most important of all, Billy Wagner has now solidified his place as another one of those Mets closers.

One of those Mets closers you just don't have complete confidence in when he enters the game. One of those Mets closers you're certain will blow it until he doesn't.

For a long time I wondered if it was just a residual kind of panic I associate with 9th innings in close games the Mets are winning, but it's more than paranoia now.

The guy just hasn't gotten the job done. He's shown every sign of being a classic Mets closer. Makes your stomach turn pretty much from the get-go (his blown save in the second game). Blows it in a big spot against the Yankees (not a save situation, but the May 20th meltdown sure as hell counts in my book). Wildness at inopportune times (last night).

These symptoms define the Franco-Benitez-Looper triumvirate, and now, in spite of the optimism I felt on November 29, so do they define Wagner.

"But Wagner’s a cut above any of those guys," I wrote on Nov. 29. "He’s a different kind of closer. He’s the kind who enters the game and throws the ball 100 mph and, in the words of Roger Dorn, can 'strike this motherfucker out'. He’s an intimidator. He enters the game, the other team does not expect to win. They can’t help but think that the game is over."

That aura is gone for Billy Wagner. I'd like to tell myself that I'm just being overdramatic, but that's not it. I might feel confident with him in the game, but I'll never feel certain. And it's certainty that we're paying $43 million for.

Don't get me wrong, I'd still much rather have Wagner than any of those other three, but still, fuck.

- A.F.O.M.G.

P.S. With Beltran on first in the bottom of the ninth, the Reds put the shift on for Carlos Delgado.

I'm normally supportive enough of his refusal to go the other way, but it was inexcusable that he couldn't hit the ball to left field in that situation.

The Reds were literally giving him 80-85 feet between third base and where the third baseman was playing. There is no exaggeration there at all -- watch the replay if you like. I understand he's a guy who can win the game with one swing, but a hit to left gives you 1st and 2nd no one out at the worst.

But no. Swing for extra bases. Swing for the fences. Swing at ball 4. Thanks for playing. Ugh.

Things Just Aren't Right

So I was thinking about what to write this morning. A lot of things have been extremely wrong in the last 24 hours. And just when that thought crossed my mind, the US turned the ball over and gave up their first goal to Ghana. Hopefully when you guys read this, things have changed.

Last night was Sip's big return to Shea. I hadn't been there since Opening Day, and since then I've only able to catch the Mets for a day in San Diego and three out in SF.

I love Shea. It's my favorite place in the world.

I was there with AFOMG and Rockport Jawn, two people that I have probably been to over 500 games with. This is always just what we did, at least me. I didn't read. I didn't go to movies. I didn't like music. I just did Mets baseball.

So this was supposed to be one of those karma games.

And in my lifetime, the Mets have been pretty good when they are supposed to be. I'm talking opening day's, birthday's, most days when I have needed them.

Then there was last night. Everything was perfect.

The Mets were able to overcome a 3-run deficit to take a 5-4 lead entering the 9th.


Glass went for the cycle, further cementing himself as an All-Star and Y2K favorite. The Jo-se-Jose-Jose-Jose cheer - a cheer that at first irked me - to the sounds of Ole rang through Shea Stadium and I got chills.

And then Billy Wagner came in to the same song that my 13 year old camp basketball team entered to 11 years ago. Enter Sandman time.


As always I got the chills. And I love the chills.

Wagner got the first strike out - check.

He got Griffey to ground out to Delgado - right on schedule.

Then things went sour.

We all know what happened and it sucked. Mets fans were calling for Looper, which even to bitter me is pretty moronic. But yes, this Wagner situation is starting to get a little frustruating. The fact that Mariano Rivera has been so perfect across town (save the last 3 post seasons) has given New Yorkers an unrealistic perception of what closers SHOULD do.

So that was wrong.

But not as wrong some other things.

I got home after the game and turned on SportsCenter. Within seconds I caught the Met highlights, those assholes.

That is when they flashed to Wagner's inning. 91,92,91,91,91. Those were the speeds of his fastball according to the TV gun and sportscenter.

Yet, at Shea, he was throwing 98,98,97,99,98.

So what is it?

I pointed out the gun to Jawn a couple of times during the 9th inning, and Jawn being Jawn, immediately jumped to point out that Shea juiced the radar gun more than Gary Sheffield.

But an 8 mph difference?

This just isn't right. I mean which is it? We at Shea are seeing 98. That's usually not hittable. 50,000 people are watching a closer that shouldn't be hit and yet Brandon Phillips (A recent acquisition to Dom De La Mash, my bottom half payroll fantasy team) was able to drive a fastball on 0-2 to CF.

Seriously, this speed gun is killing me. They can't do this. While I'll admit, having returned to Shea for the first time in 6 years to see a "Good" Mets team, there sure are a lot of "Yankee" Met fans who really sound dumb in the stands.

But still, Shea can't be juicing up their radar gun 8 mph just so fans feel like they are watching an $11 mil closer.

As you can see, that was really bothering me.

But not nearly as much as the breaking news out of New York City this morning...

THE US JUST SCORED...CLINT DEMPSEY!!! LETS GO!!!

Back to being pissed off.

The Knicks, the worst run-team in the history of sports. The only front office that could make Scott Layden look like Billy Beane just took it one more step.

They fired one of the NBA's top 5 coaches, Larry Brown, and announced that Isiah "The Dumbest Man in All of Sports" Thomas will be taking the bench.


THIS ISN'T RIGHT.

How can I have such lofty dreams of running a team one day when people like James Dolan and Isiah Thomas, two people dumber than Sippy Momo after a bottle of Jaeger and three shots to the junk, can run the Knicks, the biggest franchise in sports?

Over the course of the last two years Isiah the GM has made the Knicks the worst team in basketball.

GHANA SCORES ON BULLSHIT PENALTY KICK - FUCK!

But Isiah. HOLY SHIT, Isiah. Does anyone else see where the Knicks are at right now? Not only will they be the worst team in basketball again this year. But they will also be the worst team in basketball for probably the next three years.

The lineup will be exactly the same, TERRIBLE, thanks to Isiah's front office decisions.

But now, firing Brown. How could this be the move? I understand he didn't fit with the system. Of course he didn't fit with the system, it was a system of ABSOLUTE losers.

The reason he didn't fit, a coach that even Allan Iverson called "Pound for Pound, the greatest coach in the league," was because Isiah Thomas and James Dolan ran this team 6 feet under the ground.

It is not possible to do a worse job than the Knicks front office did. Yet they are staying and even getting promoted to the bench.

This is unreal.

So the Mets lost, Isiah is the head coach and the US is down 2-1. All these things suck.

But now it's time to turn things around.

The Mets have Pedro on the hill. He's been shaky lately but you never bet against him.

I'm a Warriors fan now anyways and actually hope the Knicks run themselves into the ground.

And hopefully, karma will carry the US back. Considering that they have been absolutely worked by the refs and with the Czechs down 1-0 at half and down a man, something's gotta give. It sure would be nice.

VCD,

SM

The X-Man and SM Cometh

Hey everyone, A Friend of Mr. Glass' here. It's an exciting day here at Y2K as your boy and mine Sippy Momo has flown in from the San Francisco office to make sure everything's under control here in New York.

Tonight, the Y2K team makes its triumphant return to Shea Stadium with, I'm sure, some of the worst seats in the house. If you're gonna be at the game and you want to wave to each other from across the stadium or something, give a call to the Glass or the SM.

Now granted, a midseason game against the Cincinnati Reds is only so exciting. But the truth is it'd be nice to put ourselves in position to take 3 of 4 against a plus-.500 team on our home turf.

Yesterday's win was fueled by the 2-homer performance of Xavier Nady, which stood on the shoulders of a 1st inning blast by Carlos Delgado.

Delgado clearly didn't read any Mets blogs yesterday. If he had read, say, Y2K, MetsGeek, Mike's Mets, or countless others, he'd have known that he wasn't supposed to be a good hitter at Shea Stadium. Thankfully, Delgado doesn't read the rantings and ravings of overenthusiastic Mets fans.

And thankfully, neither does Willie Randolph. If he had, he might have heard the rumblings eminating from the blogosphere that Nady didn't necessarily deserve the starter's spot when he returned from the DL.

I don't want to overstate the momentum generated by the blogosphere about making Milledge the starter, but there was some discussion. I certainly had numerous discussions with people who argued that trading the X-Man for another arm in the bullpen (if a starter couldn't be had) would be a good idea.

But Willie wasn't fazed, not by his team's 12-5 record with Nady, nor by the 8-game winning streak that propelled them.

"Nady's my rightfielder," Willie said, much to the dismay of some Mets fans who criticize Willie for his use of the personal possessive "my" rather than the collective possessive "our". (These Mets fans are also known to criticize Willie for the fact that the Mets don't have a bigger lead in the NL East right now, or a better record overall.)

Yesterday, Nady rewarded his manager's trust. I'm glad to have him back. Nady intrigues me as a player. The guy's never had 500 at-bats in a single season. Hell, he's never had 400.

But he puts up the kinds of numbers that make you wonder what he could do if he ever had the chance. This year he's averaging a home run every 15.36 times to the dish. Over 500 at-bats, that averages out to 32.55 home runs. I'm buying it out of our 7th hitter.

He's the kind of player in the field that only a mother could love, but his stick has been a fine addition to the Mets. The future belongs to Milledge, but next year is now, boys and girls, and I for one am glad that the X-Man looks like more than trade bait.

(Meanwhile, it's hard, if not impossible, to get a picture of Xavier Nady in a Mets uniform. Salt.)

I'm also glad that the back end of our rotation has been rounding into shape the past couple weeks. Check the lines on Alay Soler, Steve Trachsel, and El Duque their last three times out and they really don't look so bad.

As a matter of fact, Soler (22 IP, 2 ER) and El Duque (19 IP, 5 ER) have been terrific. Trachsel, well, he was better last night.

Anyway, that's all I got. Good looks tonight at Shea -- let's go for that series win.

- A.F.O.M.G.

DX and the Glass Man... Good Old Times

2000 was a great year.

It was the new millenium and Young Sip was finishing his senior year of high school.

That was the last year the Mets made the World Series. The best and worst time of my life.

That was also the year of WWF. For the Real Sip's senior project he put on a WWF skit in our school gym. I had the pleasure of playing the Road Dogg Jesse James of Degeneration X.


Man did I love DX. Who didn't love those famous two words: "Suck It."

It's been a long time since I watched the WWF. It's also been a long time since the Mets made it to the World Series.

So It had to be a sign when I was going to watch SportsCenter at 11 p.m. Monday evening and accidentally clicked on the end of the now WWE Raw.

Normally I would have changed the channel not knowing/caring about any of wrestling's storylines. Not this time.

There on the stage were Triple H, now of those catchy 'Man Law' Miller Light commercials, and The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. I didn't think it was possible. DX reunited.

It was 2000 all over again and everything felt like it was ok.

2000 was the year of DX, graduation, a new school and the 17th birthday of our good friend and resident Glass man, Mr. Glass.

Yesterday I jocked D-Wright deeming him the most valuable player on the Mets. I stand by this and for the 7th straight time after running a praise piece, the Y2K jinx came through and sent the Mets to a loss and D-Wright to an unexceptional night.

Wright is an All-Star this year and for many years to come. He has a partner in crime that will be with him at the midseason classic for a long time to come.

Mr. Glass.


We all see it when it happens. When this guy gets on base, look out. Unfortunately, for a long time this didn't really happen. Not so much anymore.

As usual, Glass has started the 2006 season leading baseball in SB and triples.

But what you may not notice is that Glass is also leading the entire MLB in Runs Scored. When this guy gets on base, watch out.

When he gets on, he usually scores...and the New Mets usually win.

The Mets are an incredible 30-10 when Glass scores a run... last night of course being one of those 10 in the L column.

Glass has scored 57 runs in the 108 times he has reached base (does not include FC's in which he was safe at first despite making an out.)

The math is easy. As his OBA rises, so do the Mets.

And Glass is starting to show signs in this dept. as well. Through 66 games, Reyes has a .338 OBA. This is leaps and bounds the most important stat on the team and also the team's most dramatic improvement. As Reyes goes, so do the Mets.

Reyes' OBA has climbed every season since 2004.

2004: .271
2005: .300
2006 .338

This is really Reyes' second full season and he is slowly learning how to hit. While last year he looked very ugly at the plate, this year he just looks a little ugly.

A little ugly translates into leading baseball in R, SB and 3B.

Now imagine the future. This kid is dominating baseball games from the leadoff spot unlike anyone in the game since Rickey Time. And yet, he is still a young and undisciplined baseball player.

Just imagine 2007 and 2008 when Glass gets more comfortable and that .338 becomes .358 and .368. His numbers coule be out of this world.


He could steal 75 bases and score 150 runs in a season.

I was talking to Kenny from Camp today about Glass and we both agreed. We agreed that outside of Ichiro, Reyes is the best leadoff man in baseball.

Reyes is one of very few people that can dominate a game. He may be the only Met that truly can.

Pujols can with his bat. Papi and Manny can as well.

Reyes can with his speed.

These are game alterers. In the same way pitchers have to pitch around those guys they have to change the way they pitch when Reyes is on base.

The guy is a freak.

Right now he is a freak .338% of the time and is an All-Star.

When the day comes that that number is 370% or 380% of the time, we may be looking at the first MVP out of the leadoff spot since Ichiro.

That's good company.

VCD,

SM

You may realize that I didn't even begin to discuss Glass' clubhouse presence. Let's just say he is the most enjoyable player to watch in the dugout of our entire lives. The guy's all about high-fiving, smiling, laughing, joking, and enjoying the game of baseball. He makes baseball fun. He is the Anti-Yankee. God bless him.

Post Game Thoughts: Reds 4, Mets 2

Hey everyone, just got back from the game tonight and wanted to throw some thoughts up. If you're only seeing this for the first time Tuesday morning, be advised that Sip will have something up later in the day so keep checking in for that.

1. The Mets have played better ball on the road than at Shea. Why? Well, it's got a little something to do with the Carloses.

Let me make two things clear at the outset: one, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado are not singularly responsible for the Mets' "woes" at home this year; two, the Mets are by no means a bad team at home, they just haven't done as well at Shea (20-14) as they have on the road (23-12).

If you look at Mets' home/road splits, there are a bunch of composite statistics that jump out.

As a team, the Mets have hit .244 at home with a .742 OPS vs. .284 with a .818 OPS on the road. Makes sense, you say, Shea's a pitcher's park, other stadiums are more forgiving. Ahh, but that brings us to team statistic no. 2.

As a team, the Mets have an ERA of 4.03 at spacious Shea vs. an ERA of 3.65 on the road.

The point is that the Mets are a better hitting team and a better pitching team away from Shea, and that naturally goes a long way towards explaining why the Mets are 11 games over .500 on the road and only 6 games over at Shea.

But if you look at the hitting numbers of the players on the team, you can't help but notice that C-Bel and C-Del have hardly been the same players in Flushing as they have been elsewhere.

To wit, here's how the two have hit on the road.

- Beltran (109 AB): .358 avg., 10 HR, 36 RBI, 1.189 OPS

- Delgado (131 AB): .321 avg., 11 HR, 29 RBI, 1.010 OPS

Now compare that to how they've done at Shea:

- Beltran (108 AB): .213 avg., 8 HR, 17 RBI, .830 OPS

- Delgado (125 AB): .216 avg., 8HR, 21 RBI, .766 OPS

The numbers speak for themselves. On the road, the heart of our order is fearsome; at home, the heart of our order is on life support. If you were wondering why the Mets have a better record on the road, that's got a lot to do with it.

2. Construction on the new stadium is in its nascent stages.

This is really exciting to see. As me and the Hound were saying as we walked past the construction site, we agreed that in spite of everything we'd read, there was a part of us that hadn't quite believed that the stadium was actually going to be built.

Well, seeing is believing, and even if it's just a few cranes and a lot of cinder blocks, it's plain that something is happening in the Shea parking lot, and it sure as hell isn't doing anyone looking for a parking space any favors.

In spite of the inconvenience, it's pretty exciting stuff.

3. If no one is laughing at your cat calls, pipe down.

I had the distinct displeasure of sitting near two of the single most annoying fans I've ever encountered last night. Every pitch solicited a loud, obnoxious response from these two.

Now look, if you're chattering away and the crowd is eating it up, more power to you; I appreciate a clever jeerer as much as the next guy.

But if you don't get a single laugh all game, and if you drive a high percentage of the other people sitting around you to other seats, it's time to be quiet. Sometimes less is more.

4. The Shea Stadium dugout shops on the Field Level are really a mixed bag.

Items they did not have: orange Jose Reyes, David Wright, or Pedro Martinez t-shirts in a size fitting A Friend of Mrs. Glass'; umbrellas for fans seeking one in the event of rain. Both seem like no-brainers.

What they did have were an awesome 1986 World Series hat (which I now call my own and intend to wear to the Mets/Red Sox series at Fenway next week, at the risk of getting my ass kicked), and a series of sassy t-shirts.

Among the sassy t-shirts were ones that read "Your girlfriend likes my team" with a Mets logo beneath (was tempted to buy, held off), and another that read "Dynasties and Empires Fall... Long Live the Mets", which may become mandatory wearing for all Y2K readers in good time.

In any event, some good items are to be found, but there are a number of puzzling absences. Go figure.

Speaking of sometimes less is more, this has gone on longer than I intended. Last thought: You can't win 'em all, but with this club we've got here, sometimes you get to feeling like you could. See you all tomorrow.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Not Just the Best 3B in the Game, The Best Player in New York

(Note: The post below contains a vaguely NSFW photo. Be sure to scroll down tentatively if your boss is standing behind you.)

The best 3b in New York doesn't make $25,680,727. In fact, it would take the position's best nearly 70 years at his current salary to make that much money.

That monstrous salary belongs to the Bankees' second most hatable player, Alex Rodriguez.

David Wright will earn $374,000 this year. A-Rod makes that in about 2.5 games.


Messed up? Don't worry, D Wright will do well for himself when it is all done. I just thought those were some pretty cool numbers.

But over the first 1/3 of the season David Wright has truly emerged. He has become something that we all hoped he would become but in the back of our minds feared may never happen.

Not only is David Wright the best 3B in this city, he is also the city's best player.

Through Sunday, Wright is hitting .336, 15HR, 55RBI, 10SB, 44R.

That puts him on pace for, .336, 36HR, 132RBI, 24SB, 106R.

Those numbers could go up there with the best that I have seen in the 24 years of my life. I mean, holy shit.

But there is more to D Wright than these numbers. Like Derek Jeter, D Wright has managed to differentiate himself, emerging as the star on a team of stars.

What is most impressive, is that there does not appear to be a member of the Mets that has a problem with this.

This kid is truly special.

Sunday's game was by no mean's a must-win. Sure, it would have killed me to be swept by Schubie's Orioles. And yes, no one wants to be swept at home by any team let alone a sub-.500 one.

But we didn't NEED this one. A loss today wouldn't have put us in panic mode. Instead, we would have entered "fuck" mode.

So that all said, a win sure was nice. Through the first four innings, things weren't looking good. As Baltimore pitchers had done all series, Adam Loewen had quieted our bats.

We were only down a run, but things weren't looking good.

So of course D Wright came through.

With the bases juiced and two down in the 5th, D Wright took a 0-0 Lindsay Lohan fastball and drove it out of Shea in a hurry. Our leader had led us. Our star was the star.


The Mets went on to win Sunday's game thanks to yet another stellar performance out of Chad Bradford in relief and a 5-run 8th inning.

But this game changed when our $374,000 kid went yard. Earlier in the year I used to talk to Nails about how we feared D-Wright in these situations. No longer.

Slowly, this kid is erasing all holes from his game.

After an inconsistent first month in the field, Wright has gone 26 games without an error at 3B. He has stolen bases consistently and watched his batting average continue to rise. He has become the guy we want up there in the clutch, winning a number of games for the New Mets with his final swing.

And when you think about it, it all makes sense. After years of waiting for one of our guys to emerge -- the Gregg Jeffries', the Jay Paytons, The Untouchables (Izzy, Pulse, Wilson), Alex Ochoa, Alex Escobar etc. etc. etc. -- finally one has truly blossomed.

A kid that started with us, and made his way through the organization has arrived at Shea. A kid that we didn't get our hands on because of financial advantage, but because one of our top performers (Mike Hampton) left us high and dry via free agency.


A kid with all the hype in the world has met his hype and then some. And we are no longer the Old Mets.

The best player in New York plays at Shea. At this point, especially with Pujols out, I don't see why this kid isn't the league's MVP.

Most importantly, the Mets are winning and they are following one player. It's not Beltran, Pedro, Glavine or Delgado. It's D Wright.

The face of our franchise and our leader.

I'll take it.

VCD,

SM

Old Mets: Not So Fast...

So the New Mets, those guys that seem to win a lot have lost a couple in a row. No worries.

The Braves keep losing. As do the Phillies.

Good teams are going to lose. This isn't football. This isn't basketball. Heck, this ain't a movie, dog.

The most important thing is that we are losing to the right team.

See, I have lived a pretty solid life. I have a great family, headed by Sippy Sr. who just mashes goodness. I have great friends. And I have my health. Considering that I have spent much of the past few weeks watching HBO's Band of Brothers, a must see by the way, that is a good thing.

But back to good friends.

Most of my friends are Mets fans. It always kind of worked out that way. But one of my roll dogs at the top of the list never went the way of Shea. Or so I thought.

OBF Schubes is an Oriole.

My best friend from my summer camp is a Baltimore legend. Not because of his lax skills (salt). Not because of his gigantic balls (no homo).

J Schubes is just a legend cause people love the kid.

The kid also happens to be a die hard Baltimore fan, and for that, god bless him. Talk about a city that couldn't be less of a rival. It's Baltimore. Charm City USA. The city that reads. Crab Cakes and Football Town.

So because of that, B-more has always had a big place in my heart.

So here we go. We have lost two to the New O's. A team that sits in the same division as the Banks and Sox knowing every season that they don't have much of a shot.

But still there is J Schubes.

The kid has the league pass.

The kid watches every inning of every O's game.

Not cause they are going to make the playoffs. Not cause they are going to win the world series.

But because he is a good kid. He is a REAL FAN. He supports his team every day for the god given day where his team might come over the top. When his team might overcome a bigger obtacle than even we, fans of the new Mets, have overcome. He prays for the day we he can overcome the Banks and the Sox.

In a sport built for those two teams to compete and win every year, it is hard to be an O's fan.

But there he is. OBF Schubes.

Just like the rest of my role dogs, Papa Chip and AFOMG among others, this kid is all class. And I truly respect his plight.

So if we are going to lose to someone, better it be the New O's than any other team. Cause with OBF Schubes I can sit there and talk about Byrnesy. I can sit there and talk about how the O's fleeced us in the Mora-for-Bordick trade. I can sit there and talk about most things.

And, still all is good. A good friend who roots for a team that I can understand.

VCD,

SM

This Can't Be Life

So you know what the worst part of my week was? The worst part of my week came on the season premier of Entourage last Sunday, when Turtle could be seen wearing a “Welcome to New York, Johnny” Yankees t-shirt.

It was a ton of salt on so many levels. I mean, what’s with the guys on this show? They’re four local boys from Queens who grew up to be Yankees fans in spite of the fact that the team in their own backyard was dominant in their formative years. How did that work out exactly?

There are so many incredible things about Entourage that a little detail like that shouldn’t bother me so much, but it does, and seeing Turtle in a t-shirt welcoming Johnny the Traitor to New York almost made me sick.

Luckily, all I had to do was turn on some Mets baseball to make me feel a hell of a lot better about myself.

I mean, what a week. It seemed like every day was better than the last. I can say with complete confidence that I can’t remember another week quite like this in all my many years of being a Mets fan.

Yes, we had some spectacular runs with the playoff teams in 1999 and 2000, and then again with the 9/11 Mets of 2001 when they won like 22 of 27 games or whatever it was.

But it was different then. The Mets weren’t in first place. No matter how well we did, we were always playing second fiddle. To the Yankees on the back pages, but to the Braves, always to the Braves, in the one place where it really counted.

But it’s different now. The Mets win games now and there’s almost no need to check the scoreboard (though of course I do) to worry about how someone else is doing (with the definite exception of the Detroit Tigers, of all teams, with whom we're competing for the best record in baseball).

So it's a special time. With the Mets 19 games over .500 and the owners of a 9.5 game lead in the division, fans like us are experiencing something for the very first time (at least those of us who can’t remember 1986 beyond the memories superimposed by the ‘86 Mets tape).

I can honestly say that nothing in an entire lifetime spent devoted to the Mets has prepared me for the kind of ball we’re playing right now.

It’s the kind of dominating, inspiring baseball that you can only dream about during the hot stove season.

The thrill of wearing a Mets t-shirt around town at a time like this and being serenaded with cheers of “let’s got Mets” every other block is the stuff I used to dream about, but now it’s actually happening.

I probably checked ESPN just to look at the MLB standings page 20 times yesterday. I’ll probably check the ESPN Power Rankings another 20 times today.

It’s true I’ve also done some things I’m not proud of. I’ve made the rounds at various Phillies blogs to see the kind of hysteria that’s seeping into their discussions.

(So far, the best post I’ve seen is the following, posted at Beerleaguer by “Book” at 2.56 p.m. yesterday:

“I don't care about being tactful...the Phillies suck!!! Now 33-33...but that looks better then they actually are, because they suck! Did you get my drift...SUCK!!!”)

I think it’s possible that the reason I’ve become such a devotee of opposing teams’ sites is that there’s a part of me that feels almost incomplete without the suffering.

I mean, it’s really all us Mets fans know, isn’t it?

I can’t tell you how many e-mails I’ve seen recently or how many conversations I’ve had with people where the words “what in the hell is going on here?” are uttered.

Seasons like this aren’t supposed to happen to the Mets. It’s never supposed to be this easy. You’re never supposed to have total confidence in your team, you’re never supposed to enter every single game thinking there’s no reason you shouldn’t win.

But that’s the feeling this year. We could be staring down three at Turner Field or three in the Bronx and I’d tell you I thought we were gonna win. And I'll bet you would, too.

In spite of what he says sometimes, I know Sip does on some level. As he said so perfectly last Saturday: “For the first time in years, I don't feel like a Met fan. I don't see a dark end in sight.”

Now that we're 5 wins removed from last Saturday morning, does anyone out there feel differently? Does anyone out there really see things ending before October?

I just don’t think that’s possible right now. Right now I’m in completely uncharted territory in my life as a Mets fan. Right now I think anything’s possible.

I’m sorry if my posts this week have been a little scattershot, but understand that I can hardly wrap my mind around what I’ve been seeing. With any luck this will all start to seem normal eventually, maybe in a month or so.

For now though I just want to enjoy this strange, unprecedented period in my life as a fan. Right now, there is no dark end in sight.

It’s pretty fucking sweet.

And to top it all off, it's Friday. Enjoy your weekends everyone. There will almost definitely be an update or two this weekend, so be sure to keep checking in with Y2K over the weekend.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Time to Pay Credit to 20-25

So what the fuck?

Who is this team?

This can't be the Mets. They just keep on winning. And winning. And winning.

Throughout the season the regulars have gotten their praise. Y2K readers know how much we all jock D-Wright, Uncle and Mr. Glass. Pedro and Glavine have received plenty of adulation.

I haven't shut up about how much I love our big three in the Pen, the key to this team, this season, and shot at a succesful October.

Beltran, Delgado, Lo Duca; we've jocked them too.

And then of late, we have dick ate Lastings and our 4-5 guys El Duque and Soler.

We have jocked these guys. All of a sudden they are the cover story on Wednesday night's SportsCenter.

41-23 and the best winning percentage in baseball.

Today, we are going to forget about all that.

Thursday we are going to praise the rest. This isn't your typical rest.

The rest of the Mets team -- the back of our pen and our bench -- has been unbelievable all season.

Between Worndownboyboy and Kenny from Camp praising Endy and Chad Bradford, respectively, a column was deserved.

First, there is the bench.

Cliff Floyd, Beltran, Nady and then-starter Kaz (5-0 since he was traded) Matsui have all missed significant time this season. That's our entire opening day outfield missing at least 10 games.

Bring in Endy Chavez.


When we brought this guy into the fold over the offseason I wasn't exactly sold. This guy has spent more time sucking in the NL East (stints in Philly and Washington) than Kaz Matsui. In the first month of the season he was horrible, and then something happened.

This guy became, well, a New Met.

After hitting .255 in April he has since hit .321 and played outstanding defense in all three outfield positions. He is everything that you can ask for in a 4th outfielder. Defense, speed and what looks like a very capable bat.

The rest of the bench has also been outstanding.

Ramon Castro has a .351 OBP and has been outstanding behind the plate.

Chris Woodward is hitting .295 and continues to play multiple positions.

Julio Franco has come in and done exactly what we would have hoped (.333 BA, .378 OBP).


Then there is Jose Valentin who has emerged as a starter despite slumping for pretty much all of April (.136 BA). He has hit .309 with 21 RBI since May 1, and after being named a starter a few weeks back, the Mets look like an absolutely dominant team.

Then there are the guys at the back of the pen.

Thru much of the first 6 weeks of the season it looked like the bullpen was 3 deep (Heilman, Sanchez, Wagner).

No more.

Darren Oliver is a lefty reincarnation of 2000 Pat Mahomes. Could you ask for a better long man in the pen? He is now 3-0, 2.86 ERA and most important, he has been consistent. There have been no blowups out of this guy. He hasn't given up more that 2 runs in any game this season.

Then there is Chad Bradford and Pedro Feliciano, our righty and lefty specialists.

These guys have been great. Fact is, we are spoiled. In a regular pen these guys could be the regular guys called on to pitch the 7th and 8th innings.

In 27 games, Bradford has gone 21.2 innings and posted a 3.32 ERA. While these numbers are great, they don't begin to give this guy enough credit. How huge was the 5th inning of Glavine's start on Tuesday? Bradford came in with 2 men on and 1 out and he got out of it. He kept the Mets in the game that turned into a momentum building night for us. The guy has been huge.


Then there is Feliciano. This guy has quietly posted a team leading 1.50 era in 24 innings. While he is by no means imposing, he has been getting it done. Is he a premier lefty setup man? Probably not. But as Happy Will points out, middle relievers are year-in, year-out performers, and maybe 2006 is the year for Feliciano to be dominant.

You can see Willie getting more confident with these two guys. All of a sudden a win doesn't need to include Heilman-Sanchez and Wagner.

If we can save our two big middle guys by using Bradford and Feliciano for a late inning that could pay huge dividends in September and October. Keep these guys fresh and this team could dominate when it counts.

So far dominate is all they have done.

Our stars have played like stars and gotten plenty of credit for it.

But it has been the rest of the boys, the bench and the back of the pen (love for Heath Bell too, he is friends with my cousin) that have really maintained this well-oiled machine.

1-25 this team is pretty damn solid. The lineup is dominating. The rotation looks great and our big guys in the pen have been special.

But it is the guys in the back that have gone somewhat unnoticed and deserve a little something more.

New lineup. New bench. New Mets.

VCD,

SM

Post Game Thoughts: Mets 9, Phillies 3

Hey everyone, A Friend of Mr. Glass' here. Sip will be at you with a full update tomorrow, but in the meantime I wanted to pass along a thought or two about the Mets' 9-3 win over the Phillies tonight.

Earlier today I wrote about the uncomfortable feeling of confidence that you, me, and every other Mets fan out there is experiencing.

How confident am I in this Mets team? Tonight, when the game was halted in the 4th inning with the Mets up 7-2, I wasn't devastated. If the game had been called, I wouldn't have been distraught.

No, the feeling that predominated in my mind over the course of that hour-long rain delay was that if the game had been called, oh well, we would get them tomorrow.

It speaks volumes about this team and how it's playing right now. If the 7-2 lead against our nearest divisional opponent had been washed away, I'd have been every bit as confident going into the game tomorrow.

It makes me think of an exchange between Howie Rose and Keith Hernandez late in the game. Around the 8th inning or so, Howie mentioned how important it was for Mets fans to just enjoy this run we're on right now. To just soak it all in and enjoy the ride. He's right -- you've gotta enjoy runs like this because they don't happen every month. Hell, they don't happen every season.

But as good as Howie's point was, I appreciated Keith's even more. Immediately after Howie finished his point, Keith said that if he were a Mets fan, he would be excited about what's happened the past week, but more than that he would be excited about where the club is gonna go from here.

Not worried that we're living on borrowed time. Not concerned about when we finally come back down to earth. Excited. Excited about what the season holds.

I'm excited.

I'm excited for next week. I'm excited for next month. And I'm excited for our next game -- let's go for the sweep. Let's GO!!!!!!

(And just for the record, I'll take it that the game tonight wasn't rained out. 8.5 up. 18 games over .500. Best winning percentage in baseball. What else can you ask for after 2.5 months?)

- A.F.O.M.G.

That Unknown Sensation You've Been Feeling? Maybe It's Confidence

A few weeks back I wrote that I don't derive any kind of schadenfreudistic pleasure in reading about the misery of other teams' fans.

I think I should revise that. I've gotta admit something here: my new guilty pleasure is reading the Atlanta Journal Constitution (Link: http://www.ajc.com).

After suffering so long with the Mets, I wanted to take the high road on matters of this nature. I didn't want to admit to myself how good it feels to get a little retribution on the Braves for all those years of torment.

But I can't lie to myself any longer. The truth is, I derive actual pleasure by reading quotes from John Smoltz saying "there's not much to be confident about", or seeing headlines that reference how this team is now worse off in the standings than any Braves team in X amount of years (today, the number is up to 16). And don't even get me started on the comments these articles (really, the losses the Braves keep piling up) provoke.

This is all going to sound spiteful, but I love reading about the Braves' struggles, about the misery inflicted upon their fans. As far as I'm concerned, Braves fans deserve that misery. They deserve it because every fan needs to know what it is to suffer. They deserve it because they take success for granted.

But not Mets fans. We don't take any of this for granted. Indeed, a lot of us are probably waiting for the other shoe to drop.

We look at Aaron Heilman's struggles the past couple weeks, or at the gopher balls Glavine has allowed his last two times out, or at the gopher balls Pedro has allowed all season, and tell ourselves that things can't possibly be this good.

And the truth is things won't always be this good. As Bobby Valentine was quick to say, no team is as good as it looks when it's winning all the time, and no team is as bad as it looks when it's losing all time (note: this might not be true in the case of the Kansis City Royals).

But while I can acknowledge that we won't win out our schedule, and while I can acknowledge that at some point the bats are gonna fall cold and the team may have a disappointing week, I will admit to feeling a bizarre (and hitherto completely alien) sense of confidence about the Mets.
It's the same point I was making on the comment board yesterday. It just looks to me like this Mets team has too many weapons to fall into a prolonged slide.

Last night's game is a great example. Yeah, we used the long ball a little bit, but just as important were the exploits of Mr. Glass as he led off the game with a bunt base hit, stole second, and scored on a single by the Duke.

And there he was again in the 6th inning, scoring from second on a ground ball to third. Sure, there was an error mixed in there, but can you think of another player in baseball (with the possible exception of Dae Sung Koo) who would have scored on that play?

Reyes is a microchosm of the entire team. If it's not him, it's the lethal middle of the order. Or it's Chad Bradford coming into the game and turning momentum back in our direction. Or it's David Wright's nifty glovework at third (so much for having no faith in his glove in the 9th inning).

It's all about finding ways to win. It's about teammates picking each other up. Bradford picked up Glavine. Wagner picked up Heilman. Wright picked up Wagner. Add it all up and the Mets won again.

Now look, I may look back at this post a week from now the way I look back at the "Moon Men Walking" piece I wrote one week ago today. Things can change so quickly in baseball.

But there are some things I don't expect to change. For the first time in my memory as a Mets fan, I don't expect the Mets to fail, and I don't expect that to change.

They've just got too many pieces, too many ways to hurt you. That explains why they've never lost 3 games in a row all season, or why they've got the best record in the National League.

When the Mets fall behind, I think they're still in it. And I think you probably do too.

It's a strange time to be a Mets fan, but it's nice having actual, legitimate confidence in your team.

And I won't lie, it's also kind of nice knowing how much it all bothers Braves fans.

It's been a nice, fun ride to this point. Seventeen games over .500, 7.5 games up on the Phils. We just need to keep it up.

After watching this team through 63 games, I fully expect we will.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Hole in the Throat Guy: Not Just Scaring the Shit Out of Mets Fans

Hey everyone, we'll have something more substantial up for you about the game last night, but in the meantime I wanted to share some thoughts on an article I saw in the Daily News this morning.

The article is about Ronaldo Martinez, a name you probably don't know that belongs to a man you can instantly recognize. You see, Martinez is the subject of those depressing anti-smoking ads featuring the man with the hole in his throat thanks to years and years of smoking and the after-effects of cancer.

It's important to mention that I've never had a cigarette in my life, but like the rest of you out there, smokers and non-smokers alike, I have two competing responses to the ads featuring the hole-in-the-throat guy.

On the one hand I think it's brilliant advertising. If I were a smoker, I'd be scared shitless. Hell, even as a non-smoker I'm scared shitless.

But on the other hand, I'm also somewhat repulsed by the commercials. I mean, there's only so many times I can stomach seeing that hole displayed prominently on the 54-inch screen me and my roomies have in the common room.

It's gotten to the point where whenever I hear Martinez's robotic monotone coming through my speakers (audible before the picture comes up), I instantly change channels. I just can't handle it anymore.

The good news for those monitoring our city's public health is that a sizeable amount of poeple share the first response I had to the ads; that is, they're scared shitless.

"These ads began in early 2006. Within the next several months, [the city Health Department] received nearly 15,000 calls for quit-smoking services - more than triple the amount received in the same time period in 2005," said Sarah Perl, the Health Department's assistant commissioner for tobacco control.

And that's a good thing. I mean, it's a shame that somebody's personal tragedy has to be broadcast to millions of people, but if it's going to compel people to quit then I'm all for that. So Ronaldo Martinez, huzzah!

If you'd like to read the article in its entirety, click the headline above.

- A.F.O.M.G.

There Are Mets Fans, and There Are Mets Fans

So I was reading Marty Noble's mailbag on Mets.com on Monday.

(http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060612&content_id=1501658&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym)

There is only word for it... painful.

Aside from an insightful comment praising Steve Phillips for acquiring Wright and Heilman through the draft and Reyes via free agency, some of the questions were outright painful.

There was the one that hinted at a possible Mark Mulder for Cliff Floyd swap. This one doesn't make sense on about 1000 levels.

1. Why would the Cardinals trade Mulder when they need him for the postseason?
2. Would they really trade him to another team in the NL playoff race?
3. Would they really trade him for a 33-year-old injured outfielder instead of prospects?

Yeah, I would make this deal and Mulder isn't even that good anymore. Also, he is apparently a huge asshole accoriding to some of my rejectors from the Oakland A's, but that is besides the point.

Would I trade a hot Valentin and Xavier Nady to the Cards for Pujols? Yeah, but they wouldn't.

Then there was the guy asking about the new stadium's capacity. He was worried that the New Shea would be too small like Fenway and not be able to seat the 27,000 Met fans that went to games before this season.

I don't mean to hate here, instead to make a point about the readers of this site and us all as Met fans.

First, you guys. To read this site everyday says something about your baseball acumen. Yes, I take pride in this site, but there are plenty of others like it on the web.

To come here and read us every day implies a curiosity in you guys as readers. You want to learn more about the Mets, even if it is from some schlub 24 year old who never got higher than a B in English writing it for you guys.

But more importantly, I have seen a lot of the dumb Met fan in us all of late, myself included.

This is the Mets fan that is forgetting that this team still is the Mets. We are forgetting that the Mets don't make the postseason and they can never hold off the Braves.

As we enter this week's crucial series against the Phillies, who with a sweep are right back in it, we need to remember one thing.

There are still 100 games ahead of us.

The Braves need to make up one game for every 10 we play to catch us.

So please enjoy what is going down. But don't take it for granted. This team is a playoff team the day there is a shiny asterix next to their name in the New York Post.

Until that day comes, the Braves are the playoff team in the National League East.

I am nervous of a letdown, but again, I almost crave one. About a month ago when the Mets lost a few games, Happy Will and co. were screaming for Heilman to start (among other prescribed changes) only to then see the Mets again turn it around.

Baseball is a game of swings. Right now we are coming off one of the brighter ones in a long time. But there will be another side to it at some point.

We all need to realize that. Just like the Mets aren't going to get Johan Santana for Alay Soler.

Plenty of time to blow this.

Old Mets? At least for a little while longer.

Proud to depress.

VCD,

SM

This Ain't a Movie, Dog

I swear I've seen this before.

Big free agent signee gets shipped off.

Spectacular rookie comes out of no where to star in the outfield and show some potent stick as well.

And a team really starts to go.

New Mets? Well, sure.

The team I'm referring to, however. is the 1994 Indians from the hit sequel Major League II.


The 1-2 punch of dumping Jack Parkman, the man who made the women in Cleveland sick, an acquiring Kamakazi Tanaka, provided the spark that really pushed that team to the next level. And a spot in the World Series.

The New Mets dumped a big time free agent on Friday, Kaz Matsui, and are since 3-0. After Sunday's game and a long talk with my pal Nails, I did some research.

17-14: Games that Kaz started.
22-9: Games that he didn't start.

Out with the Old Mets and in with the new. Kaz was a loser. With him we were a .500 team.

With Lastings Milledge in the lineup, the Mets are now 8-4.


In 12 games the guy has 3 doubles, 2 triples and 2 dongs mashed. Next thing we will see is him climbing to the top of the left field fence at shea to make the catch that brings us to the postseason.

But now it's time to look at the bigger picture.

We should all take a minute to think about this one. Holy fuck. The Mets are 39-23, the best team in the NL and maybe all of baseball. I repeat: these are the Mets we're talking about, and they are really, really good.

In 4 games in Arizona this weekend the Mets made a good team look really bad. They played the best series maybe in the history of the franchise.

They outscored the D'bags 37-9 in the 4 games, got 2 complete games from their 4-5 starters, and got about 30 RBI out of the middle of the lineup.

There are two things, though, that come out of this unbelievable weekend that are of the greatest significance.

First, Carlos Beltran. Nails requested that I give this guy some love so here it is.


For the last couple of weeks Beltran '06 has looked like postseason Beltran '04. This guy is going unlike anything we've seen from him before. He is crushing the ball, stealing bases and playing a great center field. He is showing 5 outstanding tools. You might say that as he has gone, so have the Mets.

Two, we got to save our bullpen. With 3 outstanding starts out of Soler, Hernandez and Pedro, the Mets used Wagner, Heilman and Sanchez for a combined 4 innings this weekend. We need to save these guys. We need our starters to pitch a lot of innings. This was huge.

So 39-23. Unreal. I am definitely in shock. So are all of my friends that I talk to on a regular basis.

And of course then there is the team from the other side of town.

This weekend, the Old Bankees got served by the Oakland A's to the tune of a 3-game sweep. Maybe it was the Danny Haren t-shirt I picked up at the A's game that was creating this solid karma.

Or maybe it was something else.

That is, the $160 million dollar Yankees just aren't that good. Without Sheffield and Matsui (hence the more modest payroll), the Yankees lineup is Yankee worthy 1-4(an overpaid All Star Team) and rather pedestrian 5-9 (a bunch of kids and Jeter's ass buddy catcher who has a worse arm than Johnny Damon.)


Then there is the rotation. Mussina looked great for the first 2 months of the season but has since looked shitty.

Randy Johnson, fresh off 37 stabbings of my RJ voodoo doll, looks a lot more like Mark Hendrickson than an ace.

Chacon sucks. Wright sucks. And Ching Ding Aling is the most overrated pitcher in baseball.

Then there's the pen. Small Town Kyle Farnsworth continues to choke in big situations. Basically there is Rivera and Mike Myers to get out one lefty.

When you combine all of this with the fact that Joe Torre is a terrible manager (Fastest to 1000 losses, hasn't won a World Series despite having basically every best player in baseball in 6 years) and we may really have something here.

I find myself rooting more and more for the Blue Jays who look really solid. If they can get anything out of TJ (Tommy John) Burnett then it would definitely be time to watch out.

There is nothing in the world that would bring me greater pleasure than for the Yankees to not make the playoffs.

Imagine 90% of Yankee fans not watching a single game all season. October would come around, they would turn on Fox but their beloved Banks just weren't there.

I guess we can't be greedy. As you all have seen, this site has leaned towards loving our Mets instead of hating those fucks from the bronx. I guess that has to do with us being 39-23.

39-23.

I'm glad Monday is an off day. I need a breather.

VCD,

SM

And 2 side notes.

1. How awesome are D Wright and Cliffy? Whenever they showed the Mets dugout there they were, laughing and just being really cool. Seriously, is there a cooler duo in baseball? Avon Barksdale and Ricky Fitts. They're cooler than Affleck and Damon in Good Will Hunting pre-Affleck turning into a DB. It kind of reminds me of Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan in the Ocean's 11 movies. Just two really cool cats.

2. A big thanks to my mom. She got the New York Post from the day after the Yankees lost to the Sox in 2004 (Yep, I saved it) framed for me, the front and backpages. The back page has a shot of Jeter slouched down with a big caption that reads "Choke." The front page features "True Yankee" Kevin Brown being a $15 million loser. This will go right next to my Mookie/Buckner autographed photo and my plaque of Nolan Ryan punching Rockin' Robin as one of my three favorite pieces of Sports Memorabilia. Let's just say, I'm really proud of this one. Thanks again, Mom's.

1-0 Post Kaz

Karma sure is a motherfucker.

Beltran goes dong twice.

Delgado goes dong twice.

And then there is D Wright who is quietly hitting near .340.

There is one thing in baseball that I find more important than most: cheap stats. A lot of people talk derisively about players "padding" their stats with bullshit home runs and what not, but for me, the name of the game is confidence, and all production helps.

Enter Shitty Steve Trachsel. Shitty got a win last night despite pitching, well, shitty. That is huge. There is nothing more important hitting a baseball field than confidence.


I know. I played NYC private school high school baseball.

But for whatever reason these Mets have woken up. Maybe it was AFOMG's frustruated tirade on Wednesday. Maybe it was Willie not getting his fix of fresh toasted sub.

Or maybe, just like me, this team sees something in our new kid, OBF Lastings.

It's an awesome feeling. I'm still in have-to-see-every-single-at-bat-even-if-there-are-2-outs-and-no-on-mode with this kid.

Either way, these New Mets are arguably playing the best baseball of my lifetime. We are a half game out of the best record in baseball and dominating a very tough team on the road.

We need to take a moment to pay a little respect to Carlos Beltran. It is unfortunate that this is New York and he is playing with such a huge contract, putting expectation at an MVP level, but right now, the dude is really playing like an MVP.


Despite missing a couple of weeks, the guy is right up there in a ton of offensive categories. Call it health, or being more loose.

I think all the credit goes to Carlos Delgado.

For the same reasons that teams were walking Delgado to get to D Wright is why Beltran is getting these pitches. Delgado is a flat out intimidator.

I guess I never really realized his imapct when he was hidden in shitty Blue Jays lineups.

But now, after the fact, I think about Shawn Green killing the ball hitting in front of Delgado and getting his huge contract.

I think about Vernon Wells hitting in front of Delgado in '04 and having a career year only then to slip dramatically in '05 after Delgado's departure.

We really have something here. When Beltran was in a groove hitting 2 in Houston in front of Berkman in '04 we saw what could happen.

All of a sudden Beltran-Delgado-Wright is just scary.

I have the pleasure of getting to watch a lot of games with the other team's broadcasts. The D-backs broadcasting team, led by one of baseball's best, Thom Brennamen, were just jocking the shit out of our middle of the order.

Who knows what will happen next. For the first time in years, I don't feel like a Met fan. I don't see a dark end in sight.

VCD,

SM

RIP Kaz

(Note: Solid Post by AFOMG including prep school sonning of Joey Annonymus in the comment section)

The Kaz Matsui era at Shea Stadium is no more. The experiment has ended.

End result: D-

Not since my memorable 31.5 on my 7th grade biology final exam has there been a failure like Kaz Matsui.

Kaz came to the Mets filled with humungous expectations. There was Ichiro and Hideki Matsui. Then there was Kaz. He was Mr. ESPNext in the winter of 2003. We beat out the Mariners, Dodgers and many others for his services.

We were so sure about this guy that we were willing to move Jose Reyes, our dream prospect, to another postion.


After 1 at bat we knew why. Big Kaz led off his Met career with an opening day ding dong in Atlanta against the hated Braves. Kaz went 3-for-3 in that game with 2 walks, 2 doubles, 3 RBI and 1 season-opening dinger.

We had found our guy. The Japan Man who had mashed 37 round trippers the season before. He and Reyes at the top of the lineup and all of a sudden we were Willie Mays Hayes and Jake Taylor.


Unfortunately, that game was one of 4 highlights in Kaz's Muts career.

Two of the other three were his opening days in 2005 and 2006. Let's just say that this guy is the best opening day hitter probably of all time.

The 4th highlight: His tremendous warmup music that has graced our ears at Shea for 3 shining years. Kaz may be gone but this song will play in our ears the rest of our lives when we think of old number two-five.

Then there is the rest.

Two years and change and we didn't get a whole lot. This guy wasn't clutch. He couldn't hit. He couldn't field. And I'm pretty sure that I never heard the guy speak.

So good riddance.

The Mets dumped Kaz to the Rockies for Eli Marrero. We ate pretty much his entire contract, basically giving Kaz away.

So be it.

Truth is, I kind of liked Kaz. Just like Steve Trachsel, Kaz is a Met. He should be good but never is/was/ever will be.

But these are the New Mets. The 13 games over .500 Mets, the first place Mets. I'm pretty sure they are 13 games over .500 in non-Kaz starts and .500 when he does start.

There is no room on this team for likable losers. Kaz is the old Mets.

And so the man goes. Off to Corrs field where he will crush bombs into the high altitude and go to town on the vast Asian population of Denver, Colorado.

He may be gone, but I'm kind of gonna miss him.

Let's get 2 of 3.

VCD,

SM

Feeling Good? Feeling Great!

Thirteen over. At long last. After my bitching about the Mets' inability to get over the 12-game hump on Wednesday, our boys responded with a dominating win over the Diamonbacks in Arizona to move 13 games over for the first time all year.

Thirteen games over for the first time in 6 years, actually, but hey, who's counting?

So I'm feeling a hell of a lot better than I was on Wednesday. I'm not going to claim temporary insanity or anything, but the situation has changed dramatically in the 48 hours since my Wednesday polemic.

What exactly has changed? Here's a brief list:

1. The Braves are now 3 games under .500 and 8 games out of first place.

One of the frustrations articulated on Wednesday was our inability to run away with the division, to bury rivals like Atlanta and Philadelphia who have played mediocre baseball for the first two and a half months of the season.

Neither team is buried per se, but Atlanta is coming close and I'm not aware of any reason why they should improve dramatically enough to make a real run at the division (other than the fact that they're the Braves and winning the division is what they do).

After several years of watching middling Mets teams trick us into thinking they were contenders actual in June or July, here's the way I look at it.

I used to say, hey, the Mets are 5 games out, that's not so much, we can overcome that! And that's true. A 5-game lead in the division is certainly surpassable.

The issue, however, that I only came to appreciate a year or two ago is that there is a bigger difference between the Mets team at .500 and the Braves team that was 10 games over than the 5 games separating them in the standings.

A team playing .500 ball is perfectly decent, but it's not a legitimate contender. The team that's 10 games over has won significantly more often than it's lost. Ultimately, there's not much reason to suspect that either team will change its stripes after 2-and-a-half months.

Teams like the Astros last year or the A's seemingly every year are exceptions to a decidedly sobering rule: at the end of the day, your record is a damningly accurate reflection of how good you are.

Believe me, I'm not saying the Braves are done. I'm not saying they can't come back. I'm just saying that here we are: the Braves have played 61 games and won 29 of them. Just marinate on that for a moment.

2. The back of the rotation is paying dividends (finally).

Ask anyone, ANYONE, following the Mets this year and they'll tell you the biggest issue with the club has been the inconsistency (or general shittiness) of all starting pitchers not named Tom Glavine or Pedro Martinez.

Jose Lima and Jeremi Gonzalez were more than the epitome of our back-of-the-rotation deficiency, they were like cries for help. Something needed to change.

Two weeks later, things have changed. We've just had a week in which Steve Trachsel (No. 3), El Duque (No. 4), and Alay Soler (No. 5) pitched spectacularly while Pedro and Glavine pitched like shit. My god have things changed.

Now, nobody expects this past week to become the norm. We all expect Glavine 2.0 to be Glavine 2.0. We all expect Pedro to be Pedro.

But what happened this past week simply could not have happened in the days of Lima and Gonzalez. Trachsel dominated the Giants. Soler dominated the Dodgers. El Duque really dominated the Diamondbacks.

Some ballplayers are fond of saying that every game is the same, that a win's a win and a loss is a loss.

That's bullshit.

You can't tell me that the O.O.T.G.C.O.A.T. (http://yankees2000.blogspot.com/2005/11/memories-of-ootgcoat.html) wasn't a bigger win than, say, that game we won over the Cubs that one time... you remember.

And for a team like the Mets who have trotted out shitty pitcher after shitty pitcher following Pedro and Tommy (and Trachsel, I guess), you can't tell me that the performances by Soler and El Duque weren't a real shot in the arm for everyone on the club.

We have a chance to win with our 4 and 5 guys on the hill. That's as important a change in the Mets' fortunes as any you're likely to see all season.

3. My cold is gone.

Wednesday morning I felt like shit. As bad as I felt, Pedro had pitched even worse the night before. It was a bad combination. I had to vent.

But here we are now, my cold is gone, my Friday is here, and the Mets are playing good baseball.
Trax gets the ball tonight, Soler tomorrow. We've got a shot.

- A.F.O.M.G.

PS.. The Kaz Matsui Era may be drawing to a close, Mark Hale in the New York Post is reporting (Link: http://www.nypost.com/sports/mets/67245.htm).

For those worried about what roster move awaited Xavier Nady's return from the DL, it seems that a trade of Kaz or his outright release is a definite possibility.

That doesn't answer the question of what happens to our outfield once Nady returns, as we now have 4 starters, but at least a little part of the mystery appears to be clearing up.

At-Lastings

The kid runs a 4.3, 40.

He does the shuttle run in under under 4 seconds.

He benches 24 reps X 225 lbs.

He squats in the 600's.

Heck, the guy has a 37'' vertical.

The NFL was drooling over this kid. He was talented, fast and built like a brick shit house. He would have a 12 year Pro Bowl career at whatever position he played.

Fortunately for us, he decided at a young age that baseball and underage girls were the only two sports for him.

Ladies and gentlemen, Lastings Miledge.

How fucking cool is this guy. In Wednesday night's game against the Dodgers, Miledge led the Mets with a triple, a homerun and a rifle.

He helped Tommy the Spy earn his 9th win, a very undeserving win. Yet, it felt right considering that Tommy G spent much of his first three seasons with the Old Mets half asleep in a blackhole of little run support and untimelieness.

The guy has been in the big leagues for as long as LC has been tearing down Teen Vogue on MTV's newest reality hit, The Hills.



Yet, he has already arrived.

Every tool that we heard so much about has already shown its pretty little smile.

Last week we saw the absolute cannon. Wednesday night, we got to see it again when he gunned down Nomar trying to stretch a double...Thanks beautiful!



On every groundball in the infield or why not, every triple, we see his speed.

There isn't an OF in the world who doesn't have the glove.

Dude is knocking .308

And surprisingly, this kid is showing some serious pop.

The one knock on young Lastings was that he wasn't a dong socker. As much as he has crushed it with the 14 year old chicks in the past, it wasn't for his ability to hit the long ball, having hit just 4 homeruns in his 2006 season at Norfolk.

One week later and the guy has already socked 2. That puts him on pace to hit about 50 per season. I'll take that.

As the Mets take on the new Balco Diamondbacks this weekend and eventually decide what they are going to do with the 21-year old, we over here at Y2k have a pretty strong feeling about this one. This kid should be playing nowhere outside of Shea.

It would be like Neo after his ten hour session learning kung-fu, Jujitsu and even bar fighting, deciding to go back to his desk job instead of furthering his future full time position as "The One."



Who knows what this kid will become. All I can say, is that it would be a real cock tease if this kid was shipped back to Norfolk.

We will see.

VCD,

SM

Moon Men Walking

I'm frustrated.

I'm frustrated with the Mets' inability to put together a decent winning streak. I'm frustrated with our inability to win games Pedro starts (although last night, of course, he didn't deserve to win). Most of all, I'm frustrated that we haven't been able to run away with the N.L. East.

Perhaps this isn't fair, but for about a month and a half I've looked at the Mets' overall record as a product of two distinct periods.

Period 1 was the happy two weeks to start the season. From April 3 to April 17, the Mets were the best team in baseball.

The starters were solid, the hitting was timely, the relievers dominant. In short, everything was clicking. The Mets were 10-2, 8 games over .500 after just 12 games.

Period 2 is everything after. From April 18 to June 7, the Mets' record has been 24-21, 3 games over .500.

Last year, Willie Randolph was fond of saying that it was as if his .500 team was caught in a perpetual rendition of "the Moonwalk".

I felt at the time (and still feel) that this description left a lot to be desired, but Willie elaborated sufficiently so as to convey his meaning.

What he meant was his team always seemed retread the same ground over and over again. They would win 3 games, lose 2, win 1, lose 3, win 1. What you're left with if you add that up is 5 wins and 5 losses. An even .500.

Over the past 45 games, the Mets have been slightly better than that. They've played .533 ball. But I can't help but recall Willie's "Moonwalking" analogy from last season.

In 2005, the Mets rose to 4 games over .500 about 5 times without ever surpassing it until a run in late August pushed their record to a season-high 8 games over.

In 2006, 12 is the new 4. The Mets have been chronically unable to reel off a string of victories and catapult themselves above 12 games over .500. I feel like every day for the past month the Mets have been between 9 and 12 games over the break-even point. (Maybe we were 13 games over, once. We were definitely never 14 games over, that I know.)

It's been frustrating. Now yes, it's also been understandable. The Mets have had injuries and uncertainty in the back half of their rotation. They've played some tough teams.

But aspects of it all have been difficult to watch. The aforementioned inability to win games Pedro starts. Inconsistency from virtually everyone in the lineup. Jose Lima. Jeremi Gonzalez. Wagner's meltdown against the Yankees.

The Mets look to me like a team in need of a spark. I hoped that Lastings Milledge might provide that spark when he was called up. He may still do that (it's been less than a week so far), but so far the Mets have been pretty much the same team they were before he arrived.

It all got me to thinking.

I spent the summer of 2004 writing for a newspaper in the little enclave of Western Massachusetts where my college was. Yankees-Red Sox was everywhere.

Early that year the Red Sox got off to a fast start, but by the time the summer came around, their inability to make a move in the standings or in the win-loss column began to frustrated my friends and acquaintances who were Sox fans.

No matter what they did, they always seemed stuck at 10 games over .500. On the day of the trading deadline, the Red Sox were 56-46, 8.5 games behind the Yankees.

You all know what happened from there. A series of deft deadline moves by Theo Epstein and Co., a hot August and September, an improbable comeback in the ALCS, and a no-show by the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series added up to Boston's first championship since 1918.

Am I saying the Mets need to go the route the Red Sox did and make a dramatic trade? Of course not. Every situation is different. But like those Red Sox, the Mets need something to kick start them.

They've been a slightly better than average team for a month and a half. We're fortunate that neither the Phillies nor the Braves could take advantage of our lackluster play, but we're equally unfortunate that we couldn't take the opportunity to bury either of them when we had the chance.

I'm willing to see what the next couple weeks bring. We've imported El Duque and called up Alay Soler. Steve Trachsel pitched well his last time out. Carlos Delgado is showing flashes at the plate.

Maybe things are starting to come together, no matter what the box score last night looked like. But if two or three weeks from now we're still sitting 9-to-12 games over .500, still doing the moonwalk, well, it might be time to consider something a little more drastic.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Let's Not Get Ahead of Ourselves, But Man Was That Sweet

Last week I talked about this team's formula for success.

Get us 2 of 3 from Pedro, Glavine and Shitty.

and

Get me 1 of 2 from Hernadez/Soler and the Pen.

Win 3 of 5 and we are a 96 win team.

When I wrote this last week it all seemed too easy.

Until Monday night.

For 7 innings Alay Soler was a dominant starter. I had the pleasure of watching the Dodgers broadcast on League Pass and they were talking about this kid like he was the next coming of Pedro.


Seven innings of absolutely dominant ball. Save one pitch to Willy Aybar and we have one of our better starts of the season.

The formula for Soler appeared simple. Throw strikes, throw a lot of offspeed stuff (breaking balls down in the zone mostly), and make the Dodgers put the ball in play.

Unlike his previous starts where Soler struggled early, Monday, Soler got ahead of the hitters. Almost better still, Soler made Dodge batters looked overmatched even on counts when he fell behind.

So what does this all mean?

Of course the Happy Will's of the world are talking about Soler for Rookie of the Year and the Mets rotation in 2011 featuring Pelfrey, Heilman, Soler, Humber and some current 17 year old.

And that Soler, who has really dominated 2 of 3 starts, is the answer.

Well that's just not Sip. This guy doesn't have the stuff (particularly the velocity) to blow batters out of the water, which means that he will need command and savvy to win major league games. That's what we get out of Pedro by this point, essentially; to expect consistency like that of a rookie would be a little bit much.

But that does not mean Monday's game was not huge to me.

It was huge to me because it helped make my formula for success seem a little bit more realistic.

It made winning 1 of 2 starts pitched by our 4 or 5 guys seem extremely plausible.

Can you imagine saying that 3 weeks ago?

And equally important, the Mets were able to win this game without using any of the 3 guys at the end of our bullpen, Heilman, Sanchez and Wagner.

This to me will be the most important overlooked topic of the next four months.

The Mets can win and dominate the regular season. But if our big three guys in our 'pen aren't rested when it matters, then we will see what has happened to the Yankees for the last 6 years.

A dead bullpen = a playoff exit.


Willie Randolph spent years under Joe Torre so let's hope that Willie forgot Joe's tendency to overwork relievers like he did Joe's preference for fresh-toasted subs. It is of the utmost importance that the Mets can limit the innings on Heilman, Sanchez, and (to a somewhat lesser degree) Wagner.

The fact is, they have been overworked for the first two months of the season.

The biggest move I can advocate, bigger than any starting pitcher or bat would be to swap Xavier Nady and his cheap contract for one more competent reliever, preferably a lefty.

The fact is that Pedro Feliciano, as good as he has been, is not who we want in there against an important lefty. He gave up 8th inning hits to Kenny Lofton and JD Drew, both of who made him look like John Franco.

And more so, I just don't want to ever see Lastings go. The guy is just damn likable.

One more arm in bullpen could be the key to the season -- it may sound spoiled considering how great our Pen has been, but we've got a lot of baseball left to play.

For now, let's go for 3 of our next 5.

VCD,

SM

Stevey Trachsel No More

Despite some late inning heroics, the Mets did not win Sunday. Truth is, I'm OK with that.

On Saturday I was sitting at a friend's house watching the doubleheader with a visiting Kenny From Camp. Since the day we met six glorious years ago when we decided it would be a good idea to do football tackling drills in a friend's dorm room, the K-Man and I have always had the most friendly rivalry you could imagine.

Most times, no matter what, we would disagree. Not this time.

It was one beautiful moment on Saturday, about 3:00 p.m. PT. We both knew.

These Mets are no longer the Steve Trachsel Mets.



What do I mean by this?

Steve Trachsel joined the Mets in 2001, making him our longest tenured Amazin'. Since the day he got here, he has been well, blah.

He is everything you expect out of an average starting pitcher. Do you have confidence when he takes the mound? Nope.

Do you think there is a shot when he pitches? Sure.

And is there the possibility that this guy could pull off a couple of wins in a row and maybe even put together a decent season? Read 2003, when Shitty won 16 games.

But at the same time, is there ever a chance that this guy will be great? Of course not.

Since 2000, Steve Trachsel was a perfect metaphor for the Mets. They were sluggish, boring and not too interesting. They were average most days and showed hope ever so rarely that it never really got you going.

They were the Old Mets.

Not anymore.

When Lastings Miledge drove Armando Benitez's offering out in the 10th inning, a new era officially began. These were truly the New Mets.

Is there a Met fan in the world who could see us tying a game up against Armando Benitez a year ago? If so, please find me them.

The fact is, for much of the new millennium the Mets were losers. Things that were supposed to happen didn't.

Big names came to us to suck.

Our rivals always beat us.

And players that sucked for us always outplayed us when they came back.

But then there was young Lastings. His homerun, which 20 minutes later proved meaningless to the game, was a symbol for what this team has become.

This is truly a new era of Mets baseball with a new guard. We truly have a young and exciting core.

Between Wright and Reyes and now Miledge we have 3 guys that will be Mets for 30 years combined. Take a look at the 2005 roster and I think it would take about 8 guys to fill 30 years.

These guys are ours and it is great.

We are no longer the team of misfits and underachievers. We are a young core with star veterans. We have a FORMULA.

So when Lastings Miledge greeted the Right Field box fans with a row of high fives, KFC and I couldn't help but die of laughter.

Kenny compared it to a WWF wrestler coming out and greeting the crowd. I was buying.



But, I was buying nothing more than what happened directly after Miledge's dong.

I'm sorry if I have been drowning this concept away, but did any of you guys happen to catch Reyes and Miledge's elaborate handshake in the dugout?

This guy has been a Met for 4 days and we already have this.

4 days down, 10 years to go.

Goodbye Trachsel. And goodbye the feeling of being boring and average.

Hello, Wright, Reyes, Miledge, Hernandez, Pelfrey, Heilman and the feeling that we can win games like today. And the weight is slowly being removed from our shoulders.

It's a nice thing

VCD,

SM

The Power of Positive Thinking: How Cliffy Got His Groove Back

The day was May 15, and Cliff Floyd was mired in a season-long slump. The Mets’ most feared hitter a year earlier, Floyd’s batting average sat at an abysmal .195, and his slugging percentage was a Rey Ordonez-esque .297.

As the Mets boarded a St. Louis-bound plane, it seemed the baseball gods had forgotten about Uncle Cliff to that point in the season. Mets fans everywhere were starting to get flashbacks to a post-1999 Robin Ventura, or a post-1996 Bernard Gilkey.

But then something happened. Something lit a fire under young Cliff. Since May 15, Cliffy has upped his average 39 points by amassing 16 hits in his past 49 at-bats, good for a .327 avg. in that span. Along the way, Floyd clubbed 3 home runs, 6 doubles and a triple.

It wasn’t greenies, human growth hormone, or flaxseed oil (we think). Nope. It was a little something from a man named Norman Vincent Peale, and a lotta something else from a deity named God.

You see, back before Carlos Delgado sauntered into town with the most famous notebook this side of Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, it was Floyd who made waves as the most literate Met.

As you may recall, Cliff attributed much of his success in 2005 to confidence-inspiring self-help books, and he used that off-day on May 15 to go back to that winning formula.

On May 16, SportsNet New York reported that Cliff could be seen reading a copy of Dr. Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking in the clubhouse before the opener of the Mets-Cardinal series in St. Louis.

As the past two weeks have shown, things haven’t been the same since.

So what gives? What is it about this book that has helped Cliff break out of his season-long schneid?

It’s all guesswork on some level, but the principle effect seems to be that Cliff has a renewed sense of confidence in his abilities.

As we all know, baseball is a mental game. The peaks and valleys of hitting streaks and slumps can be an emotional rollercoaster for fans, and we can only imagine what it’s like for the players themselves.

Or we can believe what we read. Reading the papers in the days leading up to May 15, Cliff sounded a lot like a man who had lost confidence in his talents as a ballplayer.

And that’s where The Power of Positive Thinking comes in. “Believe in yourself!” the book begins. “Have faith in your abilities!” (Peale, 1). Beginning with this simple phrase, Peale articulates his formula for a successful, confident life.

This formula relies heavily on two things: faith in yourself, and faith in God. Indeed, The Power of Positive Thinking is, at the end of the day, an unflinchingly religious book.

The religiosity of the book isn’t a problem for Peale because literally every man, woman and child he comes across, no matter how seemingly base or depraved, is, underneath it all, a devoutly religious person.

In this way, reading The Power of Positive Thinking is a lot like reading an issue of Penthouse Forum, except that instead of every woman being a lesbian, every person you encounter is a Bible-toting, verse-quoting Christian.

That isn’t to say that it’s a completely worthless read for those of us who aren’t entirely like the men and women who populate Peale’s stories, but it does mean that a secular person would have to read it more selectively.

As for Cliff (who is a pretty religious dude as far as I know), this book is full of pointers, both religious and secular, that would help him refocus his energy away from negative thoughts (“Man, am I in some kind of slump”) to positive ones (“Know what? There’s no reason I can’t get a hit in this at-bat”).

“If you think in negative terms you will get negative results,” Peale writes. “If you think in positive terms you will achieve positive results. That is the simple fact which is at the basis of an astonishing law of prosperity and success. In three words: Believe and succeed” (Peale, 167).

For those out there who aren’t particularly religious, that’s all you really need to know. Believe and succeed. Simple as that.

Panicked before you enter a room full of people you don’t know? Say to yourself that you’re a confident, likeable person. Worried that you’re no good at your job? Tell yourself that you’re as capable as anyone else and turn that frown upside down.

Of course, Peale supplements aphorisms like “believe and succeed” by quoting Matthew 21:22, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive them” (or other such Bible verses) throughout, but you can choose to ignore them if so inclined.

One way or another, the point stands. In baseball as in many other things, it’s easy to get caught up in your personal shortcomings or to magnify your defeats. This is exactly the tendency which Peale hopes to counteract.

In case any of this was lost on old Cliff, the good news is that Peale, it turns out, was a bit of a baseball fan. Scattered throughout his narrative are references to baseball players struggling to get hits, or memories from experiences with Branch Rickey, who is described as a good friend.

“To be a successful big-league baseball player there must be a flow of easy power through every action and of course through the mind,” Peale says. “The most effective way to hit a ball is by the easy method, where all the muscles are flexible and operating in correlated power. Try to kill the ball and you will slice it or maybe miss altogether” (Peale, 180).

I mean, it’s true. How many times do we hear our commentators say that the surest way to keep the ball in the yard is to swing for the fences? A nice, easy stroke, that’s the ticket.

Now the truth is that in trying to tailor this review to Cliff’s struggles at the dish, there’s a lot I’m leaving out here about The Power of Positive Thinking.

The book is decidedly more religious than I’ve made it out to be (although again, it’s possible to read selectively and still benefit from some of its principles). Peale’s Christianity is, for the most part, not particularly pushy, but he does slip into fire and brimstone mode from time to time.

One example is when he warns that church-going people live longer than those who do not attend church: “A survey shows that church members live longer than non-church members (better join the church if you don’t want to die young)” (Peale, 116).

Chapters about sending “prayer thoughts” to people so as to effect positive outcomes will cause serious eye-rolling among less devout readers, and skepticism among less devout readers, such as myself, who attempt to get David Wright to hit a home run by sending prayer thoughts his way, only to see him come up empty (which happened to me and David during the 16-inning game).

But in the end the religiosity of the book doesn’t make it useless for secular readers, and as for old Cliff, the results speak for themselves.

Whether Cliff felt compelled to repeat the line, “I don’t believe in defeat," as Peale suggests, "until the idea dominates your subconscious attitudes” (Peale, 114) or to repeat the Bible verse “If God be for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31), he’s found a way to get himself back on track, and the Mets are better for it.

And so are all of us, not only for Cliff's resurgence, but also for this blessed Friday. Enjoy your weekends everyone, and if you head out to Shea, be sure to boo the shit out of Mr. Flaxseed Oil himself, Barry Bonds. And if you're staying in, be sure to keep checking Y2K over the weekend -- you never know when we'll post on a Saturday or Sunday.

- A.F.O.M.G.

The Way It Is Supposed To Be

The ball left Carlos Delgado's bat... It was a shot to deep right center field. Gary Cohen barked away excitedly on the screen and all of a sudden a distracted Sip was glued to the idiot box. Then the gloved man in centerfield jumped back.

Can you say Byrnesy Time?



I couldn't have imagined a better series. The Mets took it and my boy Byrnesy took it down. The guy flat out dominated the field to the point where he was booed when he came up in extra innings. (Editor's note: Actually, Byrnes was booed by the time he came to the plate in the first inning.)

Shea Stadium, which saves its boos for Chipper and Andruw Jones, Jeter and A-Rod and occasionally Pat Burrell went out of its way to boo...Eric Byrnes.

I can't tell you what this meant to me.

So Wednesday's game was exactly as it was billed.

More often than not, a pitcher's duel at Shea turns into a 6-5 game. I remember hitting up Shea last April with Old Chipper to catch Pedro vs. Smoltz. Everything was perfect until Pedro gave up 3 first inning runs.

But not Wednesday. This game was everything it was billed to be.

Brandon Webb was unhittable.

Pedro was dominant.

Lastings Miledge showcased his plus plus plus arm in RF.

And the most dominant arm on the field belonged to none other than... Jorge Julio.



I think the most amazing thing in baseball is fear in your players.

Back when Julio was a Met, I didn't trust him with the $15 bucks in my back pocket. The guy couldn't throw a strike when he needed to and he couldnt throw a good pitch when they were expecting a strike.

The guy was Mel Rojas reincarnated.

And then he walked into Shea as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

All of a sudden his flat 96mph fastball was an All Star's fastball. He mowed through Delgado-Wright-Floyd like I mow down a chicken parm from my local deli. I watched it and didn't think our boys had a chance.

And they didn't come close. Not at all.

Jorge Julio was John Rocker.

But the Mets fought. This isn't the 2005 Mets. This is't the 2004 Mets.

Truth is I'm not sure what I am watching right now.

I talked to Goat and Cousin and Nails in brief after the game and through all the talks I came to one frightening conclusion.

That is, I have confidence in the Mets in these sorts of games.

When resident SNY frat boy Chris Cotter asked Jose Valentin this question after the game, I knew exactly where he was going. He asked Valentin if he was confident when our bullpen was going against the D-Backs' pen.

Valentin didn't really address the question, instead paying homage to both teams' respective dominant starting performances.

But the truth is this. Get me to a tie game anytime past the 6th inning and I will take the Mets. This is an amazing feeling in baseball.

For 3 innings we had the pleasure of watching Duaner Sanchez dominate D-Backs hitters. You can't ask for more out of a setup guy.



At the same time, if this game had to go three more innings, we had Aaron Heilman up and ready. And I knew we would win.

This is the difference between the Mets and the rest of the NL. The rotation is 2 deep and average at best from 3-5. It is a very typical National League rotation.

But in the back, we are dominant. We are going to win these games a lot more than we lose.

And these are the games that give a team character. Winning a game in the 12th or the 10th or the 8th. It doesn't matter. As much as Y2K loyalists talk about how watching a kid come up through the system is more fulfilling than a pickup, there is no better feeling than winning a baseball game at the end of the game.

The fact is, we will win these games. Our lineup is as good or better than any team in the NL.

The pen is the difference.

I really have to give Omar Minaya a lot of credit. He did everything I endorsed here at Y2K. He kept the pen dominant while filling out our rotation with 5 guys that will give us a shot.

If a team wins 3 of 5 in baseball they are a playoff team. We should win 2 of 3 when Pedro-Glavine-Trachsel pitch.

Now, when Soler and El Duque pitch, we need one of those guys to get us to our pen and we will win.

3 of 5 and we are a playoff team.

I like this formula.

VCD,

SM