Instant Replay: Change We Shouldn't Believe In

Memories can certainly be strange things. In my mind, I not only know that Tom Glavine struck out Lenny Harris with a ball 2 feet off home plate to end the 1998 season, I can see the pitch. I know this happened as much as I know that Carlos Delgado hit two home runs the other night. And I was gonna use this fact as the lede to this little posting I got my arm twisted into making.

So then I head over to baseball-reference.com just to find out what the count was when that pitch was made and I find out that Mike Piazza popped out too second (boooooo!!!!!!) off of Rudy Seanez to end the 1998 season. Guess this makes sense… no reason the 106 win Braves would have let Glavine pitch a complete game heading into the playoffs.

So, anyway, every memory I have before, like, yesterday is now suspect. Fortunately, I can still see clearly into the future.

October 1, 2028

ATLANTA – With the bases loaded, Tom Glavine, Jr. struck out Julio Franco, 70, to send the Braves to the playoffs by one game over the New York Mets. Unfortunately, for the Braves, home plate umpire Bob Davidson broke up the victory celebration to award a game winning base-on-balls to the Mets. Instant replay demonstrated the pitch did not, in fact, just catch the black.

* * * * *

Let there be no doubt that this is where baseball is headed. Sometime in our lives, the same ball tracking graphics that bring "certainty" to tennis line calls will be introduced to fix the errors of home plate umpires.

Instant replay started yesterday only for home run calls. Apparently, it is simply unacceptable that umpires get some miniscule percentage of home run calls wrong. Especially if one of them is on a nationally televised Mets-Yankees game.

Major League Baseball will eventually extend replay to fair-foul line calls (it's only the natural extension of home run calls and the Brewers would've made the playoffs in 2009 if we had this rule in place). From there, plays at the bases, hit-by-pitches, foul tips, and eventually strikes-balls.

Unless MLB can control its Al Gorian inclination to control anything and everything we are heading in this direction. The game will slow down. More importantly, the green grass, wood bat, and beautiful infield that takes your breath away when you get to your seats every Opening Day will be joined by a television/phone system that resembles a microwave.

All to "fix" something that is not, in fact, a problem. Major League umpires do a tremendous job. Over the course of a season – and certainly over the course of a lifetime – the mistakes equal themselves out.

* * * * *

Even if replay does not become an integral part of the game, it still sucks. Sports is entertainment, it's not life or death. Part of the entertainment of sports – even if it's occasionally a kick in the gut – is having the umps blow a call. Life's unfair and, sometimes, so are home runs calls.

Think of the most famous blown home run call of our lifetimes – Jeffrey Maier's catch in right field at Yankee Stadium.

It is possible that if that ball gets overruled and called an out. The Yankees probably don't come back and tie the game and, therefore, don't win it in extra innings. Maybe the O's go on and still win Game 2 and then, up 2-0, they win the series. Seems likely the Yankees still would've won the series, considering they won the series 4-1, but there's no doubt that would dramatically change the way the series played out.

If that happened, not one person would remember Jeffrey Maier today. Nobody would've cared that he played centerfield for the Wesleyan Cardinals. None of us at Williams would have had a blast heckling him at Williams-Wesleyan baseball games. All a pretty good time.

There's nothing wrong with a blown call. It creates a villain. It adds to the drama (read: entertainment value) of sports. And, crucially, they are extremely few and far between.

No doubt I'm standing athwart history yelling "Stop!" here, but for me instant replay is schoolmarmish.

- Nails

Finding Solace

Having watched the Mets bullpen puke up yet another a lead, I find myself too tired/sick to complain. Instead, I pound theraflu and think of how much beauty there is in the world:

Cousin Dan's baby boy being born today.

The blue skies that have charmed the end of August.

And the New York Yankees.

My brain is slightly fried right now, incapable of doing math. But today, the Yankees have a tragic number. And that is an exciting thing for an anti-yankees website.

For those who may have forgotten, Y2k was started out of anger and boredom. A depressed paralegal who was looking to physically destroy his computer screen, instead choosing to take out his aggression on his keyboard and the blogosphere.

The subject then was the Yankees. I described how the Yankees were ruining the game that I loved with with their greed, money and holier than thou mentality. I argued that they were, in fact, cursed.

Three years later and the Yankees ring total has not grown. While my disdain may have eased with maturity and loss of energy, I still understand and respect my vision from three years back.



Which makes 2008 so close.

I never thought this day could potentially come. Might the Yankees actually be watching the playoffs from their couches?

While it is obviously too soon to tell- we all remember 2007- with every day that passes my vision grows more and more clear.

A post-season without the Yankees.

The only thing that would make me happier than the Yankees missing the playoffs would be for the Yankees to make the playoffs solely because of Carl Pavano.

That would be poetic to me.

But with about 40 games to go and the Yankees six games back of the wild card, it remains possible that the Yankees season lies in the results of this week.

Its a great week for baseball.

Every week is a great week for blogging.

Vaya,
Sip

Tea Leaves Falling Down

All Mets early, all Phillies late. Where have we seen that one before?

* * * * *

Last night I went to the US Open; the seats were as good as you could hope for; on the celebrity scale, they were between John Lithgow (two rows behind) and Richard Williams (one row in front).

Better than the seats was the talent on the court. Venus Williams in the opener and Roger Federer in the nightcap; both cruised their opening rounds in straight sets, and I gaped at how fast the ball moves at the professional level. I honestly have no idea how these guys ever return a serve.

Now needless to say the Mets were in the back of my mind, but I made a pact with myself. DVR the game and cut off communication. "A.F.O.M.G.," I told myself, "If you get text messages from Met fan friends, ignore them. If you get e-mails from Met fan friends, ignore those too."

These steps having been taken, and in lieu of a scoreboard at Arthur Ashe Stadium, there was no way for me to know the score of last night's ballgame.

Ahh but you see, it was an imperfect system. The Mets fans in my circle are a generally pessimistic lot, a group that tends to harp on the negative. Whenever something bad happens I can expect a flood of angry texts or e-mails decrying the Mets' ineptitude.

Tonight I didn't get one text or e-mail of the sort. I got a call from one friend, kind of a half way there Mets fan, who reported that my friend from college could be seen in the front row behind home plate in virtually every shot (which was true). From his tone I tried to detect any hint of anger, but none could be found.

Reading the tea leaves, I was as confident as I could be on my way home on the 7 train.

* * * * *

What I learned tonight is that tea leaves don't mean shit with this team.

The concept of things "trending positively" in any particular game has basically been rendered moot. I mean, how many times do we have to watch this team lose this exact same game over and over again?

There was a time when I used to think crushing defeats like this could only be served up by the Phillies. The Phillies have shown a knack for it, but so have countless others (the Pittsburgh Pirates for one, for chrissakes).

When I think about it, I find myself wondering what could possibly go so right for this team in the first half of a ball game that I'd ever be convinced they couldn't find a way to let it all fall apart?

Am I the only one out there who immediately started worrying as soon as the Phillies scraped together that first run in the 4th inning? Somehow I know I'm not.

* * * * *

Tonight Johan goes for the Mets. If the team guts out a win we'll talk tomorrow about how much character they showed in bouncing back, but at a point that won't be enough.

At a point you have to stop believing your own bullshit.

If the Mets are going to make the playoffs they have start beating teams, not just hoping to outlast them. This point always comes up when we play the Phillies, who seem to have no inkling that they are ever out of things when the Mets are involved (my god, why should they), but increasingly it comes up no matter who we play.

This team has a fundamental flaw, and more and more, they play like they're scared of it. They come out on fire then fade at the end.

It's all so tiresome and it's become all too predictable.

I missed it in the tea leaves tonight, but no mas. I won't get fooled again.

- A.F.O.M.G.

You Suck, Newhan

Get bent.

Either way, great job by the Pelf Man tonight; he passed the test. Just what we needed heading into Philadelphia.

And Carlos Delgado... what more can you say? Mets brass is going to have a really tough decision to make this offseason; do you try to go big and get Teixeira, or do you save your bullets for pitching help (starting and relief) and stick with Delgado?

But that's a question, hopefully, for November. For now, well, August continues full throttle tomorrow.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Can't Slow Down

It was a tale of three bullpens for the Glass Man on Sunday. In the afternoon I watched Aaron Heilman falter and Pedro Feliciano implode in the Mets' second straight loss to our official 2008 bedevilers, the Houston Astros.

In the evening it Jonathan Broxton's turn to muck things up, looking horrible from the start en route to blowing the save against the never-say-die Phillies, who won it in the 11th on a 3-run home run. Philly scored all 5 of its runs with 2 outs.

I've written about my fear of the Phillies before. It's not that they have Chase Utley or Ryan Howard or Cole Hamels, it's that no matter the circumstances, they never quit. They keep coming at you and coming at you.

If the Mets are going to outlast the Phillies this September, they can't slow down. This weekend brought the first signs of a slowdown in about a month, but I don't want to blow it out of proportion. They've lost 2 straight; shit happens.

That said, I would be very disappointed if we went in to Philly tomorrow in second place, riding a 3-game losing streak. The "are the Mets collapsing" storyline is at everyone's fingertips, and there'd be nothing like riding a skid into a late-season series at Philadelphia to open the floodgates.

So tonight we turn it over to Mike Pelfrey. In this breakout season for the Pelf Man, I've been interested in watching him pass three tests. One was how he would respond to adversity after enjoying his first run of sustained success in the big leagues. Test passed; he's had bad outings and come out looking dominant again.

The other two remain to be seen. One is whether he's ready to take the ball and pitch the Mets to big wins when they need them. He hasn't really had that chance yet, but tonight he does. A strong outing tonight would be a big boost for the team.

The last test is just to see how he'll hold up in the heat of a September pennant race. No choice there but to stay tuned.

As for me, it's the last day of my late summer vacation so I'm off to enjoy it until 7:10, when, you know, it's time to get back down to business.

- A.F.O.M.G.

14 is the Infuriatingest Number

The good times are going and the good vibes are flowing at Old Shea these days. The Mets, winners of 9 of their last 10 and 12 of their last 15, have played consistently solid baseball in the second half of the season (really, since Jerry Manuel took over).

Today they find themselves with a 2.5-game lead in the NL East over the hated Phillies, and 14 games over .500.

I should be happy, but I'm not. Honestly, 14 games over .500 sends chills down my spine.

It's the same number of games we finished over .500 in 1998. There was a time that final week when we were 19 games over .500, but a 5-game losing streak against the lowly Montreal Expos and the haughty Atlanta Braves to close out the season put the kibosh on our playoff hopes (as most of you will remember, one win in those final 5 games would have sent us to the playoffs).

And it's the same number of games we finished over .500 in 2007. For those of you just checking in, last year was a one-for-the-ages reminder of just how valuable finishing 14 games over .500 is.

In the words of my high school soccer coach, finishing 14 games over .500 is like kissing your sister. Fourteen games over .500, 88 wins, is consistently good enough to rip your heart out of your gut.

Now I grant you, more important than sheer number of games over .500 is winning percentage; and in fairness, the Mets' winning percentage (.555) would lead to a 90-win season, the golden, oft-cited number of wins that usually leads to October baseball.

Sure we're 14 games over .500, and yes, we're riding high right now. As I said the other day, you have to allow yourself to enjoy the good times when they come; baseball would be more torment than fun if you didn't.

So the Mets should take some satisfaction in how they've reversed their fortunes; they're playing great ball, even if last night wasn't the best example. But the team needs to keep going; they need to remember that 14 games over .500 rarely nets anything more than a "thanks for playing, see you next year".

And so tonight's another big game. We've got Johan going, they've got Roy Oswalt. It's a great pitching match-up; right now though I'd take our team against any starter in the league.

Ain't that the surest sign yet that the good times are going.

* * * * *

The story of the day seems to be the realization that the Yankees probably won't make the playoffs. Nothing like a 14-3 loss to bring reality crashing home.

In years past I would have cringed at the thought of writing the Yankees off, but I don't feel that way anymore.

It started some time last season, when I confidently wrote in July or August that the Yankees wouldn't win the division.

That didn't make me some sort of genius; the Red Sox had something like a 10-game lead in the division at the time. But it did signal a shift in my thinking about the Yankees.

For a solid decade there they were the team that always got the bounces, that always found itself on the right side of fate. To some it was aura and mystique, for others it was just talent.

Aura and mystique went out the window in 2004; 2004 proved that the Yankees, like every other team out there (hello Steve Bartman, 1978 Red Sox, Yadier Molina), could endure a crushing, improbable defeat. Had it ever happened before? If it had I don't know when.

Today the Yankees sit 10.5 games out of first place, so kiss the division good-bye. I don't care what happened with the Mets last year, the Yankees aren't going to overcome that. The Rays have played excellent baseball wire-to-wire; no reason to think that'll change.

And in the wild card, they're 6 games back of the Red Sox and the Twins. One team maybe they could overcome, but two is tough. They're not buried, it could still happen, but the Yankees are going to have to go on some sort of insane run to do it.

If they don't, it'll be the greatest moment yet in this Curse-filled world. Here's hoping.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Under Control

In an easily imagined parallel universe, it would have been the biggest win of the season.

The Mets failed to knock a flailing pitcher down when he was on the ropes. Out in the field, the Mets' pitcher coughed up a 2-0 lead thanks to two walks and a piece of crap dribbler.

And then the 5-run 8th inning came, and the ensuing comeback victory over the Braves was every bit the dramatic late-inning catharsis that we needed.

Only last night was none of those things. In 1999 it would have been, but in 2008, no. This is not the Atlanta Braves ballclub that tormented your high school years, even if Chipper still makes you sick every time he steps in the box.

Last night wasn't meant to be a catharsis. It was meant to be another step along the way. But with the Phillies playing the hapless Nationals, losers now of 11 straight, and with the Mets having sputtered on their way out of Pittsburgh and having lost their closer for the foreseeable future, it sure felt like an important game.

* * * * *

We can all spare ourselves the suspense: our bullpen is going to blow more games than it should down the stretch. Hell, it's already blown more games than it should have.

Meanwhile, the Phillies' bullpen has been outstanding all season. Brad Lidge hasn't blown a save all year for chrissakes.

In spite of it all, the Mets are 1.5 games up in the division. Remember, like the Mets, the Phillies have their strengths and weaknesses. Through 126 games, the Mets' strengths and weaknesses have added up to a slightly more valuable equation than the Phillies'.

Will it last? Who can say?

But think of it this way: losing games late hurts, but if your starters are giving your offense 7 innings to put the game away (and your bullpen only 2 innings to give it back), that, to me, is a more reliable formula than leaning on bullpen guys after your starters give you, what, 6 shaky innings whenever Hamels and Moyer (my god) aren't pitching.

* * * * *

Given the way everything unfolded last year and earlier this season, the key to the season, to my mind, is the Mets need to avoid getting caught up in the things they can't control.

The questions about their shaky bullpen? The questions that will inevitably come in September about whether they can avoid collapsing like they did last season? There's no right answer to give.

Last night the Mets did what they had to do. They took care of something they can control, wins and losses, and took another step in the right direction.

Tonight they'll go at it again. It's not 1999 anymore but tonight's game against the Braves feels like a big one.

Or maybe it's just that this time of year, all games do.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Just Keep On Going

Pop quiz: what was the Mets' record in the first 9 games of September 2007?

Was it:

A) 4-5
B) 8-1, or
C) 1-8?

If you said 8-1, you had the correct answer. It was said then that the team was peaking at just the right time, and it sure seemed hard to argue the point.

What we didn't realize then is that the baseball season is a marathon, even at the very end when it looks for all the world like a sprint.

The Mets are playing truly outstanding baseball right now, sprinting out to early leads and stymieing the opposition with suffocating starting pitching. For all the world we've looked like world beaters the past 6 games.

As regular readers are aware, I take the losses pretty hard. Sip has said he doesn't live and die with these games anymore, but I sure do. And right now, life is good. If you're going to beat yourself up over tough losses, you've gotta let yourself enjoy the good times when they come.

That said, remember the 8-1 run at the start of September 2007. Six-game winning streaks are great, and they're even better when your team does it in such dominating fashion.

But six wins isn't enough. A 2-game lead in the division isn't enough. The marathon goes on.

* * * * *

And what a marathon it's been for the Mets. How many times has this team been left for dead? How many times have we, the fans, buried this team? How many times have we told ourselves they were hopeless, that they didn't care enough to succeed?

Hell, that's been the running conversation of the season.

One of my favorite activities is to read random posts from the Y2K archives. It grounds me in particular moments; I remember how I felt at the time, what I was feeling about life or the Mets. It's occurred to me that if the Mets pull this thing off and go on to win the division, what fun it will be to read those mid-May posts when we were all dumping on the team.

I don't think any of us need to feel repentant about that; they looked positively comatose through the first 81 games of the season.

But if there's anything we need to repent, it's that we allowed ourselves to forget that 81 games is a lot, but there's still another 81 games afterward. Talented teams can turn things around and good times can still lay ahead.

So here we are in first place with 124 games in the books. All we need to remember now is that 124 games is a lot, but there's still another 38 left to go.

Six in a row has been great. We need to just keep on going.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Don't Stop

This weekend has all the makings of a disaster for our Metsies.

Mets riding high entering the weekend? Check.

Mets facing a second division club with no hope of the playoffs? Check.

Johan Santana pitching? Check.

Indeed, few scenarios are as fearsome as a weekend set in Pittsburgh for this bunch. But as we enter the weekend, I feel at least some measure of my faith has been restored.

After the disaster that was Monday, the Mets responded by doing what they had to do in Washington. They made a statement that they could play intense, purposeful baseball against a bottom feeding team.

In an ideal world you wouldn't have to make statements against last-place teams like the Nationals, but this is 2008, up is down, right is wrong, and Mike Pelfrey toes the rubber tonight trying to take the staff lead in victories. The takeaway? Just GO with it.

* * * * *

It occurred to me the other day that the funk the Phillies are in now is, in a lot of ways, similar to the one the Mets were in last year.

The Phils were 39-26 on June 9. They owned a 4-game lead on the Marlins, and a 7.5-game lead on the fourth place Mets.

For you history buffs out there, on June 9, 2007, the Mets were 36-24 (good for a .600 winning percentage, identical to the Phils' on June 9, 2008), and owned a 3.5-game lead over the Braves. The third place Phillies were 5 games out.

What happened afterward, for both teams, was an elongated period of middling play. The Mets did snap out of it for a time, but we all know how that story ended. As for the Phils, they've shown flashes of righting the ship, but haven't done so.

Today, the Phillies find themselves in second place.

* * * * *

As for our Mets, they're ascendent once again. We're in first place, albeit by only one game, with 41 games left on the schedule.

From here on out, the key for the Mets is winnig games against interdivision foes and taking advantage of the soft underbelly of their schedule. They did that in Washington, and tonight they'll take their show on the road to Pittsburgh.

If the Mets are going to win this division, they've got to capitalize on weak opposition. The last week of the season features 4 games against the Cubs and 3 against the Marlins. The Cubs will likely be resting their regulars by then, but they'll be tough either way. As for the Marilns, well, after last season hopefully we've learned not to sleep on that shit.

Come to think of it though, it'd be pretty sweet to win the division against Hanley Ramirez and the Marlins... but somehow I'd live if we won the division a little earlier than that.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Odi et Amo

A lot of people I know are really sick of this Mets team. They're sick of underperforming big-money guys. They're sick of late-inning bullpen meltdowns. They're sick of following a team that can't get its act together and take hold of the division.

It gets me thinking of 2006. As great as 2006 was, one thing it lacked for much of the regular season was drama. Hell, when it came to winning the division, from July on basically it wasn't a matter of if but when.

The only questions left to be answered were would they win 100 games (they didn't), would they be the first team to clinch a playoff spot (they were), and who would start Game 1 (John Maine).

There was no foe to triumph over. For many of us, the longed-for cathartic victory over the hated Braves never happened. The only catharsis was the sheer act of winning a division for the first time in 18 years.

When I think about last year, the option really wasn't there either. Say we'd won that last game of the season and the Phillies had lost; it would have been great, but the bitterness and dislike we feel for the Phillies today wasn't really in place back then. Sure, we didn't like Jimmy Rollins, but the Phils had never made us hurt.

* * * * *

Zoom forward to the present and the situation could hardly be more different.

This is a Phillies team that's made us hurt as bad, you might say, as any Braves team ever did. And this is a Mets team that's had to fight uphill all season long.

Forget about whether you think this Mets team is underachieving. Forget about where you think they should be. If after everything we've suffered through this season they find themselves in first place and in the playoffs on the last day of the season, won't that be sweeter, more satisfying in a way than what we saw in 2006?

I'm not saying we didn't earn it in 2006. We did. But after all the heartache of 2007 and all the adversity in 2008, to come out on top would be pretty fucking cool.

* * * * *

The Mets are 1 game out with 43 games to play. For those of you who are sick of this team, 43 games from now, if the Mets finish in first, will you love them or hate them?

Will they be the underachievers who needlessly made you sweat for six months, or will they be the great survivors, a team we admire years from now for its perseverance?

Perhaps more interestingly, would 2008 be sweeter than 2006?

- A.F.O.M.G.

New Manny or New Sip?

Three years later and I still chuckle whenever I see Johnny Damon play a game for the Yankees. When he signed with the Bombers I was a sweet, little, sports romantic, a 23 year old kid with a big heart.

Today I'm 26 and ever the wiser.

I no longer view the game as that sweet little kid. These guys are no longer my heroes, a win doesn't make my day and a loss doesn't end it. It's all a little sad, it is, but its also a product of growing up.

And one beauty of this all is that I can take things a little less seriously. I can kick my feet up at the ballpark and just relax. I can miss a game here or there without feeling like I am letting myself down as a "diehard." And I can chuckle at something that may have used to infuriate me.

When Johnny Damon signed with the Yankees three years ago I thought it was the worst thing since the Holocaust.



It was everything wrong with sports. It was wrong for the player to leave the team he helped build a championship for. It was wrong of him to leave for a few more million dollars. And it was wrong for the Yankees to sign a Red Sox player.

Next year, however, when Manny Ramirez signs with the Yankees, the only thing I will do is laugh.

It's going to be comedy at its purest.

Sports version of reality tv.

A guy who has made hundreds of millions dollars from playing baseball, seeking revenge from his former employer over money.

The most irrational person in his sport AND maybe its best, joining his supposed "sworn enemy" because he didn't like the way his $160 million contract was handled.

This is what I have learned most about sports as I have grown older.

The day a player turns pro is the day that "sworn enemies" go away.

In amateur sports there is nothing on the line but pride and emotion. These are the sports that we all knew growing up and playing. We wanted to win for ourselves, our teammates, our family.

In professional sports just like with all jobs, money is bigger than all.



I'm not going to be a high school baseball coach when I am older for one reason. Money. I love sports, working with kids, teaching and competing. But, I know I can make a lot more money working on Wall St and for a couple of reasons I will most likely take this path.

First, the more money you make the more things you can have and the more you can provide. This is obvious.

The second part, is ego. It's knowing that others around me are making so much more than I am when I could and should be. Why should a person who I was smarter than or better than be living on Park Ave. when I am living pay check to pay check?

And this is the part of professional sports that fans refuse to accept. These guys have the biggest egos in the world and for good reason. They have been the best at what they do for their entire lives and when you reach the professional level you are surrounded by hoards of people who tell them how great they are everyday.

We the fan always argue, whats the difference between $40 and $50 million?

Either way, you are set for life and living the life that the rest of the world can only dream about.

But then there is ego and the feeling of relative worth.

I'm about to bang out my second Ivy League degree. I don't tell you this because I am trying to brag. I tell you this because to a lot of people it would seem crazy that I perceive myself as the "dumb" one in my family.

Compared to 99.9% of the world, I am Good Will Hunting. But not at home where my brother is a genius Harvard PHd. Relative to my family, I'm a moron.



And that must be how Manny or Johnny Damon feels or felt when they leave what the rest of us think is right for what the rest of us think is wrong.

If Carlos Beltran is making $18 mil, why isn't Manny making $20 mil?

Unfortunately for pro athletes, they have media and fans scrutinizing their every move. People who don't live in their judging everything about it.

For me, I just have my dad telling me that everything is going to be alright.

Lets hope.

Vaya,
Sip

(Pics courtesy of S9.com, boston.com, moldova.com)

This Is It

If you dropped a space-clearing, black hole, terraforming bomb on a section of Long Island -- the type of bomb that would just clear out everything and leave a flat expanse of open land -- and then let the developers have at it, the result would look kind of like the section of Arlington I just moved into.

New. Glossy. Filled with brand-name retailers and high-end eateries of the Cheesecake Factory milieu. A Whole Foods that will inevitably become my new go-to supermarket. More yuppies and station wagons than you can throw a stick factory at.

This is the new hood. After a year out in Crooklyn, and a year before that up in Morningside Heights, Cheddar finally cleared out of the Rotten Apple last week and made the move down to Northern Virginia, the better to attend law school. Had to happen. Peace, Park Slope. Later, 7th Avenue. Talk to the hand, F train. Especially you, you delay-ridden bastard. Clean yourself up before I come back.
[Sidebar: You know what Napoleon used to write to his mistress when he was on the way back to Paris after a military campaign? He'd fire off a letter that said "Ne te lave pas. J'arrive." Which translates roughly as "Don't wash, I'm coming." Napoleon was the best.]

The story of the move is worth a post in and of itself, and Y2K may hear that sad, sad, sad story one day, after I've come to terms with murdering that Budget Rent-A-Truck agent. But for the past week, I've been settling into a new pad in what turns out to be a rather different part of the country. Getting away from New York makes you remember that random people can be friendly, inviting and generous. Pretty weird, and it'll take some adjustment.

Speaking of adjustment, one of the changes I'm gonna have to make for school is giving up this regular writing gig here at the site. For the time being, I'm not going to be able to offer the weekly piece to Sip and A.F.O.M.G. that I'd want -- I just don't know how busy I'm going to be with school, and until I have a better handle on that, or Derek Jeter wins another Gold Glove, I'm just not going to be able to commit to writing anything on the regular.

Which sucks. This site has been a big part of my life for a couple of years now, back since A.F.O.M.G. started getting me into the Mets back at Meadow Street and before, and I'm plenty sad that it's all ending for the moment. Who else can I scream at about Hank Steinbrenner and Michael Kay? What other group of readers appreciates the beauty of a well-timed insult aimed at Brian Schneider? Where else am I going to able to rant about Jose Molina and Melky Cabrera without people thinking I'm a member of the Minutemen? (Actually, I should be fine on that count in Virginia.)

I suppose I'm going to have to start getting conversant with Nationals and Orioles talking points, which is just awful. "So, that Daniel Cabrera is a real moron, huh?" "Hey, if Ryan Zimmerman doesn't snap out of it soon, you may just have to kill yourself." That sort of thing. Again, this may turn out to be pretty easy.

[Sidebar: I've been listening to a lot of broadcast radio since I got down here. Seeing as I spent absolutely no time in the car while in New York, I've completely missed the whole radio thing, even with Hot 97 on the dial. Anyway, as soon as I got down here, I located the local hip-hop station, and have been blowing it out on Youth Jeezy and Lil' Weezy and the latest R&B fads and so forth. One thing stuck out to me, though -- they keep referring to their listenership, and by association the whole area, as "The DMV." Which I gather refers to the "District-Maryland-Virginia." It must be their nickname for the whole region, which is kind of cute. The more you know ...]

So, no more Friday posts from ol' Cheddar for the time being. Even beyond that, I'm gonna be staring the first semester of law school soon enough (like, in a week), which means my time is gonna be limited indeed. No more following the Mets religiously, which will put some hair back on my head and my chest. No more living and breathing with Jose Reyes' at-bats, or caring how level Carlos Delgado's swing is, or defending Carlos Beltran to anyone who'll stay in one spot for long enough to me to open my mouth. Cha-cha-cha-changes.

Cutting all this off at the umbilical is going to be a shock, and I'll keep up with the doings of the site and of my former patrons, who deserve all the credit and love in the world for giving an illiterate Buffalonian a platform for his demented ravings. Sip remains the Visionary Prince of the Mets Blogosphere, the man who'll take his ideas where none else dare, and he'll keep you hook on that next-level shit, while A.F.O.M.G. will undoubtedly continue to slice and dice like a ginsu. It's like Irv Gotti said at the press conference announcing the change of the name of his record label to "The Inc." -- "It's still murder! It's still murder!"

[Sidebar: Of course, as soon as Irv Gotti had just finished reassuring the gathered members of the media that it was still murder, the next question was what "The Inc."'s first record release would be. Irv Gotti didn't skip a beat. "Um, that'll be Ashanti's 'A Christmas Album.'" Irv Gotti is also the best.]

While I'm gone, here are the Top 3 action items to watch.

1) The Metsies' Playoff Push

I still think the Fish are going to fade hard down the stretch, assuming the Mets can actually start winning some games against them, so to my mind, the season is going to come down to the five games left against the Phils -- the two-game series later this month, and then the home weekend series in early September. Getting the play the Nats and Braves so much in the last month of the calendar is also a big help.

2) The Brett Favre Debacle

Mark my words, and mark them well -- this will end poorly. Very poorly. Brett Favre crying at a podium poorly. This is nothing other than a typical J-E-T-S overreaction, with the caveat that this is the best and most outrageous overreaction EVER. Sure, taking a guy who's spent his entire career in a tiny hamlet of hero worship and plunking him into a dysfunctional sub-playoff team should work out fine. You can take that one to the bank.

3) The Last Games in Yankee Stadium, the Greatest Building Ever Built By Man, Including the Pantheon and the Golden Gate Bridge, Assuming We're Counting the Golden Gate Bridge as a Building, Which We Probably Shouldn't, So Let's Go Ahead and Change That to the Hagia Sofia, Which is Always Underrated

Can you feel the excitement? Do you spring one when you think of the tenure of House That Ruth Built (except that it's been completely renovated since he played there, no big deal) coming to a close? No? If not, you may want to alert the members of the media that nobody gives a rat's ass about this. They may want to concentrate on the Bombers trying to make the postseason without Joba, which ought to be a trick.

Take care, all. Watch your back, eat your veggies, and don't trust anything you read in the New York Daily News.

Broadway Brett? Favre to the Jets

In 2005 the Mets signed the greatest pitcher of our generation, Pedro Martinez, to a 4 year $54 million dollar contract.

He brought star power, buzz and excitement to Shea. He was a star player for a team that had just won the world series.

And his old team didn't want him. They were happy to let him go.

So what has Pedro done for us?

30 wins in 4 seasons.

..........................

Brett Favre is a lot like Pedro Martinez with one big exception.



Football is a team sport. There is only one pitcher in the mound. The success of the quarterback depends so much on the team surrounding him.

No one was talking about how great Brett Favre was in 2005 when the Packers won 4 games.

No one was talking about how great Brett Favre was in 2006 when the Packers won 8 games.

Instead, people were calling him done. A gunslinger who was out of bullets.

But things changed in 2007. The Packers won 13 games and made it the NFC championship. And as always in Green Bay, Brett Favre was in the center of it all.

But something else changed for Packers in 2007.

Take a look at the Packers defensive statistics over the last 3 years:

2005- 21.5 PPG (19th in NFL)
2006- 22.9 PPG (25th in NFL)
2007- 18.2 PPG (6th in NFL)

Over the course of three years, the Packers rebuilt a defense that became among the best in the NFL. And you know the old adage. The best offense is a good defense and vice versa.

And yes, the Packers were better offensively. but the weapons surrounding Favre in Green Bay were superior to what the Jets have to offer.

Donald Driver is a better version of Laverneus Coles.
Greg Jennings is a better version of Jericho Cotchery
Ryan Grant looks like he is a better version of Thomas Jones.

In reality, who knows.

Maybe Brett Favre may still has some magic left.

But when he had a bad team around him he was really really bad.

And the Jets are a bad team.

Who knows what Alan Faneca, Calvin Pace, Vernon Gholston and crew. do to the Jets?

All I'm saying is that in my opinion this is a lot more hype than anything else. These are the Jets and they play in the AFC. They are not close to the Patriots, Colts or Chargers. They are not better than the Jags or Steelers. So chances are they are fighting for one playoff spot.

If you are a rebuilding team is this really how you want to build for the future? A shot- and I mean a shot- at the 6th seed.

A couple of 8-win seasons before your QB retires and you have to start all over.

I don't know.

Vaya,
Sip

(Pic courtesy of Wordpress.com

Baseball's Most Important Man

Bud Selig.

Cooperstown.

Scott Boras.

These names are all as big as any superstar in baseball. They have as much of an impact on the game as Derek Jeter or David Wright.

They are as wise as Theo Epstein or Billy Beane.

They manipulate like Free Agency or Arbitration.

Over the course of my lifetime, there is another name that has catipulted to the top of baseball names. I'm not sure if this guy will ever be in the Hall of Fame but there is a decent part of me that thinks he should.

His impact on the game may be greater than any player.

The mention of his name is scarier than a Josh Beckett fastball or seeing David Ortiz in there with the bases loaded in the month of October.

This man has the ability to make or break a season and even a career.

This man is Dr. James Andrews.



.............................

Dr. James Andrews is maybe the most important thing to come out of the great state of Alabama since Forrest Gump.

He is the man that every pitcher, Quarterback and even blogger sees to repair their elbow or shoulder.

And now, he is the man looking after the man that only needs one name.

Joba.

..............................

On June 4th I wrote:

The Yankees would protect his arm with the secret service if they could for three reasons.

1. He is their ace of the future
2. With the initial failures of Kennedy and Hughes, they need Chamberlain to be great to justify ever using young talent again.
3. They can not get this guy injured. God forbid this guy breaks a toe nail and all of a sudden, the second guessers have all the ammo they need to question the midseason move to the rotation. And then hell breaks loose.

James Andrews is baseball's equivalent to the secret service. You don't see this guy for a dead arm. You see him if you are worried about much worse.

The risks of adding Joba Chamberlain to the rotation this Summer were vast.



But most of these risks have been overcome. Chamberlain has looked great and up until the last couple of weeks so did the Yankees pen.

However, the Yankees remain a third place team, 6.5 games out of first place.

The bullpen looks like a collection Toby Borland's since the All Star Break, with an ERA close to 7.00.

And Joba Chamberlain is now hurt.

The Yankees better pray for the best on this one. Because if Chamberlain is seriously injured then the front office has to be the one to blame. At least that is how the fans and media will perceive it.

I'll be the first to admit, I don't know the physical makeup of the shoulder or elbow. I don't understand why some pitchers can pitch forever while some pitchers get hurt all the time. But it happens and when a pitcher gets hurt, especially a reliever converted to a starter, the average outsider will assume that the cause is an increased workload.

.......................

This Yankees season remains enjoyable.

For the last bunch of years I have said that I would never count the Yankees out of the playoffs until the day the season ends and they don't qualify.

And there are a number of reasons why the Rays can implode.

Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine, all kids, can all tire. Grant Balfour and JP Howell can turn into Aaron Heilman. And Evan Longoria might decide that he is not ACTUALlY the best player in baseball.

But there are a lot of reasons to be confident in the Yankees failures. First and foremost is the starting pitching.

If you were to tell me that entering August this team would have 26 wins from Pettite and Mussina and that Mariano Rivera would be 26 for 26 in save chances, I would have sighed and laughed.

Good old # 26.

But with Wang and potentially Joba out, the Yankees have all their eggs in the basket of a bunch of dudes with loose skin and old balls.

And that doesn't win you ballgames.

If this were four years ago I might alerady be planning a champagne celebration. But as I get older and a little more saner, I can prepare for a pleasant chuckle.

Nothing would make me happier than a DBacks V Rays World Series. Me and 10 of my buddies would take care of 1/2 of the ratings share and would be loving every second of it.

Vaya,
Sip

(pics courtesy of espn.com, about.com)

Lost Weekend

It really was about as bad as it could have been. Three straight losses to a team that entered the weekend 7 games under .500.

And we're supposed to be a playoff team? If we can't beat the Houston Astros once with Pedro, John, and Ollie on the hill... honestly, what can we expect?

What can we expect when we blow seemingly a million bases loaded opportunities?

What can we expect with Nick Evans patrolling left field? Look, ever since Mike Pelfrey turned into Cy Young, I'm all for giving prospects time to develop. But let's be real, could Nick Evans look less comfortable in the batters box (to say nothing of how he looks out in left)?

It's wrong to pin it on Evans, even if he did slip out in left and even if he did strike out with the bases juiced. This weekend is on everyone.

The Mets are 3 games out and in third place. We're 5 games over .500. If we're going to make playoffs, we've got to start playing much better ball.

But as I wrote Saturday night, is there any reason to think we're capable of much better ball? Is there reason to think we're anything more than the team that's gone 48-53, aside from one 10-game winning streak?

It's like the old adage. No team is ever as good as it looks during a hot streak and ever as bad as it looks during a cold streak. We were never as good as we looked during that 10-game winning streak, we all knew that. We're not as bad as we look right now during this 4-game losing streak.

There's another, what, 97 games out there, and in those we're 48-49. That's what we look like when we're not hot and not cold.

Not a pretty picture. Is it just a bad weekend talking? Let's hope so.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Meet the Mess

Question for us to consider: when you get rid of that 10-game winning streak, what are we left with in this Mets team? A team that's gone 48-52.

In other words, it's not a fun question to answer.

They're 48-52 the rest of the way because of games like tonight's, which saw another lousy loss against a lousy team. It was another game the Mets should have won, another game they blew.

For 10 games the stars aligned and the team looked dominant. Which team is going to show up over the remaining 52 games? The team that won 10 straight? Hate to say it but there's 100 other games that beg to differ.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Sip Talks Deadline

I thought about reflecting on my sweet night in Georgetown with Austin Kearns, Aaron Boone, Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn. But today is a time to talk baseball. Let me just say, baseball players live great lives and those were some sweet dudes.

But the Deadline. Ah the Trade Deadline. The time of year when Steve Phillips gets to run his mouth on whoever the Mets GM Du Jour is. The time of year when we all reflect on Scott Kazmir and what could have been. And this year, its the time where baseball really decided to shake itself up.

1. How Bad of a Guy must Manny Really be?

These are ballplayers here. No one is asking for a Saint.

That the Red Sox would give up Manny, two prospects and then pay the rest of Manny's salary to get a lesser talent in Jason Bay really says something.



All that to get rid of arguably the games best right hand hitting bat.

Theo's my guy. He wouldn't do this unless he had to. So all I can gauge from this is that Manny Ramirez is a dispicable human being. This is much worse than lagging 5.7 seconds to first base or complaining about a knee problem to avoid the King or Joba. This guy has to just be a real piece of...

There is just no other explanation.

2. Griffey to the Sox

Ehh. Griffey is pretty much done. Would love to see the guy have a sweet postseason ten years too late. Griffey in my eyes is just likable.

3. X and Marte to the Yanks.

People seem to love this deal for the Yankees.

I dont LOVE it.

This is Xavier Nady here guys. Yeah, hes hitting .330 this year, but isn't this guy the definition of a mediocre outfielder?

He's topped 14 HR and 50 RBI once in his illustrious career.

Sure he is having a career year. But he is doing it in Pittsburgh.

I just want to remind people that this is Xavier Nady and not Jack parkman or Clew Haywood.




As for Marte. Solid pickup. He showed what he can do against lefties when he faced Big Papi. He also showed what he can do when he is used as more just a few days later.

If this guy's job is to get out Papi, Carlos Pena, Jim Thome and Garett Anderson, then its a great move.

Lets just see how the Yankees use him.


4. Pudge for Farnsworth

On paper, you gotta love this deal for the Yankees. Yankee fans have been dying to run Farnsy out of town since the day they shockingly overpaid him three years back.



But there is one catch to all of this.

Since Joba Chamberlain joined the rotation, Farnsworth has been the 8th inning guy. And he has been awesome.

So the Yankees are selling high on this one which is smart. They are getting an aging Pudge to replace an otherwise Minor League catching platoon of Jose Molina and Chad Moeller.

But what happens the first day that Edwar Ramirez or Jose Veras blows an 8th inning lead?

The backpages of NY are going to have a field day with that one.

Moving Joba from the pen was a risky maneuver that seemed to work. But are the Yankees now playing with fire? Are they getting a little too cocky with what they have in front of Mariano Rivera?

We can always hope.

5. Silence in Queens

Doesn't bother me much. The Mets look great these days. The rotation is a very solid 4 deep, only matched by the boys at Wrigley.

The lineup is clicking, Glass is back, Delgado is Cerrano again and all of a sudden the Mets are a formidable team in the National League.

This is a playoff team now. No one on the market was going to change that. No one that is except...

Barry Bonds.



I've said it before and I will say it again.

This guy should be a Met.

He is the asshole-prick that makes the Mets the Anti-Yankees. We are the scum to their class. Anyone who doesn't admit that was not a fan 15 years ago.

Didn't Jason Giambi take steroids? No one seems to care about that across town? So if Bonds goes all Teary-eyed Bob from Fight Club on us, everything will be ok?

This is a game of hypocrites.

As I said at the top, these are ballplayers not saints.

Some are really good guys, some are pricks.

But winning is winning.

And people love a winner.

Vaya,
Sip

(pics courtesy of redsoxtimes.com, baseballaha.com, mlb.com, newsday.com)