To: The Wilpons and Omar Minaya
Re: The remainder of the 2009 MLB Season
We, the long-suffering fans of the New York Mets franchise, implore you to simply forfeit the remainder of the 2009 season and begin preparing for 2010. The injury rate of Mets starters this year may otherwise soon be matched by the rate at which Mets fans are committed to insane asylums or plunging from skyscrapers (or from the top of Shake Shack, if nothing else). The Mets players all require time to heal their physical ailments (and also some time to maybe watch instructional videos on baseball...), and we fans require at least a full year to recover emotionally and mentally. Many of us have endured the collapses of the last two years -- as well as the choking in the 2006 NLCS -- and continued to root unconditionally for the Mets with all our hearts. However, so far this year, we have been forced to suffer through losses due to a dropped fly ball in left field by Murphy, a miss of 3rd base by Ryan Church (followed by a comedy of errors in the field), a dropped pop-up in the 9th inning by Castillo against the hated Yankees, multiple blow-out games against those same Yankees, a bases-loaded walk to Mariano Rivera to give those same Yankees an insurance run, and Fernando Martinez falling down on a fly ball followed by a 4-run double by Ryan Braun. And that is only the minimum list. Several other losses have been nearly as devastating to us devoted fans. Therefore, for the welfare of all those involved, we urge you to forfeit the remainder of the 2009 Major League Baseball season. After all, it looks like we may never win another game anyway.
Please act quickly.
Signed,
The New York Mets Fan-base
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
What is Going On?
Today, the Mets placed Carlos Beltran on the DL -- joining Maine, Perez, Putz, Pagan, Reyes, Delgado and others. They also demoted Ken Takahashi and Wilson Valdez. Filling those 3 spots, the Mets called up Fernando Martinez, Elmer Dessens (yes, Elmer Dessens... the latest in the "Where Are They Now?" series of Mets), and LHP Pat Misch. (By the way, 3 other candidates for "Where Are They Now?" Mets were recently released from Buffalo: Javier Valentin, Bobby Kielty, and Wily Mo Pena........ none of which make sense to me) (Also, did you happen to hear that Jose Reyes -- already disabled -- was in a car accident today on the Triboro Bridge along with trainer Ray Ramirez [just what we need: even our medical staff isn't safe from injury -- though the terrible team doctors being replaced probably would help this team...] A fire truck rear-ended their car)
It was also announced that Bobby Parnell and Pedro Feliciano were unavailable for tonight's opener against the Cardinals. Tim Redding, still looking for his first win as a Met, was slotted to start, and counted on to go deep into the game.
All of that news combined seemed to spell doom for the Mets. And yet, they won -- leaving all of us in a state of giving up forever on trying to understand this team. Along the way, highlights included:
It was also announced that Bobby Parnell and Pedro Feliciano were unavailable for tonight's opener against the Cardinals. Tim Redding, still looking for his first win as a Met, was slotted to start, and counted on to go deep into the game.
All of that news combined seemed to spell doom for the Mets. And yet, they won -- leaving all of us in a state of giving up forever on trying to understand this team. Along the way, highlights included:
- Tim Redding pitched into the 8th inning, allowing 4 runs (one of the runs was a homer leading off the 8th, which was his last batter).
- Jon Switzer struck out the first hitter he faced in relief of Redding. His next hitter got on, and Switzer was replaced by Brian Stokes.
- Brian Stokes came into a game!!! And in a pressure spot, which Jerry Manuel has said all along he doesn't trust Stokes in. Why he doesn't trust him, Mets fans don't know. It's the same irrational dislike he has for Ryan Church. And yet, due to all the insanity of the Mets roster for tonight's game, here was Brian Stokes coming into the game in the 8th inning leading by one, with the tying run on first. And who was coming to bat as the potential go-ahead run? None other than the best hitter in the league, Albert Pujols. Jerry Manuel must have been peeing his pants. Stokes fell behind Pujols on a series of sliders, then battled back and finally induced a weak grounder right back to himself, and turned the 1-6-3 double play to end the inning. Jerry Manuel must have immediately entered into a state of shock that may or may not have required Sandy Alomar to manage the rest of the game; we don't know. But who knows, could this actually make Jerry Manuel realize that Mets fans and analysts are right and begin trusting Stokes again like last year when he became the go-to guy at the end of the year until he was burned out? Probably not; nothing Church has done has convinced Manuel about him. But maybe.... After all, desperate times call for desperate measures -- even trusting people you wouldn't at any other time. And could things be more desperate for the Mets right now?...
- Daniel Murphy homered, giving the full Mets lineup for tonight's game a total of 17 home runs on the season. Fourteen players around the league have at least that many as individuals.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Quick Political Statement
I know this is a baseball blog, and I've completely avoided any mention of politics thus far (Steve made one little promo for Obama at one point...). But this is one I have to say:
People have to understand that Iran may be the Islamic Republic, but it does not have the close ties to other Islamic nations that that official name would suggest. Iranians are not Arab (the name "Iran" comes from the same root as Aryan), and despise most Arab nations. Through Hezbollah they've gained influence in Lebanon, and they sponsor Hamas in Palestine. But are we really afraid of offending Hamas further? I think their opinion of us is pretty well set -- no matter how much Obama tries to suck up to them during his Mid-East trip (at the cost of our Israeli friends, putting Mr. Netanyahu in a difficult place). The US government supporting protesters in Iran is not going to offend Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, or most other Islamic countries -- only the extremists who despise us anyway.
It's time for Mr. Obama to show what he truly aims to promote in the world: American principles or American image. He won the presidency with a popularity contest strategy fit for a high school class election. Now it's time to be a real leader. The reform candidate in Iran may still be in favor of their nuclear program and certain other disagreeable policies, but he would still be a great improvement over (and I apologize if I spell this wrong) Ahmedinejad.
Flag-bearers of freedoms should be supported by the US throughout the world -- whether it's oppressed protesters in Iran or Aung San Suu-Kyi (again, sorry if I spelled it wrong; I'm doing this whole thing off the top of my head) in Burma (yes, I know it's called Myanmar ever since the military junta took over and imprisoned the rightfully-elected president (Aung San Suu-Kyi).
To tie this in to sports for the sake of this blog, the Iranian national soccer team saw 8 of its players -- including its captain -- wear green bracelets in support of the reform candidate during the World Cup Qualifying Match against South Korea. When the second half began, the bracelets were suddenly gone. Little doubt that Ahmedinejad -- who is a huge soccer fan -- and his regime played an active part in removing the symbols of protest.
People have to understand that Iran may be the Islamic Republic, but it does not have the close ties to other Islamic nations that that official name would suggest. Iranians are not Arab (the name "Iran" comes from the same root as Aryan), and despise most Arab nations. Through Hezbollah they've gained influence in Lebanon, and they sponsor Hamas in Palestine. But are we really afraid of offending Hamas further? I think their opinion of us is pretty well set -- no matter how much Obama tries to suck up to them during his Mid-East trip (at the cost of our Israeli friends, putting Mr. Netanyahu in a difficult place). The US government supporting protesters in Iran is not going to offend Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, or most other Islamic countries -- only the extremists who despise us anyway.
It's time for Mr. Obama to show what he truly aims to promote in the world: American principles or American image. He won the presidency with a popularity contest strategy fit for a high school class election. Now it's time to be a real leader. The reform candidate in Iran may still be in favor of their nuclear program and certain other disagreeable policies, but he would still be a great improvement over (and I apologize if I spell this wrong) Ahmedinejad.
Flag-bearers of freedoms should be supported by the US throughout the world -- whether it's oppressed protesters in Iran or Aung San Suu-Kyi (again, sorry if I spelled it wrong; I'm doing this whole thing off the top of my head) in Burma (yes, I know it's called Myanmar ever since the military junta took over and imprisoned the rightfully-elected president (Aung San Suu-Kyi).
To tie this in to sports for the sake of this blog, the Iranian national soccer team saw 8 of its players -- including its captain -- wear green bracelets in support of the reform candidate during the World Cup Qualifying Match against South Korea. When the second half began, the bracelets were suddenly gone. Little doubt that Ahmedinejad -- who is a huge soccer fan -- and his regime played an active part in removing the symbols of protest.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Just try naming the Mets' current 25-man roster. Go ahead.
Alright, so the last several days, my younger brother and I have been quizzing each other on our favorite teams in specific years. We've been asking each other to name -- say, the full roster of the '98 Yankees or the 2000 Mets. And with that we both did very well -- incredibly well even with very obscure people.
However, as many past Mets as I could name, I admit I can't possibly name all 25 guys on the Mets current roster. Emil Brown just came into the game tonight. Now, I knew we acquired him in a minor-league deal for a player to be named, but when the heck did he get called up from Buffalo? Add him to such standouts as Wilson Valdez and Fernando Nieve, it's hard to believe this team could not be in first place....
Actually, I just checked the Mets' active roster, and Brown and Nieve are the only ones I wouldn't have gotten -- though I would have named Nieve as "Random Pitcher called up to Take JJ Putz's Place."
It's probably a good thing I haven't posted in quite a while. If I tried to keep up with all these Mets health issues, I think my computer's CPU would have burned out from over-use. And I would have been just as likely to hurl my computer across the room (which coincidentally would probably be faster and have more sink than a JJ Putz splitter this year) if I tried to blog about the Mets recently being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates, despite that already-pathetic team sending away Nate McLouth for -- I don't even remember who... Three hockey fans they found on the street outside the Stanley Cup finals maybe? If the three hockey fans had on Braves caps, it's hard to say if the inept Pirates front office would even realize the difference. They certainly didn't recognize that they've gotten no sort of significant return on trading away McLouth, Nady, and Bay (who shockingly enough may have given the Pirates the best outfield in the league while they were together).
However, as many past Mets as I could name, I admit I can't possibly name all 25 guys on the Mets current roster. Emil Brown just came into the game tonight. Now, I knew we acquired him in a minor-league deal for a player to be named, but when the heck did he get called up from Buffalo? Add him to such standouts as Wilson Valdez and Fernando Nieve, it's hard to believe this team could not be in first place....
Actually, I just checked the Mets' active roster, and Brown and Nieve are the only ones I wouldn't have gotten -- though I would have named Nieve as "Random Pitcher called up to Take JJ Putz's Place."
It's probably a good thing I haven't posted in quite a while. If I tried to keep up with all these Mets health issues, I think my computer's CPU would have burned out from over-use. And I would have been just as likely to hurl my computer across the room (which coincidentally would probably be faster and have more sink than a JJ Putz splitter this year) if I tried to blog about the Mets recently being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates, despite that already-pathetic team sending away Nate McLouth for -- I don't even remember who... Three hockey fans they found on the street outside the Stanley Cup finals maybe? If the three hockey fans had on Braves caps, it's hard to say if the inept Pirates front office would even realize the difference. They certainly didn't recognize that they've gotten no sort of significant return on trading away McLouth, Nady, and Bay (who shockingly enough may have given the Pirates the best outfield in the league while they were together).
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