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:

• 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.

Unfair League Justice

Major League Baseball Umpire Brian Runge was suspended 1 game by the league for his conduct in the Mets-Mariners game on Tuesday night. After attempting to bait Carlos Beltran into arguing a call, Runge engaged in an argument with Mets manager Jerry Manuel. During this debate, Runge clearly bumped Manuel, at which point Jerry went berserk and was ejected (Beltran followed suit as Manuel reached the dugout on his way to the clubhouse).

Here is my problem with this: Runge should have been suspended for more than 1 game. If Jerry Manuel had bumped him during the argument, Manuel would be suspended for at least 4 games. Why should Runge be let off so easily? I've been umpiring little league games for 4 years, and last year even I was suspended for a week because the general opinion was that I was seeking out confrontations with coaches and players. So recreation little league umpirers in small-town north Jersey are held to a higher standard of conduct than Major League umpirers? Outrageous. I was surprised to see that Major League Baseball gave Runge any punishment, but seeing that they did, they were too lenient. I also wonder whether they would have done anything at all if the incident had happened in Seattle rather than in New York...

We've all seen suspensions doled out after brawls that don't seem proportional. But this suspension of Runge for only one game clearly shows that the league is more interested in protecting its direct employees than in promoting equal justice for wrongdoing.

It's good to look to Church on Sunday

Ryan Church returned to the Mets line-up in right field Sunday night for the first time since suffering his second concussion of the season against the Braves. The result? The Mets offense actually looked alive for once. Church made me jump out of my seat in his first at-bat when he hit a low-inside pitch deep to right, but it was caught a few steps short of the wall. The Dodgers weren't so fortunate later in the game. After Carlos Beltran homered (his second in two days... amazing), Delgado walked (I guess that's something...). Church stepped up and hit a two run shot to right on a high-inside fastball. It's great to have Church back. Maybe we can actually get over .500 again now. The Mets face the Giants and Padres next -- the bottom dwellers of the bad (with the exception of Arizona) NL West. If there's a time to gain ground on the Phillies and Marlins, this is it.


By the way, after Church homered, ESPN continually showed the replay and viewers were forced to listen to Joe Morgan talk about what a poor scouting report the Dodgers obviously had on Ryan Church since they threw him up and in and he turned on it for a homer. So let me see if I understand this, Joe Morgan. Any time a batter hits a homerun, is it because of a bad scouting report used by the pitcher and catcher? Or does that just apply to Mets players who had hit a low and inside pitch to the warning track in their previous at-bat? Ever stop to consider that maybe Ryan Church just guessed right? Or -- and here's a wild idea -- maybe Ryan Church is just a good Major League hitter? Thank God Steve Phillips wasn't up there in the booth. Who knows what he and his hatred for the team he worked hard to destroy would've concocted as the excuse for why the Mets suddenly looked like a Major League baseball team!

Mets Home Opener about to Begin

I've been listening to the introductions of the Mets' players in the pregame ceremonies for the final Home Opener at Shea. A couple things stood out:

• Obviously, Johan Santana received the loudest and most sustained ovation. He was also the only new Met who received an introduction including the words, "Welcome to New York..."
• The next loudest ovation was predictably for David Wright. In 3rd place? John Maine. I am personally a big John Maine fan (I'm wearing a Maine jersey today), so I appreciate that the crowd at the game recognizes like I do how well Maine pitched for us last year despite his tail-off in the August.
• Scott Schoeneweiss received -- if nothing else -- a quieter reception than he was expecting (Said Schoeneweiss over the weekend about the upcoming player introductions: "I'm scared to death of it because I always get booed. Can't I just wear my hoodie out there?"). I heard more boos than cheers, but it wasn't as loud as I expected.
• Aaron Heilman was not booed, despite already having given up a few costly runs this season, along with his checkered past including that homerun he gave up to Yadier Molina in the '06 NLCS.

Anyway, today's the final Home Opener for Shea Stadium. So I leave you with these song lyrics:

Now we see them rushing

To the stadium in Flushing.

Big Shea will see its last game in the Fall.

We've got Maine and Ollie Perez,

Moises and Chavez,

Santana's our guy and we're finishing high

So let's play ball.

We're talking baseball (Jose Reyes and Mr. Wright)

Talking baseball (Delgado's bat is dynamite)

Pedro, Church, and Billy -- they're all set.

And Carlos Beltran -- he's as good as it gets.

We're talking baseball. Baseball and the Mets.

Update from last post

Out of the large number of Mets listed in the last post as being injured, several returned to the lineup today. The biggest surprise was Ryan Church, returning from the Grade 2 concussion he suffered in his collision last weekend. Church looked good, ripping two line-drive singles to right in his only 2 at-bats. Also returning to the lineup for the game against the Marlins were Brian Schneider, Damion Easley, and Endy Chavez. This was a split-squad game, and on the other squad which traveled to face the Baltimore Orioles, Marlon Anderson made his return to the lineup.

Duaner Sanchez is also scheduled to pitch for the first time in 8 days in the game against the Marlins, though he hasn't entered the game yet as of now.


Beltran, Castillo, and Delgado continue to sit out. Reports on Beltran and Castillo sound like they could appear in a game any day now. Delgado has taken batting practice and reported no pain.

Moises Alou will definitely miss the beginning of the regular season. Orlando Hernandez has finally thrown a bit down in Florida, but there is no definite timetable for his first appearence in a game.

No Surprise from Alou; Mets' team injury recap

The first poll on this blog asked readers to choose which Mets player would be most seriously injured this season. By a large margin, readers selected "Moises Alou, just by being Moises Alou." Those people are off to an early lead, as today it was learned that Alou will miss 4-6 weeks following surgery for a hernia.

How exactly did Alou get a hernia? From all that heavy lifting he does in his life? The bat and ball are really heavy.... Every Spring Training game he has played so far, I've yelled at the tv screen for Alou to just walk to any balls hit to left and allow the batter to get an inside the park homerun in order to avoid injuring his legs. I don't know what he could have done to cause this hernia, or possibly could've done to prevent it. What a disaster.

So, to recap for people, the Mets regular starters in the outfield (Ryan Church, Carlos Beltran, and Moises Alou) are all injured. Their primary back-up outfielder (Endy Chavez) is injured. Their starting catcher (Brian Schneider) is injured. Their first baseman (Carlos Delgado) and both of his backups (Damion Easley and Marlon Anderson, both of whom are also backup outfielders and backup utility infielders) are injured. Their second baseman (Luis Castillo) is injured, along with both of his backups already named and also the person who would come 4th on the depth chart at second base (Jose Valentin). So out of the Mets 8 position-player regulars, only David Wright and Jose Reyes are uninjured at this time (though Reyes did take a couple days off after awkwardly fouling a ball off his own knee). What a great start...

The Dangers of Batting Practice

As I discussed in my last post, Brad Lidge will miss 3-6 weeks after injuring his knee when a spike got caught during batting practice at Phillies camp. The dangers of batting practice have since reached Tradition Field at Port St. Lucie. While taking BP, Carlos Beltran was hit in the arm by a pitch from Johan Santana. The arm is only black and blue, but any time anything happens to Beltran it is cause for concern.

Beltran is not taking part in today's intrasquad game, which began at noon.

J-Roll, the Collapse, and disappointing Cubs fans

Well, it's Spring [Training] again, and you know what that means. That's right; Jimmy Rollins is talking and Cubs fans are depressed.


My college -- and especially my band of friends -- is a bit heavily loaded with Phillies fans, unfortunately. Remember in Office Space when Peter said that whenever he made a mistake, he had 8 different people coming by to tell him about it? Well, that's what every day of The Collapse was for me -- only the number wasn't 8; it was more like 20. And this wasn't limited to students on campus. I was hearing it from old acquaintances who had transferred, and even from professors. People were shocked the day after The Collapse was complete that I still walked around with a David Wright jersey and a Mets cap on. But hey, it certainly wasn't Wright's fault. His September still merited he could've won the MVP. But instead, that award became the ultimate kick-while-down: "Jimmy Rollins, MVP." That day, a bunch of my friends suddenly had Phillies jerseys -- some with the tags still on them... Hmm... I wore Mets jerseys and caps every day back when the only reason to go to Shea was to see if Todd Hundley could hit a moon shot from on his heels or on his knee or whatever ridiculous type of swing he took that day (Fun Fact: My pet cat which I've had for years now is named after Todd Hundley). I never stopped wearing my #20 jersey and believing Burnitz could come up with a big-fly (or an accidental single) in a big spot, only to see him strike out again and again. I threw a small party when Armando Benitez left the team. I've seen the bad. I wasn't going to let one month of poor baseball rule my fan-ocity (not yet Trademarked). Hopefully this year Rollins will be forced to shut up while Wright or Beltran receive the MVP (And Pedro for Comeback Player of the Year? Unless, of course, Juan Gonzalez can hit like in his Mitchell Report days...).



And as for Cubs fans... I admit, I don't know many personally. But the one I am friends with here at college is not expecting anything from the 100 year anniversary other than that number continuing to increase. His reaction to Ryan Dempster's proclamation that the Cubbies are the team to beat? "Thanks, Ryan, you @$$****." But I think Cubs fans should just continue to say "100 Years" no matter how long it takes. Heck, the Hundred Years War really lasted 139 years or something like that. I'm not sure whether the Cubs are the French and the Cardinals the English in this Hundred Years War analogy or the other way around. Wouldn't the French need an eccentric woman on their side as a Joan of Arc equivalent? Would that mean Marge Schott and the 1990s Reds? Or Anna Benson (photo link from metstradamus.blogspot.com) and the '08 Phillies? Well, it's convenient if the Phillies are the French -- two groups of people I despise...).

I miss the Red Sox 1918 Curse. Their fans were so much more fun to mess with. Every year, they truly believed until the bitter end. Cubs fans are a different breed. They don't get their hopes up too high. It's disappointing. They're just sad.

Anyway, I'm not the only one pumped about Spring Training. I'm going to have a catch. I suggest you do the same. It's a much more fun way of emulating your favorite players than practicing Congressional Testimony, I found after attempting to watch the Clemens-McNamee circus.