Not Much New

I've been very busy lately, thus the no new posts on the Mets. But here's a basic update:

-Wright is unfortunately in a slump.
-Ryan Church is still hitting the ball hard, against both righties and lefties.
-Aaron Heilman has taken over the top spot on my list of undesirables. He is absolutely terrible.
-Brian Schneider has missed the last several games with an injury. Raul Casanova has filled in for him. Casanova has a homerun today off of John Smoltz.
-The Mets knocked Smoltz out of today's game after only 4 innings. The Mets were leading 4-0. It is now 4-3.... Crap.


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Hopefully I'll have time for another substantive post soon.

Dirty Sanchez is back!

The Mets game just ended, and it was full of great individual performances. Pelfrey pitched 7 scoreless innings, Reyes had 4 hits including a triple and double, Wright had 5 RBIs including a 2-run homer in the first inning. But the biggest thing about tonight's game in my opinion was the man who pitched the 9th inning for the Mets: Duaner Sanchez. It was his first Major League appearance since his taxi cab accident in Miami back on July 30, 2006. I didn't get to see it, but the radio announcers said his slider seemed sharp and his fastball had good velocity. But we all know Duaner's go-to-pitch is the change, and he seemed to be missing his spot with that. But that will come. Overall, Sanchez pitched 1.0 inning, gave up a ground ball single up the middle, struck out a batter, and induced two ground ball outs. A strong outing.

I know I'm a Heilman-hater, but I'll mention here that he pitched a scoreless 8th inning, despite giving up a double.

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More on Duaner Sanchez, I just want to include a story here. I've already written the story of how Xavier Nady learned he had been traded after Sanchez's injury created a need for a relief pitcher. As clueless as Nady was that him being traded was a possibility, the rest of the Mets may have been even more shocked. Apparently, Nady was in the hotel lobby on July 31 and preparing to leave to join the Pirates. A bunch of the Mets players were set to go out to dinner and just assumed that X-Man would either join them or be going out on his own. It was then that Nady told them all he had been traded to Pittsburgh. He also told them at this time about Duaner Sanchez's car accident and injury, which the players seemingly didn't know about before. Needless to say, the collection of Mets players was speechless. Nady was an extremely popular player among both his teammates and the fans, and obviously everybody recognized how critical Sanchez was to the team's success.

With Sanchez returning, it's an appropriate time to look back. Aaron Heilman, Guillermo Mota (yes, that steroid-using, lead-blowing @$$****), and Roberto Hernandez all tried to fill Sanchez's role, and none were particularly successful in the end (i.e. the playoffs [Yadier Molina? Are you kidding me, Heilman?]). Heilman is still blowing leads for the Mets, so not much has changed there. Mota was sent to the Brewers in a form of addition-by-subtraction, since the player the Mets received in return, Johnny Estrada, was released just a couple weeks later. Roberto Hernandez went to the Indians to start 2007, but was released by them on June 20 of that year, and signed onto a minor-league deal with the Dodgers. He struggled through a stretch with the Major League club, and is currently a free agent at 43 years old. Xavier Nady is now the main offensive threat of the Pittsburgh Pirates (or a close second to Jason Bay), and still a very popular player (not to mention an early winner of the Non-Mets Player Mets Player of the Day Award here on this site).

Today's Game So Far

I just got back to my computer after playing whiffleball for a while and eating dinner, and I obviously went straight to MLB.com to access Gameday and to listen to the WFAN broadcast of the Mets game. When I got into Gameday, I saw that Ryan Church is batting second in the Mets order today, which is very strange, because the Nationals' starting pitcher (Odalis Perez) is a lefty. What happened to all that talk of Church being incapable of hitting lefties? Anyway, with Church in the 2-spot, Luis Castillo was bumped down to 8th in the order. I thought I must have been reading something wrong or they had posted it wrong. But then I saw that Wright hit a 2-run homer in the first to give the Mets the lead, and clicked on the little video link to watch the highlight. When he finished rounding the bases, the runner waiting for him at home was wearing uniform #42. Ryan Church is #19, so obviously my belief that something was wrong with Gameday was correct. It only took me a second to realize that everybody on the Mets is wearing #42 today in honor of Jackie Robinson Day, which is being celebrated around baseball today.

As part of Jackie Robinson Day, which Commissioner Selig decided to center at Shea Stadium this year, the Mets unveiled the newly constructed Jackie Robinson Rotunda, the Ebbets Field-inspired museum portion of the Mets future home, Citi Field. I haven't had a chance to watch any video of the unveiling yet, and probably won't until late tonight when my college's internet speeds up after everybody else who isn't a history major is asleep. But I'm really getting excited about that new stadium every time a ball is hit to left and it appears in the background.


From a Broadcast last season: "And David Wright has just hit the first homerun in Citi Field." -after Wright's homer landed in the construction area



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I realize I haven't posted a Non-Mets Player Mets Player of the Day in quite a few days. I've just been extremely busy lately.

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.

Xavier Nady, still helping the Mets cause

I was a big fan of Xavier Nady for his half-season on the Mets. It was only due to the misfortune of Duaner Sanchez's taxi accident that the Mets traded Nady to pick up some bullpen help in Roberto Hernandez (and picked up Oliver Perez in the deal, as well). My fan-ocity (term still not trademarked) of Nady is still growing, as he just hit a solo homer in the 8th inning to put the Pirates ahead of the Braves.


On the subject of Nady, his story of finding out he'd been traded still amuses me. He dropped back 30-something (I could look up the exact number but I don't feel particularly motivated right now) games in the standings by going from the Mets to the Pirates in that deal. Here's the story, as I remember it: Nady said he didn't even know his name had ever come up in trade talks, and was at the beach with his fiancee all day. When he got back to his hotel room, he picked up his phone and saw there were over a dozen missed calls from Omar Minaya. "I knew that wasn't a good sign," Nady said. He then called Minaya and thanked him for allowing him the opportunity of being the Mets' right fielder for those previous four months.

"I knew that wasn't a good sign." It reminds me now of Bob Uecker's Hall of Fame Induction speech, where he listed the signs he noticed that he was possibly being released from a team: (1) Walking into the clubhouse on day one and having a coach tell you that visitor's aren't allowed; (2) Having management tell you they want you to consider joining the team as the 2nd Base Coach if they ever need one; (3) Being told by a manager to "Go grab a bat and kill this rally" or to "Go up there without a bat and try to work a walk." Oh, Bob Uecker. We all love you. But Xavier Nady is pretty good, too.


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Edit by Joe Cook at 11:53 PM:

Nady hit another 3-run homer in the top of the 12th inning to put the Pirates up 12-9. The Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the inning, but were finally retired. Xavier Nady, with his 4-7, 2 HR, 4 Run, 4 RBI game against the Braves today, shares the honors with the entire Washington Nationals team (who defeated the Phillies [bullpen] handily today) for my daily "Non-Mets Player Mets Player of the Day." This is the Nationals' second selection this year, and second in a row, as yesterday they won the honor for knocking off the Braves in extras on an extra-inning blast by Ryan Zimmerman (who was teammates in AAU Baseball with David Wright).

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...

Mets vs. Michigan, and Proof there are good guys in baseball even in the steroid era

The Mets took on the Univesity of Michigan baseball team today in an exhibition game. In between classes, I was able to listen to innings 6, 7, and 8 via the online broadcast. I actually had to leave for an afternoon class right after Michigan took the lead on a deep 2-run homer. With the Mets having removed all their regulars (and even primary backups having left the game by that point), my hopes weren't high for a comeback. I returned from class to learn that Michel Abreu had hit a game-tying 2-run shot to center field with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. This will likely be Michel Abreu's only appearance on this blog, so I'm officially declaring February 26, 2008 "Michel Abreu Day." The game ended in a tie, since the Mets ran out of pitchers scheduled to throw today. While I was furious at the declaration of a tie in the All-Star Game in Milwaukee a few years ago, I didn't mind this one. My favorite moment of the game, which I didn't get to hear because it was in the bottom of the 9th, had to be 3rd Base Coach Sandy Alomar Sr. apparently going ballistic over Abreu's shot originally being ruled a double. As I wrote a couple days ago, I'm looking for some real fire on the Mets this year. If that passion starts with Sandy Alomar Sr., so be it. Whoever it takes.

Second best moment of today was definitely David Wright homering on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. As Steve noted in an earlier post, I have what some would categorize as a man-crush on Wright. Heck, why not? The guy is a great player, with the proper attitude toward the game.

Also, my sympathy to Aaron Heilman. As a proud Notre Dame alum, it must have been particularly hard on Heilman having given up a run to the Wolverines today.

Tomorrow is the first official Spring Training game for the Mets, as they take on the Tigers at 1:05. I will be listening on MLB Audio. I haven't ordered MLB.tv yet, but probably will soon. Mike Pelfrey will start on the mound for the Mets.

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This is just another item from baseball I wanted to note today. As part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Roy Halladay today provided a 13-year old cancer survivor with a wonderful day. I always enjoy the Make-A-Wish Foundation segments when they're shown on ESPN and when I see stories about them online. Many people view Major Leaguers as a bunch of selfish [due to huge contracts] criminals [due to steroid and HGH use], but: A) I truly believe that performance-enhancing drug users are a minority in MLB, no matter what Jose Canseco and others say; and B) A lot of the players in MLB honestly enjoy giving back to their fans when they can. Doc Halladay has always struck me as a good guy when I've seen interviews with him and such, and I'm thrilled for young Sean Clayton for achieving his dream by meeting the Blue Jays' Cy Young-winning ace.

I know Sean Casey (now of the Red Sox) has consistently been voted the nicest player in MLB by the players. I wonder who all of you think of when you think of baseball players who are truly decent human beings? Tell me your thoughts on this in the comments.

Condolences to David Wright and family

My condolences to David Wright and his family in Norfolk, Virginia. Wright's grandmother passed away this afternoon. According to Steve Popper at the Bergen Record, David will be flying home to Norfolk this weekend to be with his family.

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.

Welcome to the Blog

Hey there, everybody in the blogosphere. Welcome to this brand new blog. The focus is going to be mostly on sports -- and specifically on baseball. Just to let you know, I'm a life-long Mets fan, and the posts will reflect that. I have no real access to players or coaches or anybody else affiliated with the organization -- or any organization. This is simply going to be a fan's perspective of the Amazin's. I was born 9 months too late to enjoy a Mets World Series title in my lifetime, so hopefully this will be the year.

I have no real expertise other than being an avid fan. For all-access, great coverage, check out Matthew Cerrone at metsblog.com. I've seen more than my share of baseball games, and I hope you trust me when I say I know what I'm talking about (hopefully you'll at least bear with this blog long enough to give me a chance to show that).

I may occasionally post an angry response to something going on with the New Jersey Nets. I was a Phoenix Suns fan when J-Kidd was playing there, and I'm far from pleased with his recent departure to Dallas for a scrap heap of guys that includes Keith Van Horn. Heck, is it me, or did Keith Van Horn (I say did because Keith hasn't played a game since 2005) always seem like he would be getting wedgies from the other guys if the game was being played in the school-yard? I could just picture Van Horn being powerless as a guy pulls his jockeys all the way up to the 6'10" top of his head for an atomic wedgie.

But anyway, since talk of Keith Van Horn and the Nets is just making me depressed, let's return to baseball. Suffice it to say for now that I'm pumped about Spring Training returning. Heck, if there was a network that televised daily workouts, I would skip all my classes and just sit around watching David Wright take infield practice and Duaner Sanchez throwing live BP today to a group of guys (only D-Wright managed to make contact against him on a foul tip, and Easley was the only other player to take a hack, but swung and missed).

I'm also hoping I'll be able to convince my roommate, Steve Slowinski, to take up writing here, as well. I gotta give him credit; rooting for the D-Rays, he suffers more than Mets fans like I do. He's in Denmark now studying, and I don't waste a day reminding him that there's no baseball in Denmark. I think Spring Break we might have to both fly down to Florida for Spring Training. We'll see.

Well, that's enough of an intro for now. I'll try to post often on events down in Port St. Lucie. If nothing else, I'll try to post links to other sites' articles and posts that you might find interesting.

Go Mets!!!