Officially giving up

The Mets desperately have needed to make a trade for the past several weeks. Today, they made one. They sent Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff "Strike Three" Francoeur. Yes, the Mets made a trade with the BRAVES! WTF!!!! Another right-handed hitter who strikes out constantly and hasn't put up good numbers in a couple years. And we give up our best fielder and one of our few legitimate hitters. And we do it in a trade that will help a rival that's only half a game ahead of us in the standings. Here's the rest of my expert commentary:

#$)&#)$#&)$#@)#@&#@&() V&*@ Minaya &*()RE#*()$#&)$#@#^)#^*@*^&#) Jerry Manuel &*()#$&)$#&)#( Shake Shack )(*&#$&#(&$(&(*&*(&*( strikeouts. If Jeff Francoeur doesn't hit 25 homers the rest of the year, I want Minaya and Jerry Manuel not only fired, but also tarred and feathered. Let's hear Jerry Manuel try to claim he didn't have a personal hatred of Ryan Church all along now. What was the reason for it? The quickest explanation may not hold much weight (Church is white) since Francouer is too. But I'm certainly not abandoning that theory; after all, why did Daniel Murphy not play last night after a big night on Wednesday? Manuel said he wants to get Tatis in a rhythm. How f*cking long are we gonna wait for that? What happened to "if you produce, you'll stay in the lineup"? Murphy was producing, and he was benched in favor of the Hispanic player who's leading the world in GIDP's per at-bat. Church was productive on the last road-trip, and now he's gone. When Francouer strikes out in each of his first 15 at-bats, he'll be benched in favor of whoever the next Emil Brown is to come to town. Can't wait to see who..... And sticking with the theory: who did we remove from the rotation to make room for the returning Ollie Perez? Not journeyman Fernando Nieve, but rather veteran expensive starter Tim Redding. Please explain.

I'd love to believe the Mets can still win the division, but don't believe it. I can't root against Ryan Church even in Atlanta; I'm a fan of players. But I officially give up on Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya. I just want them gone.

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.

Why is Ryan Church not playing?

Marty Noble of mlb.com was asked in his most recent Mets Inbox why Ryan Church has seen his playing time continually decrease while players such as Gary Sheffield have seen plenty of playing time with worse numbers. He wrote:

"You hardly are alone in your wonder. My sense of it, and that of others, including men in uniform, is that Church has been shortchanged -- in words, plans and, since the season began, playing time. It began early in Spring Training. The comments manager Jerry Manuel made about him then seemed unnecessarily uncomplimentary. Then Church made most of the trips and played as much as anyone other than Daniel Murphy in exhibition games. He was exhausted by mid-March. Since Opening Day, he has become the player most affected by the batting-order imbalance -- too many left-handed hitters.

"Church is a fine outfielder, the best defensive right fielder the Mets franchise has had, and he ought to be in right as often as possible in Citi Field. He plays hard; no one can quarrel with that. And he was hitting early on. I suspect Manuel didn't want to sit Murphy when he was having so much trouble in left field and have Murphy begin to doubt himself."

Now here's my take on it: Omar Minaya has had the reputation since his days with Montreal that he favors mediocre minority (specifically hispanic) players to even good white players. His seeming preference all through the offseason to stick with Ollie Perez instead of Wolf or Lowe looked like further evidence of that. Could he be pulling the strings against Ryan Church? Or could Jerry Manuel have the same preference? Sheff has hit nothing at all (other than his 500th homerun), Tatis can get at-bats at other positions (and has done so, with Delgado's health issues). And look how long it took for Jeremy Reed (who is also white) to finally get a start. He only just got his first one this past week, over 20 games into the season. And while Daniel Murphy was favored by Jerry Manuel in his statements during Spring Training, Murphy has also seen his starts decrease in favor of Tatis and Sheffield. So while one white outfielder was favored over another, they both take backseats to the minorities. I'm curious what will happen when Brian Schneider comes back from his injury (whenever that may wind up being). Is Minaya going to try long and hard to deal him away in order to keep Ramon Castro and Omir Santos?

Now suppose an organization was intentionally playing very mediocre white players over much better and more productive black or hispanic players simply due to race. That organization would be subject to lawsuits and be branded as racist by fans. Should the Mets not be viewed the same way? Racism against whites is still racism.

Love is the Most Important Thing in the World, but Baseball is Pretty Good Too

So far this Spring Training, I've had to just listen to the Mets games on mlb.com since we do not get SNY here at Gettysburg College. However, we do -- for some strange reason -- get CW11, so I haven't moved from my seat since 1 pm as I've been watching the Mets take on the Astros. So far, the offense has looked good, loading the bases in each of the first 3 innings. However, they only just pushed in a run for the first time here in the 3rd on Ryan Church's grounder through the legs of the Astros first-baseman (the second time today Church reached on an error).

On another note, John Maine started today's game. His first inning was sharp (despite a solo homerun by Miguel Tejada). He lost his control a bit in the 2nd, but the important thing for Maine is seeing him healthy after last season. The importance of his health is heightened with the news today that Santana is returning to NYC to have his elbow examined.


....as I typed this, Brian Schneider hit a grand slam to put the Mets on top 5-1. Last season, I made it to three Mets games (two at Shea and one in Washington). Schneider homered in all of them -- including being the last person I saw hit a homer at Shea (against these Astros). Let's hope he stays healthy this year, as well, as he spent the first half of last season struggling from a multitude of problems before having a strong second half at the plate.

Watching baseball again feels great. The world is right again. If only Casey Fossum could pitch today it would be perfect.....

First Fossum File of the Spring

Okay, so the Mets lost their Grapefruit League game today against the Cardinals, 9-8. However, a couple things on the bright side:

1) Ryan Church had an RBI double in the second inning off Cardinals starter Todd Wellemeyer. It's no secret on this blog that I'm a Church fan (certainly more-so than Jerry Manuel, apparently), and I'm happy to see him still able to rake at the plate. I've had 6 concussions myself (4 in baseball), so it might be partly for that reason that I'm really rooting for Church. Good start to the spring; let's hope (for Church and for the sake of the Mets' lineup) that he keeps it up.

2) Bobby Kielty had a homerun off former Met great (in the same way Roberto Alomar and Kaz Matsui are former Met greats..) Royce Ring. Kielty is -- just like Church -- trying to make a comeback from post-concussion syndrome. Kielty, however, has been out of the game since 2006. It's impossible to imagine Kielty making the opening day roster, but he could be this year's Fernando Tatis. And taking a chance on Tatis after his break from the league certainly turned out well for the Mets last season. I hope to see him in Queens (or somewhere else, granted it isn't Philadelphia, Atlanta, or Miami) getting a shot at some point this year. A real feel good story if he can. (By the way, check out some old photos of Kielty. As some other blogs such as Metstradamus have pointed out, he bears a striking resemblance to Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons. And as most kids of the '90s like me know, Sideshow Bob certainly kept on coming back -- even if in Italy........ by the way, Johan Santana was supposed to make a start against the Italian WBC team for the Mets, but he's been scratched as the Mets play it safe with his health).

3) Most important to the heart of this blog (which any of you who are regular readers will know) was the fact that Casey Fossum, our beloved "Blade", pitched two scoreless innings in relief for the Mets -- allowing two hits. Obviously Fossum is a long-shot for a spot on the 25-man roster out of Spring Training, but we're not giving up hope. We'll be following his incredible mediocrity whether it be in Queens, Buffalo, or just on the field the voices are telling me to build for him.

....by the way, I'm accepting donations to fund my construction of that field.

Last Day at Shea

Tonight's victory against the Astros will most likely be the final game I go to at Shea Stadium. I have to be happy with the way it worked out: a Santana v. Oswalt matchup, the return of Ryan Church from the DL (which included a 2-minute standing ovation when it came time for his first at-bat, in which he hit an infield single), and a Mets victory. The last homerun I'll ever see in-person at Shea Stadium was hit by Brian Schneider off Oswalt immediately following Church's single. The last out was recorded by Luis Ayala (which capped off two perfect innings by the normally-nerve-racking Mets 'pen). And most importantly, the Mets sit in first place as I walked away from Shea Stadium for the last time.


Goodbye, Shea.

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!

Alou is Back!

If nothing else, the Mets roster is beginning to slightly more resemble the Mets roster with Duaner Sanchez returning recently and tonight's return of Moises Alou. Sure, both catchers from our preferred Major League roster are on the Disabled List currently, and Pedro will miss several more weeks, and El Duque is -- well -- El Duque, but some people are making their returns.

Last year, when Alou actually played, he was an RBI, BA, and HR machine. Tonight, in his first at-bat of the season, he has an RBI single (which, granted, should have been a double play ball if Diamondbacks 2B Orlando Hudson didn't simply miss it completely). There's been plenty to complain about with this Mets team this season, but Alou is currently batting 1.000 with an RBI. There's not much we can say in complaint about his performance when he's actually been on the field......yet.

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By the way, the Mets have switched back tonight to the order with Ryan Church batting second and Castillo in the 8-slot. They're scoring again. Incredible... Amazing how so many blogs and other fans have called for this, and it's taken this long for Willie Randolph to go with it.

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.

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.

Here's a convo just now between the two operators of this site, following Pagan's RBI double for the Mets a few minutes ago

Joe(5:24:02 PM): Angel Pagan is a god (or angel...) among men (or pagans...)!!
"JCS" (5:24:31 PM): lol
"JCS" (5:24:36 PM): gotta love that name, I've got to say
"JCS" (5:24:40 PM): it's pretty ridiculous
"JCS" (5:24:54 PM): what team is he on? to be honest, the name isn't really familiar
Joe(5:25:06 PM): I know it's pronounced differently, but I can't resist calling him by the way that's spelled
cooksbro10 (5:25:13 PM): He's the Mets starting left fielder
"JCS" (5:25:35 PM): ahh, okay
"JCS" (5:25:39 PM): hmm....interesting
"JCS" (5:25:39 PM): lol
"JCS" (5:25:51 PM): so either your team is blessed or has sold itself to the devil
Joe(5:25:55 PM): and to make it even more perfect, he's followed in the lineup by Ryan Church
"JCS" (5:26:01 PM): haha!
"JCS" (5:26:02 PM): wow...
"JCS" (5:26:09 PM): it really is a divine year for 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...