Mets are this much closer to getting RickRoll'd all season long

Due to an onslaught of votes for write-in candidate: Never Gonna Give You Up is among the top six songs to be the new eighth inning song for the New York Mets. It actually "won" the vote, but the vote was never going to decide the song, just weed out the bad ones, says the Mets.

From Adam Rubin:

Rather than commit to that as the new eighth-inning tune since it probably doesn’t reflect the fan base’s wishes, the Mets will play the top six selections once apiece during the first six games of their home stand. The one that draws the largest crowd response will stick.

The other songs that made the cut, in descending order: Livin’ on a Prayer, Bon Jovi; I’m a Believer, The Monkees; Movin’ Out, Billy Joel; Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond; and Build Me Up Buttercup, The Foundations.

The Mets suggested the Fark tune winning didn’t necessarily result in the runoff, saying the contest rules stipulated Internet voters would “help decide” the outcome.

I want Astley to win, without a doubt. It's an amazing song and it holds my sentiments about the Mets. Through thick or thin, I'm never going to give them up. (I can't believe I just wrote that.)

Check out the old-school Pop Up Video...

Is Willie already in trouble?

I don't think so, but some people do.

I don't know how going 2-3 in your first five games of the season could possibly put you on the hotseat. Sure, you landed the best pitcher in baseball this offseason, but you have to remember he only pitches every fifth day. When he does pitch, and your offense only manages five hits and one run, that's not a good sign, but it's early.

Eddie D'Anna, over at Ya Gotta Believe, thinks Willie Randolph is already in hot water and "Willie Watch" has begun.

From D'Anna:

After this weeked, the 2008 New York Mets look an awful lot like the 2007 New York Mets.

And that's not a good thing for skipper Willie Randolph, who, after The Collapse, will be on a short leash this time around.

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But if this weekend's trend continues much longer, there's only one change left to try.

And if that is indeed the case, Randolph will fall on his sword quickly, because Omar's gonna do anything in his power to right a wayward ship he spent 140 million sacagaweas assembling.

Whether the Mets admit it or not, the "Willie Watch" has begun.

Geez. It's been five games. You can count that on one hand. Most players are still getting into the swing of things for the new season. Give the guy a break, for once. There are so many fans and people that get all over Randolph just because. I'm convinced most of these people would hate any manager that comes in to succeed Randolph if he's ever bumped.

Willie has obviously started to learn about his bullpen, as he's working them less and using them in proper situations. He fell back into his old groove when he left Jorge Sosa in the game, and he promptly gave up a grand slam.

I think Randolph has started to learn the ropes a bit, but who knows how long Omar Minaya and the Mets brass will hang on to him if the team continues to "struggle."

Photo of the Day: Anderson

Marlon Anderson slides into second in the eighth inning of the Mets game against the Atlanta Braves. The Mets offense was very quiet, only waking up in the ninth inning, when it was a little too late.
The Mets will come home to open the final season at Shea Stadium against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.
(AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Game Recap: Braves 3 -- Mets 1

Johan Santana pitched about as well as Mets fans could hope, but the offense was nowhere to be found Sunday, as the Mets got swept out of Atlanta in a rain-shortened series, losing 3-1.

Santana pitched seven strong innings, only needing 91 pitches. He allowed one run on seven hits, walking none, while striking out three. Santana benefited from some defensive gems from David Wright at third. The only run came on a double over the head of Angel Pagan in the third inning off the bat of Yunel Escobar, plating Mark Kotsay.

Seven innings, one run? I'll take that every single outing. Stellar stuff from Santana today, just no offense to back him up. Let's hope this isn't a Roger Clemens type season (without the alleged steroids) where he pitches great but never gets run support. I don't think that will happen, it was just unfortunate he had to face John Smoltz, who always shuts down the Mets. Still, gotta love the pitchers duel.

Aaron Heilman pitched the eighth inning, and allowed a two-run home run to Mark Teixeira. These runs were the eventual game winners for the Braves. Heilman walked Chipper Jones on four pitches before Teixeira came to the plate and went deep.

Heilman has been mentioned as a possible closer when Billy Wagner's contact is up, but if he keeps giving up the long ball, I don't know if I would trust him in that role.

The Mets offense only had to deal with Smoltz for five innings, but were unable to capitalize on the Braves bullpen until the top of the ninth inning.

Wright walked to lead off the ninth against Rafael Soriano, moved to second on defensive indifference, and scored on a Ryan Church single down the right field line for the Mets only run of the game. Angel Pagan followed with a walk, but when Brian Schneider came to the plate and ripped one down the first base line, Teixeira flashed some glove and made a terrific diving stab and flipped the ball to first to Soriano who was covering to end the game.

Tough luck here for Schneider and the Mets. Another tale of too little, too late.

The Mets only scrapped together five hits, two of which came off the bat of Carlos Delgado, both singles to the right side of the field. Schneider added a hit in the 8th inning. Santana had the Mets only extra base hit of the day, leading off the third inning with a broken-bat double to center field. He knocked the ball into center field, which Kotsay could not get to and booted it away on his diving attempt, which allowed Santana to move to second.

It's not a good sign for the team when your only double comes from your pitcher. Delgado seems to be finding his groove though.

Game Ball: Santana.

Missing the game

I'm in a bowling league (I know, so cool) and we play every Sunday. That means I have to miss the game.

I've resorted to taping it, so my game recap will be a little laggy today, but gimme a break, I want to see Johan Santana pitch.

Enjoy!

Poll results: Wright a runaway

In the latest poll, I asked readers "Who is the best MVP candidate on the Mets?"
43 votes were cast, and here are the results:

David Wright - 74% (32 votes)
Johan Santana - 11% (5 votes)
Pedro Martinez - 6% (3 votes)
Jose Reyes - 4% (2 votes)
Carlos Beltran - 2% (1 vote)

I'm very surprised Wright was such a far and away winner. I thought Reyes would get a ton more votes. I'm also surprised Martinez received any votes at all.

New poll: Who will start more games for the Mets this year?

Wells is sitting, waiting, wishing

According to the Boston Globe, David Wells wants to pitch very badly, and is hoping the Mets give him a call.

From the Globe:

With the Mets' Pedro Martínez out for six weeks and Arizona lefty Doug Davis scheduled for cancer surgery, there seem to be openings for David Wells with at last those two teams. But so far neither has budged. "David is ready to go and could be ready to pitch in a major league game in two weeks," said Wells's agent, Gregg Clifton. "He's been frustrated because he wants to pitch so badly, but I told him to hang in there for another month."

If the Mets weren't desperate enough to go out and sign Claudio Vargas, I don't think they're going to go out and sign Wells. Sorry old man, the Mets have enough pitchers who almost qualify for social security.

For another pitching possibility, Gary Grund, over at our blogging buddies Hot Foot, is reporting that Ruddy Lugo was stretched out to six scoreless innings last night, striking out nine and only allowing four hits.

Well how about that. Lugo and Nelson Figueroa could easily fill in for a spot, along with Tony Armas Jr. Again, I don't think the Mets are desperate for pitching at all.

What baseball is all about

Tomorrow, Johan Santana will take on John Smoltz as ace meets ace for what will most likely be a pitching duel.

This is baseball at it's finest. Two aces, one in the middle of his career and another nearing the end of a most likely Hall of Fame bound one, taking on each other in an early divisional matchup. Not only do Mets fans get to watch and hopefully enjoy their ace take the mound and try to right the ship after their team game up 11 runs, but they'll be able to watch what, on paper, looks to be a classic game in the making.

Of course, for this 1:35 p.m. game, I'll be out of the room, and unable to watch. Here's to a four hour rain delay! Tomorrow may shape up to be a classic matchup, and it may not happen many times this season, so tune in to see two pitchers on top of their game.

Everyone loves a pitchers duel.

Photo of the Day: Maine

John Maine made his first start of the season, only lasting four innings while giving up four runs on eight hits.
Maine lacked control and looked very flustered on the mound, something I think hinders him as a pitcher, but I think he'll bounce back nicely the season.
(AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Game Recap: Braves 11 -- Mets 5

John Maine made his first start of the season and failed to impress, only lasting four innings as the Braves beat up on Mets pitching all around, pounding the Mets pitching en route to a 11-5 win.

Maine was pulled for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning after giving up four earned runs on eight hits. Maine did not have his control today as he walked three in his short stint on the mound. He also struck out five. Maine threw 96 pitches in only four innings.

He just did not have his usual control today. He's set up for a big year, but this was just not a good start to the season for him.

Joe Smith came in the game for the fifth inning, getting a 1-2-3 inning. His sixth inning was not as smooth as Ruben Gotay singled off of him and later scored when Mark Kotsay drove him home off of Scott Schoeneweis. Smith pitched 1 1-3 of an inning, and one run was charged to him from Gotay. Smith struck out one. Schoeneweis pitched 2-3 of an inning, allowing only that one hit.

Smith has looked very good so far. Schoeneweis allowed only that one hit, but has been decent so far.

Jorge Sosa let the game blow wide open, allowing a grand slam to Kelly Johnson in the eighth inning. He allowed three hits and walked one and Willie Randolph left him in with the bases loaded, something we learned too much about last year, and he gave up the four-run home run to Johnson to put the Braves up for good.

I don't know why Randolph would leave Sosa in the game. We know his reputation with the bases loaded and it just makes no sense. Color me confused on this one.

Nelson Figueroa made an appearance, attempting to mop up. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk.

Figueroa looks like he's going to get the start against the Brewers next week, with Johan Santana pitching the next day.

The Mets left six on base today, as the Mets bats just could not match what the Braves bats were doing.

In the second inning, Carlos Delgado singled as the second batter of the inning. He took third on a daring move on a Ryan Church single. The move paid off as he scored when Matin Prado botched a double play ball off the bat of Angel Pagan and Delgado scored the Mets first run. Delgado went 2-4 on the day, scoring two runs and driving in one. Pagan drove in two runs, going 1-3 and scoring once.

Good stuff from Delgado and Pagan. Delgado is either on or off. He can look lost at the plate or drive one into the outfield at the same time. Pagan is hot. It's going to be interesting what the team does with him if he comes back down to earth.

The Mets had an interesting fifth inning. Church led off with a single, followed by a Pagan single. Brady Clark pinch hit for Maine, and was plunked by the first pitch of his at-bat. This had the bases loaded for Jose Reyes and I'll quote my Live Game Commentary rather that rewrite it all:
"The third base umpire called the obvious trap by Mark Kotsay a catch, which led to Angel Pagan getting doubled up off of second base. Willie Randolph came out to argue, and amazingly, after an umpires conference, had the call overturned.

Pagan would have easily scored on the play had they let it run its course correctly, instead they let all the runners move up a base, keeping the bases loaded with only one out."

It was a crazy collection of events, but everything was kind of sorted out after a while. I was shocked that they actually overturned the call, especially because it was in favor of the Mets. It seems like the Mets never get a call like that go their way.

Luis Castillo added a RBI groundout before David Wright ended the inning. Wright's hit streak ended today, as he went 0-4. Delgado drove home Beltran in the eighth and Pagan added his final RBI, but it was way too little too late as the Mets fell way short.

Bound to happen for Wright, but it was just another dark spot in an otherwise forgettable game. Not the way I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon.

Game Ball: Pagan, again.