Fan caught trying to steal part of Shea

Patrick Oriani, 18, of Jersey City, was caught trying to smuggle a seat from the upper deck of Shea Stadium out of the park, concealing it under a blanket.

First of all, does he really expect to make it out of the place carrying a giant seat?

And secondly, I really want to know what was said to him by the guards who figured out his dastardly plan.

Security guard: "Sir, is that a chair? Are you carrying a chair under that blanket?"

Patrick: "Uhhhh...no."

Security guard: "Come with me, sir."

Patrick: "Dagnabbit! I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids security guards!"

Answers: Best pitching seasons

I received a few guesses for the four pitchers named in the Sports Illustrated list of 15 best pitching seasons.

Everyone nailed down the four pitchers names, but only one person correctly identified the year picked out by SI. Half-congrats to Andrew Fletcher of Scott Proctor's Arm.

The pitchers, and the years they had their best season are:
Tom Seaver, 1971.
Dwight Gooden, 1985.
Pedro Martinez, 2000.
Johan Santana, 2005.

Here are the blurbs:
Seaver won three Cy Youngs, but his best season may have been in a year in which he didn't win the award. In 1971, "Tom Terrific" validated his nickname by leading the league in ERA (1.76) and strikeouts (289) while going 20-10 for the Mets.

Few pitchers have burst onto the scene with as much promise and dominance as Dwight Gooden. "Doc" was a mere 20 years old and in just his second big-league season when he cut through the National League in 1985, going 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA, eight shutouts and 268 strikeouts.

Pedro Martinez's power pitching style was on full display during the 2000 season in which he won 18 games, posted a 1.74 ERA, hurled seven complete games, and whiffed 284 hitters. He also set a number of marks. His WHIP was 0.74, breaking a 77-year-old record set by Walter Johnson, and he also became the only starting pitcher to have more than twice as many strikeouts in a season (284) as hits allowed (128). The only question: How did he lose six times?

During his first full season as a starter in 2004, Johan Santana enjoyed one of the best second halves of a season for a pitcher. He went 13-0 and achieved a 1.21 ERA to finish the season with a 20-6 record, 2.61 ERA and 265 strikeouts on the way to his first of two AL Cy Young awards.

I'm predicting John Maine being added to this list after this season.

Also, I left off a player who completed the task with another team, and later pitched on the Mets for one season. Orel Hershiser's 1988 season was recognized, which he pitched over 10 years before coming to the Mets.

Guess who: Best pitching seasons

Sports Illustrated put together a list of 15 of the best pitching seasons since 1961.

The list has two Mets pitchers who completed the task with the team and two pitchers who are currently on the roster who notched up their remarkable seasons with another team.

Can you guess who they are and the years they pitched well enough to make the list?

The winner gets...some respect and a high five.

Answers up tomorrow.

Game Recap: Mets 6 -- Nationals 3

Revenge is a dish best served by Ryan Church and Brian Schneider.

The ex-Nationals really handed it to their old team, combining to go 5-8, scoring three and driving in five as the Mets took the second game of the four game set by a score of 6-3.

The Mets got another stellar start from John Maine, as he extended his streak of only allowing two runs or less to eight straight starts, allowing just two runs on two hits through six innings. Maine struck out five and walked only one, needing 109 pitches to get through his night.

In the second inning, the Mets got on the board with a bases loaded fielders choice off the bat of Brian Schneider, driving in Moises Alou.

The Mets had the bases loaded with no one out, and managed to scratch out only one run. Something like that needs to change. To score a run without hitting the ball out of the infield is something special though.

The only runs Maine allowed came on a Ryan Zimmerman two run home run after a Damion Easley error. The error, one of two for Easley on the night, allowed Christian Guzman to reach, and later score on Zimmerman's homer to left field. Maine set down 10 in order after the home run, and only had one runner on base due to Easley's second error with two outs in the sixth. Maine bounced back and got Austin Kearns to strike out looking to end his night.

If it wasn't for Johan Santana, Maine would be the far and away ace of this pitching staff. Dominant, in control, and settled down. Simple beautiful. I think he could have gone another inning, easily, but his turn in the order came up in the bottom of the sixth, and the pinch hitter paid off for the Mets. Well done, John. Keep it up.

Church had an amazing day, starting it off with a solo home run to center field to lead off the third inning. Church's ball just missed nailing the home run apple.

I love this guy. I'm sure you've heard that from me before, but I have to say it again. What a steal.

In the sixth, Church kept his hot day going, bringing in two with a double to right. After Brian Schneider and Fernando Tatis both hit one out singles, Church came to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second. Church smoked a ball to right field, a ball that seemed like an easy out for Kearns to end the inning. I'm not sure if Kearns misplayed it or if the ball just hung up in the air, but the ball sailed over the jumping Kearns glove and bounced to the wall, driving in both Schneider and Tatis.

Good? Yes. Lucky? Yes. Will he take it? Yes.
He is getting things done in every way, shape, and form.

Matt Wise made his first appearance in a long while, allowing one run on one hit. Elijah Dukes doubled to left for his first hit of the year. Rob Mackowiack eventually drove him home with a ground ball to second base. Duaner Sanchez walked two batters in the eighth inning, but worked out of a jam without any damage, striking out one.

Strange to bring in a pitcher who hasn't been in the majors in a while and toss him into the fire with a two run lead. This will be questioned by the Willie Randolph haters, for sure. Good stuff from Sanchez, who as Gary Cohen pointed out, has had a few miles per hour knocked off his fastball from the accident. Hopefully he can work back to that over time, but if he's consistently good, it really won't matter.

In the 8th, the Mets tacked on some insurance runs. Jose Reyes broke up his 0-fer night with an RBI single up the middle, driving in Schneider. Church followed that up with a sacrifice fly to right field, plating Marlon Anderson.

Billy Wagner allowed a two out hit, but slammed the door on the Nationals for his eighth save of the year. He still has not allowed an earned run to score.

Keep on truckin'.

Game Ball: Church.

Maine does what's right

Forgot to mention this before...

With the first pitch of the game, John Maine nailed Felipe Lopez in the leg.

This has to be (hopefully) retaliation for the taunting and yelling that went on in the Nationals dugout on Monday night. If that's actually what it is, I must applaud Maine.

This is exactly what you do as a pitcher. Instead of talking about it later, you either peg a guy where it won't hurt the next day to send a message, or knock a guy on his butt with a pitch over his head.

Good stuff.

I pray to Ryan Church

Ryan Church just took Jon Lannan deep to center, just missing nailing the home run apple with his 8th dinger of the year.

This is his fourth in the last seven games.

He and David Wright are battling for my love and affection right now.

Seriously, how good is this guy? I can't wait to see more.

Big praise must be paid to Howard Johnson for fixing and tweaking Church's swing and approach. Well done, HoJo. Well done indeed.

The roster shuffle

Off the Mets: Nelson Figueroa and Jorge Sosa have been designated for assignment. Angel Pagan has been placed on the 15-day DL.

On the Mets: Matt Wise was activated off the disabled list. Fernando Tatis and Claudio Vargas were called up from New Orleans.

Bye Figueroa, I'll miss you. Willie Randolph, when speaking to Eddie Coleman on WFAN, said he hopes Figueroa clears waivers and would like to see him as a long man out of the bullpen. I have to agree. Opposing teams are batting well under .200 against Figueroa the first time through the order, so he'd be perfect.

On Sosa, I'm so happy about. Took them long enough. Same for Wise.

The battle between Pagan and Tatis will begin. If Tatis can do anything worthwhile, I can see Pagan staying in AAA after he's healed up. Omar Minaya likes Tatis, so I think Tatis is in for the long haul.

For Vargas, I will abstain comment on until after tomorrow's start.

Overall, good moves by the Mets.

More hips!

Here is Jose Reyes teaching some of the guys from SportsCenter how to dance in a recent "This is SportsCenter" commercials. It cracks me up every time I see it.

Hat tip to Ian from Sox & Dawgs.

Many Mets moves

Adam Rubin updates us on a slew of moves the Mets made or are making or might possibly think of making at sometime.

1. Instead of Adam Bostick, as previously thought, Claudio Vargas will be called up to start tomorrow.

Well, this is interesting. Vargas isn't on the 40-man roster, so that means someone is getting booted off. My guess is Jorge Sosa, who will probably be demoted. Sosa has the ability to refuse demotion and become a free agent while still being paid his $2 million.

If that's the case, Vargas might stick with the Mets as their long man out of the bullpen. That's purely speculation, but it sort of makes sense.

2. Fernando Tatis might be coming up as well. This means either Luis Castillo or Angel Pagan won't be able to return as soon as they thought, and one of them will hit the DL. Update: Looks like Pagan.

Tatis has shown tons of pop in the minors, but his average is pretty low.

Update:
3. Joe Smith may have been pardoned and looks like he will stick with the team. Guess that makes "Poor Joe Smith" a moot post.

Sosa is really in trouble. And rightfully so.

New Mets song?

A guy by the name of Craig Haft e-mailed me with his new 8th inning song for the New York Mets.

Listen to the song here.

Hmm...I feel like I've heard this before. But where...


Yeah, that's the ticket.
If you like Craig's song, let him know. You can e-mail him at metssong@aim.com.