Jose Reyes must read my blog

Yesterday, I told the Mets to burn this image into their memory. I told them to use it as motivation for their games against Philadelphia and beyond.

Well after Jose Reyes hit his three run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Mets in the lead for good, Reyes showed his rebuttal to Jimmy Rollins' celebration.

There you have it. Note the gait of Reyes, the confidence in rounding the bases, the power. The finger held high, which went up as soon as the ball cleared the wall.

Also look at Rollins, who can't bear to look at Reyes as he rounds the bases. Pat Burrell in left looks even more distraught, standing with his arms folded at his chest. I love it.

Reyes has just provided great imagery for the Mets. Post this up on the wall of the locker room at Shea. Remember this photo.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Early Morning Madness: Numero uno edition

As a Mets fan, did you feel comfortable at any point during last night's game?

I think maybe during the top of the first inning, I was all right, but after that it was nervous city. John Maine surrendered his early lead very quickly, on back to back home runs. He was handed another lead, but let that one slip away as well. Still, the Mets did not relent, and Jose Reyes vaulted them into the lead for good in the sixth inning.

Maine's start wasn't as bad as I'm describing it. He only allowed six hits, and three earned runs thanks to two solo shots.

However the Mets did it, they're back in a first place tie with the Phillies with today's noon game determining who will land in first after this series.

** * **

Our thoughts go out to Pedro Martinez and his family. Pedro's father lost his long battle with cancer last night.

Pedro lefts the team in the seventh inning to tend to his family. Martinez will miss his scheduled start on Friday. Mike Pelfrey will pitch that game, with Johan Santana going on Sunday. The Saturday pitcher is still yet to be determined.

R.I.P. Mr. Martinez.

** * **

This is just stupid.

Bob Raissman has quotes from Fred Wilpon where he admits to screwing up the Willie Randolph firing.

From Raissman:

Fred Wilpon said he learned something from firing Willie Randolph. And it is this: The next time he fires a manager he'll do it in the light of day, when reporters are not sleeping.
---
"I said (to Omar Minaya) 'When are you going to do this?' He said 'After the game (Mets-Angels, June 16).' I wasn't smart enough to say, 'And cut the New York press out of it?' I didn't even think of it," Wilpon said. "I screwed up."

Great. Wonderful. Super. It took two months for this?

I think this just makes the team look even worse than before. We knew you handled it poorly, you knew you handled it poorly, so coming out and saying it two months later makes you look like even bigger buffoons than before.

TSTDIA: Mets 6 -- Phillies 3

And that's how you do it! Jose Reyes broke up the tie with a three run blast in the sixth. It was all backed up by seven strong innings by John Maine and a great bullpen performance by Joe Smith, Scott Schoeneweis, and the one and only Billy Wagner, who closed out the game 1-2-3 in the ninth.

And back into first...

Everyone is interested in everyone else

I hate that term. "The [INSERT TEAM NAME] are showing interest in [INSERT PLAYER NAME] and might be willing to give up [INSERT MINOR LEAGUER]."

How many times have you read that sentence, or something like it, in the past few days?

Rumors everywhere, who is going to get traded there and for what, what each team is willing to give up, what players can be traded where.

Zzzzzzzz...

Boring! Give me some meat! Some real news, fact, stories!

Ugh, I'm sick of the trade deadline already.

Maybe this will quiet the "Trade Billy Wagner" crowd

Last night, we saw a rag-tag team of bullpen pitchers attempt to close out a game. They failed.

Billy Wager is a closer for a reason. Being a closer is more than just throwing pitches. You have to be mentally tough, mentally prepared to have it all on your shoulder. The team could win or lose simply by the way you pitch to (hopefully) the next three batters.

Closing, in my opinion, is one of the hardest jobs to do in all of baseball. We all know how nervous we (the fans) get when Wagner is on the mound with the lead, can you imagine how he feels??

That is not a job I would want to have. But hopefully last night's loss does show some fans a new light: Wagner is a closer, a good one at that, for a reason. He's tougher than nails and can go out and do his thing on a day to day basis.

Pitchers will falter, they can't be perfect all the time, and injuries will happen. Hopefully fans realize how valuable Wagner is to the bullpen and this team.

Help Wanted: Competent third base coach

Position:
A third base coach who realizes when a ball is going to beat the runner by, say, 15 feet, you don't send him.

Must:
Have full sight.
Be able to swing arm in windmill motion.
Willing to wear plastic helmet.
Common sense.

Should:
Speak Spanish.
Have hands.

Not necessary:
Hold prior coaching job...ever. As long as you understand baseball more than Luis Aguayo.

Burn this image into your memory

Hey, Mets...I have some motivation for you.

Just study everything about this picture. Jimmy Rollins celebration, his posture, his fingers to the sky. Look at Damion Easley's slumped shoulders, dejected look, and "I'm going to stare at the ground and hope this is all a dream" stare.

This, right here, is your motivation. Remember this image tomorrow night. Remember this image Thursday afternoon. Remember this image for the rest of the games you play the rest of the year.

Here is your fodder, your spark. Here is something you need to overcome. Last nights loss was miserable, but if you can overcome that, shake everything about it from your minds except for this very picture, this moment in time, and use this to do what you need to do, then last night will live as a moral victory.

Remember this photograph...

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Early Morning Madness: Jerry pulled a Willie edition

There are two sides to every coin. On one hand, I leave Johan Santana out there for the 9th inning to work his magic. That's why he's getting the big bucks. On the flip-side, I can see why you don't want to run your "ace" out there and run up his pitch count, especially with Pedro Martinez ailing.

But, your closer is unavailable, and no one has really shone through as a viable replacement. Why not give Santana a shot? Maybe you keep him on a very short least, if he gives up a hit or two, you yank him. Easy as that. Just have the bullpen ready to go as soon as possible.

And again, on the other side of the coin, you should trust your bullpen enough to hold a three run lead with only three outs to get.

Jerry Manuel did his best Willie Randolph impression, and it only took one inning. When Manuel didn't send out Santana for the 9th, he made his first mistake. When Duaner Sanchez came in and gave up not one, not two, but three straight hits, he made his second. Again, without your closer, these players should be on a short leash in their attempt to fill his role. The first single should have been a huge warning sign, and the second one should have been enough to get him out of the game.

The Jose Reyes goof at second base on a ground ball induced from Joe Smith, can't be pinned on Manuel. That blame falls solely on Reyes.

When Manuel left Pedro Feliciano in after he gave up the tying hit, he was pulling a classic Willie. Not trusting your pitcher at all at times, and trusting others way too much. It seems like Randolph would always leave a pitcher in just a little too long, even though the common sense thing would be to pull him. It's as if he didn't want to hurt their feelings. Sometimes the pitchers just don't have it on a certain day, and unfortunately for the Mets, no one seemed to have it in the bullpen last night.

This was Manuel's first big mistake as the Mets manager. Unfortunately for everyone involved, it came against the Phillies, in a battle for first place, with the teams ace in line for a win (a dominant one at that), but things just did not go as planned.

"After seeing that, you can't help but . . . You hate not being out there," said Billy Wagner. I couldn't agree more.

TSTDIA: Phillies 8 -- Mets 6

Honestly, that was the most painful inning of baseball I've ever seen.

Truly awful.

They deserve to lose

Simple as that. Miscues all around.

They deserve to lose this game. Johan Santana rues the day he signed with the Mets.