I'm pulling double duty today, as I'm both here and over at Union.
Go check it out.
8/22/08
Tom Seaver won't be sad to see Shea go, and either will I
I like pretty things, as does anybody. I love architecture, and I will be taking AR316 this semester. That is why I won't be sad when the Mets move to Citi Field next season.
Tom Seaver holds the same thought process.
Newsday provides the quote:
Tom Seaver holds the same thought process.
Newsday provides the quote:
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not a big fan of the stadium," Seaver said. "It's strictly an architectural observation ... Now the physical is just going to move across the street."Shea is not pretty. It has great memories, but it's nothing to look at. Citi Field will be much more special, I promise.
Cue the jinx
"This is beginning to look like the Mets' year"
Thanks, Mark Herrmann. Thanks a lot.
Herrmann quotes Pedro Martinez as saying "Ever since I've been here, I've wondered when we were going to get things going our way. It seems like it was never our way."
I think we can all attest to that. Last night, between the misplays by the Braves and the missed calls by the umpires (though I must say, some of those strikes against Carlos Delgado were a tad ridiculous) it just seems like something special is happening to this team.
Finally, some of their hits are falling inbetween the defense, squeaking under gloves, or barely clearing the wall.
Herrman's article, though possibly a jinx, has truly got me excited for the next 34 games.
Thanks, Mark Herrmann. Thanks a lot.
No one is suggesting this is going to end in a championship, or there is something miraculous afoot. But there is no denying strange stuff is happening.I can't deny that. Maybe it's just some bad teams playing poorly, but almost everything seems to be swinging the Mets way lately, especially their own bats.
Herrmann quotes Pedro Martinez as saying "Ever since I've been here, I've wondered when we were going to get things going our way. It seems like it was never our way."
I think we can all attest to that. Last night, between the misplays by the Braves and the missed calls by the umpires (though I must say, some of those strikes against Carlos Delgado were a tad ridiculous) it just seems like something special is happening to this team.
Finally, some of their hits are falling inbetween the defense, squeaking under gloves, or barely clearing the wall.
Herrman's article, though possibly a jinx, has truly got me excited for the next 34 games.
8/21/08
Game Recap: Mets 5 -- Braves 4
Jeez, and I thought the Pirates were bad.
Pitching Performance
Another leadoff solo home run against Pedro Martinez. Yunel Escobar hit another solo dinger off of Pedro's first pitch, his 39204772987 solo home run allowed in the last 10 games (Rough estimate). Pedro ended up throwing 7+ innings, allowing seven hits. He walked only one, and struck out six.
Martinez let in four earned runs, three of which came in the sixth inning. Brian McCann doubled in two runs to take the lead over the Mets, then Omar Infante singled in another in the sixth before Pedro worked out of it. He pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, and came out to start the eighth inning, but allowed a hit and was removed from the game.
Again, nothing spectacular, but he did his job, kept his team close and in the game. One of Pedro's poorer starts over the last few months, but I'll take this from him. He's inching toward the end of his career, but right now, looks like semi-vintage Pedro.
Question to Mets fans: Do you re-sign Pedro next year? For how long?
Pedro Feliciano replaced Martinez, allowing one hit and walking one, but benefitted from a very pretty 2-5-3 double play.
Luis Ayala pitched very admirably, throwing 1 1-3 innings, allowing only one hit. Ayala earned the win as the Mets pushed one across in the bottom half of the ninth inning.
So far, so good with Ayala. Maybe I was wrong about this trade...
Offensive Output
Carlos Delgado went 5-5 tonight, driving in three runs. Two of his hits probably should have been errors, but he'll take it and so will I.
Delgado got the Mets started in the bottom of the first, singling to center and driving in Jose Reyes. Delgado drove in the Mets second run in the third inning, singling again to center and driving in David Wright this time.
Those were his "real" hits. His "error hits" came later.
Wright added his own RBI, driving in, well, himself, with a solo home run deep to left field into the bleacher section.
Someone is getting hot, Mr. Wright. 3-4, 3 runs, RBI.
Here's where things get screwy. Bottom of the 8th, Nick Evans on second, Carlos Beltran on first, Delgado at the dish. Delgado bounces one to Infante at first, but Will Ohman failed to cover first. By the time Ohman got there, Infante had thrown the ball, which ended up going behind the sprinting pitcher. Evans came around to score, and tie up the game.
Move to the bottom of the ninth, same score. Wright doubles to right center with one out. The Braves decide to intentionally walk Beltran and pitch to Delgado, who at this point is 4-4. Makes little to no sense, I know. Delgado scorches one to left field, and Infante (yes, him again) streaks over and looks like he's going to make an easy catch and the line drive.
He must have lost it in the lights, as he ended up sliding, flailing and completely missing the ball. It actually bounced off of him, and skipped towards Mark Kotsay in centerfield. Wright was caught inbetween, but realized what happend and darted around third and took an unneccesary sliding headfirst dive into home to seal the win.
B-E-A-UTIFUL!
The Rest of the Story
This was the 27th consecutive one-run road loss for the Braves.
The Phillies lost to the Nationals, by a score of 4-3. Anderson Hernandez went 2-5, scored once and drove in one run. Funny that A-Hern aids the Nationals win over the Phillies, and Ayala works an inning and a third and earns the win for the Mets. This was all planned.
The Mets are 2.5 games up on the Phillies.
Game Ball: Carlos Delgado.
Pitching Performance
Another leadoff solo home run against Pedro Martinez. Yunel Escobar hit another solo dinger off of Pedro's first pitch, his 39204772987 solo home run allowed in the last 10 games (Rough estimate). Pedro ended up throwing 7+ innings, allowing seven hits. He walked only one, and struck out six.
Martinez let in four earned runs, three of which came in the sixth inning. Brian McCann doubled in two runs to take the lead over the Mets, then Omar Infante singled in another in the sixth before Pedro worked out of it. He pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, and came out to start the eighth inning, but allowed a hit and was removed from the game.
Again, nothing spectacular, but he did his job, kept his team close and in the game. One of Pedro's poorer starts over the last few months, but I'll take this from him. He's inching toward the end of his career, but right now, looks like semi-vintage Pedro.
Question to Mets fans: Do you re-sign Pedro next year? For how long?
Pedro Feliciano replaced Martinez, allowing one hit and walking one, but benefitted from a very pretty 2-5-3 double play.
Luis Ayala pitched very admirably, throwing 1 1-3 innings, allowing only one hit. Ayala earned the win as the Mets pushed one across in the bottom half of the ninth inning.
So far, so good with Ayala. Maybe I was wrong about this trade...
Offensive Output
Carlos Delgado went 5-5 tonight, driving in three runs. Two of his hits probably should have been errors, but he'll take it and so will I.
Delgado got the Mets started in the bottom of the first, singling to center and driving in Jose Reyes. Delgado drove in the Mets second run in the third inning, singling again to center and driving in David Wright this time.
Those were his "real" hits. His "error hits" came later.
Wright added his own RBI, driving in, well, himself, with a solo home run deep to left field into the bleacher section.
Someone is getting hot, Mr. Wright. 3-4, 3 runs, RBI.
Here's where things get screwy. Bottom of the 8th, Nick Evans on second, Carlos Beltran on first, Delgado at the dish. Delgado bounces one to Infante at first, but Will Ohman failed to cover first. By the time Ohman got there, Infante had thrown the ball, which ended up going behind the sprinting pitcher. Evans came around to score, and tie up the game.
Move to the bottom of the ninth, same score. Wright doubles to right center with one out. The Braves decide to intentionally walk Beltran and pitch to Delgado, who at this point is 4-4. Makes little to no sense, I know. Delgado scorches one to left field, and Infante (yes, him again) streaks over and looks like he's going to make an easy catch and the line drive.
He must have lost it in the lights, as he ended up sliding, flailing and completely missing the ball. It actually bounced off of him, and skipped towards Mark Kotsay in centerfield. Wright was caught inbetween, but realized what happend and darted around third and took an unneccesary sliding headfirst dive into home to seal the win.
B-E-A-UTIFUL!
The Rest of the Story
This was the 27th consecutive one-run road loss for the Braves.
The Phillies lost to the Nationals, by a score of 4-3. Anderson Hernandez went 2-5, scored once and drove in one run. Funny that A-Hern aids the Nationals win over the Phillies, and Ayala works an inning and a third and earns the win for the Mets. This was all planned.
The Mets are 2.5 games up on the Phillies.
Game Ball: Carlos Delgado.
Settling in; Do the Mets have the best rotation in baseball?
I, just like the Mets, am settling into my new place.
I must say, this is a strange room. Hopefully the Mets feel a little more comfortable in first place.
Pedro Martinez faces off against old friend, and one of the best things to ever happen to the Mets, Mike Hampton. When Hampton left the Mets, he provided his greatest service to the club than he ever could in their uniform.
Using the compensated pick after Hampton dashed for more money elsewhere, the Mets drafted and signed one Mr. David Wright.
Thanks, Mikey!
If the Mets can sweep the lowly Braves tonight, and maybe the Nationals could finally win a game, the Mets will be sitting pretty 2.5 games up in first.
Just a thought: Do the Mets have the best starting rotation is baseball?
I know the Angels have a stacked starting-five, but the way this team has been pitching, including the 10 scoreless innings from John Maine, has been superb lately. As a fan, you can't ask for much more than what they've done.
Maybe more innings out of Maine, and less solo home runs from Pedro, but I'm really searching for things to fault them on.
I must say, this is a strange room. Hopefully the Mets feel a little more comfortable in first place.
Pedro Martinez faces off against old friend, and one of the best things to ever happen to the Mets, Mike Hampton. When Hampton left the Mets, he provided his greatest service to the club than he ever could in their uniform.
Using the compensated pick after Hampton dashed for more money elsewhere, the Mets drafted and signed one Mr. David Wright.
Thanks, Mikey!
If the Mets can sweep the lowly Braves tonight, and maybe the Nationals could finally win a game, the Mets will be sitting pretty 2.5 games up in first.
Just a thought: Do the Mets have the best starting rotation is baseball?
I know the Angels have a stacked starting-five, but the way this team has been pitching, including the 10 scoreless innings from John Maine, has been superb lately. As a fan, you can't ask for much more than what they've done.
Maybe more innings out of Maine, and less solo home runs from Pedro, but I'm really searching for things to fault them on.
Connecticut bound
It's that time of year again.
Time for me to pack up my life and move it two and a half hours north to my home by the hill, Quinnipiac University.
I'll be entering my junior year of college (crap, that went fast) at QU, and continuing on in my journalism major and sports studies minor.
I'll be out most of the day, but I can never quell my itch to blog, so you'll probably be hit with a couple of posts once I'm all settled and done.
Pedro goes for the sweep of the Braves tonight. Spectacular. Couldn't have planned this series much better.
Time for me to pack up my life and move it two and a half hours north to my home by the hill, Quinnipiac University.
I'll be entering my junior year of college (crap, that went fast) at QU, and continuing on in my journalism major and sports studies minor.
I'll be out most of the day, but I can never quell my itch to blog, so you'll probably be hit with a couple of posts once I'm all settled and done.
Pedro goes for the sweep of the Braves tonight. Spectacular. Couldn't have planned this series much better.
The date is set: Ryan Church to return on Friday
Church's bells are no longer ringing, and that's a good thing.
The Daily News is reporting that, according to sources, Ryan Church will return to the New York Mets on Friday against the Astros at Shea Stadium.
As I reported yesterday, Church probably won't come back and be the everyday starting right fielder, but will work his way back, as Fernando Tatis is too hot to bench.
Nick Evans is the guy I see getting demoted for just over a week, as he'll be right back up when the rosters expand at the beginning of September.
It's been a long, crazy trip back for Church, but he's checked out OK this time around. Hallelujah! Amen! Church is almost here!
Oh, and get this guy some protective gear.
The Daily News is reporting that, according to sources, Ryan Church will return to the New York Mets on Friday against the Astros at Shea Stadium.
As I reported yesterday, Church probably won't come back and be the everyday starting right fielder, but will work his way back, as Fernando Tatis is too hot to bench.
Nick Evans is the guy I see getting demoted for just over a week, as he'll be right back up when the rosters expand at the beginning of September.
It's been a long, crazy trip back for Church, but he's checked out OK this time around. Hallelujah! Amen! Church is almost here!
Oh, and get this guy some protective gear.
8/20/08
Game Recap: Mets 6 -- Braves 3
Tonight was Mike Pelfrey's night, from beginning to end.
Pitching Performance
Nine very strong innings for Pelfrey in his first complete game of his career.
Simply beautiful.
Pelfrey allowed one run in the third inning on a single. The other two runs were added in the sixth, one on a double play and the other on a wild pitch. Pelfrey only allowed three hits, walked three, and you guessed it, struck out three.
Threes were wild tonight. Pelfrey's line: 9 innings, 3 hits, 3 run, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 3.86 for the year.
What more is there to say? He threw only 108 pitches in the nine innings, but only 62 went for strikes. He looked great. I called that tonight was going to be special on Mets Lounge when I said "I have a good feeling about tonight."
We're finally seeing Pelfrey blossom into everything we expected from him, and more. I thought the Mets wanted to limit his innings down the stretch as he's reaching unknown territory with his innings count, but he kept coming out and proved why he should be out there.
Offensive Output
The Mets jumped out early in the first, as they almost always do, for five runs aided by some terrible play by the Braves defense.
Daniel Murphy drove in the first runs of the game, singling in Carlos Delgado and Argenis Reyes, who continues to impress me with his glove and his bat. Fernando Tatis bounced a ball to third, which Chipper Jones fielded and threw wide. Tatis was granted a single, driving in Carlos Beltran, and moved to second on the throwing error that allowed Murphy to score.
Pelfrey then helped his own cause, serving a single to right field, driving in Tatis.
I absolutely love when the Mets score early and often. No better way to shake the opposition then to put a beating on them in the first.
Jair Jurrjens did settle down nicely after the disaster first, only allowing one more run the rest of the way. That run came on a David Wright solo shot to deep left field, well into the bleacher section.
Good stuff, but I wish the team could continue scoring runs when it's not the first inning. It's bitten them before and it will bite them again. Whatever Jerry Manuel says in the locker room before the game, he should reissue that statement before the third, sixth, and ninth innings.
The Rest of the Story
Almost a sub-two hour game. Clocked in at 2:08.
Murphy was the only Met to strike out.
Chipper Jones accounted for two of the three Braves K's.
Game Ball: Mike Pelfrey.
Pitching Performance
Nine very strong innings for Pelfrey in his first complete game of his career.
Simply beautiful.
Pelfrey allowed one run in the third inning on a single. The other two runs were added in the sixth, one on a double play and the other on a wild pitch. Pelfrey only allowed three hits, walked three, and you guessed it, struck out three.
Threes were wild tonight. Pelfrey's line: 9 innings, 3 hits, 3 run, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 3.86 for the year.
What more is there to say? He threw only 108 pitches in the nine innings, but only 62 went for strikes. He looked great. I called that tonight was going to be special on Mets Lounge when I said "I have a good feeling about tonight."
We're finally seeing Pelfrey blossom into everything we expected from him, and more. I thought the Mets wanted to limit his innings down the stretch as he's reaching unknown territory with his innings count, but he kept coming out and proved why he should be out there.
Offensive Output
The Mets jumped out early in the first, as they almost always do, for five runs aided by some terrible play by the Braves defense.
Daniel Murphy drove in the first runs of the game, singling in Carlos Delgado and Argenis Reyes, who continues to impress me with his glove and his bat. Fernando Tatis bounced a ball to third, which Chipper Jones fielded and threw wide. Tatis was granted a single, driving in Carlos Beltran, and moved to second on the throwing error that allowed Murphy to score.
Pelfrey then helped his own cause, serving a single to right field, driving in Tatis.
I absolutely love when the Mets score early and often. No better way to shake the opposition then to put a beating on them in the first.
Jair Jurrjens did settle down nicely after the disaster first, only allowing one more run the rest of the way. That run came on a David Wright solo shot to deep left field, well into the bleacher section.
Good stuff, but I wish the team could continue scoring runs when it's not the first inning. It's bitten them before and it will bite them again. Whatever Jerry Manuel says in the locker room before the game, he should reissue that statement before the third, sixth, and ninth innings.
The Rest of the Story
Almost a sub-two hour game. Clocked in at 2:08.
Murphy was the only Met to strike out.
Chipper Jones accounted for two of the three Braves K's.
Game Ball: Mike Pelfrey.
Omar Minaya is a very funny fellow
"Oh God, let's get that." -Omar Minaya, in the SNY booth, 8/20/08.
Bouncing ball hit to Carlos Delgado, who knocks it down. Minaya is in the booth talking to the trio of Gary, Keith, and Ron.
He utters those words, and the trio erupts in laughter. Delgado recovers and makes the play. Minaya thanks him.
Too funny.
Bouncing ball hit to Carlos Delgado, who knocks it down. Minaya is in the booth talking to the trio of Gary, Keith, and Ron.
He utters those words, and the trio erupts in laughter. Delgado recovers and makes the play. Minaya thanks him.
Too funny.
Ryan Church to be fourth outfielder?
With the platoon of Nick Evans and Daniel Murphy in left and Fernando Tatis in right, Church is without a starting spot. If Church can return before September 1, one of Evans or Murphy will be sent packing for a few days before they're called up when the rosters expand.
This would leave him as a spot starter and a pinch hitter. Church is 1-6 this season in PH chances, striking out twice.
I think Church, if he can come back healthy, will be the key to the postseason for the Mets.
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