Twitter Poll: Who is the next Met to get injured and how?

With Ramon Martinez dislocating his pinky, the Mets have now lost a backup to a backup.  The rash of injuries are mounting as more and more players get attacked by the injury (or intestinal) bug.

The Mets seem to be finding new ways to get hurt.  Last night, I asked my Twitter followers to take a guess on who would get hurt next, and how it would happen.

Here are their responses…

Unspecified

palmnut said: next somebody'll go down with the Sosa sneeze...

bluewolf13 said: Somebody will have ovary pains

metschick said: The entire team contracts the ebola virus and drops dead.

MissBethAnn said: Are there any left to get injured?

Players

jamiekrycek said: beltr- um, no... delg- hm, no... pagan wil- no, wait, reye- no, hm, chur- no, um- ok i got it: sheff breaks hip!

metgirl4ever said: Kavid - splinter in tongue [ed. note: Kavid = David Wright.]

V_RB said: David Wright will go on the DL with a splinter in his tongue.

maggie162 said: Wright breaks his ankle during a wacky victory dance when he finally hits again.

Mets_Fever said: - Well DW is trying unsuccessfully to carry this team and I think he had back spasms in 06 - so i think his back is next

darknova306 said: I'll be the d*ck to finally suggest it... I fully expect Santana to have arm issues at some point. He's the next one on DL.

kerelcoop said: Luis Castillo. Afterall he's the one Met we all expected to be on the DL by now anyway..

Coaches / Front Office

NYMetsGrrl94 said: Sandy Alomar Sr. with hand cramps from too much lineup switching

bc5000 said: Jerry Manuel sprains wrist after having to rewrite lineup card 50 times

pattigibbons said: Razor Shines, rotator cuff tendonitis from waving guys home when he means "stop".

Retire31 said: Jay Horowitz.

samtpage said: Jerry Manuel tripping over Brian Stokes' cage.

Ex-Mets

letsgoduke said: mo vaughn, finally collapsing in on himself like a dying star. #bigbeautifulwhale

The dmoneymania Collection

dmoneymania said: Pedro Feliciano ... torn ACL... mud wrestling

dmoneymania said: David Wright... herpes

dmoneymania said: JJ Putz ... floating elbow chips... excessive air guitaring

dmoneymania said: Gary Sheffield... Someone finds out his body was taken over by Jacob's enemy

dmoneymania said: The entire bullpen explodes via a Frankie Fist Pump of Doom!

dmoneymania said: Sean Green... something with a bad A.C.M.E. product and the Road Runner

dmoneymania said: Bobby Parnell will miss 2-4 weeks after being hit by the Stone Cold Stunner

dmoneymania said: Brian Schneider and Omir Santos will pull their groins playing Twister

My favorite: samtpage said: Jerry Manuel tripping over Brian Stokes' cage.

Not on Twitter?  Hit the comments to toss who will be the next to go down.

Follow me on Twitter (@TheRopolitans) to
participate in the next Twitter Poll!

Manuel’s Musing for June 2

“We lose a backup to a backup, and you know we're getting pretty thin.”

-Jerry Manuel on Ramon Martinez going
down with a dislocated pinky.

Game Recap: Pirates 3 – Mets 1

Another wasted Johan Santana start.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (24-28) beat the New York Mets (28-23) by a score of 3-1.

Santana “struggled” again.  He allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings.  He walked one and struck out three.  Santana let up a solo home run to Jason Jaramillo in the fifth inning.  In the sixth, Santana let up four hits, including back-to-back RBI doubles, both down the right field line.

Sean Green, Ken Takahashi and Brian Stokes finished out the game with scoreless efforts.

The Mets were able to muster only one run off of Zach Duke and the Pirates bullpen.  Duke pitched seven strong inning, with the only run scoring on a Luis Castillo sacrifice fly.  The sac-fly score Ramon Martinez, who dislocated his finger sliding into home.

Ramon Martinez latest casualty

Ramon Martinez, who got the start at shortstop, had to leave the game after sliding into home plate in the fourth inning.

As I was watching, I saw Martinez look at his hand after he slid home, scoring the Mets first run.  As he walked to the Mets dugout, his left pinky was sticking out the side of his hand.

Martinez stumbled into home and his hand hit the dirt awkwardly.  My guess: He dislocated it.  The finger was sticking out sideways on his left hand.  That looked like a dislocation to me and hopefully isn’t broken.

Update – 8:44 p.m.: Confirmed as a dislocated left pinky. 

He was replaced in the game by Wilson Valdez.

With Carlos Beltran out of uniform, the Mets now only have recently-activated Alex Cora, Daniel Murphy and Brian Schneider on the bench.  Talk about playing short.

Also, with Jose Reyes expected back Friday, what do the Mets do here?  If they put Martinez on the DL, they’ll have to call someone up for two days or play very short on the bench.

Mets Game Chat: NYM @ PIT [Game 2]

Join in for another wonderful game chat with fellow Mets fans.

(Chat removed, as usual.)

Lineups for game two against the Buccos

Carlos Beltran sits once more as he’s still suffering from the ill effects of a stomach virus.  Thankfully, it’s not the swine flu, as one of the SNY producers was sent home with the flu.

1. Luis Castillo – 2B
2. Fernando Martinez – LF
3. David Wright – 3B
4. Gary Sheffield – RF
5. Fernando Tatis – 1B
6. Omir Santos – C
7. Ramon Martinez – SS
8. Jeremy Reed – CF
9. Johan Santana – LHP

Oink.

Hate the black unis? Join a movement and help fight cancer at the same time

This seems to be one of the hottest topics on any Mets blog: the black uniforms.  Now you can join a group of fellow fans who want to see the blue and orange donned more often and fight cancer at the same time.

What is this? Blue, Orange, and Pink: an effort by Mets fans, in conjunction with the American Cancer Society, to get the New York Mets to return to their traditional uniform colors and fight breast cancer at the same time.

How does it work? If you're looking to join the cause, click the "Join Our Team" button right above this. Fill out your information (you are not required to make a donation when you join) including your e-mail address. From that point on, every time the Mets wear blue and orange caps at home, with either pinstripes or white uniforms, or blue and orange caps with gray uniforms away, you will be asked to donate $1 to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, a subsidiary of the American Cancer Society. The American Cancer Society minimum for donations is $5, so you will receive an e-mail every fifth game that Mets wear blue and orange, asking you to come to the page and make a donation. All of the money we raise, as well as all of the money you personally donate, will be tracked on this website.

Click here to read more and join the team to donate to the cause.

Conan plays some old time baseball

In honor of Conan O’Brien’s successful first show of The Tonight Show last night, here is Conan’s (and mine) favorite bit from Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

In it, he ventures out to Long Island to play some baseball, 1864 style.

Twitter Poll: What to call the outfield wall in LF?

Citi Field has a 16-foot high black wall in leftfield.  I’m sure you’ve seen it by now.

We all know the Mets fascination with playing “Sweet Caroline” during the 7th inning, though recently it’s been replaced by “Meet the Mets.”  To avoid the Mets naming the black wall “The Black Monster” after “The Green Monster” in Fenway Park, I asked my Twitter followers for their own nickname for the outfield wall.

Here are their responses…

Coopz22 said: The Black Hole?

chrisbirckhead said: Big.. Black.. Always in the way.. immovable? Has to be the Mo Vaughn

MissBethAnn said:Exactly what I was thinking. RT @chrisbirckhead: Big.. Black.. Always in the way.. immovable? Has to be the Mo Vaughn

FMauceri said: It's not black. It's soot.

metstoday said: "The Soot Monster"

metstoday also said: "Shamsky's Rampart"

metgirl4ever said: the Black Force Field...(or is that a bit on the lame side)

EsaGirl said: I like it RT @metgirl4ever: the Black Force Field...

NYMetsGrrl94 said: "this wall prevents jj putz from giving up even more runs"

dazed87 said: Replay Wall

patrickboegel said: The Abyss

fullnelson said: I think WFAN Howie Rose called the (Citi Field) Outfield Wall's, "The Great Wall of Flushing" (i.e. The Great Wall of China)

fscker said: The Black Monster, or is that Gary Sheffield? "Black Snake Moan" Because that's what the fans do because nothing goes over it

Mike_Peters said: how about "we ordered the wrong color" wall... all the original mock-ups contained blue wallshttp://tinyurl.com/n59hmx

And from the peanut gallery…

trekmetfan said: The wall is not that big, there's no need to name it.

qujustin said of the Marlins: Hey, we have the Teal Monster...Boston has the Green Monster...Black Monster sounds fin to me...or the Pepsi Monster!

dmoneymania said: Can we call the left field pole Kiner's Korner?

I’m all for calling it “The Mo Vaughn.”  That is just too perfect.  I christen that wall The Mo Vaughn.

Not on Twitter?  Hit the comments to toss in your nickname for the black wall in LF.

Follow me on Twitter (@TheRopolitans) to
participate in the next Twitter Poll!

Parnell in the sixth?

I usually tend to avoid playing Monday morning quarterback, but this move I must call attention to.

On Sunday afternoon, the Mets watched J.J. Putz struggle through the 8th inning.  He was eventually replaced by Bobby Parnell, who got out of the inning without giving up the lead.

Last night, Jerry Manuel called upon Parnell in the sixth inning.  Instead of saving one of the key pitchers for a later inning, Manuel tabbed Parnell to get out of a jam in relief of Livan Hernandez.

Of course, as is the Mets luck, this move came back to bite Manuel and his team.  Nursing a two run lead, the Mets turned to Putz with one out in the 8th inning after Pedro Feliciano gave up a leadoff double.

Putz faced five batters, allowing four hits and issuing a intentional walk.  Brian Stokes had to be summoned from the bullpen to finish out the inning.

With Putz’s struggles of late, why didn’t Manuel save Parnell for a more high-pressure spot?

Thankfully, Manuel seems to realize that he can’t trust Putz as much as he may like.

"I’ll probably have to see if the matchups really favor him, that type of thing," Manuel said. "I’ve got to find some success and then the confidence I’m sure will probably come back. I think that’ll be key for him and key for us. We need him. That’s how we are designed to map out the way we did tonight — to try to get to that point."

Though Putz is a former closer and seems to thrive on pressure, I’m sticking to my guns and maintaining that the Mets should pull him from the 8th inning role entirely.

Putz will not pitch tonight, so it should be interesting where or when he pitches again.