9/14/09
A summer with the Brooklyn Cyclones [Video]
As the 2009 season comes to a close (at least in term of playoff chances), let’s look ahead to the future of the Mets. The Brookyln Cyclones recently put up this awesome video of their season. Take a look…
My favorite moment is the play at the plate around the 1:06 mark.
Eliminated
In what was the foreseeable end to a dismal year, the Mets were finally mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after yesterday’s sweep of the doubleheader at the hands of the Phillies.
The nail in the coffin came in the night game, as old friend Pedro Martinez tossed a gem to the tune of eight innings, six hits and no runs. Pedro walked two and struck out seven while on the mound.
Now, as if they weren’t before, the Mets are solely playing the role of spoilers. Sure, it’d be nice to watch the Mets go around the league beating teams late in the year and making baseball all the more exciting down the stretch. Too bad they’re struggling to win any games at all and spoiling likely won’t be happened much, if at all.
2009 was a year that started with tons of promise. The team and the fans were jazzed up about what, on paper, looked like a magical year. Too bad the paper it was written on and the players on the team were more fragile than tissue paper.
The Mets were an absolute nightmare this year. The kind of nightmare that you tell your friends about because it’s so darn out there.
All in all, it was entertaining. And I don’t mean like “whee-fun-yay!” entertaining. I’m talking about the “oh-my-goodness-I-can’t-believe-this-is-happening-you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up” entertaining. Shock and awe type stuff.
I was never one to pack it all in, ditch the Mets gear until spring training type of guy. I will continue to wear my Mets hat, shirts and other assorted team apparel gladly, and maybe partially for the pity.
Keep your heads high, Mets fans. 2010 is only months away, likely filled with some high hopes of at least improving on this year.
In the baseball world, it’s tough to predict what may happen from year to year. No one was reading the tea leaves predicting this sort of Mets catastrophe. Maybe karma will pay this Mets team a visit and pay us all back for the last three years of heartache and distress.
I think we’ve earned it.
Manuel’s Musing
-Jerry Manuel on…well…a lot of things
9/13/09
Lineup for Game 144
The Mets will look to stave off elimination for another day against an old friend. Pedro Martinez takes the mound for the Phillies as the Mets tragic number stands at two.
Here’s the lineup for the second game…
- Luis Castillo – 2B
- Cory Sullivan – RF
- David Wright – 3B
- Carlos Beltran – CF
- Daniel Murphy – 1B
- Fernando Tatis – LF
- Brian Schneider – C
- Anderson Hernandez – SS
- Tim Redding - RHP
Lineup for Game 143
Welcome back John Maine. Maine will be making his 12th start of the year, his first since June 6.
Here’s the lineup for the first of today’s twin-bill…
- Angel Pagan – CF
- Anderson Hernandez – 2B
- David Wright – 3B
- Daniel Murphy – 1B
- Jeff Francoeur – RF
- Cory Sullivan – LF
- Josh Thole – C
- Wilson Valdez – SS
- John Maine - RHP
Wright homers twice in dramatic win
Mike Pelfrey got shelled (again), but David Wright and the rest of the Mets bats were able to bail him out. Six runs in the last three innings propelled the Mets to a 10-9 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday afternoon.
Pelfrey gave up eight earned runs in six innings, allowing 10 hits while on the mound. He walked one while striking out three.
So up and so down. What a crazy year.
Ken Takahashi allowed one earned run in relief. Sean Green, Pedro Feliciano and Francisco Rodriguez closed out the thriller.
The Mets jumped on Jamie Moyer early, plating four runs in the first inning. Wright drove in two runs with a single in the first inning as the Mets led off the game with five straight hits. Carlos Beltran followed with a two-run home run to center field.
From there, though, the Mets went quiet.
Moyer ended up tossing seven innings, only allowing another run in the seventh on a Wilson Valdez RBI groundout.
In the eighth, Wright added a two-run home run to pull the Mets within two. Daniel Murphy later singled to make it a one-run game.
As the Phillies struggle to find a closer, Ryan Madson was the pitcher of choice on Saturday. A two-out single by Fernando Tatis brought Wright to the plate, who drove the first pitch he saw from Madson into the left field stands, giving the Mets the lead.
As mentioned above, K-Rod came in and closed it out.
This was probably one of the most exciting games of the year. Too bad it helped the Mets avoid 100 losses. In a dismal season, this was a bright spot. This is why I love baseball.
Newsday: A tour of Keith Hernandez’s house [Video]
He’s the best.
And here is the Neil Best column about sleeping at Keith Hernandez’s house and how Hernandez goes about life nowadays. He’s come a far way since the 80’s.
9/12/09
Lineup for Game 142
Twenty-one games to go. Howie Rose is in the TV booth on FOX today. Oh, and Carlos Beltran is back in the lineup.
- Luis Castillo – 2B
- Fernando Tatis – LF
- David Wright – 3B
- Carlos Beltran – CF
- Jeff Francoeur – RF
- Omir Santos – C
- Daniel Murphy – 1B
- Wilson Valdez – SS
- Mike Pelfrey - RHP
Another game, another loss
The Mets are keeping hope alive as they march toward 100. One hundred losses, that is.
The Mets fell to the Phillies by a score of 4-2, loss number 79 of the season. With 21 games remaining, the Mets would have to lose every game to reach 100 losses.
Though the score was close through the entire game, it never felt as though the Mets would win. Nelson Figueroa tiptoed through 5 1-3 innings, allowing nine hits and walking five, but only allowed two earned runs.
Elmer Dessens and Brian Stokes surrendered the other two runs in relief.
Jeff Francoeur stayed hot at the plate, pounding out three hits. Francoeur is now 6-for-his-last-8 with two doubles.
Luis Castillo drove in one run with a sac-fly to center field. Cory Sullivan grounded into a double play to kill a rally in the ninth inning, but it allowed a run to score.
But hey, no one got hurt.