A Hiatus

They are down 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh. Rafael Furcal is on third.

I will take a hiatus of sorts, though I can assure you at least a thousand words, after the next Mets win (if there is one), describing my relief in not having to jump of a cliff.

I am completely and utterly disappointed in this team's lack of effort to avoid resembling their 1962 counterparts.

To quote Casey Stengel regarding that squad, "Can't anyone here play this game?"

Willie should be asking the same. He and the rest of his coaching staff combine for over 4,500 hits in their careers.

Reyes dropped the double-play ball. 7-1. One out. I hate this team.

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Resignation

During Willie Randolph's tenure with "The New Mets," we as fans have become accustomed to seeing a baseball product of the highest quality, and Randolph's managerial style keeps the players hustling. The Mets had a never-say-die attitude, as evidenced by pitching Roberto Hernandez for, like, six straight games, during Willie's first year, for he was the only reliever of any quality.

But when the Mets were snuffed out tonight by Randy Wolf, whose umpire brother needs to cool it on the omniscience, the team seemed resigned to their fate as losers.

Come to think of it, the team has been playing that way for a while. It can be seen in the lack of late rallies, the relievers' inability to hold any lead (or deficit), and other characteristics which have shepherded this team to an unfortunate 2-7 record in their last nine games, with Jorge Sosa having started both Mets wins.

The New Mets aren't resigned, in theory. They fix problems; they never quit. Last year, they were the Cardiac Kids, with Endy Chavez, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran mastering the late-inning walkoff hit. This year, in a game that probably would have proved crucial for stemming the tide of defeat, Willie Randolph sent up his big three hitters in the ninth: Jose Valentin, Ruben Gotay, and Ricky Ledee.

Disgraceful. Valentin was dispatched on a first-pitch swing, and Gotay and Ledee both have K's next to their name in your scorecard. I know Takashi Saito is good, and the rest of that Dodgers bullpen is pretty strong as well, but these are the Mets. Remember that club who ran over the Dodgers in the NLDS, even with Steve Trachsel (by the way, 5-4, 3.82 ERA for Baltimore this season) starting one of the games.

The Mets got out to an early lead tonight, as has often been the case during this losing streak. Yet after three quick runs, the Mets proceeded to cough up runs and hang on for dear life, committing errors and making poor baseball decisions. What is to be made of the smart decision in pitching out during the suicide squeeze, only to see Tony "Not Bobby" Abreu go from first to third on a poor throw by Captain Red Ass.

This team is inexplicably resigned to their fate as a losing bunch: why play aggressively? Why get important hits in the late innings? They are doomed to lose, because of reliever clowns like Mota, Schoeneweis, and Aaron Sele (who was better off in the witness protection program). And don't get me started about Aaron Heilman.
What does it mean for the team when Willie says things like, "Nothing's better." regarding the condition of Moises Alou? The team must sense that sense of urgency from "quality veteran leaders" like Moises, who has missed nearly a month with a pulled left quad.

A pulled quad? Really, Moises? You are making us suffer through Endy Chavez (who's now out for over a month), Ben Johnson, David Newhan, the premature Carlos Gomez era, and Ricky effing Ledee because of your precious quad? Shawn Green, hardly the image that first comes to mind when thinking of tough guy baseball players, missed less time with a broken bone in his foot.

A broken bone, Moises. You have a pulled muscle! I hope your Workmen's Comp is paying well, because if any Mets fan gets a shot at you, I wouldn't be surprised if you met the Phil Leotardo treatment. Moises is not new to this ire, I am sure, as even before joining the Mets he had served fourteen separate DL stints in his career.

Moises is nothing but a cancer. Beltran is slumping. Delgado is seemingly showing signs of life, but can't manage a hit in crucial situations. The Duck is regressing to the mean. Reyes is devoid of that power which showed itself last year.

The spirit of this team is gone, and I don't know who can bring it back. It's more than just complacency: it's that the Mets are essentially smoked for the evening once they fall behind in a game. Fight isn't enough. They have to start coming back. The bullpen needs to keep the team in games.

Sure, there are things that this team is doing right. I like Carlos Gomez, Wright is locked in, Jorge Sosa is a godsend, and the rest of the starting pitching hasn't been terrible, although one would hope they could go deeper into games. I'm not sure the Mets should stop getting out ahead, although it hasn't boded terribly well for them of late. The good behaviors on this team still outweigh the negatives.

Don't stop

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Liveblogging the Mets' 2007 Amateur Draft

8:50 PM-With the 183rd pick in today's draft, the Mets snagged another third baseman, Zach Lutz, out of Division III Alvernia College in Pennsylvania. In all fairness. Lutz was the Division III Position Player of the Year this year, but I'm not sure exactly what the Mets are doing in selecting someone out of Alvernia College.

Lutz was by far the best player on the club, batting .454 with 12 HR and 58 RBI in 40 games. He stole ten bases, hit 15 doubles, struck out only nine times, and had a .541 OBP. Unfortunately, he was a disappointing 4-2 with a 5.18 ERA in five starts. As meaningless as D3 statistics might be, I'm not prepared to argue with a player with such all-around capability.

Perhaps a latter-day Moonlight Graham? I'm not sure. I'm looking forward to the legend of Zach "Triple" Lutz.

EDIT: I very much hope you've enjoyed my draft coverage today, although I could understand if you don't. It might be awful. I won't be covering day two, but I can assure you that the Mets will try an intriguing pick. They haven't netted themselves all that much in the way of potentially extraordinary prospects, and the pitcher who I mentioned earlier as a good fit for the Mets, Roxbury Latin HS's Jack McGeary is still available and perhaps the Mets could throw enough money at him to lure him away from Stanford.

8:13 PM-With pick #153, the Mets grabbed their first position player of the day, selecting 3B Richard Lucas out of Wolfson Senior High School in Florida, the alma mater of Kansas City OF prospect Billy Butler, who was a third baseman at Wolfson as well. He is a barrel-chested, muscular 6' 205 lb. kid with the ability to add onto that frame and develop more power, according to scouts.

Lucas is an aggressive hitter at the plate with good command of the strike zone and scouts indicate that he can hit to all fields, with good power when he pulls.

Wrote Florida State associate head coach Jamey Shouppe,

"He is the best third baseman in the country in my opinion. For a big guy he has the best, softest hands you will ever see in a big kid. He has Major League hands. If it hits his glove, you are out. He won't bobble or miss many. He played shortstop in high school and could probably play there at this level if you wanted a 6'3", 215 pound shortstop. If he isn't that big, he sure looks it. He projects as an outstanding Division I third baseman."

Defensively, he is solid as well, with soft hands and a developing arm at the hot corner. While he will need to perform awfully well to displace the man currently there for the Mets, he has a lot of potential to develop into a solid hitter and a strong fielder as his body matures. He is reportedly of strong character and is a team leader with solid fundamentals. He had a 3.25 GPA during his senior year.

Scouts have compared him offensively to Matt Diaz of the Atlanta Braves, as a hitter who projects best as a doubles hitter and not a home run hitter.

7:36 PM-With the 123rd overall pick, the New York Mets drafted RHP Stephen Clyne out of Clemson. He's 6'1" 205 lbs. and makess yet another college reliever selected by the club.

He's a redshirt senior, which makes him possibly one of the oldest kids in the draft class, and he is regarded as a hard worker and good clubhouse guy, working as a middle reliever on the strong club. He ranked second on the team in saves, with 3 (yes, you read that right), so he's not exactly the relief ace of the Tigers, who have been ranked as high as #5 in the nation this season.

The problem with Clyne: injuries. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2004, and his stuff didn't really rejoin him until this season, which meant that he wouldn't be on the fast track to the big leagues. He's a two-pitch pitcher in the big leagues, with a 91-94 MPH fastball with good sink and a slider that has been filthy at times. He's not all that confident in his secondary pitches, though, so he relies on the fastball.

His reliance on the sinking heater allows for the rather high batting average against of .253, though he was playing in the SEC, probably the nation's toughest conference He did, however, have a 2.28 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 43.1 innings, so I'd say he projects rather favorably as a big-league setup man or middle reliever if his stuff holds out and the injuries don't return. A solid pick, right about where he should be in late Round 3.


7:07 PM-With the 99th overall pick in the draft, the Mets chose LHP Eric Niesen out of Wake Forest. He's 6' 185 lbs and a reliever on the Deamon Deacons club.

As with many young pitchers, he relies on his fastball as his key out pitch, and it is strong, reaching the mid-90s occasionally. Unfortunately, Niesen has marginal secondary pitches, which is unusual for a left-handed reliever. Without much improvement on his slider, it would be hard to see how Niesen could find his way into a major league bullpen, especially since he struggles too with his command.

He's not a sidearmer, though he does come from a 3/4 angle, which makes it slightly more difficult for lefty hitters but exposes him to righties. His ERA this season was 3.00, his record 6-5, and he held opponents to a solid .218 batting average. He struck out approximately one batter each inning, though he walked nearly one every two innings (38 BB in 83 innings of work).

I'm not sure I love this pick, though if the Jacket could teach him a better slider or a change, he could be a decent long reliever.

7:00 PM-With the 93rd overall pick, the Mets selected RHP Brant Rustich out of UCLA. Rustich is a 6'6" 225 lb. closer who has nasty stuff and control problems. Rustich's fastball is usually in the 93-95 MPH range, though he has been dogged by whispers that he isn't fully recovered from finger surgery last year.

He projects as a closer type in the big leagues, as his stuff is somewhat better than Kunz's if he can stay healthy. He is a redshirt junior, so he's older (22) than most in his draft class.

Perhaps the Mets would prefer that we ignore his statistics this year: opposing hitters batted .265 against him and his ERA was 6.67. He had six saves. He also had 11 wild pitches and 7 hit batters in only 29.2 innings, certainly indicative of the aforementioned control problems.

6:40 PM-The Mets, with the #77 overall pick, gained from the Cleveland Indians because Roberto Hernandez is so essential, selected RHP Scott Moviel out of St. Edward High School in California. Moviel is 6' 11", 245 pounds, so apparently the Mets are deciding to draft the tallest pitchers around.

He is certainly not the model of consistency, as is the usual with pitchers his size, and finding consistency in his windup and with his secondary pitches is going to be essential for him. Given that he has been described as a poor man's Andrew Brackman (Moviel too has a basketball background), it is rather funny that he signed to play at NC State next year if the Mets don't sign him.

His body is very projectable, and his fastball is likely to be his key pitch with the ability to throw mid-90s heat (it's consistently 88-92 now) a possibilty for him as he fills out. His curveball is not where it should be, and that is perhaps his greatest weakness.

Two of his older brothers are in professional ball: brother Greg is a lefty in the Mariners' system, and Paul Moviel is a righty in the Devil Rays organization. Both of the brothers are 6'6".


5:43 PM-With pick #47 overall, the Mets selected LHP Nathan Vineyard out of Woodland HS in Georgia. He's 6'2", 200 lbs, and is ranked as just below the first tier of prospects in a class heavy with high school lefties.

He was ranked as the 26th best prospect in high school midseason by Baseball America and boasts a nasty slider as his key pitch. His fastball is 88-91 MPH on most days, though scouts believe that he will add to his velocity and his command with more reliance on it and less on his slider. He probably projects best as a fourth or fifth starter if he reaches the big leagues.



5:36 PM-Courtesy of stinky old reliever Roberto Hernandez (who came to us last season along with Oliver Perez) and his signing with the Indians, the Mets have selected with pick #42 overall RHP Eddie Kunz out of Oregon State University. He is the closer for that team, and is a big kid at 6'5", 250 lbs.

He was ranked in the preseason as the top draft prospect from the Pac-10, and he projects well as a closer/setup man. His delivery is from a 3/4 angle, so he's going to fare much better against righties, but he's definitely well suited to the back of the bullpen. He's a sinker/slider pitcher who doesn't get a ton of strikeouts (37 in 44.1 innings this year).

He doesn't have a third pitch, though, so he might remind Mets fans of a certain incompetent reliever who takes up space on the mound and blows crucial games against the Phillies. I pray Kunz can get on a plane soon and take said reliever's place in the pen.

His stats on the year:
3-1, 3.05 ERA in 28 games (0 starts). Hitters batted .190 against him and he allowed 0 home runs.

4:47 PM-Picks of interest are taking place:

-With the pick that would have been the Mets', the Giants snagged Wendell Fairley, an elusive left-handed speed demon from high school in Mississippi. People consider him an incredible athlete, drawing comparisons to Carl Crawford, and a totally capable player in all facets of the game. ESPN's Keith Law, who had scouted Fairley, remarked that he was a "top ten/top 15" talent. However, the outfielder is not on the fast track to the big leagues, and it wouldn't surprise me if it took him five or six years to get regular playing time in the major leagues. On the bright side, the Mets don't really need any more toolsy outfielders.

-With the #30 pick, (after all this is supposed to be a Mets and Yankees blog) the Bronx Bombers selected RHP Andrew Brackman, who I mentioned earlier in this liveblog. He was a power forward on the NC State Basketball team, and therefore has huge size and huge upside: he's touched 99 and 100 MPH with his fastball. I mentioned him previously in conjunction with the Mets, and the concerns regarding him are his elbow and his secondary pitches. This is somewhat of a comparable selection to the Yankees selecting Joba Chamberlain last year, and I have a feeling that the Yankees might get him somewhat cheaply in these negotiations, despite Scott Boras' representation. I hate to say it, but nice pick by the crosstown rivals.

4:38 PM-The Tigers just pounced on Rick Porcello, rated by most as the second best pitcher in the draft after Price. It is nice to see that he didn't go to the Yankees, but the new draft rules allot far less time to sign players than previous rules did.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Porcello heading off to Junior College or independent league ball next year, but if the Tigers are prepared to pony up, they might have the best young pitching crop in the majors, such as Justin Verlander, Jeremy Bonderman, Andrew Miller, and Porcello among others.

So far, the most illustrious players are off the board, and what ensues now is a mixture of teams trying to pry high-ceiling high schoolers away from college or average-type collegiate players. One might wonder, though, what exactly the Mets are planning at this point. Will they abide by the Commish's suggestions for slot money, or will they be held under the sway of Scott Boras?

The San Francisco Giants are on the clock with Pick #29, which would have been the Mets' if not for signing the aged, decrepit Alou. Starting left fielder my rear end.

4:03 PM-Steve Phillips made a lovable jab at the incredibly competent Jeff Wilpon when Karl Ravech asked how many people were involved in a MLB draft in the war room:

"You got a whole slew of scouts in there: national crosscheckers, area scouts, regional crosscheckers, owners, owners' sons, you name it; they're in the draft room," said the stoogely ex-GM, his comment met with chuckles from Gammons and Ravech.

Let's look at this from a Napoleonic perspective: if you could exile one to Elba and one to St. Hélène, who would go where? I think Wilpon would go to Elba and Phillips to St. Hélène. If you aren't laughing right now, you probably never took an AP European History Course. What a shame.

I would also advise you to notice that the Boras-advised high school aces like Matt Harvey and Rick Porcello haven't been tapped as of yet. I wouldn't be surprised if one is a Yankee and one is a Red Sox at the end of the day, but if either one of those pitchers slips to the Mets, you've gotta believe the Mets will pounce.

3:24 PM-Keith Law is incredibly vexing... perhaps it's regrettable that I am just finding this out now.

The intriguing selections of late have been RHP Phillippe Aumont (From Quebec to the Mariners) and 1B Beau Mills (From Lewis & Clark State to the Indians). Mills is the son of the Red Sox's bench coach, which apparently allows one to play baseball better. The Mets' son of a big leaguer picks last year went in rather disappointing directions: as OF Jeremy Barfield was arrested for pushing his big league father, Jesse, (ironically) down the stairs, while C Stephen Puhl is MIA in the minors.

One can also look at a bizarre storyline: of the first twelve picks, two are from Vanderbilt (a university without an athletic department) and two are from Chatsworth High School in California. How strange.

3:00 PM-Perhaps the doldrums of this draft vaguely do resemble that of those of the NFL. Here are the first nine picks:

1. LHP David Price (Devil Rays)
2. SS Michael Moustakas (Royals)
3. 3B Josh Vitters (Cubs)
4. LHP Daniel Moskos (Pirates)
5. C Matt Wieters (Orioles)
6. LHP Ross Detwiler (Nationals)
7. 1B/LF Matt LaPorta (Brewers)
8. RHP Casey Weathers (Rockies)
9. RHP Jarrod Parker (Diamondbacks).

So far, there haven't been too many surprises. LaPorta was viewed as an odd selection for the Brewers, in part because of the inherent signability issues that accompany him, and because the Brewers already have a budding All-Star first baseman in Prince Fielder. Weathers and Moskos were both viewed as slight reaches, though as collegiate pitchers they tend to be on the safer side.

Be back to recap the rest of the first round.

2:01 PM-ESPN is incredibly courteous. They have lent unto us Karl Ravech and Peter Gammons for this fine draft extravaganza (on the Deuce), as well as emotional baseball video with sunrises and the like. Romanticism is the keystone of the draft, apparently.

It apears as though the most important draftees are here, which is great. So are old players, making the symbolic selections for their franchise. Unfortunately, someone made the mistake of letting Steve Phillips into the building, so we must suffer with him.

ESPN2 has the graphics like those from the NFL draft as well as many of their baseball writers on remote feeds. The best part: no John Kruk! Since the Mets don't select until midway through the sandwich round, I might just cover the coverage until then. Each team has five minutes to make selections in the first round, so be prepared for some pain.

I'll keep you posted.

12:56 PM- We're only about an hour away from the draft, and I wanted to unveil my prognostication. Vanderbilt LHP David Price is the consensus #1 pick, so there's no fun there, but I do have a guess of who the Mets will take at #42. I see Rudy Terrasas, who runs the draft for the Mets, selecting RHP Andrew Brackman out of NC State.

He's somewhat of an injury risk, as evidenced by his lackluster performance this year, described by some as dead arm. But he's got immense upside and incredible size (6-10) and he will likely slip to the late first round or sandwich picks, right where the Mets would be looking to make a splash.

If Brackman is not available, you could look for the Mets to go for a high school pitcher who dropped courtesy of signability issues, like Seton Hall Prep's RHP Rick Porcello, Fitch HS's (CT) Matt Harvey, or LHP Jack McGeary out of Roxbury Latin HS (MA).

During Minaya's tenure, the Mets have shown preference towards college pitchers, but with Mike Pelfrey (#9, 2005) and Phil Humber (#3, 2004), the team was picking incredibly early in the draft, and had more choices talentwise. With last year's selection of Kevin Mulvey, the Mets did take a pitcher with upside, as Mulvey is less of a sure thing than other college products due to his participation in a somewhat weak program at Villanova.

The Mets, as far as I can tell, will probably go opposite ways with the #42 and #47 picks, probably opting for pitching with both, but using one on a more established college pitcher and one on a high school pitcher with a good deal of upside. Due to the Mets' lack of splurging this offseason, it is probable that the club has some money to spend on their picks, especially after last year's fiasco with draft-and-follow Pedro Beato.

10:16 AM-Good morning all, and welcome to what will certainly be an epic occurrence here at Crosstown Rivals. I will be covering, on a pick-by-pick basis, the Mets' performance in the MLB Amateur Draft today.

The Mets shall have their first pick 42nd overall (courtesy of the Indians inking Roberto Hernandez, the key cog of last year's bullpen, obvs) and they will pick again at 47th (courtesy of Chad Bradford to the Orioles) and then an additional 2nd rounder for Hernandez and an additional third rounder for Bradford. They were stripped of their first-round pick because of the signing of Moises Alou.

Because they were the best regular-season team in the National League, the Mets rank 29th out of 30 in the draft order. Last year, the Mets didn't pick until 62nd overall. Last year, I recapped all of the 62nd overall selections and most every draft in MLB history.

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Cap Day: Drug-Addled Maturation in the Third Base Loge

Perhaps this entry should be accompanied with a disclaimer: this story is entirely true, and I am so intensely scarred by its content that I have no reason to exaggerate..

Shea Stadium, facing a rapidly approaching demise, contains many memories of Metropolitan triumph and futility over the years. Yet my most vivid and most acrid memories of Shea were formed this past weekend, at Saturday's Mets-Diamondbacks matinee, aptly named Cap Day.

I attended the game with my father, a self-described hipster, who has a passion for the Mets that is somewhat flickering: he considers himself a Yankee fan as well, ignoring my descriptions of the inherent treachery. As season-ticket holders, we had passes to the Diamond Club, though the world's slowest elevator failed to fit us in, to our chagrin, before ten minutes of waiting.

Fair enough. It's not as though anyone could have a problem waiting in line for overpriced grill room food or being surrounded by a select few who wished to consume shots of Cuervo prior to a 1 p.m. game.

We eventually made our way to our seats, though surprisingly our box was devoid of an usher to wipe our seats, something which was rather rare for us. A family of four who sat directly in front of us soon had their seats wiped. Discrimination, ah yes, the scourge of Shea.

Getting a glimpse of the usher, we noticed his somewhat weathered face. Maybe it was the Mets hat atop his head, but I noticed a resemblance to character actor John Capodice (right), who I remembered as the proprietor of the laundromat in the second season Seinfeld episode "The Revenge." There was a little Gregg Popovich in there too.

The usher is not to be ignored in this story: his, well, incompetence shall play a pivotal role in this fateful occurrence.

Midway through the second inning, what was apparently a group of eight ragamuffin twelve-year olds celebrating a birthday decides to pounce on the prime seating lower in the loge box. I don't much enjoy twelve-year old boys, as I have lived through that age, and perhaps I had improved my seating during that era.

I expressed to my father mock disgust, calling their conduct morally reprehensible. To be fair, the member of the group who I affectionately referred to as "the ringleader" hoisted both of his arms and beckoned the rest of the group to join him in this act of unprecedented indulgence.

"Look! Look at all of these seats," he cried, standing up. Using a mock deep voice, I screamed back at him. "Siddown," I said. He did, but this nightmare was to perpetuate itself throughout the afternoon. I debated whether or not to get the usher: I would have loved nothing more than to see that smug bastard and his cronies ejected from the unoccupied seats, but after surveying the surrounding selections, our geriatric usher appeared to have misplaced himself.

Feigning intense disgust, I decided to assuage my state with a pretzel and a chilled Diet Pepsi (sans bottlecap, to be sure) from the nearest concession stand. As per the corollary laid out by Metsblog, I noticed a somewhat upbeat cashier uniting people with their food and stripping them of their savings. That's great: this will take forever.

And it did; as I waited an entire inning in line. The worst part: an associate of the cashier, best described by my father as "one pill away from the nuthouse," attempted to convert me. To be sure, I had had experiences with Jehovah's Witnesses and ecoterrorists trolling my block in Connecticut looking for my faith or my cash, so I was not totally averse to such conduct in public.

This woman, however, propagated a strange religion.

"Become an electrical engineer," she said. "You should ask your teacher about electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering, or civil engineering."

I smiled, waiting for my Pepsi and pretzel, trying to ignore this outreach.

"Hey you," she said. "Go ask your teacher to take you to the Central Library and check out all of the books on engineering. You need to learn your math, too, study your numbers. And read your Bible, and you're set for life."

I wish I could have blamed it on the usher, but it might tie into a general dereliction of the Shea staff. This is not the first time I have been served by someone appearing to be loony, but this was the first time I had to experience exceptionally weak service AND an attempt to sway my career choice.

For the record, I have completed too much education in my life to become an electrical engineer, and in what was a bad omen, presumably, a bad power cord in my house delivered a whopping blow of electricity to my arm the night before the game. My arm was shaking for about five minutes. My lawsuit is still pending.

My father and I returned to our seats, after a little bit more time in the concourse, for he had forgotten his sunscreen and was intensely afraid of the skin cancer that we not-so-cleverly dubbed "hematoma." He's a doctor; he enjoys occasionally making medical malapropisms for my benefit.

The kids were still there. How lovely. When those annoying Shea photographers trying to swindle came around, all eight of them stood up, obscuring the view of everyone within the box. My dad muttered to the photographer if he would make them pose with their tickets, too, but the photographer seemed not to understand.

Since my father and I were sitting a seat apart in the box, the Mets fotog asked us when he came around if "either one of us" wanted a picture. I guess we looked like we were not together: this will perhaps be pivotal later in this story.

The Mets did manage to tack on three runs in the fourth inning, evoking a good deal of cheering from ourselves and others. After that fleeting jubilation, though, we did notice some increasingly conspicuous folks behind us, courtesy of several spilled beers and loud, boisterous cheering.

Mine and my father's aforementioned adolescent experience give us a minimal ability to discern the intoxicated from the crazies, and this pair was somewhat intermediate. They were too loud and too raucous to be merely drunk, but they appeared to be at least somewhat sane. Yet my perceptive father managed to notice that the group made excessively frequent bathroom breaks: could it be cocaine?

Cocaine use was our somewhat reasonable conclusion. You might appreciate that a pair of the alleged cokeheads were dancing in the aisle during Sweet Caroline, and one had her dress fall off. How charming... entrancing, in fact. This is another reason to ban that venerable Red Sox tradition from Shea, and it might also be added that I despise Neil Diamond. Where was the usher during this chaos? Hiding under the overhang, of course, nowhere to be found.

The promotion of Cap Day once again enters into the fray, in this part of the narrative, as my father and I combined amassed, as you might expect, a pair of hats. Yet my father, in an attempt to pay homage to Dontrelle Willis, only will wear this one Mets hat with an unbent brim tilted slightly to the side. So I had two hats.

A woman who wasn't with the cokeheads prior approaches the group, beer in hand, and mutters something indiscriminate, though I hear them mention "Wagner" in between loud whistling and cries of "SMITTY!" to honor the Mets rookie reliever on the hill. Wagner wasn't going to come into the game, as far as I could tell, and I was wearing my WAGNER 13 shirt and sitting right in front of the rowdy bunch. It might also be said that I was unsure if this crew had ever seen a Mets game before; they didn't seem to care much about the action on the field.

Were they talking about me?

I answered my own question when the beer-porting woman approached me. I don't usually have strangers come up to me at Mets games.

"I'll buy your hat from you," she said. I employed my technique of politely smiling and saying nothing. It almost sorta worked when I was with the crazy concession lady.

"I'll either pay you for it or you can [look at my female anatomy]." I crap you not. Perhaps this woman was unaware that I was with my father, although he might insist that his presence spurred the bizarre offer on. I looked toward him for advice, but he hadn't heard the flashing comment and urged me just to hand over the hat. I did, and the woman threw a dollar at me.

It could have ended there, but I seemed to forget that the inebriated often find friends among the anonymous. The loud, tattooed woman behind me asked me if I was satisfied with the transaction's outcome. I smiled, chuckled, and although I should have learned my lesson, I ignored her for the most part.

I heard her behind me. "She's a chicken[expletive]. She got the hat but she didn't show him her [anatomy]. Let's go over there." She soon called to me, "We'll get you at least a lapdance, Wagner!" I shook my head slightly, hoping to avert any sort of controversy and trying to remain as sensible as possible.

She and a crony went over to speak with the girl and her boyfriend, with all parties visibly agitated by eachothers' behavior. I couldn't discern exactly what was being said during the shouting match... after all, this is a baseball game, and no one can speak over the deafening PA... but I listened to the woman behind me after she returned, defeated.

Behind our seats, I vaguely heard some chattering.

"He told me I was crazy; I told him your girlfriend's a slut," mutterred the cokeheadess. "I told him that we'd see him outside."

For the first time in my life, I felt a bizarre emotion. That emotion was not at all sexual, not any sort of embarrassment, but rather that I wanted to leave a Mets game early. I had somehow become a lynchpin for conflict, despite not consuming a drop of alcohol or an ounce of blow.

The Mets dispatched the Diamondbacks rather quickly in the top of the ninth, and my father and I bolted Shea with speed rivaling Jose Reyes with brand-new hamstrings.

Such is life with elderly ushers, in the hot sun, on a day when Paul Lo Duca and Carlos Beltran are sitting. What a day. Cap Day.

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Tomorrow, I will be your host for the second annual Crosstown Rivals Draft Liveblog Extravaganza, covering the Mets' draft. Pore over, if you will, the coverage from yesteryear. Hope to see you there.

Crosstown Rivals is sponsored by JustGreatTickets.com, your home for Chicago White Sox Tickets.

Failure

I am writing to you, readers, or whatever is left of you, to discuss two failures: the Mets' failure to secure a win in the especially pivotal series over Atlanta and my own failure to update this blog within essentially the past three weeks.

First, let me address the Braves series. Oliver Perez cannot start every game against Atlanta. Perhaps we'd rather him on one day's rest than Glavine or Sosa, or whoever is to take the mound against our chief competition.

I must say that I have become increasingly disillusioned with Glavine's work, and Sosa was due for a regression. Maine dazzled in April, though his May has seen more disappointments than the Ron Paul campaign.

Glavine pitched well enough last night, though the Mets were simply unable to get to John Smoltz. It's not terribly difficult to be in that state: Smoltz has been exceedingly effective late into his career, and his 7-2 record and 2.58 ERA this season despite what appeared to be some sort of finger injury does not belie that.
What should scare all Mets fans is the sudden late-game quitter's tendency of this club, and its equally displeasing failure to drive in runners. Perhaps I appear hypocritical, after all, these observations can often be the result of poor perception.

Take a look at this, though: the Mets' .241 team batting average in the last week is the 23rd highest in baseball, hardly a stat befitting a first-place club. Their OPS is 27th in that span.

Where is the power? Aside from David Wright, the Mets' offense is conspicuously devoid of power. Jose Reyes hasn't hit a home run since April. Carlos Beltran has one extra base hit in his last ten games. Carlos Delgado hit one homer on May 9, one on May 11. That's it for this month; he only had one in April.

I'm not sure how this team is managing to fend for itself: Jorge Sosa and Jason Vargas are in the rotation, El Duque is slated to come back tonight (before his next invariable bout with osteoporosis) and replace Vargas, but top prospect Mike Pelfrey still hasn't been able to figure out big league hitters.

Moises Alou and Jose Valentin are MIA. Despite the success of replacements Endy Chavez and Damion Easley, it would be much nicer to relegate that pair to the bench.

Regarding that bench, might I add, is there anyone besides Carlos Gomez and Ramon Castro capable of getting on base? Julio Franco is awful, David Newhan is worse, and Ruben Gotay is hardly even on this team.

That being said, I'm not hopeless for this club. They're still in first place, and they did take two out of three from the Team Formerly Known As The Bronx Bombers.

Let's get the Fish this weekend...

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Regarding my failure to post, I might be inclined to explain that I have been incredibly busy this time of year. Sure, whatever, you might say that's my fault and screw me, etc., but I have hope that this will be a daily blog from June-September, and perhaps October, though I won't jinx it.

I do have plans ensuing for a relaunch... this site's name is no longer apt, obvs, and I have plans to make this officially into a site about the Mets, with the Rangers and Jets as secondary fodder.

I also plan to include other writers on the site, so if you might be interested, send me an email at zookman12@yahoo.com explaining what you think you could do to help with a relaunched site.

Trust me, it'll be fun.

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Splashdown

Pardon me for not being able to muster up the courage to post: I was distraught by the two final nails in the Rangers's coffin, and a start by Mike Pelfrey which made me long for Mike Bacsik.

The tom-toms will inevitably begin to beat regarding Pelfrey's status in the rotation, as Jorge Sosa's fleeting flash of brilliance Saturday night cemented a rotation that has seen quite a bit of good pitching from its front four, save for a few embarrassing outings at the hands of Duque and Perez.

Pelfrey, on the other hand, has been pretty bad. I wish there were another way to put it, but at this point he doesn't seem major league ready. While this in no way spells doom for Pelfrey's long-term career, his 4 BB 2 HBP effort yesterday won't cut it on a championship contender.

Pelfrey has shown signs of improvement in his most recent two starts, but he is not striking enough batters out, as evidenced by his 14:10 BB to K ratio. That's awful. Pelfrey has that overpowering fastball, and yet he looks less and less like a future star and more and more like a groundball pitcher at best.

He's 0-4, with a 6.39 ERA, and has allowed runs in the first inning during each of his last four starts. It is certainly not a formula for success to allow early runs, and his control issues and strikeout issues will pose trouble throughout the year.

I'm not sure whether we can argue that he has been rushed to the majors: he spent almost the whole of last season in the minors, and he was considered a near lock to make the rotation after being drafted ninth overall out of Wichita State.
The Mets did ink Brian Lawrence, left, that stud of the 49-61 career record who hasn't set foot on a big league mound since 2005. He's coming off of surgery, and he wasn't exactly a flamethrower before the operation.

That being said, Lawrence will certainly push Pelfrey if Sosa is returned to the minors or sent to the bullpen. The Mets' roster composition is due for a shakeup, as Aaron Sele is for all intensive purposes useless in the pen, and Sosa's success, albeit one night's worth, makes him a potential long man.

Ambiorix Burgos will eventually be returned from AAA, and we all have the hope that he will emerge as a setup man. So where does that leave Pelf? Will he return to AAA, to work with his beloved catcher Mike DiFelice, or is Pelfrey destined for the bullpen, where his lack of effective secondary and tertiary pitches will be less poisonous?

The Mets' impending series in San Francisco is unlikely to answer the questions of Pelfrey's destiny, although Lino Urdaneta, formerly of an infinite ERA, is still on the team.

The San Francisco series will see Perez, Glavine, and Maine (who might just be the National League's best pitcher right now) for the Mets, while former infatuation Barry Zito, ridiculously good youngster Matt Cain, and veteran average pitcher Matt Morris will take the mound for the Giants.

Tonight's Perez-Zito matchup (10:15 PM, ugh, SNY) will be interesting to watch, as the Mets made a concious decision this offseason to spurn the $126 million man Zito (2-3, 3.52 ERA) in favor of the much cheaper Perez (3-2, 3.41 ERA) or Pelfrey. I have Perez with the win, as Zito's inability to generate swings and misses will probably bode well for the Mets, whose team speed is pretty good. Also, Barry Bonds is a middling 1-for-7 against Perez in his career.

The Mets will undoubtedly have to contain Barroid in this series, though I'd be surprised if he does all that much damage against their three starters. Bonds is a pretty good 26-for-80, .325 AVG, against Glavine, and Maine has never faced the Giants' slugger.

We'll see. I've ordered a Ritalin IV Drip to stay awake for tonight's game.

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Dining in the Desert

The ballpark in Arizona, call it BankOne Ballpark, Chase Field, or banking services company + synonym for stadium (CitiField isn't finished; I can still make that joke), has been very kind to the Mets of late: the Flushing squad is 8-0 there since 2005.

The thin air inside the retractable-roof stadium has created Mets lore during the past years, as Mike Jacobs posted a .467/.579/1.133 line there in 4 games in 2005, turning the youngster into a legend while he jacked three homers in four games.

David Wright is a .469/.528/.875 hitter there.

Carlos Beltran has a fairly nuts line there, too: .368/.432/.921.

Perhaps this trip to Chase Field can provide the Mets with a slumpbuster: last year all four games weren't even close, as the Metsies ran the D-Backs over in short order: 7-1, 10-6, 5-0, 15-2. It was part of the "greatest road trip ever," where the Mets took a tour of National League teams on their way down, en route to posting a 9-1 record. Even Alay Soler and El Duque threw shutouts.

Here's something to look at: the Mets wreaked similar havoc in the desert in 2005. The scores there were 4-1, 14-1, 18-4, and 3-1. Victor Zambrano was nasty, Pedro had that odd start, where he had been charged up on some sort of electronic machine to counteract an injury, and carried a no-hitter through four or five despite having absolutely no control over where his pitches were going.

This Mets team is in a different circumstance, as are the Diamondbacks. The Mets are narrowly behind Atlanta in the all-important NL East race, and the Diamondbacks, despite having to cope with garish new uniforms, are only a game and a half behind the once-hot Dodgers.

This is a totally rebuilt Arizona team: gone are the relics of that 2001 World Series team (save for the pitcher formerly known as Randy Johnson) and in their stead are the young products of a top-notch farm system. Arizona's unloaded their veterans, like Shawn Green and Luis Gonzalez.

Arizona has been led on offense by second baseman Orlando Hudson, and his uncharacteristic .348/.412/.500 line. Eric Byrnes and Chad Tracy have done pretty well, and the Diamondbacks have a young nucleus that will undoubtedly contribute at some point during the season.

One could look at shortstop Stephen Drew, centerfielder Chris Young, outfielder Carlos Quentin, catcher Miguel Montero, and utility man Alberto Callaspo as signs that this team is up-and-coming.

Their pitching isn't bad either: reigning Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb is once again the ace of the staff, and the chaff (Russ Ortiz, Claudio Vargas, Miguel Batista) that allowed the Mets to tee off in past years is gone.
Offseason acquisition Doug Davis (left, 2.25 ERA in 6 starts) has done well, as has the Mets' old friend Livan Hernandez (3.55 ERA in 6 starts). Micah Owings, who will be facing the Mets tonight (9:40 PM, SNY), pitched well in three starts before an arm injury.

Best of all, though, has been the Diamondbacks' lights-out bullpen, anchored by closer Jose Valverde (10 SV, 1.64 ERA, more than a strikeout per inning), who is supported by righties like the mercurial Juan Cruz, youngster Dustin Nippert, the out-of-nowhere Tony Pena (16.1 innings, 1.65 ERA) and southpaw Doug Slaten, who has held lefties to a .167 batting average against.

I'm not sure that these Diamondback teams will be pushovers, though any team playing in that stadium gives the Mets an opportunity to win. Let's do it. Let's see that slumpbuster.

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Nolas-killed

Ah, how punny. The Mets lose to the Marlins and Ricky Nolasco, who entered the game 0-3 with a 19.73 ERA career against us, and I can still make light of it with a terribly clever pun.

Well, not exactly. Last night's game wasn't all bad: after all, our golden boy did hit his first home run of the year (on the same night that the perenially-overrated $136 million man Alfonso Soriano hit his), and the Mets didn't play awfully. David Wright went 3-for-4 with a double as well.

Pelf didn't pitch badly, aside from a poor first inning (three walks and a triple, positively Parkesque), and the Mets' rookie wunderkind Joe Smith still hasn't given up a run on the season.

Regrettably, Stinky Heilman was exactly his name, serving up a two-run job to ice it in the eighth. He put it out of reach: a deficit of one run became three during his fine stint on the mound.

I don't know what to do about him: one would hope his filthy change will soon return, and moreover that he won't go all Brad Lidge on us.

Lidge, coincidentally (or not?), like Heilman closed games for Notre Dame, and melted down precipitously after serving up a home run, coincidentally (or not?), to a Puerto Rican player on the Cardinals while pitching in his home ballpark during the NLCS. The comparisons are eerie.

Lidge's meltdown didn't cost his Astros a spot in the World Series. After all, the Cardinals had disposed of the Astros during the 2004 NLCS, and 2005 presented the Astros with an opportunity to go to the Series. They were swept, with Lidge boasting an 0-2 record in only three games of work.

After that postseason, questions emerged about Lidge's confidence. Would he be okay? The overwhelming opinion was that the embattled closer would weather the storm. Not exactly: he posted a 1-5 record with a Trachselian 5.28 ERA. His WXRL, a metric for measuring relievers, dropped from 8.1 in 2004, to 4.7 in 2005, and an embarrassing 0.8 in 2006.

Lidge has a 5.73 ERA and a ghastly 2.36 WHIP this season, and was recently bumped from the closer's role in Houston in favor of former Met long man Dan Wheeler.

Enter Heilman. He served up a shot of Jack to Molina during Game 7: we all unfortunately can remember. Heilman's numbers this year haven't quite been Lidgely, though he is undoubtedly vying with Ambiorix Burgos for the weak link in the Mets' pen, with two losses and a 4.09 ERA on the young season while working as the primary setup man.

Perhaps Willie should consider lengthening the leashes of Schoeneweis (who has a whopping 8 walks in slightly more than nine innings) and Joe Smith, though I am not entirely sure that's a good idea. Maybe the Mets would benefit from the promotion of Jorge Sosa, who has been impressive at New Orleans, and has worked as a reliever before.

Maybe it was shortsighted to unload four of our young relievers this offseason to net Ben Johnson, Adam Bostick, Jason Vargas, and Jon Adkins. I don't see any of them contributing to the Flushing squad, while Henry Owens and Matt Lindstrom have combined for 26.2 innings of 2.40 ERA ball for the Marlins and Heath Bell has a 0.54 ERA in 16.2 innings of work for the Padres.

Bell (left, pumped to be a Padre) probably had very little to offer the big club, though I would disagree with similar assessments about Ring, Owens, and Lindstrom. Maybe the Sanchez and Padilla injuries are responsible for this, perhaps the Mota suspension as well, though all of these were pretty much known quantities when Minaya made the questionable deals with Florida and San Diego (read my first impulse, which turned out to be pretty much right).

The bullpen needs to get better, and a little more late-inning production from the offense wouldn't exactly hurt. You can't exactly expect the Mets to win when they score two solitary runs.

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The Mets are tied 1-1 with Florida now, with Perez on the hill. Follow it at MLB Gameday. Ruben Gotay drove in the tying run.

And finally, how about those Rangers? I think Briere's last second shot probably was a goal, so we caught a break, but it's not like the refs have been awfully kind to us this season. Shanahan's goal was beautiful, and King Henrik was outstanding.

I made a mistake handicapping the series in my post yesterday: the NHL series format is 2-2-1-1-1, not 2-3-1. Game 5 is therefore in Buffalo, and we'll see you on Friday night with a chance to take the lead.

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Why Can't I Be Wrong?

I hoped against hope that my prognostication of Chan Ho Park's sucking would be wrong. I am not Metstradamus. Unfortunately, I'm not stupid either.

The wretched thing that is the Mets starting rotation (save for the farm boy, and Glavine) took another turn for the worse as Tsing-Tao Park spirited us away to our third loss in the last five games. I know... that's hardly Yankee proportions of late, but it still is something to be concerned about.

Why, take note of this stat: in the past week, the Mets have put up a paltry .258/.325/.378 line, on par with the career numbers of the dearly departed Joe McUseless: .251/.302/.355. You know that when you're slumping to an extent where McEwing would be a productive offensive player, you're in trouble (see New York Mets from 2002-04).

And it is high time to worry about David Wright and Carlos Delgado. These two composed half of the Mets Core Four from last year (Reyes and Beltran are the others) and it's difficult to see them playing poorly and the Mets winning.

The worst part is that Wright is a player, who, at this point in his career, you would like to see a progression from him, in both hitting for average and for power. He's 24 and a half, and yet that 6-year, $55 million deal looks like we bought ourselves an above-average singles and doubles hitter.

Maybe it was my mistake to bash Wes Helms: his .244 EqA is hardly that much worse than Wright's .263 clip. Even better, we're forced to watch the best 3Bs in the National League frequently; Miguel Cabrera and Larry Jones. Perhaps we might have all been carried away with Wright, though he just looks absolutely lost at the plate.

Worst of all, David is hearing boo-birds at Shea. He deserves them, undoubtedly, his 0 HR and 6 RBI aren't going to win the Mets any championships. Perhaps Willie should rest him... I hear that David Newhan's swinging a hot bat (2 for 13, no XBH on the year). The other David (Wright) hasn't had an extra-base hit since April 12.

There's nobody there to push Delgado and Wright: the players who would assume their positions are not only decidedly inferior, they are both on the downside of their careers. Sorry, Julio, but you just aren't cut out for everyday work.

Where does this team go from here? The Mets are lost, wandering, without much of a home (as evidenced by their 6-6 record at Shea), and in mild but present danger of losing ground in the division to Atlanta.

Factor in that Jose Valentin followed El Duque to the DL (perhaps the clubhouse oat bran was tainted), and that Moises was awfully banged up in last night's game, and that Mike Pelfrey, our top pitching prospect, and his 0-2 record and 7.90 ERA are heading to the hill, and it makes it a great night for playoff hockey.

Rangers-Sabres, 7 p.m., on your local VERSUS channel. ::Collective groan from league offices::.
Seriously, this is probably a must-win for the Blueshirts, unless they plan on going back to Buffalo down 3-2 or getting eliminated on home ice Game 5.

Maybe Michal Rozsival will do something impressive, so all the local tabs can do their best Ethel Merman impression in tomorrow's headlines.

One final thing: Ruben Gotay (!) was called up to replace Jose Valentin. If Anderson Hernandez or Fernando Tatis makes the trip up north from New Orleans, I might consider rooting for the Red Sox. They're good.

Edit: Vote in the new poll.

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Frying the Fish

Hm. This would have been a good post title, if not for the news, just breaking, that one of our magnificent starters, Orlando "I did it all for the Duque" Hernandez, will be scratched from his start tonight, placed on the DL, and replaced in the starting rotation by Chan Ho Pork.

While our newest starter's name may actually be Chan Ho (can we say that in the blogosphere anymore?) Park, I'm going to call him Pork, for the most part because a ham could probably throw a better game than he does. Although if you watch towards the end of this YouTube video, you'll see Chan Ho's mad Kung Fu skills. The picture is also on this post.

I don't like Chan Ho Park. My dislike of him is rooted in so many things, but mostly the fact that he was a royal bum after signing a Darren Dreifort-esque 5-year, $65 million pact with the Texas Rangers. Park, in his three and a half years with the Team at the Ballpark at Arlington, won 22 games.

Last year he pitched for San Diego, where he racked up an impressive 7-7 record with a 4.81 ERA. His 8.0 VORP wasn't even a third of Pedro Feliciano's tally. And Pork was making upwards of 15-million dollars, cruising in Southern California, on an aircraft carrier he bought wth spare change between his couch cushions.

The highly-sought after Park entered into free agency, and reached a deal with the Mets, ensuring that he would bring his mediocrity to Shea Stadium when we least desired it. Maybe I was wrong on that front.

Chan H* will take the mound tonight, against the Florida Fish, primed for an embarrassing showing. He's 4-2 against Florida, with a 4.39 ERA, for his career, and the Mets don't need another Jose Lima.

The worst part about Park is that he doesn't even qualify on the Lima level. Lima was crazy, it was always Lima Time (even when Dontrelle Willis smashed that grand slam past the International Date Line) and we looked forward to his showings. Jeremi Geremi Gonzalez is more an accurate comparison for Park, minus of course that then-record contract.

Let's pray that El Duque's shipment of medical cream is on it's way, and that he keeps taking his Centrum Silver and Metamucil. That bursitis isn't going to cure itself. Onward and upward, folks. How long until Omar has to ask John Maine to fill two spots in the starting rotation? Hell, I'd take lefty Pedro. As long as he's one arm to his name, he'll be better than Chan Ho and his incredibly dexterous legs.

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P.S. Michal Rozsival is the man.

And the Mets will lose two of three to the Fish. What is going wrong? Thankfully this series will be followed by a trip to Arizona. The Mets are 8-0 there the last two years.

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