I don’t know which was uglier, watching that fat tub shit David Wells bumble and stumble down the first base line on a bunt or the inept coaching job done by Sandy Alomar Sr. as he threw up a road block on Lastings Milledge at the last minute, leaving LMillz a dead duck at 3^rd base. I will give Wells credit, for a guy who can’t see his toes, he rumbles pretty good..

Sure, Wells pitched pretty good last night but Mets hitters and coaches helped him out as well. The Mets left 16 runners on base with Moise Alou leaving 3 in scoring position. The turning point of the game was Alou’s at bat in the 5^th when he struck out with the bases loaded and 2 out as Spanky Wells broke off a beauty of a curve that tied up Alou.

John Maine wasn’t too bad last night. He walked just one batter and was let down by Jeff Conine booting a ground ball that cost Maine a chance to get out of the 6^th .  Maine had good command and threw strikes consistently. Scott Schoneweiss wasn’t as bad as it seemed as it was more bad luck than bad pitching that did him in. Guillermo Mota retired six straight as word is Petey while watching Mota pitch on TV called Guy Conti to let him know that Mota was tipping his pitches mostly his change up. How can you not love Petey?     

Paul LoDuca is back tonight after a trip to Brooklyn, so it’s so long to Sandy Alomar Jr. Still no word on Ramon Castro and with Mike DiFelice playing well, there is no rush to bring Castro back. This does not bode well for Castro to ever grab the number one catcher’s job in 2008.

Endy Chavez is ready, willing and able to rejoin the Mets and will probably do so tomorrow as it looks like Brain Lawrence will be DFA after his start tonight that is if doesn’t pitch a perfect game.

I’m tired of talking about how bad Joe Morgan and Jon Miller suck on Sunday Night Baseball, in fact all of ESPN baseball coverage is a joke. Baseball Tonight which was the premier baseball show EVER, is nothing but a shell of it’s former self. Karl Ravitich is still a pretty good host but he’s no Brain Kenny or Bill Pido. That’s the problem with the World Wide Leader, they have talent people but they burry them in dead end shifts. John Kruck is know nothing slob and Dusty Baker is a step away from assisted living. Orestes Destrade has a great voice but zero substance. So what Harold Reynolds grabbed a little ass, he was knowledgeable and informative,  he is sorely missed on BT.

I’m planning to do some live blogging tonight during the Mets-Phiilies game as I’ve become deadly with my new laptop.

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That is the Mets Magic Number as both the Phillies and Braves have fallen 7 games back in the NL East race.  That August 16^th meltdown against the Pirates seems like so long ago if fact the Mets have won 6 of 8 since that debacle. So after today the Mets can do something they have not done all season and that’s go for the kill. If Willie Randolph has any rallying speeches saved up, tomorrow would be a good time to use one. The Mets HAVE to step on the necks of Philly and Atlanta and break ‘em.  Time to take out the trash fellas’.  I would love a sweep of the seven games but I’m not expecting that, five of seven would be nice and sweep in Atlanta would be vindication.  Some thoughts on yesterday’s game and other minutia:

El Duque is a fucking stud.  He’s the ace of the staff and arguably he could be the Mets MVP.  The guy goes out there with a mind for pitching like a savant. Really, he’s a pitching genius. He hits both sides of the plate with breaking balls and off speed pitches keeping batters off balance and when they are looking for those pitches he destroys their timing with a fastball. This is why radar guns are the biggest pieces of shit a scout can carry with him as velocity means nothing. Its how you set up batters a decive them with your repertoire of pitches and what kind of command you have of your arsenal. This is why El Duque can still get the job done at whatever age he is and Titan Tom Glavine lives off his reputation as he can’t hit his spots like he used too.  If the Mets face a game seven in the post season I just hope its El Duque who gets the start.

I’m glad Billy Wagner thinks it’s funny to wear a sling on his left arm HA, HA, HA what a fucking scream.

Wagner and Randolph seem to have a strange relationship as Wagner it seems struggles with the way Willie uses him. I do see Wagner’ point as Randolph will call on him in non-save situation but then again Billy gets a lot of dough so sometimes you just have to shut up and pitch. If I were the manager I would designate Jorge Sosa as the closer for tonight’s game and let Wagner rest up for the seven game stretch.

Tim McFullofshit was in fine form yesterday. First, he was shocked that Grady Little did not bring his infield in with David Wright up in the 3^rd inning. Yep, the 3^rd inning.  Reyes was on third with one out and no score but forget all that IT WAS THE 3RD INNING!!!!!! Then McFullofshit had Ralph Kiner join him in the booth for a Mets broadcasting reunion tour. Poor Kenny Albert was tossed to the side as McFullofshit  took over the play by play and bantered with Ralphie. You think Doofus Joe Buck would have stood for that treatment?

Poor Grady Little, every time he comes to NYC something blows up in face. This time walking Jeff Conine to get to Carlos Delgado who has been awful with RISP. It seemed like the move to make but like Wily Coyote, Little always seems to get his ass handed to him when he thinks. So of course Delgado breaks a 0 for 19 slump with a 2 run single. Grady Little, Super Genius.

I watched the Phillies-Padres game last night and what a strange game. The Pads hit four solo HR’s to win but the Phillies had a 2-0 lead going into the 6^th when Mike Cameron hit a HR. Then in the bottom of the 6^th Doug Brocail decided now was the time to retaliate against Carlos Ruiz for his dirty slide into Marcus Giles as he plunked Ruiz on the thigh. I guess the Phillies expected it and that was that. In the top of the 7^th Kyle Loshe got the first two batters and then walked Geoff Blum which led to Charlie Manuel taking him out and brining in J.C Romero to pitch to Ron Makowiak. The Phillies fans were in vintage form as they booed and hissed at Manuel for going to his pen which makes the Mets pen look like the old Cincinnati Nasty Boys. Bud Black brings Mackowiak back to the bench and puts up Craig Stansburry who just arrived from Triple A to replace Marcus Giles who went on the DL. Stansburry promptly hits the first pitch from Romero for a single (his first ML hit as well) and you could hear the collective OH SHIT from the fans at Citizen Bank Park thru the TV. Romero recovers and gets Brian Giles for the third out.   Flash Gordon comes in to pitch in the 8^th and gets the human windmill Mike Cameron to strike out. Milton Bradley is now up. On Friday, Bradley hit a blast into LF and did a Willie Montanez type trot around the bases. Then as he was playing in LF last night the always cordial Phillies fans taunted the shit out of Bradley to the point where crew chief John Hirsh beck called Bud Black out of the dugout to have him tell Bradley to stop egging on the crowd as Bradley took a page out of the Darryl Strawberry Fenway Park circa 1986 book by acknowledging the fans taunts. Well Bradley shut everyone up with another HR and another 10 minute trot around the bases. The fans were so pissed off at Gordon for letting the Pads tie the game that they forgot their anger at Bradley.

If you thought that was good, wait this game gets better.  Kranepool Society favorite former Met Heath Bell comes on to pitch the bottom of the 8^th. Bell right now is about 280 lbs with hips the size of pontoons but he is effective and gets the Placid Phills out 1-2-3. On to the 9^th and Brett Myers.

Myers gets behind 2-0 on Kevin Kouzmanoff with breaking balls so everyone knows what’s coming next especially Kouzmanoff, a nice fat fastball that Kouz plops over the right field fence to make it 3-2 Pads and the 37,000+ at Citizen Bank Ballpark shit out Cheez Wiz all over themselves! Thermal Sledge then adds the topper as he hits a HR batting for Heath Bell. The Phillies go down with a whimper in the 9^th and Charlie Manuel has to ask himself why he was so quick with the hook on Lohse who tossed only 84 pitches, when his bullpen is an arson squad.

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So who gets the boot for Endy? It’s not as easy as Mets fans think. If I were the GM the guy I’d like to release would be Brian Lawrence who has been underwhelming to say the least, the problem is he is slated to start on Monday in Philly. Lawrence is keeping the seat warm for Petey to make his grand re-entrance to the Mets rotation but he’s about one rehab start away from that glorious event.

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Greetings all, I was away with my family for three days in Lancaster, PA. I brought along my brand new lap top that has Wi-Fi and every other bell and whistlle you can think of. The problem is when it comes to techno file type of things, I’m in the special Ed class. Giving me this laptop is as bad as giving me a Porche Carrera, I’d just hang out in the left lane doing 55. The problem was the hotel we stayed in had wireless service but you had to have tape holding your glasses together to figure out how to use it. So while I tried to gain access to the world wide web, my wife and kids had no paitents as they wanted to go swimming/shopping/amusment parking/eating so I didn’t have much time to figure out how to get on and post. They did throw me a bone on Wednesday night as I got to watch the last four innings of Mets-Padres and got to hear Dan Shulman and The Franchise Killer, Steve Phillips, kill Mets fans for leaving in the 8th inning on what looked to be a misserable night. By the way the weather in Lancaster was more like mid November than mid August same as in NY from what I hear.

As I type this the Mets are up 2-0 as David Wright continues to make his move on the MVP with an opposite field HR and some great glove work. Gary Cohne was wondering who the Mets would send down to make room for Endy Chavz, who could be re-activated tomorrow. Cohen thought it would be very hard to send down a position player although LMillz could be sent down for a week and brought back on September 1. I say just designate Mota for assignment as the Braves have done with Bob Wickman.  Omar would show some cajones a la John Shuerholz.

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Solid move by Omar in getting Jeff Conine for Jose Castro and Sean Henry two A ballers. Don’t get caught up in Conine’ 41 years on earth as he still has a productive bat. Overall this year he’s at .265/.327/.409 with 6 HR 32 RBI and 18 XBH. Against LHP he’s .266/.327/.477 add to that as a pinch hitter he’s an overall .409/.481/.500 in 22 AB with a .286 avg. with RISP. His intangibles are two World series rings with the Fish and six post season series under his belt which to me is huge. Omar Minaya has gone out and gotten a proven right handed bat off the bench and add to that with Endy Chavez ready to return by the weekend, it looks like Chavez and Lmillz will man RF with each spelling Moises Alou as need be. That moves Shawn Green to the bench as a lefty bat with Conine the first righty bat plus Ruben Gotay, Marlon Anderson and Ramon Castro when he gets healthy giving the Mets a huge advantage as far as bench depth and quality go.

What a trip this team is. Last Thursday night I was livid after the loss to the Pirates and now with six wins in the last seven games and a fortified bench, I can’t wait for these next (gulp!) Thirteen games!!!!!!!!!!!

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With Damien Easley out with a season ending injury it has sent the Mets scurrying for reinforcement. No matter where they go for a replacement it will be very hard to replace Easley and his very productive right handed bat off the bench. The best bat now at the Mets disposal is Ruben Gotay’s as he has hit a blistering .361 vs. left handed pitching.

Some of the names out there are not really overwhelming. Jeff Conine is 41 years old and does not give Willie Randolph the versatility he likes in his bench players. Miguel Cairo? He has signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals. Big deal. Been there done that with Cairo. Rich Aurilia is an intriguing player as he has some versatility, he’s a professional hitter and he’s a  Brooklyn guy but the big draw back here is I can’t see how he clears waivers as the Braves and Phillies would block than tin a heartbeat.

When A Hern was brought up I was surprised as I figured the guy to bring up would be Fernando Tatis. Tatis is hitting .267/.350/.474 in Nawlins’ with 19 HR against PCL righty’s he’ hitting .303/.411/.468. He was a regular in the bigs and he can play 1B as it seems the Mets not only need a right handed bat off the bench but they also need insurance for Delgado as you know his injury is worse than the Mets are letting on.

The question is what happens when Endy Chavez comes back at the end of the week?    Best case scenario is if Chavez can stay out until September 1^st when the roster’s can expand or A Hern stays up for a week until Chavez is given the green light to go.

Maybe this team is better than I think as I’m worried about who gets to sit on the dugout bench for ¾ of a game.

Tim Marchman the best baseball writer in town has a great article in the NY Sun today on the test the Pads will give the Mets this week. The three wins against the Nats were great but this week the Pads and Dodgers come to town then it’s on to Philly for four games and three in Atlanta.  If the Mets are still in first place and I don’t have an ulcer on Labor Day then it will top off a great summer.      

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This is why the Mets have frustrated the fan base this season. Last night they played like the best team in baseball. Glavine was vintage Glavine, pounding the strike zone down low, Moises Alou comes thru with a big HR, third string catcher Mike DeFelice comes up big with 3 RBI and the play of the season by the best double play combo in baseball in the 5^th inning when Jose Reyes made a diving stop and flipped the ball to Luis Castillo from his glove to turn the twin killing of the year all added up to a win that took away a lot of the stink of Thursday night.

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The Sports Blovaitor Mike Francessa will have Omar Minaya on as a guest today on his All He Can Eat Radio Show 

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I’m still seething over last night’s embarrassing performance. It still bothers me because the Mets allowed not just a bad team but a disinterested team to comeback to humiliate them. Mex and Cohen were going on and on when the Mets were up 5-0 on how the Pirate players’ heads were not in the game. Mex went on how he understands that a when a team is out of it it’s hard to come to the park and be motivated but you must be professional and play every game with purpose.

Then I start to think what an awful organization the Pirates are as they head for 15 straight years of losing seasons to lose the way the Mets did last night to them is beyond awful.

When I picked up the papers this morning I see the back headline in the NY Daily News that said “Willie Rips Mets After Dismal Loss to the Pirates”  Now after the game I watched Willie’s presser after the game and as much as he looked pissed off he didn’t rip his team as I though the should have:

{“It was a horrible game.  Pitching didn’t come through.  We get a lead, we don’t put people away, leaving ducks out there, man on third base nobody out, just terrible situational hitting.  It’s a give-away game…you can’t have it…
“These guys play us tough here, but there’s no excuse for having a lead like that and not being able to put them away…
“I give them credit for battling back like that…I  tip my cap…but there’s no way we should lose a game like that…}
Willie with all due respect FUCK THE HAT TIP OK! That’s not what I want to hear Here’s what I wanted to hear from Willie:
“Not much to say after that one fellas. You saw it . You’ve seen it since June . We are not a very good baseball team right now.  What’s our record since June? 33-35 right? So we’re under .500 for 2 ½ months right? That’s not championship baseball. “
Reporter: “What would you say to the Pirates after that game”?
Willie: The Pirates? Fuck the Pirates. They didn’t win tonight WE GAVE THEM THE GAME!!!!! “
With that Willie should have gotten up and stormed off. But that’s not  Randolph’s  way and he’s not going to change but some way some how he has to get the message to his underachieving team that  he’s fed up with the poor play and it’s time to get in gear.
I can hear the voice of Bill Parcells saying “ You are what your records says you are” and as of June the Mets record of 33-35 stinks of mediocrity.    
 
 

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I’m done for the night see you tomorrow

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