Two out of three from the Reds is okay but I would love to see more length out of the starters as it seems they turn into pumpkins after inning number six. Ollie Perez was the Good Ollie yesterday but he TIRED after 103 pitches. I know we are in a different era of MLB but how does a big strong kid like Perez get tired after 103 pitches? But that should not overshadow his fine performance yesterday. Big Pelf pitched well in a losing cause but his was his best start in the last three. At some point Johan Santana while he has been terrific has to start giving the Mets some length in his starts. His last three starts have gone 5 2/3 6 and 6 innings his next start should be Friday in the Bronx and a complete game shout out would be mighty nice.

 

So the Mets are at 19-16 after the weekend with the woeful Nats next up and with the winter like conditions here in NYC today (rain and temps in the 40’s THE FORTIES!!!!!!!!!!! In the middle of May?) and the rotation in flux the Mets should call off today’s game by 11 AM.

 

Gimp Castillo has a sore quad and three years left on his contract. Jeff Keppinger hit Mets pitching like he was dropping tokens in a batting machine. Oh by the way Keppinger used to play for the Mets I think second base if I’m not mistaken.

 

Nice to see the Carlos y Carlos hitting the ball and fortifying the line up. I have set up a shrine in my basement with votive candles surrounded by pictures and baseball cards of Grandpa Alou praying for his good health for the rest of the season as his prescentes in the lineup makes a big difference. I have even started to pee on my hands before every Mets game as well. Oh yes, I can’t forget to stop at the Hal-Al market on the way home for a live chicken to sacrifice. Whatever it takes to keep Grandpa in the lineup I’m up for.

 

The last time I saw a team hit out of order was when the Mets played the Cubs in Japan and Don Baylor was the Cubs manager. Baylor got pissed off at Bobby Valentine for bringing it up to the umpires as I recall. The rule is so convoluted but the umpires got it right. I know the Little League rule book is similar to the MLB book as it pertains to items like batting gout of order but the way they word some of the rules leaves a lot to interopetation. Thankfully I have never had that happen to me. Dusty Baker should be embarrassed.    

 

 I froze my ass off at Miller Field on Staten Island yesterday as the Staten Island Soccer Federation does not have the decency that the Staten Island Little League has to not schedule games on Mother’s Day.  Miller Field was an old airport back during WW II and is now a Federal park and the place where about 100 soccer games a weekend are played (by the way my son played for a couple of seasons with disgraced Congressman Vito Fossella’s son and I’m not surprised by the latest scandal. Even though my political point of view is the complete opposite of Fossella’s I found him a nice enough fellow but I always wondered why when he came to the games, he never sat with his wife and family?  In fact my wife and his wife usually sat together away from the parents of the kids on our team who were total assholes with their yelling and screaming. After games he would walk by himself. to his car. My wife would always ask me “What’s up with Vito he’s so weird?”) I can’t remember any time in the middle of May where I wore a turtleneck shirt, hooded sweatshirt Mets jacket and gloves and was still cold. But I digress; as my son was playing I listen to the Mets-Reds game on WFAN. When Howie Rose was doing the radiocast I forgot how cold and hungry I was and just sat on my little folding chair enjoying the play by play and his witty anecdotes. He told of giving grief to equipment manger Charlie Samuels who is the man behind the Mets wearing the hideous Black uni tops. Howie like myself loves the classic pinstripe with the all royal blue hat. It was great radio. Then Wayne Haggin took over and all of a sudden I was miserable and wanted to get this damn game over with as Haggin in his totally generic radio voice did not exactly radiate much enthusiasm. Now I know it’s hard to follow a Mets mench like Rose but whoever thought that hiring Haggin was good idea should be fired. Haggin would be good for a team like the Royals or even Tampa Bay (more on their telecast in a minute) The Mets should find a way to use Howie ,Gary Cohen and Ron Darling like the way Murph, Lindsay Nelson and Ralph Kiner interchanged from TV to radio during a game.

 

By the way my son’s team lost 3-2 but they were down 3 nil at the half and my son was put in goal. He made three big saves that put a spark in his team to comeback and score 2 goals. I’m sending the tapes to Roy Keane (no relation) to see if Sunderland is interested.

 

I was watching the Tampa Bay Rays post game show Friday night after James Shields pitched a one hitter and Evan Longoria hit the game winning 2 run home run and the host of the post game show whose name I don’t know, was pleading with the good folks of Tampa to come out and support this young and exciting Rays team. He said there were 13,000 fans at the game that night and they were expecting over 20,000 on Saturday (it was some giveaway day) and to tell the truth it was really strange watching this guy beg for fans to come out to the ball park and yesterday Howie Rose telling fans the best way to get to Shea this year is by mass transit due to the large crowds and limited parking available. A tale of two teams indeed.   

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