Shades of ’07 last night as the Mets scored a bunch of runs early then the offense shout down and the bullpen , well not the entire bullpen just that Putz who pitches the 8th, gave one away. If Saturday made you made then last night must have broke a blood vessel in your head.
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First off, Livan Hernandez was hotter than a jalapeño after the game as he wanted to finish the inning and I have to say I can’t blame him as Livan wants to live up to his reputation as work horse. He threw 127 pitches in his last start but also got an extra days rest for this one and at 103 pitches he’s just hitting his stride.
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But J-Man decided to make the move but he brought in his best reliever not named Rodriguez to finish the inning in Bobby Parnell. Why not bring in Brian Stokes in that spot with his exploding fastball and save Parnell for the 8th inning? I know JJ Putz had this incredible bullpen session with Old School Dan Werthen earlier in the day but lets face it Putz is an MRI patient ready to happen. His velocity is down a bit and his pitches are as flat as stale beer so maybe that bone spur he took a shot for is effecting him? How long will it be until Putz hears the words “Dr. Andrews will see you nowâ€
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Outstanding work by Landon Evanson at Bugs and Cranks with this interview of Dr. Ron Taylor the standout reliever on the 1969 World Champs. Of all the Q & A’s in interview this is made my day:
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  Who was one player, or what was one aspect of that ‘69 Mets club that has never gotten just due for their contributions to that championship? Lost in the shuffle, so to speak.
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Jerry Grote. He was an All-Star catcher, and he was the one that made that pitching staff great.
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What was it that Grote did that made the pitching staff great? Was it calling games or handling the staff in pressure situations? What was it that Grote did that was so important to New York’s success?
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We had confidence in the pitches he called, we very rarely shook Jerry off. And coming into a big game, in the World Series or in the playoffs, he would go out to the mound to meet you and support you.
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Did you see Gary Sheffield running first to third last night? My legs hurt just watching him. The 40 year old Sheff is not built for everyday wear and tear.
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How depressing a scene was PNC Ball Park last night? Rows and rows of empty seats as far as the eye can see. I know the Pirates have stunk for almost two decades but from what you hear the ballparks is a gem so between that and the nice weather you’d think they could get at least 25,000 fans to come out to see our Metsises.
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This post was written by kranepool on June 2, 2009
The Putz family comes from an obscure area of the Iberian Peninsula where names can be confusing. Few realize that the JJ stands for Jdoug Jsisk.
And PNC Park is what Citifield should have been. A first rate ball park!
I’ve been to PNC and as Burkhardt said last night, it and AT&T in SF are the gems of baseball. We all heard the whispers when Putz came that there was something wrong with his arm. Well, there you go. It seemed a bit odd that the M’s would trade him, Reed, and Green (another story there, but anyway) for Heilman and Endy. And it did seem to go beyond the M’s ability to sign him. I agree, he’ll linger for a while, then go on the DL, then we’ll hear it is reconstructive elbow surgery.
Watching Sheff hobble around after his first inning hit gave me an idea. He’s played some 1B in his career (most recently with the Highlanders). So, why not have him play 1B and put Tatis in RF? Save Sheff’s legs and get better D out there.
Thoughts?
So Sheff would go into a platoon at 1B with Murphy, at least till we get Delgado back… And outfield main starters would be Beltran, F-Mart, and Tatis, plus subs. Sheff would stil get a few starts out there too… That could work, Rich.
If Putz is not gonna be able to deliver us the 8th inning, things just got a lot bleaker. Maybe Billy Wagner will eventually be our 8th inning guy, possibly by mid-August…. F-Rod has been unbelievable, what a treat after last year to have this solid a closer.
Long live Jerry Grote, what a hard-nosed baseball purist. Those Ron Taylor comments are terrific, Steve.
Thanks for the Grote quotes. He was my favorite Met when I was a kid.
Didn’t he break his arm running back to catch a pop-up at Wrigley? I have that memory in my head, but could be I have it wrong. A lot of Duffy Dyer (or was it Ron Hodges?) after that injury.
The reason I ask is because I see all these new ballparks with their brick walls behind home plate. Every time I see that I think about Grote. (I have only seen one game from Citifield – does it have a brick wall behind the plate?)