Allan Schwartz has a piece in the NY Times today about the Mets finding it tough to get rid of the dead wood that wash up on the shores of Flushing Bay that became the 2007 Mets bullpen. As much as I’m a Aaron Heilman fan his time in NY has come and gone he really needs a new start and I’m sure there is a team out there that would trade for him to stick in the back of their rotation as he does have some nasty movement on his pitches and he’s cheap. Scott Schoenweis could be dealt as well due to the fact he throws baseballs with his left arm. Not very effectively but left handed just the same. Duaner Sanchez if not traded should just be non-tender he is ineffective and just too goddamn lazy for me. That three relievers gone without even me getting up off my couch and laptop so how hard could it be for Omar to dump these guys? Tip of the Mets cap to Eagle for the link.

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It’s tough to cut through all the double talk coming from the GM meetings and I’m still trying to figure out just what the GM’s are doing in Cali besides drinking at the bar and going bowling, hell they could have held the meeting on Staten Island down the street from my house for that matter.

 

What is becoming clearer is the off season mission of Omar Minaya. Is to add pitching, pitching and more pitching and if a hitter (Raul Ibanez, Nick Swisher, MANNY) falls in his lap so be it.

 

I am intrigued by the rumors of the Famous Rays interested in Aaron Heilman and if Heilman could bring back Edwin Jackson that would be a big score for Omar.

 

If Javier Vasquez could be had for Gimp and his stupid contract I’d green light that one as well. What we have to remember here is the Mets are looking to bolster the back of the rotation so unless Derek Lowe really loves the colors blue and orange I don’t see him signing with the Mets when the Highlanders and Red Sox will be spending money like they own oil wells.

 

I still like my idea of going after Matt Capps and John Grabow from the Pirates. As much as I wouldn’t mind Brain Fuentes I hate that a player like that feels he has a team like the Mets over barrel and even if Omar were to land Fuentes I’d still go after Capps and Grabow.

 

Hey look two of the core are wearing Gold Gloves lets trade ‘em

 

Speaking of the Great Bloviator of WFAN, it seems he had his pants pulled down<figuratively that is > by Ryan Church about Church hating NYC and playing for the Mets. Read here at MetsBlog and you see how the Rush Limbaugh of Sports Talk Radio was outed as the pompous jerk he has grown (REALLY GROWN) to be. Oh yeah and Mike tells us again how D-Wright is just another player and an awful third baseman, you phony turd!

 

Click over to Mike Silva’s NY Baseball Digest and listen to his interview with John Manuel of Baseball America who tells us the state of the Mets Farm System is not as weak as we’ve been led to believe. Some of you Tony B haters will have to join the dark side soon as he has fortified the farm system with excellent free agent signings and a couple of fruitful drafts.     

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Back to Mets stuff. It seems that Omar is looking toward Tampa for pitching help and the Rays supposedly are dangling Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine for Aaron Heilman. Heilman seems to be in play with the Rockies, Cubs,Cubs and Snakes who fancy him as a starter. Now of course if the Mets kept with the plan they devised two seasons ago when they sent Heilman to Winter Ball to stretch out his arm to begin 2006 as a starter instead Heilman got beaten out for the #5 spot by Brian Bannister, only because the Mets felt Heilman would adjust to long releif better than Bannister. Then with players like Lima Time, Victor Zambrano and other pitching rejects getting a shot at the rotation over him is one of the reasons Heilman looked beaten the last two season. That’s not to excuse him from being ineffective in relief and not stepping up when he was needed but anyone is the poster boy for a change of scenery it’s Aaron Heilman and if the Mets could land Andy Sonnastine for Heilman that would be a great trade.

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What a mess. I mean it is so difficult to sit down and watch games that should be closed out and put in the win column just to be pissed  away by incompetent relief pitching. I thought yesterday we finally saw the frustration of Warlord Jerry when he used both Aaron Heilman who should just be sent home at this point and told wait for notification of a trade to a new team and for using Mush Schoeneweis against right handed hitting Omar Infante.  It’s hard for me to kill J-Man here as the Mets were not facing Murder’s Row here but a team playing out the string in the Braves, but right now J-Man has to go strictly with a platoon of relievers the rest of the week in order for the Mets to have a chance of post season play. Right now I would like you to click here and read Howard Megdal piece in today’s New York Observer on the state of the bullpen and how J-Man has to mix and match. Read that now I’ll wait,  then meet me in the next paragraph.

 

Good stuff from Howard right? Ok now here is how I would manage this fucking mess of a bullpen. My two late inning guys now are Luis Ayala and Bobby Parnell. Ayala is the best of the slop and Parnell right now is the only guy in that pen who can throw a fastball with any authority.  From there I’d team up my pitchers like hockey defensemen:

 

LHP Schoeneweis                             RHP Smith

 

LHP Rincon                                      RHP Stokes

 

LHP Feliciano                                   RHP Figueroa

 

 

Those are my mix and match specialists and then I’d use Bobby Parnell and Luis Ayala to close.

 

We really should be getting ready for a great week at Shea Stadium with all kinds of memories and great festivities and looking forward to the post season but after this latest road trip 3-4 road trip this team is really wearing me out.

 

I’ve about had it with people blaming the Mets offense for not taking on late innings runs. Yes it is quite frustrating to see men on base with less than 2 out and not score a run but the Mets offense is averaging 5 runs a game if that’s not enough to win then you don’t deserve the make the post season. I don’t know how guys like David Wright, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran keep their cool as I would have called out every rag armed fuck in that bullpen by now for not stepping up and doing their job.

 

I watched the eerie/strange ceremonies at the last game at Highlander Stadium some observations:

 

Having people dressed like the 1923 Highlanders was very very odd and creepy. Instead of actors maybe they should have gone with pinstriped coffins for the deceased players and lined them up on the warning track.

 

Most disturbing was the sons of Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin,  Roger Maris and Thurman Munson come out in full uniform

 

Wade Boggs is the perfect example of you are what you eat

 

No Joe Pepitone

 

No Roger Clemens

 

 No one from the Kekich/Peterson Families

 

No one from the Peterson/Kekich Families

 

No Howie Spira

 

And no one from Joe DiMaggio’s family

 

After seeing the happiness exhibited by Willie Randolph I offer an apology to the Skill Sets and Omar Minaya, not only am I now happy you fired him like you did, I wish you waited until he feel asleep then woke him up and fired him. Yes I am fucking bitter. Word to Joe Giradi-watch you r back

 

My first memory of this Highlander  Stadium was of going in 1976 (I consider this Highlander Stadium II because it has no resemblance to the original Highlander Stadium which I was visited in 1968 for the first time for Bat Day with about 10 of my friends) in a 1966 White Caddy Coup with red interior with Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath blaring out of the cars 8 track  while cruising into on of the off site parking lots and having the citizens of 158 St trying to figured what the fuck these crazy white boys were up to.

 

I also went to the 1977 All Star game but details are very sketchy of that due to heavy alcohol consumptions.

 

No mention of St. Joseph of Torre or of Donnie Baseball. CLASSLESS!

 

It looks like the Highlanders are grooming Bernie Williams for the Greatest Living Highlander title as he was introduced last. Should have been Yogi’s honor.

 

I kill Captain Craptastic a lot but he was great at the end of the game with his eloquent address to the crowd and leading his team around the stadium for one last lap. CLASSY!

 

If the Bravos showed as much guts against the rest of the NL as they did for the Mets they might still be I the thick of a pennant race Mike Gonzalez is an a number one ass clown.

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I’m speechless. Really what can you say about when your team wins and you still feel like it was a loss.  Eight pitchers to win a nine inning game? That’s almost impossible. And why is Al Reyes warming up in the bullpen and you don’t use him? In fact what is the deal-ieo with  “I can call you Jose or Argenis and Jose and Argenis when you call me you can call me Al” Reyes? Why hasn’t he seen the light of day as this Lehman Brothers Bullpen continues to flounder?

 

As bad as last night was what made it worse is Brandon Knight could only go 5 innings. No fault of Knight’s even though he was not very effective, he hasn’t pitched in a while and he left the game with his team up by 6 runs so Knight more than did his job but as we know unless the starter goes a minimum of 7 innings the Mets are fucked.

 

I think it’s safe to say, that Aaron Heilman will not throw another pitch in a meaningful game this year for the Mets. In fact the next pitch he throws in a big league game should be in another uniform. Time to cut Heilman loose. Yeah I know, brilliant deduction Sherlock. I don’t know what else to say really, watching Mets game is not a pleasure anymore. Your team is up 6 runs to a rag tag fourth division team as a fan you should be thinking magic numbers and post season instead of pacing the floor and sticking your head in a puke bucket.

 

Just when you thought all is lost we get this video via the Daily News of a guy so drunk at last weekend’s double header that he doesn’t feel or hear the fans around him stacking empty beer cups on his head. As I watched this over 9 min video besides wondering if the guy was dead because how could you not feel the beer cups or hear the fans screaming, I thought where were the Shea Gestapo? Here is a guy getting abused by fans in the stands and none of the SkillSets Storm Troopers intervene? But when I try to walk from the SUBWAY sandwich stand in LF through the Field Level concourse to get to the RF ramp, I’m not allowed as the Jeffy’s Thugs tell you only Field Level ticket holders can go through that concourse. If you argue, these belligerent assholes give you a hard time. I know they are only taking their orders from Skill Set High Command but their attitude still sucks. Fucking Rent a Cops.

 

    

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After last night Mets game I was tempted to fire up my laptop and spew about last nights ugly win but I was kind of tired and said “ah, wait until tomorrow” I figured I’d read the paper on the Ferry and then read all the online articles and then go off on Aaron Heilman, Elijah Dukes and  Doug Eddings.

 

I get my paper and get ready for my trip across the bay and I’m trying to dwell on what today’s date is. I try to avoid the realization that the 7AM ferry is much more crowed than usual and that the extra passengers are cops and firemen in dress uniforms and many people who lost love ones seven years ago today at the World Trade Center. I dive into the game story by Adam Rubin and then Bill Madden making a case for Carlos Del-GOD-o for NL MVP and find the distraction I needed.

 

As I get off the ferry I make my way on my usual route up walking up Broadway towards my office on Worth St. Most days the walk is uneventful as it usually involves me listening to my iPod while eyeing the beautiful women of NYC but today each block was tougher and tougher to walk.

 

First thing I noticed is the amount of police on the street and the area closed off to traffic. Both John McCain and Barrack Obama will be here today so downtown is a frozen zone. As I get to Wall St, all the news truck from all the city TV stations and all the National cable stations are here to cover the events of the day. I start smiling as I envision this scene in late October as the vision and the weather have a fall feel to it like it is when a team wins a championship and they hold a ticker tape parade. But as I walk a couple of blocks to Liberty St my mood changed drastically.

 

I see a bunch of little kids no more than 7 to 10 or 11 years old and they are being interviewed by someone from FOX 5 News. As I look at these children I see that around their necks are pictures of people. As I slow down to observe the scene it hits me and hits me very hard, those pictures are of the parents they lost seven years ago today.

 

I felt sick. I stop for a moment when I get across the street and I had to compose myself for a moment.  I still can’t get the image out of my mind of these little kids with the pictures of their dads or moms close to their hearts and how from their young ages  probably don’t remember their lost parents. I mean I remember that day vividly as I was in Queens when the attack took place and my son was in the first grade and 7 years old and my daughter was just a toddler of 2 and how my wife had a doctors appointment that morning in Brooklyn and was in the doctors office when all hell broke loose. Then we waited for orders from our commissioner to see if he we going to go from and administrative staff to a response unit. We were told to stay at the agency headquarters to man the radio and phone. I got home that night at about 11 PM and as I walked up from Hylan Blvd to my house all I saw was my wife and two kids sitting on the front steps and my wife in tears happy I was home. My kids were really two small to know what was going on and I was grateful for that. All that just came over me as I saw those kids and I could feel their heartache of losing the parents they never got to know.

 

I waited awhile to get to my office as I guess being a macho asshole I didn’t want the guys I work with see me with red eyes but when I got upstairs the office was eerily quiet. No yelling, no usual ball breaking that we do every morning, no name calling just 15 guys sitting and remembering what happen seven years ago with a lot of red eyes.

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Let me join Ya Gotta Believe in saying I’m sorry to Carlos Delgado for wanting to run him out of town earlier this year. Who knew Del-GOD-o would turn around his season/career like he did? I didn’t that’s for sure but I got caught up in the rush hour a fellow starter to shower you with love and affection now you won’t look in my direction. But I want to make it up to CD how about after a game next week we hit the mobile taqueria on 108 St and have a little rice and beans and talk about our plans for October.

 

Word out of Flushing is that Mookie Wilson, Davey Johnson and Doc Godden have declined invites to the Last Day of Shea. I don’t care how pissed off these three are at the organization they should know that this day is not about the Skill Sets it’s about the Mets fans and the Mets players past and present. Sure Mookie is ticked off that he was not given a bigger role In the organization and that the Mets didn’t hold on to Preston Wilson or even bring him back to the team and the fact that fans like myself were angry with him about being decked out in Cardinal regalia during the 2006 post season, time burry the hatchet Mookie. Same with Davey the original bad ass has to realize he would be given a heroes welcome. And Doc, my god  with all the bullshit that he has been through in his life you would think he’s want to here the cheers from the crowd in the place where he made his name and fame? Maybe he loves the Highlanders so much because they are the biggest enablers around (see Martin, Billy former player/manager/violent alcoholic) and the Skill Sets tried in vain to get him on a straight path, whatever Gooden needs to be a Shea he heeds to feel the love from Mets fans Com’on Doc come home I’m not mad at ya.!  

 

As much as our bullpen makes us want to pull our hair out remember one thing, you will never here  “Now pitching for the New York Mets, Eric Gagne”  Gagne makes Aaron Heilman look like Cy Young

 

It is official the great exalted (and bloated ) Mike Francesa has pronounced the 2008 New York Highlanders dead!  To pay your respects, Suzyn Waldman will be sitting shiva in her home in Westchester.

 

 

 

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Here is what you need to know about last night s loss, Boardwalk Lee Mazzilli thought it was the worst loss of the year. Now when Pollyanna Lee says it’s bad, IT’S BAD.

 

As with all of these types of Mets losses we look for the player or players to rip the shit out of and there is always the usual suspects but one name seems to come up whenever there has been a shit the bed moment this season and that’s Scott Schoeneweis forever now known here as The Mush. The Mush besides having the inability to get a big out has the worst body language in sports. He always looks to me like the last place he wants to be is on the pitchers mound in a big spot. I feel this theory is true because Warlord Jerry used him as a last resort as he went to the junk yard six times before calling for Mush.  

 

This disaster is not all bullpen related, in fact Brian Stokes, Joe Smith and Balls of Steel Aaron Heilman all did great jobs. Sure Luis Ayala broke his cherry with a blown save (welcome to the Mets,. Luis) but a little better relay by Damien Easley and maybe if Brain Schnieder stood in front of home plate he’d have gotten Jason Werth but that’s neither here nor there. The guy who is not feeling the heat he should is my guy Petey who when staked to a seven run lead let it get away. Petey put J-Man is a position to go heavily into the weakest part of the team, the bullpen to save this game. 

 

You can go after the offense for not adding on runs and if you want to kill Sugarpants and the Greatest Puerto Rican baseball player of all time whose last name is not Clemente go ahead but when you scored your runs when the offense puts up seven runs early the pitching staff has to win that game. No excuses.

 

The bright spot was Petey hitting 90-91 on the gun but the problem was two fold, his location and his movement as he was lacking in both.  If your going to throw straight fastballs and keep or pitches down in the zone at Citizen Bank then you might as well forfeit the game and save everyone over five hours of agony.

 

When the off season comes around the biggest task for the Mets front office will be the dismantling of the bullpen and build a brand new pen that might even include a new closer now that Wags is damaged goods. Forget about spending big money on Mark Texieria who is more luxury item than need. Spend the dough on CC Sabathia and sit down with the brain trust and try to put together the best bullpen you can find. That’s baseball in the 21 Century it’s the bullpen stupid.

 

As much as my nuts still hurt from getting them kicked last night I’m not panicking because we have seen this all season. The Mets will win tonight and then go onto to Florida and win at least 2 of 3 and then go to Milwaukee and beat then in the series as well because it’s been like this all year, whenever we are ready as fans to throw in the towel this team proves us wrong. I just wish they’d leave my balls alone.

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Only the New York Mets can go 6-1 on a road trip and have the fan base hold their chest and moan in agony, why? The bullpen of course. Ah yes the Mets bullpen the underachieving child in a family of successful children. Why can’t Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoenewies, Duaner Sanchez, Joe Smith and Pedro Feliciano be the pitching equivalent of Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Daniel Murphy? Now we have another adopted child from DC in Luis Ayala who could not believe is good fortune to go from a group home in the Nations Capital to the Buena Vista Social Club. Hopefully the new surrounding rejuvenates him and a couple of sessions with Dean of Old School Warthen get him straight as the call to the pen is literally all hands on deck.

 

What I’m about to write may get me flamed worse than any forest fire in Cali but I have to let it out. I have a hard time hating Larry Jones and the Atlanta Braves. In fact it’s so strange because all the teams I root for I have a deep despise for their arch rival. The Boston Celtics, I puke at the site of Purple and Gold. The NY Rangers, I would love to get the chant “BEAT YOUR WIFE POTVIN, BEAT YOU WIFE” as a ring tone. The NY Football Giants, “How about those Cowgirls”? but when it comes to the Braves a team I should have a deep seeded hatred for, I have admiration. Most of that is for the front office especially John Shuerholz who took a franchise that was nothing but TV programming on a little bullshit cable channel and turned into a model sports franchise. So it was interesting to read Ray Glider’ piece in the NY Times this morning about Larry Jones and his last trip to Shea Stadium. Jones was a guy who got what NY was all about and he played the heel role better than anyone who strode through Flushing. As a kid Mets fans were known for acknowledging great players from other teams. Of course when the Giants and Dodgers came to town Mets fans still had a glow in their heart for Willie Mays and Sandy Koufax but also when the Pirates came in Willie Stargell was revered as well. Times change and fans are more hostile than back then but I always felt that Mets fans respected Larry Jones and I know he appreciate the passion of Mets fans.

 

Ryan Church played 5 innings last night and went 0 for 2 but the best part is he felt great in the field no headaches or dizziness. Mojo Nixon also played last night and looked fit as well. The only problem is they both not pitchers.

 

But a pitcher who did a rehab last night was Ambiorix Burgos who may become a big player come September 1

 

Due to last nights heist of a Gold medal of America anorexic gymnast Nasta Linkum to undeveloped Chinese gymnast He (She?) Kexin, I will be boycotting the Wo Hop Chinese Restaurant for 2 weeks. I’d boycott something Australian as well but what has that Penal Colony given the world?

 

Joe West is a big fat tool for calling A. Reyes out at first base saying he made a baseball move toward second base, Argenis flinched his shoulder left in the direction to second base and yes according to the rules he could be called out but sometimes you have to use the pea size brain that God gave you for more than contemplating if you want a glazed or Boston cream dount.

 

I watched the last two innings of the Brewers-Astros game last night and the look on Brewski manger Ned Yosts face while watching C.C. (Carniverous Creature as that is one big fella) Sabathia as he closed in on the 130 pitch mark. Sabathia got Hunter Pence to fly out for the first out of the inning. C C then gave up a single and then J J (lots of initials on the M B’s) Hardy booted a ground ball that could have been a game ending double play but instead it left the ‘Stros with 1 st and 2^nd 1 out. Darin Erstad reached base on an infield hit and now the Astros had the bags juiced with one out and Yost’s sphincter tightens by the second. Mike Maddux went out to talk to Sabathia and Yost paced the dugout floor as Mark Loretta came to bat. Loretta got a SAC Fly to left and now there were two outs. Miggy Tejada up and he walks. Now Yost is on the top step of the dugout like a guy on a roof top getting chased and has to make a decision jump to the next roof which is about 10 feet away or just stay and fight. Yost takes on the mob and let the leftie Sabathia face Lance Berkman from the right side. It pays off with Berkman grounding out 3^rd to 1^st but it was the 130^th pitch of the night for C.C. The MRI will be on Thursday.

 

 

Happy Birthday RJ.!!!!

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Even though the 12-0 and 9-3 games that the Mets have won this week are a welcome respite from the nail biters and “Please God Let Aaron Heilman Turn Into Dennis Eckersley” games we have been subjected to this season nothing is a better gauge of what your team is made of than when it gets down and dirty in a one run game and last night even with it’s scary moments the Mets had a (gulp!) Championship look to them. The Reyes Boys (Memo to Mark Malusis: When it comes to breaking down baseball personnel you’re clueless if you think Gimp Castillo at this point is better on the Mets than the A. Reyes/Damien Easley platoon then you’ve watch way too much of Robinson Cano) and Carlos Beltran flashed leather and arm in big D plays and Big Pelf had a bounce back game. Yes I know it was the Pirates and I swore I wouldn’t let myself get all pumped again about this team but when they do the little things that you need to win, I just can’t help myself.

I’ve thrown some stones at Billy Wagner here but you have admire the guy for saying screw minor league rehab and is forcing his way back as the closer. Wags knows the team needs him and as long as the medical staff clears him and Old School Dean Warthen gives the seal of approval then Wags will be activated on Monday. Then it looks like Eddie Kunz will go down for a couple of weeks but would come back on Sept 1.

Speaking of coming back, Ryan Church is playing in the GCL as a DH and hopefully by tomorrow will be in the outfield, same with Gimp Castillo who the rumor mill has it has been dealing with some medical issues with his wife.  I’m sure there is some kind of rule that both players have to be activated at a certain time but as it stands now there is no rush for either guy to come back before Sept. 1. As vital as Church’s bat has been early in the year with Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis both swinging potent bats (and don’t forget Nick Evans who has platooned with Murphy and started to hit) and Carlos Delgado’s deal with the devil still paying off, the Mets have the luxuary to let Church and Castillo take their time getting back. Depth it’s a good thing.

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