PHIL EVANS NYPL DEBUT, PARNELL’S GROWING PAINS AND THE ONLY BOOK ON 50 YEARS OF METS BASEBALL YOU NEED

September 4, 2011 by 4 Comments

 

I got to see 2011 15th round pick Phil Evans make his Brooklyn Cyclones debut last night and came away very much impressed by the soon to be 19 year old.  Evans went 1 for 5 at the plate but even his outs were well hit with two of them “hang with em’s” as they were great defensive plays on soild hit balls. In the field Evans and 2nd baseman Ismael Tijeina had a bit of communication breakdown as to who was to cover 2nd base if the runner on first was to attempt a steal, but in the 9th inning Evans made two great leaping plays for the 2nd and 3rd outs of the inning to end the game.

I watched the end of the Mets-Nats game this morning and while I agree with Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez on questioning walking Roger Bernadina to pitch to Ryan Zimmerman I feel if this were a game that really mattered Bobby Parmell would have been pulled as Bernadina came to the plate but Collins wants Parnell to show him why he should be the Mets closer in 2012. So far Parnell has been ineffective and I hate to say it, looks scared in these pressure spots. His inability to command his slider has been his biggest downfall. He falls behind in counts and has to come in with his fastball that is all but telegraphed to the batter.

Josh Satin makes his Major League debut today at 1st base

I see that the Daily Lupica has put out a 50th Anniversay Mets book with their Phillies Beat Writer as a contributor. No way in hell will that book be a part of my library. If you want a book that details the history of the Mets in detail and with outstanding pictures you need to purchase  New York Mets 50 Amazin’ Seasons by a true Mets fan and historian, Matthew Silverman.

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FADE THE BLACK

July 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Blogging will be a bit spotty here next week as I’ll be heading down to Florida for a week of R & R, unlike the week I spent upstate in the woods camping this is a real vacation.

Lots of positives for the Mets organization last night as the club swept a four game series from the Red Legs for the first time ever, Johan Santana pitched in a rehab game in St Lonesome and his arm did not fall off, and Daniel Murphy is now 3rd in the NL Batting race behind Ryan Braun and Jose Reyes. No Mets player has ever won a Batting Crown and the way Reyes is playing this season there is a very good shot that he will be the first. Who knows after that, maybe Zack Wheeler could be the first Mets pitcher to throw a no-hitter in 2013.

Speaking of Mets pitching phenoms, Matt Harvey was on the mound last night for Bingo against Harrisburg and Nats phenom, Bryce Harper. Harvey had a very strong showing and K’d the much hyped Bryce twice but the B-Mets went down in defeat 2-1 in 14 innings. Harvey went 7 innings and K’d 10 and walked only 2.

Sad news about Hideki Irabu taking his own life yesterday in California. As Mike Silva points out, Irabu’s downfall in coming to the U.S. to pitch was his insistence to pitch for the Highlanders. The San Diego Padres held his rights and after a contentious back and forth with Padres ownership, Irabu forced a  trade Irabu to the Bronx where the pitcher thought it would be just like in the movies. He soon found out the myth of the Bronx Bastards failed to mirror the reality of playing for an overheated blow hard  self-promoting owner, who didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself.  Maybe Irabu life would have been different if he stayed in San Diego or Japan. We’ll never know but playing for the Highlanders did not improve his quality of life.    

Lost in the euphoria of the Mets four game sweep of the Red Legs and the fact they have been road warriors all season, is that the dreaded black uniform top and cap has been making many more appearance the last month or so than it did during the early part of the season.  I’ll never understand this fixation with the black jersey and hat when the Mets road greys are one of the best looking uniforms in all of baseball. Now that Sandy Alderson has put this organization in his vice-grip hands, I am begging him to order all the black uniforms gathered up for an end of the season bon fire at Citi Field. I sure this guy will bring the gasoline and matches.   

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WHAT ABOUT BOB ?

November 18, 2010 by 11 Comments

Bob Melvin is sure sounding like a guy who will be gainfully employed as Mets manager :

Bob Melvin, in his own understated way, wants to open the door to the Mets’ clubhouse and give players a swift kick in the pants.

“It’s not a talent problem,” Melvin said yesterday after his second interview with Mets officials for the team’s managerial opening. “It’s the mindset. Get back to the confident mindset this team needs to win and compete in that division.”

“I don’t look at it as a rebuilding process,” he said. “I look at it as we have the pieces with this club to compete, I don’t think there is any doubt about that. Certainly with the payroll this team has, it gives you the resources to compete every year. It’s just getting everybody going in the right direction and getting everybody healthy.”

I have to agree 100% with Melvin on this. I thought Jerry Manuel’ biggest downfall was his lack of leadership and his inability to motivate his players.  I’m not talking Knute Rockne “RAH-RAH-RAH WIN ONE FOR THE GIPPER” motivation but the ability to put the right people in the right situation to have them succeed.  The Mets were always a three game losing streak from turning tail and retreating, and that’s on the manger.  You never got the impression there was any sense of urgency with Manuel, who loved to say “there’s a lot of baseball left” when the team was floundering. “There’s a lot of baseball left”, is baseball speak for “I’ve got no clue on how to right this team” and that’s the mindset that Sandy Alderson was brought in to change.

Getting everybody going in the right direction and getting everybody healthy.” The two words that stand out to me in that quote are direction and healthy. The biggest problem the last front office regime had was a lack of organizational direction. Omar talked “pitching, defense and athleticism” but never went out and traded, signed or drafted with that mindset. There was no organizational structure in the minor league system and First Year Entry Draft would have been better served by using copies of Baseball America to draft players, but that way of doing business is over.

I feel there is a large segment of Mets fans that would bitch and moan even if John McGraw, Branch Rickey and Ed Barrow were all reincarnated and brought into the Mets organization. You want to get me excited over a manager? Then name Christina Hendricks the Mets field boss (WHOA!!!!!!!! Is it hot in here or is it Christina???????????)

The foundation of the Mets organization has a huge crack in it and the basement has very bad water damage until the farm system and mindset of how the Mets do business gets fixed and back on solid ground, it doesn’t matter who sits in the manager’s office.   If it sounds like I’m drinking the Sandy Alderson Kool –Aid, you’re damn right I am, the man has a proven track record of building a strong foundation he’s Tom Silva and Norm Abram all in one package. So Mets fans give the man a little room to operate and if Wally Backman is not named manager then buy this DVD and get over it.

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NO MAN IS AN ISLAND, UNLESS YOU’RE A METS BASE RUNNER

April 11, 2009 by Leave a Comment

The 6th and 7th innings last night summed up the Mets early and I mean realllllllllll early problem of not busting a game wide open. When the opportunity comes up to administer an ass kicking, championship teams kick ass, pretenders come up short.

Top of the 6th the Mets catch a break as they couldn’t get a sniff of a rally off Anibal Sanchez but Freddi Gonzalez went to his pen and brought in Dan Meyer who promptly gave up a lead off homer to Carlos Beltran to get the Mets on the board. Ryan Church comes up next and singles and this is where you say “here comes the big inning”. Schneider sac bunts Church to 2nd, a good play because odds are Schneider hits in to a DP in that spot, Gimp Castillo comes up with a man in scoring position and files out. With Castillo getting lifted for a pinch hitter (Jeremy Reed) in 9th tells you the leash on Gimp is getting shorter and shorter. With 2 outs man on 2nd Gary Sheffield bats for John Maine who was great last night but Dan Meyer wants no part of Sheffield and throws three pitches out of the strike zone and then Gonzalez orders Meyer to walk him. Respect thy names is an intentional walk. Up steps Jose Reyes and an awful at bat.

Meyer was shook up by the sight of Sheffield and couldn’t throw a strike. The first pitch to Reyes was ball 1. On the next pitch Meyers tries to hit the corner low and away put the pitch was out of the strike zone but of course that doesn’t stop Jose from reaching over and popping it up to RF for an easy fly ball out. Ever hear of take a strike Jose?

On to the Mets 7th where Daniel Murphy leads off with a base hit (of course!) In comes non-roster invitee Kiko Calero (this looks to be the Marlins downfall, the bullpen that and not being able to play the Mets for 162 games) who walks D-Wright and hits Carlos Delgado with a pitch and the bags are drunk with Carlos Beltran up. Smells like a big inning right ?(“here we are now, entertain us”) uhhh NO!. Beltran drives in a run (a cheap Rib Eye Steak though) hitting into an FC but then Church walks and the bags are juiced once again as Fernando Taits bats for Schieder (J-Man ain’t fooling around, if you can’t hit you will sit) and misses a Grannie bythismuch and that would have broken this one up big. Wright scores and it’s 3-3 and if you want to take a positive out of the inning it’s that the Mets scored some runs late.

Gimp Castillo came up with 2 out worked the count 3-2 and let strike 3 sail over the plate. The clock is ticking fast on Gimp.

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