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Was last night THE GAME? Most seasons there is THE GAME, THE GAME you look back on when the season turned around, (or GULP went down the drain) THE GAME they do documentaries about, THE GAME that books are written about, Yeah THAT GAME.
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For all the problems with empty seats, obstructive views and figuring out whether to eat at the Shake Shack, Mama’s or the Taqueria, last night was the first REAL Mets game of the $iti Field era. Yesterday on his bloviating radio show, Mike Francesa railed against the New Highlander Stadium that there was “no juice in the building†and the overpriced seats in the front row are unoccupado, well, Mets fans hold your heads high as the same can not be said about you at $iti Field last night.
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Now I wasn’t there but on SNY it came through my TV like the crowd was totally into the game and why not, in the fine tradition of Seaver, and Gooden we now have the newest must see, can’t miss a start, starting pitcher in Johan Santana. If the Skill Sets are thinking of erecting a statue of the The Franchise outside $iti, they better save some bronze for The Franchise II, Santana. Â
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Why did J-Man take Santana out after 7 innings? I know his spot came up in the order with Sheffield on 1st and 2 outs but the Putz was not available and Santana had only threw 101 pitches, in the 7th he threw just 9 pitches (6 K’s) and the Mets took the lead and he was on extra rest, the adrenaline rush from the crowd would have put him over the top. God forbid he would be allowed to pitch a complete game and shut out our most hated rival. I don’t know about you but when I saw Feliciano come in to pitch the 8th  I started think about the puke bucket.
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I think the reason Jason Werth Mackey Sasser-ed the ball in right that arrived there due to Pedro Feliz error in the 7th was he couldn’t tell if Delgado was running or standing still.
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Enjoy your trip to purgatory Ollie.
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Mike Vaccaro is my hero. It’s all about the FUNDIES. The most frustrating aspect of coaching is showing a player something and the player not able to execute it. I have kids with great arms that pitch for me but trying to explain the mechanic of pitching they just can’t grasp it. I’ve simplified it by just asking that they land on the ball of their front foot and bend they knee. When the do that they throw a low strike and look back at me in amazement. But on the next pitch, they go right back to the bad habit of landing on their heel and the ball flys right out of the strike zone. UGGH!
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Nice to see Jon Niese get the start over Ken Takahashi. Niese’ record is nothing to get excited over (0-2 6.55 ERA in 5 starts) but it could be a factor of pitching for a very bad Buffalo Bisons team. One encouraging number for Niese is his 25/8 K/BB so maybe moving up with the big club will help him.
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Not only does Denis POTVIN SUCK but he’s out of work as well. Hey Fishstick fans your boy is more associated with the Florida Panthers than he is if the soon to be KC Scouts LOL.Â
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BE CAREFUL D-WRIGHT OR YOU’LL SLEEP WITH THE FISH
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With a win under their belt in thrilling fashion no less, the talk this morning is not about Big Pelf’ outstanding performance pounding the strike zone down low like a blacksmith, but about a former Met who is still on the Skill Set dole as a roving instructor, SNY commentator and the now the spokesman for management John Franco.
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Those statements that Franco made on Sirius/XM MLB Home Plate channel with Jeff Joyce and Kevin Kennedy was part Franco’ observation and mostly it was John doing his duty for the Skill Sets. The only thing missing was at the end of the interview hearing Jeffey Skill Set saying “I’m Jeff Wilpon and I approve this messageâ€
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See Jeffey wants no part of taking on his team, instead of himself waiting for the team to come home and going into the clubhouse and letting them know that he does not hold Omar Minaya, Jerry Manuel or any of the front office people responsible for this slide and is putting the bulls eye right on the players back. And I (I hope you all are sitting down) applaud him for that. I just wish he would have the balls to do it himself and not send Clemenza Franco to do his dirty work. Franco in fact went out of his way to praise Jerry Manuel and his coaches for giving the players the proper instruction during spring training and working extremely hard in the ‘fundies†and making it out that it’s the players who are at fault. It’s about time that the players got a good swift kick in the ass. The message from management is loud and clear to the team “Don’t worry about what management is doing, just shut the fuck up and playâ€
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Nothing that Franco said was out of line in fact in fact isn’t in a convenient  winky-dink that as Franco was telling Joyce and Kennedy that he feels the Mets play more like individuals than as a team and that some players are more “me†than “we†guys that J-Man had all his ladies take the bus† Franco called out the team as looking at padding their stats than worrying about moving runners over and stealing a base when it’s to the teams advantage and not the individuals gain, and how many times have we wanted D-Wright to take the reins of the clubhouse ?
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I know this for a fact Franco will have no problem walking into that clubhouse when the team arrives back in Queens on Tuesday. Ask any Met who played with Franco and they will tell you he was the most feared guy in that clubhouse, and I guarantee that if D-Wright wants a sit down with Franco, Johnny will be more than happy to accommodate him. Â
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What this message does as well is let the players, media and fans know that Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya are not getting fired today, tomorrow or next year but if I were a Mets player I’d be careful buying green bananas.