Yesterday was a triple header day of baseball for me.  First my Babe Ruth League played a double header, yes that’s right a DOUBLE HEADER during a heat wave. We started at 8:30 AM and we finished up at 1PM winning the first game 7-6 and playing the second game to a 4-4 tie that was called due the heat after 7 innings the regulation amount of innings for Babe Ruth baseball. After a nice cool shower and lounging in air conditioning while watching the Highlanders-A’s contest from the Bronx (I muted the TV as it was Michael Kay and Paul O’Neil  doing the game and radio for Highlander games is not a option and besides I think I have a pretty good handle on the game of baseball that I really don’t need to hear the commentators unless of course it’s our own GK & R) I headed to St George for the SI Highlanders v. Tri City Cats of the Houston Astro organization. It was Boy Scout night so this was more a social call than an actual sitting and critiquing a baseball game .

So even with that I still woke up early enough to watch a replay of last nights Mets-Fish game . I think it safe to say Terry Collins went a bit to far with Chris Capuano. It looks like once you get to the third time around the lineup for Capuano, he falls apart. It will be interesting to see how Collins handles Cap in his next start as he he gets to the third at bats in the opposing line up.

Jason Bay looks like a boxer who looks toward his corner during a fight he knows he doesn’t want any more of. It’s like he wants Terry Collins to throw the towel on the field to end his season of futility. Making things worse for Bay is Lucas Duda is on fire and really needs to get into the lineup.

Maybe all this farewell to Beltran is a bit premature. What if Alderson doesn’t like the prospects offered to him for trade and says “Fuck it” and keeps Beltran for the rest of the season? Who you be surprised?

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When it’s 87 degrees at 5AM you just know it’s going to be a day when putting a complete thought together is going to rough (or rougher than usual) so as I wipe the svitz off my forehead he are some thought’s for a Friday where my fingers and toes are crossed that Con Edison doesn’t fuck us over today.

Last night, I attended maybe the worst baseball game I have ever seen . It was a tilt between the Staten Island Highlanders against the Tamp Bay Rays NY-Penn League affiliate the Hudson Valley Renegades . It wasn’t bad enough that the heat and humidity in the soulless Richmond County Ballpark was suffocating, the play on the field was atrocious. Both teams combined for NINE ERRORS, the baby Highlanders account for six of them. The home plate ump Brain Miller made the night even more unbearable, allowing both teams to conducted marathon visits to the mound to the point I had to scream out to him “Blue com’on move it along” which could be heard clearly by the umpire as the stands were inhabited by about 1,000 or so sweaty ass’s in the seats and I was right behind home plate. Umpire Miller glared at me and I gave him an “are you fucking kidding me look” when he used his best judgment of the night and put his mask back on and continued the game. Asshole.

Oh by the way, the baby Highlanders won 8-7 and have an incredible 25-8 record that no one on Staten Island gives a rat’s ass about. This is one of the biggest head scratchers for me, Staten Island is Highlander country, you see about 10 Highlanders t-shirts/jersey’s to every Mets piece of apparel but for some reason the Baby Highlanders can’t draw anyone to the downtown ball park except when the Brooklyn Cyclones make the trip over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.  I get a few different reasons from Highlander friends and acquaintances on why they don’t patronize the minor league team. Some tell me they’d rather see the “real” Highlanders, some live on the South Shore of the Island and hate making the trek downtown. Some will go on the weekends when the club draws a bit better but the biggest segment of the fan base comes by ferry from Manhattan.  Manny of the fans at last night’s game were Manhattanites who live in Tribeca or SoHo and love taking the ferry over watching the game and then head back to the city.  

Give me MCU Park and the  Coney Island Boardwalk anytime.

David Wright is back tonight (as is Kevin Burkhardt on SNY) so it will be interesting to see how the offense works with Reyes lighting the fuse at the top and Beltran, Wright and Murph in the middle of the lineup. How long Beltran will be a Met is an ongoing saga. It seems from what you read Alderson is more than willing to trade your team Carlos Beltran and about $6 mil to cover his paychecks for the rest of the year for one of your prized farm hands. If you feel Beltran is the missing piece to your post season run you can have him, but he’s not coming cheap. Seems most of the GM’s who are in position to deal suffer from irritable bowel syndrome when Sandy Alderson rings the phone.  Bottom line, one of these contenders will cave as the bat of Beltran is too powerful to pass up and the Mets will get a top prospect in return.

I can’t stand the NJ Devils but I am very sad that Doc Emrick is leaving MSG and Devils play by play to be the exclusive voice of the NHL on NBC/Versus. I’m sure most of you have read the articles on Emrick on what a great guy he is and his play by play of hockey is unmatched and having met Doc I can tell it’s all true.

About 5 or so years ago, my wife and I were Christmas shopping at the Paramus Mall. As usual I had  enough of shopping and Christmas, so I told my wife to continue her spending spree while I hit the bench with a Starbucks Latte for a while.  A few minutes after I took a load off, a gentleman sat next to me, it was none other than Doc Emrick. I sat and talked hockey and baseball l with him for about a half hour when he had to leave. When he got up, he put out his hand and said to me “thank you for making this trip to the mall worthwhile for me, I enjoyed our conversation” I was like, “are you kidding, thank you for making me  glad I came here” we both laughed  and shook hands. Great guy that Doc.

(Sorry the link button is not working)

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Take a bow Mets fans, you did it. You voted and voted until you couldn’t make up any more e mail address and got Jose Reyes the starting job at short stop in the All Star Game.

In years past I’d be totally pissed off after the Mets lost 2 of 3 to the Highlanders at home, but yesterday’s comeback win and the way it unfolded makes this years’ series  loss a little easier to take. This is not the same old Mets anymore.

Besides the fact that you can see this team actually hates to lose and I can write every clichés about toughness, the one thing that is clear is the reputation of the Mets being a bunch of losers has all been erased. Sure, they are not a championship team yet but they are creeping into “team we hate to play” status. Have you noticed there are no more “Replace-Met” stories or writing on and on about when the injured stars will be back? It sucks big time to lose 2 of 3 at home to the Highlanders but if the Bronx Bastards (along with the Phuck Phaces and the Sawx) are the gold standard of baseball, the Mets a close to silver status which is a pretty good jump from last year’s given up status.

The biggest fallacy written about Jose Reyes is that he is injury prone. In 2009 the organization was much to blame for his injuries as they tried to change his running style was bad but the inept strength and conditioning staff made it worse. Last season he missed the start of the season due to illness more than injury  but that doesn’t stop hacks like Joel Sherman to play up to the ignorance of his readership that Reyes is injury prone.   Here is the breakdown of games played by Reyes since 2005 which is when he took over as the everyday shortstop after the other great idea of converting him to 2^nd base so the great bust of Tokyo Kaz Matsui could be the starting shortstop:

2005 161 g

2006 153 g

2007 160 g

2008 159 g

Even with the illness and injury from trying to come back to soon last season, Reyes played in 133 games. So far this year he’s played 80 games. He took off yesterday due to the tweak of his hammy (a grade 1 strain) and he may take the next few games off before the All-Star Game as well.

We do see that Sandy Alderson may be won over by Jose Reyes and from meeting him myself it’s hard not to be. Alderson seems ready to make a very competitive offer to Reyes (I think we can forget all the Don’t Trade Reyes angst he’s not getting dealt) as he sees the contribution Reyes makes on and off the field.

If this weekend becomes the turning point where the Mets gain respect throughout baseball for being a team to avoid and Sandy Alderson decides that Jose Reyes is worth fighting to keep, then losing 2 of 3 to the Highlanders ain’t to tough to take.

Last up certainly not least, I want to wish all of you a happy and safe 4^th of July. I have a couple of more days here in the Pocono Mountains, surrounded by Phuckadelphians in there Phuck Phace shirts and jerseys. Makes me sick.

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A quick note before I get rolling here, posting will be sporadic the next four days as I head off to a mini family vacation in Pennsylvania, after an 8:30AM baseball game tomorrow I’ll be off to the Pocono’s where I may or may not have a lot of internet access. I will try to fit in some posts in the mornings if I do since I get up with the roosters even on days off if not here I may just throw some stuff out on Twitter (follow me there @ kranepool )

My heartfelt condolences go out to Willie Harris and his wife on the loss of their child. I cannot think of anything more heartbreaking than what the Harris’ are going through. My prayers and thoughts are with them.

I thought that gesture the Mets make when they reach base when the put their hand over there head was a way to say the spotlight is on you. I thought I read that or heard some place early this season but I guess it’s not. It seems it’s similar to what the Texas Rangers made famous last season as the Antler but the Mets call it the “Claw” which is quite ironic since the owners are involved in a claw back suit against them by the Madoff trustees. If Irv Picard wins this case and wipes out the skill sets I wonder if he will give the “Claw” in the courtroom.

Being that I’ll be away for the Subway Series, I doubt I’ll get to see any of the games live (my  wife decided tonight would be a good night to go see “Catch Me If You Can” on Broadway) unless of course I can get everyone to agree to a late lunch/early dinner at restaurant with a TV, a good possibility, but this should be one of the better Subway Series in a while. Both teams are playing winning baseball; the Highlanders are the hottest team in the game, closing in on the Phuck Phaces for the best record in MLB. They have gone 21-9 in their last 30 games. The Mets though are not that far behind them winning 18 of their last 30. As it is, this series is more important for the Mets as they try to continue to keep pace in the NL Wild Card Race. They come into the series on a high note (Yesterday’s loss the exception as Mike Pelfrey was bad again, more on Pelf in a minute) taking 4 of 6 on the road from the Rangers and Tigers and really needing to keep winning series. We have reached July 1 with the end of the month the trade deadline so if the Mets want to put the pressure on the front office and ownership to decide to buy and not sell at the end of the month they need to continue this string of winning. If the team is in striking distance of a Wild Card spot, no more than 5 games behind, Sandy Alderson will have to make an effort to upgrade the bullpen as it’s the bullpen that will decide if the Mets stay in the post season hunt. As well as the team has played the last two months, the bullpen is a problem and it doesn’t look like there are any candidates in Buffalo or Bingo to help out. Since Jeffey Skill Sets proclaimed that Alderson can add whatever he feels is necessary to make run. We’ll see. Talk is cheap.   

What to do with Big Pelf? Yesterday was his second straight bad start as he proclaimed after the game that just like Arlington, he could not command his fastball for strikes. So his fastball contributed to his walking 5 batters and falling behind in the count and coming in with pitches that were quite hittable, led to Pelf’s downfall. You wonder what the front office makes of Pelfrey? Terry Collins does what any good manager would do, he protects his player, although I don’t think he even believes the positive spin he has put on Pelfrey’s last two starts but I’m sure Alderson already feels like Mike Pelfrey will not be a Met in 2012. Pelfrey makes a shade under $4mil and is arbitration eligible I believe for the last time this off season so what kind of deal do you offer him?  A multi year deal? Hell no! A one year deal at $5mil+ ? Not with the tight budget the club is projecting for next season. So with that it looks like either Big Plef gets dealt or non-tendered. Kinda sad though but deserved.

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A Friday spew:

Got to hand it to the Amazin’s they find more exotic ways to lose baseball games than any team ever has. Last night’s “twitch” by D.J. Stirrups was a first for me. I’ve seen HBP force the winning run home and of course a walk off walk (fuck you Kenny Rogers) but a walk off balk? Never! The balk was so blatant that Terry Collins never argued nor did Stirrups, he knew what he did and just walked off the field with a “what can you do” look on his face. The only way left for the Mets to lose a game is for an outfielder to throw his glove at a fly ball for a ground rule triple. Maybe will see that this weekend?

It’s no secret that most of the MSM who cover sports pull most of their stories out of their ass and no one does it better than Jon Heyman (Joel “The Plagiarist” Sherman is a close second) who sent out this Tweet this morning about what a “competing baseball exc “ told him about how much money Jose Reyes can expect to get on the open market. There is no way to know if this is true or bullshit but since it’s Heyman I lean toward bullshit. In fact, another competing GM told me that Reyes will re-sign with the Mets by the All-Star break for a lifetime deal that includes VIP seating to David Einhorn’s new seminar “How To Fleece Clueless Sports Team Owners of Their Majority Share of Their Franchise”

If Brian Gordon was signed by the Mets the sports media in this town would be calling the Mets front office all the derogatory names their small minds could think of but since it was the desperate for pitching Highlanders who signed him, well…I’m sure he will the next subject on Yankeeography  on YUCK. I’m not saying Gordon’ story is not a good one and I wish him all the success in the world as the guy has definitely paid his dues but I’m sure the Highlander media cheer leaders will overdose on this story.

As I watched the Mets come back from down 6-2 and take an 8-6 lead then have Frankie Rodriguez give up two runs in the 9^th to tie the game all I could think of was July 4^th 1985 and who was going to be the next Rick Camp for the Braves and who would be the next Danny Heep for the Mets

The Brooklyn Cyclones open the NY-Penn League season tonight on Staten Island (the only time the SI Highlanders get a crowd is when they play Brooklyn) then open up their home schedule tomorrow night on Coney Island. I will be spending Father’s Day on the Poor Man’s Riviera and taking in the Cyclones-Highlanders game at 5PM.

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You can look at the Mets reaching the .500 mark as nothing to celebrate, as .500 means you’ve reached a level of mediocrity. But if you look at the overall standings of the National League, that .500 mark is much more impressive, especially in the light of injuries and starting pitching rotation led by two neophytes, a philosopher, a reclamation project and a schizophrenic.  

Taking the Phuck Phaces out of the equation, and their NL and MLB leading 43-26 record, the Mets are a mere 5 games back of the SF Giants (39-29) for the second best record in the league. For those who feel it’s never too early to follow the NL Wild Card standings, the Mets are 3.5 games behind the Cardinals for the NL Wild Card spot.

All this without the two corner infielders who provide power, the Ace of the starting rotation and the Left Fielder (although 2 hits and an SB for Jason Bay maybe just maybe it’s the start of his renaissance) an emotional baseball mess, it’s quite impressive that the Mets are in the race for a post season berth. If anything comes as a positive so far this season is the culture of failure has been eradicated on the field and in the clubhouse. Maybe it will move to the owners level as well but that would take a giving the blind sight kind of miracle that doesn’t happen too often.   Like Rome, Flushing was built in a day.

Scott Kazmir has been released by the Angels, he can be picked up for the major league minimum. I don’t think a Mets reunion will happen but I could see the Highlanders signing him and assigning him to Scranton/Wilkes Barre because they are DES-PER-ATE for starting pitching.   

I wish the Mets would announce that the next time Johan Santana will pitch for the team in February 2012 in St. Lonesome.

Last night I had the honor of being a guest on the Seamheads Podcasting Network’s Fantasy Baseball Show on Blog Talk Radio it was a fast paced hour of great baseball talk a very worthy listen. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/seamheads/2011/06/16/highlight-reelseamheads-fantasy-baseball-show

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As I mentioned yesterday, I took a trip to the South Bronx to watch the Highlanders-Indians game which was my first visit to the new Highlander Stadium, so I’d figure I’d give you  some of my observations of the ball park.

It’s big, very big much bigger than Citi Field and because of that you are much further away from the field than at Citi.

As soon as you head down the stairs of the 4 train you know you’re at HIGHLANDER STADIUM because the Highlander brand just suffocates you. Maybe suffocates is too strong or maybe as a Mets fan I wish Citi Field was as Mets-centric as Highlander Stadium. Hell, even the hot dog stand is named Highlander hot dogs. Every single inch of the place is decorated in Highlander colors and there is no mention of the old Baltimore Orioles , who became the Highlanders and then the Yankees. No its’ Yankees, Yankees and more Yankees.

They sell t-shirts for just about every member of the team and of course all the retired stars. I was very, very tempted to buy a MARTIN 1 t-shirt as I always admired Bill Martin and his style of managing. His off the field way left a lot to be desired for sure but as a manager Martin was as good if not better than anyone who ever ran a baseball team.

For me to get to Highlander Stadium is a breeze. I took the 10:30 AM ferry out of Staten Island, then walked up to Bowling Green to get the 4 train and I was in front of the ball park by 11:45. It takes me that long to get from my house to the Gowanus /BQE merge going to Citi Field.

There are no ushers at Highlander Stadium. There are security people and the Highlanders post a number you can text to report a problem in your section. I sat in Section 420B yesterday and while everything was fine there was this one young lady who kept getting up looking for friends of hers and blocked the view of some fans. One of the blocked fans must have texted the number given as a security guard with ear piece came to the section and went right to the row where this gal was and asked if everything was ok here. Pretty impressive.

The Stadium itself (it’s not a ballpark it’s a STADIUM) has no charm. As you walk in the concourse level is just like entering a high end shopping mall. There are many, many workers who hold up signs “How May I Help You” and whatever you’re looking for at the Stadium they can tell you where it is. Unfortunately that doesn’t happen at Citi Field.     

The food choices were ok I guess, there wasn’t a concession that I said I have to have that. The garlic fires looked enticing but the smell of the garlic was so overpowering I passed. There was a Boar’s Head deli which I guess is very good but I can have a Boar’s Head deli sandwich any time I want. Johnny Rocket’s? There’s one in the SI Mall. Brother Jimmy’s BBQ? I have that before NY Rangers games. Hard Rock Café? If there was ever an organization that was the antithesis of Rock n Roll it’s the Highlanders   So I settled for my favorite sausage and peppers hero.

As for the fans, I guess because it was a Sunday there were a lot of families mostly from NJ, Rockland and Orange County and beyond. Listening to some of the conversations, many were of the casual fan variety but the fan of the day had to be the woman in back of me decked out in here Rivera jersey, cap who cheered and cheered for Jeter and A-Rod who upon seeing a man walking down from the upper rows of the section with a Highlander jersey with the number 5 on it asked her the guy who was with her, “Who’s number 5” to make it worse the guy who was with her didn’t know. My son who was with me just stared ahead watching the action, shaking his head back and forth. That was the best part of the day.

Citi Field has a lot of warts, most of them brought on by ownership but the atmosphere at Citi is much better and more of a festive block party, hanging out in the back yard BALLPARK whereas Highlander STADIUM is a massive high rise apartment building  where no one knows your name and they like it that way.

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Since I had no plans for today myself and the heir to the Kranepool Society mis-fortune decided totake a trip up to the Boogie Down to see the Highlanders-Indians  game this afternoon.  Amazingly, this will be our first trip to the new Stadium. My second new stadium experience in three days as Friday night we ventured to Harrison NJ to see the NY Red Bulls with my daughter’s soccer team.  Tomorrow I will have a whole lot more on my experiences in both places.

Ah Murph!!!!!!! You make that play inning over and maybe the game and back to the magic .500 level of mediocrity but in order to get offense into the lineup, TC has to make these type of moves.

D.J. Carrasco has been pitching very well for Buffalo so he gets the call back to the big club and Dale Thayer goes back to doing whatever it is Dale Thayer does.

HoJo, really Hojo, stop with your critique of TC and the Mets handling of Jason Bay. You look very small and petty when you do this; you don’t hear Collins ripping you for ruining David Wright do you? Maybe you’re the one that screwed up Jason Bay beyond repair. There’s a reason you are no longer a member of the organization you know.

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When I turned on my computer this morning there was a e-mail from the New Yorker with a link to a story written by Jeffery Tobin about Freddy Skill Sets and the rise and fall of the Skill Sets financial world. There are quotes it seems from Bernie Madoff, that makes both Freddy and Uncle Saul look like a couple of patsies when it came to finances.

The real bombeshell though is Freddy’s take on some of players, these comments are sure to start a violent shit storm with the Mets fan base.

The piece is long and I’m going to read it now so here’s the link so you can get a gander of it for yourself. Sometime later this morning I’ll be back with some comments but from reading Mets Blog and Adam Rubin’s Mets Blog this morning, losing two of three to the Highlanders will be a fart in the wind after this story gets it fill of eyeballs.

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I’ll be calling in to Mike Silva’s NY Baseball Digest Podcast on Blog Talk Radio tonight at around 10:30pm to talk about the Subway Series and whether it has “jumped the shark” or not.

Can’t get on Terry Collins for letting Mike Pelfrey start the 7th inning as Pelf had pitched a strong 6 innings. It’s easy to second guess after the game got away from the Mets in that inning and the intentional walk to Texiera backfired on Collins as he didn’t know that A-Rod has great numbers when the batter in front of him has been IW’ed.  Even with those numbers, I fear Tex more than I do A-Rod at this point. Rodriguez looks worn down to me.

Sucks to lose 2 of 3 to anyone and beating the Highlanders would have been sweet as the writers and YUCK announcers have beaten the Buffalo Mets angle to death.

Oh well, on to Chicago

Keep Gary Carter in your thoughts and prayers

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