The problem with my Babe Ruth season being over is I now have to do all the things I need to do around the house that I put off during the baseball season. I’ll be very honest here, I hate doing any kind of home repair or building stuff because I really suck at it.

When my brothers and sister were growing up my dad was a part time Super in the building we lived in and he was very good at plumbing, doing electrical work, painting and any general repairs that were needed. Even when I was growing up he still did a lot of that stuff around our apartment building shelves or plastering walls and ceilings and any time I would ask him if he needed help he’d always say “Nah, go ahead and play outside” So I did and I became very proficient in playing outside.

Unfortuanltely with our season over, “I can’t go play outside” plus I’m not 12 years old either (well not age wise but in my head I am) and with a list of things to do I figured I’d take a break from the keyboard but listening to Jerry Mauel has taken m away from some important bath tub grouting.

Yesterday before the Mets-Pirates game, Manuel stated the he did not believe Jason Bay would return to the lineup this season. Now Bay has said during his convalescence that his goal was to return before the season was over. So where did Manuel get this info and was he basing it on medical reports or talking to Bay or did Omar Minaya him fill in? Com’on Jerry, inquiring minds want to know.  Well, it seems Manuel was talking out of turn, he really had no information and as I said on Twitter, he pulled this out of his ass, just like his lineups. Then I got to thinking, what word sums up Jerry Manuel Mets Managerial run? The word that popped into my head was “Sloppy”

Back in spring training Manuel told the press that he was looking to use Jose Reyes in the 3 spot of the lineup. Not only did he not confer with the player, he also didn’t think about the impact it would have on Reyes moving from his more comfortable lead off spot and the avalanche of questions Reyes would be saddled with. Even after Reyes came back from illness and missing valuable time, Manuel stayed with his plan and of course it was a disaster.

Manuel then fought to have the prized farm hand Jenry Mejia make the 25 man roster out of spring and anointed him the Bridgeman to K-Rod. I guess the front office acquiesced   to the mangers demands figuring he wanted young Mejia this badly we may as well let him have him, even if it meant retarding his long term development as a pitcher. So Manuel got his wish and proceeded to under utilize Mejia and in turn made a bad situation worse.

The manager also had a tough time communicating with John Maine and then blamed Maine for hiding injury. His bullpen management is as difficult to understand as plans for a bookcase from Ikea. His in game strategy is from the Wheel of Fortune School of Baseball. His inability to play guys like Chris Carter (you think Carter gets to play again today? Don’t bet on it) while a Jeff Francoeur gets to swing at every pitch like he’s he loading a bunch of quarters at the local batting cage.

There is a segment of Mets fan who feel this team is so offensively challenged that Earl Weaver or John McGraw couldn’t get this team to hit. Well we’ll never know that because Manuel has never been challenged by management.  Oh sure big bad Jeffey Skill Sets went to Atlanta to give Manuel a stern lecture and what did the manager do? He came out of his office and looked at the press, all assembled to see if he was still Mets manager and when he was asked if was still the field general of the Mets, his reply was “I’m still wearing my uniform ain’t I” and with that he let out his signature Jerry Manuel Laugh.

Yep, he was right it was a joke. A joke on us Mets fans and the organization but Manuel can laugh all he wants he will still be slob of a manger to me.

Got to go I have a wood floor that needs sanding

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Last night I had a great time talking to Rob Castellano of Amazin Avenue about the Mets farm system on THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN. Today Rob has a great Q & A with Jim Calis of Baseball America.

Last night, under the steady hand of Dave Jauss, the Mets continued their Home Sweet Home ways with a great 8-2 win over the Cards. Before the game, Jerry Manuel was informed he was to take the night off for banging brims with umpire Doug Endings in LA on Friday. Manuel asked if he could delay his suspension until today so he could name me the Manager for the night, as a nice birthday present, but Bob Watson nixed the idea.

You know it’s your birthday when……..Your family has a smile on their faces when you say you’d like to leave at 2PM for a 7PM game at Citi Field. I just love to see them grit their teeth in a big grin saying “Sure Dad no problem, we love going to games 4 hours before game time”

We all know the Mets have a bad record when it comes to dealing with concussions but it seems hard to kill them over Jason Bay head injury. Bay did not show concussion symptoms after smacking into the left field wall at Chavez Ravine and he was checked out by Dodger team doctors. In fact Bay himself thought he was just dehydrated on the flight home to NY. Hopefully after a couple or three days Bay will be fit to play.

Don’t forget to check out my THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN store at Cafe Press

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About last night:

So how many folks suffered a sprain or broken leg jumping back on the Johan Santana bandwagon?  I guess he’s back to being the Ace of the staff eh?

Funny I’m hearing any of the Carlos Beltran’ range is shot talk either ?

And how about Angel Pagan playing a mean right field? Let me help you with those bags Mr. Francoeur!

Even though Jerry Manuel was tossed from the game in the second inning, we still were treated to some “Jerry Ball” in the 8^th inning. With the Mets up 2-1, Jose Reyes leads off with a walk off Vicente (Jimmy “Super Fly” Snuka look a like) Padillia. Reyes procedes to steal 2^nd base. Luis Castillo then walks as well, so maybe the Mets are getting set for that elusive big inning we al have been waiting for. But hold on there you Earl Waever devotees, J-Man will have none of that big inning stuff, no way. From the bowels of Dodger Stadium, the Gansta’ sends word to Dave Jauss the pretend manager, to have Angel Pagan sacrifice the runners over. Pagan by the way has a .940 OPS with runners on base and an even more impressive 1.072 OPS with runners in scoring position. Some where in a retirement home in Florida, Earl Weaver lit up a Raleigh and muttered, “what a fuckin’ moron”

Not to be outdone, St Joseph of Torre decided to go reliever for batter in the inning helping the Mets and the struggling Jason Bay break the game open via Bay’s three run double. My eyes were bleeding after that inning.

Darryl Strawberry wants this current Mets team to turn back the clock and play like the 86ers. It’s a nice thought but it’ll never happen. This group is too fragile psychologically. When the going is good, they are all smiles and back slaps, but as soon as adversity rears it’s ugly head, they dive under the bed instead of meeting it head on. Part of it is the makeup of the team and part of it is the manager who plays not to lose (as we saw in last nights 8^th inning) Players are too cautious especially the relievers as the slightest slip could cost you a job. The front office takes a big brunt of this as well by telling the world that the team is solvent but still won’t pay off  or trade off non productive players. A big move for this organization is to DFA Fernando Nieve and bring up Manny Acosta. Then when Nieve clears waivers, they will resign him and send him to Buffalo and bring him back up sometime in August. So predictable.  The team mirrors it’s owner, it talks a good fight but lacks the balls to back it up.

Let’s hope Big Pelf fixed whatever was broken and pitches a gem today in LA LA Land

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No much to say about last night’s game except Big Pelf has had trouble with the Snakes for his whole career and maybe that neck of his was still stiff, but you still have to take into account that Pelfrey hasn’t pitched well in a month. No worries, because Ollie Perez is back, pass the Imodium AD.

The concern over Francoeur riding the pine still has be stupefied, as does the call fro Jason Bay to sit. Forget for a moment that Bay is being paid a shit load of dough, he also has a body of work that Francoeur could only dream about. The one good move that Jerry Manuel has made this month is telling Angel Pagan he will play day in, day out.

On top of this awful second half start, it seems like the Mets will not be players in either the Roy Oswalt or Dan Haren sweepstakes. From trying to piece together the reasons it seems a combination of not wanting to over pay in prospects, which is fine by me, and the lack of dead presidents in the Skill Sets bank account. That part worries me.    

Remember when Rod Barajas was a stud? That was when? Back in May? I know Josh Thole is up as showcase item but maybe it’s time to put young Thole on the protected list?

While most of us clicked off the television in disgust last night, Greg Prince hung in there long enough to report that Justin Turner came in to play for David Wright in the 7^th and thus, became the 141^st third baseman in the history of the NY Mets. Where have you gone, Roy Staiger?

Don’t forget to join me tonight THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN RADIO SHOW on Blog Talk Radio 10PM ET  

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I ‘m getting ready to head for the hills A/K/A my annual week long camping trip with my sons Boy Scout Troop. Our camp may resemble the prison scene in Godfella’s as we’ve decided to cook all our meals this year. So we’ve packed up cans of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, onions, peppers, chop meat and sauseeeege (Italian sausage to you out of towners.) so as the boys go off to earn their merit badges, the dads will be over a hot burner “makin’ the gravy”

The leaders office has computers and internet access so I should be able to put up a post or two during the week when I get a little time off from cooking, cutting wood and yelling at kids plus it’s the All-Star break so I won’t be missing much as I don’t revere the All Star game like I did when I was a kid so it might be a good time to go into the woods.

I haven’t read any game stories last from last night as I have a lot of last minute things to do before we leave so I’m still a little foggy on why Jose Reyes hit second last night and is schedule to hit in that spot again today. I’ve heard a theory that he is seeing a lot of sliders in the lead off spot so by flip floping Pagan and Reyes he may see more fastballs as Jose is still plagued by the sore oblique.  After watching Reyes slide back into second last night and coming up sore, I would think management would order him to forgo the All Star game and take the three days to rest his injury.

Hard to kill R A Dickey for last night as he continues to pitch great. If anything, the Mets half of the 6^th inning is what did the team in. With Ike Davis on second and Jason Bay on first, no one out, up steps Josh Thole. Ike is not exactly fleet of foot in fact, and I say this will all due respect, Ike has Ed Kranepool speed, and Thole, a contact hitter up, how about a hit and run? Nope, Jerry Manuel decides to go with the bunt, and Bobby Cox, being the Hall of Fame manager that he is, smelled it from a mile away so he put on the wheel play (a Bobby Valentine favorite play as well) where 3^rd baseman Omar Infante and 1^st baseman Troy Glauss charge in and mentally challenged short stop Yunel Escobar covers 3^rd and 2^nd baseman mar-TEEEN Prado covering first. The play worked for the Braves beautifully. If Thole was a little bit more experienced he would have pull back the bunt and swung away. As Keith Hernandez said, “Thole might have been afraid of his manager yelling at him” if he did that. If Manuel chastised Thole for a heads up play like that, then he’d be a more clueless strategist  than I make him out to be.

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It’s not the loss that has me pissed, it the way it happened that makes me wonder if under the stewardship on Mr. Jerry Manuel, this team can make the post season as the manager has absolutely no feel for in game managing.

First there was the lineup. With both Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan ailing, was it wise to give Jason Bay the day off? I’ve advocated giving Chris Carter some playing time but again the manager has to have a feel for knowing when to play guys and when to let them sit, you can’t keep Bay out the line up when your two offensive catalysts are sitting. Wouldn’t giving Bay a game off in Puerto Rico be more beneficial since he wouldn’t have to run on an artificial turf laded outfield?

Then we have this whole “I wanted to get Johan out on a positive note” line of bullshit? Santana pitched his best game in over a month and not just that he is still the Ace of the staff. Maybe it’s just a figurehead title but can you imagine Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum, CC Sabathia or Cliff Lee coming out of a game like last night? I know Johan said he wanted to stay in the game but acquiesced to the managers move, maybe he should have demanded to stay in I bet those pitchers I mentioned would get into a fist fight with their skipper to finish a game like that.

The 9^th inning was just a pure disaster as Manuel let Ryota Igarashi, a guy who walks as many batters as he strikes out, pitch in bases loaded spot one out and Ryan Zimmerman up. I can buy the notion of saving Frankie Rodriguez for the save spot as the Mets are the road team, but if you’re not going to use Bobby Parnell in that spot, then why is Parnell here?    

You could hear the disgust in Ron Darling’ voice as Igarashi fell behind 2-0 to Zimmerman by throwing tow breaking balls, when the situation called for challenging the hitter with fastballs. That’s why this situation cried out for Parnell to be brought in. If Zim hits a 98 mph fastball for a game winning hit, tip your hat and move on. I just wonder if Igarashi would have walked in the winning run, would that be grounds for the manager’s dismissal?

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Do we really hope that Carlos Beltran comes back this season? This is not an anti-Beltran post, I like Beltran and I am in no means joining the Beltran contract worst in Mets history club just the contrary, he was the player the Mets needed to have at the time he signed his deal and he has produced offensively and defensibly to be the best center fielder in baseball. The reason I’m in no hurry to see him back is, I don’t see where he fits in with this Mets team.

The Mets have gone from a collection of talent to a cohesive team. Whereas the organization went out and brought in big names who made those names elsewhere (Glavine, Delgado, Martinez, Beltran to name four biggies) that Mets fans never warmed up to, now the fan base is giddy over the homegrown infield of Wright, Reyes, Tejada and Ike. Mets fans are also rooting harder for Jon Niese to make his mark and are glowing over once removed Met farmhand, Angel Pagan who has played not only productive baseball but smart baseball as well.

Even when it comes to who is the Ace of the Mets pitching staff, as much as we respect and hold Johan Santana in high regard to where he is his almost near home grown adulation, lots of Mets fans have anointed Mike Pelfrey as THE MAN for the Mets. We have watched Pelfrey go from a gawky pitcher who likes to lick his hands and sometimes space out on the mound to a stud pitcher who’s starts are now a reason to either make it to the TV or drop all plans and head to $iti Field.   

Jason Bay and Jeff Francouer have been big in this hot streak the Mets have been on this month but when you ask Mets fans about Bay they nod like “he’s ok” and Frenchy before this hot streak of his, Mets fans had him top of the non-tender list for this off season. As for Frankie Rodriguez, just check out Twitter when he comes in to close a game, it’s like someone in the car farted and the windows are all locked.    

Then we have Jenry Mejia who has been abused by the Mets to the point that Mets fan have been calling Child Services to have him removed from Jerry Manuel Torture Chamber (a/k/a The bullpen) That Mejia has not been allowed to grow in his craft in the Mets minor league system is a serious crime to all Mets fans, as we want Mejia to grow strong and add that 97 mph fastball to the rotation of Pelfrey and Niese. The handling of Mejia this season is the baseball equivalent of the 2 year old kid smoking two packs of cigarettes a day in Indonesia STOP THE ABUSE!!!!    

Back to Beltran for a moment, the Mets have a nice little run going here and if or when Beltran comes back where does he play? If he goes back to his home in centerfield then does that move Pagan to the bench? Or does the mean a platoon of Frenchy and Pagan in RF? Can Beltran cover the ground he used to now that he will wear a knee brace to play? If he can’t then does he move to right field knocking Frenchy to the bench? Loads of questions here and that’s why maybe for the good of the team, it’s better that Beltran is taking his time coming back and if you’re the Mets front office do you secretly hope he doesn’t come back?

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I know it’s all the rage to kill David Wright for his lack of clutchness lately but after checking out Baseball Reference, it looks like that anger is misplaced. Wright has a line of .290/.385/.581 with RISP. The other three big hitters for the Mets haven’t come close to the numbers Wright has put up.

Jason Bay with his .250/.370/.389 w/RISP has not been the run producer the club felt he would be. The real busts in the clutch have been Jeff Francouer and Jose Reyes-.200/.237/.286 w/RISP- but in Reyes’ defense he has been misplaced as a #3 hitter. It was an experiment by Jerry Manuel and I think we can say it’s a failed one and it’s time to put Reyes back in the 1hole. Frenchy has been a total disaster when it comes to getting a hit in the clutch as his .200/.295/.257 line shows. That bubbly personality of Frenchy’s will get him by for so long.

Wright it seems is a victim again of non-support in the lineup for the second season in a row, with Wright down in the 5 spot, most times Reyes and Bay, hitting in front of Wright, they have not been getting the job done putting all the pressure on Wright. It’s time to abandon the Reyes in the 3 hole and move Wright back to that spot.

Jerry Manuel’ patients has turned to stubbornness and needs to shake the lineup up. Oh by the way, Carlos Beltran will lace up a pair of running shoes today but its anyone’s guess if he will actually run in them though.   

Now that Chris Carter has been recalled from Buffalo, as Frank Catalanotto gets his release (how in good conscious does Manuel put GMJ up to bat, it’s like J-Man is shoving the shityness of Mathews in Omar’s face, “You won’t cut him so I’ll keep playin’ him.”) This guy is very happy The Animal is up.

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At the end of the day, you know what I mean, it is what it is, at the end of the day that is”

From the Tao of Omar

If you came here to day for an explanation on the moves made by Jerry Manuel, well, you came to the wrong place. How do you explain taking out David Wright for Fernando Tatis ? By saying Tatis is the emergency 3^rd catcher? Well, fine but how do you justify keeping GMJ in the game in left field? How do you justify GMJ being on this team?  

The shame here is the waste of good pitching by the Mets with this anemic offense, The Jose Reyes experiment as the 3 hitter should end right now. I don’t know if it’s a matter of not being comfortable in that spot or if it’s just that Reyes was rushed back, whatever it is something’s not right with Reyes. So put him back on the top of the order. I hate to go after Luis Castillo as he is the only one other than Wright who actually gets on base, but he’s not even a banjo hitter at this point, he’s more ukulele at this point, so drop him to 8^th .  Rod Barajas has the hot power bat so keep in the 7 spot. As for Jason Bay, there is no sense in benching him, this is a bad slump for sure but if you did give him a day or two off who do you replace him with ? The Mets bench sucks, except for Hank White.  So what to do, well here would be my lineup for Friday vs the Giants

Reyes

Pagan

Wright

Bay

Davis

Francoeur

Barajas

Castillo

Pelfrey

I know that Manuel likes to spilt up left/right but you don’t have personnel for that set up. By letting Davis hit 5^th that’s the best you can do to keep from tipping too much to the right.

The biggest knock I have with management is the lack of creativity. As I stated ,the Mets bench is awful. Mets fans want GMJ gone and I agree but Frank Catalanotto is just as bad and needs to go as well. Daniel Murphy is a long way from getting back to Flushing so he’s not an option right now. But Chris Carter is an option right now. Carter can’t do anymore than he’s doing in Buffalo and with GMJ proving the Angles right in giving him away, it reeks of penny pinching that GMJ is not shown the door and Carter is not given a  shot with the big league team. I have no problem keeping Tatis as he had value as a pinch hitter and can fill in any where on the field.

How about going after Matt Stairs of the Padres ? or Mark Kotsay of the White Sox or Scott Podsednik and Willie Bloomquist of the Royals. Time for Omar and Manuel to stop with all the double talk jive bullshit and shake this offense up. If neither guy is up to the job then get out and let someone in who can. No team is going to run away with the NL east nor the Wild Card, it’s time to get aggressive.

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No need to ask he’s a smooth operator

There was something different about the Mets last night, not just the great pitching performance by Jon Neise or the bombs away hitting of Daivd Wright, Rod Barajas or Frenchy there was a confidence displayed by the team that has been missing for awhile. When you look at Jason Bay the guy never seems to get rattled.  Ike Davis is the same way it feels like Davis has been here for a couple of years instead of a couple of weeks. The players all said during spring training that they knew they had a good team and that they’ll prove once the season starts, I for one didn’t believe it. I’m not going over board just yet although beating the Phillies like they did and shutting up the louts that inhabit Citizen’s Bank Park has we ready to go overboard.

It’s easy to go crazy during this hot streak and hopeful Big Pelf works his magic to day against Roy Haliday but the test of the makeup of this team to me will be how they react when they hit a bump in the road. They’ve already hi one early in the year and have shown for guts than last years team ever did but at some point the pitching is going to struggle and the bats will slump a bit and how the team reacts to that adversity will be the test .

I don’t want to dwell on that now though I just want to see the Mets kick Roy Halliday and the Phillies ass this afternoon.

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