Let us raise a Chug-A-Mug of Rehinglod today to the Tampa Famous Rays for winning the AL Pennant last night and giving Jackie Autry a reason to go to the beauty parlor and don some swanky polyester as she dutifully halndled her job as honorary AL President flawlwssly. How great is it to be the widow of the Singing Cowboy, especially this time a year. You get to a trip to the ALCS and hand out a trophy and soon everytime Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is played another royalty check goes in the mail. Sweet,  but of course I digress. Today we salute one of our own,  Stuart Sternberg,  he of the Carnarsie Sternberg’s and holder of Mets season tickets and unabashed Mets fan who used a little of his fortune to purchase the Tampa baseball franchise from  crazy old Vince Namoli and thorugh shrewed drafting and good trades now has not only a championship trophy but a snazy new t-shrt and  cap.

Now all the Famous Rays have to do is beat those in-bred slouths from Philly so at least one of “us” will call this season fulfiling.

All I did when David Price came on in the 8th inning last night was think about why didn’t the Mets just give the closers job to Eddie Kunz when Billy Wags went down? Looking back I agree this is an all time second guess but Kunz was a set up man and closer on two NCAA Champions and was closing at Bingo and with the jackpot of Dan Murphy and to a lesser degree Nick Evans and Jon Niese the talent from that team was quite rewarding but really instead of Dollar Store relevers like Luis Ayala and Brain Stokes you wonder what would have been if Kunz and Bobby Parnell were given the roles of set up and closer with the full backing of J-Man and Omar?    I know one thing, it couldn’t have been worse.

It’s been called a Yacker, Yellow Hammer, Uncle Charley and it some very rare cases (see Koufax, Sandy Blyleven, Bert, Viola, Sweet Music and Gooden, Dwight) Lord Charles.  It’s the curveball. As historians tell us  was developed by a pitcher with a porn star name, Candy Cummings back in the 1870 and since been perfected by the four pitchers I mentioned and when it’s thrown correctly it’s a devastating pitch.

Last night the Mets put a year of bad luck into the hands of a soon to be 22 year old Jonathon Neise who had the unenviable task of making sure the Mets did not get swept by the pathetic Atlanta Braves, a team that looks as broken down as it’s 104 year old manager. Niese was brilliant last night as his curveball with it’s big 12 to 6 break was unhitable and gave the fans a lesson in basic baseball, throw strikes, get ahead, win game.

It also helped that the offense showed up in game 2 as it’s very easy to point the finger at the bullpen for game one loss and it would have been a huge boost  if Brain Stokes got out of the 8th inning jam but you wonder if the offense had come through in big spots with the bases loaded to break open just a drag along boring game, that J-Man manages it differently by taking a hard working Johan Santana out after 7 innings and letting Figgie, Knight or even Bobby Parnell come in to mop up. But it didn’t work out that way but this is not your 2007 Mets team as they came back rejuventized by a 21 year old leftie at his coming out party.

Jon Niese Dan Murphy, Nick Evans, Joe Smith, Bobby Parnell, Fernando Martinez, Jose Reyes, David Wright, are not a bad bunch of home grown players that the Mets farm system has produced. Add in what’s coming up next in Brad Holt, Wilmer Flores, Jefry Marte, Josh Satin and Ike Davis the State of the Mets looks very strong. Not bad for an organization that the “experts” claimed had a barren farm.

Very inconsistent pitching by Jon Niese in his ML debut. All of his three innings were a chore as he had base runners and deep counts each of the innings. 73 pitches (39K/34B) in three innings is the definition of laboring. The first inning Niese was clearly nervous as he gave up a HR to Rickie Weeks on the second  pitch of the game. It wasn’t a total loss for Niese as he showed a real good curve ball that had a great break and he was able to change speeds as well, hitting 90 mph on the fastball and then coming in with a curve and change in the mid 70’s. 

Niese’ biggest problem on the night was location early, then fatigue from throwing so many pitches early as the Brewers just were teeing off on him in the 3rd. Hopefully Niese will have gotten over his bad case of big league-itis before his next start if there is a next start as J-Man has let it be known that this no time for auditions as we are in a pennant race.

Nelly Figs has come on and pitched well as it’s 5-5 in the top of the 6th so it will be up to the bullpen to keep the Brewskis off the board. Secure that pair of Depends folks it could be a rough night.

I forgot to post about the bullpen. IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! Wags or no Wags all this bullshit about who should close and who should set up how about this how about someone in the bullpen strapping on a pair of balls and stepping up and lead. I’m an Aaron Heilman fan and yes he sucks as a reliever and yes I feel he should get the start Saturday night if Jon Niese doesn’t but for the love of God will you stand up like a fucking man and take charge here! Between Heilman and Schoenewies I don’t know who I want to crack in the head with a folding chair first. Is there anyone in that bullpen who doesn’t pee sitting down? Can someone go up to Warlord Jerry and DEMAND to pitch the 9th inning. Go ahead Eddie Kunz don’t be shy, you could kick anyone ass on this team if they object SHOW ME YOUR BALLS AND DEMAND TO CLOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now back to my relaxing afternoon.

The best move Omar Minaya made yesterday was standing on the sidelines and doing nothing but take phone calls. Could the Mets use a Jason Bay or Manny Ramirez, (forget Jr. Griffey) of course but Minaya felt the price was too high player wise and he has realized it’s time to let the farmhands grow up to be Mets. I think a lot of fans feel the same way. It’s funny that when a player comes up through the teams farm system the fans seem to be more tolerant of mistakes and of lesser play than they are of guys who sign here for big free agent  money like Carlos Beltran or a money driven trade like Carlos Delgado and Johan Santana. So let Jon Niese, Dan Murphy, Eddie Kunz and the Teen Aged Hitting Machine come up and make their  debut in a pennant race. It may not pay off this year but it could pay huge dividends down the road. Mets management has finally come around to the mind set of build a team that will contend for a few years instead of the one and done approach the Skill Sets have been famous for during the reign. The Phillies and Marlins did nothing to have us take notice so with two months of baseball left let the race begin.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry Remy yesterday in Hyannis. He was appearing at a restaurant there for a local Cape Cod radio station and I ask him about Manny being traded and he was hoping that Manny would not be delt. I asked about clubhouse reaction to the latest Manny Being Manny episode and Remy felt they have all seen this before so it’s nothing new it’s more management being disrespected than anything that fueld this deal. After Manny said that the Sox didn’t deserve him that set off the front office who felt the team has been around over 100 years and they will still be around another 100 years Manny or no Manny. I think the players were relived as well that Manny is gone even if his bat can not be replaced but his lack of hustle and desire and his disrespect for Terry Francona had become a major issue. 

Go get’em tonight Petey!!!!!!!!!!!!

As much as I love being here on vacation I MISS THE METS!!!!!!! I miss watching and listening to Gary, Keith and Ron and I almost miss Yalloff and Mazzilli (I said ALMOST)