Have you noticed that the Mets telecast on SNY has turned more into a sports/general interest talk show than focusing on the action on the field? Not that I have a problem with that, not at all, in fact if it weren’t for Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling and Kevin Burkhardt along with Bobby Ojeda in the studio, I don’t think I’d be watching many more Mets games. As much as I love our announcing crew though, it’s a sad state of affairs when they are the main draw to watching Mets baseball.

During the game yesterday, Gary posed the question to Hernandez about dangling the names Jose Reyes and David Wright out there as pieces in trade talk. Hernandez said (paraphrasing here) “of course you would; you’d have to as a GM just to see who is interested and what kind of package you’d get in return.” Now Hernandez DID NOT say Yes dump them, get rid of them, off with them. He just said what any smart thinking Mets fan would say, you have to at least see what you can get for either or both.

I am in no way advocating the trading of Wright or Reyes, in a perfect world both players would continue their careers as Mets and retire as Mets, I would be very happy if the end of their Mets careers finished with “…and they lived happily ever after…” but as we know too well we Mets fans live in a imperfect world.

When I Tweeted that I agreed with Hernandez on this issue you would have thought I opened up a Mosques R Us on Cortlandt St. The question I posed is this, Say the Skill Sets hire a new GM like Kevin Towers, or Mark Shapiro or even promote John Ricco and they get a call from an team with a deep farm and young players who are on the Major League team already. For either player I want a at least a starting pitcher, a second baseman, an outfielder and prospects (of course the Mets will throw in a few other players as well) as you see it would take a blockbuster to have me trade Wright and or Reyes but as a GM you have to see if that blockbuster is out there.

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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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Tired of railing against this organization, who again screwed over the Mets fans by playing last night’s game in the rain, which made the field conditions so dicey that even Joe Morgan could see it was stupid to play with puddles (which I named Lake Wilpon) in the infield. How about poor ol’ Luis Castillo? He thinks Jerry Manuel put him in the lineup last night to boost the offense, when in reality management forced Manuel to put Gimp in the game hoping he’d break an ankle on that marsh of an infield.

Joe DeMayo put on his investigative fedora and found out that word on the street is the Mets will sign Matt Harvey, Greg Peavey and Drew Martinez. It may take a lot of these to get the deals done though.

Why wouldn’t the Mets pick up Jose Reyes option for 2011? You’re not going to trade him off this season as his trade value is not very strong and you have no one to replace him at short stop. The guy that has me concerned is David Wright, whose roller-coaster season is the ultimate head scratcher.  When Wright is on, there aren’t many better than him in baseball but when he falls into these awful funks at the plate as he is now, (how far outside of home plate can you stand that you’re not out of the batter’s box?) and you fuse that with the general malaise over this team, it makes for a toxic stew that pushes the fan base over the edge. Part of Wright’s problem, in my view, is he tries to hard. It seems he takes it like if he doesn’t do it, no one else will. What he lacks is a mentor, and I’ve mentioned this numerous times, Wright still misses Cliff Floyd terribly. Wright needs a veteran player who has been around the block a time or two who he can talk to and who can be honest with him when he fucks up. HoJo is the favorite uncle who takes Wright to Nathan’s and a ride on the Cyclone and gets him a candy apple for the ride home. Maybe David needs some tough love to straighten himself out. I’d love to get inside his head for a moment to find out how he really feels about the direction of this organization and if he wants to be a long term member of the Mets family.

As a Mets fan and as someone who has watched him beat the Mets ass for years, I should hate Chipper Jones and not give a shit if he comes back from knee surgery. But I can’t. I admire the shit out of him as he took everything the Mets fans threw at him and gave it back. With a smile. He kicked our ass for years, but I still have to tip my Mets cap at him if this is Larry’s Last Stand.

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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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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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Is it over yet? Last night’s game will not be in the rotation of Mets Classics on SNY, between the rain delay, Big Pelf’s throwing batting practice, Jose Reyes and Angel Pagan forced out of the lineup with injuries, and Gary Cohen admitting in public he was a fan the Mama’s and the Papas, the only reason to keep watching the game telecast was to see if Keith Hernandez’ head would explode.

I can’t wait for Saturday’s Mets-Nationals game with the most bizarre pitching match up I ‘ve ever seen. R.A. Dickey for the Mets vs. The Sensational Strasburg. Just think, you could add up the velocity of three of Dickey’s pitches and that total is still lower than one Strasburg fastball. The only drawback to the game is it’s on FOX, so I’m guessing we get stuck with Doofus Joe and Tim McFullofshit UGH!!!!!

Sam Page has a great post on Amazin’ Avenue on what is a fair trade for Cliff Lee. When you look it over the Mets do have the chips to pull this off without giving up Jenry Mejia. I would hate to lose Reese Havens in a deal as well but if a package of Fernando Martinez, Josh Thole, Nick Evans and Eric Niessen brings Cliff Lee to the Mets, it’s a steal, even if Lee leaves after the season as a free agent. Ike, Niese, Mejia and Wilmer Flores would be untouchables, Mark Cohoon too, so anyone else is fair game to get dealt for a pitcher of Lee’s pedigree.

Leonard Davis of the Syracuse Chiefs was the prick who took out Daniel Murphy at second base to break up a double play that put Murph out of action for the season with a knee injury. The play was a scumbag move by Davis. Tues day night the Bison met the Chiefs and Dillon Gee was on the mound and had a 4-0 lead when Davis came up to bat. Gee proceeded to drill Davis in the back with a pitch as payback for the take out of Murphy. I hope Dillon Gee is a Met forever!

The Phuck Phaces are getting hit hard by injuries. HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

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Some observations from last night:

The first couple of innings were rough to watch as Big Pelf was throwing and throwing and the Twins were fouling off and fouling off pitch after pitch. Pelf said after the game that it was a tough game from him as he threw 77 of his 117 pitches for strikes but the twins must have fouled off 50 of them as he has done all season, the Season of Big Pelf.

Uhh anyone still want to deal off Daivd Wright and Jose Reyes?  Anyone? Com’on you haters show your faces.

Let’s also end the hate for Carlos Beltran. If he is ready and can play center field then that’s where he’ll play. It is much easier for Angel Pagan to shift over to right field and he and Frenchy can form a nice little twosome there, plus Beltran, when he does make it back, will need maybe two days off a week to help with that knee so don’t worry all you Pagan fans, Angel will get playing time. Don’t over think this folks just enjoy the fresh bat in the lineup.

I can’t figure out Jerry Manuel. When the Mets lose his post game presser is like a night at the Laugh Factory, when they win it’s like he’s planning a wake. Strange.

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How did you feel about Jerry Seinfeld in the booth with Gary and Keith? The best part about Seinfeld in the booth is he’s an honest to goodness Mets fan. He wasn’t there to plug a movie (looking at you Kevin James) or a TV show, he was there as a Mets fan.

I thought his line to Keith when Jose Reyes hit his home run was classic:

  ”Yes! Jose Reyes cruising around third. Keith Hernandez is not liking this. Always whining about the Reyes homers. I love ‘em! Always love a homer no matter who hits it … Boom! You have got to love this.”

Seinfeld may have gone a bit overboard gushing over Gary Cohen, to the point where it seemed Cohen was getting a bit embarrassed but he was correct when he said that Gary, Keith and Ron (and don’t forget the Great Kevin Burkhardt as well) form the best announcing team in sports.

Too me the line of the night is when he talked about Lady GaGa and how they cleaned up his suite after she soiled it with her presences:

 “Everything’s fine. We brought the bedbug dog in. What’s his name? Rusty, the beagle? Now everything’s clean.”

That made me laugh out loud.

Too bad they didn’t  take calls in the booth as I’m sure Uncle Leo would have dialed

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I want to revel in the Mets victory last night in the South Bronx, as the Mets looked like the more confident and aggressive team but I’m still trying to get over the confusing nature of Jerry Manuel’ managing.

Why would you have Jose Reyes sac bunt in the 8^th with Tejada on 1^st,no outs?  Reyes is so uncomfortable bunting for a sacrifice to start with then you add in he is on fire with the bat, the move made no sense. Reyes saved his managers ass by doubling down the RF line. When Reyes got to second we saw the Jose of old, clapping those hands and that intense look on his face, pointing toward teammates, vintage Reyes.  But in his post game press conference, Manuel expressed concern over Reyes getting over emotional, Hey Jerry, that’s when we know Jose is at his best when he jumping, clapping and going handshake wild. The fans love it, his teammates love it so what’s the problem? Are you afraid of pissing off the opponent?  The Highlanders? Fuck them.

Again the game of Jerry Manuel Roulette was played with the bullpen as no one, the relievers in particular can figure out how Manuel will use the pen. Why would you use Ruben Valdes in the 9^th inning of a 4-0 game, a game you said you wanted to make sure you won? Valdes is a mop up guy at best. Even your pitchers are questioning your madding methods.

Why is John Maine guaranteed a spot in the rotation when he comes back? I must have missed the years Maine won his Cy Young Awards. The way Takahashi has pitched no way Maine gets that spot now. Get ready for the Roulette wheel John .

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