It has got to be tough for the main streamers who cover baseball as this is a limbo period of the hot stove where it’s rumor after rumor (some of them made up just to fill up media space and time) because it will be one more week before teams can make contract offers to free agents. So while we wait the baseball owners to stimulate the economy there are some very interesting article on the web such as:

Paul Greco at Gotham Baseball has a great overview of Mets and Highlander prospect playing in the AFL. Reading the scouting reports on some of our prospects in the league there it looks more and more that the demise of the Mets farm system has been greatly exaggerated. I was upset over the thumbs down from the scouts that Eddie Kunz received as he has had an uneven performance so far in the AFL. I watch Kunz pitch in Brooklyn and his pedigree as a top collegiate closer made me think he’d emerge a lot faster as a viable pitcher in the bullpen especially with the fact that he throws a good sinking fastball that you’d think would translate into ground ball outs. I’m not ready to give up on Kunz yet and hopefully neither are the Mets. As we learn with Big Pelf, you need patients sometimes with young arms.

So far the Highlander will sign every single free agent on the market and will go into the season with a 1.4 trillion dollar payroll. Not only will they sign CC Sabathia to 10yr/$200mil contract but they will give Manny Ramirez 4 yr/$190 mil deal and then sign Derek Lowe, AJ Burnett and Ryan Dempster to $100 mil deals each. Then Pack A Day Hank will buy the San Diego Padres franchise just to get Jake Peavy. He will then sell the Padres to Mark Cuban (because he can’t buy the Cubs) at discount as Cuban agrees to let the YES Network televise  Dallas Mavericks  games so this way the NY/NJ/Brooklyn Nets can go to public access TV. Hank will then remove all of brother Hal’s vital organs to sell to pay for Mark Texiera’s 20 yr/$500 mil deal. And with all that the Highlander will finish no higher than third place in 2009.

Daniel Murphy is REAL and he is SPECTACULAR.

Murray Chass is a cranky old bastard who hates bloggers but I am trying to follow President-Elect Obama’s message of reaching over the aisle for unity (just like when I saw the Pope and had a feeling of calm and patients and understanding like I do now with the Obama Presidency this won’t last long because people will continue to piss me off like the assholes who walk along the subway platform with those ridiculous fucking backpacks on wheels that people trip over daily. What the fuck are you carrying around that you need a backpack on wheels? There’s something wrong with you mentally if you are toting around some much unwanted shit that you can’t carry it on your shoulder but have to wheel it around and to the woman who took exception to me kicking her wheelie-backpack this morning at the Staten Island Ferry terminal, I’ll be on that 7AM boat again on Monday so bring your husband, son, grand son and other person you like and make sure they bring their wheelie backpacks too so I can kick them all the way to Whitehall Terminal. Man did I take the long way to link this Murray Chass column sorry for that marathon rant.)    Chass writes about George W Bush wanting the Baseball Commissioners job badly but The Used Car Salesman, while denying it while he relocated the office from Manhattan to Milwaukee grab the job. One more reason to despise Bud.

I like that Omar is headstrong on adding pitching which is where his priority should be but do you get the same feeling I get that Omar is lying in the weeds when it comes to Manny Ramirez? I could see a scenario where Omar waits to see what the offers are and goes to the Skill Sets asking permission to match or better the offer. If its 4years or more Omar will pass but it it’s 3 yrs I could see him offering up 3yr/ close to 90mil with incentives and some creative bookkeeping. 

I hope J-Man shows a video in spring training of last nights NLCS game. It would help to show it to his ladies (they’ve kind of lost the honor to be called Gangsta’s) the tape is good way to show how a team is supposed to act and stick up for one and other something that is lacking in Flushing. What made it even better was that young Chad Billingsley was called out as a pussy by teammates for not retailing for the second time that Manny Ramirez had a Rawlings aimed at his coconut. Also it seems the young catcher Russell Martin has been told to take charge of this pitching staff and get his pitchers to throw inside.

Sometime you hear that phrase said so much on baseball telecast that it becomes a worn cliche but it really is the top baseball commandment to throw inside. Throwing  inside and throwing at a batter are two different things. As a pitcher you have to make that batter sooooooo uncomfortable in that batter box because not only is it one more thing for the batter to think about but also if you get that pitch inside over for a strike it just makes your pitching life so much easier as now the hitter has to work on protecting himself inside and he can’t extend his arms to drive the ball. This is what makes the Phucks pitching staff so good, they have the balls to throw inside and keep batters off balance. I hate Brett Myers but he is as intimidating a pitcehrs as there is and that leads to his success. 

I know I’m beating a dead horse here but for the love of God can McFullofshit and Doofus Joe stop already telling the same Manny bashing story for the 1,000th time? We get it, you guys hate Manny almost as much as the viewers hate you two hacks. Seriously do you get the same impression I get that Doofus Joe hates doing baseball games? There have been rumors that he yearns to be a late night talk show host and it shows. Doofus Joe is so bad that I’m looking forward to listening to Chip Carey on the ALCS today.

So there was Derek Lowe sailing, or should I say sinking along through five innings when the Philletes got the break of the game when Rafael Furcal decides to lose all good judgement to eat the grounder by Shane Victorino and throws wildly past James Loney at first send Victorino to second. This woke up the crowd which looked splendid in their brand new Phillies duds as this new phenomena of baseball has taken over a city in which the Iggles and Flyers are the top two teams with the AHL Phantoms third. From there Lowe got a bit rattled (by the way, Lowe was sweating like a pig going to slaughter last night I know it’s unseasonable warm here in the east but Lowe looked like he was pitching on an August night) and went away from what was working all night, killing worms with his sinker, as he got two fastballs up to Utley and Burrell who hit it out of the South Philly Band Box to put the game away for Phinks. As tough as it is who have to keep the ball in the ball park against Philly as that is about the only way they score, hold them homer-less and you stand a good chance of winning.

How hard was it to listen to the televison audio of last night s game? Just when you could not think the duo of Mc Fullofshit and Doofus Joe could get any worse they reached an all time low last night. The constant hammering of Manny Ramirez is to the point of unprofessionalism on the part of the FOX duo. How many more times do we need to hear about Manny shoving the Red Sox traveling secretary? The story always comes out the same way Manny asked for more tickets to a game the TS said he couldn’t get him anymore and Manny knocked him on his ass. My question is what did the TS say or do to make Manny react that way? Did Manny just knock him down for shits and giggles or was he provoked. I’m not trying to be a Manny apologists here but there has to be two sides to this story.

That’s why this afternoon, if Tim Mc Fullofshit and Doofus Joe don’t go in depth on Brett Myers punching his wife in the face last year in Boston or the fact that Jimmy Rollins had to disciplined by Charlie Manuel twice this season then they are more gutless and vile than I make them out to be. It seems both of these putz’s have an “agenda”

Check this out from the Mets Police. It’s a slide show shot from the top of Shea on the final day. The pics are outstanding.

If there is an afterlife I know one guy I do not want to come back as and that’s Clint Marlarchuk.  

Thanks to Lodge 13 for the props on my rant on $iti Field. It seems the Skill Sets are also slow in refunding the dough they received from fans who bought post season tickets. My advice to those fans is to call Andrew Cuomo,the State Attorney General and advise him of this scam the Skill Sets are pulling.

If Erik Aybar puts that bunt down, Mike Scioscia is a genius but because Aybar could not take that 2-0 fastball and drop one down as Reggie Willits was bustin’ ass down the third base line and Jason Varatek had to haul his big ass plus tools of ignorance down the third baseline to tag Williets on the butt for the out, Scioscia is now one dumb fuck. Amazing simply amazing. Was it the right call? For the Angles yes it was because that’s the way the Angels play baseball and quite frankly I love that kind of play as I also love the hit and run , the stolen base and batters who work the count to their advantage. If you say “wait a minute , there was one out so you have two shots to get Willets in from third sure you do but as I said this is the way the Angles play so it was no surprise that Scioscia called for the suicide squeeze and that missed bunt is the difference between sugar and shit.

Now the Angles need to take a big swig of Shut The Fuck Up.

The Rays are a hybrid of the 1969 and 1986 Mets. Going from the last to first with pitching, defense and timely hitting is the ’69 Mets part and take no bullshit,  charge the mound ask questions later is the ’86 component. So this series against the Old Town Team should be must watch TV this week.

I never thought as a proud Brooklynite I’d ever root for the Hollywood Carpet Baggers but St Joseph of Torre and his healing green tea about to make the Corky Steinbrenner look more special ed than ever and future Met Manny Ramirez taking on the Phucking Phillies  this one is easy GO BUMS!!!!!!!!!!

Tim Dierkes at MLB Trade Rumors has a link to 10 gallon Tracy’s column that Manny from The Heights is looking for a 5yr/$85 mil deal and speculation (as it is has the last three off seasons) Omar is ready to make the offer to the Boras Extortion Agency to hook Manny.

So with the financial crisis hitting our country how does this affect the sacred sanctuary of sports team, the luxury suite? According to Mets Mouth Organ David (The Lawyer) Howard there is no financial crisis:

   {Executives at Yankee Stadium are monitoring the economic situation but have not seen any effect, said Alice McGillion, a spokeswoman. She did not provide specific sales figures, but the luxury suites are nearly sold out, according to news reports. The same is true at the Mets’ Citi Field, said Dave Howard, the team’s executive vice president for business operations.

“Timing is a part of this,” he said. “The firms we’ve sold to haven’t had any major issues, and the people who have them realize they’ve got great value for the quality of what we’re offering here.”}

I, like Calcaterra, think this is a smoke screen as well, who did the Mets and the Highlanders as well, sell these dens of greed and excess too? The only guys making enough coin to buy a luxury box drink their cordials from a pimp chalice.  And who is to say that by opening day $ti Financial will still be in business? The Mets could be taking the field at Cathouse Stadium come April.

That’s why this financial crisis hasn’t hurt me at all as I’ve invested all my money in illegal gambling, prostitution and out of state cigarettes and I’m livin’ large!

In a post on NY Baseball Digest Mike Silva links to a must read story by the artist formerly known as the Boston Sports Guy a/k/a Bill Simmons (another of my inspirations to start this blog as I was a faithful reader of his when dial up was in) on Manny Ramirez and how and why Manny was shown the Beantown door and shockingly Manny is not the villain. Also in the post is is an interview Mike did with the Curly Haired Boyfirend (Dan Shaughnessy) back in the summer and is a good listen as he disses our Metsies.

Take a listen to last night’s NY Baseball Digest show as Joey DeMayo dished out some great dirt on the off season plans of our Amazin’s. I listened to the show and three things made me sit up straight and listen. First, Ryan Church LOVES NY and Mike Francesa is full of shit (and cheeseburgers too) what pissed Church off was the fact that Dirty Duaner and Ricardo Rincon showed up late for games the last week of the season,  then there is a Jason Issringhausen mention. Remember Izzy?  His deal with the Cardinals is up and he could come to the Mets with a spring training invite to prove his elbow has been repaired and in good operating order, and then the one that had me going was the fact that the Mets will be in the Manny Ramirez hunt. In fact Omar tried hard to make a match when Manny was sent to LA so now that all it cost is money look for the Mets to make a move with Manny. I know I just ruined the day for a lot of you but I am and unabashed Manny fan and I vote yes for Manny to the Mets. Flame away, y’all!

Ambirorix Burgos is finished as a Met and a professional baseball player and a free man. Good riddance.

The can’t tear our house does fast enough; it seems as the back page of the Daily News show us. Click here for the multimedia show of the Shea dismantling  My wife came up with a great question the other day when she asked me “ Why didn’t the Mets let us walk on the field after the game on Sunday”?  Why dear ?, because that would be something  the fans would have cherished and Mets management is against us being happy. Really how could they not have done this? They had about 1,000 cops on duty and they could have let the fans line up with one line of fans walking from the third base side to center field and another line of fans go from the first base side to center field . I guess they were afraid that Mets fans would have the unmitigated gall to take some stadium dirt or some grass because as we all know that dirt and that grass will be used to raise funds for “charity” Yeah right.

I think I’ll be rooting for the Tampa Rays and maybe we all should as the owner Stuart Steinberg is a Mets fan and a season ticket holder and of course there is the Scott Kazmir scenario.

Howard Megdal has a plan to get the bullpen back in shape for 2009 in today’s New York Observer. It’s too bad the people who run the team don’t have the insight like people who cover team like Howard.

So today we get official word that Omar Minaya gets a 3 yr extension but according to Newsday, J-Man might be playing hardball with the Mets and if I were J-Man I’d slow down a bit as  Gary Carter is just a phone call away.

I enjoy listening to Vin Scully more now on Dodger telecast than I did when he was the voice of The Game of the Week and when ol’ Vin goes away there will never be another like him, so leave it up to one of the biggest ass hats to ever grace 126 Street and Roosevelt Ave to take Scully to task for “talking too much” when Scully stated the obvious when he stated that Kent is hitting better since Manny Ramirez joined the Hollywood Phonies at was slotted in the clean up spot with JK in the 3 hole.  I’m sure there is a large Dominican fellow in Boston who would second Vin Scully’s observation.  

Kent has to know the consequences of taking on a icon like Scully. When Scully leaves this earth people will mourn, when Kent meets his demise people will wonder what took so long.

It looks like the Comeback Player of the Year in baseball is Scott Boras. First he gets his newest client Manny Ramirez to jake his way out of his contract so he can go free agent in November and a nice commission check for Agent Boras. And now the resurrected Ollie Perez is looking at a boat load of cash as he hits the free agent market as well.   About a month, month and a half ago, it looked like the Mets would rid thenselves of this enigmatic pitcher and use the money saved else where but the since the change in pitching coach and a new KISS system put in place by Dean of Old School Werthen in dealing with OP, it looks like the Mets have to hope that OP wants to stay a Met and maybe won’t bend them over too far and give them a bit of a “hometown” discount. With Agent Boras doing the negations that won’t happen as he’ll plow the Mets until they bleed.

The first seven innings went along as well as a Mets fan could expect last night  but like a kid afraid of the dark, Mets fans are afraid of the last three innings as that means time to go to the B-B-B-ULLPEN!  I’m sure I speak for the majority of Mets fans that when we see the sixth inning roll around our stomachs grumble and the pain starts from the bottom of our belly to around the chest area. The pain gets more intense as to who walks out though the right field fence. If the game is one sided either way then Carlos Muniz or Ruddy Lugo come out and your relatively pain free. In a close game and the Mets need to get a lefty out Pedro Feliciano comes in and it starts to get uncomfortable. If it’s a righty that needs to be retired then Joe Smith comes in and while not Feliciano uncomfortable ,you squrim a bit. Now in a close game just the shot of Scott Schoenwies on the screen warming up gives you a sharp pain in the abdomen. Now in a close game -two, three runs or less-no matter who is warming up brings on nausea, headache, and overall muscle soreness.  Last night when Aaron Heilman came on in the eighth all those symptoms came over me. Then when he came out for the ninth, I dialed 911 and kept my finger on the call button as I was sure I would need medical assistance. WWWWHHHEEEEEEWWWW!!!!!!!! Glad I didn’t have to push that button but I don’t know if I can go two more months of this.

Hopefully Ryan Church is symptom free and gets in a few rehab games and is fit to fight in about two weeks. It seems like Church is annoyed with the Mets for being over cautious and wants back in and that’s a good sign but Church  has to realize that the organization screwed up with the handling of his case and now wants to make sure when he gets back in the lineup he stays there the rest of the season. With Dan Murphy and Fernando Tatis doing more than hold the fort, Church needs to get to as close to 100 % as he can before coming back.  

I watched a replay of Highlanders Old Timers Day the other night and Willie Randolph looked like the happiest guy in the world being around his Highlander family. Good for him in fact Randolph should just take any job Pack A Day Hank gives him as it shows his heart never left the South Bronx and that it cements his firing was justified.

I read my calendar wrong I’m going to the game tomorrow not today so instead of a fleece blanket I’ll be receiving a Billy Wagner bobble head doll. I’m going to bring a little sling for the bobble heads left arm.

With Brian Stokes going tonight for the Mets OP’s start will look even bigger when Stokes is knocked out by the 5th inning. I just hope he doesn’t have a case of the big league yips like Brandon Knight had a couple of weeks ago. This start should have gone to Aaron Heilman case closed.

The J-E-T-S  JETS-JETS-JETS are always on top in April and August it’s December and January where they have problems. Brett Farve does not  guarantee even a playoff spot no less a Super Bowl berth but maybe they can get 10 wins tops. And why was Farve at NYC City Hall yesterday don’t you think he should have been burning the midnight oil at Hofstra?

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)

It sucks to lose two of three to the Fish but it’s the first series the Mets have dropped all month so no screaming and yelling here about that. The major story of the day is the trade deadline and it looks like the Mets usually major players on deadline day will be standing pat. Maybe Omar has finally gotten it through his head that collecting old guys is not the way to go as it seems in every phone call involving a Mets deal the names Jon Neise (great Triple A debut last night) Dan Murphy (looks like he will be a big time hitter but needs a position) Eddie Kunz (the 8th inning gate man in about two weeks for Billy Wags) and of course The Teen Aged Hitting Machine (who should be brought up to the big team just to let the training staff work with him on stretching his hammys and conditioning a la Jose Reyes when Jose was a puppy) So if Manny Ramirez is NOT to be a Met then hopefully Omar leaves the phone off the hook.

Here in Massachusetts the big news is Manny. It’s 24 hours of Manny. What has seemed to have broken the hearts of the Fenway Faithful was Manny saying the Red Sox “Don’t deserve a player like him” but after he made those remarks he kind of back tracked and professed his love for the city of Boston and the Red Sox fans. Be that as it may the hot story here this morning has Manny going to the Fish, with Jeremy Hermidia going to the Bucs and Jason Bay and John Grabow going to the Red Sox. From all indications this is a done deal and all that awaits ato make it offical is The Used Car Salesman Seal of Approval. This sucks on three levels, first the Mets have no shot at Manny like I said it seems that the Mets front office has wised up and is done dealing kids of geezers even for geezers who can rake but it looks like the plan is to let the flowers grow. Second, it sucks if he goes to the Fish as this pennant race in the NL East is a three team affair Manny or no Manny (how do the Fish do it? They have to be the worst team ever to be in position to win a division) Third, there is going to be one sad soon to be thirteen year old boy going to Fenway for the first time Sunday if there is no Manny in LF.

Tons of Red Sox fans here on the Cape as to be expected some Highlanders fans as well but very few Mets fans which surprises me I guess we are all saving up money to get tickets to $iti Field so no vacations this year. Loads of European tourists as that Euro is very strong. Here is what I find here and at home in NYC, the Euro’s are the most impolite people on the face of the earth. They cut in front of you on line, are clueless on where they are going, have no regard for other people and the words please and thank you are never ever spoken . Use of any personal hygiene products  have not reached that side of the Atlantic. Just two swipes of deodorant Pierre under each armpit is all it takes.

One story I forgot to relay about Saturday night at Shea. I was sitting in Section 40 of the Upper Deck and next to us was a guy with no arms. He asked the guys in back of him if they were going up to the concession stand to let him know as he wanted a beer. So one of the guys tells hem he’s going up so the arm less guy whips off a shoe and with his toes grabs a ten dollar bill out of his shoe and hands (foots?) it to the beer runner. The beer runner comes back with a beer in a cup and armless says to place it right on the empty seat next to him. My son is in the next seat over and my daughter the next over and they both stopped watching the game and were fixated on the armless man as they watched him lower his head to the beer cup, grip it with his teeth and proceed to drink his beer. But that wasn’t the highlight of the night. When Carlos Delgado homered, the armless guy whips off both shoes and claps his feet like a seal.

God I love Shea Stadium.