I miss baseball.

I miss it so much. The winter is so damn lonely. People tell me "watch football", it just doesn't compare though. Doesn't have the grace and beauty of our national pastime. Never has, never will- sorry folks. 

But, "grace and beauty", that just sounds like flowery nonsense I'm spouting. Is that really why I miss baseball and why nothing else rivals it? I'm not so sure. 

It's not the dumb cliche "I love the green grass" and all that garbage. I just miss the way I live during the baseball season. I miss staying up until 1 AM to watch games on the West Coast. I miss live look-ins on MLB Tonight. I miss bending over backwards at parties to keep up with games- running outside for cell service, huddling around TVs with members of the host's family- none of whom I had previously met (the latter was how I watched the All-Star Game last year). I miss blaming Beltran for everything. 

I miss bitching about when the Mets game would be on FOX or ESPN. I miss the constant compulsion to tell my friends the score. I miss all the anecdotes that get told in the SNY booth and I miss Ralph Kiner's occasional appearances. I miss going into my "hub" during games I'm watching at home- logging onto Twitter and onto an Amazin' Avenue game thread to comment on them. I miss researching new minor league callups. 

I miss friggin' going to games. I miss Box Frites and El Verano Taqueria and Shake Shack and the Home Run Apple and the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. I miss the excitement of arriving at Citi Field. I miss the damn good food at McFadden's. I miss looking through the Mets Hall of Fame, and the team store. I miss the between innings scoreboard antics- the Verizon Speed Text challenge (which I am a proud former winner of). I miss the T-shirt launch. I miss the wave and people bitching about people doing the wave. I miss Cow Bell Man. 

I miss getting hyped up about the Subway Series and the All-Star Game and defending myself when my lofty predictions fall flat on their face. I miss highlight reels at the end of every month. I miss checking the score of the Met game during school- and listening to the game on the way home even if it means begging the bus driver to turn on WFAN. I miss reading through the Media Guide intensely. I miss fleeting trips to first place, and long-term trips there. I miss questioning All-Star selections. I miss 11:30 AM pregame shows for the rare noon games. I miss turning on YES every once in a while to "see how the other side lives" (note: not well, Michael Kay sucks). On that note, I miss getting to talk about how much Michael Kay sucks, and getting to laugh at Yankee failures.

I miss preposterously long extra inning games. I miss rain delays, and laughing at how they get corporate sponsors. I miss scoffing at the idea of a designated hitter, feeling strange when we use it in interleague games in AL parks, but then feeling victorious when they come to Citi Field and have their pitchers bat. I miss asking how the hell he could've blown that call and why the hell we don't have full instant replay in baseball yet. I miss the #Keithism tag on Twitter. I miss guessing on the trivia question of the game, and voting on the text poll. I miss the feeling that I could turn on SportsCenter and maybe, just maybe, see a Mets highlight or two. I miss magic numbers and tragic numbers and September call-ups and August waiver pickups. 

I must say- I speak of these things as if they're never coming back. They are. They're coming back sooner than we know it. 

That doesn't mean I don't miss them though. I want them back sooner rather than later, because, well, I really do miss them! 

Tales of the 2010 Season: Part 2: A 20-Inning Marathon

The Mets proceeded to lose the last two games of the series to the Marlins. Then they lost two of three to the perennial bottom-feeding Washington Nationals. Then they lost two of three to the Colorado Rockies. They entered a series against the St. Louis Cardinals and lost the first game. Their record stood at three wins and seven losses. It was Mets baseball as usual.

This leads me into my second 2010 Mets game story.

The matchup for the second game of the series pitted the aforementioned Johan Santana against Cardinals rookie Jaime Garcia. Game time was set for 4:05 (the game was on FOX, and took place in the Central time zone, explaining the slightly odd game time).

I was at my friend Joe’s house that afternoon. We were playing some dumb online game which we were obsessed over for a couple of hours. Every once in a while I would go to his nearby TV and check the score of the Met game.

His family invited me to stay for dinner and I obliged. At this point it was around 7 o’clock. As we ate our pizza, we turned on the TV in their kitchen. The game was still tied at 0-0 in the 10th inning. In that inning we saw Alex Cora, who had close to zero career experience at first base, dive into the stands to make an inning-ending catch.

After we finished our pizza, we played Skip-Bo, a relatively non-notable time passing card game. Joe and his dad each won one game. At this point the game was still scoreless, and in the 13th inning. We put away the card game. The time was around 8:30 PM, and, being not exactly party animals, that meant it was nearly the point where we called it a day. We’d just watch another inning, we said.

In the bottom of the 14th inning, with the game STILL scoreless, Joe Mather (remember this name) doubled off of Mets pitcher and 34-year old Japanese import Hisanori Takahashi. Brendan Ryan reached on a Takahashi error and advanced to second on defensive indifference. The Cardinals had runners at second and third with no one out. Surely they would break through here. This game can’t stay scoreless forever, we thought.

Two strikeouts later, the superhuman slugger Albert Pujols stepped to the plate. A base was open, so we walked him (this was a common theme throughout this game). Due to a dumb earlier move by St. Louis manager Tony La Russa, slugger Matt Holliday was gone from the game and the pitcher now batted behind Pujols. Instead of having to face the fearsome Holliday, we easily struck out the feckless Blake Hawksworth.

So I would stay for the 15th, I thought. My mom texted me that she was going to sleep, but that she left the door open. I live five houses down from Joe’s house, so that wasn’t a concern. In the top of the inning the Mets went down 1-2-3 (Hawksworth was not feckless on the mound like he was in the batter’s box). In the bottom of the 15th, rookie fireballer Jenrry Mejia entered the ballgame for the Mets. I was at the point where I wanted to call Mets manager Jerry Manuel and say “USE K-ROD ALREADY!”. K-Rod, for the uninformed, is Francisco Rodriguez- a declining but still very good reliever who was available in the Mets bullpen. Manuel sadly still refused to use his closer in this game. After two quick outs, the Cards drew a walk and singled to put runners at first and third.
“They’re going to blow it here,” I said, and my tired confidants concurred.
They didn’t blow it though. Mejia got Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan to ground out. We would go to the sixteenth inning, still locked in a 0-0 tie.

We all stayed put in the kitchen, eyes fixed to the TV. The top of the 16th was uneventful and was highlighted by an Angel Pagan single. The bottom of the 16th began. As the FOX camera crew showed the mound, there stood Mejia again.

I yelled “DAMMIT JERRY JUST BRING IN K-ROD ALREADY!” or something of that sort. I don’t think he heard me, sadly. The bottom of the 16th saw the Cardinals finally use their last position player, backup catcher Bryan Anderson. Anderson came up with one out and men at first and second. A groundout and Ryan Ludwick baserunning blunder later and we headed to the 17th inning, and still both teams were scoreless.

The FOX Sports research team or whoever the hell coordinates this nonsense started giving their viewers a barrage of completely meaningless statistics designed to put this game into proper perspective. This was the longest scoreless game since 1975, the longest game the Mets had played since 2006, nonsense like that which had no application to the game at hand.
The 17th inning saw literally almost nothing except Tony La Russa finally using his closer, Jerry Manuel bringing in Mexican League import Raul Valdes rather than K-Rod, and me yelling about how Valdes was in rather than K-Rod. This inning, like the sixteen others before it, would be scoreless.

I finally went home just before the 18th inning. After sitting in the Bevilacquas’ kitchen for the past 3 hours watching the Mets and Cardinals not score runs, I resituated myself in my bed. I proceeded to laugh out loud and roll on the floor laughing when La Russa brought in infielder Felipe Lopez to pitch, and pitcher Kyle Lohse in to play left field.

The Mets didn’t score this inning, though we may have if pitcher Raul Valdes hadn’t foolishly chosen not to slide into second base after his first major league hit. I shook my head in disgust. Damn, this was pretty sad! The Mets couldn’t score a run off of an infielder who was pitching. For those who are unaware, non-pitchers typically don’t have success on the mound on the major league level (that’s why they’re not pitchers). It seemed at this point that I could step onto the mound and hold either of these teams scoreless for an inning or two. You began to feel as if it were just destined to continue on forever.

The Cardinals did not score off of Valdes in the bottom of the 18th inning. This sent the game into a 19th inning. They had been playing for 6 ½ hours, played two full regulation games basically, and yet things still churned on.

In the top of the 19th, the Cardinals, surely just fooling around at this point, brought in outfielder Joe Mather to pitch. And believe it or not, after humiliating themselves once again by swinging at pitches thrown by a guy who clearly could not find the strike zone (considering said guy wasn’t a pitcher), they managed to score a run on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Francoeur. Amazing!

For the bottom of the 19th, Jerry Manuel was faced with a difficult choice. Should he go look for a glove and enter the game to pitch, or should he bring in his best reliever Francisco Rodriguez? Finally, he made the right choice. I was thrilled. Of course, since this game was crazy, K-Rod blew the save opportunity. Cards catcher Yadier Molina (brother of the infamous Bengie Molina) drove in a run with a single. We were tied at 1 run apiece. This was just dumb.

We headed to the 20th inning. Mather was still in for the Cardinals (as pitcher Kyle Lohse still stood in left field). The Mets scored another run on a sacrifice fly. They led 2-1. In the bottom of the 20th, starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey came in for the save and finished off the Cardinals. The clock was at just about 11 PM. This game took 6 hours and 53 minutes to complete. That’ll be one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Tales of the 2010 Season: Part 1: Opening Day

(Author's Note: The first few installments of this- and maybe the only few, depending on my drive to write more- are taken from a public speaking speech I gave last May. References may not be completely current as a result, though I changed some things to make them relevant to the audience)

April 5th, 2010 was a date that my classmates dreaded, the return to school after spring break. Ah, but I had little to dread. I had scored tickets to Opening Day at Citi Field, and it would be glorious.

The day started when we arrived in Flushing Meadows Corona Park around noon, after a relatively traffic-free drive in. This extreme good luck quickly ended as we searched for a spot near the park. After approximately seven years of driving in circles, we found one inside the stadium’s main lot. Parking in the stadium’s main lot is never a good idea for two reasons. First of all, you pay an obscene amount (19 dollars!) for these spots. Second of all, unless you leave early, you will be faced with a preposterous amount of traffic getting out of these lots. Nevertheless, a spot is better than no spot.

Once we had parked, I made a mad dash to the stadium, ticket in hand. Normally, I get tired walking up and down flights of stairs. The distance between our car in the stadium was obviously quite larger than the distance of a flight of stairs, regardless though, the allure of the stadium gave me sudden superhuman running abilities for that short period of time.

I got into the stadium, scanned my ticket, received my souvenir Home Run Apple bank and made a beeline to the new Mets Hall of Fame and Museum. The time now was around 12:35, with game time being 1:10. I knew they always had a ceremony of sorts before the game on Opening Day though, announcing the rosters, unfurling a large flag, and the such, and I didn’t want to miss that. For that reason I didn’t really get to enjoy the museum as much as I could have. Regardless it seemed pretty damn awesome.

I exited through the gift shop (which they required you to do, it’s like it was Disneyworld or something), and made another beeline (do bees make lines?) to our right field Field level seats. As I ran once more, this time through a large crowd of people (most of whom were walking the opposite direction), I heard the Marlins training staff being announced. Sadly, I did not get to see the legend that was Marlins team trainer Sean Cunningham as he was introduced. I spent a few seconds holding back tears over the missed opportunity, and then continued my rush to our seats.

I got to the seats just as they were introducing the Marlins coaching staff. Then the Marlins reserve players. The Marlins lineup followed. Then the Mets trainers and coaches. Then the Mets reserves. Then the Mets lineup.

“Batting first, the shortstop, Alex Cora” Various cheers, I clap a bit. Don’t care for the guy too much, but I don’t hate him.

“Batting second, the second baseman, Luis Castillo” The stadium is split. Cheers for a guy who had pretty solid offensive production last year. Boos for a guy that dropped a pop-up to end a game against the hated Yankees last year. I cheer. 

“Batting third, at third base… David Wright!” The cheers are deafening, and you can barely hear the PA guy finish. David had had a mediocre season in 2009, but we didn’t care. He was our guy. He had always been a Met and he hopefully always would be. He’s one of those once in a generation stars, a guy that will never, ever have to pay for a drink in the city of New York.

‘Batting cleanup, at first base, Mike Jacobs” The crowd gave Mike a good round of applause. He had started his career with the Mets way back in 2005.

I booed, and booed, and booed, to the extent that the people around me likely thought I was on leave from the insane asylum. Jacobs was bad. Really bad. Chris Carter and Ike Davis would both be much better options at first base, I thought. Why was Jacobs there but not them?  (Of course, the joke is now on me. Jacobs is now in AAA and Carter and Davis are both on the big-league club)

“Batting fifth, in left field, Jason Bay!” Lots of cheers. Ownership bankrolled the Bay signing this past offseason. He was supposed to be our savior, he was supposed to bring us out of this era of mediocrity. We didn’t know if he would, or if he wouldn’t. Regardless of our ignorance, we gave Jason a hell of a welcome to Flushing.

“Batting sixth, in center field, Gary Matthews Jr.!” 

“THAT SHOULD BE PAGAN!” I yelled, making reference to superior center fielder Angel Pagan. 

Matthews had been acquired in an offseason trade with the Angels, who paid 22 million of the 24 million owed to him. If that doesn’t make it obvious how bad he was, his level of play did. In that game he would have two hits, and afterwards he seemingly decided to stop hitting. Pagan would be slotted into the center field spot within two weeks or so.

“Batting seventh, in right field, Jeff Francoeur!” Jeff, picked up last July in a trade with Atlanta, had quickly become a fan favorite in Queens. I cheered, we all cheered. He was a bit of a free swinger but there was no reason to boo the guy.

“Batting eighth and catching, Rod Barajas!” Rod, like Bay, had been acquired as a free agent this past offseason. Although he was a veteran, he was generally an unknown quantity to this crowd. He wasn’t an Albert Pujols or an Alex Rodriguez. Ladies didn’t swoon upon sight of the mighty Rod Barajas. Fathers didn’t tell their sons to keep playing ball so they can one day be a star like Barajas. Like so many others, he was known, he had proven himself enough, but he was far from a name-recognized star. The cheers reflected this. They weren’t “Yeah, this guy is awesome!” cheers. They were “Yeah, this guy is wearing a Mets uniform. Since I’m a Mets fan, I’ll cheer for him!” cheers. In his first few weeks with the Metropolitans he would make himself known, however, this was just Opening Day.

“And batting ninth, the pitcher, #57, Johan Santana!”

The tones of “Smooth” by Rob Thomas and Santana blared through the loudspeakers across the ballpark, as Johan stepped out of the bullpen gate and jogged to the pitcher’s mound. The roars of the crowd were deafening. Johan was our ace, the guy we always felt comfortable about. He’d have one, maybe two, bad starts most seasons. He was a thrill to watch, whether the Mets were in a pennant race, or completely out of contention.

He reached the mound without obstacle. The music ended and the crowd’s roar died down. Johan threw a called strike to Marlins leadoff man Chris Coghlan. With that the 2010 Mets season had begun.

The Mets would win this Opening Day game 7-1. David Wright, unjustly deprived of homers the previous season, would hit one out. Johan would throw six strong innings, and get the victory. I spent excessive amounts of time in places besides my seat (which was actually a very nice seat), including a 2-inning wait on the Shake Shack line (the Shackburger wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t that great- not worth the long wait), and an inning-plus stay in the bullpen viewing area, an area of the ballpark not widely known of. While there, I listened to a kid, who seemed to be around ten years old, harass the entire Mets bullpen, including the bullpen coach, until they threw him a ball.

“RANDY! MR. NIEMANN! CAN YOU THROW ME A BALL MR. NIEMANN? RANDY CAN YOU THROW ME A BALL? PLEASE MR NIEMANN? MR. NIEVE CAN YOU THROW ME A BALL? FERNANDO NIEVE CAN YOU THROW ME A BALL? FERNANDO THROW ME A BALL PLEASE WHEN YOU’RE DONE!”

Yes, there is a happy ending to this little story. They did throw him a ball when they were done

Herp da derp derp

Murray Chass derp da derp, derp derp derpity herp derp. Until one day, derp der derpity herp derp.

http://www.murraychass.com/?p=2738

This piece of blathering idiocy by "non-blogger" Murray Chass makes some of the lowest forms of Internet baseball blogdom look comparatively like Einsteins. Absolutely ridiculous. Matthew at Amazin Avenue covered it much more in-depth than I could, in a piece I encourage you all to read.

A change is gonna come...

I can feel the change in the air, folks. Omar and Jerry are out. Terry, Sandy, JP, and Paul are in.

I have a reason to be proud in my fandom once again. I have a reason to be seeing a light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel for once. I have a reason to believe our Amazins shall reach the mountaintop, that we shall stand above all others- that we shall be exalted in baseball circles someday in the not too distant future!

I have a reason to come to the ballpark and watch the Mets games on SNY (not that I've shown in the past that I need a reason to do these things). I know now that the Mets brass aren't dicking around. Running a big-market pro sports team is serious business, and serious business must be done by serious people, Sandy and Co. being nothing but.

No more nonsense! I know this for a fact! Rationality and reason have prevailed, the circus has closed up shop, there is a tangible validity to this organization now, and frankly, it couldn't have come sooner.

Bored

No, this isn't an "I'm bored, so I'm gonna write about something dumb" situation. It's more of a "my greatest interest is now much less interesting" situation.

In the past couple of weeks, Mets games have gotten more and more boring for me. This is coming from a person who watched 150+ games in 2009, and who has still watched almost every game this year.

The Mets are an addiction I'll never be able to shake. I've come to terms with this. I will always watch, because watching a dull Mets game is better than watching no Mets game. I know come January I'll be longing for Mets baseball again, regardless of how much the team sucks. Now though, I'm just stuck. I don't have another real hobby (besides agonizing over politics, and playing Baseball Mogul, but do those even count?.

I'm not one of the Mets fans that watches football/basketball/hockey/whatever to supplement the Amazins. It's just the Mets for me. They're all I've got. And now this "all I've got" is becoming dreadfully boring at points.

Cutting your losses

(Note: School is starting next week for me. As odd as it may sound, this means I'll be blogging MORE. I've never quite understood why this is the case, but it is, so don't worry.)

The Mets opening day positional alignment:

Catcher: Rod Barajas
Acquired in the offseason, claimed on waivers by LA a couple of weeks back.

First baseman: Mike Jacobs
Designated for assignment earlier in the year, ended up manning first for Buffalo, eventually traded to Toronto for a player to be named later.

Second baseman: Luis Castillo
Struggled on the field, was benched for a while, now is starting on a temporary basis due to Jose Reyes' day-to-day injury.

Shortstop: Alex Cora
Was bad. Released before his 2011 option vested. Signed with the Rangers, and is now a backup outfielder with the club.

Third baseman: David Wright
Face of the franchise, nothing's really changed with him.

Left field: Jason Bay
Posted worryingly low home run totals before being shut down for the year due to a concussion.

Center field: Gary Matthews Jr.
Remember him? Was awful for the Mets. Designated for assignment. Signed a minor league deal with Cincy, but used his out clause there after he couldn't crack the big league Reds (he had been playing with AAA Louisville).

Right field: Jeff Francoeur
Had some small hot streaks, but for the most part was mediocre at best. Finally was traded two days ago: to Texas for infielder Joaquin Arias.

In addition to these guys, early roster mainstays like Frank "Smithtown's Own" Catalanotto, Fernando Tatis, Fernando Nieve, Sean Green, and John Maine fell by the wayside (though the last four are still at the moment members of the Mets organization).

This makes me think two things.

1)Why was management so confident in such a mediocre team?

2)Why does management continue to show a lack of an ability to cut losses before it's too late?

The sad part of all this is that if these questions go unanswered, and management remains the same, what's the reason to believe that happy days are on the horizon?

We Like Ike

The Mets needed a new presence in their lineup and it seems like that they have finally found just that.

Ike Davis was called up earlier this week, and he already has three hits and a stunning catch during last night's game.

For those that didn't get the chance to see Ike's catch live or on the highlight reels, the catch was one of the most remarkable I have seen in quite a long time. The Cubs batter (who knows who, I'm too lazy to look that up) hit a foul pop up into the first base dugout. Seems like a pretty uninteresting, run-of-the-mill thing, right?

Wrong. Davis reached over into the dugout, caught the ball, then did a 180, landing back on his feet in the dugout.

Let's hope that this callup will be permanent for Mr. Davis, that he will never again be a Bison, or a B-Met, or a Cyclone, but always from this point on just a regular New York Met. Let's hope that this kid will go down in the pantheon of baseball legends, that one day he, Jose Reyes, and David Wright can stand side-by-side, Hall of Famers all.

The Mets will lose 150 games and finish in last place.

(Or at least that's what everyone else seems to think.)

Yes, we know the Mets had a bad year last year (understatement of the century). We know there are plenty of question marks on this 2010 team. But can everyone stop with the massive exaggerations of the Mets ineptitude?

Everywhere you go nowadays, there's people bashing the Mets. I myself have heard countless assertions that the Mets will be a bottom-dwelling team this year, that they have a poor offense, that their pitching is suspect, things like that, and I'd have to respectfully disagree.

Look, I'm not saying that the Mets are a National League powerhouse, a favorite to win the division, or anything like that. All I'm saying is that this ballclub has a legitimate and tangible shot at making the postseason. We're not the Pirates.

If Reyes and Beltran come back relatively quickly, and demonstrate the level of play we've come to expect from them; if the questionable rotation works out, with Pelfrey and Co. retaining the flashes of brilliance they often have; if Castillo can keep up his offense and Frenchy can take more pitches; if we take full advantage of our strong bullpen; then I don't see why we can't be a playoff-caliber franchise this season. Why do we have to "break up the core" like some people have suggested? This is a great team, simply in need of better complementary players to fill out the roster. We aren't the Pirates. We don't need to rebuild.

You don't put down a book after reading only one page, don't abandon this season before the games have even been played.

My Mets All-Decade Team

Without further ado, I present my All-Decade Mets team:

Catcher: Mike Piazza

Not much of a question here. Was with the Mets 1998-2005 (though he was a 1B primarily one season). Put up good offensive numbers with the Mets for the half of the decade that he was here for.

First Baseman: Carlos Delgado

Delgado seems to be another no-brainer. From 2006-2009, he gave the Mets security at a position that had seen Mo Vaughn, Jason Phillips, and Doug Mientkiewicz, among others this decade. Put up good offensive numbers from 2006-2008, was unfortunately sidelined for most of the 2009 season.

Second Baseman: Luis Castillo

Very very tempting to give this to Edgardo Alfonzo. Alfonzo played for the Mets in the first 3 seasons of this decade, but struggled in 2001 and played at third base in 2002. Castillo, while having his share of misfortunes, put up solid production for two and a half seasons with the Mets (though his defense left a lot to be desired).

Shortstop: Jose Reyes
No explanation necessary.

Third Baseman: David Wright
Again, no explanation necessary.

Left fielder: Cliff Floyd
Floyd was the Mets main left fielder from 2003-2006. He put up very good numbers throughout but diminished greatly in 2006.

Center fielder: Carlos Beltran
A lot of these really don't need much explanation.

Right fielder: Shawn Green
Wow, this was a tough one, considering that the Mets have had a different main right fielder each year of the decade (Bell, Perez, Burnitz, Cedeno, Hidalgo, Diaz, Green, Church, Francoeur). Green came to the Mets in a trade with the Diamondbacks in August of 2006, played in the 2006 postseason with New York and was their main right fielder in the unfortunate 2007 season. I feel that he just edges out Ryan Church, as both played a season and change with the Mets.

Starting Pitcher: Al Leiter
Leiter played for the Mets from 1998-2004. In his time with the Mets this decade, he was very consistent, pitching at least 170 innings each season, with at least 10 wins, and an ERA under 4 each season.

Relief Pitcher: Pedro Feliciano
I nearly gave this one to John Franco or Aaron Heilman (yeah), but in the end I felt that Feliciano was the strongest non-closer reliever this decade for the Mets. In 367 appearances, he has a 3.31 ERA (128 ERA+). He led the league in games pitched in 2008-9. He averaged 8.3 strikeouts per 9 innings over this decade.

Closer: Billy Wagner
The other Mets closers this decade: Armando Benitez, Braden Looper, Luis Ayala/Aaron Heilman tandem, and a weak season of Francisco Rodriguez.

Yeah, it's Wagner.

Honorable Mentions at each position are as follows:
C Paul Lo Duca
1B Todd Zeile
2B Edgardo Alfonzo
SS Rey Ordonez
3B Robin Ventura
LF Benny Agbayani
CF Jay Payton
RF Ryan Church
SP Tom Glavine
RP Aaron Heilman
CL Armando Benitez

8/22/09 Phillies at Mets Lineups

The Specifics


-Game 2 of a 4 game series
-Mets lead the series 1-0
-7:30 PM estimated start time on SNY*

* There will be a ceremony honoring the 40th anniversary of the Mets 1969 World Series championship before today's game. The ceremony can also be seen on SNY.

The Pitchers

Pitching for the Phillies is J.A. Happ. Happ, a rookie, is 9-2 with a 2.66 ERA this season.

Pitching for the Mets is Tim Redding. Redding is 1-4 with a 6.53 ERA this season.

The Lineups

Statistics for both teams can be found on the Mets and Phillies team pages on baseball-reference.com.

Mets Lineup

1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Luis Castillo 2B
3. Gary Sheffield LF
4. Jeff Francoeur RF
5. Fernando Tatis 3B
6. Daniel Murphy 1B
7. Omir Santos C
8. Wilson Valdez SS
9. Tim Redding P

Phillies Lineup
1. Jimmy Rollins SS
2. Shane Victorino CF
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Jayson Werth RF
6. Raul Ibanez LF
7. Pedro Feliz 3B
8. Carlos Ruiz C
9. J.A. Happ P


The Notes

-IF Andy Green was taken off the active roster. Pitcher Pat Misch has been called up from AAA Buffalo to take his place. Pat Misch played with the Mets earlier this season, serving as a long reliever. He may be added to the starting rotation due to the loss of Livan Hernandez.

-Tim Redding is making his first start since July 2nd in Pittsburgh.

-The current Phillies team is 42-for-188 against Redding, a .223 batting average.

-The current Mets team is 4-for-34 against Happ, for a .188 batting average

The Prediction
Happ shuts down the Mets. Phils win 5-0.

8/21/09 Phillies at Mets Lineups

The Specifics

-Game 1 of a 4-game series
-7:10 PM on SNY

The Pitching Matchup

Cole Hamels (7-7, 4.69 ERA) at Mike Pelfrey (8-8, 4.75 ERA)

The Lineups

Statistics for both teams can be found on the Mets and Phillies team pages on baseball-reference.com.

Mets Lineup
1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Luis Castillo 2B
3. Gary Sheffield LF
4. Jeff Francoeur RF
5. Fernando Tatis 3B
6. Daniel Murphy 1B
7. Omir Santos C
8. Anderson Hernandez SS
9. Mike Pelfrey SP

Phillies Lineup
1. Jimmy Rollins SS
2. Shane Victorino CF
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Jayson Werth RF
6. Raul Ibanez LF
7. Greg Dobbs 3B
8. Carlos Ruiz C
9. Cole Hamels SP

The Notes

-Billy Wagner was claimed on waivers by the Boston Red Sox and have 3 days to try and make a trade.

-Storms are in the area and the game will likely not start at its scheduled time.

8/19/09 Braves 15, Mets 2

It was bad. 'Nuff said.

Full boxscore and recap if you dare available here, courtesy of MLB.com.

8/19/09 Braves at Mets Lineups

The Specifics

Braves at Mets

Game 2 of 3 (Mets lead series 1-0)

7:10 PM on SNY

Flushing weather, courtesy of Weather.com

The Pitching Matchup

Jair Jurrjens (9-8, 2.99 ERA) vs. Bobby Parnell (3-4, 3.50 ERA)

The Lineups


Mets
1. Angel Pagan CF
2. Luis Castillo 2B
3. Gary Sheffield LF
4. Daniel Murphy 1B
5. Jeff Francoeur RF
6. Fernando Tatis 3B
7. Omir Santos C
8. Anderson Hernandez SS
9. Bobby Parnell P

Braves
1. Omar Infante 2B
2. Garret Anderson LF
3. Chipper Jones 3B
4. Brian McCann C
5. Adam LaRoche 1B
6. Yunel Escobar SS
7. Matt Diaz RF
8. Ryan Church CF
9. Jair Jurrjens P


The Notes

-Bobby Parnell makes his 3rd career start tonight. He is 1-1 with an ERA under 2 in his first 2. His pitch maximum appears to be a regular one at this point: around 100 pitches.

-The Mets are sticking with the lineup that produced big yesterday.

-Martin Prado is out of the Braves lineup due to sporadic headaches he has been suffering.

-Oliver Perez and Jerry Manuel agree that Perez should be able to make his next start.

-Pending a disaster, Billy Wagner will be activated before tomorrow's game. Presumably Elmer Dessens or Andy Green would be demoted to make room for Wagner.

8/17/09 Mets 9, Braves 4

The Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves by a score of 9 to 4 tonight.

Win- Oliver Perez (3-3)
Loss- Derek Lowe (12-8)

Full boxscore and recap available here, courtesy of MLB.com.


Game Notes

-Holy run support, Batman

-Mets scored 8 runs in a 29 minute 4th inning on a single-inning franchise record 10 hits.

-Oliver Perez gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings of work (including home runs by Matt Diaz and Adam LaRoche), but got the win.

-Derek Lowe was rolling through the Mets lineup, but with one out in the 4th, he took a line drive to the hand. That line drive clearly messed him up, as he ended up surrendering 8 runs that inning before his early exit.

-Braves starting first baseman Martin Prado, who had been experiencing sporadic headaches recently, left the game after his at-bat in the first due to the aforementioned headaches. He was replaced by Adam LaRoche, who homered in the game.

-Luis Castillo, Gary Sheffield, and Jeff Francoeur all went 3-for-5 in tonight's game.

-Former Met Ryan Church went 0-for-4 tonight.

-Daniel "The Wrench" Murphy went 1-for-4, and recorded 2 outs in the lengthy 4th inning.

Mets Players of the Game: Everyone except Daniel Murphy

8/17/09 Braves at Mets Lineups

Tonight the Atlanta Braves take on the Mets at Citi Field for the first game of a 3-game series. The game can be seen at 7:10 PM on SNY.

IF Alex Cora was placed on the 15-day DL prior to today's game. IF Wilson Valdez was called up from AAA Buffalo to take Cora's place on the active roster.

Mets Lineup
Angel Pagan CF .287/.333/.476
Luis Castillo 2B .302/.396/.361
Gary Sheffield LF .283/.379/.463
Daniel Murphy 1B .252/.314/.374
Jeff Francoeur RF .263/.296/.384
Fernando Tatis 3B .244/.306/.402
Omir Santos C .256/.293/.395
Anderson Hernandez SS .254/.320/.321
Oliver Perez LHP 2-3, 5.97 ERA

Braves Lineup
Omar Infante 2B .333/.383/.406
Martin Prado 1B .310/.363/.470
Chipper Jones 3B .295/.406/.486
Brian McCann C .284/.358/.491
Yunel Escobar SS .298/.368/.449
Garret Anderson LF .282/.313/.435
Matt Diaz RF .291/.360/.453
Ryan Church CF .274/.342/.384
Derek Lowe RHP 12-7, 4.08 ERA

Mike's Pregame Prediction: Braves win 5-2

8/16/09 Giants 10, Mets 1 Postgame Review

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Mets by a score of 10 to 1 to earn a split of the four-game series.

Win- Joe Martinez (3-1)
Loss- Livan Hernandez (7-8)

Full boxscore and recap available here, thanks to MLB.com.

Game Notes

-Get Livan Hernandez out of the rotation already! Livan gave up 6 runs today in 5 1/3 innings pitched and lost.

-Joe Martinez pitched very well (5 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER) but was taken out after 67 pitches for a pinch hitter.

-Mets baserunning was awful tonight, 2 runners were caught off of the base resulting in double plays.

-Aaron Rowand of the Giants went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI

-Nick Green was walked in his first at-bat as a Met (in the bottom of the 9th)

-The Giants scored runs in 6 of the 9 innings tonight

Mets Player of the Game: Daniel Murphy (2-for-4, 2B)


Tomorrow the Mets begin a series at Citi Field against the Atlanta Braves.

8/16/09 Giants at Mets Lineups

Tonight the Mets take on the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field for the finale of a 4-game series. The game can be seen on SNY at 7:10 PM.

Also, Billy Wagner is not expected to be activated before today's game. He will most likely be activated before tomorrow's game against the Atlanta Braves.

Mets Lineup
Cory Sullivan CF .263/.328/.421
Luis Castillo 2B .304/.398/.364
Gary Sheffield LF .283/.377/.464
Daniel Murphy 1B .249/.312/.370
Jeff Francoeur RF .263/.296/.385
Fernando Tatis 3B .248/.311/.409
Brian Schneider C .192/.288/.336
Anderson Hernandez SS .254/.321/.323
Livan Hernandez RHP 7-7, 5.28 ERA


Giants Lineup
Eugenio Velez LF .302/.336/.440
Freddy Sanchez 2B .271/.298/.371
Pablo Sandoval 3B .330/.380/.551
Bengie Molina C .265/.279/.442
Ryan Garko 1B .271/.352/.427
Randy Winn RF .262/.314/.364
Aaron Rowand CF .266/.321/.425
Edgar Renteria SS .256/.310/.319
Joe Martinez RHP 2-1, 6.00 ERA

Mike's Pregame Prediction- Mets win 10-8 in a slugfest.

8/15/09 Giants 5, Mets 4 (10 inn.) Postgame Review

The San Francisco Giants defeated the Mets by a score of 5-4 in 10 innings today, tying the 4 game series at 1 apiece.

Win- Brian Wilson (5-5)
Loss- Francisco Rodriguez (2-4)

Full boxscore and recap available here, courtesy of MLB.com.

Game Notes

-Who didn't see this coming? David Wright was hit in the head by a Matt Cain fastball in the 4th inning, crumpled to the ground in pain, and obviously left the game. He was replaced by Fernando Tatis. Wright was taken to the hospital, and to my knowledge no medical reports have come back yet.

-In the 7th inning, Johan Santana threw a pitch behind Pablo Sandoval (possibly as an attempt at retaliation). Sandoval took Santana deep on the very next pitch. This resulted in both benches being warned.

-After the warning, Santana hit Bengie Molina with a pitch. He was not ejected, but he was taken out of the game by Jerry Manuel after the HBP.

-Matt Cain was very sharp tonight.

-Luis "Slappy" Castillo went 3-for-4, and also struck out (for whatever reason, he's been K'ing a lot lately).

-Francisco Rodriguez pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 9th, stayed in for the 10th and surrendered a solo homer to Giants catcher Bengie Molina. Rodriguez received the loss today.

-Brian Wilson went 2 2/3 innings in relief, a career high, and received the win in today's game.

-The Mets fell to 54-62 with today's loss.

Mets Player of the Game: David Wright, for getting up by himself after being hit on the head by Matt Cain in the 4th.

8/15/09 Giants at Mets Lineups

At 4:10 PM, the Mets take on the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field for the second game of a 4-game series. The game can be seen on FOX.

This post will just make it in just before the game starts (I overslept), so my apologies but no stats vs. the opposing pitcher today. Stats vs. opponent will return for tomorrow's game.

Mets Lineup
Cory Sullivan CF .269/.339/.442
Luis Castillo 2B .300/.394/.352
David Wright 3B .325/.414/.468
Gary Sheffield LF .286/.381/.472
Daniel Murphy 1B 248/.311/.370
Jeff Francoeur RF .263/.297/.388
Brian Schneider C .198/.296/.347
Anderson Hernandez SS .255/.318/.325
Johan Santana LHP 13-8, 3.00 ERA

Giants Lineup
Eugenio Velez LF .306/.336/.444
Freddy Sanchez 2B .299/.336/.440
Pablo Sandoval 3B .329/.377/.546
Bengie Molina C .260/.273/.429
Ryan Garko 1B .272/.354/.431
Aaron Rowand CF .269/.325/.431
Nate Schierholtz RF .291/.321/.427
Edgar Renteria SS .256/.311/.320
Matt Cain RHP 12-4, 2.44 ERA

Mike's Pregame Prediction: File this under "no shit Sherlock": I'm predicting there will be a serious pitchers duel today. Mets win on a walkoff hit in the bottom of the 10th 2-1.