Daily Archives: May 1, 2006
The Mets defeated the Nationals by a score of 2 to 1 at Shea Stadium tonight…
…a few thoughts…
…a walk-off error is fine by me…as a win is a win is a win…fact is, good teams put themselves in a position to capitalize on the other team’s mistakes…and that is what the mets did…there is no shame in winning on your opponent’s mistake…so, good for you, team…
…up until the ninth inning, i was pretty focused on watching Jose Reyes…he was pretty intriguing this evening…for starters, he makes me worry on those grounders in the hole, when he’ll back-hand the ball, then set his feet to make his throw, as opposed to doing the jeter-jump made famous across town…reyes sets and fires the ball to first, because he doesn’t have to jump….his arm is so strong…so, i guess i should stop worrying, i just can’t…
…also, had he not lolly-gagged out of the box on the rip to left-field in the sixth, this game may never have needed to get to the ninth…reyes didn’t bust it out of the box, and in turn cost himself a triple after being caught in a pickle rounding second…subsequently, Paul Lo Duca doubled off the wall the following at-bat, a hit reyes would’ve easily scored on…instead of wallowing, however, the kid remained peppy, getting talks from Jerry Manuel and Julio Franco, coupled with a stern look from Willie Randolph…the following inning reyes made a nice diving catch at shortstop, and was hopping all around the dugout on Carlos Delgado’s home run, which was great to see…
…hats off to the producers at sportsnet new york, by the way, for keeping the camera on him while in the dugout to allow the viewers to see how he recovered emotionally from the base running mistake…
…lastly, i’ll give a game ball to Victor Zambrano, who allowed one run over six innings, even though i feel he was successful in spite of himself…is it too much to ask that he actually hit lo duca’s target…not every team is as swing-n-miss happy as the nationals, buddy…
…at any rate, nice win, gentlemen…like i said, a win is a win is a win…
The Mets have called up RHP John Maine from Triple-A Norfolk to make tomorrow’s start at Shea in place of the injured RHP Brian Bannister…
OF Victor Diaz has been optioned back to Norfolk to make room for Maine on the team’s 25–man roster…
The Game…
The Mets (16–8) return home to take on the Nationals (7–19) at Shea Stadium tonight starting at 7:10 p.m. EDT…
The Pitchers…
RHP Victor Zambrano (1–2, 9.64 ERA) takes the hill for the Mets … Left-handed batters are hitting .400 in 25 at-bats against Zambrano … In five innings against the Nationals on April 13, he allowed three runs on six hits while walking three and striking out four …
RHP Ramon Ortiz (0–3, 6.75) starts for the Nationals …
The Notes…
The Mets are 5–1 against the Nationals this season…
1B Carlos Delgado is tied for second in the National League with 10 multi-hit games…
The Mets are second in the majors with a 3.27 ERA…the team’s bullpen leads the majors with a 2.41 ERA…
OF Endy Chavez was 10–for-33 with a home run and four runs scored during the team’s recent road trip…
Though he has just eight hits in his last 42 at-bats, OF Cliff Floyd has seven hits in his last 11 games…
2B Kaz Matsui is batting .297 since taking over for 2B Anderson Hernandez…
In 16 innings pitched, RHP Duaner Sanchez has yet to allow a run while striking out 13 batters…
The Bleachers…
To chat during the game, go to MetsBlog’s Bleachers … or, to access the chat room through IRC, go to server name irc.echo34.com and channel #metsblog…
…enjoy…
While coming out of a commercial break during today’s broadcast, WFAN’s Mike Francesa and Chris Russo casually debated whether to discuss the Mets or the Yankees through the coming 20 minutes of air time. The duo decided to talk about the Mets, because, as Russo put it, “Let’s save the Yankees for a higher listening audience.”…
…now what the hell does that mean…
…for whatever reason, i listen to wfan all day long…i wish i didn’t…but i do…and that’s another story for another time…point is, on a station that broadcasts the mets, a team that leads its division by six games in april, with a fan base that typically dominates the radio station’s phone lines, how do these two figure that the yankees produce a higher demand in terms of listeners…
…i don’t know…maybe they do…though i doubt it…
…seriously, i’d love to know how they come to that conclusion…
…unfortunately, i do not have time to call, sit on hold and ask them about this remark…
…however, if you do, go for it…the studio line is 718.937.6666…and don’t forget to mention metsblog if you get on air…
The Braves played 15 of their 24 games on the road in April, all while Marcus Giles, Edgar Renteria and Chipper Jones each missed significant time due to injury, and while Jeff Francoeur hit just .185 for the month… As Bauman points out… “The 2002 Braves had a losing April, and went on to win 101 games. Just last season, the Braves scuffled along just barely over .500 through mid-June, finding themselves in fourth place. They went on, of course, to win the division.” Braves 2B Marcus Giles, as quoted by Bauman… “It’s been rough on all of us, but we’ve got too much talent on this team, too good of a mix of veterans and young guys. I don’t think we’re going to go down from here. We’re only going to go up. We’ve got a great bunch of guys here. We’re going to be just fine.”… …i wonder how the phillies feel about all of this… …at any rate, september is a long, long way away…nevertheless, as a mets fan, i feel good about where this is all heading…
Therefore, at MLB.com, Mark Bauman asks, “Can the Mets…end Atlanta’s division reign?”…
…the talk around the trainer’s room is that Mets OF Carlos Beltran is not yet 100 percent recovered from the right hamstring strain, which sidelined him for nearly two weeks…he’s said to still feel the occasional painless tug while sprinting, especially when starting from a pivot, like in the outfield or when stealing a base…
…the good news, from what i can gather about rehabbing a nearly healed hamstring, is that the best cure at this point is to stretch a lot and to play, which may explain why he’s not on the disabled list and in the starting lineup instead…
At SportsNet New York’s website, SNY.TV, Keith Hernandez tackles his weekly mailbag, which includes questions such as how to hit a low fastball to why Jose Reyes has such an upper-cut to whether Keith would shave his mustache for a manager…
Bill from New Jersey sent me the following e-mail over the weekend…
“Hernandez and Gary Cohen are on totally different levels. Keith is so far behind Cohen in terms of knowing what to add to a broadcast, that he’s making himself look awful. Cohen and Howie Rose were a terrific combination and so ‘on the same page.’ Not to mention that Howie knows as much history if not more than Cohen…
“Time for Keith to go and Ron Darling to get his shot as the solo guy and not just the third guy…Hernandez was great last year but has turned awful due to his comment about the woman massage therapist in San Diego and the complete lack of chemistry with him and Cohen.”…
…interesting…i totally disagree…
…i mean, i hear what you’re hearing, with regards to the rugged connection between keith 
and cohen, but a) they’re still learning about one another’s habits, and b) the awkwardness at times, to me, is the antithesis of the difference between fan and player, in that cohen is a mets fan’s mets fan, while keith is a player’s player – and both come at the game from their respective points of view…
…i find keith to be super-knowledgeable…and i always learn something new when i listen to him…the thing is, he’s not a broadcaster…he’s a baseball player…and i don’t think he makes any mistake about that…for instance, he is always getting giddy over things that i have no clue about…neither does gary, it seems…and it may be those moments that come across as awkward for the viewer…he’ll get all worked up over some moment in the game, using slang from his playing days, and i’ll be lost…but i actually like that…i feel like he’s just hanging out in the booth, riffing on the game, and i am fortunate enough to be eavesdropping…i like it…but i can understand where that may be uncomfortable for others…
…on the flip side, darling is much more calm and professional, whereas keith is more passionate and casual…i think both work, they’re just different…in fact, when they are calling a game together, i think it’s a great mix…
…the other element that is working against the relationship between cohen and keith is that cohen is still calling the game like a radio announcer…which, although he is brilliant at it, is not necessary…gary, i can see ‘the crowd on its feet,’ and so on…
…remember, keith is not a broadcaster…but, his experience doing so comes from working alongside other television guys…cohen is not yet a television guy, so i think they clash in that regard, as well…
…either way, at the end of the day, i think it’s way, way too early to dissect the broadcast booth…give it time…these guys are professionals, who many of us lobbyed to see working together…my guess is that be season’s end, we’ll all agree that they are an oustanding team…
At 17–years-old, OF Fernando Martinez is batting .338 in 77 at-bats for the Hagerstown Suns, the Mets Low-A affiliate…
At Shea Faithful, Pat talks with Jason Gordon, the voice of the Hagerstown Suns, about Martinez…
Among other topics, the two discuss Martinez’s abilities on defense, his maturity and where he seems most comfortable in the lineup…
In Bubble Wrap is giving away 25 copies of Management by Baseball by Jeff Angus…
…i’m in the process of reading this book and it is quite fascinating…the premise is that any system, be it a small business to general electric to a teacher in a classroom, can learn the secrets to management via the game of baseball…
…hat tip to dave at baseball musings for the link…
For more on Angus and his book, check out the following article in Fast Company…
…while the loud, overwhelming buzz around the team’s locker room is that tomorrow’s starter will be norfolk RHP John Maine, subsequent buzz indicates that RHP Aaron Heilman is not too happy about being passed over for the assignment…
…i can understand his dismay…however, it’d be foolish to disrupt such a strong bullpen…especially considering that he’d have to go back to the pen when RHP Brian Bannister returns from the disabled list…
