Friday, May 5, 2006

…funny how the team made a big announcement a few weeks back to introduce a new team song titled, Our Team Our Time…the song was subsequently boo’d so loud you would think it had been written and performed by Roger Cedeno, Vince Coleman, Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar…as such, i have not heard a peep about this song since that first day…

…and then this happens…

According to a team press release, the team will now conduct a “Meet the Mets Sing-A-Long” during all home games throughout the rest of the season…

The “Sing-A-Long” will debut tonight…

Mets Executive Vice President David Howard, as quoted in the release…

“We’ve had great fan response to other Mets songs throughout the years but thought that the time was right to do something new with Meet the Mets as part of our expanding in-stadium entertainment programming.  We simply are responding to the outpouring of love for this Mets classic.”…

…or, the outpouring of hatred from your first attempt…

…at any rate, i think this is a great idea…it brings the old and new together in a fun, communal way, and i can dig that…good job, mr. met…

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In his most recent Under the Knife column at Baseball Prospectus, Will Carroll describes the finger of Billy Wagner as that of a ‘time bomb,’ and cites one source as saying he believes Wagner is doing his best to pitch through pain, like he did in Houston before going down with Tommy John surgery…

…the sense i get, from anyone that i have asked about this issue, is that, yes, wagner’s finger still hurts…but it hurt last season, too, and he had a tremendous season, so while it is a concern, it is not a ticking time bomb type of immediate concern…i trust carroll’s work, though, and if you recall, Peter Gammons made a subtle reference to wagner’s finger being a problem, as well, at his blog earlier in the week…so, let’s keep our fingers crossed, and be thankful that Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman are on the team…

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Following seven starts, Tom Glavine leads the National League with a 1.94 ERA…

Since last season’s All-Star Game, in 22 starts, Glavine is 11–8 with a 2.14 ERA, while sporting nearly three strikeouts to every batter he has walked…

Pitching at Shea, during the same stretch, he is 8–3 with a 1.74 ERA…

At MLB.com, Marty Noble points out that, “Glavine has gone a bit strikeout mad since he incorporated a curve, a cutter and pitching inside into his game plan last summer.  He has struck out 10 or more only 14 times in 610 starts, including six times in 1991.  Now, in his last eight starts, including his final start last season, he has hit 11 twice and 10 once.”…

David Wright, on the 39–year-old Glavine, as quoted by the Bergen Record…

“He’s old enough to be my dad.  Tommy was unbelievable.  It’s fun playing defense behind him. It’s got to be frustrating to be a hitter.”…

Glavine, as quoted by Newsday…

“My first year here, we were just hoping to win some games.  I was probably pitching more to avoid losing games than I was to win games…

“Last year, it got better when we were on some rolls some times when we were taking the field to win. But to get to that next level, you’ve got to do that every day…

“And right now, the way we’re playing, we’re taking the field every day expecting to win. As a starting pitcher, that’s a nice feeling.”…

…he’s certainly come a long way since praying that Roger Cedeno would catch a pop-up in center field…if this team eventually gets to the post-season, glavine will have to feel pretty proud, having been here during some pretty bleak days…

…here’s what i like most about the rebirth of glavine…

…the time has finally come that when i see him in a braves uniform, it seems odd to me…

…whereas, even up until early last season, glavine in a mets uniform, though a good image, just didn’t feel totally right…now it does…he’s earned his blue-n-orange stripes, in that he has stuck it out with some pretty rocky teams, and done his best to lead this new group to a place where they expect to make the post-season…

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The Mets are currently 10 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2000 season…

However, if you feel the need to worry, check out Seth’s most recent post at It’s a Beautiful Day for Baseball, in which he lists five reasons to be concerned about the current state of the team…

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Over at the Mets Minor League Report, Toby recaps the night in Mets minor league action…

Among other comments, Toby writes of strong performances by Jeff Keppinger, who was 2–for-5 while batting second for Norfolk; and Michel Abreu, who went 3–for-5 for Binghamton; and a weak performance by Mike Pelfrey, who allowed five runs in four innings on 13 hits in his second start at Double-A…

…toby provides a mets minor league report after each night’s action…thanks, toby…

In 96 at-bats for Triple-A Norfolk, Keppinger, 26, is batting .260 with no home runs, six RBI along with eight strike outs and eight walks…

Abreu, 27, is batting .440 in 25 at-bats for Double-A Binghamton since being called up on April 29…

In two starts for Binghamton, Pelfrey, 21, allowed five earned runs in his most recent four innings, but tossed shut out baseball in his previous five innings…

Lastly, in Baseball America’s Daily Dish, Aaron Fitt writes of St. Lucie RHP Jose Sanchez, who steps in as the team’s top pitcher given the recent promotions of Pelfrey and Alay Soler to Double-A…

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Congratulations to Blake Zeff, who, within less than a minute, was the first to know that Kevin Elster used Ray Knight’s glove during a game in the 1986 World Series…

This question and answer comes courtesy of Jeff Pearlman, author of the outstanding book, The Bad Guys Won…

In exchange for being the first to answer this question, Blake will receive three free tickets to tonight’s game against the Braves at Shea Stadium…

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The Braves and Mets will have played nine times in three weeks by the end of this weekend…

Braves manager Bobby Cox, as quoted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution…

“The schedule is awful.  This should never happen.  It’s not good…

“I can’t remember us having a situation like this.  But I know other teams have had stuff like this happen to them.  Something should be done to make sure this doesn’t happen anymore.”…

…hang on, you’ve got 14 consecutive division titles…14…and now you wanna complain about the schedule…

…stifle, edith…stifle…

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In his blog at the Houston Chronicle, Richard Justice writes that the Astros have offered $20 million to free-agent RHP Roger Clemens for him to pitch with Houston for five months…

…cha…ching…

…wow…

…how does he not take that offer…

…hat tip to buster olney’s blog for the link…

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…this is very awkward, i am being filmed by connecticut’s WTNH News Channel 8 right now for a local news story about me and metsblog.com…they want me to just sit here and pretend i am working so they can get some footage, and i have no idea what to write…

…so, this is the best i can come up with…

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Since allowing four runs in his first 4.1 innings pitched, Jorge Julio has a 1.76 ERA in 10.2 innings, and the two runs he allowed in that span both came on a Jeff Francoeur home run in Atlanta…

He has struck out 27 of the 62 batters he has faced, while walking just six…

…that’s pretty good, folks…and i’ll be the first to say i didn’t think this kid stood a chance this season…now, look, it’s only may…i’m not ready to give him the closer’s job, by any means, but credit needs to be given to what he’s been able to accomplish at this point in the season…

The question is whether or not Julio can remain consistent, which, as Michael displays at MetsGeek, has always been the pitcher’s biggest problem…

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