Daily Archives: May 22, 2006
In the Star-Ledger, Ed Price writes that the Mets, Yankees and Braves are among several teams hoping to sign C Francisco Pena, the 16-year-old son of Tony Pena…
I can’t believe I am about to say this, but, thank God it’s Monday…
I am not shy about my dislike for interleague play. Sure, it’s exhilarating, and crazy, but that is actually why I dislike it, which is odd, because I have said over-n-over again that I prefer excitement, and drama, and hopefully a win, to just boring wins…
The thing with the Subway Circus is that it is so insane, it is so manic, that it makes for an abnormal environment. For instance, the adrenaline rush experienced after Friday night is lost while dealing with opposite extreme low on Saturday night, only to have a commanding win go down on Sunday, leaving the fans, media and, I fear, the players all confused…
Fact is, the Mets should’ve won two-of-three from the Yankees. Joe Torre is missing Gary Sheffiled, Hideki Matsui, Jorge Posada, half his rotation and is stuck with a dizzy Randy Johnson. Meanwhile, the Mets were throwing their pair of aces. Anything less than two wins would’ve been embarrassing. A sweep would’ve been nice, sure, but I’d have signed up for two wins on Friday morning had the Gods offered it to me, believe me…
This week is very significant for the Mets. They play three games against the second-place Phillies, followed by three, very winnable games in Miami. They should expect to win four, possibly five of six, which would have a serious impact on their division’s standings…
However, all anyone is thinking about, still, is whether Willie Randolph should’ve pitched Billy Wagner on Saturday night, the weekend’s lone loss…
Who cares?…
Had Wagner struck out the side, nobody would be talking about this issue. Wagner’s job is to pitch, and Randolph’s job is to win and manage his players. They were both doing their job. That’s all, and it back-fired. It happens. Let it be. It’s a long season, and there will be far more crazy situations to over-analyze down the road, believe me. Just move on. There are far bigger fish to fry than the lost opportunity to mock a Yankees fan even more than you already can today…
The Mets took two-of-three. That’s great, as it should be…
Now let’s go beat up Pat Burrell…
Jose Reyes has not made a fielding error in 35 games, which ties his career best in a season and is the longest current streak in the major leagues…
…reyes made a number of key plays this weekend…not all of which will turn up in the box score…on friday night and on sunday he ran down several ground balls in the hole, and though he didn’t get a throw off to first for the out, his hustle kept the runner from going first to second, and often stopped other runners from scoring…
…in other words, his range is outstanding…
Billy Wagner, on his save during last night’s win over the Yankees, as quoted by a variety of morning newspapers…
“I felt like I had a lot to prove to my teammates and prove to this city that one tough outing ain’t going to break me. I’m good enough to go back out there after taking a whipping.”…
For more on Wagner, check out Mike Vaccaro in the New York Post, who writes of the nervous tension at Shea; Steve Politi’s column at the Star-Ledger, who writes that Mets fans appeared confused whether too boo or cheer when Wagner entered in the ninth; and Filip Bondy in the Daily News, who writes of the connection between Wagner and actress Sally Field…
…hahahha….
In his notebook from the Daily News, Adam Rubin posts the followinig exchange between Cliff Floyd and David Wright, regarding Wright’s celebration after his home run in last night’s win over the Yankees…
Floyd: “He even tried to pimp it. He’s got no pimp.”…
Wright: “I don’t even know what that means.”…
According to multiple reports, Jose Lima, who was designated for assignment on Saturday, will report to Triple-A Norfolk…
…this past weekend i was asked by e-mail how lima got the nickname Lima Time…
…from what i can gather, he gave it to himself while talking to reporters in the days prior to the 1999 all-star game…entering the game, lima was 12–4 with 3.21 ERA, and, apparently, quite confident…
According to MLB.com, the Mets have called up Double-A RHP Alay Soler to replace Lima…
Soler will start on Wednesday at Shea Stadium against the Phillies…
In three starts for Binghamton, he was 1-0 with a 2.75 ERA, limiting opponents to a .222 batting average. He tossed at least six innings and allowed less than three runs in each appearance…
…with this news, it seems the rotation will stack up as follows through the next turn…
Tuesday: Steve Trachsel vs. Phillies
Wednesday: Alay Soler vs. Phillies
Thursday: Jeremi Gonzalez vs. Phillies
Friday: Pedro Martinez at Marlins
Saturday: Tom Glavine at Marlins
Cliff Floyd left last night’s game in the seventh with tightness in his left shoulder after diving forward for a live-drive by Johnny Damon in the sixth inning…
Both Floyd and Willie Randolph told reporters that he would be in the lineup during tomorrow night’s game against the Phillies at Shea Stadium…
Willie Randolph, on Carlos Delgado, who hit a three-run home run in last night’s win over the Yankees, as quoted in the Journal News…
“That shook me up. It was a monster shot. He’s as strong as a bull…
“That really fired us up.”…
…when all is said and done, the impact that delgado has had on this team will be one helluva story…from his calm-n-cool persona to his thoughtfulness, from his notebook to his power, from his experience to his consistent performance and approach, it is all so admirable and inspiring…
…it’s funny, because while we all loved Mike Piazza, it had been a long while since he was that type of hitter in the middle of the mets batting order…i had forgotten what it was like to count on that type of hitter…and here it is, again, in delgado…
…without him, i believe that David Wright and Carlos Beltran would be pressing, and Cliff Floyd would be a mess…however, night after night, there’s delgado, locking down the middle of the batting order without skipping a beat……
