Monthly Archives: April 2007
The Mets (15–9) were defeated by the Marlins (12–13) by the score of 9 to 6 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap, check out the Associated Press.
…wow, what just happened…
…Chan Ho Park was just cruising along, looking great, throwing strike after strike, and with no score in the bottom of the third, two outs and two strikes on the opposing pitcher, his wheel’s fell off…olsen got a hit…he then walked two batters on eight pitches, to face Miguel Cabrera with the bases loaded, who hit a high line-drive to Damion Easley, but the ball mysteriously popped out of the second baseman’s glove, allowing two runs to score…then, Jose Reyes encroaches on a shallow pop-up that should have been caught by Carlos Beltran, but reyes misplayed it, it falls in and more runs score…the inning continued, but at that point, it didn’t matter…what a mess…so close…i mean, one more strike to the pitcher and the inning is over…a squeeze of the glove by easley, and the inning is over…yet, bam, Marlins by five…
…Carlos Delgado and David Wright stranded Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran on base in the first…and, again, in the third, after which wright did a nice helmet toss, complete with cursing…in the seventh, with beltran and delgado on base, with no outs, wright struck out and suffered a strong amount of booing…he struggled in his following two at-bats, as well…i feel your pain, kid…stay strong…
…lastly, as if it matters, SNY showed the two bald guys in the white suits who run around Shea Stadium hi-fiving people…am i the only one who is terrified by these two guys…
…rough game…i mean, it’s nice that this team scored six runs, despite having been down 8 to 1, but they’re still leaving a lot of runners on base…they’ve still yet to really start clicking…
…i look forward to this team getting in a ‘nice little rhythm,’ which will hopefully be sooner than later…
According to the Associated Press, Braves RHP Bob Wickman has been put on the disabled list with an upper back strain.
…there is a bit more buzz coming from shea regarding Jose Valentin and Orlando Hernandez…the bottom line, the way i understand it, is that we should not expect to see either of these two players 
any time soon…if we do, great, it will be a pleasant surprise…
…valentin tore an ACL, which is no day at the beach, and while a pitcher like Jason Schmidt was able to rebound from burisitis within a few weeks, el duque is a lot older…the sense i get is that el duque’s recovery will all depend on how fast the limited swelling goes down around the joint in his shoulder, which could be anywhere from two weeks to two months, and then he’ll need to rehab a bit…the thing is, apparently, the older a person is, the slower the recovery, so, you do the math…
The Game…
The first-place Mets (15-8) take on the third-place Marlins (11-13), in the first game of a three-game set, tonight in Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm.
The Lineup…
Reyes – SS
Lo Duca – C
Beltran – CF
Delgado – 1B
Wright – 3B
Alou – LF
Green – RF
Easley – 2B
Park – SP
The Pitchers..
RHP Chan Ho Park makes his first start of the season for the Mets. The Zephyrs were 3–1 during Park’s four starts, despite his 7.29 ERA. During spring training with the Mets, Park posted a 5.89 ERA in seven appearances. Last season, Park hit .268 in 41 at-bats.
LHP Scott Olsen (2–1, 6.23 ERA) starts for the Marlins. Last season against the Mets, Olsen allowed 11 runs in 26 innings. Paul Lo Duca is batting .500 in 10 at-bats against Olsen, while David Wright is hitless in seven at-bats.
The Notes…
The Mets are leading the majors with a .348 average against left-handed pitchers.
The Mets are 2–0 against the Marlins this season.
The Marlins have hit 17 home runs in their last nine games.
The Bleachers…
To chat during the game, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers. If you are IRC savvy, log on to irc.echo34.com and enter channel #metsblog.
…enjoy…and as always, let’s go mets…
If you stumble across City Scoops, a free NYC circular, check out a column by Zoe Rice, writer of Pick Me Up Some Mets, who pens a column about the growing group of female baseball bloggers, such as herself, Jessica of Chicks Dig the Pitchers’ Duel, Mets Grrl and Maureen of Yankees Chick.
In the article, Rice writes…
“And largely, that’s how we female baseball bloggers are treated – as knowledgeable fans with enjoyable voices, bringing our own version of ‘heart’ to baseball Internet content. Sure, we might get a stray inappropriate comment…but most often our responses are positive, like this comment, left for me by a guy in October: ‘I feel like you have said everything that I have been thinking.’
“Perhaps women are more natural communicators. Or maybe, when it comes to baseball, we just get it.”
Jerry Crasnick on ESPN.com profiles Mike Piazza‘s experience in the youthful Oakland A’s clubhouse.
Crasnick describes how Piazza, with his quick wit, is a welcome addition to the offbeat Oakland clubhouse. Piazza
enjoys the carefree environment, and the lack of pecking order. Mike tells
Crasnick he has trouble hazing the rookies because they outnumber him 6
to 1.
The article also discusses Piazza’s acclimation to designated hitter,
and how he misses some of the nuances of being a catcher full time.
“Metal” Mike, as he was know when he used to appear on his friend Eddie Trunk’s heavy metal radio show, lends some advice to his closer Huston Street to not go the obvious route in picking his intro music with AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” or Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and offers up a great choice in Alice In Chain’s “Man In The Box”
…clever, i like it, and there’s even the line in the song where Layne Staley sings ‘won’t you come and save me’…
The folks at Uni Watch have put together an interesting list of players and the stories behind their jersey numbers, one player and story for every number from 0 to 99.
Among the players listed are several current and former Mets, including Doc Gooden ( normally 16, he wore 64 briefly in 1993 because he wanted to feel like a rookie again ), Turk Wendell (99 because he’s superstitious about the power of the number 99), Edgardo Alfonzo (13, in tribute to fellow Venezuelan Dave Conception) and several others.
According to the Associated Press, the Reds will formally retire Conception’s number before a July 28 game against the Chicago Cubs.
In the Denver Post, Rockies beat-writer Troy E. Renck does his best to take note of the ‘other team’ in New York City, writing of the Mets:
“This is your typically bloated New York team. It was as if general manager Omar Minaya stocked his roster at Sam’s Club, buying everything in bulk…That the Mets entered the weekend with the National League’s best record was not remarkable…They will absorb their share of punches. But no team is better equipped to slug it out, other than, well, the Yankees, who could be looking up from the canvas at the Mets come October.”
…nice ending, indeed…this is actually a nice report written about an opposing team from a beat writer in another city…however, i’m looking forward to renck’s future columns about the other ‘typically-bloated’ teams in baseball, such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, Dodgers and Mariners, who all have a reported payroll higher than $100 million…
According to multiple reports, including Adam Rubin in the Daily News, and Ed Coleman on WFAN, Mets 2B Jose 
The team has yet to make an official announcement.
…however, the word from new orleans is that Ruben Gotay is already on his way to Shea Stadium, if he isn’t there already…
In 82 at-bats for Triple-A New Orleans, Gotay is batting .256 with two home runs and 13 RBI.
Gotay has struck out 14 times, but also walked 14 times.
…interestingly, gotay is not on the team’s 40–man roster, while Anderson Hernandez is…however, it appears the team has room for an addition, without making a subtraction…so that’s good…i would think Damion Easley will get the bulk of the starts, but i’m excited to see gotay play, as he wow’d me a few times on defense this spring…
A newspaper reporter recently sent me the following e-mail, and request…
“I’m writing an article on the rise in popularity of
the Mets in the longtime Yankee territory of
Westchester. Wondering if you might suggest any recent converts that happen to live in Westchester – longtime Yankee fans who suddenly find themselves
rooting for the blue and orange, or first-generation
Met fans (people born into Yankee-rooting families
that love the Mets). Any leads are very much
appreciated. Kids, old folks, anyone. Looking to have
it done by Thursday, May 3.”
…if you fit this description, and are willing to admit it publicly, send me an e-mail and i will forward your information to the reporter…
