Daily Archives: September 7, 2007
Check out this cartoon in the New York Post, about Mr. Met being accused of using steroids by Barry Bonds.
In his report for the Daily News, about David Wright’s potential MVP season, Adam Rubin notes that, with four more home runs, Wright will become the fourth-youngest member of the 30-30 club.
Only Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Bonds and Jose Canseco reached the 30–30 mark at a younger age than Wright.
Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez is six home runs away from 30–30, as well.
For more on Wright and the MVP, read Steve Popper in the Bergen Record, and Don Burke in the Star-Ledger.
In Newsday, Anthony Reiber reminds us that no member of the Mets has ever won the award.
As I pointed out yesterday, Wright is on pace to be the first player in the history of baseball to hit at least .300, with a .385 OBP, along with 30 HR, 35 SB, 110 runs scored, 110 RBI, and 35 doubles.
…thanks to Robert Renode for the information…
Following Wednesday’s game, Braves 3B Chipper Jones complained quite loudly to local reporters about the wide strike zone against his team that night, noting…
“We have to get Questec here in this ballpark. We’ve got to. Umpires have got to be held accountable. That’s Little League World Series stuff right there.”
In his most recent report for FOXSports.com, Ken Rosenthal quotes a rival scout as saying…
“Who the hell does Chipper Jones think he is? What team in baseball history has benefited more from a wide strike zone than the Atlanta Braves? How much playoff money did he make because the umpires gave 3 inches off the plate either side to Atlanta pitchers?”
…amen to that…said Tom Glavine…
The Braves are eight games back of first place in the National League East, and six games back of the Wild Card, with just 22 games left in the season.
In Newsday, David Lennon takes a closer look at the pros and cons of the ‘even keel’ nature of the Mets.
David Wright, as quoted by Lennon…
“There are times when you get emotional and there are times where you don’t want to let the opposition see that you’re excited or upset. But I think it’s good to play with a little bit of emotion. You can’t be a robot out there and keep the same face, good or bad. There’s a fine line between showing the other teams up and playing with emotion…
“I think we’ve got a good balance. The veteran guys don’t allow us to ride that emotional roller coaster and the young guys bring the energy every day.”
…by the way, it is quite clear from the e-mails i got last week that my post about passion was totally misunderstood…for what it’s worth, i never once wrote that passion did not matter…also, by ‘passion,’ i was referring to the outward emotion that fans and media tend to crave, like fist pumping, fighting with the ump, flipping buffet tables, etc…to me, as i wrote last week, that superficial stuff is overrated…
…my point last week was that, while i have no doubt that the Mets want to win, and desire to win, outward emotions, outward aggression, will not help hit a curve ball, or strike out Ryan Howard, which is why they lost to the Phillies…it was not because the team didn’t show emotion, as much as it was because the team didn’t play well…
…i know some of you will say that by playing with more emotion, the team will play better, and i agree with that to a point…but a) it is impossible to measure how much desire is in a person’s heart, so for all we know the Mets have more desire this season than compared to last, and b) the 1990s Yankees were among the most outwardly emotionless, super professional, clean-cut team i have ever seen, yet it didn’t stop them from winning…inversely, i am fairly certain some super emotional team has finished dead last, because they probably could not control their emotions and they were also not very good…
…this is why, to me, this subject and idea is very overrated…it’s important, and i certainly like to see it, and i definitely think it impacts the opposition…but it’s still overrated…
