Daily Archives: September 26, 2007
…living in Pennsylvania, in the heart of Phillies territory, it hasn’t been easy being a Mets fan the last last two weeks or so, but for some Phillies fans the stretch run has even been more agonizing…
…a couple of my close friends are die hard Phillies fans, there is no questioning their loyalty and belief in their team, but they are realists, which great, as we can have intelligent conversations about our favorite teams…yeah, there is some smack talk, but that’s to be expected…
…the funny thing is, they are less confident in their team than i’ve seen most Mets fans lately…yeah, they love to rub the Mets struggles of late in my face, they talk a good game, but deep down they know this Phillies team is going to break their hearts…
…i recently had an interesting email exchange with my friend Dan, who bleeds red and blue, in which i asked him who he thinks will win the nl east and the wildcard, he said, “my heart has the Phillies winning one or the other, but i know they are just setting us up for failure, again”…he went on to say, “i love the heart of this Phillies team and their comeback ability, but i know they don’t have the pitching to get it done and i certainly don’t trust the manager”…hmmm, sounds familiar…
According to several representatives at Cablevision, TBS will not be available in HD in time for the the National League Division Series, which will be broadcast on TBS this October.
…which means, Mets and Yankees fans who subscribe to Cablevision will not get the HD feed for the first round of the playoffs…
…i had been talking to our buddy Neil Best, who covers the new york media for Newsday, and who writes the outstanding blog, Watchdog, and, as he wrote today, he believes the best option for those of us who will be iced out from HD coverage is to ‘flood’ Cablevision’s website with demands…
So, if you would like to fire off a complaint, go to their website’s contact page, here, and say your peace.
Tagged MetsBlog |
In the New York Observer, John Koblin writes a note-worthy and very detailed column about Willie Randolph, who Koblin talked with at some length while following him around in Miami for the story.
…the article essentially paints willie as a serious competitor, a man who is still learning about himself, a guy who works hard to remain a ‘cool customer,’ “even as everything around him was unraveling.”…
David Wright, as quoted by Koblin…
“We’re professionals, we know what it takes. We know what’s on the line. I think we can motivate ourselves. We don’t need somebody screaming and yelling at us.”
…this column is a must read…but, what is most interesting to me about it, given the way the talent is performing of late, are the quotes koblin gets from willie’s players…
Pedro Martinez, as quoted by Koblin…
“We have so much talent that sometimes we relax a little bit and then we get ourselves in trouble.”
Tom Glavine, as quoted by Koblin…
Tagged Willie Randolph |“Sometimes when you’re a team as talented as we are - I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘bored,’ but I guess you can get complacent sometimes. You don’t pay attention to details every now and then because you do have a ton of talent and think you can on most days do everything you wanna do…If we needed a wake-up call, we’ve gotten it.”
In an article for SI.com, Tom Verducci discusses several postseason myths and whether or not they have any validity.
Among other myths, Verducci writes:
“Teams have figured out that finishing in second place is no different than finishing first when it comes to their postseason chances…Wild-card teams are 26-20 in postseason series – and in the past five years have accounted for more World Series appearances and more world championships than division winners.”
…this all is a bit presumptuous of course, but Verducci argues many of the points that have kept me from losing hope when considering the Mets playoff chances…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |A fan from last night’s game captured Mets fans doing the “Tomahawk Chop” to celebrate the Braves’ victory over the Phillies last night…
[youtube T5iFQaDqMuc nolink]
…i really hate that we have to watch the scoreboard at this point in the season, but any help, if even from the Braves, is appreciated…
Tagged Regis Courtemanche |As noted yesterday, Orlando Hernandez threw 50 pitches or 
so from a mound in the bullpen prior to yesterday’s game at Shea Stadium.
Before and after the game, Willie Randolph told reporters that, depending on how he feels today, El Duque will throw a simulated game on Thursday, at which point the team will decide his next step.
…the thing is, if he throws a simulated game tomorrow, that more or less means he will not be starting a game during the regular season, and so what does that mean for him in October, assuming the team gets there…
…by the way, this is exactly why i did not want to get bogged down last month in a discussion about the post-season rotation…because you just never know, especially with orlando…
Tagged Orlando Hernandez |Willie Randolph, talking to reporters about last night’s loss…
“I still feel that this team wants it, they wanna get it, but we let some runs score late in the game, some add-on runs, which came back to hurt us…Our defense, I think, was a little bit shabby at times. We’ve got to stay focused in order to stop the bleeding…I don’t ever question my guys’ desire to win and play hard…The fight is there, we keep battling back, we just came up a little bit too short.”
…by the way, willie crammed in the following phrases during last night’s brief, three-minute, post-game address…
- “We’ve got to stay focused.”
- “You have to stay focused, always.”
- “You still have to continue to play the game right, and stay focused.”
…focus is the word of the day…and if you watch the games, you know what he means…it’s ignoring signs from coaches, not shading over on defense, it’s swinging at bad pitches, not covering second in a double-play situation, consistently missing lo duca’s target, etc…these guys are professional baseball players, it is their job to focus, play hard and execute…every day, on every pitch…and they’re not always doing that right now…
Tagged Willie Randolph |According to Mark Ecko, based on the results of a poll from his website, vote756.com, Barry Bonds’s record-breaking, home-run ball will be branded with an asterisk, and sent to the Hall of Fame.
Tagged MetsBlog |…from what i can gather, assuming this is a fight to the finish, as i think we all assume it will be, the Mets rotation over the final five games of the season should look as follows…
- Wed: Philip Humber vs. Nationals
- Thurs: Pedro Martinez vs. Cardinals
- Fri: Oliver Perez vs. Marlins
- Sat: John Maine vs. Marlins
- Sun: Tom Glavine vs. Marlins
…the thing about this staff is that i just don’t know what to expect any more…will glavine give two runs through seven innings, like his first two starts in September, or give five runs through five innings, like his last two starts in September…if you look at how maine has pitched since his final start in August, he has flip-flopped from good to bad, good to bad, and his last start was decent, so what will he show up with on Saturday…
…the best of the bunch have clearly been perez and pedro, who are a combined 6–0 with a 2.73 ERA during September…
…for what it’s worth, assuming the Mets make the post-season, given the above rotation, pedro would be slated to next pitch on October 3, i.e., Game 1 of the NLDS…
…one step at a time, though, one step at a time…
Tagged Oliver Perez, Orlando Hernandez, Pedro Martinez, Philip Humber, Tom Glavine |Down by seven runs entering the ninth inning last night against the Nationals, the Mets rallied to score six runs, including a three-run home run by Jose Reyes, and a huge, huge, bases-clearing double by Moises Alou.
However, in the end, the Nationals got Carlos Delgado to strike out, and Paul Lo Duca to pop out, to secure the victory.
Alou, while talking to reporters after the game…
“Damnit, (shaking his head in disappointment), it would have been nice if we could have gotten that win. But, you know, we didn’t pitch well, and we didn’t hit well in the beginning of the game…You always want to look at the positive. The last half of the game we played like the kind of team we really are.”
Lo Duca, talking to reporters after the game…
“It doesn’t mean a thing. It doesn’t matter if you lose by eight runs or one run, it’s still a loss.”
David Wright, talking to reporters after the game…
“It’s nice to see the comeback at the end, but at the end of the day it’s a loss. So, I don’t believe in psychological victories, or momentum swings.”
…it is just or me, or, as of late, does it feel like these three players are trying to will this team to a division title…over the last week or so, every time i look up it’s one of wright, lo duca or alou who is getting a big hit or giving the right quote, or speech…
Tagged Moises Alou, Paul Lo Duca | Newer posts →
