Daily Archives: April 11, 2008
In a report for Newsday, Ken Davidoff takes a closer look at the team’s bullpen following last night’s win, which, despite pitching quite well, may be the team’s ‘Achilles heel,’ as Davidoff puts it.
…i agree…it’s just, i suspect it is more or less every team’s Achilles heel, you know what i mean…
For instance, at his blog for the New York Post yesterday, Joel Sherman wrote the following:
“Sometimes in New York we get so parochial about our teams that we
forget others have problems, too, including those in the same division. Atlanta, for example, is off to a 3-6 start…their first five losses this season were by one run and they are 37-62 in one-run games since the beginning of the 2006 campaign. When I saw Atlanta GM Frank Wren in spring training, he was confident the club had finally fixed those longstanding pen issues. The initial read is that is probably not correct. Atlanta relievers are 0-4 with a 6.00 ERA and a major league-high six homers allowed.”
…to me, just because every one else has a shaky bullpen doesn’t justify having one in new york…however, i can accept the reality that it will be a long season with these guys, and that i should expect them to repeatedly make me upset, a lot, during the year…i get that…my hope, instead, is that Omar Minaya moves fast…to me, that’s what is most important…signing a starter-reliever like Claudio Vargas, quickly putting Matt Wise on the disabled list and promoting Carlos Muniz, signing guys – any guy – to minor-league deals to increase depth while limiting how tight the cuffs are on being able to jockey men up and down from Triple-A to Shea and back for flexibility…this is what the Rockies did so well last year…it’s Bullpen 2.0 for major-league baseball…and i hope omar is with the program…
…by the way, according to davidoff, Young MC’s Bust a Move played in the Mets locker room following last night’s win…to which i say, ‘Bravo,’ to whomever controls the boom-box…
…and yes, i said boom-box…long live the 80s…
To check out video featuring Willie Randolph’s post– and pre-game comments, in-game remarks from Angel Pagan, game clips, including Pagan’s game-winning hit, and, of course, an exclusive Post Game Extra with Ron Darling, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez, go to SNY.tv.
Tagged SNY |In a report for the Daily News, Bob Raissman writes 
that it is too early for Mets fans to be panicking, adding, “The reaction to the Mets’ home-opening loss to Philadelphia was so extreme it was comical.”
…yes, Mets fans tend to be a bit emotional and irrational…i may write in a balanced, pragmatic way, but any one who knows me and speaks to me in person, during a game, in action, long before i have had time to relax and collect my thoughts, knows that i, too, get rather hot and loud about all sorts of little things surrounding this team…
…the thing is, raissman essentially says that you and i are panicking, paranoid and comical…which i believe is totally false…at no point on Monday did i feel a primal urge to run and hide in the face of imminent disaster…what’s worse, i hate that he is allowed to mischaracterize you and i without us getting a say in the matter…i hate knowing that Yankees fans and other people around the city will be lead to believe we are violent and totally off our rockers…sure, we’re passionate, and sure we get angry and we vocalize that, but you and i are not manic…we’re not crazy…we just care…but that part of the dynamic is totally ignored by raissman, who is seemingly mocking us for giving a damn…he even takes shots at Billy Wagner, who he starts to characterize in the same way…
…fact is, i spent a lot of time on Wednesday talking with and reading the words of more than 1,000 fellow fans – seriously – and not one person admitted to being in a panic state…every one was nervous, most every one was frustrated, like me, and some even appeared sad, but nobody was panicking; and nearly every one remained hopeful and mostly confident – as we should be…but you wouldn’t know that from reading raissman, who has clearly mistaken anger and frustration for panic and hopelessness…
…yesterday, more 5,000 fans responded to this site’s Fan Confidence poll, and less than 20 percent responded negatively…the rest are all confident in the direction of this team…
…i actually made this the focus of my pre-game segment on SNY prior to Wednesday’s game, during which i essentially said, “Until these games stop feeling like last September, I will remain nervous and frustrated. However, I’m a Ya-Gotta-Believe type of fan, and, though I am a bit nervous and frustrated, I know this team will turn it around, and from talking with fans all day I sense they feel the same way.”…oddly enough, this sensibility didn’t make it in to raissman’s column, which is a shame…
For more on being a fan, read this post at Mets Merized Online.
Luis Castillo missed his second straight game last night with a sore right knee.
Castillo told reporters that he feels better, and hopes to be in tonight’s lineup.
Before the game, Willie Randolph talked with reporters from Shea Stadium and had the following to say about Castillo…
“I talked to him yesterday and told him, ‘Listen, make sure that you’re right and when you start to feel better and you’re good, let me know.’ So, I trust my bench, I have a lot of confidence in them.”
…i hate knowing this team is playing short handed, but if there is a real chance that castillo can return by the weekend then he cannot go to the disabled list…in the meantime, Damion Easley has looked good enough both in the field and at the plate during castillo’s absence, which is also helped out by Angel Pagan picking up the slack in the two-hole behind Jose Reyes…
During last night’s win over the Phillies, Angel Pagan was 3 for 5 with two runs scored and a game-winning, walk-off RBI single in the 12th inning.
Following the game, Pagan talked with reporters and had the following to say about…
…getting mobbed by his teammates after the game-winning hit…
“Oh my God, they hit me in the nose they hit me everywhere. But, hey, that’s part of a game-winning RBI, so I’ll take it. They can beat me up any time.”
…his early-season success…
“Everything is feeling pretty much like it did in spring training. I’m feeling great at the plate, and hopefully I can keep it up through the season…I never put pressure on myself, I always try to just play my game and let my abilities go. Whatever happens, happens. Right now, I feel great.”
…whether he feels comfortable in pressure-packed situations…
“I love it. Any time I’m in that situation I’m going to give my 100 percent – and if i get it done, good. I’m always gonna do what I can to help the team in any way…I always play hard, and I’ll always do everything I can to help the club.”
…so far, it’s easy to like everything about pagan…he plays hard, he enjoys the game, he’s a well-rounded player, he’s healthy, he’s young, and – let’s not forget – he’s a home-grown player, despite being traded away and then re-acquired two years later…
For more on Pagan, read the New York Post and Newsday.
First and foremost, go to Mets Walk-offs to get your fill of walk-off win information, about last night’s walk-off win, which was the team’s first since August, 2007.
According to the Brooklyn Met Fan, Angel 
Pagan is the team’s early-season MVP, adding, “Of course, we need a bigger sample size across the board with him, but wouldn’t it be sweet if Pagan rendered Moises Al-who irrelevant?”
Speaking of Pagan, he gets hugs and kisses from the Global New York Mets Fan Blog.
Following the game on SNY, Matt Yalloff asked Lee Mazzili what may happen if Pagan continues to hit and Moises Alou returns, to which Mazzilli said, “Pagan goes to the bench.”
At Faith and Fear in Flushing, Jason Fry notes that last night’s win was the first ‘classic’ of 2008.
In a post to Loge 13, Kingman takes a look back at the demolition of the Polo Grounds.
Lastly, at MetsGeek, Aaron Dorman conducts a Q&A with injury-guru Will Carroll.
The Mets (4–4) defeated the Phillies (4–6) by the score of 4 to 3 in 12 innings tonight at Shea Stadium.
For a recap and boxscore, go to SNY.
…now that felt good, didn’t it…that’s what this team has been missing…a bit of drama, some good luck, and fun…
…with the game tied in the 12th inning, and two outs, Jose Reyes ripped a ball to the wall in the gap…reyes pulled in to second with a big clap and an even bigger smile…he looked alive for the first time in months…Angel Pagan then hit a ground ball up the middle and reyes rounded third…a strong throw from Jayson Werth, who was strategically playing shallow in center, reached home at the exact time as reyes, who slide in to home, right in to the shin guard of the catcher, who did his best to block the plate, but the umpire ruled reyes safe and the Mets won…
…the team rushed from the dugout, smiling, hi-fiving and mobbing pagan and reyes, while Taking Care of Business blared from the stadium’s speakers…
…for the first time in a long, long while, i had fun watching this team…and i miss that…and from the looks on the player’s faces, so did they…
…on the final play of the game, reyes may actually have been out, but, wow, it was close…it was a bang-bang play…the umpire was between reyes and the backstop, with the catcher on the other side, so if he did tag reyes on the back – before touching home – then the ump would not have known anyway…nevertheless, he was called safe, so he was safe…
…in the 10th inning, Carlos Beltran struck out to end the inning with the winning run on base…before walking off the field, beltran swung his bat over his head and slammed it in to the ground…don’t tell me this team is not interested in winning, which has always been a silly premise…
…welcome back, John Maine, who allowed just one run and five hits while walking five and striking out one in six innings…
…pagan gets a game ball, but so does Pedro Feliciano, Billy Wagner, Joe Smith, Scott Schoeneweis and Jorge Sosa, who threw five innings of no-run relief…
…more or less all of them faced a tough spot, with runners on base, but they battled through it and won out, particularly schoeneweis, who actually got booed while entering the game to face Chase Utley with two runners on and two outs…but, he got the double play, just like he did during the home opener, but this time his defense turned it to get out of the inning…in fact, scott’s fist pump was quite telling…
…i have no idea if it’ll continue, but pagan is playing with a ton of confidence and he looks great so far…keep it going, man…we’re all behind you…
…speaking of the bullpen, today is not the day to discuss Aaron Heilman, who is totally out of sorts right now…suffice to say, drinks better have been on heilman’s tab last night…
…so, the Mets had fight tonight, stamina and toughness, and it was rewarded with a smile and win…
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