Daily Archives: June 23, 2008
The Mets (37–38) lost to the Mariners (27–49) by the score of 5 to 2 in Shea Stadium tonight.
For a recap, boxscore, stats, etc., go to SNY.tv.
However, in case you missed it, know that – despite a nice defensive play by Carlos Delgado, two strong innings of relief from Duaner Sanchez and Aaron Heilman, Carlos Beltran
stealing third and scoring on a wild pitch, five very-good innings from Johan Santana, and a chance to tie the game with one swing in the ninth – this game essentially came down to a bobbled ground ball by David Wright, which should have ended the second inning, but, instead, allowed it to continue and so Felix Hernandez – the young pitcher, who later left the game with an injury – hit a grand slam to give the Seattle a lead its decimated bullpen would never relinquish.
What a let down, in that today felt like a second opening day.
So much so that, before the game, Jerry Manuel told reporters this was, ‘a huge, huge game.’
The goal, however, is to now win the next two, take the series and finally push to one game over .500, which has been quite a solid ceiling for this team of late.
The Mets continue their series against the Mariners tomorrow night at Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm, with Oliver Perez (5-4, 5.06 ERA) taking on RA Dickey (1-3, 5.77 ERA).
The Game:
The Mets (37-37) begin a three-game series against the Mariners (26-49) tonight at Shea Stadium, starting 7:10 pm.
The Lineup:
- SS Jose Reyes
- 2B Luis Castillo
- 3B David Wright
- CF Carlos Beltran
- 1B Carlos Delgado
- LF Trot Nixon
- C Ramon Castro
- RF Endy Chavez
- P Johan Santana
The Pitchers:
LHP Johan Santana (7-5, 3.04 ERA) starts for the Mets. In 16 career games, nine starts, Santana is 7-1 with 2.92 ERA versus the Mariners. He is 3-1 with a 2.93 ERA in six home starts this season.
RHP Felix Hernandez (6-5, 2.87 ERA) starts for the Mariners. This is Hernandez first career start versus the Mets. He is 3-2 with a 1.90 ERA in six road starts this season.
How To Catch It:
Tonight’s game can be seen locally on SNY and heard locally on WFAN.
The Bleachers:
For a live chat, head over to The Hot Foot Bleachers.
…enjoy, and as always, Let’s Go Mets…
Tagged Mike Nichols |Today at the MLB Offices in New York City, MLB announced Welcome Back Veterans, a national initiative to support American Veterans returning from military service.
Fred Wilpon talked with reporters today following the event, and had the following to say about Willie Randolph:
“I can only tell you what happened, and what happened was, Omar, I said, from the very beginning would have the decision. He, obviously, confers with people. On Sunday, during the double header, he called me at the end of the double header and asked me whether we could meet. We went down to his office and we called Jeff on the telephone, and he told us what his recommendation was going to be and that, what he wanted to do was replace Willie and the two coaches and that he wanted to do it expeditiously. He wanted to do in person, and he said he wanted to think – as he always does, Omar – he said, ‘I want to think about it overnight and sleep on it, can we reconvene on a conference call or a meeting at 9 o’clock Monday morning. That call came through, he told us and others on the phone what he wanted to do, ownership go ahead and he said he wanted to implement it immediately because there were a lot of leaks, through two or three weeks, about what was going to happen – so he wanted to bear out his commitment to Willie, which was to tell him in person. he flew out to California, and at the end of the game he told Willie what the decision was. Those are the facts…
“The intent here was to respect Willie and to do it in person. It’s never easy to fire some body. Believe me, it’s not easy to do. And, Omar took a lot of time, and we took time, listening to him and thinking about it and he finally made his decision and he wanted to respect Willie and that’s what he did…
“It’s all about performance. Recognize, we gave Willie the chance, Omar gave him the chance, to be in this position. He had never been a manager in the major leagues or the minor leagues, and I think he did a good job. I think the results of the last 14 months were not up to what we thought that they had to be.”
Regarding the job Omar Minaya has done as General Manager of the Mets, Wilpon said:
“I think Omar has done a great job.”
To watch clips from Wilpon’s talk with reporters, courtesy of SNY, click the play button below:
In an article for SNY.tv, Ted Berg discusses the New York Post’s desperate need to create a headline out of Jerry Manuel’s “fertilizer” comment.
Berg goes on to note why the Mets shouldn’t mirror that desperation by renting a part-time player before the July 31st trade deadline.
Berg writes:
“Unlike the Post, the Mets are not pitted against the inexorable march of the internet. The Mets must only conquer the Phillies, Marlins, Braves and Nationals in 2008, a prospect looking more realistic with every Phillies loss. The Flushing Nine are 3 1/2 games out of first place despite their .500 winning percentage. The Mets, despite how it seemed last week, are not quite dead yet. But to stay alive for 2008 and beyond, they must not do anything stupid. They should leave that to the Post.”
“The team could use a roster adjustment and I’d love to see Omar swing a deal for a young cog that could drive help the Mets in Shea and to Citi Field in 2009. I just don’t want to see Minaya trade something of value for a used spare part that will inevitably break down and leave the Mets stranded on the side of the Road to October.”
…the pressure is on omar to at least reach the playoffs, if not more…failure to do so will probably cost him his job, but hopefully he has the foresight not to make any “emergency” moves which will hurt the team in the long run…
Tagged Omar Minaya, Regis Courtemanche, Ted Berg |
On a scale of 1–10, 10 being ‘100 percent confident,’ 1 being ‘No confidence at all,’ how confident are you in the overall future-direction of the Mets?
[Poll=126]
Tagged Poll |
In a report for Newsday, citing ‘industry sources,’ Neil Best reports WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog, ‘the most successful, influential show in sports talk radio history, could soon be history itself.’
…i recall hearing that WFAN will be moving from Astoria to Manhattan…and so, maybe the above news can be connected to that…who knows…
…either way, i guess change is in the air at WFAN…
…what’s more, the buzz in New York City continues to suggest that the Mets are asking for a huge amount of money from WFAN to stay with the radio station beyond 2008…it’s a dollar figure that WFAN will never be able to meet…in fact, from what i can gather, there are people with WFAN who seem to feel there is no way the Mets will be back…
Tagged WFAN |Last Friday, in the Rocky Mountain News, Tracy Ringolsby reported that the Mets had hired former Cincinnati Reds GM Wayne Krivsky as a major league scout.
Turns out, according to a team press release, Krivsky will actually serve as a special assistant to Omar Minaya.
…i have seen a lot of people suggest that krivsky has been hired to fill minaya’s shoes, in the event minaya is eventually fired…the thing is, why would minaya hire a man to replace him…that just makes no sense…
…instead, i’m betting that krivsky was brought on by minaya because the two guys worked together in Texas, and omar loves bringing back old friends in to the fold, and krivsky has a great reputation for scouting young talent, such was his work with the Twins and Reds…it’s trading that young talent away for better talent that he seems to struggle with…
Over the weekend, Jerry Manuel told reporters that, while Billy Wagner is his ‘closer,’ Duaner Sanchez will now be the team’s ‘set-up man,’ Joe Smith will be the team’s ‘right-handed specialist,’ and Pedro Feliciano will be the ‘left-handed specialist,’ while Claudio Vargas will be their ‘long man.’
Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis were not mentioned, suggesting they are of the ‘all-purpose’ variety.
…from what i understand, the lack of ‘defined roles in the bullpen’ was a big issue between the team’s relief pitchers and Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson…you know the old story, baseball players are creatures of habits, they like to know what their job will be when they get to the park, especially relievers, as it helps with how they prepare…so, whether manuel actually sticks with this plan, who knows…but, in the short term, it at least sends a signal that there may be some regularity out there…
Ryan Church will likely play in a rehab game for Single-A Brooklyn this week, with the hope of returning to Shea Stadium this weekend against the Yankees.
Meanwhile, prior to yesterday’s game, Jerry Manuel told reporters that, while Moises Alou could eventually return to action, he is approaching the rest of the season as though Alou will not be back.
Also, Manuel said he will continue to sit Luis Castillo, who is not ‘100 percent,’ suggesting that the second baseman could eventually end up on the disabled list.
“I don’t see Luis moving as well as I’d like to see him moving right now,” said Manuel, adding, “We’re going to do what we can to keep him fresh.”
Speaking of second base, according to Anthony Di Como of MLB.com, though he has not officially retired, Jose Valentin told the Mets he is ‘done playing for the season.’
…lastly, from what i can gather, Angel Pagan is still working hard in St. Lucie while recovering from a shoulder injury…he can throw and catch, and is still working to hit from both sides of the plate…
Tagged Moises Alou, Ryan Church |
Yesterday, before the game, Jerry Manuel was asked if the booing at Shea Stadium can be draining on his team, specifically with regards to Aaron Heilman, to which the manager replied:
“That’s a good question. I don’t know if it drains a team as much as it affects that individual. I think it does have an effect on the individual more so than the team…It’s painful, but it’s also growth.
“I’m going to say this, and I hope you all don’t take it wrong, I know you’re going to run out of here with something crazy on this: It’s very, very fertile ground for growth at Shea Stadium. It’s fertile ground for a team’s growth and development. Sometimes, fertile ground has fertilizer. But, fertilizer is a good thing. It’s a good thing. You get the greatest results, you get the most beautiful plants, when you put it in that type of fertile soil. That’s what we have the opportunity to do. Don’t take that wrong, because I know what you’re going to do with it.”
Sure enough, in the New York Post, beat writer Bart Hubbach pens a report with the headline: “Manuel Likens Angry Mets Fans to Fertilizer, New Manager Puts Foot in Mouth Again.”
In the report, Hubbach leads by writing:
“Angry Mets fans are a big pile of … fertilizer? Manager Jerry Manuel apparently thinks so, at least when it comes to their harsh treatment of reliever Aaron Heilman at Shea Stadium this season.”
…for starters, the first time manuel said, ‘fertilizer,’ he laughed, as did more or less every reporter in the room…
…also, for what it’s worth, hubbach does not write the headline…that’s a different person’s job at the newspaper, i think, so, boo to that person…however, hubbach has to know what manuel was really trying to say, like Adam Rubin seemed to understand in a post to his blog for the Daily News…
…i mean, this quote could just as easily been framed as Mets Fan = Nurturer, i.e., a person who wants the best for his team and so he pushes the players to be the best they can be…instead, the post framed of the quote as something else, leading to emotional, irrational responses like the following:
According to WFAN’s morning host Craig Carton, ‘Mets fans are under attack by Manuel,’ and so Carton is going to boo Manuel tonight at Shea Stadium.
…as much as i enjoy his radio show, carton is a joker at times, so he may have been just trying to incite a riot for ratings…which, if the case, makes him a bit disingenuous, but such is the job of talk radio i guess…if, however, he is serious, it means he is lazy for not researching this better, or it means he is crazy…
…carton also works hard, too hard in fact, to be a populist Mets fan, ‘defending the honor of Mets fans,’ as he likes to say, and in some case i think he is so quick to take up a cause he does not think the sceanrio all the way the through…
…whatever the case, it feels like hubbach and carton should be covering the Presidential Election, instead of sports, if they’re going to comb over statements and twist them in to stories for the sake of having something to react to…
[Poll=125]
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