Daily Archives: August 28, 2008
Click play below to watch Mike Pelfrey help out a young fan as he fell over the outfield railing at Citizens Bank Park during batting practice.
Wow, that was a scary fall. Glad he was ok. Good for Mike to comfort the the little guy.
Tagged Mike Nichols, Mike Pelfrey |
The hearings into Anibal Sanchez’s service time grievance finished last week, but no decision is expected until next year. If he wins, he will qualify for arbitration after the 2009 season.
The Braves are so desperate for pitching that they signed Elmer Dessens off a Mexican League team. He pitched poorly in 2007, but that was his first truly bad year.
The Phillies and Cubs usher in the replay era tonight in Chicago. With Philadelphia ranking first and Chicago fourth in home runs, the umpires might get a chance to use the new equipment tonight.
Rick Eckstein joins the coaching staff of the Nationals, making Chico Harlan wonder if Lenny Harris job is in jeopardy. Eckstein is credited with turning around Ryan Langerhans’s season.
For more real-time information, news, links and stats from around MLB, check out Baseball Musings.
Today on 
‘s New York Baseball Today, I talk with Harold Reynolds about how the Mets move on from a big series in Philly and whether the Yankees are out of the pennant race. To check it out, click play below:
To submit a question for tomorrow’s edition of New York Baseball Today, featuring Alex Belth of Bronx Banter and myself, e-mail baseball@sny.tv. Tagged SNY, Ted Berg |
David Lennon at Newsday says that David Wright and Jose Reyes have to make some room in the MVP talk following last night’s two home run performance by Carlos Delgado.
According to Lennon, Delgado has been more instrumental in the Mets turnaround this season.
Since the Mets were four games back of first place on June 27, Delgado leads the NL with 19 HR and 58 RBI.
…like many of you, i never thought i would see such a dramatic turnaround from delgado…if he continues to come up with clutch hits, there is no doubt that he should be considered for mvp…
George A. King III of the New York Post reports the Yankees have placed RHP Carl Pavano on waivers.
Pavano, who is due $1.83 million the rest of the season and can be a free-agent at the end of the season, made his first start in nearly two years August 23 versus the Orioles, allowing three runs on seven hits over five innings.
With John Maine possibly being shut down for the season, why not take a chance on Pavano if he becomes available to the Mets through waivers. Pavano does have a connection to Omar Minaya when he briefly played under Minaya in Montreal in 2002 before being traded to the Marlins.
Or, as Adam Schein says on SNY’s Loud Mouths, “it’s Carl Pavano!”
Tagged Mike Nichols |
The Philadelphia Fun Police are at it again.
According to David Lennon and Wallace Matthews at Newsday, Jimmy Rollins made another reference to the home run celebrations by the Mets.
Rollins was quoted as saying:
“We don’t talk about celebrations, we just notice them … Nobody in particular. The whole team, you know.”
…for the translation of that quote, please click here…
In the eighth inning of last night’s come-for-behind win versus the Phillies, Daniel Murphy, who was mired in an 0-for-16 slump, came to the plate with the scored tied at three with two on and two out to face Phillies closer Brad Lidge.
Murphy lined a clutch double to left to score the go-ahead run and put the Mets in the lead for good.
Jerry Manuel, on his confidence in Murphy, speaking to reporters after the game:
“I feel very comfortable. He is very good hitter. We’ve seen him in one of his better streaks and now we see him somewhat struggle, coming back to normal. But at the same time he is putting together good at-bats. I feel very confident when he is at the plate. I never thought about pinch hitting for him. He is a part of what we are doing and feel like he can come through for us and he did.”
Unlike Manuel, I thought either Fernando Tatis or Damion Easley should have pinch hit for Murphy when Phillies LHP Scott Eyre came on to pitch in the sixth. I’m glad Manuel had faith in his young player, because it certainly paid off later.
Tagged Mike Nichols |
On Monday, September 1, Major League rosters will expand beyond 25 players.
…the buzz from Shea Stadium is that we should not expect the team to call up every young player known to man…in years past, the Mets have always said they did not want to bring on a whole new crop of young players, who will not be used, and who will make the locker room more crowded, all in the middle of a pennant race…so, i imagine the same can be said for this September…
…that said, from what i can gather, players who are likely to be promoted include Jon Niese, Robert Parnell, Al Reyes and Brandon Knight, as well as Ricardo Rincon, who was reacquired yesterday, while Fernando Martinez, Mike Carp and Eddie Kunz, among others, will remain on the sidelines…
…i also expect that Trot Nixon, Orlando Hernandez, Matt Wise and others will eventually be moved to the 60–day disabled list, creating all sorts of creative options for the post-season rost, err, umm, well, nevermind…
In the Mets 6 to 3 win against the Phillies last night, Johan Santana earned a no-decision, allowing three runs (2 HR) on five hits and three walks through six innings, throwing 106 pitches.
In the sixth inning, Santana allowed a leadoff double to Pat Burrell and walked Ryan Howard, but then struck out Shane Victorino, got Jayson Werth to pop out, and then struck out Pedro Feliz to end the inning.
Santana, on the getting through the sixth inning, speaking with reporters after the game:
“I stayed focused on trying to keep the ball down. I mixed in all my pitches and tried not to make a mistake like I did earlier in the game. They fouled off a lot of pitches and that was the reason why I had to come out of the game so early.”
Santana had a rough first two innings, but then settled down and pitched brilliantly over the next four innings.
Tagged Mike Nichols |During last night’s come from behind win versus the Phillies, Carlos Delgado was 3-for-4 with 2 HR and 3 RBI.
Delgado, on putting the team on his back, speaking with reporters after the game:
“That wasn’t the plan. It wasn’t the way we scripted it, but it worked out that way. We stayed close. We came up with a couple hits and Murphy came up with a big hit. You play against these guys, you’ve got to keep it close. It’s a big win for us to bounce back from a game like yesterday. We’re all happy.”
On coming back after a tough loss:
“It shows we have a lot of character here and we have short term memories. Last night was a tough loss, but we were able to put that behind us and come back an play. That’s important, if you lose a game or two and start worrying about that you’re going to be in trouble.”
Delgado, on fighting the demons of last September:
“Whatever happened last year, it happened and we put it behind us. We are in a different frame of mind. We’re not thinking about September of 2007, we’re thinking about going out and playing good baseball right now.”
Since June 27, Delgado leads the National League with 19 HR and 58 RBI, while hitting .310.
As Keith Hernandez mentioned during SNY’s broadcast last night, it’s time for Delgado to be mentioned in National League MVP conversation.
As I said in last night’s postGame, Delgado winning the MVP would have a lot of people eating crow, if they’re not already.
Tagged Mike Nichols | ← Older posts
