Thursday, May 28, 2009

The comment section is shut down for the night.

The site must remain stable while while I complete an update.

The comment section will re-open tomorrow, for good, with a new policy and system for joining the discussion.

Next step, building a co-existing MetsBlog Message Board, though I suspect this will take time to develop.

I truly appreciate everyone’s support and understanding during this adjustment, and Let’s Go Mets.

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In his recent Rumblings & Grumblings column for ESPN.com, Jayson Stark explains:

“While the Mets have explored the first-base market, we hear: (A) they don’t like their options, (B) they think they’ll have more and better options by July, (C) they’re still holding out hope that Carlos Delgado will be back and (D) they see no urgency to strike now as long as they’re surviving all their injuries and hanging in the race. So they look more like July shoppers than springtime shoppers, for now.”

Speaking of first baseman, Stark believes the Braves are interested in acquiring Indians utility-man Mark DeRosa.  This morning, Buster Olney of ESPN.com said the Yankees have interest in DeRosa as well.

Stark also lists 10 starting pitchers who could be available in July, including Roy Oswalt and Brandon Webb, and the Phillies have inquired about all of them.

Speaking of pitchers, Stark lists the top five teams Jake Peavy would wave his no-trade rights to pitch for, and the Mets are not one of them.

Stark also provides information on the arrival of Matt Wieters; John Smoltz’s rehab; and Pirates SS Jack Wilson, ‘who remains eminently available.’

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Finally, after four months, I have updated the Other Mets Blogs section of this site’s sidebar.

There are now close to 100 blogs specifically about the Mets listed in this site’s sidebar, which is, well, ‘amazin.’

Among those added, I am particularly intrigued by:

• Oh Murph, ‘for all things Murph,’ as it says;
• Fan Fury, which is clever and witty;
• Kiner’s Korner, and its Benitez Meter;
• The Real Dirty Mets Blog, which was started by readers from MetsBlog;
• Bugs and Cranks, where Brad Bartone does a fantastic job of being insightful yet funny in his criticism of the team.
• Disgruntled Mets Fan, where Joe and Dave do a great job of capturing the mood swing among Mets fans;
• Mandatory Mustache, which is dedicated to Mets with mustaches.

Like always, I will do my best to include links to these blogs in posts on MetsBlog.com, as they are all doing noteworthy work.

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Last week, I asked readers to send me questions for Jerry Manuel.

Yesterday, Kevin Burkhardt introduced me to Manuel, who agreed to do a Q&A once-per-homestand with me and SNY.TV.

My goal is to solicit questions from you, synthesize the general ideas, and bring them to Manuel’s attention for answers on items that are most pressing to fans.

Yesterday, for the initial run, Burkhardt did the interview, and asked Manuel about using stats compared to ‘going with his gut,’ and whether he ever considers being thrown out of a game for the sole purpose of firing up his team and the crowd.

Here is the written transcript, otherwise scroll down and click play to watch the full, three-minute interview:

Kevin Burkhardt: Obviously, you have numbers upon numbers, do you use them a lot when you’re managing, when you’re making out a lineup, or are you more of a feel guy?

Jerry Manuel: Well, I would hope that I’m more of a ‘feel guy,’ I try to be more of a ‘feel guy.’  The only time that I look at that particular data or history is if I know nothing about the particular player… But, for the most part, I try to read and learn our players and then try to learn the opposition… I use the statistics pretty much as confirmation as to the decision I made. I’ll look back and say, ‘At least it lines up with the stats,’ and sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.

Kevin Burkhardt: But, what happens if it doesn’t?  Oh well?

Jerry Manuel: (Laughing) Yeah, oh well.  I’ll check my gut again next time, you know, that type of thing.

Kevin Burkhardt: The fans always love it when the manager gets in to it with the umpire… Is there ever a situation that you go out to argue to get your team fired up, to get the crowd in to it?  Does that ever come in to play?

Jerry Manuel: Not for me.  I basically tell my players that I’m dealing in truth.  If you’re right, I’m gonna back you 110 percent, and I’m gonna fight for you until the end.  If you’re wrong, so be it…

I think it’s unfair and unfortunate to take your frustrations out and trying to use another man to get in to an argument with another man to infuse fire in to your team.  I just don’t believe that that’s the right thing to do.  I think the right thing to do is to fight for your players when you feel they’re right.

Kevin Burkhardt: You realize that the Mets fan will say, ‘The right way is whatever way favors the Mets,’ right?

Jerry Manuel: (Laughing) Well, I can understand that, I’m a Met fan as a Met manager.  But, for the most part, if I see it a different way, I’ll go out an politely discuss it, for the most part.

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Here are a few pictures that I took while wandering around Citi Field:

The following is of a two-inch Smurf, on the telephone, which has been sitting on the ledge in the Mets dugout for two days by the stairs that lead to the clubhouse:

Mike Pelfrey told me it is a good-luck charm, though he may have been joking with me.  In either case, several people said it belongs to the trainers, which, given the health of the team, may make this more of a voodoo doll if you ask me.

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Update, 1:48 pm:

In the last half hour, several people emailed me to say Howie Rose on WFAN was outraged about this during the game.

According to listeners, Rose was passionate, angry, and ‘went bananas,’ saying, “How long is Jerry Manuel going to allow this type of thing to happen,” referring to an overall lack of hustle among players on his roster.

Original Post:

Fernando Martinez hit a lazy pop-up in front of home plate last night that bounced off the catcher and landed by the pitcher, who threw Martinez out at first base by roughly 50 feet, because Martinez never ran down the line.

…the worst part, i think, is he watched the play, rolled his eyes and made zero effort to run until he saw the pitcher about to throw… very, very disappointing… frankly, i am surprised Ron Darling and Gary Cohen didn’t make a bigger deal of this, as they usually do…

Following the game, Jerry Manuel labeled Martinez’s mistake a ‘huge mistake,’ adding, however, he acknowledged that this is not typical of Martinez’s behavior.

Martinez late told reporters, “I don’t know why that happened, but I promise it’s never going to happen again.”

…it was a horrible, horrible play… in some ways, i’d like to see him punished, either by not playing today, or something else, because, unlike a veteran, here you have a young player who can be influenced… at the same time, a) the team is in need of every bat they have, and b) he should be allowed to make a mistake, especially when learning at this level, so not to spook him off track… either way, if this happens again, ego or no ego, he needs to be benched, though i don’t think you’ll see this again…

Earlier in the game, Martinez was received a slight jeer from the crowd when he layed up on an awkward pop up hit in foul territory, which landed right at the base of the wall.

…i give him a pass on this one, because even the most experienced veterans have struggled with that short wall and limited foul ground… this is a play that cannot be rehearsed in practice, so there’s only one way to get used to it, and that’s in real time when it happens…

According to Mike Puma in the New York Post, “The honeymoon is over for the rookie Martinez.”

…well, i wouldn’t go that far… i mean, sure, the fact is, this is New York, the Mets are good, they’re in first place, and they mean business… so, while errors are acceptable to a certain extent, we don’t have all day to babysit the development of a promising career… but, to suggest the honeymoon is over, mike, as if martinez is now going to get booed every at bat, i think that’s not accurate…

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Yet again, the Mets had another home run under review by the umpiring crew last night.

According to the Daily News, the Mets have been involved in five of the 12 home-run calls that have been reviewed.

The call in question was in the sixth inning, when Daniel Murphy skied a pop up to right field that dropped in play on to the warning track, the original call from the ump indicated it was not a home run, but a hit, on which Gary Sheffield was eventually thrown out at the plate.

The umpires huddled in the tunnel, reviewed the play, and over-turned it, concluding that the ball hit the advertisement on the face of the Pepsi Porch.

Manny Acta had the following to say after the game, according to the Daily News:

“Something has to be done, because this was supposed to be to help make the right call, help the umpires… It’s supposed to be a clear-cut home run. If it is so inconclusive like the last couple of days, then the call shouldn’t be changed. They either need to get more, better feeds, or something. I am not a geometry expert, but that hangs over the warning track… Looking at that video, I couldn’t see the ball hit the sign.”

…i’ll be honest, i didn’t see it… my wife loves this stuff, so she made me rewind and replay it a dozen times, and i didn’t see enough evidence to overturn it… SNY’s Gary Cohen seemed to feel, on air, that the ball changed trajectory, suggesting it hit something, which, according to the ground rules, makes it a home run… again, i didn’t see it… but, i may also need glasses, so who knows… either way, hey, home run, go murph…

In a post to Brooklyn Met Fan, Adam explains why MLB should consider using sound stripes on different point of the home-run wall, and items in play, to help in these situations.

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