Daily Archives: September 25, 2009
The Mets defeated the Marlins by the score of 6-5 at Land Shark Stadium in Miami tonight.
For a full recap and box score, click here.
The Least You Should Know:
The Mets held a 3-0 lead into the fifth inning thanks to a Jeff Francoeur three run home run in the second, but Tim Redding allowed a three run home run to Hanley Ramirez in the bottom of the fifth, and then Redding and the bullpen allowed two more runs to score in the bottom of the seventh inning on a Jorge Cantu opposite field double.
The Mets scored their fourth run in the seventh inning when David Wright struck out on a wild pitch, allowing Brian Schneider to score.
In the ninth inning, the Mets loaded the bases with nobody out against Marlins closer Leo Nunez, and Cory Sullivan hit an opposite field two run single to score Francoeur and Daniel Murphy. After Brian Schneider sacrificed, the Marlins chose to walk Angel Pagan to face Castillo, and Nunez popped him up to shallow left field, and then Wright struck out.
Other Observations and Notes:
All we can ask is that the Mets play the role of spoiler, and they certainly hurt the Marlins chances of winning the Wild Card tonight.
It was great to see this group fight from start to finish – it got ugly in the seventh inning, and so many times this year it has appeared that the team was hanging their heads, but tonight they did not give up and played hard all the way through.
Ramirez owns Redding – he was 10 for 22 coming into today’s action against him and he had two more hits, including the three run home run tonight.
David Wright earned a Golden Sombrero, striking out four times for the second time this season and is now hitting just .224 with 29 strikeouts since returning from the disabled list on September 1.
Up Next:
The Mets will attempt to win this series against the Marlins tomorrow night in Miami with John Maine facing Sean West.
The Mets have claimed Staten Island native Jack Egbert off of waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
Egbert, 26, had made two relief appearances for the White Sox in April, and allowed eight runs on eight hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Tagged News |
The Mets open a three game series tonight against the Marlins, at Land Shark Stadium in Miami.
…it doesn’t have the same ring as, say “Busch Stadium” has…
Angel Pagan will lead off, followed in order by Luis Castillo, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Daniel Murphy, Jeff Francoeur, Josh Thole, and Anderson Hernandez.
Tim Redding (3-6, 5.25 ERA) will start for the Mets. Redding pitched a gem last Saturday against the Nationals, completing seven innings and allowing just a run on four hits. On August 27 he pitched into the seventh inning against the Marlins and allowed three runs on five hits while earning the victory, but in three starts in 2009, Redding is 1-3 with an 8.04 ERA against them overall.
Ricky Nolasco (12-9, 5.34 ERA) will start for the Marlins. Nolasco has won three of his past four starts, including a 6-3 win at Citi Field on September 9 when he pitched into the seventh inning and allowed three runs. He is 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA in three appearances against the Mets this season.
White Sox reliever Octavio Dotel told the Chicago Sun-Times that he’d like to return to New York, preferring to sign with the Mets, followed by the Yankees.
The 35–year-old Dotel is 7–7 with a 3.58 ERA in 133 appearances for the White Sox in the last two seasons, during which he has struck out 166 hitters in 128 innings.
…first off, every time i see dotel’s name in print i think of Rickey Henderson, who, back in 1999, for some reason, used to pronounce his name ‘do-teal’…
…from what i recall, the Mets had interest in dotel during the 2006 and 2007 off seasons, but only on a one-year, incentive-laden deal…
…i always liked doteal’s attitude, i mean dotel, especially during his rookie season at Shea…i will never forget his energy-level when nearly pitching a no-hitter…
The Mets traded Dotel to the Astros with Roger Cedeno and Kyle Kessel in return for Mike Hampton and Derek Bell.
For what it’s worth, the Mets selected David Wright with the supplemental draft-pick awarded to them from the Rockies, who later signed Hampton to an eight-year, $121 million contract as a free agent.
Tagged News |Earlier this week, the New York Times and Daily News both said the Mets will not re-hire Ramon Pena, a special assistant to GM Omar Minaya.
In a posto the Mets Minor League Blog, Toby Hyde lists nine reasons ways to view Pena’s dismissal.
According to the Times, “The departure of Pena is expected to be part of a larger shakeup in scouting and player development.”
…minor league politics has always alluded me… however, in reading Gotham Baseball the last few years, it is quite clear to me Mark Healey understands all of the players, what they do, and how they do it, and so i asked him a few questions to try and better understand it all:
Matthew Cerrone: Do you think it matters that the Mets plan to shake-up the minor-league department? They’ve done this before, it seems?
Mark Healey: It’s not uncommon for clubs to shuffle their minor league operations every few years or so, especially when the results are mixed. Given the high profile of the Tony Bernazard firing, the departures of other high-ranking minor league executives – many of whom were hired or had ties to Bernazard – should have been expected…
Tagged News |MetsBlog reader Ben Testa sent in an e-mail saying:
“Opposing teams at Citi have hit 81 home runs, which is tied with Washington for fifth-most in the NL. In other words, Citi Field is not an insurmountable park for home runs. People who are screaming for fences to be brought
in or shortened really don’t have an argument. T he Mets just need to get a home run hitter and build a pitching staff that can play to the dimensions of the park… Mets pitchers have given up 71 home runs on the road.”
…exactly, ben… the Mets problem is not the ballpark, or at least it’s not all on the ballpark… by subtracting Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, plus an enigmatic season from David Wright, the Mets were never going to hit a ton of home runs this season, regardless of wind patterns or wall heights…
…put it this way, the Phillies, who play in a hitter-friendly park, have 213 home runs this season, best in the National League… remove Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Chase Utley, and they sink to second-to-last in baseball…
…don’t over think it… hitters park, pitchers park, whatever… you need home-run hitters to hit home runs… it’s that’s simple…
Tagged News |Next season, I’d like to see every Mets fan who attends Citi Field wearing a blue shirt… nothing but blue… wear a blue Mets jersey, 
where a generic blue t-shirt, a blue jacket, this Mets jacket, whatever… but make it blue… this way, Citi Field will get the splash of blue paint it is sorely missing.
Cardinals fans wear nothing but red to games, like this, creating a powerful, cohesive sea of Cardinal Red in every corner of the building… I think it would be equally powerful if we did the same with blue in Citi Field.
Why? Well, earlier in the season, I was talking with someone high up in the Mets organization, who said, “Blue and orange are fine for the uniform, but they’re kind of tacky for the ballpark,” which would explain the buidling’s overusage of gun-metal grey.
So, if every fan in Citi Field wore blue, we could at least take some control of how the ballpark looks.
Update, 11:07 am:
Why blue and not orange? I have a feeling more people already own blue shirts… from looking at the team store, Modells, etc., it seems like there are more shirts available in blue than orange.
Tagged News |Ted Berg of SNY.TV explains why Adam Rubin of the Daily 
News could be wrong to say the Mets have failed in their strategy to sign and develop international free agents.
In a post to Mack’s Mets, Mack Ade asks, “Is Tobi Stoner already in the dog house.”
The Mets are not having fun, ‘as they play out the string,’ explains David Lennon in a report for Newsday.
Eric Simon posts a terrific graphic on Amazin Avenue showing the NL East race from start to finish.
…oh, May, how i miss thee…
Jorge Says No wonders if 2009 is a blessing in disguise for the Mets.
Michael Ganci of the Daily Stache, reveals the truth behind Cow Bell-Man.
Lastly, John Delcos of New York Mets Report asks, “If the season could be condensed into a single song, what would it be?”
Tagged News |Jayson Stark of ESPN.com believes the Cubs have never shown any interest in trading Carlos Zambrano, despite recent reports suggesting otherwise.
In a follow up from Baseball Prospectus, Christina Kahrl writes:
“If Jim Hendry’s lucky, a starter-hungry team might deal for Zambrano out of a unique conviction that they know how to turn him around or that they just need that one pitcher who will put them over the top. Paging Omar Minaya?”
…typically, teams will meet at the end of September to discuss a general plan for the off season, which is fine tuned following the GM Meetings in November… none of this has happened yet… so, it’s hard to take any of these sorts of rumors seriously… that said, i will not be surprised to see a TON of Zambrano-Cubs-Mets rumors this off season, because he’s a controversial, former-No.2 pitcher, and the Mets are in need of a No. 2 pitcher…
Tagged News |In a post to MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes looks at what will likely be the main storylines this off season, from the Aroldis Chapman Sweepstakes to the future of Roy Halladay and, “Will the Mets reduce payroll for 2010, despite multiple needs?”
…i heard from two people this week, neither of whom know one another, one with the team, one in the business community, and both said 
Bernie Madoff may have paid the Wilpons back roughly half the money they initially invested… which may explain the difference in reports suggesting they lost $700 million, while some say they lost $300 million…
…as far as the team spending money on improving the roster… i keep reading that Omar Minaya can only spend $15 million on new acquisitions… but, i am not 100 percent convinced of this…
…i mean, like every team in baseball, including the Yankees, reports suggest the Mets will cut payroll… for what it’s worth, i have also heard investors are insisting the Yankees trim roughly 20 percent… i also sense the Mets are willing to eat dollars to move players who they feel occupy positions that can be upgraded… i interpret that to mean Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez, but that’s a total guess… i have no idea how eating salary factors in to the rumored $15 million number that is floating around, since they’re sunk costs… and so, i will not judge the team’s spending until i actually see what they spend it on, and how it stacks up against other teams…
Tagged News |
