IGT 04/30, Fishsticks at Mets

[Guest Edgy DC]

LoDuca is an enemy to all rallies right now.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: If it gets too nauseating they're showing Springsteen concert on New Joisey public TV (if you happen to get that channel). Carol Miller, who took it from Tony Pigg from 10-2 on WPLJ, is hosting the between-song donation beg along with Dave Marsh, the slimy rock critic with the foresight to attach his career to Brucie's way back when.

She played Clapton when Marley died. She's dead to me.

[Guest vtmet]

runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs...Time to pinch hit for Wright with Glavine? (if I'm a little behind, I'm going by "Gameday" not by watching)...

[Guest Edgy DC]

Listen, nobody tell Randy Messenger that Cover Boy can't hit anymore.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm hearing Wright booing.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Chit.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

vt: >>>How is this NOT HIS FAULT>?<<<

I said some of his demise wasn't his fault ... shoddy D that inning,
maybe it was the wind too.

Can't see any reason to start yelling at me in CAPS, but whatever.

[Guest vtmet]

Eventhought DW signed that big contract, does that mean that he lost his "options"? Even Tatis can't be this bad....send DW down to the Pacific Coast League to feast on that AAA pitching to get his confidence back...

[Guest vtmet]

="Kid Carsey"]vt: >>>How is this NOT HIS FAULT>?<<< I said some of his demise wasn't his fault ... shoddy D that inning, maybe it was the wind too. Can't see any reason to start yelling at me in CAPS, but whatever.

I'm not yelling...I was just screwing around...I was actually thinking at the time, wouldn't it be funnier than anything (after all the solid pitchers that the Mets have had over the years), for a scrub like Park to get the first Mets No-hitter...and then he had a meltdown...

[Guest vtmet]

Why is it a "curse" for the Mets to get a guy in scoring position with NO outs? It's almost a sure-bet that he don't have a chance of scoring...Start with 2 outs and nobody on base, and the Mets are one of the best teams at scoring, but the easy "ducks on a pond" just don't seem like they have a chance of scoring...

[Guest Edgy DC]

Who are you quoting?

[Guest Edgy DC]

OK, things happening. Ting run on deck.

If only MIghty Wrighty could get a turn at bat.

Beltan looking to go 5-5.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Alou swithced out of the game, even though he hits third as the tying run next inning.

Johnny may not be able to go...

[Guest Kid Carsey]

They were speculating on the SNY broadcast that maybe Alou hurt himself
on the fly (I forget who hit it) to left when he went up against the fence a
little. I thought at the time he looked kinda funny not chasing down the bounce
off the wall (or at least making some attempt) and let Beltran fetch it.

We'll see.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Is that Keef with a cold in the booth?

Carlos Delgado bunts until further notice in my world. Enough with these jive-ass defensive alignments.

[nymr83]

Edgy DC wrote: Is that Keef with a cold in the booth? Carlos Delgado bunts until further notice in my world. Enough with these jive-ass defensive alignments.

i'd have tried it there, he's not hitting well and a bunt single is as good as any other hit in this situation.

[Guest Edgy DC]

David, you're gonna make me cry.

[Guest Rockin' Doc]

Until Wright and Delgado start to hit a little bit, the Mets offense will continue to remind me of a donut.

[Guest vtmet]

Rockin' Doc wrote: Until Wright and Delgado start to hit a little bit, the Mets offense will continue to remind me of a donut.

Probably the best solution for that is to seperate them...both are trying very hard, but their individual slumps being back to back is having an exponential effect on the other's slump..

[Willets Point]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: ="Willets Point"]Question you won't hear: "Omar, the Achilles Heel of this team is your failure to bolster the rotation over the winter and instead choosing to rely on aged, oft-injured has-been pitchers. As you watch things falling apart, what do you have to say for yourself?" I know this a joke but of course the pitching for the most part has been excellent and more it is being done by young guys than old ones. The Mets' problem is that their offense sucks.

OK, you must be the one who is kidding. In just the first month of the season the offense has won nine games by 5 runs or more and seen to it to put the team ahead by enough to keep Wagner to only 4 saves in the teams 15 wins. And this is with key players slumping, imagine how dominating they will be when everyone is hitting? The offense definitely does not suck!

Had Omar deigned to pry open his wallet for Matsuzaka and/or Zito last winter then it could have been an effective youngster like Perez pitching tonight instead of this hack Park.

[Gwreck]

Willets Point wrote: Had Omar deigned to pry open his wallet for Matsuzaka and/or Zito last winter then it could have been an effective youngster like Perez pitching tonight instead of this hack Park.

They bid $39 million for Matsuzaka and outbid the Yankees. The wallet was wide open.
Passing on Zito was a good idea...or do you disagree?
Who else would you have rather had? Gil Meche?
You can fault Omar all you want but let's be fair and throw the names out there you would have rather him acquire.

[Gwreck]

Tonight felt like one of a dozen games I went to in the 2001-2004 period, where the Mets seemed to stay just close enough to keep one hopeful but not really close enough.

Twice -- in the 3rd, with Reyes on first, and then in the 8th, with Reyes on 2nd it seemed like LoDuca was swinging for the fences. Not good.

Alou is driving me crazy. You can't really knock a guy for hitting .340+ but he's slower than LoDuca, both on the bases and in the outfield. He looked just terrible on Wood's double. The GIDP killed our best rally chance (although D. Wright took a good hack at killing the rally too). Maybe I've been spoiled by Reyes' speed in evaluating runners, or perhaps the hustle we always got from Cliff, even when he was at 50%, but Alou just looks terrible in every aspect of the game other than smacking tons of hits. Frustrating as hell.

Wright was indeed getting some boos and definetly was not hustling to first on his groundout in the 9th. Time for a day off (or two) for David. Seriously.

Random:
Oliver Perez has joined in at "Jose Reyes' Spanish Academy." Still lots of fun to see Delgado cracking up every time at whatever Jose is "teaching" that day.

Apparently this was already Beltran's 3rd 4-hit game of this year.

I generally like Dave Marsh, and while the career will always be inextricably linked with that of Mr. S., he has written some other fairly good stuff, IMO.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Mets are tops in ERA and third in OPS. Obviously neither of those exactly reflect the state of the team this exact moment.

Hernandez, though, has outpitched Zito and Matsuzaka and that's almost true even if you merge his performance with Park's tonight.

[smg58]

Gwreck wrote: ="Willets Point"]Had Omar deigned to pry open his wallet for Matsuzaka and/or Zito last winter then it could have been an effective youngster like Perez pitching tonight instead of this hack Park. They bid $39 million for Matsuzaka and outbid the Yankees. The wallet was wide open. Passing on Zito was a good idea...or do you disagree? Who else would you have rather had? Gil Meche? You can fault Omar all you want but let's be fair and throw the names out there you would have rather him acquire.

Don't forget that Freddy Garcia and Jason Jennings both rewarded their new teams by spending a chunk of April on the DL. Starting pitchers are badly overpriced right now, and Minaya has opted to look for bargains. Given that he got Hernandez, Maine, and Perez last year essentially for Kris Benson and Xavier Nady, he's not doing poorly in that regard. Yes I think it was a mistake to let Sosa pitch in New Orleans yesterday knowing he might be needed, but it's one game, and hopefully Park is gone after this.

[Centerfield]

Did we ever find out if Alou was hurt?

[Frayed Knot]

Yeah, he apparently banged an arm and cut his chin ... or something like that.
Doesn't sound major.

[Willets Point]

1. Gwreck I named the names of who Omar should have gotten. Personally I think he should have gone hard after both of them. The starting pitching was the Mets glaring weakness this offseason and these two pitchers only cost money, not prospects or experienced vets. Right now we have a situation where yes, Orlando Hernandez has pitched excellently but now he can't pitch at all when he's hurt and who knows how long it will be until he's back (and this is the second time he's been on the DL in basically the last two months of playing time). So until he returns the Mets have to scrape the bottom of the barrell. Meanwhile it raises expectations on Maine/Perez/Pelfrey to carry the load when they're not proven yet.

Now you have the alternate situation with two experienced pitchers of prime age in the rotation, then Maine/Perez/Pelfrey can mature at their own pace and can be called on to step in when someone like El Duque goes down. Basically the rotation as-is is fine for best case scenario like the first four weeks of this season, but there's no contingency plan for other scenarios. And that could be the Mets downfall.

2. More importantly, no one else has addressed Johnny Dickshot's assertion that the Mets offense sucks and that's why the Mets lost tonight. Is everyone in agreeement with this evaluation?

3. If yes to #2, are you insane?

[Gwreck]

The Mets were outbid by 12+ million on Matsuzaka but were the second-highest bidder. I find it near impossible to suggest that a 39 million dollar bid isn't going hard enough.

As for Zito, I have no doubt the Mets could've gotten him rather than the Giants if they opened up the wallet further. I disagree with you about the logic of doing so.
---

After reviewing the tape of the 3rd inning, I think the Mets defense is the proximate cause of the loss tonight.

[nymr83]

]Personally I think he should have gone hard after both of them

The Mets went hard after Matuzaka. It was BLIND bid, and given past bids a bid that should have seemed to the Mets likely to prevail.

[Guest vtmet]

IMO, Omar made the right moves pitching wise in the off season...

There is no way in hell that anyone can justify giving a mediocre "ace" like Zito, "Elite Ace" type of money for that long of a period...

You should have to "bid" $50 Mil just to get the right to talk to a player that has never played MLB baseball...

The rest of the signings around baseball are head scratchers...Guys like Meche, etc shouldn't be getting paid what they were awarded in the offseason...just like Schoeneweiss shouldn't have gotten a 3 year deal...

That's why the best strategy is probably to draft and stockpile as many good pitching arms as possible...

[Guest vtmet]

]Ahead of opposing pitcher Scott Olsen 0-2 with two out and none on, Park twice missed the strike zone, evening the count before Olsen (3-1) singled to center. Park suggested that allowing a hit to the pitcher bothered him and affected his next several pitches. He issued nine straight balls, loading the bases with walks to Ramirez and Dan Uggla that brought Miguel Cabrera to the plate.

] "But when you're walking guys and you're up and down, it tends to affect the defense," Randolph noted. "I'm sure that Easley probably misjudged his jump, but sometimes - and I'm not making excuses for it - you get up and down, up and down on your heels and all of a sudden something happens."