Okay

[Guest Kid Carsey]

Screw soul-searching, it's ass-kicking time.

They can search their souls all winter.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, I think the soul-searching was scheduled for 2:00-3:00. Those with unfound souls will be asked to excuse themselves.

[Benjamin Grimm]

This really shouldn't be hard. All they have to do is win three of five from the Nationals, Cardinals and Marlins. That would at least clinch a tie and would require the Phillies to win all five of their remaining games, which probably won't happen.

They REALLY should be able to go 3-2 against these opponents.

It's a sign of how awful the Mets have been that this does seem like a daunting task.

[seawolf17]

Really? Just win tonight. Everything else will take care of itself... because then you're only talking about 2-2 over the next four.

Just win, baby.

By the way, this is my favorite thread in CPF history that doesn't involve Latvia.

[metirish]

While I agree with Yancy I think Edgy is talking about us as a forum...we need the encouragement ,the soul-searching is for the forum....you can say stop anytime you want Edgy....

[Guest Edgy DC]

Why not?

Although, if you had looked deep within yourself, looked for that focus and direction and resilience to avoid the mental errors and sloppiness, why is there no space after your fecking comma?!

Damn it, people, this is the big leagues.

[seawolf17]

And technically... only three dots in an ellipsis. But now I'm just being a grammar nerd.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Punctuation nerd, technically.

[seawolf17]

I can throw in spelling nerd too, if you'd like.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Thank you, no.

How cool is it that John Stearns has a little 12 floating above his throwing shoulder?

[Guest Kid Carsey]

I dot dot dot the way I wanna dot dot dot and that ain't likely gonna change.
I use dot dot dot to separate thoughts in sentences on forums and emails.
Doesn't mean I'd misuse dot dot dot in professionul corespondince.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I've noticed, when editing and proofreading UMDB memories, that a lot of people use the three dots in lieu of a period.

"I went to Shea last night...A guy was there who looked like Tim Teufel...It wasn't him but it looked like him...LOL!"

Sometimes I can tell at a glance that the post will require a lot of editing. It takes me a much longer time to get around to those.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

Bummer ... that's gotta suck.

[Valadius]

I think there's still hope left. We just gotta focus on us. Also, our bullpen needs to be better managed, and we gotta steal more bases. That's one thing that's been missing recently. But we've got plenty of hot bats.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I wouldn't be telling them to steal more bases.

Some of the problems of the last two weeks have been caused by steal attempts in foolish situations.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

Could you imagine if that rally last night ended with Chavez getting thrown
out at third? Obviously it didn't, but the WHAT IF'S would've go on from now
until xmas if it mattered in the long run.

[Valadius]

We just need to look for better situations to steal in, then. Could be a one-run or two-run difference to each ballgame.

[soupcan]

Um, fellas?

The offense ain't the problem.

[Vic Sage]

how dare you state the obvious?

[Zvon]

So its come to this.
Im a big fan of both Willits and J.D. and its a sad day when I see them bitch slappin each other.
Great thing about this forum is it takes all kinds.
Attitudes, opinions, perspectives, ....experiences.

Some will be positive, some median, some negative.
Some over the top, some under the radar.

I don't think I can remember a season in which I expected more and was served an easy glide from the gate up until,....
I guess the Phils 4 game sweep in Philly.

Then it became a roller coaster ride that has led into a nightmaresk haunted house.
Yea, we are feeling it----the pressure.
And we are just fans, lol.

Im a big fan of W.P.'s spirit and attitude, and J.D.s wit and wisdom.

And I know you two have been fan's of each other long before I ever came along.

This will all be over in a couple a days, one way or the other.
Whether we are up, down, positive or pessimistic,
we should all exercise empathy to a certain extent.
And now, especially during these next few days, we should all stand together and take whatever is in store for us,...
together.

If its painful, it hurts less when we can water it down together with our very tears.
If its jubilant, such joy will be magnified and multiplied as together, our tears of joy raise us all till our cup runneth over.

Its a win / win situation for us.
_______Fin~~~~~~~~~

Man, I can really lay it on when I want,Ha!.
All I wanted to say was please stop snapping guys. Instead I waxed.
Lets rally around Edgy's lead.
If this was the 70's I'd sneak you into the Shea clubhouse to give that speech Edge.

And Peterson is the one who should take time with the arm staff.
Those words from Wags would be nice--these day's I don't see players stepping up like that.
If Peterson is all that, now is the time to prove it.
And I don't mean wave a magic wand and make things all right.
I mean at least TRY and say the words that might help those arms realize that they are here because they are major league calibre arms.
They already made the grade.

After the pressure of this stretch, the post season will seem like a pajama party......if they make it.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

="soupcan"]Um, fellas? The offense ain't the problem.

Sure it is... in a way.

Reyes is going as badly as he ever has in his career*, we seemingly can't stop making ill-advised baserunning dares**, we tend to have too many innings where we go down too easily***, we too often fail to execute the basics (get the guy over, score him from 2nd, etc etc) and as long as we know the pitching is a complete crapshoot we have to assume also that the O isn't good enough enough till we score 7 or 8 a night.

*-Apparently he took xtra BP with Hojo prior to yesterday's 2HR performance...

**-We damn near lost a third game in a month as the result of getting caught stealing 3rd with 2 outs. How is that offense that does that not a problem?

***-13, 9 and 11 pitch innings last night.

[Valadius]

Having met Rick Peterson, having spent a good 10 minutes or so talking to him, I can tell you for certain that he's not the kind of guy that would inspire you. He might be able to show you things that could inspire you, but he can't do it himself. He doesn't have that kind of personality. He's more a stubborn, absent-minded professor who is quick to judge.

[Guest Kid Carsey]

Maybe you bored him and he couldn't wait for you to move on.

[metirish]

Valadius wrote: Having met Rick Peterson, having spent a good 10 minutes or so talking to him, I can tell you for certain that he's not the kind of guy that would inspire you. He might be able to show you things that could inspire you, but he can't do it himself. He doesn't have that kind of personality. He's more a stubborn, absent-minded professor who is quick to judge.

Val please, all that you got in 10 minutes?, and you don't have to be able to do it yourself to be a good coach, and that has nothing to do with his personality but his lack of stuff.

[Benjamin Grimm]

He spoke to him for 10 minutes (where have I heard that time measurement before?) and quickly judged that Rick Peterson is quick to judge.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I hope you were fixed.

You're doing pretty well, Warriors.

Don't let up.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Every inning, Warriors.

[Elster88]

Valadius wrote: Having met Rick Peterson, having spent a good 10 minutes or so talking to him, I can tell you for certain that he's not the kind of guy that would inspire you. He might be able to show you things that could inspire you, but he can't do it himself. He doesn't have that kind of personality. He's more a stubborn, absent-minded professor who is quick to judge.

...

[Benjamin Grimm]

Elster leads the forum in silent responses. (Mostly, I think, to Valadius and Steve Rogers.)


Anyway, back to business.

The Mets are a miserable team, no doubt. If they should manage to stumble to the NLDS, they'll be heavy underdogs. (If they can't beat bad teams, how will they beat good teams.)

But the NLDS remains a worthy goal anyway, and the Mets hopes are riding today on two future Hall-of-Fame pitchers.

If Pedro Martinez can beat the Cardinals, and John Smoltz can beat the Phillies, we'll have a considerably better outlook tomorrow morning.

The Mets are alive at least through Saturday's games. Whether they make the playoffs or not, this miserable final month of the season is almost over.

[Vic Sage]

="Johnny Dickshot"] ="soupcan"]Um, fellas? The offense ain't the problem. Sure it is... in a way. Reyes is going as badly as he ever has in his career*, we seemingly can't stop making ill-advised baserunning dares**, we tend to have too many innings where we go down too easily***, we too often fail to execute the basics (get the guy over, score him from 2nd, etc etc) and as long as we know the pitching is a complete crapshoot we have to assume also that the O isn't good enough enough till we score 7 or 8 a night. *-Apparently he took xtra BP with Hojo prior to yesterday's 2HR performance... **-We damn near lost a third game in a month as the result of getting caught stealing 3rd with 2 outs. How is that offense that does that not a problem? ***-13, 9 and 11 pitch innings last night.

no, the offense is NOT the problem, JD.
Lets look at the stats during this slide

The first 10 days of September, the Mets went 8-1, scoring 47 runs for an average of 5+ runs per game. On 9/11, El Duque got hurt while getting slammed by Atlanta 13-5, and the Mets have been in free fall since, going 5-10 during these last 2 weeks.

The offense during that period, however, has continued to score, with 89 runs during this 15 game skid, for an average of just under 6 runs per game. So clearly, the difference between the 8-1 Mets of early september and the 5-10 Mets of the last 2 weeks is not about offense. The mets have scored 5 or more runs in 10 of the last 15 games. Even during the 10 losses, the Mets scored 49 runs, just a smidgen under 5 runs a game.

Certainly, the O has failed in certain situations over this period, but blaming them, to even the slightest degree, for not scoring more than 6 runs a game seems really bizarre to me.

Meanwhile, the defense has given up 113 runs over this period, nearly 7.5 runs a game. And you want to talk about Reyes?