IGT 4/21/08 - Mets at Cubs

[soupcan]

I know this has been discussed but it makes me wonder -

The Mets are riding a 5 game winning streak. Pagan's been more than they could ask for and once Church was moved up to second he, Wright and Reyes started tearing it up.

So Willie decides that he's not being fair to other teams or something? Sits Angel and puts Castillo back in the 2 hole.

Okay, maybe Willie thinks its still early, let's get Endy some ABs, try to get Luis going, etc. I don't know though, when you're hot, you're hot, keep riding the good thing.

If nothing else it opens Willie up to a lot of second guessing that he otherwise might not have to deal with.

Just seems an odd time to make these changes.

[Benjamin Grimm]

themetfairy wrote: I'm watching on SNY. I had enough of the ESPN announcers last night to last a lifetime.

I also watched the SNY feed. (I had expected it would be blacked out from Extra Innings, but it wasn't. I didn't even check to see if I was getting it on ESPN.)

It was strange to see ads for buying Mets tickets on Mets.com on the wall behind the catcher, as seen from the center field camera. Mets advertisements at Wrigley Field? Of course, it was just a computer-generated ad on the green screen, but it was strange nevertheless. They also showed an ad for the Loudmouths show on SNY. (The title alone of that show ensures that I'll never watch it.)

[soupcan]

soupcan, jr. 'Dad, why is this game on ESPN again tonight?

Me: 'Because they want to torture me.'


I had no idea this was on SNY! I was suffering through Steve Phillips, Orel Hershiser and whover the hell that other guy was. Oh they were bad. And why is it necessary for me to see Mel Kiper's NFL draft predictions scrolling across the screen for the entire game?

[Guest AG/DC]

I thought it was fine for one day. The same move on a second day in a second city definitely is a head-scratcher.

There's an old canard that you don't change a winning lineup. Obviously, guys will sit a day here and a day there, but it's not like that idea is baseless either.

This is what we ahve in Newsday:

As for Pagan, he watched Endy Chavez play for the second consecutive night, a move that manager Willie Randolph explained as a chance to get Chavez some extended playing time. Chavez was 5-for-17 (.294) against Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano; Pagan had never faced him. Chavez went 1-for-3, including a double off Zambrano.

I'll buy that for a dollar, but only a dollar. (Why then did Pagan not get the call in the last game of the Philadelphia series?)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I think Willie is getting Pagan ready for his new job as a benchwarmer. Tho he said Pagan would be back in the lineup today.

15 pitches in the 8th and 9th combined. That plain sucks cock.

[Frayed Knot]

Usually it's the ESPN feed that's blacked out in the home market except for the Sunday Night games when the 'Worldwide Leader' has a national exclusive on that time-slot.
No idea why the NYC market got both last night.

]And why is it necessary for me to see Mel Kiper's NFL draft predictions scrolling across the screen for the entire game?

Because they're ESPN, that's why.
They only devote a thousand hours or so of programming to pre-analyzing(almost always incorrectly) the draft so they're afraid you might have missed their insight.

[Frayed Knot]

Figuring that today is the old DGANG* it's probable that Willie is going to switch up some spots anyway, so he wants to give Endy some ABs and it's either against the righty Zambrano or against the lefty Lilly today.






* Day Game After Night Game

[Guest AG/DC]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I think Willie is getting Pagan ready for his new job as a benchwarmer. Tho he said Pagan would be back in the lineup today. 15 pitches in the 8th and 9th combined. That plain sucks cock.

Not to get all Nymr my-way/highway-ish, but swinging at the first pitch when you're down six runs in the ninth, first game of the series, is a one-way-ticket-to-the-bench in Edgyland.

Somebody needs to tell these guys, good hardworking people with better things to do are staying up later than they should to watch youse in the late innings. Mail it in and know my wrath.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I care even more for the fact that if today's game is tense in the late innings the Cubs can call on Marmol and Wood again while the Mets, thanks in part to great at-bats by guys like Fukodome and their own lazy fielding, have their pen compromised.

Grrr.

[Benjamin Grimm]

On the other hand, them swinging at the first pitch gets you an earlier bedtime.

[soupcan]

And why the constant 'in-game updates'?

Maddening.

No reason to watch ESPN. Ever.

[Guest AG/DC]

Later to bed having stayed up for a real show I can live with.

And yeah, I meant to mention what Dickshot said but felt miserly doing it. Every pitch you see in the first game of a series is a pitch you won't see later in the series. Make them work just because.

You know, before enlightment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightment, chop wood, carry water.

Just because the game seemed over, doesn't mean they shouldn't have chopped Kerry Wood.