Opening Day IGT, 4/1/2011, Mets @ Marlins

[Guest themetfairy]

We go down 1-2-3 in the top of the first.

The season is over....

[duan]

obviously i don't believe that ... but SO much of Pelfrey seems to depend on his first few batters.........

[Guest The Second Spitter]

themetfairy wrote: We go down 1-2-3 in the top of the first. The season is over....

okXhAC78d4Q

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Kong76 wrote: Happy Opening Day, everyone!

Same to you, KC.

[Theoldmole]

And his 4th inning.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Buck that.

OE: I meant "Fuck that".

Freudian Slip.

[Guest attgig]

good job pelf...

[Guest The Second Spitter]

How was dinner JCL?

[Fman99]

I hat these fucking Florida fuckholes.

[Frayed Knot]

Is it too late to guess 'No one' in the first NYM hit of the year contest?

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Frayed Knot wrote: Is it too late to guess 'No one' in the first NYM hit of the year contest?

I had Bay -- I'm still competitive and he's not even in the line-up.

[Fman99]

MALACHAI!!!

Oh, that's Boyer. My bad.

[Gwreck]

BAD inning there that doesn't show in the box score. First the sleeping on the job by the pitchers to allow the two steals and the the bad play by Davis (should have been an error).

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Nice grab by Emaus. Earns the first beer of the new season.

[ashie62]

First hit to Willie Harris.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

WTG Willie!

[Frayed Knot]

Whew!!

I was about to change my first hit of the season vote to Reese Havens if this went on any longer.

[Guest themetfairy]

At least we won't face the indignity of being no-hit on Opening Day.

That's something....

[ashie62]

RBI to Beltran

[Frayed Knot]

Just keep the conga line moving.
The seriously, I just used a racist word when I really meant "Guardians" put up 10 this afternoon after falling behind a mere 14-0.
Of course they lost anyway but we're not down by 14.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Jeezus, Hanley looks like such a douche with that NBA power sleeve.

(That is, a bigger douche than usual).

[Frayed Knot]

One more hit and we've got ourselves a ballgame here.

Gotta leave Thole in even though I'm sure they're bringing in a LHP

Might as well pinch-run Hu for Emaus because you'll probably want to bring him in anyway for 'D' - or maybe you PH him for the pitcher's slot and then change 'em up.

[Ceetar]

Okay, who had Hairston as 900? anyone?

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Visiting the in-laws in Illinois this weekend.

GameDay sure has been spiffed up!

Grumble grand slams grumble.

[ashie62]

Welcome to the Mets Terry Collins.

[Guest themetfairy]

That was a turd sandwich....

[MFS62]

I'm hoping someone will jump up and yell "April Fool" and the season will really start tomorrow.

Later

[Guest Edgy DC]

Thoughts on the game:

• For such a one-sided performance on opening day, this game didn't upset me so much. (Trying to have a nice date with my wife at the same time, anyhow.) I like to think maybe this team was still trying to find its character. And maybe coming slow out of the gate is part of that.
  
  
  
• The grand slam was all about getting ahead 0-2. It was just too predictable. Pelfrey goes after the guy and gets up 0-2, has this psychological advantage, is 6'7" for Pete's sake, but instead of deligting in this edge and finishing Buck off, he delights only in the comfort that the cont gives him, that he now doesn't have to throw over the plate, and instead throws two breaking pitch jokes two-two and half feet off the plate, and the pyschological edge is gone. The batter knows it's Pelrey who is really scared. There's expanding the strike zone with two strikes and there's running away from it. And now, of course, he has to come in. That sort of pitching to not lose instead of to win has Jerry written all over it, and the fact that it came right after a visit from Warthen does not speak well of him this evening. We'll see if this is a pattern. If it is, it's a continuation of a 2010 pattern.
  
  
  
• I didn't like Willie Harris going for second down 5-0, and I didn't like him tagging on the next play. But he beat the throw easily in the former case and there was no play at all in the latter. Maybe they just got a scouting report before the series that said Coughlan's arm is awful and to run on him liberally. (All hail Hale?) Harris was also faster than I thought.
  
  
  
• It's a values question, but none on, one out, down five, but still early, and it's time to go to the bench for a pinch hitter. Do you do what Terry Collins did and grab your best power hitter on the bench in Duda to try and steal a single run? I think I'd take a singles hitter like Hu or Murphy there and try to save Duda for later when I might have a chance at a three-run bomb.
  
  
  
• Similarly, I'm not sure I like Hairston going in for Thole. It's game one. Florida thinks they have a LOOGy? Let him prove it. Similarly, you have a young hitter in Thole that thanks to Paulino's injury is going to be relied on for a lot, let him hang in there and show what he can do. He's a lot of things, but he doesn't seem to get tied up by the inside pitch.
  
  
  
• Ralph Kiner played all of 58 game in the infield in his career, but even he will tell Ike Davis... you don't want to get caught by that in-between hop.
  
  
  
• I don't think the Mets ever really beat the Marlins last year. It was just a question of whether they could hang in there long enough to let the Marlins beat themselves.

Anyhow, victory tomorrow.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Edgy DC wrote: Thoughts on the game: Similarly, I'm not sure I like Hairston going in for Thole. It's game one. Florida thinks they have a LOOGy? Let him prove it. Similarly, you have a young hitter in Thole that thanks to Paulino's injury is going to be relied on for a lot, let him hang in there and show what he can do. He's a lot of things, but he doesn't seem to get tied up by the inside pitch.

Yeah, the sort of over-managing that he'll hopefully get out of his system.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Overmanaging?

Well, let's put it this way: 12 different position players were used in a game in which nobody was injured and in which the margin, once established, never dipped below three.

It's Game 1, granted. But I think Terry needs some chamomile.