Gwreck

Seriously, Ray Ramirez? WTF? (Now Maine leaves game due to injury).

Florida Marlins Chris Coghlan LF Emilio Bonifacio 3B Hanley Ramirez SS Jorge Cantu 1B Jeremy Hermida RF Dan Uggla 2B John Baker C Cody Ross CF Chris Volstad P New York Mets Pagan CF Castillo 2B Wright 3B Sheffield LF Murphy 1B F. Martinez RF Santos C Valdez SS Maine P

So says Daily News[/url:3jpd0fv7].

At the time of his departure, only David and Jose had been Mets longer than Ramon.

Ramon not only hit the game-winning homer in the 8th (off Ugeth Urbina, I believe) in the first game of that series against Philly (brought us to 1/2 game of the wild card, I think), he also got another big homer in the early innings of the very next game, earning himself a second curtain call. I think that was his peak as a Met. Fun fact: was the only Met to be on the rosters for DS and LCS but not appear in a postseason game in '06.

Hernandez and the Welke brothers...my least favorite umpiring crew in the majors. Crowd reacted very well to the Meet the Mets. Two choruses of it with good crowd participation.

Pelfrey 4 Santos 3 Putz 1 Rodriguez 1 Sheffield .5 Parnell .25 Feliciano .25

Great game. Love those pitchers duels where you're already in the 8th inning with less than two hours elapsed. Not given enough credit: Pelfrey. That's two outstanding starts in a row. The Ks are up as well. Beltran was jawing extensively with home plate umpire Angel Hernandez at the end of the third inning. Shines came over and got between them but Beltran was still giving it to Angel about his inconsistent strike zone. Jerry was very slow getting out there and I was surprised that Beltran didn't get tossed. I found the pitch that hit Tatis to be *very* suspicious, given that he'd ordinarily be walked to set up a DP with only one out. In what I consider a MAJOR victory (besides Omir Santos kicking ass), the "Eighth Inning Singalong" tonight was not "Sweet Caroline"... rather, it was "Meet the Mets." Bravo.

BMNM?

New York Mets Citi Field Roosevelt Avenue Flushing, NY 11368-1699 To Whom It May Concern: Please stop the playing of the song �Sweet Caroline� during the �Eighth Inning Singalong� at New York Mets games at Citi Field. It is truly baffling that the Mets insist on playing this song during every game at Citi Field. As you are no doubt well aware, the singing of that song is a long-standing tradition of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Park. Given the opening of our new ballpark this year, it defies logic that the Mets continue to copy the tradition of other teams, rather than establishing our own traditions. Further, it is becoming increasingly clear that the fans in attendance at Citi Field, particularly the Mets� loyal customers, like myself, who attend dozens of games each year, have no interest in hearing the song. The playing of �Sweet Caroline� was loudly booed on opening night at Citi Field and the boos have only increased as the season has progressed. Mets beat reporter David Lennon of Newsday took note in his blog, �On the Mets Beat: ]Next on the agenda -- getting rid of the Red Sox's eighth-inning anthem, "Sweet Caroline." That probably ain't happening either. I'm just never going to understand why you would take a song that another team already has established as their own -- especially a high-profile team like the Red Sox. Am I the only one who hears the boos when it comes on? (http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/blog/2009/04/paint_the_wall_blue_already.html, April 21, 2009) The problems with the Mets� attempt to copy the Red Sox� tradition were only magnified as the Mets visited Fenway Park last weekend for a three game series. During the SNY broadcast of the Mets-Red Sox game on Friday, May 22, 2009, Gary Cohen commented on the loud crowd participation as �Sweet Caroline� was played, noting that at Fenway Park, "fans actually like the song." Cohen went on to suggest that "maybe the folks at Citi Field can find another song." There is no reason that the New York Mets cannot have a successful �Eighth Inning Singalong,� using a different well-known song. Having that song be �Sweet Caroline,� however, is simply intolerable. It is embarrassing to the New York Mets and to Mets fans that you insist on playing �Sweet Caroline.� Please, find a different song. Very truly yours, Gwreck

I'm pretty sure he should have. I think there's a lot of merit to the argument that if Sheffield didn't touch home plate prior to Murphy, he's out and only Murphy's run counts.

You know, I went back and looked at the tape of the game: on Daniel Murphy's home run, Sheffield was tagged out at home plate. I don't think he ever touched the plate, and he didn't go back out to touch it after the replay call was made.

You don't figure we'll have some other injury somewhere along the line? I assume Pagan is the odd man out once Delgado returns, but maybe he outplays Murphy.

Murphy 4 Sheffield 2 Santana 2 Castillo 1 Parnell .67 Feliciano .33

="John Cougar Lunchbucket":271x43es]Pagan actually looks like a player every now and then, doesn't he? He made a fairly competent run on a drive to RCF tonight too.[/quote:271x43es] 2x tonight, I think. Hopefully his good play continues -- I see him as likely trade bait come July, after Delgado returns. Elster88 May 27 2009 09:40 PM Trade bait for what? A starter I guess. If all those guys come back healthy we don't need much. Bullpen is sound. Gwreck May 27 2009 09:42 PM You don't figure we'll have some other injury somewhere along the line? I assume Pagan is the odd man out once Delgado returns, but maybe he outplays Murphy. Elster88 May 27 2009 09:43 PM If we have some other injury down the line then we need to keep Pagan and play him, no? John Cougar Lunchbucket May 27 2009 09:45 PM I figure the injury we'll get next IS Pagan. Yes, he started off great last year and cooled in a hurry. That's why I say he looks like a real player sometimes, not always. Edgy DC May 27 2009 09:47 PM I don't think we're worried right now about the relatively far-off return of Delgado. The eggs will be scrambled a half a dozen different ways by then. Frayed Knot May 28 2009 07:09 AM Pagan is also much faster than I remembered. He beat out by a stride what I thought was going to be a close play on an infield roller yesterday. He just flew down the basepath like ... well, like an Angel. Reed is the guy with the most Pagan-redundant skills -- both can play CF when needed, spell Sheff/Murph in late innings, PH to get on base, not a lot of power -- so things might eventually come down to a choice there. Pagan has the advantage of switch-hitting. Edgy DC May 28 2009 07:29 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]Terrific addition, really from the start. Who wouldn't want a bench guy who can also step in and be the cleanup hitter. Sheff, Livan, Santos, FMart, RMart, even Pagan -- guys making contributions we couldn't have dreamed would have only 2 months ago. It was tough to dream of RMart ("RMart"?) contributing a week ago. Frayed Knot May 28 2009 07:49 AM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]Does a genially stupid rant count? GS: "It shouldn't be against the law to take the picture, but to post it and say something negative I think should be against the law. It's like an invasion of privacy." I'll cut Sheff some slack on that one because one could say that he had libel/slander kind of stuff on his mind when saying that. Not that I'd suspect he knows the difference, or would care to make a distinction between what's illegal and what simply annoys him. But on the list of stupid things said by Gary Sheffield this one doesn't even make the first cut. It's just too outnumbered. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 28 2009 09:19 AM I just meant that it was his first such comment since putting on the pinstripes of good. Even if he weren't our asshole, this would rate maybe a 2 out of 10 on the "Whaaaaaa?" scale. Also, if you believe the scuttlebutt from beat guys, the boys in the clubhouse kind of love the guy. (I like to imagine his clubhouse persona as "unintentionally funny Wilford Brimley" or "Fred Sanford with wrist strength".) John Cougar Lunchbucket May 28 2009 09:25 AM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":2wbj8s9d]"Fred Sanford with wrist strength"[/quote:2wbj8s9d] dying Benjamin Grimm May 28 2009 09:26 AM Gary Cohen was saying something similar last night. He implied that the young players on the team are in awe of Sheffield and his accomplishments. Sheffield was a shot in the dark for the Mets that has paid off very well so far. Just a few weeks ago I remember some of us were calling for the Mets to end the Sheffield experiment when he was hitting around .150. (I wasn't one of those people, but I must admit that I didn't disagree with them either.) Edgy DC May 31 2009 01:58 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 31 2009 04:10 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":2acmo0bz]I figure the injury we'll get next IS Pagan.[/quote:2acmo0bz] You want to think about maybe next time using your powers for good, you big jerk? MFS62 May 31 2009 02:00 PM Any word on the injury/ prognosis? EDIT: Never mind. just read on Yahoo that he is the dreaded "day-to-day". Later Frayed Knot May 31 2009 02:04 PM Pagan is becoming Milledge-like by timing his injuries to have maximum opportunity-killing effect. John Cougar Lunchbucket May 31 2009 02:28 PM ="Edgy DC":t8oc31h5]="John Cougar Lunchbucket":t8oc31h5]I figure the injury we'll get next IS Pagan.[/quote:t8oc31h5] You want to think about maybe next time using your powers for good, you big jerk?[/quote:t8oc31h5] I was wondering where that clairvoyant post was. cooby May 31 2009 06:43 PM I hope he keeps it up I just added him to my fantasy team Elster88 Jun 11 2009 08:25 PM Ugh. Frayed Knot Jun 11 2009 08:28 PM I'm not going to throw an 'Ugh' in Sheffield's direction. I just wish he were hitting 6th 4 days per week instead of 4th 6 days per. Fman99 Jun 11 2009 08:36 PM ="Frayed Knot":9r3d733q]I'm not going to throw an 'Ugh' in Sheffield's direction. I just wish he were hitting 6th 4 days per week instead of 4th 6 days per.[/quote:9r3d733q] Here here. Frayed Knot Jun 11 2009 08:37 PM Where where? Frayed Knot Jun 12 2009 06:57 PM Un-Ugh

Nice game. Still can't figure out why Johan couldn't throw strikes there. I understand walking Flores or Guzman, I guess, but Jordan Zimmerman? They guy doesn't have a major league hit. You can't take a few MPH off the fastball and groove a couple? Tip your cap if he hits the home run but somehow I doubt that would happen. I couldn't tell from my seats in 514 where the ball hit but it clearly hit *something* on the porch, based on how the ball fell down after striking part of the stadium. Clearly a HR. I was very surprised to not see Fernando Martinez yanked from the game, especially given that Tatis was in the game as PH and could've gone to left with Sheffield moving to right. Fans were all over him, as I suppose they should be. The Mets just don't get it and still keep trying for force "Sweet Caroline" down everybody's throat. Lots and lots of booing.

Hernandez 6 Sheffield 3 Wright .5 Pagan .5

Tatis is a better defender and has been hitting better. Fact. I don't know "what he's got" on Jerry, either but I'm sure that's an unsupportable argument.

This is Tatis' second start in the last week. He started last night, and before then, on Monday the 18th.

Yeah, listing R. Martinez at second was a freudian slip but your comment stands.

Pagan CF Castillo 2B Wright 3B Sheffield LF Tatis 1B F. Martinez RF Santos C R. Martinez SS Hernandez P

Figure one of the two of them goes when Alex Cora comes off the DL (June 2), and the other goes when Reyes comes off the DL (June 5, due to the retroactive date).

Valdez AAA stats this year: .198-0-6. .263 OBP, .207 SLG in 121 ABs. We apparently only gave up cash to get him.

Apparently we acquired him from the Cleveland minor league system via trade.

Chan Ho Park?