Gwreck

New York Mets Murphy 1B Church RF Beltran CF Sheffield DH Wright 3B Reed LF Santos C Martinez SS Castillo 2B Santana P Boston Red Sox Jacoby Ellsbury CF Dustin Pedroia 2B David Ortiz DH Kevin Youkilis 1B Jason Bay LF J.D. Drew RF Mike Lowell 3B Jason Varitek C Julio Lugo SS Daisuke Matsuzaka P

Boston sells out every game anyway but yes, it's got much more going for it than a Red Sox-Rangers matchup does. Paid a steep premium for my tickets to tomorrow's game (got Sunday's at face value, fortunately).

KTE: Boston Red Sox May 22-24 Boston is 25-16 and just finished sweeping Toronto, who remain a half-game up in the AL East. Boston has a 16-4 home record this year. Mets v. Red Sox History 1986. Now that we have that out of the way, the Mets are 12-13 over all time against the Boston Red Sox, 8-10 in the regular season. Most of that came in the early years of interleague play, when the Mets would play Boston every year. Highlights of that period include the Glendon Rusch/Benitez 1-hitter in 2001, where the only hit was a bunt single in the first inning when Rusch didn't get over to cover the bag in time, or the Alberto Castillo game in 1998. Expect to hear Gary Cohen reminisce about that game -- I believe he's told the story often about how he was listening from his hospital bed when the following Mets hit home runs off Pedro Martinez: Bernard Gilkey, John Olerud, Luis Lopez, and yes, Alberto Castillo (who had come in after Pedro hit Piazza with a pitch in the first inning, knocking Mike out of the game). Since 2001, MLB started a rotation system for interleague play and teams got to play the AL or NL teams that weren't just in their corresponding division. Since that time, the Red Sox have visited every NL team -- except the Mets -- at least once, including five visits each to Atlanta and Philadelphia. This is the result of the Mets playing the Yankees every year, but given that Boston's usually pretty good, no great loss. Still, given that a Mets-Red Sox game would sell out just the same as a Mets-Yankees game would, one would think that a little more variety in the scheduling would theoretically be possible. Anyway, the Mets last faced the Red Sox in 2006, when they were swept at Fenway park in late June, one of only two series sweeps the Mets would suffer that entire year. In the first game Alay Soler was pounded hard, knocked out in the fifth as then-rookie Jon Lester got the win. Lastings Milledge made a key outfield error. The second game was Pedro's return to Boston, replete with the hero's welcome from the Boston fans. Pedro gave up 4 runs in the first inning and was gone after three innings. Lastings Milledge made another key outfield error. The final game was the only one where the Mets had a chance, and their only lead of the series, as Beltran took Curt Schilling deep to center for a two run homer. The Red Sox tied it up and took a lead, however. You may recall a Coco Crisp diving catch of a Wright line drive in the top of the eighth inning that was poised to re-tie the game. Link to video replay of that is here. Pitching Matchups Friday: Daisuke Matsuzaka ® vs. Johan Santana Matsuzaka is coming off the DL for this start (right shoulder strain, probably from too much work in the WBC). He had two starts early this year (6 1/3 innings) and is sporting a 12.79 ERA. He was 18-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 154 Ks in 167 2/3 innings in 2008 and isn't going to quite get there this year. He probably won't be going deep into the game Friday and given that we're throwing Johan this game is a must-win. The only Met to have faced Matsuzaka is David Wright, who was 1-3 with an RBI double in the USA-Japan World Baseball Classic semifinal game this past March. Saturday: Josh Beckett ® vs. Mike Pelfrey Beckett defeated the Mets in 2006, pitching 7 2/3 strong innings (7 Ks, 1 walk, 5 hits). Delgado and Valentin got him for solo homers but Reyes, Beltran and Wright were all held hitless. Beckett is 4-2 but with a 5.85 ERA this year. 46 Ks, 56 H, 23 BB in 47 innings. Sunday: Tim Wakefield ® vs. Tim Redding Tim Wakefield isn't just the longest-tenured Red Sox player, but now that John Smoltz left the Braves (he's currently on the Boston DL), Wakefield now has what I believe is the longest consecutive tenure with one team for any player in MLB. The Mets beat Wakefield at Shea Stadium in 1997 in the second game of the first ever Red Sox-Mets interleague series in 1997. Wakefield is the only player from that game who is still an active major leaguer. He's 2-3 with a 2.43 ERA and 7 career appearances against the Mets, but that all that happened from 1992-2001. Wakefield is 5-2 with a 3.59 ERA this year in 8 starts. His 8 HBP currently leads the American League. He's a knuckleballer, and the Mets had a whole lot of trouble when they faced a knuckleballer last year. Red Sox Lineup C - Jason Varitek (S) Varitek returned to the Red Sox on what could only be called a gift contract, after he declined their offer of arbitration only to find that there was no other market for his services, at least not at the Boras prices. He's hitting .237 with a .321 OBP this year, but has 7 homers and 18 RBIs (.500 SLG). Not bad, although despite being with the Red Sox for more than 10 years, he still is unable or unwilling to learn how to catch Wakefield's knuckleball. 1B - Kevin Youkilis ® still has that riddiculous batting stance, but the numbers are there: 1.209 OPS in the 97 ABs he has so far this year. 6 Homers, 21 RBI, .408 AVG. He just returned from a DL stint (strained oblique muscle). 2B- Dustin Pedroia ® .318-1-14, .830 OPS. 2008 AL MVP and gold glove winner. 25 years old. Yeah, he's pretty good. 3B - Mike Lowell ® .289-7-29, .835 OPS. Bouncing back nicely after missing some time with injury last year. SS - Julio Lugo ® .293-1-4 RBI and .359 OBP in 58 ABs this year. Has missed some time with a recent groin strain and a DL stint for most of April. LF - Jason Bay ® Bay was acquired in the deal that sent Manny Ramirez to Shea the Dodgers, fortunately. Yes, he was once Met property, but the Padres (who we traded him to) also passed on him and Bay didn't become a star until he reached Pittsburgh. .301-13-44 with a 1.090 OPS this season. He's on pace for career highs in most meaningful offensive categories (his career avg/ops is .283/.900). Incidentially, he turns 31 in September and is a free agent at the end of the year. Fun Jason Bay fact: he was the most recent major leaguer to be called out for passing a runner on the bases, in a Pirates-Mets game at Shea in 2006. CF - Jacoby Ellsbury (L) .302-1-13, .335 OBP. 16 for 21 in steals, including a steal of home a few weeks back. Solid defender who has never been charged a major league error. RF - JD Drew (L) The baserunning genius is hitting .258 with 6 homers and 20 RBIs and a .882 OPS. DH - David Ortiz (L) Ortiz' 2009 struggles have been pretty well documented; he's hitting .211 (.318 OBP) and hit his first home run of 2009 on Wednesday night. He was benched some last week but has returned to the lineup. On the subject of the DH, Adam Rubin reports that the Mets will use Sheffield, Beltran and Wright as their DH in this series. Bench Nothing special here. Backup catcher George Kottaras (L) will catch on Sunday for Wakefield. .133, 0 HR, 4 RBI, .243 OBP. Rocco Baldelli ® is a backup outfielder and saw some time at DH when Ortiz was benched. .205-1-4 with .244 OBP. Jeff Bailey ® .190-2-8, .314 OBP was playing first while Youkilis was out. He's a 30-year old AAA player. Nick Green ® is the backup infielder and actually decent while filling in for Lugo. .302-1-13, .368 OBP. Bullpen Closer Jonathan Papelbon ® is 11 for 11 in saves and has a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings with 20 Ks. The rest of the relief core, in increasing order of preference to face (which is to say, not much): Ramon Ramirez ®, 0.79 ERA in 21 IP (11Ks/6 BBs/9 H) Manny Delcarmen ®, 0.95 ERA in 19 IP (15Ks/8BBs/17 H) Hideki Okajima (L), 2.84 ERA in 19 IP (22 Ks/9 BBs/12 H) Takashi Saito ®, 3.60 ERA in 15 IP (12Ks/4 BBs/18 H) Justin Masterson ®, 4.57 ERA in 41 IP (35 K/14BB/45 H), had been starting in place of Matsuzaka Red Sox DL Mark Kotsay has a left calf strain and will be back soon but not in this series. John Smoltz (no 2009 appearances yet) had right shoulder surgery last year. Might push Wakefield to the bullpen when he returns sometime in June. Ex-Mets No players. Dave Magadan is the hitting coach. Tim Bogar is the first base coach. Ex-Red Sox Alex Cora Red Sox Blogs http://www.outincenterfield.com/ http://toeingtherubber.weei.com/ Wally the Green Monster Red Sox mascot and the star of one of my favorite ESPN commercials.

Fman99 wrote: Well crud. Nary a HR on this road trip, now seven games in? Gay. Flip side, we haven't given up very many -- one last night and only one in SF, I think.

Gary, talking about the Mets' first inning run differential: "44 for and 28 against, plus twelve, that's pretty good."

Ronnie and Gary already mixing up Weaver's teams, first attributing him as the starter in the LoDuca/Kent-Drew game (that was Derek Lowe) and then the starter for the Cardinals in NLCS Game 5.

I'm all for finding Murphy a spot in the lineup generally but I think we can hold off on declaring him a "viable" first baseman for the time being. As for Sheffield, he has the same number of XBHs as Murphy or Church in 40 or 50 fewer at-bats, so I'm unclear on what evidence there is to support the "soft-singles" hitter thing. "Presence" may be one of those terms like "clutch" that is a total myth but the OBP speaks for itself. He may not be fleet of foot out there but there also weren't very many glaring errors either.

Tatis is the logical replacement for Murphy if it's close in the late innings, and he's also the logical pinch hitting replacement if a lefty-righty swap is needed.

I like this lineup a lot. Weaver's last start against the Mets.

Reyes SS Castillo 2B Beltran CF Wright 3B Murphy 1B Church RF Castro C Pagan LF Hernandez P Juan Pierre LF Rafael Furcal SS Orlando Hudson 2B Andre Ethier RF Russell Martin C James Loney 1B Xavier Paul CF Casey Blake 3B Jeff Weaver P

Edit: posted in error.

="Fman99":2zwys8h1]The only guy doing Mets games these days that I still do not like is Wayne Hagin on the radio. He's a hack. Maybe it's because he used to work for another MLB team and doesn't have the former Met/long-time Met fan weight that Howie Rose, Cohen, Mex and Darling all carry.[/quote:2zwys8h1] Realizing that we're really at split territory in this thread... Wayne's hardly a hack. It took me a while to acclimate to him but he's brought good perspective to the team and I appreciate his honesty (he doesn't hold back when criticism is warranted). The two things I don't like about him are that his otherwise laid-back style is in sharp contrast to his home run calls, and that on hits with men on base, he's slow to tell the listener about the advancement of the runners around the bases. Seems like he focuses on the ball first and the runners' movement gets passed on after the play ends. Frayed Knot May 20 2009 07:58 AM My only reservations about Keith concern what he'd be like with a bad team in front of him. I'm afraid he'd get bored rather easily and would slip into full Phil Rizzutto mode except that his occasional bouts of 'I'd rather be in Sag Harbor' disinterest wouldn't be as cute. Other than that for the high-school jock sandwiched between two Ivy Leaguers he plays the role well enough without overdoing the stereotype. John Cougar Lunchbucket May 20 2009 07:59 AM I still haven't warmed much to Hagin either. I like him only sometimes. It's not just that he doesn't call plays fast enough for me; he often gets caught up in the middle of anything he's saying and forces out some crap just to complete the sentence. It's as if he catches himself making a cliche and decides mid-stream not to go through with it. It's not good rythym. Plus he's got that creepy Midwestern/other team perspective that clashes with Howie's hopeless New Yorkishness. Howie wants to talk about Rusty Staub and Grover Powell; and Hagin wants to talk about Mark Clear and Gene Tanace. Howie wants to talk about My Mother the Car and Hagin wants to talk about Bonanza. It's a little off. SteveJRogers May 20 2009 09:56 AM ="seawolf17":1lpp27t8]="soupcan":1lpp27t8]The whole Yankee broadcast team - Sterling, Waldman, Kay, O'Neill, etc. are just one of the many reasons I'm glad I'm not a Yankee fan.[/quote:1lpp27t8] The problem is, MFY fans must eat this crap up, or it wouldn't sell. I don't know what I'd do if Gary Cohen was that unlistenable. Would I even notice? I don't know.[/quote:1lpp27t8] Actually two popular threads on NYYFans.com are "Petiton To Remove Michael Kay From YES" and "Petition To Remove John Sterling From CBS Radio" so I'd gather it is mixed in terms of Yankee fandom with their annoucing teams. John Cougar Lunchbucket May 20 2009 09:58 AM Nice of Rogers to take some time off that place to visit his enemies here. SteveJRogers May 20 2009 10:12 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 20 2009 10:34 AM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1gwq7fqn]Nice of Rogers to take some time off that place to visit his enemies here.[/quote:1gwq7fqn] Could be worse, over at PhilaPhans.com they've been bashing Tom McCarthy for drawing Mike Piazza references to Ryan Howard tape measure blasts. Over at Dodger BlueBalls they actually consider Vin Scully a bit overatted because he is such a sacred cow out there. soupcan May 20 2009 10:19 AM ="SteveJRogers"]Over at Dodger BlueBalls they actually consider Vin Scully a bit overatted because he is such a scared cow out there. Hmmm, that doesn't look like Vin. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 20 2009 10:48 AM ="soupcan"]="SteveJRogers"]Over at Dodger BlueBalls they actually consider Vin Scully a bit overatted because he is such a scared cow out there. Hmmm, that doesn't look like Vin. It's play by play-- I think he meant that Vin sounded like a scared cow. And speaking of scary... http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090518&content_id=4799820&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb A Boy Named Seo May 20 2009 10:59 AM ="Frayed Knot"]My only reservations about Keith concern what he'd be like with a bad team in front of him. I'm afraid he'd get bored rather easily and would slip into full Phil Rizzutto mode except that his occasional bouts of 'I'd rather be in Sag Harbor' disinterest wouldn't be as cute. Other than that for the high-school jock sandwiched between two Ivy Leaguers he plays the role well enough without overdoing the stereotype. Keith gets bored now with a pretty good team. His bafoonery is what makes him my favorite, though. I think Gary is a supremely knowledgeable Met guy, clearly a fan but not annoyingly so. Ron is very knowledgable, but (sometimes) a bland cliche-machine. Keith brings life to the booth, though because he's so not polished and he doesn't pander to the Mets or the network. He knows the game, has fun most of the time, but will tell you when he'd rather be at home watching Cavuto or whatever. Sometimes we'd all rather be somewhere else. I can't argue it's not unprofessional, but it's refreshing to me anyway and I think he's damn funny. G-Fafif May 20 2009 01:04 PM Keith Olbermann story about Vin Scully that makes even Michael Kay seem likable. Gary referenced it one of the last two nights. ]The advent of the Mets' annual visit to Dodger Stadium always reminds me of one of the greatest baseball stories nobody tells. Let's correct that. A decade ago, when I was still working full-time in sports and in Los Angeles, it was the Yankees coming to town for an exhibition game, and, with them, my friend Michael Kay, at that time still a member of their radio team. Michael is usually pretty direct, but on the field before the game, he was hemming and hawing something awful until I finally blurted "out with it!" He explained he was just too nervous to introduce himself to the legendary Vin Scully, even though both were not only major league broadcasters, but also alums of Fordham University in New York. Mike was still repeating his apology when I explained I knew exactly how he felt. When I had first worked in Los Angeles as a local sportscaster in the '80s, it had taken me two years to screw up the courage to introduce myself to this nonpareil of my business. As I reassured Michael, Vin was easily the nicest famous person in the sport, maybe in the country. And he always had a story that in some way related to you. Little did I know. As Michael began to hyperventilate, I made the introductions. Vin asked about Fordham, about Mike's youth, about his newspaper career, about the Yankees. And then came the story: "Michael, did you know; Keith, I don't even think I told you this -- I nearly became the Voice of the Yankees?" Absolute silence for two or three beats, and then, from Kay and Olbermann, a joint "whaaaat?" "When the Yankees let Mel Allen go in 1964, I got a phone call from the man who they had brought in to run their broadcasting operation, Craig Smith," Vin began. "He had been in charge of the World Series broadcasts forever, so I'd known him about ten years by then. And he asked me if I'd like to come home to New York and become the lead announcer. He offered a very handsome salary, and a long contract. "Well, I was amazed, as you can imagine. I'd found a wonderful home here in Los Angeles, but remember, this was only seven years after the Dodgers left Brooklyn. I was still a New Yorker through and through. Plus, here was a chance to work again with Red Barber. And recall, too, that this was just before the Yankee dynasty collapsed. As much as Mr. O'Malley had done here and in Brooklyn, the Yankees were still the marquee name in sports. If it had been 1958 or 1959, when I still missed New York so, I would've said yes before he hung up the phone." "So, I thought long and hard about that one. But I had a young family, and I think we had all just truly adjusted to living here - takes just about seven years, I think - and in the end I turned it down." Michael and I each sputtered various observations about how changed the baseball world might have been. Vin Scully doing the Yankee games? Would the franchise still have ebbed with such a benign but effective salesman at the microphone? Would the Dodgers' roots, still growing in 1964-1965, have gone in as deeply as they did? Would CBS's failed experiment in corporate ownership have succeeded, and George Steinbrenner never have bought the Yankees? What would have happened to the man to whom the Yankees gave the job Scully turned down? Would Joe Garagiola have ever wound up on The Game Of The Week, or The Today Show? Vin laughed. "Oh, to tell the truth, I don't think it'd made that much difference. It's not very important." He excused himself to go back to preparing for his broadcast, and, as usual, made it seem like I had done him a great favor by introducing Michael to him. After Vin had left, Michael and I sat there on the Dodger bench for a few moments in silence. Then he said "If he had been the Yankee announcer when I was growing up, I never would have dreamed of applying for a job as his gopher, let alone as his partner." I told him that once again I knew how he felt - it was very tough knowing that my sportscasts often preceded Vin's play-by-play on cable. It seemed somehow a sacrilege to pretend to deserve to be on the same channel. Still, think of it: 45 years of "Hi again everybody, it's time for Yankee Baseball!" Or maybe Steinbrenner would've quarreled with Vin and eased him out. Or, likeliest of all the alternate-galaxy theories: working in New York, where in the '60s all the network and advertising executives were still located, Vin Scully would've gone on to the Game Of The Week, or something even higher up on the tv food chain, a lot earlier than he actually did. Who knows - maybe he'd still be doing it - and doing it on NBC. Frayed Knot May 20 2009 01:41 PM ]Keith brings life to the booth, ... Yeah, I'm just afraid he wouldn't if stuck with a team going nowhere. There's a difference to going off the tracks every once in a while during a dull game or long pitching-change filled innings, it's another if it's all game every game. But that's just my speculation and am getting ahead of myself here. Hope we don't find out anytime soon. G-Fafif May 20 2009 04:01 PM State of the booths as heard from here: Keith Hernandez is a wild card/loose cannon. Some nights a gem, some nights a goof. Not the baseball genius I thought he'd be. An original, to be sure. I'd miss him if he left. Ron is a real jock, which is not a bad thing. He really likes being part of a team in there. Sounds happy when he doesn't have to be "Ron Darling, Yalie" and can be Ronnie, one of the guys. A good fit with each of his partners. More comfortable in contemporary climes than Keith. Someday Wayne Hagin will be doing the Royals or the Twins or the Astros and bring up the way David Wright charges a ball and his listeners will scratch their heads at why he's always referring to some random New York Met. Conversely, those among us who aren't obsessed with such matters will say, in five years, "oh yeah, Wayne Hagin, I forgot about him." He's an insightful observer of baseball matters, a pretty good announcer of baseball games. I don't know that he'll ever be a Mets broadcaster except in name. It's not that we have high standards; we have specific standards. I like him a good deal, but I can't quite get used to him. Howie Rose is a conversationalist, which is a lost craft in broadcasting today. He came into the business when civility and boundaries were implicit and sports was something people loved, not an all-pervasive industry. He's a bit of an anachronism in that sense, and a welcome one, even as curmudgeonliness slips into his delivery more and more. I don't think of him as a great play-by-play guy probably because I think of him as a great talk show host. He's wonderful between the pitches, sounds like he's putting on when he becomes an announcer (though not as badly as Michael Kay does). He and Hagin will never, ever mesh. That's neither's fault. Howie should keep his seat as long as he wants. Mets fans deserve a Mets voice on the radio. Gary Cohen is a conductor. He is a maestro. He grows as a broadcaster every year. He was the best thing since Vin Scully on radio and he's lifted his game to a high level on TV. He conducts. He moves the game along. He moves Keith and Ron along without stopping traffic. He still calls the action brilliantly. He questions what needs to be questioned, he emphasizes what needs to be emphasized and he sees what's coming. I'm in awe that he's the Mets' voice of record (and am ever thankful that SNY's original offer to Dave O'Brien to serve in that role was rejected). Whereas Howie seems like a Mets fan who grew up to broadcast Mets games, Gary seems like a broadcaster who was a Mets fan when he was a kid. Gary Cohen and Bob Murphy were a great team. Gary Cohen and Howie Rose were a great team. Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling are a great team. I don't think the common denominator is a coincidence. bmfc1 May 22 2009 06:37 AM G-Fafif said what I would have said, so I will just recommend your watching this video (NSFW!!!):

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Why is Ramon Martinez in there instead of Castillo? I guess because for every "Angel Pagan bats leadoff and gets 4 hits" there's a "Ramon Martinez bats 6th (!!), strikes out three times and hits a inning-crushing GIDP."

Yeah. I'm still with Tug but it should be pretty clear that the chance to win just left the building.

Yeah, that was particularly brutal. I don't understand why it's perfectly apparent to me that Ramon Martinez's peak contributions to the Mets have come and gone yet Jerry Manuel can't figure that out.

How about a pinch hitter NOW, Jerry? Tatis could play second.

I don't out-and-out root for home runs too much (not that I hate seeing them), but damn, we could *really* use one from Church right now.

Shouldn't we be seeing a shot of Hillary Swank in her Mets cap now that we're in LA?

I liked it even more before Gary announces on the broadcast that Sheffield wasn't feeling well yesterday and was kept out of today's lineup for the same reason. Seriously, Jerry? You couldn't just go with Murphy against the lefty? It wasn't as if you couldn't see that the Dodgers had a righty ready in the event you went to Sheffield.

I liked Murphy against the lefty more than Sheffield against the righty.

Excellent. Also glad that they had Billingsley out there on the bases for the whole inning.

April ABs Beltran 80 Murphy 68 Church 67 Sheffield 30 Tatis 23 Reed 11 May ABs Beltran 67 Church 49 Tatis 47 Sheffield 40 Murphy 40 Reed 18

History tells us otherwise. It took an awful long time for Randolph to get fired and he wasn't exactly a master strategist. (And, of course, he wasn't really fired for his game decisions, either).

I think the difference is that nobody expected the '62 Mets to be good, and they certainly weren't paid that way. Further, whether expansion or playoff-caliber, no player on any team has an excuse for screwing up the most basic of fundamentals: calling each other off on fly balls, or missing bases while running. There should always be a healthy intolerance for that sort of stupidity.

metirish wrote: In a nut shell what were the screw ups? Church misses third while scoring go-ahead run in top of 11th. Becomes third out of inning instead of up one run with runner at second base. Pagan and Beltran fail to call each other off and ball drops in bottom of 11th, runners to second and third with nobody out. After getting first out, groundball to Jeremy Reed is fielded and thrown home but he misses plate by 10 feet and game ends.