Gwreck

From this IGT: I don't think Heilman is getting demoted. Schoenweis hadn't pitched in a week; Mota since Friday, but Heilman threw 2 innings on Sunday. (The good outings for both were of course encouraging). Agree that the timing of the Endy PH seemed very strange. From Shea: Plenty of Philly fans in the stands but nothing too annoying, fortunately. The Journey song was part of the ongoing music for the evening -- anything that had "city" in the title/lyrics, as it was "Citi Employee Night at Shea" which was endlessly promoted all night. (Other song choices included We Built this City, Summer in the City, You Belong to the City, etc etc.). My top-5 list of City songs (City of Blinding Lights - U2, Living for the City - Stevie Wonder, In the City - The Jam, My City of Ruins - Springsteen, and My City Was Gone - Pretenders) went unplayed. Coincidence? Glavine needs to remember that unless he can field it cleanly, he's got to let those balls go through and let the 2B/SS get them. That's what got the Phils 3rd inning rally going. Schoenweis pitched around Utley in the 8th with nobody on (granted, there was one out). I don't really have a problem with Feliciano challenging him, but...just sayin. Johnson made a nice play on Rowand's double in the 9th. His throw was in plenty of time, not sure what happened on the slide/if/how Easley botched it. We played sloppy. We need to remember how to properly execute a rundown. This loss seems worse than the Zito/Webb losses (good pitchers) or even the Sunday game. Today we really shoulda won.

Don't forget that there will also be a "Final man" vote after reserves and pitchers are selected. Wagner was one of the 5 candidates last year but did not win. I didn't bother putting up Delgado or Valentin because they're pretty far behind and probably shouldn't be at the all-star game regardless.

Update #1 Released May 29 Update #2 Released June 4 All Mets players listed are leading voting. Beltran, Reyes and Wright are #1, 2 and 3 in overall NL vote totals. Catcher Update #LoDucaMcCannDifference1339,529288,491+51,0362447,153357,659+84,494 Third Base Update #Wright2nd PlaceDifference1409,338301,393+107,9452550,862401,169+149,693 Cabrera has moved into second place, with Jones falling to 3rd. Shortstop Update #ReyesHardyDifference1439,792284,621+155,1711563,944380,772+183,172 Outfield Update #Beltran4th PlaceDifference1586,815347,330+239,4852758,457486,032+272,425 Beltran is 1st, with Griffey now second, Bonds 3rd and Soriano 4th.

I'll be there Friday and Saturday. I remember being impressed by Comerica when I last went (in 2000, its first season) but I'll have to give it a re-eval, as I've been to several other of the new parks since then.

Should add that Wednesday is a national ESPN broadcast for the out-of-towners.

We last saw Philly at the home opener series, and one game in Philadelphia (the first game of the two game series was rained out), both in early April. Lots has happened to our enemies to the south since then. A quick recap: Myers moved to Bullpen After unsuccessfully shopping surplus starter Jon Lieber for bullpen help, the Phillies decided to move Lieber back to the starting rotation and move accused wife-beater Brett Myers to the bullpen. (This was actually announced on April 18, the day of the last Mets game vs. the Phillies, although neither pitcher has appeared against the Mets in their new role). Jayson Stark of ESPN called it a "desperation move." Things seemed to work out ok, though: Myers's numbers as a starter: 0-2 (3 starts), 16 1/3 IP, 9.39 ERA, 5 HR. As a reliever: 20 2/3 IP (18 appearances), 2.61 ERA, 32 Ks, 9 BB, 1 HR, 6-7 in save chances. His ERA was actually a lot better, too, before a 4-ER-in-2/3 IP outing on May 23 at Florida (more on that below). Lieber's numbers as a reliever: 2 2/3 IP (2 appearances), 11.57 ERA, 4 H, 2 BB As a starter: 1-3 (8 starts), 51 1/3 IP, 3.51 ERA, 33 K, 15 BB Phillies hit rock bottom The April 17 loss to the Mets put the Phillies at 3-9; after the game, Charlie Manuel's press conference included an expletive-loaded tirade to reporters, including challenging a radio reporter to a fight. Manuel had to be restrained by a coach. The next night, the Phillies lost to the Nationals in 13 innings. The beleagured Philly 'pen actually performed quite well, until the Nationals scratched out a run against the 6th reliever the Phils used that night. The loss dropped them to last place. Injury Bug Closer Tom Gordon, who had a sore shoulder back in Spring Training hit the DL on May 2, with Myers inheriting the closer job. Gordon had been 5-8 in save opportunities with a 4.82 ERA. Ryan Howard, who missed a few games in April with strained ligaments also had a two-week DL stint in May with a strained quadricepts. Ineffective setup man Ryan Madson missed a couple of weeks in May with a strained oblique. On May 23 against the Marlins, with a 4 run lead in the 9th inning, the Phillies brought in Brett Myers, who proceeded to give up 2 singles, a triple, strike out 2, hit a batter, another single, and then injure his arm in ugly fashion. For the morbidly curious, a Link to the game recap, with has the video footage. Inconsistent Play After the April 18 loss to Washington, the Phillies reeled off a 7-3 run (it helped that they were playing the likes of the Reds, Nationals, and Astros). They had a good run in May as well, beating the Cubs, Brewers and Blue Jays in 3 consecutive series. Overall, though, they look like a .500 team, incapable of stringing together consistent hot streaks. They swept Atlanta last weekend on the road, but then got swept by the Diamondbacks at home. They faced the Giants this weekend at home, getting drubbed 13-0 Friday night but taking the next two. Shane Victorino hit a walkoff homer on Sunday afternoon, on Victorino Bobblehead (he was depicted in a hula skirt) Day. Pitching Matchups Tue: Jamie Moyer (L) v. Tom Glavine Moyer is 5-4, 4.23. He's been an unspectacular innings-eater, with a typical start of 2-4 runs in 7 innings. Got knocked around (3 Homers) by the the Diamonbacks last time out. Glavine and Moyer faced on May 12, with Glavine winning. Neither pitcher was spectacular, but Glavine held the Phils to 3 runs, while Moyer gave up 4. Wed: Adam Eaton ® v. Orlando Hernandez 5-4, 6.28 ERA. 67 H and 32 BB in 61 2/3 IP. Eaton got knocked out in the 3rd inning on Friday night vs. the Giants. Easily the most favorable pitching matchup for the Mets this series. Eaton was the winning pitcher in the Oliver Perez 7 walk game (7 IP/2 ER). Thu: Cole Hamels (L) v. John Maine Hamels last outing was a complete game 5-hitter against the Giants (2 ER). He's having an excellent year: 8-2, 3.55 ERA, 91 K/21 BB in 83 2/3 IP. HR seems to be the biggest weakness (11 allowed so far this year). He could easily have 2 more wins, as the bullpen blew his first two starts (one of which was the Mets' home opener). Phillies Lineup Jimmy Rollins - SS (S) After 9 HR in April, he's returned to earth: .263-9-33, .311 OBP .400 SLG. Shane Victorino - RF (S) is finally using his speed more on the bases, 16-for-18 in steal attempts. .272-4-22 .349 OBP/.388 SLG. Strong arm in RF. Chase Utley - 2B (L) is still a monster. .300-10-44 RBI (3rd in NL) .384 OBP/.555 SLG. 35 of his 66 hits for extra bases. Ryan Howard - 1B (L) After a slow April, some power has returned, but he's still not hitting much. 10-35-.224. .387 OBP/.512 SLG. Pat Burrell - LF ® The Phils would love to get him out of town, but he's making $13M this year, $14M next and has a no-trade clause. 6-24-.225. 42 walks with only 39 Ks is somewhat encouraging. Aaron Rowand - CF ® is having a great season, 8-28-.325. .400 OPB/.700 SLG. Has hit safely in 47 of 56 games. He plays aggressively in the OF (many will remember him breaking his nose while robbing Xavier Nady of a triple last year) but has frusted the Phillies with inconsistent defensive play, including taking the wrong route on balls and some missed dives. Abraham Nunez - 3B (S) / Greg Dobbs (L) are platooning. Wes Helms lost the starting job. Dobbs looks ok, .278-5-22 in 97 ABs. Not much plate discipline. Nunez isn't good enough to start in the majors. 0-10-.271 in 107 ABs. Carlos Ruiz - C ® 3-19-.270. .324 OBP/.401 SLG. Solid defensively, has caught 10 of 31 trying to steal. Bench and Bullpen Michael Bourn (L) A rookie, he has speed, an arm and good defensive skills. Hitting .265 in 34 ABs so far. Looks promising. Wes Helms ® 0-16-.261, 30 Ks in 138 ABs. Jason Werth ® has some pop, 3-9-.276 in 58 ABs. Rod Barajas ® is a no-hit backup catcher. 4.72 bullpen for the Phils is better only than the Reds and Rockies in the NL, despite the third-fewest bullpen IP in the league. Antonio Alfonseca ® is closing games with Myers and Gordon out. 1 for 2 in save chances. Doing reasonably well of late - unscored upon in 7 of his last 8 outings. Geoff Geary ® is the staff workhorse, with 26 appearances. Has given up a few longballs but pretty solid, 3.58 ERA in 27 2/3 IP, 18 Ks, 11 BB, 25 H. Clay Condrey ® has been hit hard several times and is carring around an unsightly 11.57 ERA in 11 appearances. Yoel Hernandez ®, a rookie has been very impressive. 1 ER, 4 H and no walks in 7 2/3 IP (6 appearances). Francisco Rosario ® and Ryan Madson ® are both still maddeningly (for the Phils) inconsistent. Mike Zagurski (L), a rookie, is the only lefty. Has only thrown 4 1/3 innings, all good except the one where he gave up a 3-run homer to Ray Durham. Who's Hot Cole Hamels leads the NL with 8 wins, is 2nd in the majors in Ks with 91 (one behind Peavy), and 4th in the majors in IP, plus the aforementioned CG 5-hitter in his last start. Who's Not Howard and Burrell have been somewhat cold all year, and Rollins has been colder of late as well. Who's Hurt Tom Gordon has just started throwing on flat ground. Survey says he will be lucky to be back after the All-Star break. Myers should be able to throw soon and could be back by the next time the Mets and Phils meet at the end of the month. --- Looking forward to this series. After stumbling against the D'Backs, we need to get 2 of 3. Going Tuesday and probably Thursday, which will be the last of the "Bronze" (ie. $9 upper reserved tickets) games until September.

0:25 - 0:27. It was a fun time. Ride is pretty easy. For a weekend afternoon game, I likely see myself biking it again sometime. Not mentioned in the film: Mets lost to the Brewers 12-3 that day in particularly ugly fashion.

Perez 2.25 Gomez 1

Sat down on the couch, Perez had no-hit stuff. Wake up an hour later from the inevitable nap, we're down 3-0. Crap!

Sosa 3 Gotay 3 Delgado 1 Smith .6 Feliciano .6 Newhan .6 Castro .6 Reyes .6

Maine 2 Reyes 1 Gotay .5

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Is Heilman officially demoted? Isn't pitching the 9th down by 4 a job for Sele or Schoeneweis? Surprised me too. He last pitched Tuesday...but Sele last pitched Saturday. Game sucked. Not a good crowd either. Injuries aside -- and I don't really have as big a problem being beaten by a really good pitcher - we need to recognize that we cannot honestly expect to win with that lineup. Ever.

1969 WS Game 4 - Monday, 7:00.

OHernandez 4 Smith 1 Wagner 1 Reyes 1 Chavez 1 Wright 1 Easley 1

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I'm not arguing that he should be demonized, or that he never did any good. But there's no denying that those we three three losses we all pretty darn awful. If he had saved those two games against Atlanta, but had blown games the previous week against Florida or Montreal, I don't think he'd be as reviled as he is. The 2001 games were tough (especially the first, as the Mets were poised to sweep that first series), but what has always stuck in my craw was: 1999 NLDS Game 4 1999 NLCS Game 6 2000 NLDS Game 2 2000 WS Game 1 I hate to say it, but "when it mattered most," Benitez didn't get it done. He had several other good outings, but he was 3-for-7 in post season saves over a 2 year period.

I'm convinced that adding to Benitez' problems was that during his heyday, the best closer...EVER was also in his heyday. Seriously. Many Mets fans, whether they'll admit it or not, have their view influenced by the constant media attention and praise associated with Rivera. The perception of him as infallible, I think, caused people to have less patience with Mets closers, probably with somewhat unfair expectations.

Thanks OO for the help! Chacarron is Reyes' 4th song, with This Is Why I'm Hot the s2nd song, and Walk It Out the 3rd. I think the first one is one of the reggateton beats created by Reyes himself (?). Perez is either changing up his music or perhaps letting the stadium change it up for him. Not sure, but it wasn't the Jacksons used on Tuesday. Carlos Gomez has music now too...still trying to ID that. I think all the relievers except Sele have music now too. Not 100% sure about Feliciano. The goal of getting everybody this year is getting a little closer. Entrance Music 2007 Starters Tom Glavine - Sweet Child O'Mine, Guns N Roses (Pitching) Tom Glavine - What You Gonna Do, Lil' Jon (Batting) John Maine - Seek and Destroy, Metallica (Batting) Chan Ho Park - Are You Gonna Go My Way, Lenny Kravitz (Pitching and Batting) Oliver Perez - Can You Feel It, The Jacksons (Pitching) Relievers Aaron Heilman - London Calling, The Clash and Don't Fear the Reaper, Blue Oyster Cult Guillermo Mota - I Like To Move It, Reel 2 Real Scott Schoenweis - Megalomaniac, Incubus Joe Smith - So Cold, Breaking Benjamin Billy Wagner - Enter Sandman, Metallica C Paul LoDuca - Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees; No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn, Beastie Boys; Rockit, Herbie Hancock IF Carlos Delgado - Rompe, Daddy Yankee; Machete, Daddy Yankee; Dejale Caer To' El Peso, Yomo Jose Reyes - This Is Why I'm Hot, Mims; Walk It Out, DJ Unk; Chacarron, El Chombo; a reggaeton beat created by Reyes himself. Jose Valentin - Reggaeton Latino, Don Omar; Salio el Sol, Don Omar David Wright - Me and You, Cassie; Fame, David Bowie; The Second Coming, Julez Santana; I'm Not a Player, Big Pun OF Moises Alou - Requests that no music be played. Carlos Beltran - El Esta Aqui, David y Abraham Shawn Green - Song 2, Blur; Be Yourself, Audioslave Bench Ramon Castro - Imperial March, John Williams and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (fr. the Star Wars Soundtrack) Damion Easley - Smack That, Akon; Too Legit to Quit, Hammer Julio Franco - People Get Ready, Crystal Lewis David Newhan - We Fly High, Jim Jones

Glavine 1.5 Mota 1 LoDuca .5

Box Score

I don't think this loss was painless. It was pretty bland though, even for all the Bonds related nonsense at the park tonight. Worth noting: lots of boos for Guillermo Mota when introduced. Not deafening, but loud. Very few cheers. LoDuca's double was his 1,000 career hit. Scoreboard graphic, nice cheer, tip of the helmet from LoDuca, they took the ball out of play.

Update #1 Released May 29 All Mets players listed are leading voting except as noted. Beltran and Reyes are #1 and #2 in overall voting. Catcher Update #LoDucaMcCannDifference1339,529288,491+51,036 First Base Update #PujolsDelgadoDifference1339,706218,647-121,059 Delgado is 5th, with Fielder 2nd, Lee 3rd and Garciaparra 4th. Third Base Update #WrightJonesDifference1409,338301,393+107,945 Shortstop Update #ReyesHardyDifference1439,792284,621+155,171 Outfield Update #Beltran4th PlaceDifference1586,815347,330+239,485 Beltran is 1st, with Bonds 2nd, Soriano 3rd, and Griffey 4th.

Delgado 3.75 Perez 1.75 Heilman 1.25 Feliciano 1 Wagner 1 Beltran .75 Reyes .5

Box Score

We do get to face the Tigers on the road.

I too felt a little bad for Armando. Partly because he gets a worse rap than he deserves (and that could be an entire thread by itself) and partly because it distinctly felt like the fans were rooting specifically for him to fail rather than for the Mets to win. (Now, I know in some sense that sounds stupid -- because he'd have to fail in most cases for us to win -- but still...) That being said, I predicted the Delgado homer as soon as the second balk call was made. Only surpise was that it took longer in the AB to happen than I thought. Can't believe I'm the first in this thread to invoke the name of Steve Bieser (which was, IIRC, the last time the Mets tied a game on a balk). Lost in the shuffle: Perez setting down 14 Giants in a row after the second homer. Delgado went over and had a talk with him that seemed to settle Perez down. Strategy decisions that I don't like: Pinch hitting for Gomez. Not a huge defensive loss with Johnson out there but I don't think Franco was a great improvement. Bunting with Chavez once Reyes had reached second on the first balk. Misc: Every Met did the Oliver Perez-style leap over the foul line as they ran onto the field for the 1st inning.