Diamond Dad

It was a good run. If you allow yourself to be devestated in life every time you don't achieve the ultimate success, you're in for a long road. Ten years from now, what will we remember? -- Opening day tailgate party on gorgeous sunny April day, and the love-fest at Shea as the Mets win the opener!! -- Watching the team sprint out to an early divisional lead and win in every imaginable way, led by Pedro and Glavine. -- Watching the team cobble together a fantastic summer, despite injuries to four-fifths of the starting rotation, along with Kaz Matsui (no great loss there), Duaner Sanchez (ouch!), and Cliff Floyd. -- Seeing the major league debut of Mike Pelfry -- Seeing the beginning of John Maine's career. -- Watching Aaron Heilman develop into a solid set-up man, and feeling generally good about games when the Mets had the lead after 6. -- Watching the division clincher -- first time the evil Braves haven't won the division since before MK was born! -- Watching Jose Reyes and David Wright sign long-term contracts -- Sweeping the Dodgers in the first round, despite the starting pitching issues (and watching the MFYs fall apart against Detroit) -- Sitting on the edge of the couch for 7 games in the NLCS. Disappointed that we didn't win the World Series? Sure. But a great year, and looking forward to even better next year.

Congratulations, Indeed. If the Mets win the World Series this year, we'll all let you win again next time!

It's an old joke, but it still works: 1958 Question to a Brooklyn native: If you had Hitler, Stalin, and Walter O'Malley in a room together and you had a gun with only two bullets, who would you shoot? Answer: I'd shoot O'Malley twice -- to make sure I killed him.

The first place Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles come to town with a slim one-game lead on the San Diego Padres. After winning 7 in a row, the Dodgers lost three games straight before finally edging the Brewers 2-1 in the getaway game in Milwaukee on Wednesday. During the 3-game slide, the former Brooklyn boys were outscored 27-8. This pattern is not unusual for LA, which has enjoyed most of its success at home, where they are 44-27. On the road, they are 8 games under .500. If you saw the Mets play the Dodgers earlier in the season, you might not recognize this as the same team. Some veterans have returned from injuries, and the Dodgers have added a bunch of rookies to the team. They also added Julio Lugo (from Tampa) and Wilson Betemit (from the Braves) at the trading deadline and they have helped the offense. Pitching is the Dodgers� strength. The rotation is pretty good, led by NL pitcher-of-the-month Derek Lowe, who went 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA in August. Lowe got the win yesterday in Milwaukee, so the Mets catch a break and miss him. Offensively, the Dodgers generally play small ball � nobody on the team has more than 17 home runs. With Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra both spending time on the disabled list this year, their numbers have been held down. Both are healthy now, however, which coincides with the LA surge in the standings. The Dodgers lost 13 of their first 14 games following the all-star break, but then ran off a string of 12 in a row which put them back in first place, where they have stayed for the last 3 weeks � albeit by a slim margin. {Note: I am totally frustrated by my inability to make the tables below come out looking right in the post. Somebody will have to teach me some day. Sorry.} Starting Lineup: 1. Rafael Furcal, SS BA R HR RBI SB Last 7 .448 4 2 6 1 Season .291 94 9 52 33 2. Kenny Lofton, CF BA R HR RBI SB Last 7 .174 2 0 1 1 Season .304 62 2 31 25 3. Nomar Garciaparra, 1B BA R HR RBI SB Last 7 .143 4 1 6 0 Season .308 71 15 75 3 4. Jeff Kent, 2B BA R HR RBI SB Last 7 .357 6 1 5 0 Season .274 47 13 63 1 5. Andre Ethier, LF BA R HR RBI SB Last 7 .240 3 0 1 1 Season .332 49 11 53 5 6. Matthew Kemp, RF BA R HR RBI SB Last 7 .136 3 0 1 1 Season .269 26 7 21 5 7. Julio Lugo, 3B BA R HR RBI SB Last 7 .172 3 0 0 1 Season .308 53 12 27 18 8. Russell Martin, C BA R HR RBI SB Last 7 .364 3 1 5 1 Season .290 49 8 54 9 What to watch for: Keep an eye on the Dodger rookies as they come into the pennant home stretch. Andre Ethier has been amazing. Matthew Kemp has been a run producer. Russell Martin has been a huge surprise. All are in their first September ever. Pitching Matchups: Thursday: Brad Penny (15-7, 3.97) vs. Tom Glavine (12-6, 4.13) Penny was brilliant in the all-star game, and has a superior record, but he�s coming off a season where he had a serious injury, and the innings are catching up with him. He has not lasted past the 6th inning in any of his last 5 starts, and is a very average 5-5 with a 6.00 ERA since the break. Look for the Mets to get into the Dodger bullpen early. Glavine's ERA soared to a season-high figure when he allowed six runs in five innings against the Astros on Friday night in his first start in 16 days. He retired nine of his first 10 batters, but merely five on his last 13, one on a long sacrifice fly. He has six no-decisions in 11 starts since June 23. Still Glavine should be more rested and able to go deeper into the game than Penny. Friday � Hong-Chih Kuo (1st start) vs. John Maine (5-3, 3.44) After struggling in the Dodgers' bullpen, currently holding a 5.34 ERA in the big leagues this season, Kuo returned to Triple-A Las Vegas in July and went 3-3 with a 2.61 ERA in nine starts. "We feel that's a good opportunity for us to win a game," Little said of his choice. "We feel good about (Kuo's) stuff. ... He had much more success starting there (in Triple-A) than he did in the bullpen for us." But, he�s still a rookie making his big league debut as a starter. (Yummy) Meanwhile, Maine has been very solid for the Mets. After allowing two hits (both home runs) in his most recent start on Saturday night in Houston, Maine now has surrendered 12 homers in 68 innings. And those 12 have produced 21 of the 27 runs he has allowed. Saturday � Greg Maddux � (12-12, 4.36) vs. El Duque (9-10, 5.15) The Dodgers won the first four games Maddux started since joining the team in July, but has lost two of three since. In his last three starts, he is 1-1 and has given up 28 hits in 17 1/3 innings. The Dodgers desperately need him to be solid the rest of the way. El Duque returned last Sunday, pitched for the first time in 14 days and allowed one hit in 5 1/3 innings. The proviso: He walked six and needed 106 pitches to achieve 16 outs. But the clubs was pleased with his stamina and hardly displeased with the result. Don�t expect him to pitch a complete game. Sunday � Mark Hendrickson (5-15, 4.41) vs. Dave Williams ( 5-3, 5.68) Hendrickson has pitched into the fifth just once in his last four starts and gotten further than the sixth just once since he donned Dodgers blue for the first time. The latest rough outing came Tuesday, when he permitted four earned runs in four innings, with seven hits in a loss to the Brewers. With an expanded roster in September, it's possible Hendrickson will be limited to relief duty for the season's remainder. Williams has won two of his three starts, and the Mets have won all three contests. Williams' 3.79 ERA in his 19 innings as a Met is a quite acceptable for a fill-in starter. He�d like nothing better than to make it difficult for the front office to decide who is in and who is out of the rotation the rest of the way. Final thoughts. The Dodgers have more to play for than the Mets. They are young and hungry. But, they are also under a LOT of pressure with the Padres breathing down their necks, and the prospect of falling out of not only the NL West lead, but possibly out of the playoff race looms above them if they don�t play well on this road trip. The pressure is clearly on the Dodgers, and with a bunch of rookies in the lineup, they could implode � or they could be so young and inexperienced that they don�t know any better and won�t be affected by the pressure. Should be interesting to see.

A funny thing happened when the boys from desktop support took away my laptop today for an upgrade . . . I neglected to copy over my notes for the KTE thread. Don't worry, though -- it will be posted tomorrow by noon or so. Thanks for your patience DD

Williams - 3 RHernandez - 1 Mota - .5 Wright - .5 Green - 1 Reyes - 1 Delgado - 2.75 Chavez - .25

the 2006 team is doing this without the kind of starting pitching that the '86 team had. The '86 Mets starters had the following records at season's end: Gooden -- 17-6 Ojeda -- 18-5 Darling -- 15-6 Fernandez -- 16-6 Aguillera -- 10-7 By contrast, the current 2006 Mets: Glavine -- 12-6 Martinez - 9-5 Trachsel - 13-5 nobody else will get as many as 10 wins

I remember an outfield catch where Mookie and Lenny came together and locked elbows in mid-air, spinning each around and both landing flat on their backs. But Mookie caught (and hung on to) the ball for the out. Glorious -- and nobody was seriously hurt.

Delgado - 5 Beltran - 3 Chavez - .5 Mota - .5 Bradford - .5 Heilman - .5

They've used it twice recently and both times the Mets came from behind to win. I say we stick with it!

Sorry, Mookie, but the Mets don't need your boy. Think about it. A guy who strikes out a lot and hits into a lot of double plays. Can't bunt. No speed (anymore). Marginal defense. Sure, he can pop one out of the ballpark from time to time, but in a clutch situation is more likely than not to whiff rather than put the bat on the ball. Sounds a lot like Victor Diaz I'd rather have Endy Chavez. Great defense. Great throwing arm. Speed in the field and on the bases. Puts the ball in play. good bunter. good situational hitter. Good pinch hitter/defensive replacement off the bench in the playoffs. No contest.

With apologies to Kevin Youkalis, he doesn't make the all-time Jewish team at first base. That one goes to Hank Greenberg. Perhaps Youkalis makes it as a third baseman? Who else makes the squad?? 1B -- Hank Greenberg 2B -- Mike Mordecai 3B -- Kevin Youkalis SS -- ?? C - Mike Lieberthal/Moe Berg LF -- Shawn Green CF -- Art Shamsky RF -- ?? DH -- Ron Blomberg SP -- Sandy Kaufax SP -- Ken Holtzman SP -- Steve Stone SP -- ?? SP -- ?? RP -- ?? RP -- ?? RP -- ?? RP -- ?? Mini Knight has a book on jewish sports heros, so I'm sure we can come up with many more

I managed MK's all-star team this summer (9-year-olds). In one game, the other team had a huge kid -- had to be 5'6" and weighed 150. First time up, he hit a shot over the center fielder's head and one-hop off the fence. Next time up, we were ahead 1 run and there was a runner at third base with two outs. My pitcher walked the kid on 4 pitches. I didn't tell him anything -- on his own he was very, very careful not to give the big kid anything good to hit. We went on to win the game, which was our team's only win in the tournament. My kids were very, very happy to get that win. They would have felt terrible if they had gone winless. Even at 9-years old, there are tough choices. If that kid had come up again in the last inning with the game on the line and a base open, I would have felt that getting my team a "win" that they could feel good about was more important than having my pitcher face the challenge of pitching to their best hitter. It's a team game. If the next hitter is weaker, then the strategy is legitimate. but that is all-stars, where the kids sign up specifically to play in post-season competitive tournaments. So, you could argue that it's different. -- one last thought here . . . remember the great story from last year about the basketball player from Rochester who was disabled (I forget exactly his physical/mental issue) who was the team manager and they let him into the final game of the season and he scored 20 points. it was all over the news, and I think he won the ESPY award for best sports story of the year. It's not like the other team laid down and let him score -- they were trying to win the game, and the disabled kid scored anyway. That's what made it so special. If the pony league manager walks the "good" hitter to get to the kid with cancer, and then cancer boy gets a hit and wins the game for his team -- that's a great story. Sure, it didn't happen this time, but sometimes it does.

Context dictates actions. Last year, I had a kid on my son's team who was physically disabled -- lack of muscle development in his legs made it very hard for him to move quickly or run. took him 30 seconds to run from home to first. His parents had a great attitude about him playing baseball just for the fun of it, and he had a great attitude also. The rest of the kids cheered for him and helped him out. It was a great experience for everyone. That was a league of 8 year olds where we didn't keep score, there were no "wins" or "losses" and there was no champion. It was strictly for fun and development. No question that you pitch to everyone. This year, MK moved up to the next level. Now the kids are pitching, umpires are calling balls and strikes, there is a winner and loser of each game, and there are standings kept, and playoffs at the end of the season, which culminates in a championship game. During the "regular season" I would never intentionally walk a batter. Let the pitcher face the peril and see what he can do. Let the defense try to make the out. Winning that game is not critical. Same applies for giving different kids a chance to pitch, rotating players around defensively, etc. But, once you start the "playoffs" and winning/losing becomes more important, the manager acts differently. You try to put your "best" defense on the field whenever possible, and you organize your batting order to try to maximize your chances of scoring runs (weaker hitters hit at the end of the order). In that context, intentionally walking a strong hitter to get to a weaker hitter (regardless of why he's a weaker hitter) may be a good call, and not poor sportsmanship. Same applies (as pointed out) to a third base coach sending a runner home against a weak-throwing outfielder, or a coach telling a runner on first base to steal second against a weak-throwing catcher. You don't let up and "take it easy" on the other team in the playoffs because you don't want to hurt the feelings of the weak player who will feel bad. (If you're up 15-0, you stop running, but if it's a close game, you don't.) If the kid with cancer is playing at this level, he has to expect to be treated the same as everyone else. Parents should expect the same. He doesn't automatically get to win just because he has cancer. So -- the physically disabled kid I had last year? this year he and his parents decided to keep him back in the 8-year-old league, even though he's now 9. He played in the "just for fun" environment, and I'm sure enjoyed it. He did not move up into the more competetive league. Good choice. DD

I like LoDuca's spirit. I'm ready to send Soler back to Norfolk.

So, as the fans settle into their seats here at big Shea . . . It's already Phillies 3, Mets eventually coming to bat

In the time it took to post that last message . . . (Jeremy should be packing his bags between innings)

Of course, the WFAN feed is blacked out on the internet. Probably better not to have to listen to Dog call the plays.

Heilman -- 2 Wagner - 1 LoDuca - 1 Beltran - 2 Nady - 2 Wright - 2

As rain-soaked as I was last night, I was glad to have been there in person to see Aaron Rowand's catch. Sure, it resulted in a Met loss, but it was the greatest outfield catch I've ever seen in person. Better than Mookie and Lenny doing an aerial do-si-do with locked elbows in '85 (prior winner). Makes me think about great plays -- both those that had video replay and those before the era. Mays' catch. Swabbota/Agee in the '69 series. Fielder giving up his body to make a catch that saved 3 runs and, as it turned out, the win. What's the best catch you've ever seen with your own eyes? Here's the description from last night -- (before replay). This is how I'll describe it to my grandkids: It was a rainy night. Both teams knew that getting an early lead could mean the ball game (it ended up being called after 4 and a half innings, so they would have been right). Mets had two out and nobody on in the top of the 1st when the Phillies pitcher (Floyd) got wild and walked 3 consecutive batters. Must have been hard to grip the ball in the steady drizzle. He fell behind Xavier Nady 3-1, then got him to 3-2. The runners were off with the pitch. Nady drilled a long drive to deep right center. The Phillies' center fielder -- Aaron Rowand -- was shading Nady to pull, so he was over in left-center. We all thought the ball was gone for a Grand Slam when Nady hit it, but the wind was howling in from right-to-left and started to knock the ball down. I saw Rowand sprinting full out toward the wall. Three runs were going to score for sure, even if the ball didn't leave the yard. I saw the ball disappear over Rowand's head. Rowand didn't dive for the ball, he slammed against the outfield wall and fell backwards onto the warning track. There had been no time between the ball disappearing and Rowand crashing face-first into the chain-link fence that is on the top of the wall at that spot so that the bullpen pitchers can look through and see the game. I started to celebrate the home run! The Mets' runners were jogging around the bases, looking over their shoulders to see what had happened. The left fielder, Pat Burrell, can running up to Rowand on the ground, reached into his glove, and pulled out the ball. Umpire signaled "out" and Nady stopped running somewhere between 2nd and 3rd. I saw the ball in Burrell's hand, but still couldn't believe it. NO way he could have caught that ball. Wow.

Batter who hits into 4 fielder's choices is still 0-4. Can be 0-4 and score 4 runs, but you're still 0-4 and your BA and OBP for the game is .000

Sad Martinez - 5 Delgado - 2 Nady - 2 Floyd - .5 LoDuca - .5

Great stuff! I remember Lenny after that walk-off home run saying that he had never, ever, had a game-winning homer. "not even in strat-o-matic"

keeping a "book" is becoming a lost art. At my son's little league game a few weeks ago, I handed one of my assistant coaches the score book and said, "here, keep the book" while I went to work with the boy who was going to be the next pitcher. When I game back, he handed me the book and had not written a thing on it. I looked at him quizzically and asked why he hadn't written anything and he looked at me like a cow looking at an ocoming train and said, "I thought you just wanted me to hold it for you." He had no idea how to record a game in a scorebook. I've been teaching Mini Knight how to score -- he's pretty good at all the basics now (good handwriting practice, too!), but he gets confused on odd plays. There is no "correct" way to keep a book, although I'd say that the object is that somebody else -- not you -- should be able to figure it out, so you should not use such individualized markings that only you know the code! I like to indicate each "out" by putting a number in a circle. so, if a runner is forced out at a base on a fielder's choice ("FC") and is the third out of the inning, I'll have a "3" in a circle in that box to indicate that was the final out, even though the batter is shown as reaching base on FC and he was the last batter of the inning. I like to draw an extra thick solid line underneith the box for last batter faced by each pitcher, to differentiate the at-bats against each pitcher in the game, but I like Keith's method (for an announcer who has a table to write on and a supply of colored highlighters!) Most TV or Radio announcers use extra large scorebook pages so they can write in notes to themselves like "lined hard to 2b -- great play by Kaz" so when they are looking back at the at-bats of each hitter they are reminded of things to say about the previous at-bats. on a small traditional scorecard you don't have that much space, but I will put an exclamation point next to a great defensive play. It's great to have a scorecard of a game to look back on. I have one hanging on the wall of my office in a frame -- along with the ticket stub from the game -- September 17, 1986. Last out was Chico Walker: "4-3"

The good, the bad, and Good: Wes Garner and Calvin Schiraldi for Bobby Ojeda. (Red Sox fans should remember that one -- worked out pretty well for the Mets on both ends) Neil Allen and Rick Ownby for Keith Hernandez Bob Baily for Sid Fernandez Two stiff minor leaguers to Texas for Ron Darling Bad: Lenny Dykstra for Juan Samuel The aforementioned Nolan Ryan (and others) for Jim Fragosi Dare we even mention Doug Flynn and Pat Zachary for Tom Seaver? But the Mets aren't the worst . . . What about the Cubs getting Sammy Sosa from the Rangers for some aging outfielder whose name I forget Or the Expos trading Randy Johnson to the Mariners for one season's worth of a lefty starter whose name escapes me Or Lou Brock from the Cubs to the Cardinals for Ernie Broglio Or Mark McGuire from the As for T.J. Matthews and Blake Stein (although that was a free agent salary dump deal) And of course . . . the Babe (Sorry, SoSH)