Chad ochoseis

Ceetar wrote: Then voted for all the AL players in position to keep any Yankees out. Home field advantage in the World Series may prove to be relevant to the Mets this year. So the best strategy is to vote for AL players who are having mediocre seasons, but still have a shot at winning the vote because of name recognition and media coverage. Derek Jeter, looking forward to seeing you in Anaheim. And Mark Teixiera and his 105 OPS+ trail the deserving Justin Morneau by only about 250,000 votes. TEX NEEDS YOUR VOTE!

I wouldn't count Anna Benson, and the Piazza-is-gay issue always seemed like a media creation. If we all agree that LoDuca was never a Met, would that make it so? Now that I think about it, there's also John Maine in a dress. OK, Lisa, you win.

The Mets, no strangers to players accused of sleazy sexcapades OK, beats me. I can think of Ambiorix Burgos (which was sleazy, but not a "sexcapade") and, if you want to stretch to recent scandals involving Mets of yesteryear, Art Shamsky's divorce looniness. Anything else this decade?

Wayne Hagin said something tonight about this being Ike's 30th cleanup appearance, breaking the all-time record held by Steve Henderson. He didn't specify what exact all-time record was broken, but I guess it's cleanup appearances by a Met rookie.

"There was not enough evidence to prove lack of consent, the alleged victim's statement is not consistent with other witnesses." Other witnesses?!?!? It's not good that Johan threw a change-up to someone other than his wife, but he's not the first to have done that. As far as the rest of the story, anyone can accuse anyone of anything. I'll believe it when there's proof.

It doesn't make much difference to me whether they jack up ticket prices directly or by sneaking in these extra fees. The net effect is the same. It's their right, but given that the big bucks are made through concessions, product licensing, and TV revenues, the teams aren't helping themselves by increasing ticket prices. Take a little bit of loss on the tickets, make a lot of money elsewhere. I'm happy with the Weiner plan (Fman, I'm putting it on a tee for you) of requiring teams to clarify the hidden costs. Is there any way to avoid the fees? If I buy direct from the CitiField ticket counter and pay cash, do I pay face value?

Okay, well, uh... candlesticks always make a nice gift, and uh, maybe you could find out where she's registered and maybe a place-setting or maybe a silverware pattern.

Following along on Gameday, and I see Bay was pulled for Feliciano. Injury issue, or is Jerry just trying to get Feliciano some playing time?

Greetings from Utah, where I'm on a quick vacation before a business meeting in Las Vegas. I went out for a fifteen-mile hike in Zion National Park today, and I've got to say that baseball isn't foremost in my mind. Glad to see that the lucky Mets cap I've been wearing has been working, though. Zion National Park doesn't suck. The Indians, on the other hand, do. Until a few days ago I didn't know a whole lot about them except that, despite a recent five-game winning streak ended by the buzzsaw that is Stephen Strasburg, they were still in last place. In the AL Central. That's right, these guys have a worse record than the Royals. That should say it all, but I know the 'pool deserves a better KTE than that. So I sent an e-mail to my brother, who's lived in Cleveland for the past fourteen years and has gone native, and another e-mail to my old college roommate, who grew up there and has remained an Indians fan despite not having lived in the state of Ohio since well before most of the current Indians pitching staff was born. Here's what they have to say: Their two best players are currently DLed. Asdrubal Cabrera, their young, talented shortstop, got into a nasty crash with third baseman Jhonny Peralta. Cabrera, who is the answer to the trivia question "Who fielded the last unassisted triple play before the Bruntlett/Francoeur fiasco?", suffered a broken arm and will be on the DL for a long time. Peralta suffered nothing more serious than some rearranged consonants and is still in the lineup. Grady Sizemore, one of the best centerfielders in baseball when healthy, recently had microfracture surgery on his knee. No word on whether he's running yet. As far as the guys who are on the field: Shin Soo Choo - RF - probably best all around player for Indians. Last year's numbers don't appear to be a fluke - hit .300 with 20HR's. Solid in outfield - many say he truly is a 5 tool player. LF - right now Austin Kearns is the current resident. Free agent signing this year - played for Manny Acta in Washington. Doing ok - gives the Indians a right handed power bat. 3B - Jhonny Peralta - ugh. Inconsistent. and is serviceable defensively. He really didn't want to make the move from SS - but his range was awful. SS - right now Jason Donald - came over from Philly in the Cliff Lee trade last year. Donald is doing ok - scrappy player - he also hit the disputed ground ball which the umpire called him safe to ruin Armando Galarraga's perfect game. 2B - Luis Valbuena - yuck. good defense - nothing more needs to be said. 1B - Russell Branyan/Matt LaPorta. Branyan signed as a FA and is in his 2nd stint with the Indians. Team needed a power bat - and got a streaky one at that. Bad back put Branyan on the DL to start the season, but he's playing now - and playing ok. LaPorta is the backup - and sometimes left fielder or DH - was the big name who came to Cleveland in the CC Sabathia trade to Milwaukee in '08. Read that again next time you want to say that Omar is the worst GM in baseball. The Indians traded CC Sabathia. They got back Matt LaPorta. Catcher - The Indians recently called up Carlos Santana, who did a fine job with mambo-tinged rock in the seventies and is starting to look like he may become Cleveland's Ike Davis. DH - Travis Hafner. Matt Stairs skills, Oliver Perez contract. Pitching matchups: Tuesday: Justin Masterson (RHP, 2-5, 4.74) vs. Johan. 'Nuff said. Wednesday: Mitch Talbot (RHP, 7-4, 3.59) vs. Niese. Talbot came over from Tampa Bay and has the potential to pass Mitch Williams as the best-ever Mitch to play in the major leagues. So I'm sort of rooting for this guy on most days. But not this coming Wednesday. Currently the ace of the Indians' staff - goes deep into games in addition to having the solid ERA. Thursday: Jake Westbrook (RHP, 4-3, 4.62) vs. Dickey. Westbrook is coming off Tommy John surgery and is a moderately effective pitcher. He stands no chance against the Dickey juggernaut. Bullpen: The closer is named Chris Perez. He's subbing for the injured Kerry Wood. Since I'm not expecting the Indians to be in a save situation this week, I didn't do any further research. I couldn't find another reliever with an ERA under 5.00. Weather - 70s all week, slight chance of t-storms on Wednesday. LeBron James situation - no idea, but any discussion of Cleveland sports has to include LeBron James. Ex-factors - Ex-Indians: Cora Ex-Mets: Joe Smith and Anderson Hernandez. Also, Manny Acta is manager.

NYT giving Manuel some positive press. In the Mets� 7-6 victory over the Florida Marlins on Sunday, Manuel�s positive outlook was cited as one of the reasons for a triumph that extended their home winning streak to eight games. Manuel has faced some withering criticism this season, but he has also provided some evidence of a job well done, and players were quick to note how Sunday offered a strong case. I'm largely in agreement with the 'pool's assessment of Manuel's field managing decisions - too much bunting (though I'm fine with bunts in some situations), too quick of a hook, and too much Cora too early in the batting order - but I often wonder if the reason why we think he's so bad is that we don't get to see how bad other managers can be at times.

metsmarathon wrote: mistakes are great - ask the gulf coast! This says a lot about why I have mixed feelings about instant replay. Part of the fun of sports is that it's not serious - a monumental mistake means only that some pitcher gets jerked out of the honor that comes with achieving what's basically a statistical anomaly. Nobody dies, and major bodies of water aren't ravaged. Adding replay to the mix is a way of saying that an ump's call is so important that we need to employ the latest advanced technologies to be sure that it's absolutely perfect, because a baseball game is just too important to screw up. That being said, I can see the merit in getting a call right if it can be done without too much hassle. The 30-second rule sounds reasonable. Maybe add to it that at least one of the on-field umps has to agree to review the call, just to keep the creatively intelligent weenies of the game (Tony LaRussa, I'm looking at you) from using reviews as a device to slow the game down for other purposes.

Mike Lupica wrote: This was Boras' solution even though the only thing really ailing Perez is an earned-run average that reads like the area code of New Hampshire. I generally like Lupica, but someone's automatic Sharp-As-A-Tack-Simile-Finder must have been on the fritz this week. 603, if anyone's wondering.

Philosophical question: What's worse - this call, which cost a perfect game but didn't affect the outcome, or the same call in the same situation, but with a runner on third, the score tied, and no no-hitter on the line - i.e. the call costs the Tigers the game?

I didn't see anything that looked like an error on the play. Changing the scoring would create a statistical fiction for no purpose other than to give Galarraga credit for the no-hitter. I don't see the point. Joyce blew the call, but blown calls are part of the game. Changing the scoring wouldn't change the game Galarraga pitched. If you really believe there was an error on the play, that's a different story.

Thank you, Glenn Hoffman.

It doesn't look clear that he's caught the ball yet, either. I'd really like to see a slow-motion replay.

HahnSolo wrote: Ballsy if he were really safe. Bad when the guy is clearly out. Well, ballsy either way. He called a close call as he saw it, knowing the stakes.

I just counted 52 runs in 18 perfect games since 1900, for an average runs per game of 2.89. So the theory seems to hold over the small sample size.

I strongly suspect that Klapisch, just in case, had an article in his top drawer that began as follows: The Mets threw $20 million down the toilet today. Jeff Wilpon, rather than give Ollie Perez a chance to work out his own problems, succumbed to pressure and exercised the nuclear option, cutting the pitcher who just two years ago went 3-0 with an 0.89 ERA against the Mets' two most feared rivals, the Yankees and Phillies. Perez has great stuff and still has time to become a top-flight major league pitcher. And, if he does, every win chalked up to him for some other team will be a reminder of how foolish and gutless the Mets were in cutting him rather than standing up to his critics. Etc., etc., etc.

If Joe Petruccio says it, that's good enough for me.

Howie wrote: It�s clear that his own teammates are fed up with him and his overtly selfish ways New information, or just based on the two unnamed Met sources? Howie wrote: One quick travel note��going from Milwaukee to San Diego is like the part of the Wizard of Oz where the movie goes from black and white to color. Great cheap shot/non-sequitur, Howie. Milwaukee's a perfectly OK place.

Gwreck was the winning starter yesterday. Got to keep his good IGT mojo alive.

Big news here...All-Star balloting is a crock. The Marlins are providing outright bribes to fans to vote for their team members, in an attempt to help the NL field the worst defensive team in All-Star history. Manager Fredi Gonzalez, showing some character and class, said, "I think this is complete (nonsense). Fans should vote for the player who they think is the most deserving, whether he's one of our guys or not." Well, no, he didn't actually say that. But it sure would have been nice if he did. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/05/29/sports/AP-BBN-Marlins-All-Star-Push.html?_r=1 MIAMI (AP) -- Free tickets, autographed baseballs, even access to a 12-person suite, the Florida Marlins will happily give any of them away to fans. Just help send the Marlins to the All-Star Game. The Marlins have unveiled a slew of promotions designed to coerce fans into becoming ballot-stuffers for the next few weeks, all with hopes that one of baseball's poorest-drawing teams can find a way to overcome the fact that there's a lot more voters punching cards in other stadiums around the National League. ''Other teams do this,'' said Sean Flynn, the Marlins' vice president of marketing. ''We're not the only team.'' Still, they are one of the more aggressive at the ballot-stuffing initiatives. ''Let's get some of those guys in there,'' Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. Some in-stadium promotions include giving away two tickets for filling out 200 All-Star ballots, available at any of 30 locations around Sun Life Stadium. For the in-stadium offer, there's two caveats: All eight Marlins on the ballot must be voted for every time, and the ballots need to be turned in by the conclusion of the sixth inning. The Marlins are offering smaller prizes for 50 or 100 completed ballots, such as a Hanley Ramirez figurine. Ramirez was the only Florida player to be listed among the top-five leaders at any position when the first numbers were released this week. Think 200 is too many times to vote for freebies? Then go online and vote 25 times -- you'll get two tickets that way, too. And don't want to be bothered by voting during games? Take ballots home. Return 1,000, you'll get a Marlins prize pack. For 5,000, an autographed baseball. For 20,000, a meet-and-greet with Marlins players. Then comes the biggest prize -- the person who fills out the most ballots gets suite access. Flynn said two people filled out more than 40,000 cards and turned them in to the Marlins in 2009, when Ramirez made a late surge in the balloting and was the NL's starter at shortstop. In all, the Marlins said they got around a half-million ballots filled out through promotions last season. ''I think 500,000 ballots is pretty significant and I'm sure it had something to do with Hanley catching up,'' Flynn said.