batmagadanleadoff

From Jayson Stark's mid-season awards: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8134086/handing-baseball-midseason-awards

Posey's a Pussy! Buster Posey thankful he doesn't have to catch Dickey's knuckleball

Dueling Fregosis: http://whomadethegrade.blogspot.com/ This card represents layers of missed opportunities. If you're a Mets' fan, the top layer is obviously the very fact of the trade. The team relinquished the eventual all-time strikeout king and author of 7 no-hitters for 364 Jim Fregosi at bats. 5 HRs, 43 RBI, and a .233 average later, Fregosi was sold to Texas. The truly surreal thing about the trade is that Nolan Ryan was part of a package of four players that the Mets shipped to the Angels in the deal. Is it any wonder that Nolan put the no no-no hoodoo on the Mets in return? Another key missed opportunity here is the Topps layer. The 1972 Traded subset adds extra flavor to the high-number series. The removal of the team name from the marquee and the blocky �TRADED� stamp are great design elements, and the initial run of players is pretty unbeatable: Carlton, Morgan, McLain, Frank Robinson... But then Fregosi breaks the spell, and things wind down with Wise and Cardenas. And believe it or not, this is actually Fregosi's third card in the 1972 Topps set. He appears as an Angel on #115, then as a Metropolitan in a boyhood photo on #346, and finally on this Traded card. Ryan, on the other hand appears once, as an airbrushed Angel on card #595. In the 1972 set in my mind, there is a Mets' Ryan card in series 1 or 2, and a Traded card picturing him as an Angel in the last series... ______________________________________ http://mets360.com/?p=7436 1972 TOPPS TRADED JIM FREGOSI Right now everyone�s mind is on the trade deadline so what better time to break out this classic Topps card with TRADED bolded and stamped across the groin of poor Jim Fregosi. This was one of seven cards in the last series of the 1972 set to be so branded. When Topps released cards in series, the last series came out when the season was more than half over and we had already seen more than enough of Mr. Fregosi at that point (and heard what Nolan Ryan did in the other league) to want any part of this card. To a young Mets fan, let�s call him me, Topps had three choices for a TRADED card for this set and picked the worst one. There had been no Rusty Staub card in the set, surely he should have been the choice. It�s impossible to explain nearly 40 years later how much I wanted to see Staub in a Mets card. But there was no card of him in either �72 or �73. Most likely this was due to a monetary dispute with Topps but as far as I know the complete story of why has never been published. So, Rusty, if you�re reading this drop me a line and let me know. Did they just forget? Did they lowball you? Were you going to start your own trading card set? Was the photographer someone you hated? Or was it just an elaborate joke on your part? If it wasn�t Staub, then it had to be Willie Mays. It was such a huge deal when Mays came back to New York. Of course now everyone will tell you that Mays embarrassed himself with his play with the Mets. Let me go all caps here and throw in a swear word for extra emphasis: THIS IS SIMPLY NOT F!@#$%G TRUE! In his first 53 games with the Mets, Mays went .283/.432/.467 for an .899 OPS. He finished the �72 season with an .848 OPS with New York, which was good for a 145 OPS+. Mays was still great � he just needed more days off at age 41 then Yogi Berra and the Mets were willing to give him. But it seems likely that Mays was not included in this TRADED set as he was dealt during the 1972 season (May 11th). The seven players in this subset were dealt in the offseason or Spring Training. The latest transaction involved Denny McLain, who was dealt by the Rangers to the A�s on March 4th. And so it became Fregosi. I was so thrilled with this that I took scissors to my copy of this card and winded up spending decades before finally acquiring a clean version for my set. While Ryan quickly became a star, Fregosi merely became a stiff, another in a long line of third basemen who failed for the team. Yet, it wasn�t his fault. Let�s start by reading the sponsorship of Fregosi at his Baseball-Reference page. �The best Major League shortstop from 1961-79, and most productive expansion-draft pick ever. Injuries prevented a Hall of Fame career.� Now this probably says as much about the quality of SS in this era as it does about Fregosi, but we should remember he was an outstanding player from 1963-1970, when he posted a 7.4 fWAR. In 1971, Fregosi developed foot problems which would plague him the rest of his career. And then he broke his thumb in Spring Training with the Mets in �72. When he got on the field, Fregosi got off to a hot start with the Mets, as he posted a .306/.376/.510 line over his first 26 games. But it was all downhill from there. He didn�t produce and he didn�t seem to care. Later Fregosi allegedly said he was going to write a book and had the title: The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I. The funny thing in remembering the Fregosi trade is that at the time fans were at least as much worried about losing another player in the deal � Leroy Stanton � as they were Ryan. There wasn�t anywhere near as much publicity surrounding minor leaguers then as there is now, so chances are if you had heard of a guy in the minors, he was a pretty good prospect. Stanton had a .324/.374/.540 line at Triple-A in 1971. But that year the Mets had Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee and Ken Singleton in the outfield in the majors and there was apparently nowhere on the roster for Stanton. He ended up being a solid major league player but never developed into a star with the Angels. Overall, he played nine seasons in the majors. Anyway, maybe we should hold out hope that when the Mets trade Carlos Beltran that in return they�ll get a future HOFer and a guy who plays nine seasons in the majors. It�s good to have hope, sometimes that�s all you�ve got. Now let�s just all wish that we don�t have to see Beltran with a large TRADED stamp across his chest.

I guess it's also good that Sandoval overtook Wright in the 3B voting. Now I don't have to worry about Wright tripping over the foul line while trotting out for the starters' intros. That's Sandoval's problem.

Edgy DC wrote: I tell you though. By lobbying for this, we're almost kinda setting ourselves and Dickey up for egg on the face if he comes up poorly. He's gonna get to pitch one way or another, so we should probably root for success in whatever role he gets rather than demand greater honors up front. You're right. It's a good thing for Mets fans that Dickey won't start. Even though Dickey could get bombed pitching the fifth inning, just the same. I'm so confused.

From Mets 360 Card of the Week -- the '71 Boswell Topps that Lunchie dated, and the '71 Maxvill doppelganger http://mets360.com/?p=5787

One more Mets baseball card blog -- Mets 360 card of the week (http://mets360.com/?cat=708) -- and two snipped and flickred entries:

Baseball card blog I stumbled on in a stream of consciousness free flowing web surfing session. It's got a Mets bent. http://whomadethegrade.blogspot.com/

Wally Backman comes to defense of late Gary Carter, firing back at Reggie Jackson, who said The Kid shouldn't be in Hall of Fame Carter died in February after a battle with brain cancer. �To me, it�s a disgrace to the Yankee family with him saying that,� says Backman, who is NY Mets' Triple-A manager in Buffalo. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/wally-backman-defense-late-gary-carter-firing-back-reggie-jackson-kid-hall-fame-article-1.1110264#ixzz205dPa8vg

Hey, Tony La Russa, don�t be a knucklehead, just start R.A. Dickey Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/hey-tony-la-russa-a-knucklehead-start-a-dickey-article-1.1110207#ixzz205chcamm

Mets' Dickey wants ball to start All-Star Game NEW YORK -- First-time All-Star R.A. Dickey is headed to Kansas City with the oversized catcher's glove -- really a softball mitt -- that teammate Josh Thole uses to catch knuckleballs during New York Mets games. But Dickey said he remains unsure whether Buster Posey or Carlos Ruiz will be assigned to catch him in Tuesday's Midsummer Classic. Dickey, who completed the first half tied for the National League lead in wins with 12 and fifth in ERA at 2.40, remains hopeful All-Star manager Tony La Russa will select him as the NL's starting pitcher. "Look, I want to start the game. Of course I do," said Dickey, who had a 42 2/3-inning scoreless streak during the first half. "I think any competitor would like to." Dickey said it "logically" would be beneficial for him to open the game with Posey so the San Francisco Giants catcher would have extra time to get acquainted with the knuckleball. With Yadier Molina withdrawing from the game due to a bereavement leave, and with only two catchers currently on the NL squad, Dickey's only other opportunity for extra work with the catcher who will receive his knuckleballs would be to simultaneously enter the game with the Philadelphia Phillies' Ruiz. "I think you have a better shot starting the game, because you get to go through the whole workout routine, the whole warm-up routine, the pregame bullpen -- all that -- before you ever go into the game," said Dickey, a first-time All-Star at age 37. "If I'm brought into the game -- because you only have two catchers now, and Buster Posey hasn't seen me at all -- and all of a sudden here he is with seven warm-up pitches, that's a whole different animal." Regardless, Dickey is thankful that it seems he will be used in the game. Past knuckleballers have gone unused out of concern for how an unfamiliar catcher might struggle with them. Tim Wakefield, the last knuckleballer selected to an All-Star Game, did not see any action in 2009. Similarly, in Phil Niekro's final two appearances, in 1982 and '84, he went unused. The time before that, in 1978, NL manager Tommy Lasorda only inserted Niekro to face the final batter of a 7-3 NL win. "Truthfully, I don't know really what to expect," Dickey said. "It seems like I'm being talked about early on at least. So the fear of going and not getting an inning doesn't seem to be there. And I'm thankful for that." Added teammate David Wright about La Russa: "He's going to do what he feels is best to win this game. And I'm a little biased. But I obviously think R.A. gives us a tremendous chance to win. He's done it the entire first half. "Now, who's going catch it obviously is a challenge. I've seen guys that have been catching this thing for years look foolish back there. And so you obviously don't want to get anybody back there hurt. But, on the other hand, he's earned it. Whether it's starting or not, I hope he gets a chance to go in there and show what he's done for us in the first half. And I'm sure he'll get his chance." Said Mets manager Terry Collins, who will serve on La Russa's staff: "R.A. has been the story of the league, for me." Wright, incidentally, is thankful to be returning to the All-Star Game. He was not chosen last year because he was injured and missed two months with a stress fracture in his lower back. That snapped a streak of six straight selections. "This one is really special because last year at this time I was rehabbing down in Florida and missed a few months," Wright said. http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/sports/pro/baseball&sa=MLB&eid=8141617

I predict that the Mets will win a wild one today. Hairston will hit for the cycle. Johan will get the Save. And Ralph Kiner won't be overcome by the heat.

Is it truly a National story without National magazine cover action?

Mets skipper Terry Collins: We need Jason Bay's bat in the lineup Jason Bay and his .184 batting average will return to the Mets lineup as soon as possible, which may be right after the All-Star break. "When he comes back, we will insert him in the lineup," Terry Collins said. "We need his bat in the lineup. We hope when he gets back he's ready to play." Collins is expecting Bay to start playing games in Port St. Lucie on Sunday, after participating in drills for a couple of days. The plan is for Bay to then move to Triple-A Buffalo "for a few games and then come back (to the Mets)," Collins said. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/mets Sarcastic comments are welcome.

Jay Jaffe sez RA oughtta get the AS start. On Monday, managers Ron Washington and Tony La Russa will announce their choices of starting pitchers for the All-Star Game. Both skippers have a handful of worthy candidates at their disposal, with no clear-cut favorite in either league. The National League features 16 starting pitchers with at least eight wins (a stat that means a whole lot more to these old-school managers than it should), 11 with ERAs below 3.00 and 26 with at least 8.0 strikeouts per nine. Those are all arbitrary cutoffs, of course, but the sheer number of pitchers who meet each criterion point to the bewildering array of options at La Russa�s disposal. Four NL pitchers satisfy all three criteria: the Mets� R.A. Dickey, the Nationals� Stephen Strasburg, the Giants� Matt Cain and the Dodgers� Chris Capuano. A quick look at the basic stat sheet, with the pitchers sorted alphabetically: Player IP W L ERA HR/9 UBB/9 SO/9 K/BB Cain 120.3 9 3 2.62 0.9 1.7 8.8 5.1 Capuano 106.3 9 3 2.62 0.9 2.9 8.0 2.8 Dickey 120.0 12 1 2.40 0.7 2.0 9.2 4.7 Strasburg 93.0 9 3 2.81 0.6 2.5 11.8 4.7 Though he�s been an excellent, economical addition to the Dodger rotation, Capuano wasn�t even selected for the NL roster, so he�s obviously out. That leaves the other three, all of whom add a bit of narrative juice to their basic stat lines. Here�s a breakdown of the cases for each: � Dickey is having an unprecedented season for a knuckleballer. He leads the league in wins, strikeouts, complete games (three) and shutouts (two) while running third in ERA; a five-run, seven inning effort on Thursday night against the Phillies knocked him out of the top spot. He�s also tied for the league lead in Baseball-Reference�s version of Wins Above Replacement, which attributes all of the responsibility for runs allowed to a pitcher; the Reds� Johnny Cueto, a controversial snub, has 3.5 as well. The 37-year-old Met has traveled a long and winding road to attain this unlikely peak, and he may never scale such heights again. He has a shot at becoming just the second or third knuckleballer ever to start an All-Star Game, depending upon how liberal a definition one uses for the term; Dutch Leonard of the Senators started for the AL in 1943, while Bob Purkey of the Reds did so for the NL in 1961, though the latter didn�t use the knuckler more than half the time. The downside of starting a knuckleball pitcher is the unfamiliarity that starting catcher Buster Posey may have with the fluttering pitch. � Strasburg is arguably the most dominant pitcher in the league, with the top strikeout rate by a wide margin; teammate Gio Gonzalez is second at 10.5, while Dickey is fourth. Furthermore, the 23-year-old is the ace of a team that has the league�s best record. The only real knock against his candidacy is that because he�s on an innings limit after returning from Tommy John surgery late last season, he has pitched roughly 27 fewer innings than either Dickey or Cain. Even so, a look at the advanced Wins Above Replacement Player metric, which unlike B-R�s WAR adjusts for defensive and bullpen support � he needs less of the former, because he strikes out so many hitters, but more of the latter, because he doesn�t pitch as deep into games � shows that even with fewer innings, he�s been the league�s most valuable pitcher at 3.2 WARP. Still, the Nationals might actually prefer he didn�t pitch or at least was limited to a single inning. One can make the case that his shot at starting an All-Star Game should wait until he�s able to shoulder a full workload. � Cain has a perfect game under his belt, and with Tim Lincecum struggling mightily, he has assumed the mantle of staff ace on a San Francisco team that�s in position for a Wild Card spot (the Giants and Mets are tied at 45-38). He has the best strikeout-to-unintentional walk rate of the bunch, but he�s also got the best defensive support, with a .254 batting average on balls in play. He has ranked among the league leaders in that category for years thanks to his ballpark and his penchant for generating popups, at least to the extent that he�s one of the few pitchers who clearly appears to have influence over such balls. Still, without an advantage in any of the traditional categories or the valuation metrics, his case appears to be the thinnest of the trio. Eliminating Cain, the choice comes down to the aged knuckleballer and the young fireballer. Even without considering the fact that he�ll have one fewer day of rest, the latter is on a shorter leash and could be of less help to the NL squad due to his innings limitation. In the end, the nod should go to Dickey.

Edgy DC wrote: I'd like to see the post-196[1 franchise HR] leaders. from 5/30/11 -- in this thread: And for your reading and viewing pleasure, here are your all-time HR leaders for each franchise, not including pre-1962 stats: 1. Barry Bonds - Giants - 586 (Willie Mays, 646 HR's, all-time franchise leader) 2. Mike Schmidt � Phillies - 548 3. Sammy Sosa � Cubs - 545 4. Hank Aaron - Braves - 480 (733 total Braves HR's) 5. Willie Stargell � Pirates - 475 6. Jeff Bagwell � Astros - 449 7. Frank Thomas - White Sox - 448 8. Carl Yastrzemski - Red Sox - 441 (452 total Red Sox HR's; Ted Williams, 521 HR's, all-time franchise leader) 9. Cal Ripken - Orioles - 431 10. Harmon Killebrew - Twins - 429 (559 total Senators/Twins HR's) 11. Ken Griffey, Jr. � Mariners - 417 12. Albert Pujols � Cards - 416 (All-time franchise leader, Stan Musial, 475 HR's) 13. Johnny Bench - Reds - 389 14. Juan Gonzalez � Rangers - 372 15. Mark McGwire � A�s - 363 16. Todd Helton � Rockies - 339 17. Carlos Delgado � Blue Jays - 336 18. Jim Thome � Indians - 334 19. George Brett � Royals - 317 20. Norm Cash � Tigers - 314 (373 total Tigers HR's; Al Kaline, 399 HR's, all-time franchise leader) 21. Tim Salmon - Angels - 299 22. Bernie Williams � Yankees - 287 (Babe Ruth, 659, yada, yada, yada) 23. Eric Karros � Dodgers - 270 (Duke Snider, 389 HR's, all-time franchise leader) 24. Darryl Strawberry - Mets - 252 25. Robin Yount � Brewers - 251 26. Vladimir Guerrero � Expos/Nationals - 234 27. Luis Gonzalez � Diamondbacks - 224 28. Nate Colbert � Padres - 163 29. Dan Uggla � Marlins - 154 30. Carlos Pena � Devil Rays/Rays - 144 viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16260&hilit=killebrew&start=50 Hot enough for you?

Carter's former Mets teammates jab back at Jackson excerpt: Reggie Jackson said in an interview with Sports Illustrated he doesn�t think Gary Carter � among several other players � is a deserving Hall-of-Famer. It�s a statement sure to incense Mets fans, especially in light of Carter�s Feb. 16 death because of brain cancer, and yesterday several of Carter�s former teammates came to his defense. �Reggie is entitled to his opinion,� said Ron Darling, who pitched to Carter from 1986-89. �There are other players in the Hall of Fame that baseball historians may not feel as though they should be in. That being said, the timing [stinks]. �Reggie has an opinion. I�m sure there are some who said that [sandy] Koufax� 165 wins shouldn�t get in. There�s always silly comments. Listen, Reggie�s not the first person to say that Gary doesn�t belong in the Hall of Fame. � I�m sure if [Jackson] could have a do-over, he would.�� Jackson told the magazine, �I didn�t see Gary Carter as a Hall of Famer.�� also mentioning Kirby Puckett, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro, Bert Blyleven and even Jim Rice. �That�s kind of sticky,� Keith Hernandez said. �I think that he deserves to be in. I�m glad that he�s in, so I�ll disagree with Reggie and keep it at that.� Certainly as a player Gary�s numbers were more than adequate to get in the Hall of Fame,� Tim Teufel said. �He was doing it a long time, a lot of home runs, RBIs.� Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/carter_ex_teammates_jab_back_at_G9nMRzYuHsbGISVNB63hZI#ixzz1zsMg3fps

Edgy DC wrote: Well, it's certainly taken a turn for the better, although you're sorting by OPS in the first table and by batting average in the second. Vic Sage wrote: His recent power surge has moved him up to the middle of the pack based on OPS; his defense is still bottom-of-the-barrel. I hope they use his recent productivity as an opportunity to sell high. NL 2B-men are packed pretty tight, offensively, this seeason. There's not much separation among those at or near the middle of the curve. There's no doubt that Murph's a flawed player. Moreover, his power's still down and his lefty/righty splits are increasingly widening to the point that he might be best used primarily as a platoon player. But I just didn't think that his recent batting slump, as bad as it was, rose to Cassandra crisis levels.

Why do the Spanish heritage jerseys have to say "Los"? The American tops don't say "The" Mets.

Mets � Willets Point wrote: I fell asleep while getting the baby to sleep so I missed everything in the game after Wright's home run. Do we need to be worried about Dickey having another rough start against one of the Mets' major rivals? You're on your own. But Dickey's been decidedly mediocre in two of his last three starts. Just sayin'.

Mets rescue Dickey with dramatic victory By David Schoenfield | ESPN.com R.A. Dickey has rescued the Mets all season. Thursday night, they rescued him. While the expected pitching duel between Dickey and Phillies ace Cole Hamels never materialized at Citi Field, we instead got what baseball so often gives us: The unexpected. The Mets delivered a thrilling, bottom-of-the-ninth rally off All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon, a rally sparked by a guy hitting under .200, kept alive by a guy hitting .222 and eventually finished off when David Wright blooped a ball to right field for the game-winning hit. Phillies fans can cry bad luck. But this 6-5 victory for the Mets was all about terrific at-bats with the game on the line, hitters fighting off pitches and creating their own good luck. In the process, Dickey avoided his first loss since April 18. He entered the game with a 0.86 ERA over his previous eight starts, having allowed just seven runs (five of those in one game) and striking out 76 batters over 62.2 innings. The Phillies tagged him for 11 hits and five runs, but Dickey persevered through seven innings, leaving with a 5-4 deficit. The Phillies turned to Papelbon to close it out. Ike Davis, hitting .198 as he stepped in, lined an 0-1 fastball just over the head of a leaping Jimmy Rollins for a leadoff double. It was a good pitch by Papelbon, but it was a better piece of hitting by Davis, going with the pitch instead of trying to yank it to right field. After Josh Thole sacrificed pinch-runner Ronny Cedeno to third, Papelbon blew away Kirk Nieuwenhuis on four pitches, as Nieuwenhuis swung through three high fastballs. That brought up rookie pinch-hitter Jordany Valdespin, hitting .222 with two home runs in 63 at-bats -- a guy with one walk and 13 strikeouts. He's the kind of hitter Papelbon should put away with ease. But Phillies and Mets fans certainly remembered May 7, when Valdespin pinch hit against Papelbon in a 2-2 game and hit a three-run home run. Maybe that home run was on Papelbon's mind, as well. He worked too carefully, fell behind 3-1, saw Valdespin foul off an inside pitch and then hit him with a 3-2 fastball. Ruben Tejada then showed off his keen eye at the plate, worked the count to 3-2, fouled off two pitches and then took ball four on a close pitch just off the outside corner. With the bases now loaded, it was up to Daniel Murphy. The 28,000 fans at Citi Field were on their feet on a hot, muggy night, sweating out this unlikely rally in this unlikeliest of first halves for the Mets. Murphy grounded a 1-2 pitch up the middle that bounded off Papelbon's shoe. An infield hit. Game tied. It was Papelbon's 27th pitch of the inning and it was a bad one, a hanging splitter. The Mets were lucky the game didn't end there. That brought up Wright, who had homered earlier in the game. On Papelbon's 28th pitch, Wright fought off an insider heater and blooped a single just out of the reach of a diving Hunter Pence. Mets win. I saw several tweets from Phillies fans complaining about bad luck in the inning: Papelbon could have just as easily made a play on Murphy's hit, or Wright's blooper could have been caught. I say nonsense. Papelbon had a terrible at-bat against the weak-hitting Valdespin; he made a terrible pitch to Murphy; and Pence, a right fielder with poor defensive this season, lumbered after a ball that many right fielders would have caught. On this night, the Mets made the plays and the Phillies did not. There was no bad luck. * * * * New York's R.A. DickeyJim McIsaac/Getty ImagesR.A. Dickey left Thursday's game trailing 5-4, but he leads the majors with a 12-1 record. * * * * As for Dickey, he's still in line to possibly start the All-Star Game with his 12-1 record and 2.40 ERA, although I suspect if he does pitch in the game, it will be in relief and once Yadier Molina enters behind the plate in place of starting catcher Buster Posey. With the Mets rallying in the bottom of the inning, the TV cameras flashed to Dickey still sitting in the dugout. Many starting pitchers literally hit the shower when they get knocked out early, but there was Dickey, rally cap in hand. He had that eager look of a child who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, hoping he'd get away with this one after letting his teammates down. Of course, he's the guy who has done anything but this season. It's at the point when a mediocre Dickey start is now a surprise. We're at the point where we expect dominant outings from him every time out. He's not only a Cy Young candidate, but an MVP candidate (hey, if Justin Verlander won last year, we can consider starting pitchers for the MVP award). In watching Dickey's run over the past several weeks, one thing I've noticed is how much he seems to be enjoying it. Not that he doesn't expect to be good -- all major leaguers expect to be good on a certain level -- but that he understands how unique it is to get on a stretch like this, let alone for a 37-year-old knuckleballer without a long track record of success. I asked him about this recently, as he sat on his clubhouse stool after shagging balls during a 95-degree day in New York, his face a bright red from the hot sun. "Well, let me put it this way and you tell me if you agree," he said with a smile. "I'm both appreciative and confident right now. I've had a lot of people help me and support me to get here, so that means a lot." Dickey's knuckleball, as everyone seems to know by now, is a hard knuckleball, one that comes in at speeds up to 80 and 81 mph, much faster than the conventional high-60s knuckleball from a pitcher like Tim Wakefield. But Dickey varies the speed on the pitch and, more impressively, the location. A knuckleballer with command? Unthinkable. There is a method to how he achieves all this. "There is a technique, but I can't really explain it," he said. "It's not that you wouldn't understand it. But if the right hitter knew what to look for, he may be able to pick up something." That means the Mets' catcher just puts down the sign for the knuckler, and awaits the pitch. He's as blind as the batter. Unless, of course, Dickey mixes in one of his other pitches. He doesn't throw the knuckleball on every pitch, which makes him doubly tough for hitters. Matt Holliday of the Cardinals recently explained this, how the knuckleball makes Dickey's 87 mph fastball appear much faster. "I do watch video," Dickey said about his daily preparation. "I have to know the hitters' weaknesses, when they swing and miss, especially since I do have a conventional repertoire." If he loses the feel of the knuckleball, or if it's a wet night on which he has trouble gripping the ball, he can always resort to his other pitches. He hasn't had to do that much. He remains the most unconventional of pitchers, the ace of the Mets in this most unconventional of seasons for them. They're 45-38, currently tied with the Reds and Giants for the wild-card lead. There has been talk that if the Mets stay in the race, Dickey could pitch on three days' rest or maybe pitch in relief between starts. Manager Terry Collins admitted a couple of weeks ago that the Mets had considered that. Dickey said he'd be willing to do it if asked. "It would mean I'd have to change my routine," he said. "Right now, I have a rest day and then I have my throw day." That's a question for down the road, I suppose, maybe in August or September. The Mets will worry about that if the need arises. For now, Mets fans can enjoy this ride; Dickey can enjoy his All-Star break. Let's hope we see him pitch in Kansas City, throwing those balls that flutter beautifully through the air. http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/26498/mets-rescue-dickey-with-dramatic-victory

Frayed Knot wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: bmfc1 wrote: The bunt was a bad call. Thole was capable of grounding out to 2B and maybe it would have gone through. And, as noted by Edgy, Nieuwenhuis is a K machine so there was no guarantee that he could hit a sac fly. I hate the bunt as much as anybody but I liked that one, even with Newy up next. Using the first out of the inning to move the runner on second over to third is the only time you increase the advanced runner's chance of scoring. With a slew of mostly singles hitters up after Thole, I didn't mind playing for the tie. And their bullpen is about as bad as ours. I'm normally anti-sac bunt too, but I could make arguments either way on this one. The down side was Nieuwenhuis's recent track record even though his (limited) 'getting the runner in from 3rd' pct has been good he's been so bad lately (and especially tonight) that I didn't feel good about it. And then you follow him with the rookie. On the other hand, swinging away and hopefully pulling the ball is better than a bunt but Papelbon's tough to pull and Thole's strength is going to other way. I wanted to see a swing there, but it's not something I'd go to the mat over. True. But you hope that Newy has a feel for the context, and shortens his swing, compromising some power to increase his chances of making contact. Nothing's clear cut. But I wasn't bitching about that sac the way I usually would. Even after Newy did strike out. After Ike's double, the Mets power portion of the lineup was five batters away.

Ceetar wrote: I wouldn't have sac'd there. I never agree with giving away outs in the bottom of the 9th like that. Guess you could've tried to bunt Kirk too.. This coming from the Willie Randolph lover -- the jackass manager who, despite having the most lethal middle of the order in all of baseball, would serial sac bunt right before Beltran, Wright and Delgado were due up. In the first inning. Every. Single. Game.

bmfc1 wrote: The bunt was a bad call. Thole was capable of grounding out to 2B and maybe it would have gone through. And, as noted by Edgy, Nieuwenhuis is a K machine so there was no guarantee that he could hit a sac fly. I hate the bunt as much as anybody but I liked that one, even with Newy up next. Using the first out of the inning to move the runner on second over to third is the only time you increase the advanced runner's chance of scoring. With a slew of mostly singles hitters up after Thole, I didn't mind playing for the tie. And their bullpen is about as bad as ours.

Zvon wrote: I can't wait for Bay to return so that he can cannibalize Hairston's PA's against lefties. Can you?