A Boy Named Seo

]"The fans love it. Players hate it because it is too cold for that stuff right now. You like the added stuff that goes on, but you don't want it to the point where guys start to get hurt. You have retaliation. It doesn't mean when they say they are going to hit you that they are going to hit you in the arm or the leg. What if they hit you in the head? I've got family." -The quotable Cliff Floyd on the Pedro/Guillen tiff

]Fans of every team can be assholes though. I don't want hear about how loving Cardinal fans are. Personally I think THEY are morons for treating their athletes like kings just because they wear a St. Louis uniform. This is crazy. Cheering for the team you like does not equal "treating their athletes like kings". In most other cities, hell, maybe every other city except Philly, fans generally like the team and the players they go to watch and respond in kind. People in other cities (like LA, where booing is extremely rare) may be viewed as passive and laid-back, but they think that booing Mets fans are fair-weathered, loud-mouthed, jerk-offs. I'm an out-of-towner and I agree. I thought "Runaway Jury" blew, but I didn't go to the Golden Globes or anything to boo Cusack on the red carpet.

Trachsel 3.5 Reyes 2 Wright 2 Delgado 1 Beltran 1 Nady .5

My kid got held back and is repeating St. Lucie this year. He got a save in his first inning of work and even if he's not accelerating as fast as the other boys, I might just get me a "My kid was Player of the Month at St. Lucie" bumper sticker for the Astro van if he keeps this up.

And on the 8th day, God doffed His cap. This one was kinda funny to me. ]"I just took my time. Like I said, in the beginning I didn't feel like doing it, but I just put myself in the situation of what God would have done in a situation like that. I'm a Christian and I know after being booed for the first two days and all of a sudden you come through and get a hit and all of a sudden they want you to come out and get a curtain call. I put myself right there, and I believe God would have gone out, and that's what I did." -Beltran on the curtain call thing

ESPN caught one douche bag mercilessly booing Beltran and I was able to easily read his lips as he mouthed, "This guy fuckin' sucks". Of course the douche bag was wearing a Carlos Beltran jersey. I wanted Beltran to screw the boobirds and not take a curtain call, but knew it'd be more trouble in the end, and glad he did (even though it may end up being just as much trouble because everyone knows he hesitated). The last line from the Daily News Beltran story was this quote: "Every time you get booed, it doesn't feel good," Beltran added. "If anyone says it doesn't (feel bad), they are lying. What can I do? I just do my best." Knowing that it affects him negatively, why the hell would fans of the team want to pile on this guy? Signed, Confused in California

Beltran 3 Wright 1.5 Reyes 1.5 Sanchez 1.5 Martinez 1 Delgado .5 LoDuca.5 Nady .5

I had the SNY feed on MLB.TV yesterday and there was no ball/strike/out indicator on-screen, no score, no inning, no network logo, nothing. Not a thing. Is that how it really is or was that just the MLB.TV version?

Scooped by Widey on the fashion update...

Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but has the facial hair ban been officially lifted? I see lots of thin, neat goatees surfacing. Pedro needs some hair under there as the poor fella has no chin. They're wearing black today. I guess after seeing the helmets a few times, I don't really mind them, but I still hate the black tops. Edit: 2-tone helmets gone for the day. Still have the fish gills, but they're all black.

Bannister 2.5 Delgado 1.5 Beltran 1.5 Heilman 1 Sanchez 1 Nady .5 Wright .5 Reyes .5 Floyd .5 Hernandez .5

Not much love for the Floyd to Reyes to Lo Duca tag-out at the plate or the Beltran assist to end the game. Both huge plays in a 3-2 pitchers duel. Yeah, I'm politicking a bit.

Jimmy Rollins watch: 0-3 with maybe one more AB.

I'm on it again for the 4th year in a row, but it seems like this year you can't choose between using Windows Media or the Real player. I thought Real looked so much more crisp the last couple of years and will be bummed if I'm stuck win Windows Media. Anyone else on MLB.TV? If so, do you know if this is the case?

Glavine 3 Nady 1.5 Wright 1 LoDuca 1 Wagner 1 Heilman 1 Floyd .5 Reyes .5 Beltran .5

Grander than Secretary's Day, Arbor Day Or any of the heavy-hitting still-have-to-go-to-work holidays Opening Day has always been a beacon for the year's false hopes That fake, uplifting feeling we're all supposed to get at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day? Well this is my New Year's Day. Pedro's toe's a little wonky Billy Wagner's 34 and has finger stiffness on his pitching hand Carlos Delgado has elbow tendinitis Zammy's strained hammy Jae Seo's a Dodger Tom Glavine's 40 Julio Franco's almost 50 and I don't give a shit. It's Opening Day (today is, I'm a closet Indians fan) hope doth spring eternal in my little world and the blue and orange-colored glasses are on. And bunting. Opening Day bunting is not for losers. Go Mets. Edited to give it a joelmon flow.

Morgan said that his daughter used the duck thing to describe the Bonds situation, and followed it up with "and she's a lawyer", in case you thought the "looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, quacks like a duck" analogy was lame, at least it came from a legit, reputable source. Or something. Morgan's thing was that the steroid investigation is an effort by Selig to go after Bonds and they can say that it's a broad investigation to find out what's been going on in baseball over the last decade or so, but we should really call it what it is, and that's a Bonds investigation. Of course none of this would be happening if the book didn't come out, but to say this is just a Bonds investigation under the guise of a game-wide steroid investigation is just silly. Joe Morgan's silly. Edit: To clarify, Morgan wasn't using "if it walks like a duck" etc., to say that it seems like Bonds is using steroids, therefore Bonds is on steroids. He was using that stupid analogy to say the investigation looks like a Bonds investigation, therefore it is a Bonds investigation.

LA Times talks to Ned Colletti, Kevin Towers, and some scouts on evaluating players in the post-roids era. Player cahnfidence (of lack of cahnfidence) is mentioned a couple of times as an indicator of a guy who may have been juicing and is now off. That and the dude's body shrinking. I couldn't stop thinking about Bret Boone, his drastic drop off the face of the earth and his tearful farewell press conference, as I read this article.

Pesky little fruitcakes. Outstanding. If the first KTE is any indication of how the season'll go, we're in great shape. Is Zimmerman in that Wright/Marte/Gordon department, or is he Sean Burroughs 2.0? I think he hit more HR this spring than he did in high school, college, American Legion, Babe Ruth, and tee-ball combined. Great work, JD.

Congrats, Doc. Your boy's all growns up.

C-Los made an appearance in an exhibition game for the B-Mets. Given his age (25 as of about 2 weeks ago), his success last year (almost 10K/per 9 IP, led the Mets minors in saves), Bingo seems a good spot for him. Maybe I'll try to get in touch with him again and ask him. Hopefully he rocks the AA ranks for a bit and earns him a ticket to Norfolk sometime this year. Shea in 2007 or bust! Or '08, whatever. Go C-Los!

LA Times on JW Seo. Funny quote below in bold. ]Seo Has a Mixed Outing in Return From the WBC By Steve Henson, Times Staff Writer March 24, 2006 VERO BEACH, Fla. � Based on how he pitched in the World Baseball Classic, Jae Seo could be regarded as the best off-season acquisition made by General Manager Ned Colletti. Based on how he pitched Thursday, Seo looked every bit the No. 5 starter the Dodgers figure they added when relievers Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll were traded to the New York Mets for Seo and reliever Tim Hamulack. In his first appearance with his new team, Seo gave up a run in the first inning and two in the second before settling down and throwing three scoreless innings. He gave up eight hits in the five innings and the Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, at Holman Stadium. Seo, 26, gave up one run and seven hits in 14 innings pitching for Korea in the WBC, notching two wins. Before his start Thursday, a scout from another National League team said, "The Mets are crying. They want him back." Then the game began and he looked more like the pitcher who was 22-24 the last three seasons. "That's mostly from operating with a strange catcher," Manager Grady Little said. "When a guy's got the assortment of pitches he does, they've got to learn each other." Rookie Russell Martin was behind the plate, and for two innings Seo threw what Martin called. Seo took control of pitch selection the last three innings. "The catchers don't know my style of pitching or what I like to throw," he said. Seo's fastball is only in the 87-mph range, and he relies on a curve, a changeup and a split-finger pitch. The Cardinals were jumping his first-pitch fastballs, something batters in the WBC didn't do. "I didn't make enough of an adjustment facing big league hitters after facing the Asian hitters [in the WBC]," he said. "The Asian hitters are more patient. It takes away from their power, but they are better at making contact. The major league hitters are more aggressive." The learning curve extended to Martin, who is expected to make the opening-day roster because of a hamstring injury to Dioner Navarro. "The second time through the lineup went a little smoother because I started to figure out the way he likes to throw," Martin said. "Pitchers like him, they throw anything in any count. Where you set up is important. The first time you catch any pitcher is always tough." Because of off days, Seo is scheduled to make only two starts in April and would be a long reliever the rest of the month.

"Stay away from them. Avoid them. Get one of those Michael Jackson masks." -Willie Randolph when asked what he could do about his growing list of sick players.

My dude recently pitched in the Long Beach St. pro alumni versus the current guys game, and was the losing pitcher, getting shelled by the kiddies. He pitched one inning, giving up 4 hits, and 5 runs (4 earned). Don't know where he's slated to start this year. I still love you, C-Los.

] It's a harsh life of unspoken love on Brokeback of the Rotation. What's with the pinstripe tops and solid white pants?? Looks like Reyes got him some big-ass new tattoo on his right arm. Any guesses?