metirish

]It continually amazes me how sportscasters and players alike refuse to acknowledge the importance of luck in determining wins and losses. Good point, this is why Billy Beane considers getting to the post-season a success, after that it's a crap-shoot he likes to say.

]By BOB KLAPISCHSPORTS COLUMNIST NEW YORK - If you're having trouble forming an opinion about the 2005 Mets, rest assured, you're already part of a much larger fraternity. The Mets themselves are sifting through a cocktail of good news (they are 3� out of the wild card) and bad (they have to climb over four teams to make it to October), which explains why no one knows what to make of the final 44 games.Is there really a September hot streak waiting to be hatched at Shea, the one GM Omar Minaya and Willie Randolph speak so optimistically about? Or are the Mets destined to finish out the summer at exactly their current speed - winning slightly more than half their games, showing occasional flashes of excellence, but otherwise dooming themselves with that sluggish offense? No one has the answer - not Minaya, Randolph nor the players � but the Mets are at least buoyed by the fact that no one has run away from the pack in the wild-card race, and that 24 of the last 32 games will be played within the division.That's the good news. So is Carlos Beltran's decision to skip surgery. And Steve Trachsel's imminent return to the rotation counts for something, too. So why isn't anyone celebrating? "The general feeling is that we should've been in a better situation record-wise," said assistant GM Jim Duquette. "We've turned the tide, we're going in the right direction, but we all had higher expectations. We felt our record should've been better by now."What hurts most is knowing this was the year the Braves were most vulnerable, at least in the first half, and for whatever it's worth, the Yankees were languishing through their worst pitching summer in a decade. This could've been the Mets' breakthrough season, not just in the NL East, but in greater New York, as well.Instead, their wounds have been mostly self-inflicted. Despite Pedro Martinez's wizardry, the Mets still lose more than 60 percent of their games on the road - unacceptable for any team hoping to reach the promised land. The Mets have lost eight games in which they have taken a lead into the eighth inning. And for all the hype that Beltran's signing created, the offense is still decidedly middle-of-the-pack: fifth in the NL in runs, seventh in slugging percentage and 10th in on-base percentage.Of course, identifying the Mets' blemishes is easier than covering them up. You could point to the madness of ever letting Jose Reyes (and his .298 on-base percentage) bat leadoff, but Randolph's choices are somewhat limited now that Mike Cameron is out for the season.There's no getting around Mike Piazza's decline-phase .260 average, or the lack of production at first base. The Mets' fate at that position was sealed the moment Carlos Delgado and his publicity-addicted agent, David Sloane, picked the Marlins over the Mets last winter.But what about Beltran - a nice guy who obviously plays hard and is willing to play in pain for the rest of the season? The Mets appreciate the sacrifice, but that doesn't diminish the disappointment in his .267 average, or the fact that he's hit exactly one home run in his last 69 at-bats.The Mets are reluctant to say they expect more from Beltran, even though they obviously do. Instead, Minaya repeats the team's mantra, saying, "It's not about one guy here. It's a team thing."Truth is, the Mets are still looking for a leader for the last 44 games, and if it isn't Beltran, then they'll have to accept a patchwork effort - Pedro every fifth day, David Wright as he continues to mature and who knows, maybe Kris Benson, too.If nothing else, Benson did exactly what the Mets asked of him Tuesday night, kicking off a critical six-game homestand by throwing strikes at the knees and the corners, smothering the Pirates in a 6-2 win.Benson's finest moment came in the sixth inning, after allowing back-to-back singles to Daryl Ward and Rob Mackowiak. The Mets' righty regained command of his signature pitch, the sinking two-seam fastball, and induced a double play grounder from Jose Castillo, then snuffed out the rally by getting Humberto Cota to bounce to second.Those are the small moments of triumph the Mets will need down the stretch, particularly in the next two weeks. The Mets need to take at least 2-of-3 from the iron-poor Pirates and not squander that gain in a weekend series against the Nationals.The real test comes immediately afterward, when the Mets are being victimized by their second trip out west in two weeks. The only upside is facing the Diamondbacks and Giants, who entering Tuesday were a combined 22 games under .500.If the Mets fall apart on that seven-game stretch, they don't deserve to be a wild card team, and a season of modest improvement could turn to mist.What, exactly, happens to the Mets away from Shea? Like all the other burning questions, no one in the organization seems to know."I can't explain it, but we have to do something about it," Martinez said. "We have to beat up on the little teams. If not, forget it."Pedro punctuated the point by rubbing his palms together. The gesture needed no translation: Win or else the Mets are finished.There's still time, of course, and the Mets still have enough talent to make September interesting, if not October. If you want to be kind, you can say the Mets have erased the memory of clueless Art Howe, and in that sense, the season has already been a success.But that logic won't go far at Shea - not now, not when the Mets are taking a deep breath, preparing for a final sprint to the playoffs, convincing themselves the glass really is half-full.

Trax will have his next rehab start Thursday which is the absolute last day he can stay in AAA, so Ted said during the game last night.

That was super, very creative by Sal, very cool link, thanks.

Excellent KTE, some great info.

SK I was home today and this was on Cinimax so I decided to see what all the talk was about, man was I disapointed, am I missing something here, would it help if I were stoned watching it?, I just didn't get it although the second half was better than the first 50 minutes/hour.

I'm with seawolf, he looked brutal in the Mets series at Shea, I know he got hurt but still, I'd keep Castro as our main. catcher with a decent backup

Pedro - 6Wright -2Floyd - 1Diaz - 1

That's fucking classic...LOL

Things maybe shaping up for the anouncers, as reported in the NY Post Friday Dave O'Brien is the leading man for the job, his ESPN contract is up and last year the Mets and ESPN would not allow WGN to talk to him about the Cubs gig, Ted Robinson's contract is up this year and with his tennis gigs the Mets might not want him, also in the mix is Sean McDonough who would not comment because he is said the Post great fiends with both O'Brien and Robinson. I'd be happy with any of those guys, and very happy with a combination of all three.

That rant link was a great read, never saw it before so thanks, I think the Mets have shown proper caution when it comes to retired numbers, lets never cheapen the act like other teams, when I did the KTE for the Padres people were rightly horrified that they had retired Steve Garvey's number.I think the Mets are right on this.Point of interest, the A's retired the number of Dennis Eckersley this week.

Number two, I want my Mets no hitter to be at Shea with Pedro striking out over ten and the side looking to end the game, and Piazza with the huge grand slam homer......yeah I'm greedy.

Gerald freaking Williams steals third, Phillips threw the ball into left field and Willams strolls home to make it 5 - 1..WOW

Damn, come on Eric, Bradley pops out to Wright, one out two on, Kent at the dish, Kent is a killer with men in scoring postition, he's batting .400.

The guys on the radio made I think a good point, hockey and football has lot's of experience with concussions but baseball has not, the point Gary wanted to make was that the Mets should take all the time needed to make sure Beltran is OK and ready to play.

Not surprising that Sandberg would mention Wright, you should hear it when Larry Bowa talks about Wright, he freaking loves him, the catch in Seattle is to Bowa one of the great catches all time, Bowa when he's on BBTN and talks about Wright has nothing but great things to say about him, and rightly so.

Cameron is having surgery right now , 7PM local time in California, all the best Mike.

Mets sign Takatsu, expected to pitch this weekend for Norfolk.

IMO this article is a bit of rubbish regardless of when this wanker wrote it, if he wrote it before last night then how can he say that the Mets are done?, 3 or 4 games out in the WC is not done, are the Mets going to win the WC, probably not but they have a shot and that's not done. Plus to say Cameron is mailing it in is bullshit.

Sidiot really does boggle the mind, and it gets worse when football season starts, he's a huge Giants fan and resident "expert" on all things Giants for the FAN.

Thanks for the article SwitchHitter, I look forward to next weeks edition.

Swan was great in the 6 hitter, love the writing..]Swan's role in all this dramatized the debris left by the loss of a pitching staff that twice caried the Mets to the National League pennent.He is a 28 year old right- hander from Arizona State University who once worked almost in the shawdow of Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.Now he stands almost alone as the club pro,starting every fifth day for a last place team that last night used seven pitchers before beating the Giants , 6-5, in 12 innings.these articles are great.

That's cool, was Maz really the Mets best hitter in 79 as the first article suggests?

Yeah I was surprised Floyd stayed in the game, especially with the obvious pain he was in, plus his history, but as Fran said Willie likes to push Cliff, still it was pointless.I have no idea what Williams position on the team is, part-time coach?.Piazza and Wright to hit 3/4 tonight?

Road trips are not a fave of the Suns either...my kids are doing alright though.Greensboro, NC:The end of the season can't come soon enough for the Hagerstown Suns who lost for the fifth time in a row on Thursday night, 9-7. The Suns (13-29) have lost five or more in a row for third time in the second half. In the first half their longest losing streak was four games. The Suns are now 1-5 on their current road trip, and have lost 15 of their 18 games. For second day in a row the Suns went up 2-0 early in the game, only to watch the Greensboro Grasshoppers going on a scoring binge to take control of the game in the middle innings. This time it was a grand slam by Brian Cleveland off of Kevin Mannix (3-6) that turned the tide in favor of the Grasshoppers (20-26). The Suns tried to make a game of it, scoring four unearned runs in the seventh and eighth combined, yet fell short for the fifth straight game. Matt Fisher scored three times, and Ambiorix Concepcion extended his hit streak to 11 straight games with a double in the eighth. Jim Burt started the scoring with a solo shot in the second. Friday at 7:00pm is game three of four at Greensboro. RHP Matt Durkin goes against 2004 #1 draft pick for the Marlins organization, LHP Taylor Tankersley.