metirish

Buried on page seven,not good.

Forget the hyperbole form Klapisch ,Wagner's words interest me. ] Thursday, June 21, 2007 By BOB KLAPISCH RECORD COLUMNIST NEW YORK – It wasn't so long ago that Pedro Martinez was adrift in that no-man's land between the disabled list and retirement – still a member of the organization but in the outer limits of the Mets' consciousness. They weren't just surviving Pedro's absence, they were living large. The Mets owned New York, if not the National League, Tom Glavine was in the fast lane to 300 wins and the rest of the starting rotation made everyone forget the best pitcher at Shea was on a lonely marathon rehab program in Port St. Lucie, Fla. "Pedro who?" is what the Mets seemed to say without actually uttering those blasphemous words. Club officials were talking about him in the past tense, insisting they'd already gotten their money's worth from that four-year, $53 million contract – even though Pedro blew out his arm in just a year and a half. But that was before the Mets started self-destructing, not just on the field but internally as well. Suddenly, the Mets need Pedro to stabilize their rotation, but even more significantly, they need his charisma. "What's killing us is we don't have that energy on the field or in the clubhouse," is what Billy Wagner was saying during batting practice Wednesday. He was talking about the way the Mets have been pushed around lately, by the Dodgers, the Yankees, and by Johan Santana on Tuesday. It's hard to believe the current meltdown – they've lost 13 of 16 after Wednesday night's 6-2 loss to the Twins – would've been this long or this ugly if Pedro had been around. Wagner said as much when he noted, "We don't have that one guy in here who guys get all excited about. "Not even Glavine, the way he carries himself, does that. With Pedro, it's like his charisma rubs off on people. It's like, 'Yeah, Pedro's pitching today.' We could use that." Funny how a roster blessed with five-tool players (Carlos Beltran), as well as ones who are articulate (Carlos Delgado), enthusiastic (David Wright) and fun-loving (Jose Reyes) can look so dead. But Wagner's right, there's no mistaking the missing spark. As much as it carried the Mets through the 2006 season, its absence has cost them most of their first-place lead in 2007. That's where Pedro comes in. He's on schedule to return to Shea sometime in August, although no one's saying exactly when. Nor are the Mets crazy enough to think a rebuilt shoulder will mean Martinez will be throwing in the mid-90s again. Even after he returns, Martinez will be in the process of healing; he won't be at 100 percent until 2008. Still, that didn't stop Pedro from bragging recently that he could throw harder than Roger Clemens, even on the disabled list. That's Pedro being Pedro – part of the reason you either love him or loathe him. Still, his rehab is ahead of schedule, and regardless of his radar-gun readings, the Mets will be happy just to get five to six strong innings from him. It's an intoxicating thought for a rotation that has no ace lately. What remains to be seen is whether Martinez's return will impact Omar Minaya as the trade deadline approaches. So far, there've been casual, back-channel discussions with the White Sox about Mark Buehrle, and for good reason. The left-hander, who has averaged close to 16 wins a year for the last six seasons, will be a free agent this winter, and Chicago GM Kenny Williams wouldn't mind trading Buehrle at the July 31 deadline to a team that would end up renting him,. For a price, of course. Although Williams has yet to make a formal request of Minaya, the Mets assume they'd have to cough up Lastings Milledge and one of a handful of blue-chip prospects such as Mike Pelfrey or Phillip Humber for Buehrle and Jermaine Dye – with only a small probability of being able to sign Buehrle as a free agent. In essence, the Mets would be giving up Milledge's upside for two to three months of Buehrle – no small investment, if you believe Pedro is indeed coming back. Minaya is trying not to consider Martinez's health as a guarantee, but says, "If Pedro is even close before July 31, that's a comforting thought." The other issue is an overcrowded rotation. Assuming Pedro reclaims his mantle as the Mets' ace, where would Buehrle fit? Who would he replace? And do the Mets really want to trade Milledge this year, after failing to make a similar swap for Barry Zito in 2006? Insiders say it's unlikely Minaya will pay any kind of ransom for Buehrle, choosing instead to wait until Beltran heals, for Glavine to start hitting the corners again, for someone in the bullpen to take control of the eighth inning. The clock is ticking on Pedro, too. He'll start throwing to Class A hitters in Port St. Lucie in another few weeks, then work his way through the minor league system until the shoulder is strong enough for a Shea homecoming. It's been a long, miserable journey for Pedro; hours and days and weeks of monotonous exercises. You couldn't blame the Mets if they'd appeared to move on. But now they need Pedro more than ever, with or without his fastball. They'll take whatever Martinez has, as long as that irrepressible personality – funny, vain, melodramatic, passionate and crazy – comes along for the ride. E-mail: klapisch@northjersey.com

Love this from Joe.... ] "Keep pitching like this, maybe I'll get to go back there," Smith had been the featured player on the scoreboard during an in-game trivia contest. The question: His favorite minor-league stadium. His answer: KeySpan Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones.

I don't know if they were passed in the standings by Atlanta and Phillie that they would ever recover from that,somehow Delgado and Beltran need to get a hot streaks and perhaps that will spark the rest of them,hitting being contagious and all that.....course it's not just those two that suck.

Elster,I think we all know that Hojo screaming at the ump will not make hitters hit better or pitchers pitch better, but you know maybe seeing the former Met getting into it might wake some fuckers up... We are all doing our bit,join in and stop acting like Andy Rooney... http://cybermessageboard.ehost.com/getalife/viewtopic.php?t=6635

Last June 20 we were 9.5 games ahead with a 44 - 26 record...we suck this month

Elster88 wrote: I think Hojo was right. I thought Hojo was going to have at it with the ump,maybe try and spark the team...am I that desperate?

My feeling is that this team doens't have a comeback in them right now...

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I've been thinking what this team needs is Ray Knight: A bloodthirsty, bareknuckled, fuck-you kind of guy. I thought LoDuca could be that guy,I dunno but this teams needs a shot of something,this team needs to wake the fuck up and get their fingers out of their arses.

Looks like I gave Stevo a project...sorry.

You proposed to me on the site.?.......I accepted.

yes,I will not speculate on who she is....

Mets take a 2 - 1 lead on a David UpWright single..

Vernon Wells for Cordero?

First base shuffle. Posada,Phillips and Damon all played first base last night,auditions for the job?

I think I know who m.e.t.b.o.t. is......

Mota - 0.5 Gomez - 0.5

From the News... ] Willie Randolph, a six-time selection as a player, is headed back to the All-Star Game after an 18-year absence. NL skipper Tony La Russa invited Randolph to be one of his coaches at the July 10 exhibition in San Francisco. Randolph played for La Russa in Oakland in 1990. The two also were teammates in the minors one season in Charleston, W.Va.

Complete game,four hits and ninty two pitches...a Mets disgrace.....oh and the errors.

iramets wrote: ="OlerudOwned"]Jeff Duncan, where the hell are you now? Right under my name, is where. I liked Duncan. Maybe I'll start a thread about "Mets You LIked For A Long, Long Time Until You Realized They Couldn't Play MLB Any Better Than Your Cat." Good old number 61. 5-0 Twinkies. You thought Duncan was hot,didn't you ira?

Tim Kurkjian who covered the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun at one time had this in an article today. ] And it didn't help his cause that he didn't have the best working relationship with co-GM Jim Duquette. ] Updated: June 19, 2007, 12:35 PM ET In early May, before things went all wrong for the 2007 Orioles, owner Peter Angelos was in a relaxed mood in his private box at Camden Yards. But when a writer casually asked Angelos if he still enjoyed owning the team, Angelos said, "I've never enjoyed this." Especially now. The Orioles are 29-40, they're in last place in the American League East, and they've lost eight games in a row, including three at home to the rival Nationals, which led to the firing of manager Sam Perlozzo. His departure soon will be followed by the naming of Andy MacPhail as chief operating officer of a team in desperate need of change. "We tried to make it work," said Orioles general manager Mike Flanagan. "It wasn't one game or one decision [by Perlozzo] that led to this. We felt it [the season] was slipping away." Baseball Today On Baseball Today, Peter Pascarelli and Tim Kurkjian discuss the managerial change in Baltimore and some of the names coming up in trade rumors. a href="#" onClick="window.open('http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=podcast&id=2908998','Popup','width=780,height=515,scrollbars=no,noresize'); return false;">Listen < Perlozzo was, at best, an average manager. In going 122-164 in parts of three seasons as Orioles manager, the complaint with Perlozzo was that he was organized to a fault. He would have his bullpen lined up with his sixth-inning guy, his seventh-inning guy and his eighth-inning guy. But if the game deviated from his plan, he didn't always adjust in-game. And it didn't help his cause that he didn't have the best working relationship with co-GM Jim Duquette. But Perlozzo is not the reason why the Orioles are in last place; their problems run deeper than this season. They're on their way to their 10th consecutive sub-.500 season as attendance continues to drop, and, inconceivably, apathy has set in. This year, the Orioles are second-to-last in the American League in runs scored. They are last in home runs. They spent an enormous amount of money in the offseason to upgrade what was a horrible bullpen in 2006, but the 'pen has been equally bad this season with an 8-18 record, the most bullpen losses in the major leagues. The Orioles haven't been the same since the 'pen gave up six runs in the ninth on Mother's Day in Boston, leading to a horrible 6-5 loss. "In my 30 years of baseball, these are the toughest five weeks I've ever experienced. I've never seen so many bad breaks or bad hops," Flanagan said. "I don't want to call it bad luck, but almost nightly, something bizarre has happened." So many difficult losses have exasperated everyone connected to the team. "We were worried about the morale of the club," Flanagan said. "Sammy was frustrated. It was time to loosen that spring." But it's more than the Orioles not having enough hitters and having a bad bullpen; they don't have a team leader. First baseman/DH Kevin Millar is the closest they have to one, but he said there were too many factions within the team last year and, he said, "I've having trouble pulling everyone together." That problem, he said, seemed to be solved early in the season with the addition of veteran relievers Danys Baez, Chad Bradford and Jamie Walker, but the Orioles haven't gotten the leadership they need from third baseman Melvin Mora (the Oriole with the longest tenure) or shortstop Miguel Tejada (who has the best track record). A change in leadership came Monday. Orioles coach Dave Trembley was named interim manager. He has managed 20 years in the minor leagues and has been a member of the Orioles' organization for the last five years. With the illness to Orioles bench coach Tom Trebelhorn's wife this year, Trembley has served as bench coach at times, and, from all accounts, has done well. He interviewed for the manager's job once before; Flanagan called it "one of the best interviews I've ever heard." He likely will be just an interim, but Flanagan said the team is proceeding as if Trembley will manage for an extended period. The Orioles are planning on contacting former Marlins manager Joe Girardi, the National League Manager of the Year in 2006, who was fired by the Marlins mainly because his authoritarian style clashed with the Marlins' front office, including ownership. But he might be precisely what the Orioles need. Angelos admires smart, stubborn, arrogant, confrontational, take-charge guys because that, basically, is what he is. But it's not as simple as Girardi being offered the job, then taking it. Is a non-contending team the right job for him? Is he going to wait to see if Yankees manager Joe Torre will return next season? The bigger move for the Orioles will be the naming of MacPhail as COO. MacPhail comes from a long line of baseball executives, including his father, Lee, a former American League president. No one knows how to run a baseball team better than Andy MacPhail, who has a good relationship with Angelos after the two worked together on the labor negotiations several years ago. MacPhail will replace the departed Joe Foss, who is a banker and was never a baseball guy. One of MacPhail's first jobs -- along with Flanagan's and Duquette's -- will be the decisions made at the July 31 trading deadline, specifically involving Tejada. Last year, the Orioles came close to trading Tejada to the Angels, but the Angels wouldn't give up a third player. The Orioles came close to trading Tejada to the Astros, but in that three-way deal, the Astros were unwilling to send a player to the Rangers. It might be best for all parties to deal Tejada to a contender for two young players, then continue to try to rebuild the organization with youth. The biggest move for the Orioles will come when Cal Ripken Jr. buys the team from Angelos. Ripken has the group -- and the desire -- to own the team someday, and from all indications, Angelos someday will sell to Ripken. But it's even more clear that Angelos is not ready to sell anytime soon. He wants to win in Baltimore. Then he would enjoy owning the team. Finally. .

I'm so bored at work that I am voting .

Dickshot went to the game,he needs to go every night for this home stand.

Schoeneweis - 0.5 Feliciano - 0.5 Delgado 0.5

Gotay - 2.5 Reyes - 2.5 Gomez - 1.5 Castro - 1.5 LoDuca - 1