Frayed Knot

Inspired most recently by the one Jason Bay sailed over the cut-off man* in Sunday�s game - although more generally by watching our outfielders throughout the season as a whole - this poll asks for your imput in order to estimate the percentage of throws from the NYM outfield which DID NOT do at least one of the following: 1) Widely miss the intended target 2) Massively sail over the head of the cut-off man (and would have even if we employed Yao Ming) 3) Get thrown to the wrong base (aka: Pulling a Pagan) 4) Hit the target but get mis-handled by the fielder (usually, but not always, the catcher) 5) Hit the target but just far too late to have any hope of nailing the runner 6) Reached the target but only after a minimum of 7 bounces 7) Reached the target while not only failing to get the intended runner but also allowed other runners to move up a base Honestly though, can anyone remember an opposing runner getting thrown out on the bases this year via a play that didn�t involve a force out or a caught stealing? * No damage done as it turned out, but still not a good throw

And, in the end, Cedeno had the majority of the Mets' extra-base hits. Maybe he should hit clean-up?

The larger point being that arguments about the specific order of the lineup these days brings to mind the analogy about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We need a change of crew for the boat, not a new decorator.

bmfc1 wrote: But 6th? He'll take a walk and Bay will hit into a DP. Don't you want some pop there? You could put him 2d but that means Turner at 6 so it's not an improvement. Pop from whom? The Mets have a total of nine HRs in August spread among eight different players. Ike (2) is the only guy with more than one.

Six hits and a walk equals ... no runs. The only good news is that they made Gio Gonzalez work hard enough to where it took him 90 pitches to navigate these five innings - so maybe be get an inning or two against their weaker pen before hitting their end-game guys. Of course if we're going to be out-XBH'd at about a 10/1 ratio none of this will matter.

What the space obviously needs is orange & blue acoustic tiles on the walls.

Strike outs and pop outs with runners on 3rd and <2 outs in front of the pitcher - which in turn puts more of a premium on the need for the 2-outs hits that have kept us totally out of last place - was also eliminated as a cause in favor of words used on a website.

Gwreck wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: condom games I thought it was determined earlier in the year that we always tend to lose when this term is used. Yeah, we also determined that it was the cause, right after lousy pitching, lousy hitting, and lousy fielding were all eliminated as factors.

Edgy DC wrote: "That message come from Gonzalez's phone, but those weren't his words. Or even his feelings. He really didn't know what the message said. And if the message looks bad, well, he had nothing to do with it. The primary guy was, um, the guy who isn't here anymore." Come on. Seriously? I'm supposed to buy that? That's pathetic. It's worse. It's pathet�que. I think Congressman Weiner was using a similar denial ... at least for a while.

Trying to win an actual series. Mets are 4-6 in condom games this year. Coming off scoring a total of six runs against their 4th & 5th starters, today we get Gio Gonzalez [15-6; 3.29; 1.14] but, hey, at least we're countering with Jeremy Hefner. Tune in at 1:35 EDT (if your TV provider lets you) Our lineup vs the lefty-thrower is: Torres - CF Turner - 2B Wright - 3B Hairston - RF Davis - 1B Cedeno - SS Bay - LF Shoppach - C Hefner - P

Questions I would ask Terry in the post-game chat - What made you take out Niese in the midst of a dominating performance and a reasonable pitch count? - Or at least wait until he allowed a base-runner prior to making a switch? - Why get Parnell up only to sit him down? - Why is the 6' 11" 280-whatever pound Rauch never allowed to go more than a full inning and often less than that even when a PH spot doesn't come up and even when he's thrown less than a dozen pitches? - Seeing as how Donald Trump has a better shot at being President next year than Frank-Frank does at being NYM closer, why not go for the best opportunity to win this game rather than walking a tightrope just to build up the confidence of a guy who's not going to be here next season? OK, that last question is a bit unfair. It's not Terry's job to play today's game with next year's moves in mind ... but still.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I predict a riot of a postgame interview. Hell, we could all WRITE Terry's answers for him in advance. - "got to get him back on the horse" - "didn't want to ruin his Cahnfidence" - "I always have faith in my guys" - "I knew he wouldn't stay down for long"

I hated it ... but it worked!

GOOD, he got the meathead!!

I'm REALLY pissed about this. Rauch has been **BY FAR** the best reliever on this team for the last six weeks or so, threw just 12 pitches in the 8th and didn't get PH'd for. Oh yeah, and he walks guys.

Ceetar wrote: I'm going to Minnesota in November. Phoenix in August wasn't available?

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Coolness! Cleveland's not that far, and a nice stadium, too! Plus I hear it rocks!

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Then... Bobby in the ninth? I would have left Niese in at least until he put a runner on or got through the 8th. At that point you'd go into the 9th with Rauch, Edgin & Parnell all on tap and ready to go. * although Edgin has retired just 2 of the last 6 hitters he's faced and 4 of the last 8 - so I'd just bag the whole lefty-lefty idea for now.

Let's just get like 8 or 9 more runs and make this all academic. I'll still question Terry once it's all over, but at least I won't be as mad about it.

Frank-Frank has retired 2 of the last 10 batters he's faced, and just 8 of his last 20 I'd chain him to the bench tonight.

@*#&$!!!!! Just what I was afraid of. I could see the move if Harper got on (although still wouldn't like it) but not after he retired him, and fairly easily too.

That Terry sat down Parnell and had Rauch warming up throughout the top of the 8th scares me a bit. I'm foreseeing him letting Niese face Harper leading off, then going to Rauch for the RHBs and that means .... dum-de-dum, Frank-Frank for the 9th.

Michael Morse is rapidly becoming one of my least favorite players.

Hey, nice shot Jeter .... oh wait, that was Espinosa! Understandable error.

Do I even need to mention that we surrounded a one-out triple in the 1st inning with .... [say it with me folks] two weak ground balls and a lazy fly? Since then, the following six outs -- oops, now seven -- haven't left the infield. Maybe they're trying not to bruise the ball.