Frayed Knot

This may have been the most poorly played game I've seen all year. I say that now only because all those games we lost via atrocious defense earlier in the year have been erased from my memory. But, Shit!, was there any guy our pitchers didn't go to a 3-ball count? Even the ones they didn't walk got 3 ball counts.

Murphy - 2.0 Beato - 0.25 Byrdak - 0.25 Hairston - 0.5

Gee - 5.0 Parnell - 0.7 Valdespin - 1.5 Davis - 1.5 Tejada - 0.8 Wright - 0.5

Ramirez - 1.0 Turner - 1.5 Valdespin - 1.0 Duda - 1.2 Davis - 1.0 Cedeno - 0.8

Ceetar wrote: Meanwhile, how does Prado do that at SS? He can barely play LF adequately. You thinking of another Martin Prado? He's always been pretty solid in left, IIRC-- it's all the other places where he's been iffy. I've heard some Braves guys down on him in preseason previews, but a quick glance at his numbers does suggest he's okay in left. not good in the infield though, and presumably worse at short. Didn't look too swift going after Wright's double in the 1st inning. Mainly I was just pissed off at the backup's backup's backup SS making a run-saving play with 2 outs in an inning just one inning after the backup catcher, who's only in there because the starter knocked up his (meaning: his own) wife, hits a 3R HR.

Yeah, no way that missed opportunity is going to come back to haunt us or anything.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: shitty AB for Val DeSpeen there. Yeah, the thing with him is that you can tell what he'll look like from pitch to pitch much less from AB to AB. Meanwhile, how does Prado do that at SS? He can barely play LF adequately.

Having your starting SS get hurt on Sunday and not being able to decide who you want there by Friday is just plain weird. P.S. especially when your AAA team is only like 10 miles away.

Why didn't this break last longer?

Numbers that high are better if there's some sort of story behind them. - Jim Bouton was assigned 56 during one spring training and then kept it for most of his career after he unexpectedly made the team that year. He liked to think it reminded him how close he was to not making the team. - Czech-born Jaromir Jagr wore 68 in the NHL in tribute to the Prague Spring year - Pitt Penguin Sidney Crosby wears 87 because of his 8/7/87 birthday

At Atlanta Friday 7:35 Saturday: 4:15 (FOX) Sunday: 1:35 We faced the Braves in two series this year but not since mid-April so it�s been a while. Mets won 3 straight to start the season at Citifield but then lost 2 of 3 in Atlanta. Their overall record has more or less paralleled ours; nothing great but not sinking either. April 14-9 May: 14-15 June: 13-12 July: 5-3 So even though it�s the first series after the AS break and both teams are coming off this extended break, somehow they both find themselves in a pitching pinch. With the Mets the obvious culprits are Gee�s shoulder, Johan�s ankle, and Dickey�s 1 inning in the ASG. For the Braves their problem stems from the injury to surprise 2012 ace Brandon Beachy (out for season) and the the inability of top prospects Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, and Jair Jurrgens to do the little things - like, y'know, retire major league hitters. So while the Mets go with Young, Dickey & TBA (probably Johan) still listed for Sunday, the Braves counter with Tim Hudson (despite reported cortisone shots) [7-4; 3.56], Tommy Hanson [10-5; 3.71], and ... Ben Sheets?!?!?!?!?!?! Yes, that Ben Sheets, the 1st round pick of 1999 who didn�t pitch at all in 2009 or 2011 and only a half season in 2010 (and not particularly well). He was picked up off the side of the road by the Braves like a week and a half ago and tossed into just two re-hab (or should that be re-introduction?) starts at AA before getting slid right into the ML rotation. Gotta pound the piss outta him, no? So what�s up with these dudes since we last saw them? C - Brian McCann Was chugging along well below his normal offense until suddenly going deep 4 times in the last 6 games [.238/.301/.430 overall, 13 HRs]. He tends to do that sorta shit. 1B - Freddie Freeman Last year�s #2 RoY is going along at a similar pace to last year. No sophmore slump but not exactly progressing either. [.264/.318/.451 - 11 HRs] Freeman looks like a male model but one for a real low budget store, like WalMart clothes or something. 2B - Dan Uggla Always a streaky hitter, Uggla actually started well this season (the opposite of last) but is crashing to a 15 for his last 107 stretch including 2-for-26 during July I think 2-for-26 is also his recent groundball fielding pct. SS - ??? If you recall they started the season at SS with rookie Tyler Pastornicky but he didn�t hit and neither did glove-specialist Jack Wilson (no surprise there) so, in typical Atlanta fashion, they just reached down and came up with a better choice, in this case it was the 22 y/o Andrelton Simmons (sounds like an Cyborg news anchor) from the island nation of Curacao who went from rookie ball just a year and a half ago to hitting .300 with power and top-notch defense. But then he just was DL�d yesterday with a broken finger (say it with me boys and girls: from sliding in head-first) so we may be back to Pastornicky (currently in the minors) and/or Wilson again. We probably caught a break there. 3B - Chipper Jones When Chipper manages to play, which he�s done a bit more than half the time this year, he hits [.318/.396/.480]. We�ll probably see him two of the three games if form holds. Juan Francisco or Martin Prado fills in otherwise. RF - Jason Heyward Bouncing back from his sophomore slump - is on pace for 60+ XBHs over a full season CF - Michael Bourne In the midst of a legit AS season; he�s hitting [.311/.366/.451], fielding and running. LF - Martin Prado most often [.321/.382/.457], or Matt Diaz whenever they need some Hairston-like LHP-punisher (he�s 3-for-28 v RHPs) Pen: Craig Kimbrel is closing and having a stupid-good year: 5 runs allowed on 13 hits over 33 IPs; [1.36; 0.697] But LHP(ain in the ass) Johnny Venters is on the shelf meaning Eric O�Flaherty will be their main anti-LHB weapon out of the pen although, like most teams, they'll probably bring up 7 or 8 LH relievers just for this series. Kris (is he married to a Kardashian?) Medlen and ex-Phil Chad Durbin fill in from the right side.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Other than the short-lived bullpen thing, hasn't Mejia been a starter this year? Was switched to the pen a month or so ago.

It has nothing to do with me being for or against either draft; I'm just saying that an even more restrictive draft than the one governing the entrance to MLB has already survived several legal challenges with flying colors.

Several legal challenges have been made against the even more restrictive NFL draft -- one that not only tells newcomers who they must work for and for how much but also dictates a small window as to when they can apply to enter -- but they've been quickly shot down based on the logic that those are agreements reached through collective bargaining so whatever restrictions exist meet the approval of both sides. The counter to that is that the restrictions affect those not yet employed but that tactic hasn't worked yet either. In baseball Boras has tried chipping away at the fringes of the whole draft framework but rarely gets a player around it.

There's usually some sort of connection to whatever intro music Paul's band plays during the guest's walk-on although I didn't recognize their selection for Dickey. That they played 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' for earlier guest Bryan Cranston was hysterical.

So are you saying that you just were David Wright prior to becoming Piazza?

Did Carter ever have a C on his jersey? I remember Keith did, but as far as I remember, they were co-captains... From UniWatch: John Franco, Mets (now with the Astros): "C" worn on left front shoulder (the same placement Keith Hernandez used while captaining the Mets in 1987, although he and Gary Carter both went "C"-less when Carter was named co-captain in 1988). Because once they named a second captain it was like having no captain at all. Which was a good thing IMO.

I think the scoreboard in Caracas would be interesting. It could show: Runs - HIts - Errors - Kidnappings

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Interesting. In 42 years as a baseball fan, I don't think I've ever heard that one before. That's because it's a basketball term.

Every time I see this thread I read it as: Bullpen ... HELP!

The words 'Fielder' and 'stretch' are rarely used in the same sentence.

Concocted non-event events like this which thrive on hype, loud calls, and more talk than actual action (see also: drafts, pre-game shows, etc.) are tailor-made made for Chris Berman; they're the reason he's employed. ESPN, which (except for the BB2N gang off in a segregated portion of the Bristol campus) can now go back to ignoring baseball now that what they think is the highlight of the season is over, wouldn't pull him off of something like this at gunpoint. America loves Berman. And notice that most of those Berman-love quotes involve him calling the HR contest. Again, stuff like the HR derby is the perfect (non)-event for him as he is the perfect (non)-announcer for the (non)-sports fan who tunes into (non)-event like that. It's a perfect fit. But notice that ESPN doesn't put Berman on their Monday Night Football package; that when ESPN had the early round baseball playoffs he wasn't their go-to guy either; and when 'The Masters' sold their Thursday & Friday rounds to ESPN a few years back they had one condition: No Berman! (even though he fancies himself a golf expert).

Cone's problem was an aneurysm, an enlargement of the artery that can burst if not caught and which is sometimes accompanied by a clot forming in that enlargement. That's a much longer rehab period since the artery needs to be cut and then given time to mend itself. Gee's procedure apparently was an internal breaking up of the clot without having to slice and stitch the blood vessel.

MFS62 wrote: Another sports story to follow during the break is the never-ending saga of Dwight Howard to the Nets. One of these years you're actually going to start a [crossout]LI[/crossout], ummmm, [crossout]NJ[/crossout], er ... Brooklyn Nets thread instead of trying to slide Nets info into every unrelated thread you can find.

Ceetar wrote: As Greg said up above, the possibility of scheduled doubleheaders are part of the new CBA. Part of the flexibility to schedule two uneven sets of 15 teams. Not sure the logistics of it or if that's even necessary, but there will also be a 26th man available for doubleheaders on rosters. Per the contract language Greg reproduced: "© The original schedule may contain one home split doubleheader for each Club." That simply allows for the possibility of clubs writing One Double-Header (as in singular) into the schedule which would be of the Day/Night variety. This is hardly a return to the days of weekly DHs nor do I see it as some positive by-product of inter-league play. DHs in the "good old days" were common for two reasons: 1) travel was long so more off days were needed. This idea put forth by a lot of commentators (in their endless quest to "fix" baseball) that a great way to shorten the season is simply to return to weekly double-headers don't realize what they're saying; players aren't going to agree to play 8 games a week. 2) Clubs felt they needed to give customers a 'two for one" discount in order to increase attendance. Single games now average a MUCH larger pct of a sell-out so the practice wouldn't pay the way it used to.