Frayed Knot

The comparison between the two as being popular home-grown players who became real good real quickly on teams in the same city is obvious and I'm not going to ignore that because it's not fashionable around here. If Wright wants to be thought of as a Jeter-like player - and by his own admission he does to say nothing of the numerous Met fans who long for him to be thought of with similar reverence - then he can't make plays like that.

* Minny & Detroit rained out yesterday. So it's 2 today (noon & 7) plus one each Wed & Thurs. Minny: Last 10 games = 8-2; Last 20 games = 13-7; Last 30 games = 19-11 Tigers: Last 10 games = 5-5; Last 20 games = 9-11; Last 30 games = 16-14 * Angels shutout Texas (again) - clinch West. * Boston lost although the stRangers losing moved the Sox WC-magic # to 1.

Castillo may have sac bunting on his own - in which case Jerry's got to get himself a 'No Sac' sign and flash it every once in a while. When a guy is in the top 10 in the NL at not making outs for the entire season, making an out on purpose when there's only nine left isn't really a good idea. I don't think Wright throwing the ball away on a charge-n-throw play (which Tatis c/should have had or at least blocked) is exactly proof of not having his head in the game.

Officially a free agent as of this past weekend. Jim Callis; Baseball America: I won't be surprised if Chapman gets [a contract worth] three times as much as Stephen Strasburg's draft-record $15.1 million contract. He's a 22-year-old lefthander with a fastball clocked at 100 mph at the World Baseball Classic, and he's on the open market�a potent combination. As one scout who saw him at the WBC said, "If you are looking for more than that in a pitcher, you'll be searching your whole life." But here's the kicker: Chapman never has dominated Cuba's Serie Nacional. He's much more of a thrower than a pitcher. Most of Cuban defectors haven't lived up to their hype, and the last Cuban pitcher to attract this kind of fanfare was Jose Contreras. Contreras has three good seasons and a solid 71-63, 4.63 career, but expectations were that he'd deliver a lot more after signing a $32 million contract with the Yankees. For me, Chapman would rank in the upper quarter of our 2010 Top 100 Prospects list, but I wouldn't put him ahead of [NYY catching prospect Jesus] Montero and he wouldn't be the No. 1 prospect for several other clubs. I'd take Jason Heyward (Braves), Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner (Giants), Dustin Ackley (Mariners), Mike Stanton (Marlins), Strasburg (Nationals), Brian Matusz (Orioles), Pedro Alvarez (Pirates) and Neftali Feliz, Justin Smoak or Martin Perez (Rangers) ahead of Chapman without a moment's hesitation. A case also could be made that Chapman shouldn't be No. 1 over a healthy Jarrod Parker (Diamondbacks), Domonic Brown (Phillies), Desmond Jennings (Rays), Christian Friedrich or Tyler Matzek (Rockies) and Jacob Turner (Tigers).

Broadway - 0.4 Stokes - 0.8 Tatis - 1.8 Pagan - 1.1 Castillo - 0.9 AHernandez - 1.0

Rox & Braves are both 5 out of their division races (in it but not in it) but the Rox have a 2.5 game lead for the WC. Biggest Braves advantage is that they get the Nationals 4 more times still (starting Thursday) having just come off sweeping them this weekend. Before that they get the Marlins for 3 starting tonight. Colorado is off today. They have 3 with the Brewers and then 3 in LA to close it out. Dodgers lost a tough one yesterday. They broke a 2-2 tie with 3 in top 9th in Pittsburgh. They then handed the ball over to big boy Broxton who promptly gave up 4. His defense didn't help him but still. Winning runs scored on a bases-clearing single by Lastings Milledge that squirted through the legs of Andre Ethier out in RF Phils almost blew a 6-0 lead against the Brews. It was a 1-run game by the 9th and they turned to Madson as the closer. He saved it despite a 1-out double.

Minny & Detroit both lost keeping the gap at 2 games. They start a 4-game series in Detroit tonight; Blackburn vs Porcello Yanx clinched on Sunday. Boston, needing a sweep to even make it interesting, managed an 'un-sweep' and got to watch the Yanx (who, you know, don't celebrate mere division titles) celebrate their division title. Texas trails both the WC and the West by 6 games. IOW, not out of it yet, just out of it.

Sunday, September 28 - Shibe Park: Mets 2 - Phillies 0 -- Gary Gentry vs Jerry Johnson Mets get only three hits in the game, but score twice in the 3rd on a Jim Gosger RBI single and a Gentry Sac Fly. On the pitching side, Hodges starts to dial things down for the playoffs as Gentry is pulled after five despite pitching a 3-hit shutout. Nolan Ryan comes in for 3 Nolan Ryan innings (1 hit, 3 Ks, 4 BBs) and then Ron Taylor finishes up the combined 4-hitter. It�s the team�s 8th straight win, their 4th straight shut-out, and the pitching has allowed just 4 runs (2 earned) over the last 7 games and 65 innings. Game Time = 2:18

By the time the Mets came into existence, Shibe Park had been renamed Connie Mack Stadium (so dubbed in 1953). That's probably why it seemed so odd to me that Baseball-Reference still has it listed as 'Shibe Park' in their box scores and why it sounded so old to me.

Misch - 5.0 Francoeur - 2.5 AHernandez - 1.2 Valdez - 0.9 Tatis - 0.4

Lotta action for the replacement *tertiary-sacker today and he did a decent job. * copyright G-FaFiF

Anyone who had Pat Misch tying Livan Hernandez for the club lead in complete games this season please come to the main desk and pick up your prize.

Fine. But if David wants to publicly say that D***k J***r is the type of ballplayer that he'd like to model himself after then he's going to have to take the comparisons. Been watching that other guy for 14 seasons now and he's never embarrassed himself with non-hustle the way Wright did yesterday or the way Reyes has on several occasions in a fraction of the time played.

Francoeur, when he's smacking line-drives around the park like he's been doing recently, is like the pretty girl that smiles at you from across the room. It's great while it lasts but it may be a long time before you see it again.

Ordinarily I'd say that a Misch vs Johnson matchup with no Beltran & no Wright would equal about a 5% shot of Mets winning. But between Johnson being scratched and the fact that no Wright is probably an improvement right now I'd say we're up to a 32.6% shot. Tack on a 3-zip lead w/5 innings to go and we're closing in on 50/50

Gotta love the Twins & Tigers for making it interesting. - Twins go down 2-0 early to the Royals last night then come back with 7 un-answered runs on their way to an 11-6 win. - Tigers were even more fun, finding themselves in a 5-0 hole on only one hit thru 4 inning before exploding for 12 runs & 19 hits over the last five innings and a 12-5 win.

Rockies lose to Cards - which means Cards clinch Central - but more importantly tightens up the WC race just a bit. - Braves win and are now just 2.5 back. - Marlins win (or so I heard) 4.0 back - Giants lose making them 5.0 back and most likely dead. Meanwhile Phils get no closer to clinching even though that's probably a done deal (still lead by 5.0 games). But mgr Charlie Manual said publicly that they're going to try others out in late innings while Madson - and especially Lidge - falter. So they brought Tyler Walker into a tie game in the 9th in Milwaukee last night and he promptly went: 1B (Counsell) & HR (Braun) for the walk-off loss. Dodgers clinched a playoff spot but not yet the West (6.0 games up).

Saturday, September 27 - Shibe Park: Mets 1 - Phillies 0 -- Tom Seaver vs Grant Jackson As I�ve noted in the past ... good thing this team could pitch. Seaver tosses another in what seems like an endless series of complete game shutouts; 3 singles & 2 walks this time. The Mets tally the only run of the game on an eighth inning two-out �rally� consisting of a Clendenon single, a walk to Swoboda, and a Bobby Pfeil single, all off starter Grant Jackson. Game Time = 2:18 98 - 61 I have no memories of Philadelphia�s �Shibe Park�. Even though �The Vet� came about into existence right around the same time as �Three Rivers� in Pittsburgh & �Riverfront� in Cincy, I fully remember the Mets playing in, and announcers saying the names of, �Forbes Field� and �Crosley Field�. But �Shibe Park� for some reason doesn't have that same ring. It sounds to my ears like some old place that only existed in black & white photos from way before my time or the kind of place you�d have to talk to someone of Ralph Kiner�s age to hear about.

Not that it excuses anything, but I'm sure David is fully into the 'can't wait for it all to be over' mode. Like even more than usual for a guy on a bad team at the end of a long year. Having to deal with a new and not always friendly park; tough year offensively all around even if some of the numbers are still decent; carrying the burden of being essentially the only live offensive threat for months at a time; being on a team that started mediocre, got worse, and then got worser and worsest. He looks totally run down and totally unlike himself, and has for a while now.

I re-posting my reply from the IGT into this thread too just because it belongs and so I can bitch about it some more. * metfairy wrote: Francouer was out at 2nd before Wright crossed the plate, so his run didn't count. * Grimm wrote: I think I've seen that happen before, but I can't remember when. It's been a loooong time. FK: It's not the rarity of the play that makes this one so horrible, it's that Wright should have scored easily but didn't solely because he got lazy. And as much as we rag on the Jeter-ites in booths and in newspapers who treat him as if he can summon up magic on demand, this is absolutely a screw-up he'd never make. Also the boys in the booth screwed up a bit on their analysis. Wright didn't get a bad break because he failed to realize there were two outs (as G, K & R insisted) but rather because he was dodging the line drive. The slow start wasn't the problem -- the problem was after he rounded 3rd when he just dropped it to near walking speed without ever even taking a glance at what Francoeur was up to. Even a quick glimpse and he would have known to run through the bag. Even at half-speed he makes it easily. Francoeur's gamble in going for a double wasn't the best move he ever made but the fact that Wright didn't score isn't on him, it's strictly on David.