Frayed Knot

We're falling into top-5 draft territory. Owners of MLB's 6th worst record at the moment. Not that I'm suggesting tanking for a better pick - the MLB draft is too skittish for that sort of thing even if it was ethical. But we'll definitely have a protected 1st round pick should we sign any 'Type A' FAs this winter plus early rights to the land where gems are more plentiful.

Broadway - 0.8 Takahashi - 0.3 Stokes - 0.25 Feliciano - 0.25 Thole - 1.2 Beltran - 1.2 Santos - 1.4 Wright - 1.0 Francoeur - 1.2 Valdez - 0.7 Reed - 0.7

Wednesday, September 17 - Parc Jarry: Mets 5 - Expos 0 -- Jerry Koosman vs Gary Waslewski Koosman goes all the way on a 6-hit shutout In the 4th, Swoboda (there�s that name again) gets a one-out single to plate one run and then Garrett�s two-out single plates two more. Mets add solo runs in the 7th - Grote squeezes home Otis!!, and again in the 9th - Weis knocks in Clendenon Game Time = 2:11 90 - 58; 1st Place; 4.0 Games Ahead -- Cubs win against Philly and also beat Montreal the previous day when the Mets were off to shrink the lead by 1/2 game

It's amazing how often the defense has killed games. And it seems like (yeah, I know) not only every error but even every non-play leads to runs. Just last night: - Wright didn't glove one early in the game. It was a hot one but also right at him. Bounced away for a double - Francoeur didn't get a good read on a ball at the wall and it became a double. - Murph's 3-mistake inning in the 9th: failing to snag the opening double even though it was hit into his shift; then he not only muffed the 2-out hopper but misplayed it terribly which essentially caused the error. Then he muffed the recovery. Four plays not made in one inning, one error. In general Murph's been OK defensively at 1st this year. My worries about him as a full-time 1B revolve around his bat, even though it's been better lately.

I didn't see Duncan specifically in the midst of all the bodies but he must have been in the middle of it somehow because - in addition to the expected suspensions of Posada and Toronto pitcher Carlson who got three games each - Duncan also received three. Only he is appealing the ruling.

Francoeur does mis-judge his share of FBs out there don't he?

Hoverin' by my suitcase, tryin' to find a warm place to spend the night Heavy rain fallin', seems I hear your voice callin' "It's all right." A rainy night in Georgia, a rainy night in Georgia It seems like it's rainin' all over the world I feel like it's rainin' all over the world Neon signs a-flashin', taxi cabs and buses passin' through the night A distant moanin' of a train seems to play a sad refrain to the night {chorus} How many times I wondered It still comes out the same No matter how you look at it or think of it It's life and you just got to play the game I find me a place in a box car, so I take my guitar to pass some time Late at night when it's hard to rest I hold your picture to my chest and I feel fine {chorus} Oh, have you ever been lonely, people? And you feel that it was rainin' all over this man's world You're talking 'bout rainin', rainin', rainin', rainin', rainin', rainin', rainin', rainin', rainin' rainin', rainin', rainin'

There was also the one a week or two back where - also during a Toronto blow-out - one of their guys got hit in the face by a NYY pitch. That one definitely wasn't intentional - the bases were loaded at the time and it was former Jay Josh Towers who did it - but last night's plunkings made it a three-peat so I don't blame the Jays for being mad. And maybe it's the proximity many of us have to MFY fans or maybe it's simply the amount of whining in the face of so much success, but, for a group of fans that constantly complain how they're forever on the short end of the HBP-ee to HBP-er ratio, they've certainly hit a lot of batters lately. Carlos Pena was lost for the season during the last NYY-TB series after and up-and-in pitch broke two of his fingers. And that doesn't even get into the ongoing Joba-Youkilis target practice saga.

I much prefer the 2nd Wild Card entry idea (one-game face-off to get in please) to any of the myriad of suggestions (mostly involving taking away home games) that artificially try to trip up the WC team en route to the WS. The rule about not playing in-division teams against each other in the first round stems from the idea that once you've proved you're the better team over 162 games you shouldn't have to prove it all over again in a 3-of-5 right off the bat. Let them knock off someone else first and then come back for a second try. I don't have a problem with that. - Matsuzaka looked sharp for Boston last night - pitching much more efficiently than his normal self. That's 6 straight for Boston (TLTL) - But Texas got thumped again so they lost ground in the WC and didn't gain any in the West - Tigers got smushed by KC so the winning Twins & ChiSox both picked up a game (5.5 GB & 4.5 GB)

Once the fight got going all it was was a mass of bodies (two piles eventually) but you could barely tell who was who. The only thing that stuck out was 150 lb MFY reliever Edwar (buy a 'D') Ramirez tying to pull Jays' catcher Rod Barajas out of the pile by the strap on the back of his chest protector and having 60 y/o Cito Gaston yank him away. That's not the first time Posada's done that 'oops I accidently brushed past you too hard' thing as the prelude to a scuffle.

In the last game of the night to finish, the Dodgers got one in the 9th to tie the game and then, after Pitt scored in top 13, a 2R walk-off HR in the bottom half to beat the Pirates and jack up their lead to 5.0 full games. Andre Ethier was the one with the HR - and it's like his 6th walk-off hit this year, including 3 that are extra-inning come-from-behind HRs

Murphy - 1.5 Thole - 1.0 Castillo - 1.0 Dessens - 0.25 Takahashi - 0.25

In Search of ... RUNS!!!

GWreck: AL [pennant races are] no better: MFYs have the East. Detroit has the Central (5.5 up over Minnesota) Los Angeles has the west (up 6 over Texas). Texas is 4.5 back of Boston for the Wild Card and that's as close as it gets. Nobody else even has a shot. Figured I'd split off to an AL thread so we'll have a spot to discuss things if, by some weird quirk of fate, something worth discussing actually crops up. Texas got smushed by Oakland last night and lost another half-game to Boston (although not to LAA) and it doesn't help that, at the moment, they're playing without both Josh Hamilton & Michael Young. And whether Boston facing off vs the Angels this week helps or hurts is, I suppose, up to interpretation. One of those two will get a loss each night but one also gets a win. Sox are starting Dice-K tonight for the first time since like June something. Halos go with Lackey. Rangers continue with Oakland. Tigers continue to be schizophrenic, winning 6 in a row then losing 5 straight. Problem is no one else in that division is over .500 so there's little threat unless they really collapse. Tampa just broke an 11 game losing streak last night and is barely .500 this year.

Monday, September 15 - Busch Stadium: Mets 4 - Cardinals 3 -- Gary Gentry vs Steve Carlton During a one-game make-up in St Louis, the Ron Swoboda legend continues to grow. In another game that has become a famous part of NYM lore, Swoboda�s two 2R-HRs offset Carlton�s 19K complete game for a 4-3 Met win. - Vada Pinson singles in Lou Brock in the 3rd for a 1-0 StL lead - Swoboda follows Clendenon�s leadoff walk in the 4th with his first shot. - In the 5th, two-out RBI hits by Curt Flood and Joe Torre put the Cards up 3-2 - Then in the 8th, Agee leads off with a single and, after a Clendenon strikeout (what else?), Swoboda hits his second of the night - McGraw, who had come on in the 7th, leaves two stranded in both the 7th & 9th innings and gets credit for the win, his 8th of the season The Mets actually got 9 hits in this game plus 2 walks so it�s not like they lacked for baserunners despite all the Ks. Gentry & McGraw, meanwhile, combined to hold the Cards to 8 singles. Carlton�s list of strikeout victims: Harrelson - 2 Amos Otis - 4 (ouch!) Agee - 2 Clendenon - 1 Swoboda - 2 Charles - 2 Grote - 1 Weis - 2 Gentry - 2 McGraw - 1 He K�d the side in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 9th - although only in the 9th did he face only 3 hitters Game Time = 2:23 89 - 58; 1st Place; 4.5 Games Ahead -- Cubs lose to Montreal 8-2 Tim McCarver - as was often the case - was Carlton�s catcher that night. In later years when he was doing Met broadcasts with Kiner, Ralph would occasionally open the inning where announcer duties changed hands by saying; in September of 1969, Steve Carlton struck out a then-record 19 batters but lost the game because Ron Swoboda hit two 2-run HRs ... and now to carry you along over the next three innings the man who called for both those pitches, Tim McCarver McCarver always took it in good humor usually adding that he had no idea how Swoboda even hit either of those pitches much less hit them out of the park.

So it probably shouldn't take the death of Jim Carroll to make me sit up and realize that I never got around to seeing (or reading for that matter) 'Basketball Diaries', but it is. All of which leads me to the question; is it worth seeing?

It's bad enough that our shot at a division race died somewhere around Flag Day - but it doesn't look like there's going to be any interesting races down the stretch this year! East - Philly's had their problems lately but still has a 6.5 game lead over Florida & 7.5 over the Braves (and we know that no one could possibly blow a ~7 game lead with only 20 to go) Central - the Cardinals have run and hid, leading by 9.5 games - helped more than a little bit by the Cubs running the other way and no one else being able to crack .500 West - has the best potential for something interesting as the Dodgers have stumbled (21-20 since Aug 1) and their once 9.5 game lead is down to 3.0 Problem is that the West loser is probably going to be the Wild Card which takes a lot of the drama out of things. Rockies (26-15 since Aug 1) now lead the fading Giants by 4.5 Wild Card standings see the Giants 4.5 behind the Rockies, Marlins are 5.5 out, Braves 6.5, and Cubs 7.5 Colorado is in San Fran this week which could very well end the Gints playoff hopes. Be nice if something got flung upside down in the next 3 weeks - just for entertainment purposes if nothing else.

Redding - 3.4 Green - 0.5 Feliciano - 0.5 Schneider - 1.0 AHernandez - 1.0 Castillo - 0.8 Murphy - 0.4 Wright - 0.4

Maine - 1.0 Broadway - 0.5 AHernandez - 2.0 Thole - 2.0 Francoeur - 1.5 Reed - 0.3 Pagan - 0.2

btw, he's only 26 stolen bases away from Rickey's all-time MFY record. Let the countdown begin!