Frayed Knot

]Thems were crazy people Fine, but that's still a drop from 19 last year to a projected 5 or so. Put another way, his Isolated Power numbers in 2006 = .187 In 2007 it's .136, and most of that was from April. 18 XBHs in April (that's an IsoP of .240) vs only 8 from May + June combined (.069) Not that it's too late for things to pick up but, just for reference, those IsoP stats are akin to going from Vlad territory in April to Eckstein-ville since.

]Well, Reyes hasn't been scoring runs, but he has been getting on base. His lack of scoring is more the fault of his teammates than of himself. His own lack of XBHs are a factor too. Almost all of his recent getting on base is as a result of singles & walks and the guy many predicted 25 or even 30 HRs for is now on pace for 5. I can't remember the last time we saw him really sting the ball.

]Huh! I'm surprised that FOX isn't making Mets-Yankees its Saturday Game of the Week Three words: Bonds in Fenway

Some days this job is just so much fun ... - Braves lead Twinkies 2-0 heading to the 9th, thanks mainly to 7.1 strong (3 hits) innings from Tim Hudson - Bob Wickman starts the 9th, relieving Rafael Soriano who got the last two outs in the 8th (no pinch-hit, just a straight pitching switch) - Luis Castillo singles - Joe Mauer GOs, runner moves to 2nd - Michael Cuddyer hits an RBI triple - Justin Morneau reaches on infield single, Cuddyer holds (tying run on 3rd, winner on 1st) - Torii Hunter grounds to 3rd ... but a throwing error allows the run to score and Hunter & Morneau move to 2nd & 3rd - Mark Redmond singles .... BALLGAME!!

]May I ask, whatever happened to Bernie Williams? Bernie is actually a big source of controversy in Yanqui fan camps this year. Basically he was only meant to be a backup last season but wound up getting a lot of playing time when both Matsui & Sheffield got hurt. But Matsui is back, Sheffield was replaced by Abreu, and Cabrera is 21 not 38 like Bernie. So the Yanx invited him to Spring Training but wouldn't guarantee him a job. Bernie wanted more than that but didn't want to go to another team to get it. So both he and GM Cashman dug in their heels and the result is that Bernie is sitting home not playing this year. When the team was going bad earlier, a large pct of fans were clamoring that "Bernie magic" was just what the team needed. Problem is that he's had no training and would need at least a month to come back even if the team suddenly did an about-face. That was a long way of saying: 'Unoffically retired"

A weekend intra-city tilt in the Boogie-Down represents the June Swoon versus the June Boom. These two teams are playing mirror images of each other over the last 6 weeks now, first one up and the other down, now totally flipped around. The Skanks are riding a 9 game winning streak which is enough to nudge themselves above .500 for the first time since early May. During that time, their starters are suddenly pitching both well and deep into games; their hitters are all hitting; and their pen is improved due to having to shoulder a smaller portion of the load. Friday: 7:00 -- (Channels 9 & 11 in NYC) Oliver Perez (held the Yanx to 2 runs over 8 last time) - vs Roger Clemens Asshead's first start was good - though hardly as great as some of the breathless press clips depicted. The Yanx (and therefore the YES cameras) are going to great lengths to show Roger every 10 seconds or so in games where he's NOT pitching in an attempt to prove he's not skipped out to go golfing ... I mean attend his kids games. And even if he does leave for a while he's going to use the story that he wasn't really leaving the team, but rather that he had simply retired and unretired in the intervening 4 days since his last start. Apparently he's not only trying to match Nolan's record for strikeouts but also Cher's for comebacks. Saturday: 1:00 -- (Channel 11 & YES) NOT part of the national TV package Tom Glavine - coming off his worst start in nearly a decade - vs Tyler Clippard Clippard skunked us in his first ML start: 6 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K. but has been much more pedestrian since. Sunday 8:00 -- (ESPN National Broadcast) Orlando Hernandez vs Chien-Ming Wang Ch-ch-ch-changes since we last saw them: * Jason Giambi is out with foot problems which may sideline him for a few more weeks or even the season. Of course rumor has it that Bud Selig is going to sideline him for a while anyway. * Doug Meintkiewicz got kicked in the head by a passing runner, then broke his wrist on the way down. Out until August. * Johnny Damon, nursing various injuries, is spending most of the time DH-ing these days as Melky Cabrera takes over in CF * brief-Met (yeah I know, I try to forget it too) Miguel Cairo is filling in at 1st base since they discovered Meintkiewicz's other half, Josh Phelps, is every bit as bad defensively as Giambi. The additions of Cairo & Cabrera are predictably getting far too much credit for the recent turn-around from those eager to paint the Yanx as some kind of gritty small-ball team that would actually improve if only they'd get rid of all those pesky super-stars they're paying so much for ... y'know, like that Rodriguez fellow. They've improved the defense at CF & 1B but, as usual, it's the big boys who were supposed to carry this offense all along who are most responsible for the sudden spate of runs scored as the team is hitting .315/.395/.512 in June and averaging over 7 runs per game. Month-to-date stats: Pos.ABHXBHRBIBAOBASLG1BCairo31922.290.281.3552BCano481576.313.365.542SSJeter491353.265.357.4083BRodriguez4215821.357.481.833LFMatsui4414411.318.407.500CFCabrera411444.341.404.512RFAbreu4621912.457.561.761CPosada3813711.342.413.642>DHDamon501133.220.291.280 First Series Review: * Game 1: Perez v Pettitte: Mets 3 - Yanx 2 Matsui's 2R HR erases an early 1-0 Met lead, until Endy's fake-bunt/HR in the 5th puts the Mets ahead to stay. Perez goes 7.2 innings before Smith & Wagner get the final 4 outs. * Game 2: Glavine vs Rasner: Mets 10 - Yanx 7 Rasner is knocked out by a comebacker (broken finger) by the 2nd batter he faces. Then Wright (2 HRs) and the Met bats batter the replacements enough to withstand 5 late NYY runs. * Game 3: Maine vs Clippard: Yanx 6 - Mets 2 Clippard, in his ML debut, outduels Maine (5 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 3 BB)

Gary Smith - author of the current SI cover piece - to be on WFAN at 4:25-ish

ABHXBHRBIBAOBASLGWright421568.357.438.690Reyes481513.313.389.354Delgado501097.200.226.500Gomez32914.281.281.375Valentin23630.261.261.391LoDuca441013.227.261.295Beltran39611.174.200.217Green12311.250.250.333

Knoweldge is Good

When did 'Sweet Caroline' become the official 8th inning song of MLB? They're playing it in Dodger stadium now.

cleonjones11 wrote: I think the lockeroom chemistry aint good. Wow, a fan blaming a losing streak on a lack of chemistry. Usually you have to go to a bar stool to get this type of in-depth analysis.

Why do you persist in repeating the myth that LoDuca makes pitchers work? He sees fewer pitches that most.

I couldn't name 10 Met pitching prospects at this point.

Batting LoDuca #2 is quickly becoming the fans' favorite red herring. I don't have an ojection to it but when you get 8 hits (7 singles) over two games and Green in the 2-slot has several of them who bats in what order isn't going to make a difference.

Following up the 3-run inning with a 5-pitch bagel doesn't help matters much and is a big fuckin gift to Penny.

Penny's an ass, always has been.

Wright stays in the clean-up spot even against the RHP -- and delivers the RBI single

Y'know, one of the things making magazines thinner these days is the lack of advertising pages. "Old" media vehicles are simply finding it harder to get ads.

Should hit stands today

My original response here was because I've heard both players publically speculated about (although I forgot about the Az front office statements) so, to me, one is no more obvious than the other. One-year wonders prove little (Maris never hit 40 aside from the year he hit 61) and I think that fans in general would probably have a pretty lousy track record of guessing who were/are and were not users outside of a few outlying exceptions.

Wright - 1.2 Delgado 1.0 Smith - 0.8 Heilman - 0.5

Here's a comment: they all suck right now. Every last fucking one of them!

bmfc1 wrote: "Shawn Green and Luis Gonzalez ... One took steroids, one did not. If true, why isn't it obvious to me which one is which?

WOULD SOMEONE GET A FUCKING HIT?!?!?

Verlander was the guy picked one slot ahead of Philip Humber in the amateur draft.