Frayed Knot

Houston lost 7 straight w/o winning one - although that streak is no longer active - finally breaking through in 2004 & 2005

A review of the 6 NYM/StLC games this Year: @ StL - Tuesday, May 16; Mets 8 - Cards 3 W - Glavine, L - Suppan Mets jump out to an early 3-0 lead but the Cards get 2 in the 5th plus 1 in the 6th on RBIs from light-weights Hector Luna, Eckstein, and backup catcher Gary Bennett. But the Mets break the tie in the 7th on a 2-out RBI double by LoDuca, then put it away with 4 in the 8th on a Pujols error and RBI hits by Franco, Reyes & Beltran. A perfect 7th by Heilman, a perfect 8th by Sanchez, and a 1-hit 9th from Jorge Julio seal the deal. Wednesday, May 17, Cards 1 - Mets 0 W - Mulder, L - Trachsel, S - Isringhausen Mulder wins the battle of dueling 4-hitters as a 2-out RBI 2B by Scott Rolen in the 6th provides the only run. Mets load the bases in the 9th on a Reyes 2B, LoDuca sac bunt, Beltran walk, and Delgado HBP, but Isringhausen came on the strike out Wright and get Floyd to groundout and end the game. Thursday, May 18; Cards 6 - Mets 3 W - Marquis, L - Lima, S - Isringhausen Lima is gone by the 5th as the Cards tally 2 in the 1st and 2 more in the 2nd despite Pujols sitting for the game. Jason Marquis cruises into the 8th marred only by a 2R HR from Beltran and a solo by Valentin. @ Shea - Tuesday, August 22; Mets 8 - Cards 7 W - Heilman, L - Isringhausen This 'Home-Run-a-thon' was maybe the best game/win of the year. A 1st inning 1-0 Met lead (HR by Delgado) is erased as Pujols hits a 3R HR in the 4th followed by a Grand Slam in the 5th - both off the starter Maine. But in the 5th , Delgado's 2nd HR of the night off Weaver - this one a Grand-Slam - sliced the lead to 7-5, then a Reyes ground-out in the 8th cut it to 7-6, all of which set the stage for Beltran's game-winning, 1-out, 2R-HR deep into the Met bullpen off Isringhausen in the 9th. Heilman's perfect top of the 9th earned him the win. Wednesday, Auguest 23; Mets 10 - Cards - 8 W - Trachsel, L - Mulder, S - Wagner A very different Trachsel/Mulder outing than their first match-up as the Mets bash a struggling Mulder early and often, jumping out to a 10-2 lead courtesy of an RBI 2Bs from Delgado (1 RBI), Woodward (3), Wright (2), and then a 3R HR from Reyes and an RBI 1B from Milledge - all by the 4th inning. Mulder would go on to make only 1 more start for the season. But a 2R HR by Vizcaino (in his StL debut) in the 5th, and back-to-back HRs from Rolen & Preston Wilson leading off the 6th cut the lead to 10-6. Then Bradford is touched up for 2 more in the 8th, before Hielman strikes out Spezio as the tying run to end the 8th. Wagner worked around a Pujols single in the 9th for the save. Thursday, August 24; Mets 6 - Cards 2 W - Williams, L - Marquis Mets score 3 in the 3rd on a LoDuca RBI 3B!!, a Wright Sac Fly and Green single. Williams scatters 7 hits into the 7th touched up only by a Bennett 2R HR in the 5th. A 5th inning 2R HR by Delgado and a Reyes 1B tack on the insurance before Hernandez & Mota combine for 2-2/3 IPs of perfect relief to close it out.

Eddie Coleman's (WFAN) observations: * Cliff was working out in the OF under the watchful eyes of Willie et al. EC didn't think CF looked very good but Willie is still taking a wait-and-see approach * Thinks that the likely if-needed replacements are either DeFelice (to free up Ramon's bat) or AndyHandy (to free up Woodie to be the emergency OF guy) rather than Milledge or LeDee

Torre = UNcanned (although maybe not un-caned) So Madden used his access and ran with a "scoop" that turned out to be either: - George throwing a temper tantrum that eventually blew over and Billy M. jumped the gun by assuming it was a final decision OR - it was true at the time but George was talked out of it by those in the org loyal to Torre

="metirish"]Anyone just a little pissed that this saga is taking the spotlight of the Mets some what? No. One of the things that I find more palatable about baseball is that - because of its everyday nature - there's usually not the interminable "pre-analysis" that goes on with football where they spend 7 days (longer in post-season) talking about a game that hasn't even happened yet. With three days off between rounds for the Mets, there's plently of time to discuss other things which is better in my mind than endless speculation where there's nothing new to talk about. The only "news" that's likely to exist between now and the start of the series is the state of Cliff foot. The Yanqui situation is a big story and I don't mind a bit that it's what talk-radio and the newspapaers spent much of yesterday discussing.

That's right. Bell got hurt during Game 1 and was replaced in-game by Timo. He wnt on to get a few hits and Bobby went with the hot hand from then on. At some point, I remember hearing Bobby claim that his plan was to start Bubba in game 2 after sticking with Bell in 1 based mainly on the 'he had been there all along' principle even though he really hadn't hit since about June.

a) nobody really 'jumped the gun' because no one ever said it was a done deal, only that it was likely the only one who even said it was likely was a piece in 'The Daily News'. "All those news services" weren't independently reporting anything, they were merely citing and repeating the DN report. That's not the same as 3 or 4 different outlets each reporting that they received the same info What's driving this thing is the idea that George lusts after Lou and that Lou won't be available unless they act real soon seeing as he'll have plenty of other suitors and isn't going to blow them all off just on the chance that the NYY job will still be his for the asking a year from now when Torre's contract is slated to run out.

]I sat in the same box as Tony Roberts, the actor I once rode up a Shea escalator w/Tony Roberts. We should add him to our 'Met-loving Big Shots' thread.

Tacking on to ABNS's EXCELLENT KTE: StL Hitters: * C - Yadier Molina: NOT a good offensive player. .216/.274/.321 numbers are truly bad in this era EVEN from a top-notch defensive catcher. * 1B - Albert Pujols: Best hitter in baseball these days, I don't even think it's a contest. And his bat makes some overlook how good a baserunner & fielder he's become. * 2B - Ronnie Belliard came over from Cleveland late in the season and somewhat shoved incumbant Aaron Miles aside. Both are somewhat average players though Belliard hits w/a bit more pop. * SS - David Eckstein, who somehow got beyond the 'You Must Be THIS TALL to Play in the Major Leagues' sign, gets on base at a decent clip and makes all the plays in the field despite lacking a good SS's arm. A VERY good bunter, LaRussa will squeeze w/him often * 3B - Scott Rolen is beat up and faded badly in the 2nd half. Not currently at his usual All-Star offensive/defensive level. * LF - Preston Wilson can still bop a ball a long way but isn't the player he once was, especially defensively. Chris Duncan (son of pitching coach Dave) came out of nowhere this year to put up some good slugging numbers but is even more of a defensive liability out there. * CF - Jim Edmonds is also battling several injuries (shoulder, foot, post-concussion) that, along w/the fact that he's now 36 y/o, are keeping him from his peak. He may even cut down on his hot-dogging. * RF - Juan Encarnacion: Free-swinging type w/decent pop and a good arm in the OF So Taguchi is used often as a PHer/PRer, an occasional starter, and a defensive replacement at any of the three OF positions. Scott Spezio has played some 1B, 2B, 3B and LF and is a good switch-hitting bat off the bench

I have no doubt that George threw a fit over it. I don't specifically remember it but he's certainly thrown bigger fits over lesser actions. It's just that this notion that MLB restrictions on manager movement started because of that just isn't true. They've been in place since long before then.

Valadius wrote: Josh Barfield is Jesse Barfield's kid. Which is why I was surprised to see that Josh was born in Venezuela (papa Jesse in Illinois) That Josh was born in the 2nd year of his dad's MLB career leads me to believe that he was a Winter Ball baby. Meanwhile, after looking like shite in the first inning, it's now the 7th and Carpenter is still in there dealing. LaRussa squeezes A LOT with Eckstein and that situation - where there was 1 out and the Cards had taken the lead and were piling on - just reeked of TLR prime squeezin' time.

="ScarletKnight41"]The point is that managers being fired after the season was never an issue until George felt that Bobby V's firing stole the back page from the MFYs that day. It's not about firing managers after the season; that's when most managers are fired. But the edict from the commish's office about timing a change in a way that detracts from the national or local interest in the playoffs & (especially) WS games stems not from George claiming it was done to him but from he himself pulling one of his 'Billy Returns' switcheroos on the day of Game 7 for the sole purpose of deflecting NYC attention from a WS in which his team wasn't involved.

Basically what Dickshot said. I just root for entertaining games in series like this as I don't a specific rooting interest but could make decent cases for both sides: Detroit - because it would be nice to see that city revive its great baseball tradition which has taken somewhat of a beating in recent years. Oakland - because it would be nice to see them build some momentum into hopefully getting a better site to play in and also to shut those up who see the A's recent playoff failures as "proof" that 'Moneyball' doesn't work even as many who say that so totally don't "get it" that their arguments aren't even worth discussing.

="SteveJRogers"]RMPL! Its in several different threads here, specifically the MFY-Tigers thread Relax! There's nothing wrong with starting new threads on major stories, particularly when some existing discussion of it is buried on page 23 in some 24-page thread. ]Isn't there a kind of moratorium on hiring and firing managers while a postseason series is in progress? Yes, and the reason that exists is due to Steinbrenner who once fired/hired his manager on the day of Game 7 of the WS - something he did (in the minds of almost everyone) for the sole purpose of stealing the headlines from baseball's crowning day. -- if I can't win I'm going to hold my breath and then take all my toys and go home So timing the announcement for Monday, if nothing's going on, is certainly possible - although little can be done to keep leaks from intruding on active days. Having said all that, this certainly isn't a done deal. Don't get too caught up simply because multiple outlets are reporting a story when, in fact, several of those outlets (Yahoo, ESPN) are doing nothing more than citing the original source - in this case The Daily News. And even the NYDN seems to have softened its language from "is likely to" down to "could" since it was originally quoted.

soupcan wrote: Goatee - getting very bushy. Question: Do we keep these beards as long as they are winning games or as long as thwey are winning series'? Until the final game they play this year; either via elimination or the ultimate victory. After that it's up to you (and your wife)

On Oct 16, 2004, the Yankees pounded out 22 hits and 19 runs while taking a 3-0 lead over the Red Sox in the ALCS. They're 3 - 10 in playoff games since 0-4 to the Sox 2-3 to the Angels in '05 1-3 v the Tiggers in '06

Won 4 of 5 vs the Cards in 2000, and 3 of 4 v Giants

vtmet wrote: how did Feliciano get credit for the win? Cuz he's the pitcher of record of course. He finished the 5th and the Mets took the lead for good in the top of the 6th. 3:51 is your game time.

Will someone please kill Willets for me.

Who's this PH-er? I missed the intro. Edit: OK got it.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Two! When they start thanking the producers, it's over! And when they start putting up 'MVP of the Series' on the scoreboard, it's over. ... Oh wait!

OK, now it's five.

Met pitchers have a whopping total of 3 strikeouts tonight ... OK, make that 4.

METS

btw, you'd never know it by listening to Brennerman tonight, but Kent's post-season stats are WORSE than his reg season numbers. Lesson of the day: Whenever someone introduces or backs up a point with the phrase; 'It always seems like ...', then the speaker probably isn't working with a whole lot of facts.