Frayed Knot

Part of this whole "problem" is that - as usual - M&MD made a bigger deal out of Willie's tossed-off answer than it probably warranted. Does Willie & co think more of Zamby than most of the rest of Met-dom does? ... Probably, and Peterson almost certainly. But Trax getting "bumped" for Zambrano consisted of delaying Trax's start by all of 2 days in order to get VZ his first start of the year. It's not like a Trax spot was negated entirely and, unless they're going to operate under the 'skip the 5th guy whenever the sked permits' principle (which I highly doubt), then the "number" each starter is assigned is virtually meaningless until if/when the playoffs crop up or maybe during the post A-S break stretch.

Damn! Once AGAIN I thought this was a thread of some player's mistress. Or maybe Anna Benson. I believe JUGGS is the company that makes one version of the device (or the brand-name of said company).

"Was that one of the truths Keith told that he was forced to back off of the next day?" Yeah, there was a public flogging the next day with Jeff Wilpon on lead whip. Bloody pictures are on the internet somewhere I'm sure.

First time I remember hearing of him was while he was still w/Detroit playing against the Yanx. He came up (I believe to PH) w/the game on the line and I told him thru the TV that if he hit a HR I'd run out and buy some of his ice cream. He did ... I didn't. I always felt bad about lying to him like that but it was the first thing I thought of after we traded for him. The rep he had was certainly that of a dead fastball hitter w/shaky defensive skills but Sparky didn't play him in the '84 WS (only 1 AB) reportedly thinking that he was "too high-strung". Then, in his early weeks w/the Mets, he made some real nice plays at 3rd while not hitting at all. I remember Murph rhetorically asking his broadcast partner (forget who); 'Who told us this guy couldn't field?', before getting the answer; 'probably the same guy who told us he could hit!' HoJo's numbers didn't take any kind of hit once his rep grew so much as they flucuated wildly. For a while he had an even year/odd year thing going on: [u:e868d5ebd9]OPS+[/u:e868d5ebd9]: '88 = 124 '89 = 169 '90 = 106 '91 = 145 '92 = 91 A year or two ago when Keith was just starting his announcing gig someone in the booth brought up the old corking rumors w/HoJo saying he was often accused but never caught. So Keith immediately blurts out; ' Oh he corked all the time - had a guy do it especially for him!'

Zambrano - 1.0 Wright - 1.6 Beltran - 1.4 Delgado - 1.9 Floyd - 1.7 Oliver - 1.3 Reyes - 0.7 Woodward - 0.4

I think it was Tinker and Evers (of Tinker-Evers-Chance fame) that played together for years yet barely ever spoke because they so disliked each other.

I thought we were getting pictures of Bonds and his mistress here.

TransMonk is on the clock. You've got 27 hours

"Neither in Pearlman's retelling nor in memory was this the Finley A's or the Reggie Yanks" Otherwise known as Reggie's A's and Reggie's Yankees. Hmmmm, what did both of those teams have in common? I was a bit surprised in Pearlman's retelling about the amount of derision directed Carter's way - although that was essentially true (and maybe even worse) from back in his Expos days. I also never got the impression that the NYM-era insults were true hate as much as just razzing the goofy kid in the front of the classroom. I'm voting for barely-informed allusion also.

Only the Yanquis could be in a 6-2 game (4-2 until a minute ago) which is taking considerably longer than a 13-5 slug/walk-fest. They're in bottom 8

Exhibit A of why the newly available internet link for the mid-day hours will be referred to as 'Screaming On-line'

As pointed out in another thread, you will NOT get Met games via that link. You'll also find the link blacked out at other times: during their coverage of Net basketball games, NJDevils hockey, plus various national games that they cover like weekly NFL games (Monday/Sunday nights) or Bowl games, NBA playoffs, etc.

Pedro - 4.6 Beltran - 1.8 Wright - 1.0 Delgado - 1.0 Wagner - 0.8 Heilman - 0.7 AHernandez - 0.1

He's the guy who hadles most of the medical questions over on 'Baseball Prospectus'. He seems to know what he's talking about medical-info wise but I think in this case he may be doing as much speculating here as actually knowing something. It wouldn't be the first time his "prognosis" has gotten itself ahead of the facts. oe: Was Carroll the one who "broke" BP's scoop about Selig's "done-deal" to reinstate Rose?

"Matsui OTOH has demonstrated to all but the most hardcore Metsaholics that he's not a MLB player." Before a late-season injury that curtailed his '04 season, he was headed for a .275 BA with around 50 XBH. Shirley you, being the captain of; 'Can't-carry-Ordonez-with-that-bat' Committee, can't be claiming that Andy's glove will "make up for" the diff in offense unless his suddenly (or even eventually) improves a whole helluva lot. I don't care what they're paying KazMat - dumping him doesn't cost any more than keeping him - but if he can hit better than the temp incumbent then I'll play him until I think otherwise.

It's a small sample so far, but AndyHandy is hitting .100+ with zero power and zero walks. Assuming that that continues for a while, what would constitute Matsui "playing his way out of a job" that isn't worse than what's already going on?

Holy Blow-Jobs Batman!"He did it the old-fashioned, Roy Hobbs way, with a monstrous three-run homer"- Monsterous?!? That thing was right down the line and about 4 rows deep over a wall that's all of 312'. That thing's 325' most likely, maybe 335' tops! How 'bout we give the guy credit for a game-winning HR w/o exaggerating it story-telling purposes?"The Yankee captain certainly is no machine (he batted only .261 with runners in scoring position last year), but in this case he needed just one pitch, first pitch, to devastate Burgos. ... as Joe Torre says, "When we need something to happen, Derek is usually the one who starts it or finishes it."- Except, of course, when he doesn't (see: .261 w/RiSP)"Jeter, of course, was too modest to gloat,"- Of course he was. He was also helping a little old lady across the street while conducting this inteview."... insisting he wasn't trying to hit a home run, only "a base hit up the middle."- Bullshit! That swing said HR all the way."The shortstop probably was being honest, too, considering he'd hit just 30 homers in 1,260 career at-bats with runners in scoring position."- Of course if he had LOTS of HRs w/RiSP we'd cite THAT as proof of his invincibility. Heads he wins, tails he wins!"Jeter may not hit many homers, but under pressure, in the postseason, he's a career .300 hitter"- Neglecting to mention that he's a .312 hitter otherwise, meaning, of course, that he must get worse in October! Somehow, I don't think Klap will see it that way.

Waner Mateo: Never heard of him before ... probably won't hear of him again. Marginal players (assuming that's what he is) aren't good candidates to get multiple choices to screw up.

Might all depend on when KazMat comes back (assuming he doesn't sprain his toe-nail or sumthin during rehab). - If it's sooner rather than later it could either be Valentin or Chavez I think trying to dump Valentin would mean we'd lose him, not sure if he'd accept a demotion unless it comes with a semi-promise of it being only temporary. Chavez, I assume, could be sent down with little problem. Diaz might be a candidate just to get him steady work but I think he'll get enough up here eventually. - If it's later rather than sooner and AndyHandy is still hitting a buck-&-change it could be him being sent down.

abogdan wrote: I don't think that Valentin is striking fear in anyone. That being said, the Mets really don't have any great LH PH options in the system. I'd be all for giving Todd Self a shot at the role, but not based on four at bats from Valentin. He certainly isn't scaring anyone at the moment but does possess the power to do so, something the only other LH off the bench - Endy Chavez - does not. The problem w/Self is that he doesn't give you the defensive versatility that Valentin does and instead would just be another 1st baseman that doesn't play. I realize that we've had almost zero variation from the standard lineup so far but that certainly won't last forever and, while Valentin isn't going to win a gold glove anywhere, he can play 4 or 5 different spots in a pinch. He also switch-hits.

HRs by pitchers in consecutive games played: 4: Ken Brett 1973 Phils 3: Don Drysdale - Dodgers Cincy's new slugger Bronson Arroyo is now working on a 2 straight. Considering they're his [u:06f9b49e23]only[/u:06f9b49e23] 2 games since coming over from the DH league makes his streak kinda fun.

Bannister - 5.0 Beltran - 1.4 Reyes - 1.25 LoDuca - 1.15 Heilman - 0.25 Wright - 0.75 Floyd - 0.2

VP Cheney to throw out the first pitch. The scouting report lists him as having questionable control. In particular, there was one notorious HBP* during the winter league. * - Hit by Pellets

Chipper placed on the 15-day DL. Apparently it's only a semi-minor sprain and not nearly as bad as it looked yesterday. Braves beat Phils tonight. Reclamation project Kenny Ray tosses a scoreless 8th - although he actually gave up some baserunners.

Felix Hernandez got hit w/a 3 game suspension for his part in the beanball war last week. I don't know if he's serving it now or appealing. If he's serving it right away that further dampens the Nats pen. Today's extra-inning game against Houston didn't help either.