Frayed Knot

]So, if that game goes to extra innings, does Torre lose the DH by switching Matsui into the outfield or does he try to hide Martinez or Giambi out there? Reportedly he was going to put Matsui in LF and go DH-less for the rest of the game. Tino was volunteering to play the OF but Torre apparently wasn't going to take him up on it. Personally I would have.I'm not so sure Torre didn't over-manage a bit.With runner on 2nd/no outs in the 7th down by 2, he PH-ed Sierra for Womack. Neither is hitting particularly well this year but Womack is at least a contact hitter. And it was that move that triggered the OF problems when Sierra K'd and Sheff got tossed on the next play.

The Sox have had Petagine since before the season started, so I suspect that if he looked all that good that the Sox wouldn't have gone chasing Olerud all over the country and waiting for him to heal and then get back in shape. Both - if playing well - bring about the same sort of skills: lefty stick, good glove, decent power, good eye, zero speed. Sounds like they liked what they DIDN'T have more than what they did.The guy who would have been a good backup for this team from the start is Tony Clark - but at this point he's getting too much playing time in Arizona.Speaking of Olerud, I saw him hit his first Boston HR the other day and David Ortiz greeted him with that hugging thing that the Sox do. Man it's tough to look more white than Oly did trying to bond with Big Papi.

Obviously Looper gets the biggest raspberry for the night, but:* Beltran, Piazza & Floyd combined for an 0-12 and managed to get the ball out of the infield just twice (both fly outs)* 9 walks, plus a balk and an error* if the Yanx could field we'd have scored only 1 run* even before Looper our relievers faced 11 batters and retired 6 (one on a questionable call)* MFY relievers started w/Reyes's infield dribbler/fielding farce - and then retired 7 straight batters (on what seemed like 15 pitches)

Shhh. KC drinks a bit and we don't like to point these things out in public.(did I just type that out load?)btw, for all the talk that no WC team would come out of the NL East this year ... the Braves are currently it.And they're doing this with 3 starters on the DL, plus their catcher, plus Chipper, and w/no closer, and they started 7 rookies the other day ...

Yeah, that's a weird (but probably smart) system they have there.Hagerstown & Lexington (Houston) tied for the 1st half championship. The rule when that happens is that the first regularly scheduled meeting of the 2nd half between those teams acts as the 1st half tie-breaker. What was cool is that it turned out to fall on both teams' best pitcher's turn.Most - if not all - of the minor leagues use that 1st half/2nd half champions thing because rosters change so often.

Offerman will be another old-and-going-nowhere type - a la Gerald Williams - that Met fans will complain about just for his very existance.He can slap the ball a bit and play a variety of positions including 1st ( although none of them particularly well) and - as far as I know - still run.Brazell's hurt and would be less of the back of the bench type optionanyway. Does Willie have the guts to start Diaz at 1st against the lefty?It would make sense since otherwise you'd need to go w/either the leftyswinging Daubach or Woodward which puts the lefty Anderson at 2nd.Either that or it's Offerman right off the bat.

The 'Horns hooked 'em.

]a Garden crowd reveling in the "city game" is no longer any more sophisticated than the supposedly "hick" crowds in "cow towns" like Sacramento, Minneapolis and IndianapolisYup.Some longtime Knick fans trace the downfall to the introduction of 'The Knick City Dancers'. I'm not sure when (or why) stadium operators got the idea that us morons in the seats would lose interest if we had to go a whole 30 or 40 seconds w/o being entertained. Jeez, we'd actually have to talk to the people we went to the game with or something.

Martinez - 4Reyes - 1.5Mientkiewicz - 1.5Floyd - 1Beltran - 1Anderson - 1

Floyd - 4Glavine - 2Reyes - 1Wright - 2Piazza - 0.5Castro - 0.5

Asked if he could play tonight (Sunday) Mienty replied; "not a chance".P.S. Maybe the title of this thread should be changed to;Mientkiewicz vs Delgado: Stillborn - because that's about what the "competition" is at this point.

]Now, if Bernie had made the error on what would have been the third out, would it still have been ruled a sac fly? No. The Sac Fly was concocted (in the '40s I believe) with the thought that a hitter "settling for" a Fly Ball in those run-scoring situations (man on 3rd/less than 2 outs) can be somewhat intentional* and so is rewarded w/a non-AB plus an RBI even when the ball turns out to be dropped as in the Bernie debacle. The batter "did his job", it wasn't HIS fault that the klutz dropped the rock. With 2 outs, however, there can be no such intent and therefore no such reward.*(indeed, ML batters tend to hit OF flies in those situations more often than can be accounted for by chance)]If not, how would it be ruled?As a time at bat, an error against the hitter's BA, and no RBI -- just like it was a muffed grounder or infield pop.

LHP Brian Walker (24) - a fourth-round pick of the Mets in 2001 out of Miami who spent the last two seasons in low Class A and was 3-1, 4.80 in 30 innings this year at high-A St. Lucie - was one of 5 minor league players suspended for 15 days following a first offense of MLB's performance enhancing drug program.

The key to the game was DEFENSE!!!!!!!!!(sorry, I was having a metsonline flashback)

Dammit Braden, what did I just tell you?!?Sit down Torre, that one wasn't even that close!

TheOldMole wrote:Stanton's back with the Yanks?Um yeah, we traded him to them for Felix the Heredia before the season started, remember?Don't make this a long inning Braden. We've got a gay dame tomorrow.

These Mets are Sac-tastic!!

Plus, I always associate All-Star Game politic-ing as a 'small-town' thing.NYC used to consider itself above that sort of thinking.

It was actaully a good play by him in that situation (although wouldn't always be). They were down by 5 in late innings at that point and needed baserunners and I think he was leading off the inning. Thing is, if he - or any of those power hitters who get their own shift - were to do that when an extra-base hit would be a dagger they'd be doing the other team a favor even if it worked.

<buh-dump-Ching>Either that or it's because she's dead at the present time ... and you could look it up.

]Hey, um, Frayed Knot, what kind of crappy start time is 4:20?Probably an incorrect one now that I think about it.I orginially thought this was a FOX Netwok game which usually don't start until 20-25 minutes after the hour so Kevin Kennedy and what's-her-blonde have time to get their pre-game jive in.Turns out it's just each teams' local stations carrying the load and I forgot to adjust to the usual 10-minutes after the hour first pitch.

So are we supposed to play "Guess the Edgy" w/that picture?I'm going w/the kid in the upper left who looks like he's holding a slice of watermelon instead of a ball.

http://www.thehardballtimes.com/thtstats/main/index.phpPretty good page where you can manipulate stats via various conditions/limits etc. (hitting stats only - although, oddly, no OPS). Not as complete as espn.com's but it's a lot quicker and more accessable.

Peggy Lee could really belt 'em out too from what I hear, but I don't think she hit any today in Milwaukee.

What: Mets (35-37) vs Yanks (37-35)It's Round 2 of "The Thrilla .... um, ... Near Broxville-ah"No? OK, how 'bout: "The Boredom Not All that Far from Fordham"Ahhh, I'll work on it later. Where: Yankee StadiumWhen: Friday, 7:10 PM - FSNY / YES / ESPN (National Telecast)Saturday: 4:20 PM - Ch 11 / YESSunday: 8:10 - ESPN (National Telecast)No excuses for youse outta towners to miss these.Who: Why the Yankees of course, who just this past week announced plans to tear down that old, ugly, crumbling and barely functional monstrosity and pump $800million into it's replacement ... but hey, enough about their roster.Game 1: Pedro Martinez: (5-1, 2.86 ERA, 0.78 WHiP) - vs - Mike Mussina (R): (8-4, 3.82, 1.33) Mussina has been the winner in his last 3 starts.Game 2:Tom Glavine: (4-7, 5.06, 1.71) - vs - Sean Henn (L): (0-2, 10.29, 2.86)Henn's been called up twice this year as an injury replacement - and lossed both times.Game 3:Kris Benson: (6-2, 3.90, 1.16) - vs - Randy Johnson (L): (7-5, 4.02, 1.19)The 'Big Unit' can still be dominate at times, although leads the league in excuses when he doesn't.So what's new since with these guys since the last time we saw them?* Well the most important news is that Derek Jeter hit a grand slam. I'm sure you saw it since I believe it was carried on all three network news programs. Previously, "Captain Clutch" held the active record (and 2nd most ever in the expansion era) for most ABs w/bases loaded w/o a GS. And I know that you're thinking; "but wait Mr. Knot, I was told he was the most clutch player on earth! How can this be?". Well, it seems that the 'clutch advocates' somehow maintain that this somewhat inglorious streak was actually 'proof' of his clutchness rather than a counter to it because it just showed how he was smart enough to be a team player and take a hit rather than try for slams. Of course his record w/bases loaded wasn't especially good even w/o the slams, plus had he held the mark for MOST slams in that time then you just know that THAT would also have been cited as proof of clutchness - thus making it the perfect 'can't lose' argument. It should also be noted that 'Captain Intangibles' also admitted to have been actively trying for slams since he became aware of his mark years earlier.* At 1st base during May, Tino Martinez was red-hot and Jason Giambi was ice-cold. Now, it's Tino who's ice-cold (4-for-33 in June) while Giambi is ... well, slightly warmer than ice cold. He's actually has 5 extra-base hits in June - which brings his season total to 11 - and tonight (Thursday) was so desperate for a hit that he got one by bunting against the shift.* Reservations have started for 2nd baseman Robinson Cano's induction into Cooperstown. Calls can be made to Suzyn Waldman and Associates Travel Agency so as to not get shut out.* Alex Rodriguez is still up there in all the AL 'Triple Crown' categories ... and his own fans still hate him.* That ticking sound you hear is the time running out on Tony Womack's Yankee career. It won't be long now.* Hideki Matsui nearly had his two-continent consecutive game streak (some 1,300 and counting) ruined when he rolled his ankle last week. Instead, he was forced into the DH role where ... he suddenly became a much better hitter! After hitting 1 HR from early April thru early June, he's hit 5 since being hobbled. He may be back to playing LF (something I did for several years) by this weekend.* Sean Henn: You loved him in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' and 'Mystic River'; now he's subbing for the beloved Kevin Brown. Tallies are now being taken to determine whether he's punched more photographers or walked more batters (9 in 7 IPs over 2 starts). No word on whether Madonna is expected to attend.* Scott Proctor is new to the bullpen. He's right-handed, throws hard, but probably won't be seen unless the game's out of hand one way or the other.Injuries:Them: Jared Wright, Kevin Brown, Felix Rodriguez, Rey Sanchez.Us: Kaz Matsui, Miguel Cairo, Felix Heredia, Steve Trachsel