Edgy MD

Here you go. All merged up.

Yeah, I've never been behind the "Wright's gonna get his share of strikeouts" resignation. Wright at his best is a contact-making man. My eye for manager's on the hot seat is trained on Joe Girardi. Watch out for a draft-Paul-O'Niell campaign.

Root hard for Big Pelf.

^ ^ White folks, some with boobies, enjoying the tantalizing entertainments of front row boxes at CitiField.

Earned Run Average T1. Billingsley, C., LAD: 0.00 (8.67 IP) T1. Halladay, R., PHI: 0.00 (8.00 IP) T1. Richard, C., SD: 0.00 (7.00 IP) T1. Cueto, J., CIN: 0.00 (7.00 IP) T1. Greinke, Z., MIL: 0.00 (7.00 IP) T1. Harrell, L., HOU: 0.00 (7.00 IP) T1. Rodriguez, W., HOU: 0.00 (6.33 IP) T1. Santana, J., NYM: 0.00 (5.00 IP) T1. Lindblom, J., LAD: 0.00 (4.00 IP) T1. Miley, W., ARI: 0.00 (4.00 IP) T1. Medlen, K., ATL: 0.00 (3.00 IP) T1. Chapman, A., CIN: 0.00 (3.00 IP) T1. Francisco, F., NYM: 0.00 (3.00 IP)

Wilson Ramos is off to a slow start behind the dish, with two hits in 10 at-bats against the Cubbies in their opening series. He has one passed ball and has caught one of five Cubs who've attempted to steal bases. Davey Johnson said he was pleased with Flores' spring following his kidnapping ordeal this winter. Backup Jesus Flores did not appear in the Chicago series and so may get a start against the Mets. Injuries have limited him to just 59 games the last three seasons. But the mind of Davey is elusive on this issue, but he refers to him as "Flo," which can't be good for a fella's self-confidence. Cubs seemingly made their share of outs on the bases, which tells me the Nats are playing crisp ball. What does first base look like?

Yeah, but I'm the CPF Cincinnati correspondent. You don't get a lot of guys out there with a Z in both their first and last names. Nor shortstops who can set the world on fire with their bats.

Lindsay Nelson interviews Rusty Staub, Tug McGraw, Willie Mays, and Cleon Jones going into the 1973 World Series. No video, but a great historical asset. [youtube:36stspcm]ys8atAUSkaw[/youtube:36stspcm]

See, with all the talk of jacking-up-on-veterans vs. play-the-kids every team goes through, it's been too overlooked that the injuries of recent years have allowed the Mets to play the kids all along, and they now have an impressive core of something neither fish nor foul --- second-to-fifth year young veterans who are experienced, cheap, but still in a position to improve. I write love letters to this team and I don't care who knows it. And I don't care if they don't write back.

Embarrassing to say, but I've not heard of this Z. Cozart character.

Batting Average 1. Wright, D., NYM: .667 2. Cozart, Z., CIN: .545 3. Furcal, R., STL: .526 T4. Bloomquist, W., ARI: .444 T4. Hart, C., MIL: .444 6. Freese, D., STL: .421 T7. Cuddyer, M., COL: .417 T7. LaRoche, A., WSH: .417 T7. Sandoval, P., SF: .417 10. Kemp, M., LAD: .412 On-Base Percentage 1. Wright, D., NYM: .692 T2. Cozart, Z., CIN: .583 T2. Montero, M., ARI: .583 4. Furcal, R., STL: .550 5. Hart, C., MIL: .545 6. Ellis, A., LAD: .538 T7. Berkman, L., STL: .500 T7. Sandoval, P., SF: .500 T9. LaRoche, A., WSH: .462 T9. McCutchen, A., PIT: .462 T9. Tejada, R., NYM: .462 Slugging Percentage 1. Hart, C., MIL: 1.556 2. Cozart, Z., CIN: 1.182 3. Bruce, J., CIN: 1.091 4. Wright, D., NYM: 1.000 5. LaRoche, A., WSH: .917 6. Cuddyer, M., COL: .833 7. Kemp, M., LAD: .824 T8. Duda, L., NYM: .818 T8. Young, C., ARI: .818 T10. Braun, R., MIL: .750 T10. Sandoval, P., SF: .750 OPS 1. Hart, C., MIL: 2.101 2. Cozart, Z., CIN: 1.765 3. Wright, D., NYM: 1.692 4. LaRoche, A., WSH: 1.378 5. Bruce, J., CIN: 1.341 T6. Cuddyer, M., COL: 1.250 T6. Sandoval, P., SF: 1.250 8. Young, C., ARI: 1.235 9. Furcal, R., STL: 1.234 10. Kemp, M., LAD: 1.212

And I was right about Gary and the Benitez comparisons. Howie, too.

All-Time Met Saves 1. John Franco: 276 Frank Francisco, Projected to End of Season: 162 2. Armando Benitez: 160 3. Jesse Orosco: 107 4. Billy Wagner: 101 5. Tug McGraw: 85 6. Roger McDowell: 84 7. Francisco Rodriguez: 83 8. Neil Allen: 69 9. Skip Lockwood: 65 10. Braden Looper: 57 ... T51. Wally Whitehurst: 3 T51. Scott Schoeneweis: 3 T51. Rick White: 3 T51. Derek Wallace: 3 T51. Frank Francisco: 3 T51. Mike Scott: 3 T51. Phil Hennigan: 3 T51. Mardie Cornejo: 3 T51. Tom Hausman: 3

I'm going to go out on a limbsicle and guess that he's the first Met to ever save the first three games of the season. Certainly the first three games of is career here.

My buddy Tim --- a frequent spring training visitor --- came by today and presented me with a late birthday present --- my first authentic jersey. A lovely road gray. Yup --- black drop shadows. Loved him for it any how. At least the shoulder patch had the blue skyline.

Holy shared wavelengths, Bat-Guy!

TH Number OneApril 7Mets 1, Atlanta 0 Pittsburgh 2, Philadelphia 1 Tampa Bay 8, Yankees 6 TH Number TwoApril 8Mets 7, Atlanta 5 Pittsburgh 5, Philadelphia 4 Rays 3, Yankees 0 Smiles bursting out all over. Try one on yourself!

The Mets continue to enjoy the home environs, welcoming the 2-1 Nats --- looking to grab a slice of that first place pie --- for a mid-week series. Mike Pelfrey makes his 2012 debut locking up against Edwin Jackson. EJ is a German-born righthander with the good face who went 12-9/3.79 in 2011, splitting the season between the Cards and the White Sox. It was the second straight season he endured a mid-season trade. He's on a one-year deal with Washington, so a third such deal isn't out of the question. Two Things to Remember for This Game: Kiddies. Wives.

Tejada 2.90 Niese 2.27 Murphy 1.27 Bay 1.01 Wright 0.83 Francisco 0.70 Acosta 0.44 Hairston 0.32 Byrdak 0.24 Cedeno 0.02

And that's it. I angered Heaven by sneaking away.

I'm trying to host an Easter brunch and occasionally checking back in on this shmincredible game. My schwartz, this is thrilling.

And only in comic books can a team go 162-0.

I was totally thinking Muholland when I wrote Assenmacher, lost as I was in the foggy haze and the hazy fog of conflation.

Better off just flat stating outright that this is still pretty much Omar's team.

Duda 2.60 Dickey 2.40 Wright 1.74 Thole 1.28 Rauch 0.58 Parnell 0.57 Francisco 0.56 Turner 0.26 Cedeno 0.02