Edgy MD

Like a sinner before the gates of Heaven, you'll come crawling on back to Fred.

Disappointments of 2001 triggered a lot of bad ideas also. Mo Vaughn, Art Howe, throwing Jason Bay into a deal for two ephemeral relievers, Bill Singer's nightclub act, etc. Come into the warm blue light of forgiveness.

Mets face their first lefty tomorrow in Mike Minor. Who escapes from the bench? Hairston? Turner? Nickeas? Cede�o? Mets counter with Jonathon Niese --- a good guy to go after this lefty-heavy lineup.

I'd like to revise my 97-win prediction. Upwise.

I'm Kirk Nieuwenhuis and it's my pleasure to become forever your 923rd Met with 2-4 debut.

Frank Squared, let's see what you're dealing.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: "Pleh?" �Que es? Disappointed that he didn't get a longer workday. I appreciate getting folks started on the right foot, but I'm ever an advocate for fewer and longer outings by relievers, and longer ones in general by starters.

Thirteen pitches for Parnell. Pleh.

So does Duda.

You don't necessarily have to have been a Mariner to have been a Ranier, though.

Manuel could be Willie Randolph on moral steroids, the way he believed in that winners-and-losers garbage. You have to go back a long way to find a manager who used the doghouse the way he did. Good for Dickey for always pitching well enough to avoid it. He probably bought Manuel a half season more of employment.

I don't have a Braves lineup yet, but expect a lot of (all?) lefties.

I wonder which ballplayer could knock off the most towns from "I've Been Everywhere." Rickey? Dotel?

Assenmacher.

A guy who gets people out at that rate wouldn't throw Bay a strike. I guess it's worth something. It'll be interesting to see how managers choose their poison going forward. And speaking of choosing your poison, I can say enough what a wimpy move it was for Girardi to go walking Sean Rodriguez in the first. You're the New York Yankees for Pete's sake. Show some pride.

C.C. Sabathia intentionally walking somebody in the first --- whether he's Sean Rodriguez or Babe F. Ruth = Living. Like. A Looza.

Long as he hits a few homers in Vlissingen.

I was thinking of a sequence from yesterday's game in the eighth inning. It's one you see in most games these days. A team has a chance to break the game open in the late innings. Some guys get on and the middle of the order is coming up. The opposing manager goes to his lefty specialist with the same instructions: 1) Work the lefties by alternating the fastball inside and the slider away. 2) There'll be a righty coming up between the lefties. Pitch around that guy. If you can get him to chase, great. Otherwise, it's OK to lose him. Usually a team only needs two outs here. The Mets had one out and Murphy on second and Wright on third. Not much speed there. Davis-Bay-Duda comign up, but Venters, already in the game, knew the sequence. He fanned Ike Davis with the slider, he walked Bay on four pitches, then got Duda on three pitches. Swinging at the slider. As I said, it's a common enough sequence. We've seen the Mets pull it off enough, send in Feliciano to get Howard and Utley, while pitching around Werth or somebody. John Rocker was so effective in such situations --- going after Olerud, pitching around Piazza, then going after Ventura --- that Bobby Valentine chose the post-season to change the lineup he had been using all year, to bat Olerud second and put Alfonzo third as a second righty in between the lefties. Rocker had to pitch to somebody. But it's a strategy that's got a thin margin of error, and I'm thinking that one of the things that separates good teams from bad is the vulnerability to this. Will Davis and Duda continue to be as hapless against lefty specialists as they were yesterday? Will Bay be able to intimidate them in between, at least enough to get a walk and increase the pressure? I do know I sure don't want them batting back to back after what I saw yesterday, and if Bay continues to perform poorly, I'd like them maybe to move both Davis and Duda up in the lineup, so as to put Wright in between 'em.

Day two, and our first in-season transaction. Nieuie's gonna need a nieu number. Promoted From BuffaloAdded To Disabled ListOutfielders =#0000FF]72 =#FF8000]Kirk Nieuwenhuis DoB: 8/7/1987 =#0000FF]56 Andr�s Torres DoB:1/26/1978 Your 2012 Mets (Orange Indicates Players Have Options) Starting Pitchers =#0000FF]43 R.A. Dickey DoB: 10/29/1974 =#0000FF]35 =#FF8000]Dillon Gee DoB: 4/28/1986 =#0000FF]49 Jonathon Niese DoB: 10/27/1986 =#0000FF]34 Mike Pelfrey DoB: 1/14/1984 =#0000FF]57 Johan Santana DoB: 3/13/1979Relief Pitchers =#0000FF]46 Manny Acosta DoB: 5/1/1981 =#0000FF]47 Miguel Batista DoB: 2/19/1971 =#0000FF]40 Tim Byrdak DoB: 10/31/1973 =#0000FF]48 Frank Francisco DoB: 9/11/1979 =#0000FF]39 Bobby Parnell DoB: 9/8/1984Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders =#0000FF]52 Ram�n Ram�rez DoB:8/31/1981 =#0000FF]60 John Rauch DoB:9/27/1978 =#0000FF]4 =#FF8000]Mike Nickeas DoB: 2/13/1983 =#0000FF]30 Josh Thole DoB: 4/28/1986 =#0000FF]13 Ronny Cedeno DoB: 2/2/1983Infielders =#0000FF]29 =#FF8000]Ike Davis DoB: 3/22/1987 =#0000FF]28 Daniel Murphy DoB: 4/1/1985 =#0000FF]11 Ruben Tejada DoB: 10/27/1989 =#0000FF]2 Justin Turner DoB: 11/23/1984 =#0000FF]5 David Wright DoB: 12/20/1982Outfielders =#0000FF]23 =#FF8000]Mike Baxter DoB: 12/7/1984 =#0000FF]44 Jason Bay DoB: 9/20/1978 =#0000FF]21 =#FF8000]Lucas Duda DoB: 2/3/1986 =#0000FF]12 Scott Hairston DoB: 5/25/1980 =#0000FF]72 =#FF8000]Kirk Nieuwenhuis DoB: 8/7/1987 Also on 40-Man Roster Starting Pitchers =#0000FF]73 =#FF8000]Robert Carson DoB: 1/23/1989 In Binghamton =#BF8040]. =#0000FF]75 =#FF8000]Jeurys Familia DoB: 10/10/1989 In Buffalo =#BF8040]. =#0000FF]53 =#FF8000]Jeremy Hefner DoB: 3/11/1981 In Buffalo =#BF8040]. =#0000FF]32 =#FF8000]Jennry Mejia DoB: 10/11/1989 In Buffalo =#FF0000]On DL =#0000FF]63 =#FF8000]Chris Schwinden DoB: 9/22/1986 In Buffalo =#BF8040].Relief Pitchers Infielders =#0000FF]27 =#FF8000]Pedro Beato DoB: 10/27/1986 =#FF0000]On DL =#BF8040]. =#0000FF]77 D.J. Carrasco DoB: 4/12/1977 =#FF0000]On DL =#BF8040]. =#0000FF]71 =#FF8000]Wilmer Flores DoB: 8/6/1991 In St.Lucie =#BF8040]. =#0000FF]74 =#FF8000]Reese Havens DoB: 10/20/1986 In Binghamton =#FF0000]On DL =#0000FF]65 =#FF8000]Zach Lutz DoB: 6/3/1986 In Buffalo =#BF8040].InfieldersOutfielders =#0000FF]3 =#FF8000]Josh Satin DoB: 12/23/1984 In Buffalo =#0000FF]61 =#FF8000]Jordany Valdespin DoB: 12/23/1987 In Buffalo =#0000FF]76 =#FF8000]Juan Lagares DoB: 3/17/1989 In Binghamton =#0000FF]67 =#FF8000]Cesar Puello DoB: 4/1/1991 In St. Lucie =#0000FF]56 Andr�s Torres DoB:1/26/1978 =#FF0000]On DL Coaching Staff ManagerBench CoachBatting CoachPitching CoachThird Base Coach =#0000FF]10 Terry Collins DoB: 5/27/1949 =#0000FF]7 Bob Geren DoB: 9/22/1959 =#0000FF]51 Dave Hudgens DoB: 12/5/1956 =#0000FF]59 Dan Warthan DoB: 12/1/1952 =#0000FF]18 Tim Teufel DoB: 7/7/1958First Base CoachBullpen CoachBullpen CatchersHead Trainer =#0000FF]26 Tom Goodwin DoB: 8/27/1968 =#0000FF]25 Ricky Bones DoB: 4/7/1969 =#0000FF]78 Eric Langill DoB: 4/9/1979 =#0000FF]79 Dave Racaniello DoB: 10/15/1981 =#0000FF] Ray Ramirez =#BF8080].Assistant Trainer =#0000FF] Brian Chicklo

That''d be really awesome if he piled up 250+ innings. I just think it's become a really bitter pill to swallow for a manager to let a pitcher take his third trip to he plate.

16-9 3.11

He's a rich dilettante art dealer. He feels an emptiness where his soul should be and he tries to fill it by using his millions to buy and sell scraps from the tables of those who did have a shining soul. Drops his millions to buy into the legacy Mir� dreamed up in his own glorious head. Nits. Any fool can order a mix of paint.

Santana 3.43 Wright 1.39 Thole 1.12 Francisco 0.96 Byrdak 0.95 Rauch 0.65 Murphy 0.61 Hairston 0.50 Ramirez 0.36 Cedeno 0.03

Bucaroos, then.

Is this bank robber your mama? I'm 94% convinced she's not mine. And the 6% has me chilled to the bone.