Fman99

Kong76 wrote: It's been over for weeks, we watch because that's what we do. I am beginning to think this is the case for me now. What the hell else would I do?

Edgy DC wrote: Cora's batting eighth. Which means Jerry has given in to the persuasive power of reason. With Livan in the lineup I'd hit Cora 9th. And that's only because he can't hit 10th.

="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]="metirish"] I like the idea of having better gloves out there , when Pagan gets back that he will help in that regard too. Ooh... let's start with a defensive outfield. Pagan in center, Reed in left, Church in right? Defensive whiz kid Murph starts at first. I like Wright at short-- if you do that, though, howzabout Murph at third and Evans at first? Sheffield and Tatis serve as situational lefty-mashers/twice-a-week starters. Cora's in at short and Wright moves to third for the late innings. Short bench. Lots of pitchers. And if you're going to bunt-- and you couldn't blackmail Manuel into stopping-- let's bunt all the f-ing time. Slap bunts. Squeezes. Bal'mer chops. Funt, funt, funt, funt! Old-time McGraw-style, cleats-up baseball! Slap-chop to go with Sham-Wow! I can't stop using exclamation points! (Oh, and we'll probably have to be a little dirtier for this to work-- leaning into pitches, running outside of baselines to get in throwing lanes, and the like. But hey, apparently, we're baseball's bad guys without even knowing it. If we're going to be punchless, might as well out-Victorino the Victorinos of the league.) Until Delgado gets back. Then it's hammer time. And if we are going to go with "Sham-WOW" as the cheer, then we've got to lobby the team to hire Craig Lefferts as pitching coach-- he's made in Germany. I like it. We become the reincarnate 1890's Baltimore Orioles. Hopefully we don't get pounded in the standings the way that the hooker pounded the Shamwow guy. (What a douche! I wish I was him!)

Perez 1.25 Parnell 1 Feliciano .25 Wright 1 Reed 1 Schneider 1 Castillo 1 Murphy 1 Sheffield .5 Green .25 Rodriguez .25

Edgy DC wrote: Get Putz up. Sure, bust out the Julia Styles photos. Oh wait. METS WIN!

OK, I am an idiot. I'll stop now.

Manny wins. Now 5-4... and I predict Frankie gets the next three batters in order.

Frankie v. Manny.

Quiet IGT. On to the 9th, time for some insurance runs. Which apparently are also runs, this whole scoring thing seems alien to me. I'm like Tom Cruise plopped down in front of a vagina. Not really sure what I've got here.

Fboy tonight told me that Manny reminded him of Sheffield because "they both hit righty and they both waggle their bats." Works for me. I didn't mention their common pharmeceutical hobbying.

Nymr83 wrote: the mets get only 1 run as castillo and evans cant come through with the bases loaded. evans thought he walked but that pitch was close I really thought it was ball four to Evans.

WOW!

The Dodgers put two guys on base last night, in one of the many innings that they did so. First and second, no outs. Fboy, watching on his little couch on the floor, says without a beat, "the Dodgers have a rally going here, Dad." It's fun to watch them pick up the jargon.

="John Cougar Lunchbucket":21l2fcm1]Shit happens ... and you deal with it. My issue is that the Mets have not dealt well. They look glum, defeated and lazy. They make the same mistakes over and over again. They are routinely outhustled and outexecuted by the other guys. That's not dealing well. That's where the fury is coming from.[/quote:21l2fcm1] This point is gradually bothering me more and more. The Castillo error last night was pure laziness. Waits back on the ball, lobs it wide to first, all in the most non-chalant fashion. Seeing L.A. in play doesn't help -- they are the anti-Mets. Crisp in the field, timely at the plate, tons of young players who have legitimate MLB talent (Kemp, Ethier, Loney, guys like that) mixed with steady veterans. Gwreck Jul 08 2009 10:23 AM I don't expect the defense or the range of Carlos Beltran or Jose Reyes when we have replacements in the field. Nor do I expect the offensive output. But it is not unreasonable to expect those players to be fundamentally sound. You cannot be a professional baseball player (major or minor league) and not be able to catch popups, position yourself correctly, hit the cutoff man, and generally make consistent throws. Even worse is that some of our everyday players -- those who would be in the lineup regardless of the injury status of others -- are also making these mistakes. I don't like losing, but I understand why it happens when you lose your best players. I cannot accept losing sloppily, and the Mets shouldn't either. soupcan Jul 08 2009 10:31 AM 8-0 last night. No offense. Castillo making a play or not wouldn't have made a bit of difference. I'm not excusing the bad play, I'm just saying that if the Mets were healthy and hitting, we wouldn't care nearly as much about the stuff that we're complaining about now, because that team would be able to overcome a lot of it. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 08 2009 10:42 AM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 08 2009 11:59 AM As far as Kubler-Ross stages go, I think I'm into acceptance right about now. (As I mentioned in the OllieDay thread, I'm going tonight; I'm looking forward to the company of my in-law-to-be, and the pleasures of ballpark beers and communal sarcastic applause... and nothing else.) The only things that really still get me hot are the bonehead mistakes-- these guys aren't great, yeah, but they're not Throneberrys-- and, on a more profound level, the rudderless feeling. If they're not making aggressive moves to survive until the cavalry arrives-- and I'd rather management does not do so, at this point-- then I'd just like to see future planning, or at least info gathering (start Niese, play the hell out of Murphy and Evans against pitchers of both handedness...es), start sooner rather than later. Writers, businesses and people often fail more for not having made decisions than for having made wrong ones; the "tread water" talk bugs me almost as much as "battling" did (and does-- Jerry used it thrice yesterday in the portion of postgame that I heard). I'm not a big believer in Omar these days, but I wouldn't burn torches at the stadium gates if he stayed on. That said, It's really feeling like he'll meet his end due to circumstances beyond his control, like a president getting run out of Washington after the economy heads south. Benjamin Grimm Jul 08 2009 11:33 AM I think the Schaefer Mets Player of the Month for July will end up being the middle reliever who pitches the most scoreless mop-up innings. Frayed Knot Jul 08 2009 12:26 PM ="soupcan"]I understand your frustration but I don't know what you expect from the guys that are on the field. It's a rag-tag bunch of minor leaguers and journeymen and you are seeing why they are minor leaguers and journeymen. Again - not the team that was supposed to be out there. Except that - as Gary & Ron pointed out last night - it's not only the out-of-position/back-up guys who are making all these bad plays. It's understandable that the offense is suffering on account of being 3/4 a list of nobodies and why Wright's current slump is so much more glaring. But it's the bad plays on top of the expected decrease in output that is putting the few games where they have a fighting chance out of reach. Now again, that doesn't mean that the 'Wilpon is cheap', 'team was poorly constructed', 'Minaya is a moron' chants are any more true, only that the injuries can't be used as a catch-all excuse for everything. Edgy DC Jul 08 2009 12:47 PM ="Gwreck":lsixbwv3]I don't expect the defense or the range of Carlos Beltran or Jose Reyes when we have replacements in the field. Nor do I expect the offensive output. But it is not unreasonable to expect those players to be fundamentally sound. You cannot be a professional baseball player (major or minor league) and not be able to catch popups, position yourself correctly, hit the cutoff man, and generally make consistent throws. Even worse is that some of our everyday players -- those who would be in the lineup regardless of the injury status of others -- are also making these mistakes. I don't like losing, but I understand why it happens when you lose your best players. I cannot accept losing sloppily, and the Mets shouldn't either.[/quote:lsixbwv3] I understand and agree, but to hear players tell it, is that execution is what seperateds the AAA guys from the big leaguers. A lot of great athletes and 95-maile per hour throwers are in AAA, but big leaguers execute plays 99% of the time that they execute 90% or some other fake but meaningful number. Mental strength and focus is about good coaching, but it's also something a lot of good folks never achieve. Take me, for instance, goofing off on the interweb at work.

First ever Mets no hitter. You read it here first, kids.

No cameras in the bullpen. Puh. Theh. Tic.

COCK BALLS ASS DICK FUCK SHIT PISS ASS! (Sorry, I suffer from incompetent-baseball-induced tourette's syndrome.)

Boy, I am discouraged. Could I have been this down in 2003-2004?

The Mets lead the National League! (In GIDP's). Fuck.

="Vic Sage":iucjv01f]="John Cougar Lunchbucket":iucjv01f]I think the tough one is tonight's game v Kershaw. I'm looking for Nick Evans to provide the big stick we need. Tomorrow we deal with Kuroda and the return of Ollie Perez (sorry haters, way better than Redding even when Redding's good, then we get Livan against the beatable if ornery Randy Wolf. Yes, I see a sweep.[/quote:iucjv01f] Jonny, yer a bright light in the dark night of my Metsian soul.[/quote:iucjv01f] Wow. I tried to conjure up some optimism but all I could muster was another alcohol-themed beverage. Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 01:23 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jul 16 2009 08:24 AM OlerudOwned, how about them Braves? I hear they have a new outfield. seawolf17 Jul 15 2009 01:36 PM Right, but we know all about him already. We should call Jeff Francoeur and ask him to do a special guest KTE. Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 01:41 PM You, by the way, never turned in your KTASE essay. Frayed Knot Jul 16 2009 07:51 AM 2nd Half Assignments DateOpponentKTE AuthorJul 16-19@ ATLOlerudOwnedJul 20-22@ WASbmfc1Jul 24-26@ HOUKong76Jul 27-30COLsmg58Jul 31-Aug 3ARZLeiterWagnerFasterStrongrAug 4-5STLduanAug 6-9@ SDFrayed KnotAug 10-12@ ARZLeiterWagnerFasterStrongrAug 14-17SF DocTeeAug 18-20ATLOlerudOwnedAug 21-24PHIGYCAug 25-27@ FLAseawolf17Aug 28-30@ CHCSwan Swan HSep 1-3@ COLsmg58Sep 4-6CHCFman99Sep 8-10FLAseawolf17Sep 11-13@ PHISteveJRogersSep 15-17@ ATLOlerudOwnedSep 18-20WASEdgy DCSep 21-23ATLOlerudOwnedSep 25-27@ FLAseawolf17Sep 28-30@ WASbmfc1Oct 2-4HOUKong76 Kong76 Jul 22 2009 05:53 PM If anyone wants to pinch hit in Houston for me, feel free. If I don't see anything by late morning, I'll whip up something during lunch if I can. My time during the weekdays is pretty stretched lately. Rockin' Doc Jul 22 2009 10:14 PM We have seen the enemy and it is us. Kong76 Jul 23 2009 04:07 AM For some reason I was thinking there was a Thursday game ... cool, more time to procrastinate! smg58 Jul 23 2009 11:35 AM I won't get the Rockies post up before Monday, but I should have it up by this time Monday afternoon. Edgy DC Jul 31 2009 10:54 AM LindsayWagnerFasterStronger, you're up. Edgy DC Aug 04 2009 02:54 PM DocTee, do you hear me?

Boo. Rinse. Repeat.

The perfect mid-season Mets 2009 encounter, as the Mets hitters collectively screwed the pooch this past weekend in Philly.