Valadius

There are 16 teams in the NL. There are 14 teams in the AL. While 14 NL teams play 14 AL teams, 2 NL teams face each other. I vaguely remember facing Philly during interleague play, and I'm assuming the other teams had an NL series with someone else.

Updating on Trot Nixon:Nixon (strained left oblique) is expected to be activated for Tuesday night's game in Kansas City, the Boston Globe reports.And on Dougie:Mientkiewicz might join the Mets on the tail-end of their upcoming seven-game West Coast road trip, but the team may have to wait until they return home on August 30 against the Phillies, rather than making two long flights in a short span of time due to his lower back discomfort.Hope I helped.

I want Diaz playing wherever he can do the least damage with his glove.

The Braves have a far different situation than the Mets do. They've been readying their farm system for a turnaround for years. Jeff Francoeur is going to be a superstar. Andruw "Dutch" Jones added a power stroke to his Glove o' Gold. John Schuerholz and Bobby Cox are John Schuerholz and Bobby Cox. And Leo "Rocking Chair" Mazzone has a magic touch. I hate them, loathe them, and despise them, but they're good at what they do.

Mr. Mustachio likes Japan, though. And I don't know his mind well enough to be able to say whether he'd rather stick it to the Mets and go work for the MFYs, or be able to stick it to the MFYs one last time and publicly refuse their overtures.

I was going to mention Hamulack, having looked up our minor leaguers' stats for the Future of the Mets thread, but I had never heard of him, so I neglected to.

So basically we shot ourselves in the foot in interleague play, besides our much-maligned road woes. We're entering make-or-break time here, folks- either we take some damn road games, or we resign ourselves to another missed opportunity.

I want him in the rotation next season. That K/BB ratio is ridiculous.

When you see him play the outfield in person, you understand why the Mets tried him at 1B at Norfolk. He's TERRIBLE out there.

Just finishing up "The Great Shark Hunt", by the late, great, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Soon to start up its sequel, "Generation of Swine".

Petit should be in the rotation at some point next year. His control is uncanny. We need to get younger in our rotation, and we have the talent to do it. They've served us well, but in the end, 37-year-olds and such should give way to young guns.P.S. I finally got an avatar up. That's the double-thumbed fist symbol of my hero, the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, the eccentric and brilliant sportswriter/political junkie/social commentator.

Even regardless of his performance, Willie rarely used him. If he's not going to play here, he might as well go down to the Tides.

Trachsel? That's what I'm guessing, as I saw him in the dugout today.

It's about goddamn time he was sent down! Danny Graves earns one more chance with his fantastic outing today, but one more slip-up and I want him shipped down to Virginia with him.

How 'bout them Royals?They compile a 2-game win-streak, beating the A's, 5-4, in 12 innings.Former Met Terrence Long sac flied former Met Joe McEwing in during this game for the Royals. They faced fellow Mets alumni Jay Payton and Marco Scutaro going for the Elephantine A's.

A low point?'77-'79 was a low point.'92-96 was a low point.'02-04 was a low point.This isn't a low point. There's excitement and anticipation, as opposed to depression and pessimism.Bobby "Mr. Mustachio" Valentine becoming MFYs' manager shouldn't have any impact on the allegiance of Mets fans. Personally, I would simply say, "Good for him," and leave it at that.

ScarletKnight41 wrote:]On Jewish Heritage Day, the Mets made a HUUUUUUUGE mistake by putting the Dome of the Rock Mosque in their graphic for commemorating the day. That was one of the biggest boneheaded mistakes I have ever seen. You're shitting me, right?I wish I was kidding. And they did this with seemingly thousands of Orthodox in the stands. I was ready to scream at Horowitz but I couldn't find him on the field before the game. Whoever did that should have been fired mid-game.

He looked COMPLETELY helpless in right field. His poor defense allowed the Nats at least two more runs than they should have had. It was painful to watch him out there.

Nixon's playing, Dougie's not. That's all I know.

Forget Lambin, please... his defense is subpar. He has 16 errors this year at Norfolk.

In honor of Mike Jacobs's dramatic welcome to the major leagues, I want to start a thread that projects what our roster will look like in the semi-distant future, assuming no one is traded, using players currently within the organization, and allowing for holes where we don't have anybody yet.Let's start with the completely obvious:C/1B Mike Jacobs (I'm not sure where they'll end up playing him)SS Jose Reyes3B David WrightCF Carlos Beltran (for good or ill, he's here)SP Jae SeoSP/RP Aaron HeilmanRP Juan PadillaRP Heath BellGuys in the minors that should come up:2B Anderson HernandezOF Lastings MilledgeSP Yusmeiro PetitSP Brian BannisterLet's take this and run with it.

Things I noticed while at the game today:You CANNOT blame Benson completely for the first inning. The defense was ABYSMAL. Beltran and Diaz screwed up multiple times, and the infielders didn't reach for line drives when they could have.On Jewish Heritage Day, the Mets made a HUUUUUUUGE mistake by putting the Dome of the Rock Mosque in their graphic for commemorating the day. That was one of the biggest boneheaded mistakes I have ever seen.Willie (could somebody tell me what WWSB means, exactly, before I start using it?) made a ridiculously dumb move by not putting Jacobs in to catch for Castro after the HR. Castro looked absolutely lost out there, as did Cairo and Beltran. But you don't need to worry about having an emergency catcher with DiFelice on the bench.Joey Frank-Eischen-Stein is a really small guy. He's tiny!This was Danny Graves's last chance, and he delivered in economical fashion.Kaz Matsui doesn't belong in the majors.Cliff Floyd has an interesting pre-swing routine- he taps the plate like this: - - - - - - - - - |..2...........4..| \\.......3.......// \\\\..1........./// \\\\\\........./////... And then sort of cranks the bat with his hands and cocks it down.I've never seen so many doubles hit at once.Omar needs to start the youth movement- sans Diaz.

Jacobs 4Graves 1.75Anderson 1.75Padilla 1.5Wright .5Reyes .5

Just got back from the Benson suck-fest.I feel faint...

BUMPI'm going to the game today, sitting in Row X1A (behind the plate, I think.)