Valadius

Why has our offense imploded?

When's the last time a team has failed to get a hit in two straight games? Anybody know?

Seems ridiculously panicky to me. And Dale Sveum? Seriously?

Oh Steve, Steve, Steve... Let me tell you a story. When I was growing up in New Jersey, I was the only Mets fan out of all of my friends. By the time I became a fervent Mets fan, it was 1997, and I was 10 years old. I rode in a carpool with my friends to school. I ate lunch with them every day. All of them were Yankee fans. The one topic we talked about most? Baseball. Year after year, I had to suffer through the "Yankee Dynasty" growing up. They'd lord it over me every single year when the Yankees would be better than the Mets. And during the offseason, they'd never let me forget it. It was torture, Steve. Absolute fucking torture. Luis Gonzalez's bloop hit in 2001 was one of the happiest moments of my life. I ran screaming through my house because the MFYs had lost the World Series. But then the Mets began to royally stink, and I left home before the Mets would become good again. I have been waiting for the Yankees to miss the playoffs since I was a little kid. Growing up as the only Mets fan in town was hell. So don't tell me I'm "trying to fit in". I hate the fucking Yankees.

My point is I hate Mariano Rivera and anything associated with the MFYs since the mid-'90s.

Francisco Rodriguez just set the new single-season record for saves with his 58th. You know what makes me happiest about this? Mariano Rivera never set the saves record.

And the Rays win!

PLAY

For the past week, Yahoo Sports has been breaking down and analyzing the major awards races in both leagues. Today they came out with their analysis of the NL Manager of the Year race - and Jerry Manuel is their frontrunner for the award. Their analysis of Jerry: ]The New York Mets were dead. They were underachieving again. They were swallowing against the aftertaste of the previous September and propping up a manager who�d done what he could, which wasn�t enough. They had talent, for sure, but had become a collection of names and paychecks, a daily nine-inning symbol of failure and heartache. The Mets were a game under .500 the night Willie Randolph was fired. They were 6� games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. Since that night, and despite issues in their starting rotation, larger issues in the corners of their outfield, and massive issues in their bullpen, the Mets are 48-28. They have regained all those games on the Phillies. They�ve added three more. Jerry Manuel doesn�t have a contract for next season. He remains an interim manager. The Mets � his Mets � still must negotiate the most trying part of their schedule. The games themselves aren�t altogether daunting. But these are the weeks that were left unfinished last season. Going in, the Mets look like gamers again. They look like they�re having fun again. They look ready to win again. Manuel got them back here. That�s why he�s the NL manager of the year. With two weeks to go. For the whole article, go here.

Yes, but now we're percentage points ahead of the Brewers, who have one more win and one more loss than we do.

SteveJRogers wrote: Seriously, has the all-time record for most majors one, I'm sure he is among the top winners of all time and has had quite a run. No he doesn't, Steve. He's one behind Sampras for most majors.

I'm not Cuban, but neither is he, really - he has some relatives who emigrated from Germany to Cuba and then to the U.S. I'm related to him through marriage - he's really my aunt's cousin through blood - but my family is so close with my aunt's extended family that we basically consider ourselves blood relatives. Brett is well-known for his shenanigans. It's a fact that he slept with Lindsay Lohan. It's also a fact that when he was dating Serena Williams, he brought her to Shabbat dinner at my aunt's parents' house. Basically, he's more well-known for his insane social life and schmoozing than for his movies.

In Mets record book news, Jose Reyes is your new career steals leader.

Play It Again, Eddie Murphy Tuesday September 9 9:49 AM ET Los Angeles (E! Online) - There are two things most people remember about the Beverly Hills Cop movies: Eddie Murphy as Detective Axel Foley and the flick's Grammy-winning theme song. Well, when Beverly Hills Cop IV goes into production, director Brett Ratner promises both will be back. "It's a whole new interpretation," Ratner tells me. Composer-producer Harold Faltermeyer's synth-pop theme will get an update, but not too much. "Why change that song?" Ratner says. He goes so far as to say that one of the "biggest problems" with director Michael Mann's movie adaptation of Miami Vice with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in 2006 was the missing iconic theme song. "I said to [Mann], 'Why didn't you have it?' " Ratner says. "He said, 'We're doing something new.' That's like doing Mission Impossible without the theme song." Production on BHC IV will reportedly begin next year with a 2010 release date, or 25 years after the first installment of the franchise. Ratner is also busy putting together a DVD about the music videos he's directed for people like Madonna, Jessica Simpson and Miley Cyrus, to name a few. "They're interviewing all the singers I've worked with," Ratner says. "I'm worried." Brett Ratner's directing it. God help us all. He's my cousin, and he's a total hack.

Moises Alou, late last year.

Very cool, Edgy! And I could care less who comes up with the best nicknames. Whatever works is fine with me. I just come up with them to amuse myself.

This is a game they would have lost had Willie still been manager.

Farmer Ted wrote: Was he our Brian Bannister trade? Yes.

Come on. David's our last great home-grown hitter, and when he came up, he had Reyes to compete with in terms of who was going to be better. F-Mart's had the super-hitting-prospect label all to himself, pretty much, for the last few years. Escobar is a great example to compare him to. No one else stood out when he was being touted. That's what Martinez has been dealing with for the most part. It wasn't like that for David Wright.

Hell, David Wright didn't face anywhere near the expectations that Fernando Martinez is facing. As I recall it, we were so focused on whether or not Jose Reyes was going to live up to his hype (which he has, for the most part) that when David came along, the reaction seemed to be, "Oh, look, we've got another one!"

Oh shut up. Personally, I'd love to see the Mets make a run at Joakim Soria. Kansas City's not going anywhere for a few years. Maybe they'll take a package of Nick Evans and Bobby Parnell? Or something of that nature?

Whoa. Okay, who's on the market this offseason?

Yes, but Ayala has a good track record in seasons past. Stokes didn't have that.

Dude had a 7 ERA in Tampa. It's a miracle he's doing so well here.

We win a VERY big game.