duan

One of the guys who plays football with us is Dave Frew - guitarist and co-writer of the below. He's just finished an extension on his house and so I'm sure he could really do with the extra publishing royalities that would ensue! If there's anything you can do to make it happen MetIrish - he'd be enternally in your debt! metirish wrote: WOW that sucks, I would like to hear them go with "celebrate" from a band from Ireland called "An Emotional Fish"...great bloody song... ] She insists that she's a lunatic, closer to the bone She hardly ever visits upstairs, ride the telephone Well I guess beauty does what beauty does best It's beautiful See that's the trouble with reality, it's taken far too seriously I do hope God is good to me and Santa Claus to the children Celebrate This party's over I'm going home Celebrate This party's over I'm going home His essential complications are hung up and confused It's a planet full of traffic lights and traffic light abusers But that's no stranger than strange Or any other stranger He claims it's dangerous to be innocent 'cause you're the victim every time Histories of insanity intruding on the sane Celebrate This party's over I'm going home Celebrate This party's over I'm going home Histories of insanity intruding on the sane Even if your problem is the problem do we have to play those games? But all these dizzy numb For anyone to shoulder See that's the trouble with reality, it's taken far too seriously I do hope God is good to me and Santa Claus to the children Celebrate This party's over I'm going home Celebrate This party's over I'm going home Celebrate This party's over I'm going home Celebrate This party's over I'm going home

while this is a nice debate and one which I understand, I'd really, really like to talk about the lineup.

I know Green's looking a little past it the last 3 months, but before that on NO other season has he not been more productive then Nady has this season. Even with the relative power outage that he's had since 2003 his eqa's have been .287, 279, .280 whereas Nady's been .274. I'm also looking at a lineup that potentially has Reyes (SW) LoDuca (RH)) Beltran (SW) Delgado (LH) Wright (RH) Floyd (LH) Valentin (SW) Green (LH) in the playoffs - when Shawn Green's your number 8 hitter you're in good shape with power and 'reasonable' discipline throughout the lineup. You'll also chew through bullpens.

Fair play; who'd have imagined Reyes walking in a run 12 months ago

both pitchers have got low strikes in the first inning. Could be a fun game this, especially with BY Kim throwin' the funk.

that'll be most entertaining evening fare for me.

I get kinda of excited in an unnatural way about the idea of Oliver Perez turning it around for us. Don't forget in 2004 he was Scott Kamir in 2006 with big shiny bells on.

bleh. soriano hits one just over the left field fence.

from NY TIMES (registration required) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/sports/baseball/09mets.html?_r=1&ref=baseball&oref=slogin INSIDE PITCH The Mets have indefinitely suspended Howard Johnson, the hitting coach for Class AAA Norfolk, for leaving the team without permission, a violation of team policy. His status is under review, according to a Mets spokesman. Johnson, who played with the Mets from 1985 to 1993, could not be reached for comment. He has spent the last six seasons as a coach in the organization.

KTE: The Friars W - L 58-53 Currently Leading NL West by a very small margin in what's still a 5 team race. If you look at BP's odds reports they're sitting at a 56% chance of getting to the playoffs (40% as champs, 16% as WC winners) and are having a right old ding dong with the challengers to their crown but with their Californian rivals the LA Dodgers for the lead who are closing in fast having won TEN straight. So it's a crucial series for the Padres who could see themselves leapfrogged by the Dodgers and still under pressure from the third place d'backs if they don't get 2 in Shea. However, that's not really the biggest story here, the biggest story is that it marks Mike Piazza's return to Shea Stadium. My favourite ever Met (although David Wright and Carlos Beltran are going to start giving him a run for his money!) and the source of NUMEROUS arguments, discussions & debates returns to the venue of some of his famous hitting and infamous throwing. So how has the "washed up" catcher done on his first year out of the spotlight and without the burden ? Pretty damn well infact, by being well spotted, rested and complemented as part of a two headed tandem (at the moment the other head is josh bard - more about him later!) he's been back to the Piazza of nearly as good as 02-03 ranking as the 6th best catcher in the Majors in VORP (with 23.2 in 305 pa's - for the record Lo Duca is 19.7 in 383 pa's). One thing that you DO notice in the hitting charts is where he used to hit a whole chunk of his HR's to centre-right this season that's been where he's been having fly ball outs to. Of course that's the good part of his game, the bad part is his throwing and that's been pretty bad this year. With over 66 steals against him and only 6 caught stealing's I think it's safe to say there's a green light for Reyes, Wright, Valentin, Chavez, Milledge and Beltran this series - not that his replacement in our colours has been that much better (Paul Lo Duca - Stolen Against - 64 Caught Stealing 17). Anyway, Piazza's hitting makes up for the throwing and he's been a key component of a moderate rather then offense. So for those of you that are there, be sure to give Piazza the standing ovation that he deserves. Right - that bit over with, what about the rest of the team. As I mentioned the offense is rather less then spectacular - with 500 runs they're firmly in the bottom half of the NL (13th) and while some of that could be to do with Petco's dimensions (interestingly this year with the changes made in the off season it's been fine for home runs but it's REALLY depressed doubles) most of it's due to the fact that as a lineup it isn't THAT threatening. 1. LF Dave Roberts: (LH) AVG/OBP/SLG .312/.391/.432 An Old Fashioned leadoff hitter with excellent plate discipline to go with a healthy average and a excellent wheels. He's currently third in the NL steals with 34 successful thefts (and only 4 cs's). Sure you'd like power from the position but he's a very valuable player when healthy. 2. RF Brian Giles: (LH) .273/.378/.384 This was NOT what the Padres expected when they spent $30 million (at a supposed home town discount) to lock up Giles the elder till 2008, he seems to have been bumped to the 2-hole for the last week or two in an attempt to get his bat going, but the power that Giles showed in the early naughties seems to have entirely disappeared. With his batting eye intact he's still a useful player - but he's sorta been like Bobby Abreu very light. (Fun fact, Giles was dealt to the Padres by Pittsburgh for Jason Bay - formerly met property - and Oliver Perez - current met property! and Cory Stewart - currently residing in the 'where are they now' file) 3. CF Mike Cameron: (RH) .262/.343/.471 We all know what we think of Mike Cameron; great guy, great centre-fielder and more useful with the stick then anyone has a right to expect (especially those people in Seattle who got him for the want-away Griffey). But still as GOOD as he's been, it's worth pointing out that OUR no. 3 hitter AND centre-fielder has hit .281/.384/.619 - which is the kinda line that has you with a 10+ game lead rather then clinging to first by your fingertips. Still following a TERRIBLE start Cameron's come nicely around to being his *very good* self. 4. C Mike Piazza (RH) .297/.354/.525 OR C Josh Bard .333/.402/.536 We've talked about Piazza already, but if he doesn't catch (and he won't catch all of the games) he'll be replaced by Bard both behind the plate and (if recent outings are anything to go by) in the clean up spot - that must be some kind of history a backup catcher hitting clean up but I digress. Bard's a great story for San Diego - having for SOME REASON BEST KNOWN TO KEVIN TOWERS given away Mark Loretta (that's one of the top 5/6 2b 'men) for perennial back up catcher Doug Mirabelli they then got to reverse the fleecing when Josh Bard simply couldn't cope with catching Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. Now, at age 28 it's quite possible that this is simply a 150 ab bit blip but Bard has shown occasional signs of power in the past so maybe it's more then just catching a little lightening in the bottle. 5. 1b Adrian Gonzalez (LH) .306/.355/.518 Addition by subtraction is an overused concept BUT if there's one recent example of it's validity of a concept it's Ryan Klesko's injury at the start of the year. Without that there's no way that the Gonzalez (who'd come as part of the Adam Eaton for Chris Young trade from Texas) would have got the chance to start and prove that the people touting him all those years ago in Florida actually knew something. Having been begat by wrist injuries for the last few years Gonzalez has put it all together. At 25 he might be a little old to truly emerge as an elite player but right now he's having as a productive a year as Carlos Delgado and for a lot less $$$ 6/7/8 2b/3b/SS SOME combination of Khalil Greene (SS) (RH) .259/.329/.453 Josh Barfield (2b) (RH) .289/.326/.417 Geoff Blum (2b/SS/3b) (SW).248/.293/.343 Mark Bellhorn (2b/3b) (SW) .191/.288/.358 Todd Walker (2b/3b) (LH) .357/.357/.429 Unless he hasn't recovered from a sprained finger Greene's a lock to start, but the other four have been switching and flip flopping all over the place as they try and get the newly acquired bat of Walker into the lineup and wake the bats of the slumping Barfield and the inept Blum & Bellhorn. The one good bit of news is that THERE'S NO MORE VINNY CASTILLA. In truth it's a soft lineup at the bottom and one that the Mets starters SHOULD take advantage of to go a bit deeper then they have in recent times. Pitching Match Ups Woody Williams, RHP (4-3, 3.84) v Steve Trachsel, RHP (10-5, 5.12) Clay Hensley, RHP (7-8, 4.33) v Pedro Martinez, RHP (8-4, 3.48) Chris Young, RHP (9-5, 3.78) v Orlando Hernandez, RHP (7-8, 4.97) The Mets catch a bit of a break by avoiding a resurgent Jake Peavy, who seems to have overcome his first half trials and tribulations to be back towards the pitcher that we saw breakout last year. In stead their left with Old Man Williams (whose 3.84 era is an illusion caused by a bunch of unearned runs and a good start to the season) who rejoined the Padres last year after four successful years with the Cardinals. At this stage he's turning into a guy who doesn't strike out as many as he used to and is hit JUST that bit harder then he used to - meaning he's a league average rotation guy in a nice protective home park (em like Tom Glavine?) Clay Hensley prospered on his initial foray into the Majors last season, pitching mainly in relief. He moved into the rotation in April, on his second start he gave up 4 runs against us in 5.1 innings but unfortunately we had Victor Zambrano pitching for us, and it was one of the bad days. Hensley's done the job that we've just about eked out of Bannister, Pelfrey & Maine combined - he's no world beater though. Chris Young has been San Diego's best pitcher so far this season; acquired in an off-season deal for Adam Eaton, he's prospered in Petco and has been a hell of a lot better then the much more expensive Eaton (who due to injury only just made his first start of the year for the Rangers). At 6 ft 10, it's possible that his first full season in the Majors is starting to take it's toll though, since July he's given up 22 runs in 31.2 innings in 6 starts. The Bench; The Padres bench is pretty thin despite having acquired the offense minded Walker at the deadline. Obviously whomever misses out in the infield (don't forget that 2 from 4 scenario up above) and at Catcher (between Bard & Piazza) is riding the pine. They're also carrying a third catcher the switch hitting Rob Bowen, who is having nearly as good a season as the other two. It's hard to know if the 800+ ops is real though considering it only comes in only just over 60 plate appearances. At 25 it's safe to say Bowen will get a chance to develop over the next year or two and prove (or not) his major league worth. Then finally you've got the "he's not on steriods cause he's only slging .385" Ben Johnson as fourth OF. Suffiece to say, the only real weapon to fear is which ever of the two main catchers is on the bench. I'll say this though, I don't want Piazza PH'ing against us in the 9th inning with men on. The Bullpen Trevor Hoffman has had a touch of the Billy Wagner's this year, with general dominance punctuated by the odd flare up too. He blew three out of six save opportunities post the all star game (where he also blew a save), but has since recorded 4 scoreless innings recording 3 saves to lead the National League with 30. The rest of the bullpens a bunch of odds and sods, but watch out for Linebrink's vulnerability against Right Handers (he's a righty himself) Embree's (the only portsider - definitely a problem against the mets) death grip on lefties (.580 ops against). Ok, that's all i have time for folks ... LETS GO METS

half way there.

only if we're afraid to put him right back on them.

me neither. His jack of all trades in the outfield would be valuable if we didn't have Chavez and Milledge already out there, but we do so i'd like a guy who's slugged over .450 more then twice in his career.

according to the associated press our Lefty PH is going to be Ricky Ledee. No word of whom we're bumping off the 25 man roster to have him on as of yet, but young Royce Ring, Eli Marrero & Mike DeFelice (if they think Marrero can back up LoDuca) have to be the prime candidates http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/roster_active.jsp?c_id=nym

crazy day in work but I'll do me best!

Also (and I'm open to correction here) I think IF a guy is on the 15 day dl on 1st September and you move him to the 60 day dl you can replace him with someone who wasn't on the 25 man roster on the playoff roster. So, you could have Mike Pelfrey/Philip Humber as your Game 3 starter even if they're down in the minors on Aug 31st.

you getting that on mlb.tv ? i keep getting "playlist format not recognised"

can someone give me a "blow by blow" account of last nights Milledgegate.

I'm happy, we kept the guys who could be long term building blocks, introduced a low risk - high reward guy to AAA who'll definitely compete for a rotation spot in 2007 and shored up a pen that I was happy with till the auto accident that Duaner Accident. I'd have liked to see us getting Abreu in a salary dump, but I suspect that the Phillies may not have wanted him to go intra-division but I don't think there was a genuine starter apart from Oswalt out there and if they tried with Milledge and Heillman and didn't get there they played a good strong hand but didn't get the bite, that's all you can expect. I know flags fly forever and all that, but all of Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Reyes, Martinez & Wagner are around next year - that's a formidable starting point for a 25 man roster.

I'm so 100% ok with Xavier Nady being flipped for Perez & Hernandez. I WISH we got Oswalt, but you weren't in the room or the conversation so I don't want to second guess Omar Minaya on it. I also admire him for not being afraid to use a guy he acquired to achieve something and he's done that twice now. I DO THINK that Mike Cameron as a top 10 CF is worth more then Hernandez & Perez, but I think we have to accept that as a right fielder coming off a serious injury we were probably obliged to take 60 cent on the dollar unless we were prepared to play chicken.

I'd be SO up for Roy Oswalt. SO up for him that you wouldn't believe. I'd happily part with Lastings if that were the price.

this really is 1999 & 2000 put together and minus a decent braves team isn't it?

TransMonk wrote: Tigers get Pirates' 1B Casey for minor-leaguer the 100% weirdest thing about that is that Shelton's been optioned to the minors to make room for Casey. Remember the hard time Pittsburgh got at the start of the year when he was mashing homers and he'd been grabbed from them in the Rule V draft?

i'm a little disappointed that IF he could be had for that, that we didn't have a look see. Abreu's just an OBP Monster. I know he's a hell of a lot more expensive then Nady you could have held on to Nady as 4th OF (with lots of abs)/1b and then decided who of Nady/Lastings to flip in the winter. I'm also a little scared that Omar's gonna get all jumpy about the ubiquitous 'back pages', but that's tempered by the knowledge that they all have to be feeling pretty good about stomping all over the Braves over the weekend!!!

if you've got ANY kind of access to the subway you'd be mad to travel any other way. Ah, taking the subway. oh the memories ... (although for the last 4 1/2 months I've been staying in Milltown in Dublin and getting the LUAS