The Big O

I like this Pedro fellow. Let's keep him around awhile. Mets record for pitching record to start the season: 7-0 (Frank Viola, 1990) Pedro's record to start the season: 4-0 Mets record for HRs in April: 9 (Dave Kingman, 1976) Carlos Delgado HRs in April: 8 Other teams with 12-5 records: Houston, ChiSox. Hmm...

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I think the pitchers have pretty much done all they can to deserve a win tonight and though you can dicker with WWSB's management of it, the fact is the bullpen has thrown 8 scoreless innings on the road as I type, and there's games to win tomorrow nite and Sunday too. At some point you have to have faith that the O gives you a lead to protect, or you take your chances with the Julios and Zambranos. You can't have both. Jeezus, Bradford whiffed the side. Oh Chad Bradford, let your rubber arm wing us to victory! I really hope Julio is giving him batting tips between innings.

TransMonk wrote: Checking out some other images from the Japanese site that the Matsui image is from. Looks like someone's portfolio, but I can't read Japanese. Speaking of, here's a cartoonist's take on MLB: http://news.naver.com/sports/index.nhn?category=mlb&menu=cartoon This is the big Mets one that wrapped 2005. Pretty interesting: http://news.naver.com/sports/index.nhn?category=mlb&menu=cartoon&mode=view&seq=188

Edgy DC wrote: Mets looking to get a third inning out of Pedro Feliciano. http://www.getalifealready.com/cpf/MilestonePostAvatars/SacredSeaver2.jpgInteresting outing by him tonight. 6th inning: Oustanding 7th inning: Effective, if flawed 8th inning: Coronary And here comes the J-spot. Edit: Ah, the Seaver post ... as lame as the previous 40 and the next.

Sutcliffe, Karros et al made the jump from "no Mets no-hitters" to "no no-hitters in Shea Stadium history" ... way to go, ESPN research department. GYC wrote: Cliff looks hurt. So this is why we have Valentin.

National League EastSquadronWL%GBhomeroadRSRAstreakL10New York 92.818--6-23-06841W18-2Lack of Larrytown67.46243-33-47978L14-6Philly57.4174.51-54-25569W15-5Capital City 49.30860-34-65478W23-7Miami 38.27362-41-44651L23-7 Observations * Perfect on the road? Say it ain't sample size. * The top 3 teams in the East maintained or improved from last week (Philly a salty 4-2); the bottom two didn't. * Every team in the AL East is .500 or above, and all but 1 team in the NL Central is; the AL West is the memorial 2005 NL West divison, with the top team at .500 and the rest below. * Unsurprisingly, the Mets' runs allowed number is lowest in the majors. Nipping on the heels: Detroit (!) 47, St. Lou 48, Bosox 49. * Atlanta no longer leading the RS/RAs, overtaken in runs scored by 1 by that team; a minor implosion released a deluge of runs in Pittsburgh (90), with KC (82), the Nats (tied @ 78) and the D-Rays (77) in the mix. * With an RS minus RA of 27, the Mets actually fell behind that team by 1 in the good differential; those schmucks are 500, though. The Tigers (18), Rox (15), St. Louis (14), Astros (14) follow. Poor poor K.C. (37) outdoes the field in the negative differential, with the Nats (24) and Bucs (21) among the other strugglers. Monday's games Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 3 WP: Villarreal (3-0); LP: Franklin (0-1); Sv: Reitsma (3) Houston 5, Washington 4 WP: Qualls (1-1); LP: Stanton (0-1) Tuesday's games N.Y. Mets 7, Washington 1 WP: Bannister (1-0); LP: Ortiz (0-2) San Diego 9, FLorida 3 WP: Williams (1-0); LP: Mitre (1-1) Wednesday's games San Diego 7, Florida 2 WP: Young (1-0); LP: Moehler (0-2) N.Y. Mets 3, Washington 1 WP: Martinez (2-0); LP: Armas (0-2); Sv: Wagner (2) Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 5 WP: Lidle (1-1); LP: Sosa (0-2); Sv: Gordon (1) Thursday's games N.Y. Mets 13, Washington 4 WP: Zambrano (1-0); LP: Hernandez (1-2) Florida 9, San Diego 2 WP: Vargas (1-1); Brazleton (0-2) Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 6 WP: Floyd (1-1); LP: Davies (0-1); Sv: Gordon (2) Friday's games N.Y. Mets 4, Milwaukee 3 WP: Glavine (2-0); LP: Capuano (1-2); Sv: Wagner (3) Atlanta 5, San Diego 4 WP: Villarreal (4-0); LP: Lindebrink (0-1); Sv: Reitsma (4) Florida 5, Washington 3 WP: Willis (1-0); LP: Drese (0-2); Sv: Borowski (1) Philadelphia 10, Colorado 8 WP: Madson (1-0); LP: Day (1-1) Saturday's games Milwaukee 8, N.Y. Mets 2 WP: Ohka (1-1); LP: Trachsel (1-1) Washington 2, Florida 1 WP: Patterson (1-0); LP: Olsen (0-1); Sv: Cordero (1) Atlanta 2, San Diego 0 WP: Smoltz (1-1); LP: Peavy (1-2) Colorado 10, Philadelphia 6 WP: King (1-1); LP: Lieber (0-3) Sunday's games San Diego 4, Atlanta 3 WP: Linebrink (1-1); LP: Remlinger (1-1); Sv: Hoffman (1) Washington at Florida WP: Majewski (1-0); LP: Herges (0-1); Sv: Cordero (2) N.Y. Mets 9, Milwaukee 3 WP: Bannister (2-0); LP: Sheets (0-1) Philadelphia 1, Colorado 0 WP: Myers (1-0); LP: Cook (1-2); SV: Gordon (4) Next series Florida (Moehler, Vargas, Willis) at Cincinnati (Claussen, Milton, Harang) Atlanta (Sosa, Davies, Hudson) at N.Y. Mets (Martinez, Zambrano, Glavine) Washington (Armas, Hernandez, Traber) at Philadelphia (Lidle, Floyd, Madson) Rotation watchPitcherW LNDIPQSWHIPERAGlavine, Tom20118.031.281.50Bannister, Brian20118.021.112.50Martinez, Pedro20013.011.003.46Trachsel, Steve11011.011.274.09Zambrano, Victor1005.002.005.40

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I pretty much aggree with that. Started dumb, got even dumber. For awhile there the CPF was the worst message board in all of baseball. Fortunately, it's still early. Here's hoping the CPF's quality isn't inversely proportional to the Mets' record.

"David Wright has seen 147 pitches this season and has swung and missed at only 6." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/16/sports/baseball/16shea.html

No Sandman today.

Interesting theoretical question whether you'd rather a) what happened today, or Bannister gives up 11 runs and the already chalked-up loss gets thrown to the long-inning guy. With the Braves coming up, you may well be right. On the other hand, a win's a win's a win. I didn't see the game, but I'd guess BB didn't have his best stuff today. For pitching through it -- albeit a short outing -- and giving up only 1 run, he gets some love from me. ]"My approach is I don't give in," Bannister said. "I'll walk guys before I'll give them a pitch they can drive. I'll keep making my pitches all day." Hmm...

Team totals StatCurrent (10 gms)Projected rateRecordYearAB3445572.856181996Runs 59955.88631999Hits1031668.6155319992B22356.429719993B464.8471996, 1978HR13210.61982000TB1722786.424301987RBI58939.68141999BB27437.47171999SO59955.812031968SB8129.61591987CS232.4??GIDP8129.61491999XBH39631.85131987HBP348.6652001SF8129.6591997SH464.81081973 Projected broken records in bold type (through 10 games; will update)

Banno today: 1st - 1 out: single; 2 outs: walk 2nd - 0 outs: single, walk, walk 3rd - 0 outs: single; 1 out: single, walk 4th - 1 out: double, wild pitch, groundout (scored 1); 2 outs: double 5th - 2 outs: walk 11 baserunners in 5 innings, 1 run allowed. A little love for Brian Bannister, please? Start 1: 2 hits, 4 BB, 4 K, 6 groundouts, 8 flyouts Start 2: 3 hits, 0 BB, 1 K, 8 groundouts, 14 flyouts Start 3: 6 hits, 5 BB, 4 K, 5 groundouts, 6 flyouts Got a grounder for the final out of the 1st, then didn't get another until the 4th inning, his 18th batter faced. 3 K's in the first 2 innings, 1 in the 3rd, none thereafter. Maybe less velocity, more pitch placement as the game wore on? Though in his least-wild start, he got tons of flyouts, but a lone K. Weirdness.

="mlbaseballtalk"]Wow someone that doesn't like the Olsens

NL East Head-to-headSquadronNY PHIWASFLAATLTotMets0-05-12-00-07-1 Phils0-00-00-02-12-1Nats1-50-02-10-03-6Fish0-20-01-20-01-4Braves0-01-20-00-01-2 Through the first two weeks.

Elster88 wrote: Geez. If someone had asked a trivia question I would've gone with a year from the seventies. Don't forget that the O's won it all in 1983 as well.

I'll have to check, but it seems like a disproportionate number of our runs � especially our "big" innings � have come with 2 outs. I don't know if that means anything in a cosmic Mets-sense. But I'm willing to like it.

From Always Amazin'... ]Mike and the Dog unearthed some interesting news in their interview with Willie Randolph (interview available on WFAN's homepage) yesterday. Regarding Victor Zambrano's return to the rotation, the Mets skipper said, "Trachsel is my fifth guy basically, so the fifth guy would get bumped anyway." When Russo challenged the idea, saying that Trachsel is more accomplished than Zambrano, Randolph responded defensively, saying "That's your opinion" and "I know my team better than you do." David Lennon in Newsday... ]Zambrano's place in the rotation has been under additional scrutiny this season because of the Mets' decision to trade Kris Benson and Jae Seo during the winter, then send Aaron Heilman to the bullpen at the end of spring training in order to keep Brian Bannister. The fact that his illness apparently bumped Steve Trachsel to the back of the rotation has been a source of some contention, too. Manager Willie Randolph, speaking on his weekly radio spot, said Wednesday that Trachsel is the No. 5 starter, which puts him two spots below where he originally planned to be. Before yesterday's game, Randolph tried to downplay his language, saying that it was just a number and Trachsel had not been demoted. "I just threw a number out there," Randolph said. "When you have the first two guys as Pedro [Martinez] and [Tom] Glavine, everyone else is just three, four, five." Still, there usually is some meaning to those assignments, and Trachsel, who will have waited eight days for tomorrow's start, seems to be the lowest priority. That's hard to believe with Zambrano's spotty history, and Randolph nearly yanked him from yesterday's game before he could log the five innings necessary for the win.

Frayed Knot wrote: As pointed out in another thread, you will NOT get Met games via that link. You'll also find the link blacked out at other times: during their coverage of Net basketball games, NJDevils hockey, plus various national games that they cover like weekly NFL games (Monday/Sunday nights) or Bowl games, NBA playoffs, etc. However, if you do want Mets games from out of town, you can listen to Fox radio from the capital region on WOFX 980. The direct link is on this all-encompassingly handy site: http://www.thegamelive.com/

OlerudOwned wrote: Do they need to specify that the homers go to "deep" left or center. I'd imagine it'd be difficult to hit a home run to shallow right. Except in the Bronx.

OlerudOwned wrote: Ball f***ing four. They're loaded for Zimmerman. Hey, if he gives up a few runs at least we can bring in our All-Star closer. Duaner is warming. OE: But the world rights itself.

Walter Johnson wrote: ::having a nutty:: Of course, the fact that [censored] won't/doesn't is but one of many bricks in his overwhelmingly inferior wall.

="Gwreck"]My guess with Glavine is that length of contract will be more important than location. Unless he gets 15+ wins this year, I think he'll need 2 years after 2006 to reach 300 wins. I could be wrong, but "last ever 300-game-winner" could be a big deal for him. Went searching for a counterexample, but came up short. Outside possibilities: Randy Johnson (264 wins), age 41; sans injuries, could only take 3 years or so in Yankeeland Pedro (194), age 33; youngest pitcher among the top actives, plus all those forthcoming 110-win seasons can't hurt Pettitte (173), age 34; probably not, but last year's ERA makes you wonder Mark Mulder (97), age 28; the youngest & best of the Big 3: ~100 in 5.5 = ~300 in ~18; that team should be good for awhile; plus, he'll never get booed due to sycophantic idol worship Johan Santana (59), age 27; 56 wins in 3.5 years; will have to consistently pitch a little better than last year, and Terry Ryan can't let him down Felix Hernandez (4), age 20; barring the returns of Bret Boone, A-Rod, John Olerud & Edgar Martinez, he'd probably have to get out of Seattle, and soon More sobering is that Clemens could probably get past 373 and into Walter Johnson-land, if he wanted to.

HRs allowed in a Career 1. Tom Seaver: 212 (in 3045.1 IP) 2. Jerry Koosman: 187 (in 2544.2) 3. Ron Darling: 155 (in 1620) 4. Sid Fernandez: (in 1584.2) 5. Bobby Jones: 137 (in 1215.2) 6. Steve Trachsel Projected to End of Season: 134 (in 994.2) 6. Dwight Gooden: 123 (in 2169.2) 7. Al Leiter: 118 (in 1360) 8. Rick Reed: 116 (in 888.2) 9. Craig Swan: 112 (in 1230.2) =blue]10. Steve Trachsel Currently: 102 (in 797.2) =blue]10. Steve Trachsel at Start of Season: 101 (in 791.2) HRs Allowed in a Season 1. Roger Craig, 1962: 35 =orange]2. Steve Trachsel, Projected to End of 2006: 33 2. Pedro Astacio, 2002: 32 3. Jay Hook, 1962: 31 T4. Pete Harnisch, 1996: 30 T4. Rick Reed, 1998: 30 T6: Roger Craig, 1963: 28 T6: Rick Reed, 2000: 28 T6. Steve Trachsel, 2001: 28 T9: Jack Fisher, 1966: 26 T9: Bobby Jones, 1996: 26 T9. Frank Tanana, 1993: 26 T9: Steve Trachsel, 2003: 26 ... Steve Trachsel, 2006: 1 Based on 33 starts and 203 IP (Trax's numbers his last 2 healthy seasons).

National League EastSquadronWL%GBhomeroadRSRAstreakL10New York Nine41.800--4-10-03021W34-1Mylanta34.42920-03-45353L23-4Washing-town 24.3332.50-02-43239L12-4Flori-duh 14.20030-01-42121L31-4Philadullphia15.1673.51-50-02135L11-5 Observations * The pythagorean gods smile not well on the Fish. * Atlanta's RC/RA. Yikes on both counts. * We're the only ones to play in the division so far, and we've already done serious damage. Monday's games N.Y. Mets 3, Washington 2 (WP: Glavine 1-0; LP: Hernandez 0-1) St. Louis 13, Philadelphia 5 (WP: Carpenter 1-0; LP: Lieber 0-1) Atlanta 11, L.A. Dodgers 10 (WP: Villarreal 1-0; LP: Lowe 0-1) Houston 1, Florida 0 (WP: Oswalt 1-0; LP: Johnson 0-1) Tuesday's games Florida 11, Houston 2 (WP: Mitre 1-0; LP: Pettitte 0-1) L.A. Dodgers 5, Atlanta 4 (WP: Penny 1-0; LP: Smoltz 0-1) Wednesday's games St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 3 (WP: Thompson 1-0; LP: Gordon 0-1) Washington 9, N.Y. Mets 5 (WP: Cordero 1-0; LP: Julio 0-1 Houston 6, Florida 5 (WP: Rodriguez 1-0; LP: Moehler 0-1) Atlanta 9, L.A. Dodgers 8 (WP: Villarreal 2-0; LP: Osoria 0-1) Thursday's games St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 2 (WP: Marquis 1-0; LP: Lidle 0-1) San Francisco 6, Atlanta 4 (WP: Fassero 1-0; LP: Sosa 0-1) N.Y. Mets 10, Washington 5 (WP: P. Martinez 1-0; LP: Ortiz 0-1) Friday's games L.A. Dodgers 5, Philadelphia 3 (WP: Tomko 1-0; LP: Floyd (0-1) N.Y. Mets 9, Florida 3 (WP: Trachsel 1-0; LP: Vargas 0-1 Houston 6, Washington 1 (WP: Backe 1-0; LP: Armas 0-1) Atlanta 14, San Francisco 6 (WP: Remlinger 1-0; LP: Walker 0-1) Saturday's games Florida at N.Y. Mets, ppd., rain L.A. Dodgers at Philadelphia, ppd., rain San Francisco 12, Atlanta 6 (WP: Wright 1-0; LP: Hudson 0-1) Washington 12, Houston 8 (WP: Hernandez 1-1; LP: Qualls 0-1) Sunday's games Philadelphia 6, L.A. Dodgers 3 (WP: Gordon 1-1; LP: Hamulack 0-1) N.Y. Mets 3, Florida 2 (WP: Wagner 1-0; LP: C. Martinez 0-1) Houston 7, Washington 3 (WP: Pettitte 1-1; LP: Drese 0-1) San Francisco 6, Atlanta 5 (WP: Worrell 1-0; LP: Reitsma 0-1) L.A. Dodgers 6, Philadelphia 2 (WP: Penny 2-0; LP: Lieber 0-2) Today's games Washington (Patterson 0-0) at Houston (Rodriguez 1-0) Philadelphia (Myers 0-0) at Atlanta (Thomson 0-0) Tuesday's games N.Y. Mets (Bannister 0-0) at Washington (Ortiz 0-1) San Diego (Williams 0-0) at Florida (Mitre 1-0) Wednesday's games San Diego (Young 0-0) at Florida (Moehler 0-1) N.Y. Mets (P. Martinez 1-0) at Washington (Armas 0-1) Philadelphia (Lidle 0-1) at Atlanta (Sosa 0-1) Thursday's games N.Y. Mets (Zambrano 0-0) at Washington (Hernandez 1-1) San Diego (Brazelton 0-1) at Florida (Vargas 0-1) Philadelphia (Floyd 0-1) at Atlanta (Hudson 0-1) Next series Milwaukee (Capuano 1-0, Sheets 0-0) at N.Y. Mets (Glavine 1-0, TBA) San Diego (Peavy, Williams) at Atlanta (Smoltz, Thomson) Washington (Drese, Ortiz) at Florida (Willis, Mitre) Philadelphia (TBA, Myers) at Colorado (TBA, Cook) All projected Mets starters courtesy of Marty Noble at MLB.com. I might rather have Pedro go against Livan, even though it would mean an extra day's rest.

="Frayed Knot"]Guillen said: "He thinks I was going out there with the bat? Why would I need a bat for a 150-pound guy when I'm 230?" I dunno Jose, could it be that he got the idea that you were going after him with a bat from the fact that you were headed in his direction with a bat in your hands? Comedy "I thought it was a lead pipe/candlestick/tire iron/my hand" quip