Elster88

She is Pretty.

Funny stuff, especially the second to last line. http://faithandfear.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/5/7/1939231.html We may come back for the sweep (after the last couple of days I won't put anything past this team) or we may wind up dropping the finale, but one thing's for sure: We'll still be talking about that top of the second. Even before the zaniness began, we'd seen one of the rarest plays in baseball, the kind you can win bar bets on: What's the only situation in which a baseball team can, in effect, decline a penalty? When a ball is put into play on a balk: The team at bat can either take the balk or the outcome of the play. The Braves did no such thing, but if Jordan had hit the ball up the middle, they certainly would have. So much for our double play (nicely turned, too), and a sure sign that we were entering Goofyland. I doubt Paul Lo Duca knows about the spring night David Cone became too occupied with screaming at an umpire to consider that runners were continuing to circle the bases. Of course that was against the Braves, on April 30, 1990. I also doubt Lo Duca remembers the hideous summer day that ended with Michael Tucker gouging Mike Piazza's thigh and getting a ridiculous safe call from Angel Hernandez, the worst umpire in the major leagues. Also against the Braves, natch. A demented mash-up of those two infamous calls? Well, it would have to be against the Braves. And Angel Hernandez would have to be manning home plate. So there was Lo Duca and there was Brian McCann being called safe -- it pains me to say that it looked like the right call. There was Lo Duca firing a live ball into the earth (Coney just held it while Gregg Jefferies tried desperately to get his attention), so mad you could almost see the cartoon lightning bolts zipping out of his head, with Ryan Langerhans taking advantage of his largesse to take third. Who was at the plate? John Smoltz. Who was the opposing pitcher on April 30, 1990? John Smoltz. Who pays Michael Tucker's salary these days? The Mets. If they'd panned up to a luxury box and found Mark Lemke, Dale Murphy, John Franco, Cone and Jefferies shaking their heads, I wouldn't have been a bit surprised. Baseball: It's even crazier than you think it is.

Haven't Pelfrey and Soler had a total of 3 combined AA starts? I'd rather they play a little more in the minors than that BEFORE we use them in the majors.

="Bret Sabermetric"]They could have signed Bozo the Clown to join the rotation (and yesterday it looked like they had), and if they'd made the Series, you'd be arguing that Bozo was a brilliant signing, but that doesn't make it so. You're removing the "Win the Cy Young Award" line from Bozo's resume. Kind of an important piece of what I was saying. Let's stick to what we were talking about, ok? I never said anything along the lines of "The signing is good as long as they make the Series". If that was true, I'd be could make the same argument about Victor Zambrano. But I'm not making that argument, though it makes it a lot easier on you if you pretend that's what I'm saying. What I was saying, for the third time, was that your contention (that the Tom Glavine signing was a waste no matter what happens this year, up to and including his winning the Cy Young Award) is very foolish. And I'm saying that the signing is a good one if they reach the world Series, and Bozo Glavine wins the Cy Young Award. Are you going to just ignore my question? If the Mets reach the World Series this year, and Tom Glavine wins the Cy Young in that same year, was it a good signing? Not "Did he earn his 40 million clams?" Was it a good signing? How 'bout it? Can I get yes or no?

Bret Sabermetric wrote: That's about as much front-running as I can bear--"Show me the results, and I'll tell you whether the investment in Glavine was dumb or smart." ="Elster88"]Anyway, how do you propose that we judge whether a guy was worth his salary? You don't use results? What do you use? Bret Sabermetric wrote: Overall w/l record for starters? So you don't use results, you use overall w/l record for starters?

Let me phrase the question a little differently. If the Mets reach the World Series this year, and Tom Glavine wins the Cy Young in that same year, was it a good signing? Not "Did he earn his 40 million clams?" Was it a good signing? My answer is an unqualified yes.

Bret Sabermetric wrote: Elster, you're refuting me by claiming World Series the Mets haven't even been in the running for yet. Are you saying that if the Mets DON'T wiin the Series this year, you're agreeing that Glavine is washed up and a total waste of resources that should have been invested in young pitching? Yeah, pretty much. I don't know if reaching the World Series would be the only criterion I would use, or if it's that black and white. A couple of good runs in the playoffs in '06 and '07 where he is a key factor would justify his salary to me. If he pitches at Cy Young level in '06 and '07, (or maybe even very good in those two years), and the Mets reach or come close to the playoffs, that would almost justify his salary too. It's very hard to draw a line in the sand and say, "This is what I need to say he earned his money." Don't forget that the original remark I replied to was your contention that Glavine was a waste of money no matter what happens this year. Bret Sabermetric wrote: That's about as much front-running as I can bear--"Show me the results, and I'll tell you whether the investment in Glavine was dumb or smart." This is a very silly statement. And I'd like to use a different adjective than silly, but I'm watching my behavior these days Anyway, how do you propose that we judge whether a guy was worth his salary? You don't use results? What do you use?

I guess taking 2 of 3 from the Braves, without starting Pedro or Glavine, is pretty cool.

Jose Contreras (1.41) and Javier Vazquez (2.88) are 1st and 5th in the AL in ERA. Edit: AL.

Bret Sabermetric wrote: Signing Glavine to a four year deal was a mistake, even if he keeps up his excellent pitching all through 2006. He's 37-43 as a Met so far, if he goes 15-9 from here on out, which is a lot of games (he would be 19-11 on the year, and probably win a Cy Young) he would be exactly at .500 ( 52-52, or an average year of 13-13) which is not what they thought they were getting at 10+ mil per year for 4 years. This is a best case scenario, and they got screwed overall by the signing. If Glavine wins a Cy Young in the year that the Mets reach the World Series, he is worth every penny he was paid, even if he went 0-60 in the three years prior. Bret Sabermetric wrote: Now they've decided on the basis of a few recent starts that they want to send more money down that sinkhole? Maybe they should file under "C" for "clueless." "D" for "Dipshits"? "M" for "masochists"? By few recent starts, are you referring to the previous 21 in a row where he has gone at least 6 innings each time? I wouldn't pick up his option just yet either, but it's more than "a few recent starts".

SI Metman wrote: Call me when Benson puts up Clemens numbers. Yeah, they coulda kept him, but he'd be mixed in with mediocrity at the back of the rotation. Clemens is the frontline guy that the Mets needed. They don't need Clemens at all. A rotation of Pedro-Glavine-Benson-Trachsel-Garbage is as good as almost any in baseball. Especially since the 4 non-garbage guys are all healthy at the moment. And all the Mets would be missing now would be a couple extra dollars and Jorge Julio.

TransMonk wrote: Julio 1 1 run in 1 inning = 1 point? Why no credit for Zambrano (0 runs, 1.3333 innnings)?

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Ramon Castro noticed something different about Zambrano when he warmed up in the bullpen for yesterday's start. He wondered to himself why Zambrano wasn't throwing any sliders - only fastballs and changeups. By the second inning, the Mets understood why, and by then it was too late. ...... "I wanted to make sure," Randolph said. "I looked him in the eye three times and told him I didn't want him to take a chance. He told me he was all right." ....... The circumstances surrounding the injury did not sit well with Pedro Martinez, who is one of Zambrano's closest friends on the team. Martinez took an angry stance with reporters, even blaming the media's negative coverage for pushing Zambrano to the breaking point. Martinez said Zambrano's right elbow has been hurting since the start of the season, though Zambrano apparently told no one else and forced himself to pitch because he was worried about his reputation. "It was because of the damn pressure you guys put on him," said Martinez, who spoke to the devastated Zambrano before he left for the MRI. "He was crying because his elbow blew up like that. You could see it from far away." I think we can mark Victor telling Willie that he was fine as a lie. The pain was enough that he wouldn't throw a slider, yet after Willie asked him he said he was fine. Sounds like Victor was lying. Of course, it's the media's fault when a player refuses to mention pain to the manager. OE: Not just refusing to mention pain, but lying about it! ------ Unrelated note: What on earth does "I looked him in the eye three times" mean? Did Willie ask Victor if he was okay three times? Does Willie normally not make eye contact on the mound, so looking at Victor's eyes three time was supposed to hold extra significance? Or does Zambrano usually look down like a small child (Here I'm picturing Willie crouching three times to make eye contact as Zambrano tries looks away.) I didn't see any crouching at the game yesterday so I doubt the last, at least, but I'm still confused here.

Oliver 2 Matsui 2 Reyes 2 Delgado 2 Beltran 2

It's good to have you back, Bret.

Bret Sabermetric wrote: ="Elster88"]Mets were pretty stupid Radical notion, Elster. I'll need to mull that one over. Have you got any evidence? SAT scores? IQ results? You can't just make a flat statement like that, on the flimsy basis of having pathetically inept pitchers cast into a starting role in the rotation. I happen to know that Willie got a 78 average in 8th grade--he's a super-genius. And Omar once made it to "honorable mention" in a public speaking course. How dare you? Is there a point to this post?

Bret Sabermetric wrote: Do you think that when they said that Kaz was one of the most durable, injury-proof, gutty players we just misunderstood which Kaz they meant? To be fair to the Mets, every scout who ever saw him said the exact same thing.

]KInda weird and ballsey for Pedro to even atempt blame the media. That could come back and bite him in the ass for sure. I was thinking the same thing, but I wonder if it will bite him. He won't care what the media prints, and I doubt any fans will turn on him. If anything, many will probably swallow the message whole and believe it themselves. One of our own, while not believing Pedro's story, is leaning toward it thinking it is just a way of Pedro taking a veiled shot at management.

Bret Sabermetric wrote: The Kaz-Victor contest now has a victor, and it ain't Victor. Fix this in ten minutes, Peterson, expert handler of pitcher's arms and careers. Kaz now has 4 times as many victories as Victor In-Name-Only in 2006 and twice as many IP, figures that of course can only get higher as the season goes on. Kaz is now 10th in the AL in ERA, while Victor is probably somewhere in the NL's bottom 5 with a season's ERA of 6.75. The big difference of course is that Victor's arm is now totally screwed up, and Kaz's is healthy, and that was most of the rationale behind swapping them--they feared that Kaz's arm wouldn't hold up. Good one, assholes. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=7292 http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6752 I wanted to post my own "I told you so" message (aimed at Mets' management of course, I don't remember anyone here saying Kazmir/Zambrano was a good trade), but I think Bret's will do just nicely.

The Julio-Benson trade now looks even worse....no matter what you think of Julio....just because another arm in the rotation would be helpful. And the Mets were pretty stupid this offseason if they figured every starter would stay healthy all year. We haven't even gotten to Pedro's annual three week injury. What happens when we hit that? Glavine-Trachsel-Bannister-Maine-Lima

Dangerous game that you're playing Yancy. And that statement is coming from a decidedly non-supserstitious person.

]At any rate, the crowd rebounded with some nice applause after Julio got Renteria to ground out. I noticed this too at the game today. I've got more comments that I'll paste tomorrow. But regarding the crowd and Julio, they did boo the hell out of him after the run scored, but as he was getting strikes on the last batter the "get the last strikes standing-O" was going full blast with nary a boo. A great freaking crowd. Announced attendance was 48,000+.

Rotblatt wrote: Wow. Hell of a game! Shea should be rockin' today! Yes!!! Playoff type atmosphere!

Reyes 3 Wright 2 Beltran 2 Heilman 1.25 Sanchez 1.25 Julio 0.5

metirish wrote: What a game, my girlfriend was shouting for the Braves just to take the piss outta me......now is time for her to pay.... Don't be too rough with her.