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[quote name=Johan Santana as per The New York Times]�Tonight was different,� Santana said. �It was a crazy day.� Santana said he felt good and had no health problems before or during the game. �I felt pretty good,� he said. �I had a good warm-up, and I felt everything was fine. It was just one inning when everything went crazy and my fastball just went off and I wasn�t able to command it. That was about it." Santana was actually close to escaping the fourth-inning devastation with the Mets leading, 5-3. Utley, who had a double and a home run in the inning, was on second with two outs, and Santana got ahead 0-2 in the count on Raul Ibanez. Santana tried to throw a fastball away from Ibanez, but it tailed back over the plate and Ibanez hit a ground-ball single to right field that scored Utley. �That was the pitch that changed the whole inning,� Santana said.

I don't know - I guess so, but are 3 series consisting of two 3 game sets and a 4 gamer really that rare? I just found it odd that over the course of 48 years only two other teams went 9-1 and those two were excellent teams. That's all really. I'd be curious to know exactly how many 10 game stands there were.

At the end of the homestand when it was made clear that the only other times Mets teams had gone 9-1 on a homestand was in 1969 and 1988 we all of course noted that both of those years were postseason years for our boys. Does that mean anything? What I'm saying is that all through the history of this franchise - and were talking what - 48 years now and some pretty good teams - they've only done that twice and with teams that were good enough to win the division. So I'm inclined to think that a 9-1 stand is not a fluke. That if a team can pull that off that they may in fact be a pretty good team. Sure, the Cubs Braves and Dodgers played like crap - but all those teams were/are supposed to be good this year and perhaps it was the Mets who put them back on their heels and had something to do with their playing like crap. I'm not saying that this is a guaranteed postseason unit here, but what I am saying is that just maybe we are in for an exciting, compelling summer based on what they've shown us they are capable of.

Nymr83 wrote: Nazi comparison, 10 yard penalty, repeat 1st down. Upon further review... "...SB1070, the controversial new state law that requires police to ask for papers from anyone they suspect is in the country illegally." Every WWII movie I've seen has at least one SS officer asking someone for 'papers'.

metirish wrote: Are immigrants like me still welcome here? Zat depenz, do you haff your paperz...?

Since we're ranting about Francesa callers - it particularly tightens my colon when a caller starts speaking 'for ALL Mets fans'. ALL Mets fans? Dude, shut the fuck up.

Edgy DC wrote: I'm somewhere in between. Yeah me too. I agree that winning 2 of 3 would be a big, big boost both to the team and the fans, but 'wide-ranging implications'? It is just another 3 game set. I think it really depends on how they play and the types of games they are as opposed to actual wins and losses. That being said - getting swept would be a big-time bummer.

I read it. The basic premise is that all four came up the same year and 'Jeets', 'Mo' and 'Sado' (as they apparently call one another) hold the record for 3 teammates being on the same team together for consecutive years (16). Whatevah. I guess Jeter and Jorge are very close friends (Jeter was the best man at Dumbo's wedding) and while all four know each other well, they don't seem too particularly close. It felt like a tight relationship between all of them was sort of shoe-horned in to make an article. If you're not a Yankee fan, skip it.

I like how it plays - The Mets are 'supposed' to be pitching and defense. Well now they've added speed to that and I dig it the most. I agree with this too - Edgy DC wrote: Part of what I liked about coming of age in the 80s was that different parks and different surfaces and different skill sets and different managerial approaches had different teams often playing very different brands of baseball. So each game had more at stake than the triumph of a different set of colors, but entire philosphies. The explosion of the nineties ironed this out a lot, I definitely think to the diminishment of the game. When I think of the Cardinal teams of the '80's playing in Busch II, I think of Coleman and McGee and the turf that turned games there into track meets. The Cardinals played to their stadium. Red sox and Cubs had to slug to win and were built that way. Astros - pitching, pitching, pitching in the Astrdome - Ryan, Richard, Scott, etc., etc. Most of he new parks are home run havens right? Much smaller dimensions - Minute Maid, Citizens Bank, Yankee Stadium III. Nice to see that Citi Field went in another direction weather it was the intent or not.

seawolf17 wrote: The DH thing, however, is fuckin' stupid. See this is the one thing that I think does make sense. To me the All-Star game is the one time that the DH works. Who wants to watch pitchers hit in an exhibition game featuring the game's best players? If you're going to have a DH in major league baseball at all, then this game is absolutely when it should be used.

Francesa singing the Mets praises. THAT is the most stunning development.

Gwreck wrote: DocTee wrote: That's a pretty fugly looking crowd. Christ Almighty. I guess that's what you get for the weekday games in the upper deck. No - that's what you get at every Mets game in every seat. Look around you. See?

Anbybody know what happened to the Dodger Blues forum? It looks like its been abandoned and completely taken over by porn and viagra spammers.

Centerfield wrote: Which means that my hope of bringing back Bobby V is taking a hit. All this winning is terrible! So funny - they are winning and I am happy about that, but everytime they cut to Jerry in the dugout I think 'Shit, now we'll never get Bobby V. back'. See, I'm thinking that they should go into a tailspin so Jerry gets fired and Bobby comes in on his white horse, turns everything around and gets them to ...um...first place.

MFS62 wrote: Jeter would never do it because he'd be afraid of losing his gerbil. Later I've been trying but I just don't get this? Is it a gay-Richard-Gere thing?

I remembered it was Shawn Green because my son was at sleepaway camp that summer and included in the letters I would send him would be be Mets updates. That picture - or one very similar - was on the back page of the New York Post and I folded it up and sent it him in the envelope with my letter. He kept it and still has it hanging on his wall in room.

Ashie62 wrote: ...watch Million Dollar Baby a few times starting after Swank becomes disabled. What? Something happens to her!? Thanks. Geez.

Nothing wrong with that, besides all the versions posted so far are taking whacks at our boys. We need some enlightenment.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: That MtM beats HCtMFYs is the most obvious thing ever. What I wouldn't have guessed is that ours is the older one too. The Bats blog is accepting alternate lyrics if some of you songwriters wanna take a crack. Edgy - you have to submit the ethnically diverse version you penned a few years back. Still have it?

Isn't there a rule that a game or an inning cannot be started or restarted after 12:00am after a rain delay?

I saw that article this morning, threw up a little in my mouth and turned the page.

My 13 year-old moved from the LL fields to the big ones (major league distances) this past fall and played 13U Sandy Koufax. That was a huge transition for all the kids. He is now playing Babe Ruth 13U on the big fields and appears to have gotten used to the larger distances. There are a few interesting things about moving from the small field to the bigger ones - solid lines drives to the outfield that were possibly clean doubles in LL are now line-drive outs to infielders. The rightfielder can throw 80% of the kids out at first base on groundball singles throw the hole to right. The secondbaseman can bobble a ball for 2 years and still have enough time to recover and throw the runner out at first. The last few years of Little League, the catchers would be able to throw out basestealers so only the fast kids could be counted on to make it a close play. Now though, we're back to square one. Only a few kids can even make the throw from home to second without bouncing it let alone nail a runner. His hitting leaves something to be desired but he puts the work in and he tries. I think the bats are too heavy for him and once he grows and gets stronger he should be able to get around on these chumps a little better. The kid definitely has a glove. Likes playing second, but the problem is that everybody likes second. He can play the outfield and seems to get better at tracking fly balls each time he's out there. His arm has gotten stronger and in one game he was at third and made a great throw all the way across the diamond. He's trying to pitch a little now as he sees that being able to do more things on the diamond just gives him more opportunities to keep playing as the kids get bigger and the competition gets better. He's on 2 teams - his regular team which is 1-2 and an all-star team which had their first game rained out yesterday.

Trying to follow the game on my Crackberry from Fla. It just said 'Reyes pops out to third, Pagan scores, error on Chipper Jones'. Would one of you fine gentlemen please tell me what happened? Thanks.