Well Deserved

Nelson Figueroa is getting his opportunity and is taking advantage. Of course, performing well in meaningless games for a 35-year old journeyman is nothing to get excited about, but it's nice to see someone continue to work at it and get rewarded. Jerry must have read my post last week about letting them pitch 'till they drop: who thought Figgy was coming back for that eight inning, already having thrown well over 100 pitches?

The Mets actually got Milton Bradley out today, a popout in the 3rd inning.

11 hits in the fourth inning, but only one the rest of the way- that's the way the offense has been lately. Score a run a game or explode for an 18 hit game.

Wind or no wind, Luis Castillo is shaky on those popups. Bad memories.

Santana Bites the Dust

Season ending surgery for Johan. Memo to Carlos and Jose: if your problems require surgery, just get it done. Get it done now and just be healthy come March 2010.

J.J. Putz was scheduled to have a rehab start tonight, but was scratched. Heck, shut him down too. Just be healthy for 2010.

Is there anyone else that should be shut down that is not already? Luis Castillo? Frankie Rodriguez? Eh, those guys can keep on playing, not sure I'd be too worried about their inevitable injuries. We can simply go after Orlando Hudson and offer Wags a chance to come back and close, since that's what he wants. Come to think of it, can you imagine K-Rod getting hurt, expected to miss the first few months of 2010, and the Mets sign Wagner to close? Yeah I'm still dreaming about that three-closer bullpen that was not to be.

Wagner, of course, was traded to Boston. I know they've won enough recently, but go Sox. Give us something to cheer about if the LCS and WS goes through the Bronx and Philly.

Last Men Standing

David Wright hit the disabled list. A fitting end to a movie with a sad ending where the bad guys manage to kill all the heroes with the final blow coming in painful fashion.

However, there were still some characters alive and active, albeit not the stars with names like Reyes, Delgado, Beltran and Wright. Not including our catcher, they were the remaining starting three from opening day and they all came through this afternoon. Luis Castillo hit a 420 foot homerun- more on that in a sec. Jeff Francoeur (not on our opening day roster but you get the point) with the leadoff single in the 9th. And Daniel Murphy, who finally comes through vs. a lefty to win the game. That's all we have left.

Castillo was hell bent on hitting a homerun today. Did you see the swing and miss in the first inning? He wanted to hit one in the left field landing section. To those unfamiliar with Citi Field, the left field landing section is the second deck in left field, a poor choice of a name, considering that only a couple balls have gone in there all season. He didn't do it in the first, but sure did in the fifth to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. I think Castillo should permanently bat right-handed. Would you take .300 and and OBP of .380 with 1 HR or a .270/.350 with a much higher slugging percentage? The guy's got power from that right side and is a completely different hitter who can drive the ball with authority.

This is a small but noticeable thing: why does Anderson Hernandez not dive for that ball in the hole that gave the Giants the 1-0 lead? If he stops it, the run does not score. It's says a lot and shows you why a team like the Nationals would be fine with handing him back to the Mets.

Is there anyone else who by the third inning thought that Mike Pelfrey was going to throw nine no-hit innings, but the Mets were going to lose 1-0 in 10?

Some more Citi Field notes from a hot Sunday: Please get rid of that Jon Stewart "Let's Go Mets" clip. Also just when I thought I'd have a nice relaxing lunch in the shade of the bullpen plaza I see that it was blocked off for some private party. I hope this is not an every game occurrence.

Oe- who?

That would be Trent Oeltjen, who is one-upping what Mike Jacobs did to the Diamondbacks back in 2005. Sure, this guy has not hit as many homeruns, but he's doing just about everything else. At least Mark Reynolds isn't hitting any bombs off us like he did in Flushing last week.

The season continues to go down the toilet. Who are we kidding, it already has. 11 game homestand coming up after a get-me-out-of-the-west matinee later this afternoon. Should be good times at Citi.

I'm tired of watching Livan Hernandez throw bp. Give the job to Nelson Figueroa in the meantime. He has deserved a chance, despite that awful start in his return vs these same Diamondbacks. Guess what? The Mets are done with the Snakes the next time Livan's turn is up in the rotation. Give Figgy the few starts he deserves.

Aside from Luis Castillo (who's having a fine Castillo season minus a stumble down some stairs, a dropped popup and some lazy throws to first), the highest on base percentage in last night's lineup was Alex Cora's .325. Pathetic.

Can't Have It All

A six game winning streak. A four game sweep of a team in front of us in the Wild Card hunt. A gem by Jon Niese. All pretty much extinguished with a David Wright strikeout followed by yet another botched delayed steal of home in the first inning.

That was the chance for the Mets. It was a chance to jump out in front early and give the sagging Rockie confidence another Flushing blow. They've lost like 20 of their last 22 here. Put them down early and they stay down. If Pagan somehow scores, maybe the Mets squeak out another run and have a bigger lead than the 1-0 lead they held for a little over an inning later on.

As it is, you have to be happy to take three out of four. Now comes yet another four gamer, vs. Arizona. Winning these series is tough. Winning them back to back is tougher. I'd like to be confident coming off Livan's last start in Houston, but the prospects of Livan-Ollie-Pelfrey-Redding? in the next four makes me think we are not winning three of four again.

See what happens when you give Castillo a day off? 0-for-3.

I kid.

Scoreboard Watching

When you're hot, you're hot- all things go your way. I could've called Luis Castillo out from the Promenade Level. What was Razor Shines thinking when you are up 3-0 with no one out in the 8th inning? Sure enough, Francoeur struck out and Tatis popped up in the following at bats, so maybe Razor knew something we all didn't.

It didn't matter in the end. Sean Green did his best to prevent us from catching the 10:17 out of Woodside, but failed. You gotta love that 7 express with 61st as the next stop. If you can get from your seat in the Promenade at 10:00 and be on a train at 10:17 (in addition to having a little luck on your side), you know traffic flow leaving the park has greatly improved at Citi.

One thing that was not an improvement was the second scoreboard in right field. Gone were the lineups and pitch count. At least the pitch count could be found on one of the auxiliary scoreboards. If you didn't keep a scorecard, your only hope for knowing the lineup was memory or checking who's in the on-deck circle. Instead they made the second scoreboard in right a stretched out copy of the left. I know they are trying to satisfy the fans with obstructed views down in the left field reserved, but having two giant scoreboards almost side by side showing the exact same thing is a waste of resources.

Thankfully, the second board went out in the third inning. Zap. It was gone. Not sure if it was intentional, or a malfunction, but I'm glad it happened. I'm sure many others in the park would appreciate the return of the lineups. Don't you miss that giant Shea board now?

In order to please those who can't see Citivision is it too much to ask for that feed to be piped into all those TVs down there instead of the SNY broadcast? I'm sure they can make that happen. Leave the SNY broadcast on the TVs in all of the concessions, and have Citivision run on all the screens for the audience in the lower levels. Now everyone can watch the Kiss Cam. And we can have our lineups back.

Four in a row with Johan up next. Maybe there's some hope.

A Game Of Redeeming Features

After seeing this McGehee fellow, one had to wonder, "who the hell is this guy?" We got to know Mr McGehee very well last night. First he one-upped Luis Castillo on a dropped pop up- it was easier than Luis' attempt, although did not happen with two out in the ninth inning. Too bad Castillo's miscue did not happen in the top of the ninth a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps he would have had the chance to redeem himself with a grand slam in the bottom half. Sure. Luis Castillo? Never mind Luis, how about a MET homerun?

Granted, the Mets did come up with a nice little ninth inning rally last night. That was quickly snuffed by one pitch from Trevor Hoffman, who induced Brian Schneider (who seems to get juiced up when he finds two men on base) into a game ending double play.

Then there's news like this on Beltran. The Mets are overly optimistic when it comes to injuries, and the Post is doom and gloom. Can we find any middle ground here?!?

On a side note, while the Mets were being knocked around in Milwaukee, I was running the old Shea bases at Citi. I was at the Mets new home for a company party in the Caesars club, and I must say, if you have a special occasion and want to hold an event, the place works. How much it costs to rent for a few hours I have no idea. However, if you are in charge of ordering the food for your party, please do not pick Flan for dessert.

Nightmare

I've slept on this one and still can't come to grips with what happened last night.

In the last day or so, we've seen the lists of top games in Subway Series history since this stuff started back in 1997. A second before the ball clanked off Luis Castillo's glove last night this one was headed for that list in the Mets favor. Instead of future Mets classics on SNY airing Joba walking the ballpark and Wright shooting one up the gap off Rivera, the video of this one will only be seen on the YES Network.

Everyone's crying about Castillo and they want him out. Aside from a buyout, it's not happening. Who else is going to play second base? Argenis Reyes? Alex Cora, when Reyes returns? They tried to get rid of him in the offseason. There were no takers. We're stuck with him for two and half more years. Two and half more years of choking and heartbreak. Pop quiz. Who is the one player on this team that symbolizes the collapse? Wright? Reyes? Beltran? Wrong. Luis Castillo. We acquired him in the 2007 season for the stretch drive. Some stretch drive.

K-Rod was not going to be perfect all the time (maybe this season, who knows), but wow, that's a tough way to get tagged with your first blown save of the season in June.

***

The night as a whole was a disaster. It was frustrating the damn Met game took so look that it conflicted with the final minutes of Game 7 of the Cup Finals. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on their victory, as much as it pains me to says it. They were the better team and I pretty much called it, aside from a St. Louis Blues non-upset in the first round. Hey, when your bracket almost comes out perfect you have to mention it. Now if I left out the series length it would've really looked good.

How does Marian Hossa feel right now? Aside from Penguin fans, do you feel bad for the guy? Does he agree to go back to Pittsburgh this summer at a discount, citing "the best chance to win a Cup?" Maybe he hated Therien, who knows?

An awful night all around. Can't remember one worse than this one if you're a Mets/Rangers diehard, considering the only conflicts with the two sports is playoffs in one and early regular season in the other. The loss in the regular season affair would have to be brutal. It's safe to say last night fit the bill.

Oh Baby, No Baby: Rangers one away, Mets swept

Can you believe the Rangers have a three games to one lead over the Capitals? You can thank Henrik Lundqvist for that one. After an intense first period that was well played, the ice tilted towards Henrik. Thanks for some iron behind him and fantastic play, he saved the day.

Just like last Wednesday, I had to resort to getting to the Garden just to catch as much of the final period as I possibly could. The last report of 2-0, 2nd intermission on the phone, became 2-1 with 13 minutes to play as I arrived at the top steps above Penn Station onto the Cheering for Children tiles, with the televisions in view. Several other Ranger fans were there as well.

You would think anyone in charge would notice that a bunch of people were intently watching the third period and maybe have done something like, I don't know, turn on the sound of the game. Things get confusing when you're watching the game on TV, then you hear Markus Naslund's voice, "Hi, this is Markus Naslund, welcome to Madison Square Garden, the World's Most Famous Arena", followed by Sam Rosen calling a Naslund goal, which has nothing to do with the action on the screen. Then you got the goal song blaring while you're busy sweating yet another Washington power play with a few minutes to go in the game.

Sean Avery, what can you say? Inexcusable. What he did was wrong, indeed. With all his miscues, what was he doing on the ice in the last few minutes anyway?

People who left early to catch trains (and there were quite a few leaving the lobby area, who were at the game) should give their tickets to someone else before the game. I don't know how you leave that game.



When one season ends, whether it's hockey or baseball, you look forward to devoting your full attention to the other sport. However, if the Rangers and Mets keep this up, we'll be looking forward to training camp in September when this current Ranger season ends.

What is going on with John Maine?



Albert Pujols is a monster. Livan Hernandez is what he is. Unfortunately Sean Green threw gas on the fire this afternoon. The Mets have now lost four straight and are reeling.

Luis Castillo is actually one of our hottest hitters, and he gets another day off, the second in a week? He's getting the day game after night game catcher treatment.

We can only hope the Mets will be relevant once hockey season ends. That's all we ask for with every somber end to a Ranger season. Maybe it will be June when that happens and the ending to not be somber. Henrik will have to have many more nights like last night.

Blogs are Tough

OK, I'll admit it. Keeping a blog up to date is not easy. Seeing that I have not really expressed my thoughts on the Rangers and Mets since the second to last game and the opening Cincy series, respectively, I'll throw out a bunch of random thoughts to sum up the past week or so.

Rangers:
-It was sweet to see them win that last game in Philly. So what if it gave just as hated Pittburgh home ice. Sticking it to the Flyers in their own building was fun. Add to that the shorthanded goal we got, the first one they've given up all season.
-I missed most of game 1, but was able to get to the Garden lobby with about 15 minutes to go in the third to watch on the TVs they conveniently have set up there. Works out perfectly, especially when your next train is not until 9:45. Anyway, to my dismay, a 3-1 lead was 3-3, but a sweet move by Dubinsky put the Rangers ahead to stay. Plenty of Knick fans exiting at halftime of their last home game (an 8pm start) was kind of annoying, but not too much of a distraction. I guess if there were any Knick fans that were Ranger fans, they decided not to attend this one, because no one leaving the Garden stopped to turn and look up at the TVs.
-I was not subjected to an NBC Ovechkin lovefest because I invested in this thing. However the first test was kind of a failure, as NBC HD was about 10 seconds later than the radio feed. My new toy only allowed you to delay the radio feed by 8 seconds. Decision time: watch NBC HD with Emrick and the gang or watch NBC standard def with Kenny and Dave on the radio. The latter it was. It's amazing that the Rangers have now won the first two road games of the first round to take a 2-0 series lead each of the last three seasons. Let's hope it turns out the same way (we can do without the game 3 overtime loss, which was the case vs. Jersey last year).

Mets:
-The Marlins are annoying. How is it they get away with their six year plan of winning a title, blowing it up, winning again six years later, blowing it up again, and now six years later are off to a great start, looking like a good team except for their bullpen. Emilio Bonafacio is the new Shane Victorino. Pain in the ass.
-Speaking of pain in the ass, welcome back to Citi David Eckstein, here to torment the Mets again. Padres win two of three in the first ever series in the new park. More on that in a bit.
-A sweep over the Brewers would have been a nice end to the homestand after losing the series to the Padres. However, Todd Coffey pulls a 1970's style 2.2 inning save, getting out of jam after jam to hold on for the victory.
-What the hell do the Mets have against Ryan Church?
-I know Fernando Tatis has to get some playing time, but to stick him at second over Castillo, who's red hot- I don't know about that one. To top it off, the first two batters reach base late, calling for a perfect bunt situation with Tatis coming up. Instead of pinch hitting Castillo to bunt, Tatis strikes out.

Citi Field:
-After attending the exhibition game I was in love with the place. Then I attended opening night. I'm not going to be as picky as many others who have expressed criticism, but here are my only gripes:

Ads covering the bullpen and the tarp over the bullpen. I mean, wow, do the relievers get no respect or what? No wonder JJ Putz was watching the game from the dugout today. It looks silly from a design perspective- you build these bullpens for fan access and then make it look worse than it would have if fan access was not the intent and they were built in normal spots in right and left field. Even the TV crew can't figure out who's warming up in the visitor's pen! Why bother trying to show who's warming up on TV through the chain fence, there's nothing to see! Embarrassing for a new park.

Excelsior level access. I understand not letting certain cheap seat holders to the Caesar's Club. But the concourse level as well? Let all the fans have access to those fancy bars on the Excelsior concourse. If you can go to the field level, you should be able to go there as well.

Put fans so close to the field that they can touch fair balls down the line. Genius. These umpires must be going nuts, their job is not getting any easier with the new parks.

New Yankee Stadium:
-Why don't they just call the first row of the bleacher area Jeffrey Maier row? It took only until the 4th game for a controversial homerun call due to fan interference. There are going to many more of these. Citi is not much better. Watch for the first homerun in left field to be touched by a fan and deflect off the orange stripe on top of the fence and back into play. The instant replay rule must have allowed these designers to have the first row of seats so close to the homerun fence. It's like they want the new parks to set a record for most homeruns requiring instant replay.

Mets 2, Reds 1

Aside from the new stadium, there has not been opinion and commentary on the Mets themselves here. With opening day now having come and gone, it's time to get going.

We have a bullpen now. Not since 2006 have we been able to say that. Yes it's only one game. But this is exactly what the braintrust had in mind over the winter meetings. Santana-Putz-K-Rod not quite. On this cold and frigid Cincinnati day, we needed Sean Green to come up big as well.

Daniel Murphy is awesome. He's the perfect #2 hitter and showed it with a patient at bat before launching one into the rightfield seats.

Freakin MLB gameday did not pick up the WFAN feed today. So those of us stuck at work without a radio and who did not speak Spanish had to listen to the Cincinnati feed (WADO, home of the Met broadcasts in Spanish, was available on Gameday radio). Made us root harder for Putz when those clowns were hoping for a walk and a blast from Votto in the 8th. Of course they made it a point to remind us that Votto hit a double off JJ while playing for Team Canada in the WBC. Sit down Joey!

Hey, Luis Castillo had a double.

The Mets offense picked up right they left off last season, leaving 50 men on base.

It was opening day, listening to the game at the office was not enough. The DVR was rolling come evening time. Welcome back Gary, Keith, and Ron. I only watched maybe a couple of innings of spring training, all 45 days or so of it.

Oh baby, baseball's back. Thanks to what the Mets have done the past couple of seasons I'm pretty numb to what the Rangers are doing right now. Although the same cities are kind of making it irritating. On the diamond, Philly gets in the last two years because we lose to Florida. Now on the ice, Florida could get in because we lose to Philly.