Sunday, April 26, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Return of the groundhog
OK, this Cards series has been horrible. Obviously, Maine needs to pick it up big time. And Pelf needs to pitch.
Ollie's been up and down, I can live with that. Livan Hernandez? I mean, what can you really expect.
Murphy's fielding has been bad. No other way to say it. You know there are going to be growing pains. But you can't look so bad as to completely undermine the confidence of the guys around you. On the flip, his hitting has lived up to billing, and he's been one of the few getting clutch hits.
And speaking of which, it seems we once again are capable of massive offensive explosion, but churning out that key run remains very difficult.
Ollie's been up and down, I can live with that. Livan Hernandez? I mean, what can you really expect.
Murphy's fielding has been bad. No other way to say it. You know there are going to be growing pains. But you can't look so bad as to completely undermine the confidence of the guys around you. On the flip, his hitting has lived up to billing, and he's been one of the few getting clutch hits.
And speaking of which, it seems we once again are capable of massive offensive explosion, but churning out that key run remains very difficult.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Pouring salt into the wound
As if the Nationals season wasn't going bad enough... Apparently their jersey company couldn't even spell their team name correctly.
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Geek
Funny recap of yesterday's game over at The Geek. Sadly, the Mets are looking like a broken record, and you can basically just use a fill-in-the-blank approach to summarize each game.
One thing that's disappointing to me is that this is the first season in many years where I really have almost no interest in the team. Usually I'm psyched to see the season start, but given the crushing endings to '06, '07 and '08, along with no changes to starting rotation or break-up of "the core", I'm just not pumped for '09. Even Citi Field, which I'd love to check out this year, is disappointing in that they dramatically reduced seat capacity by about 13,000, and jacked prices way up.
Hopefully my enthusiasm goes up as the season progresses, because I surely need something to wash away the filthy aftertaste of the Jets doing their best Mets impersonation.
One thing that's disappointing to me is that this is the first season in many years where I really have almost no interest in the team. Usually I'm psyched to see the season start, but given the crushing endings to '06, '07 and '08, along with no changes to starting rotation or break-up of "the core", I'm just not pumped for '09. Even Citi Field, which I'd love to check out this year, is disappointing in that they dramatically reduced seat capacity by about 13,000, and jacked prices way up.
Hopefully my enthusiasm goes up as the season progresses, because I surely need something to wash away the filthy aftertaste of the Jets doing their best Mets impersonation.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Johan Santana
Man, is that guy freakin' amazing or what? What else can you say, the guy is simply the best.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Countering the groundhog
Lots of news to like at this point.
1/2 game up on the Philthies. At this juncture, till the Fish show me their lineup has staying power, Philly's the only team in the division I'm looking at in the standings.
Bullpen ranks 1st in NL ERA. Parnell, Putz, and K-Rod look outstanding. Feliciano, when used properly against left handers situationally, has been effective.
The heart of the lineup is on fire. Wright, Delgado and Beltran are off to scorching hot starts (.314, .343, .333 BAs going into tonight).
Church looks recovered from scrambled egg brain syndrome, off to a .400 start. Meanwhile, Lastings Milledge has been demoted to the minors.
Wouldja look at that? Luis Castillo is hitting .385.
The Gangsta hasn't done or said anything completely stupid thus far.
CitiField is awesome. Everytime I see Delgado hit one to the wall (or over it), my heart is gladdened by the sight of green seats and black and orange on the wall. Mel Ott, Christy Matthewson, Bobby Thompson, and our namesake Say Hey Kid is smiling somewhere.
1/2 game up on the Philthies. At this juncture, till the Fish show me their lineup has staying power, Philly's the only team in the division I'm looking at in the standings.
Bullpen ranks 1st in NL ERA. Parnell, Putz, and K-Rod look outstanding. Feliciano, when used properly against left handers situationally, has been effective.
The heart of the lineup is on fire. Wright, Delgado and Beltran are off to scorching hot starts (.314, .343, .333 BAs going into tonight).
Church looks recovered from scrambled egg brain syndrome, off to a .400 start. Meanwhile, Lastings Milledge has been demoted to the minors.
Wouldja look at that? Luis Castillo is hitting .385.
The Gangsta hasn't done or said anything completely stupid thus far.
CitiField is awesome. Everytime I see Delgado hit one to the wall (or over it), my heart is gladdened by the sight of green seats and black and orange on the wall. Mel Ott, Christy Matthewson, Bobby Thompson, and our namesake Say Hey Kid is smiling somewhere.
You can put lipstick on a pig...
...but it's still a pig.
And that pig is our starting rotation. This team will go as our 2-3-4 pitchers go, especially 2-3, and right now that's going nowhere.
NL East is going to be very tight this year. If we're within 5-10 games of first place by All-Star break, i'd predict a trade to get some serious pitching upgrade.
And that pig is our starting rotation. This team will go as our 2-3-4 pitchers go, especially 2-3, and right now that's going nowhere.
NL East is going to be very tight this year. If we're within 5-10 games of first place by All-Star break, i'd predict a trade to get some serious pitching upgrade.
Monday, April 13, 2009
2 games
and 2 corner outfield plays that cost us "W"s. We could easily be 5-2 instead of 3-4 right now, but for Murphy's error in LF against the Marlins and Church's misplay in RF tonight.
Reyes stranding the bases loaded with 2 outs and the Mets trailing by 1 in the 6th was a big blow tonight, and turned out to be our last scoring chance.
On the flip side, Murphy's 2 out RBI single to right with 2 outs in the 5th, followed by D Wright's 2 out, 3 run, game tying jack were definitely clutch. Too bad the fielding let us down.
Luckily, I'm going to Wednesday's game. As we all know, the season doesn't really start till I get to a game. So it's a new season come Wed.
Reyes stranding the bases loaded with 2 outs and the Mets trailing by 1 in the 6th was a big blow tonight, and turned out to be our last scoring chance.
On the flip side, Murphy's 2 out RBI single to right with 2 outs in the 5th, followed by D Wright's 2 out, 3 run, game tying jack were definitely clutch. Too bad the fielding let us down.
Luckily, I'm going to Wednesday's game. As we all know, the season doesn't really start till I get to a game. So it's a new season come Wed.
I love CitiField
Really happy with the new ballpark (don't call it a "stadium").
However, one thing I'm not happy about are the Byzantine pricing arrangements and naming conventions.
I'm gonna throw a few terms out at you, and you tell me where in thestadium park you think it's located.
Promenade Club
Baseline Box
Caesars Club
Excelsior Level
Ebbetts Club
Metropolitan Box
Delta Club
Left Field Landing
Promenade Box
However, one thing I'm not happy about are the Byzantine pricing arrangements and naming conventions.
I'm gonna throw a few terms out at you, and you tell me where in the
Promenade Club
Baseline Box
Caesars Club
Excelsior Level
Ebbetts Club
Metropolitan Box
Delta Club
Left Field Landing
Promenade Box
Talk about your tough luck outing for Johan
12 K vs 1 BB, and 7 IP with no ERs, and you take the loss. Ouch.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Some Met obversations
Jose Jose Jose has had a great week to start the year. He's focusing in the field and at the plate.
Church looks to have regained his early '08 form. He's killing the ball and playing a solid RF.
Murphy is off to a good start, and he's still looking like he might be on a track to unseat D Wright as my favorite Met.
The rotation has looked good, other than Ollie's meltdown. Pelf and Ollie sort of had Bizzaro outings. Pelf was shaky in the first, but then battled through. Ollie looked untouchable early, and then fell apart. Livan gave us 6 scoreless before the fish plated a couple in the 7th. Apparently Maine (shoulder) and Hernandez (knee) are pitching pain free for the time in multiple seasons, and Johan's spring "injury" seems pretty overblown after his first start. Guess we'll find out more tomorrow.
The revamped pen is obviously a huge improvement.
That's not to say they're going to be dominant top to bottom. Parnell, Green and O'Day have combined for some Maalox Masher moments early on, but I'll still gladly take where we are now over 12 months ago.
Delgado looks like he wants to make a contract year push.
Our offense has been tacking on late runs, something that was sorely missing last year.
Finally, the gangsta: he's growing on me. His weird, overly friendly, chuckling interview style doesn't exactly give me the impression he's a taskmaster, or all that knowledgeable. But for a team with a shattered psyche in need of a shrink, having a class clown for a manager, and a loose clubhouse, might not be the worst thing in the world. It's not a subscription for multi-year success (IMHO), but it may be a path to forgetting yesterday's epic fail.
Overall, after our first 5 games (all on the road), with a 3-2 record and our ace taking the hill tomorrow, I give us a B+. Now let's see how things develop as the season settles in.
Church looks to have regained his early '08 form. He's killing the ball and playing a solid RF.
Murphy is off to a good start, and he's still looking like he might be on a track to unseat D Wright as my favorite Met.
The rotation has looked good, other than Ollie's meltdown. Pelf and Ollie sort of had Bizzaro outings. Pelf was shaky in the first, but then battled through. Ollie looked untouchable early, and then fell apart. Livan gave us 6 scoreless before the fish plated a couple in the 7th. Apparently Maine (shoulder) and Hernandez (knee) are pitching pain free for the time in multiple seasons, and Johan's spring "injury" seems pretty overblown after his first start. Guess we'll find out more tomorrow.
The revamped pen is obviously a huge improvement.
That's not to say they're going to be dominant top to bottom. Parnell, Green and O'Day have combined for some Maalox Masher moments early on, but I'll still gladly take where we are now over 12 months ago.
Delgado looks like he wants to make a contract year push.
Our offense has been tacking on late runs, something that was sorely missing last year.
Finally, the gangsta: he's growing on me. His weird, overly friendly, chuckling interview style doesn't exactly give me the impression he's a taskmaster, or all that knowledgeable. But for a team with a shattered psyche in need of a shrink, having a class clown for a manager, and a loose clubhouse, might not be the worst thing in the world. It's not a subscription for multi-year success (IMHO), but it may be a path to forgetting yesterday's epic fail.
Overall, after our first 5 games (all on the road), with a 3-2 record and our ace taking the hill tomorrow, I give us a B+. Now let's see how things develop as the season settles in.
Saw a highlight of Griffey going yard.
Boy does he ever look right in an M's uniform. Should never have left.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Baby Blue Champs
It's nauseating to watch. Really.
On the flip, I've got to hand it to Ol' "Gaddumit" Roy. His team peaked at the right time and obliterated the opposition. They didn't face any real game pressure in the entire tourney.
I should point out that between Duke and UNC, there have now been 6 titles (3 each) in the last 18 years, a full 1/3 of the years.
That should pretty much lay to rest "best rivalry in college sports". Michigan-Ohio State football (1.5 national championships in the same period), Alabama-Auburn football (1 N.C.), or any other rivalries don't even come close to that.
I will hand it UF though. 2 football N.C.s and 2 basketball N.C.s since 2006 makes for it's own great rivalry between the two programs.
P.S. Big East teams in the final game: 0. In "the greatest year for any conference. Ever."
On the flip, I've got to hand it to Ol' "Gaddumit" Roy. His team peaked at the right time and obliterated the opposition. They didn't face any real game pressure in the entire tourney.
I should point out that between Duke and UNC, there have now been 6 titles (3 each) in the last 18 years, a full 1/3 of the years.
That should pretty much lay to rest "best rivalry in college sports". Michigan-Ohio State football (1.5 national championships in the same period), Alabama-Auburn football (1 N.C.), or any other rivalries don't even come close to that.
I will hand it UF though. 2 football N.C.s and 2 basketball N.C.s since 2006 makes for it's own great rivalry between the two programs.
P.S. Big East teams in the final game: 0. In "the greatest year for any conference. Ever."
Monday, April 06, 2009
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