Come On Dude

According to the Associated Press, James G. Falzon is suing the New York Mets, Major League Baseball, Jarden Coorperation (Rawlings brand bat maker), Luis Castillo, and Ramon Castro.

Why?

He suffered multiple face lacerations including a broken palate at Shea Stadium in 2007 because he was struck in the face by a shattered bat while his son was looking on.

Don’t get me wrong, it stinks that he was struck in the face and I completely sympathize with how that ruined his day. No one wants to see that happen.

However, go to any Major League or Minor League park and you’ll find very clear signage that warn you to beware of flying objects.

There is some inherent risk when going to a baseball game and forking over the big bucks for a nice seat. Flying objects like baseballs and broken bats is one example. Sitting around a bunch of people jibber-jabbering on their cell phones not paying any attention to the game is another.

Call me old-fashioned, but this situation strikes me as an unfortunate accident. Nothing more, nothing less. As my parents used to tell me when I was growing up, “That’s life kid.  Sometimes life is unfair.”

Suing a bunch of people over an unfortunate accident and wasting a lot of people’s time and money is not the answer. This injury is exactly what health insurance is for.

What does this teach his kid? Something unfortunate happens so look for a pay day?

Ramon Castro being named in the lawsuit is the funniest (probably not to Ramon) thing about this ridiculous situation. He wasn’t even at the plate. He is being sued because Luis Castillo was using his bat.

I’ve got ten bucks that says Luis accidentally grabbed Ramon’s bat. Castro…..Castillo, who’s betting against me?

Oh well, another day, another frivolous lawsuit.

Originally published on Mets Gazette.

What Don’t We Know?

Yesterday, we discovered that Omar Minaya has been given a vote of confidence and will remain the General Manger of the Mets in 2011, much to the dismay of many fans.

Quite simply put, Omar has been an average GM during his tenure with the Mets. He has been able to attract high priced free agents during the off-season, but consistently fails at making mid-season moves.

To be fair, I would imagine that there are a number of franchises that would love to have him manning the phones. However, average doesn’t fly in New York.

Minaya and manager, Jerry Manuel, have been whipping posts for the New York media and the Mets fan base. It seems clear, that Manuel will not be around for 2011. Why is it that Minaya keeps his job? What don’t we know that he and the Wilpons do?

In this day and age of instant information and total access, we tend to forget that we are not privy to every detail of the Mets organizational plan. The Mets, like any other organization, release just enough information to the public to try to appease us.

Is it possible that Minaya has met or exceeded the expectations of the Wilpons with the resources he has been provided?

What if the Mets truly have budget issues? The only way they were going to improve this year was by adding payroll as they picked up high salaried veteran players. If there was no money in the wallet, then there were no moves to be made.

Maybe it is possible that going into this season Minaya explained that the Mets had a .500 ball club and he needed to add more talent. The Wilpons informed him he could not add any salary or change coaches in the middle of the season because they did not want to pay the remainder of a fired coach’s salary.

After the first half of the season ended, maybe they discussed the team’s future, and Omar convinced the Wilpons that Ike Davis, Josh Thole, Fernando Martinez, and Jennry Mejia, would be ready by 2012. His long term plan was to combine these players with Wright and Reyes and find pitching with the money that would be opening up when the contracts of Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo, and Oliver Perez expire.

I’m not sure how the Wilpons can be convinced of these points, but I’ve never actually met Omar, nor do I have all of the information in my possession that he does. I hope there is a chance he has a grand plan and he cannot fill us in on the details because it would ruin the results.

Minaya relied on expectations that Carlos Beltran would boost the offense when returned. He relied on an aging second basemen in Luis Castillo who’s average is too ghastly to speak of. He signed Jason Bay to a huge contract that has netted him a decent average, above average fielding, only six home runs, and a mild concussion.

Whatever the case may be, Omar is staying. Many of us may not agree with that fact. The reality of the situation is that he has convinced the only people that have the ability to make a change.

Originally published on Mets Gazette.

Favorites & Frustrations

The game of baseball provides numerous opportunities (162 to be exact) to observe your favorite team in action.

As many of you can relate, you tend to pick up on a thing or two that you love about your team, and a thing or two that drives you crazy.

I took the time to think of a few of our favorite things to see while watching the Mets, along with some of the must frustrating things. Here are a few in no particular order:

FAVORITES

* The Jose Reyes Triple.
* SNY’s Gary Cohen’s home run call “It’s outta here!”
* The Jeff Francoeur muskrat look when he hits a home run.
* Getting to call Henry Blanco “Hank White” (it never gets old).
* Watching Angel Pagan run the bases (a frustration in 2009).
* David Wright driving the ball to the opposite field.
* David Wright driving the ball into the left field stands.
* The Jerry Manuel clap when he argues with an umpire (I have no idea why, but I love it when he does that)
* Johan Santana telling Jerry Manuel to go back to the dugout (I know this only happened once this season, but it was so great that it made the list).
* Ike Davis flying over the first base dugout railing as he catches a foul ball.
* Anytime Chris Carter gets an at bat. You get to say “The Animal”.

FRUSTRATIONS

* Stretches when Jerry Manuel thinks the only reliever in the bullpen is Raul Valdes
* Oliver Perez warming up in the bullpen.
* The Jose Reyes pop up.
* Jeff Francouer swinging at the first pitch.
* The Jeff Francouer muskrat look when he pops up.
* Mike Pelfrey licking his fingers.
* Jason Bay flailing at an outside breaking ball.
* A Jerry Manuel visit to the mound.
* Another Jerry Manuel visit to the mound.
* The Luis Castillo slap chopper.
* Francisco Rodriguez insisting on putting at least two men on base during every appearance (mysteriously absent last night…).
* Giving up another home run to Chipper Jones or Pat Burrell