Gee, Turner, Bay, and The Jurrjens Death Stare

The Mets picked up a nice Don’t Disappoint Game win tonight thanks to the one and only Dillon Gee.  He is a monster. Simple as that.

You know you are doing something right when people continually say “This guys knows how to pitch.”

Justin Turner Likes Playing Baseball

It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned Justin Turner in one of my posts.  It is almost as if I have come to expect his daily dose of solid play.  I know I am going to get at least one hit out of him, be reliable with the glove, and do the little things to win.

Tonight was no different.  One for three, solid D, and a nice two strike sacrifice fly to bring in the Mets last run of the night.

The guys on SNY briefly brought up the conversation of who would play second base when Wright and Davis get back.  Ron Darling had a good point.  He said that these things usually have a way of working themselves out.  Basically, we shouldn’t expect Tuner, Murphy, and Tejada to all play this well for the entire stretch of Wright and Davis’s injuries.

Regardless, another solid game from Red tonight.

And on the complete other end of the spectrum…..

Jason Bay, Our Right Fielder

The worst beginning to a Mets career ever continues with an 0 for 4 evening.  To be honest, I am no longer frustrated with Jason Bay.

I actually feel bad for him in a way.  It has to do tremendous damage to his psyche when he and everyone watching the game in the park and on TV know he is going to see an outside breaking ball with two strikes and he still looks utterly foolish waving it at for strike three.  Over and over and over again.

Wow.  That was a really long second sentence.  We may have to open up the coffers here at Midwestropolitan and hire an editor. 

Allow me to share how I prevent this monstrosity of a season from affecting my daily life.

You see, I have a substantial amount of experience as a little league coach.  If you have ever participated in or watched a little league game you inevitably know who the kids are that are an automatic out in your lineup.  You are just hoping that they draw a walk or get hit by a pitch because you and everyone else knows they won’t be getting a hit.  They typically play right field on defense.

Jason Bay is the Mets version of the “Little League Right Fielder”.  It has gotten to the point where I am surprised when he gets a hit and I place it in the category of offensive production I didn’t expect tonight.  Much like when little Johnny miraculously places a swinging bunt in the perfect spot on the infield and scampers to first for his only hit of the season.

So now when he gets to the plate, all of the anger and frustration are no longer present.  I am rooting for him to do well, but have come to expect little production.

This is a much better option than getting angry and saying mean and hateful things about him and his family all the time.  It’s not like the guys isn’t trying.

Midwestropolitan Public Service Message:

If you are the guy that is saying mean and hateful things about Jason Bay and his family, stop.  Call this 1-800 number linked here for help.  And remember, only you can prevent forest fires.

Jair Jurrjens Death Stare

In this day and age the camera picks up everything.  After Jose Reyes’ huge triple in the seventh inning, SNY showed Jair Jurrjens’ reaction (the starter that had just been pulled for those of you that did not get to see the game).

He threw his hands up in the air and shot over a very scary looking death stare in the direction of his manager, Fredi Gonzalez.  I swear, I thought laser beams were going to come out of his eyes or possibly daggers, maybe poisonous rattle snakes.

I have to agree with Jair on this one.  Why bring in the pen there Fredi?  You have arguably your best pitcher on the hill facing his first sign of trouble at only 80 or so pitches.  A big reason why he was in trouble was because his shortstop booted the ball around to begin with.  It’s not like the Mets were owning him all game long.

Sometimes I think managers feel they have to make moves just to remind everyone that they are still present.  Almost like that annoying clinger friend we all had in high school, “Hey guys, what’s up?  I’m still here.  What are you guys doin’?”

Regardless, I thank you Fredi Gonzalez.  Again.

A New Statistic For A Game Lacking Them

The reality of the current situation is that none of us should have expected great things in 2011.  Hell, even the front  office warned us this would be a transitional season.  They didn’t even try to talk a big game in terms of what we  should expect.

All I recall is something like, “We feel it is possible to contend for the playoffs” which really translates to “We have no chance in hell for a successful 2011 unless we catch a number of breaks.”

So, instead of becoming a small, teeny, little man and writing nothing but “Mets Suck” posts all the time I decided  to do something a little more productive and fun with my time.  What better way than to invent another set of  statistics for a game that has so very little numeric data to evaluate.

I already informed you that I typically view baseball seasons one series at a time, and I am positive you have been following the series records we have posted on this website on a regular basis.

It has always been interesting to me how different each series feels after the first game. Going into every series I have, what I feel, is a realistic expectation on how the Mets should perform.  This expectation is based on several factors such as home vs away, talent, and how each team has been playing heading into the series.

In order to remain realistic, I very rarely expect a sweep or to be swept.  Frankly, getting swept should never happen.  Kind of like picking your nose in your car while sitting in traffic.

As each series progresses the Mets find themselves in a couple of different scenarios.

1.  Having to win a game (sometimes two) to meet my expectations.

2.  Finding themselves in position to win one or two to exceed my expectations.

DON’T DISAPPOINT GAMES

Games in which the Mets find themselves fighting for their life to keep me happy have been creatively called “Don’t Disappoint Games” (DDGs).

Let’s use the Colorado series as an example, shall we?

Going into the series I felt Colorado certainly had a better team and were playing better baseball.  However, the Mets were at home so I felt it was reasonable to expect them to split the series.

As you all know, the Mets dropped the first two games of the four game set putting them in a very perilous position.  They faced not one, but two DDGs.  0-2 in DDGs…ugh.

HOUSE MONEY GAMES

Derived from the popular gambling pharase, “you are playing with house money”, House Money Games (HMGs) are games in which the Mets have an opportunity to exceed series expectations.  Take the Florida series for example.

Based on the fact that the Mets were on the road within the division I felt it was realistic that they would lose that series.  They split the first two games of the series setting up a HMG in the rubber match.  By winning that game they started off with 1-0 HMG record.

CATCHING UP

Let’s take a look at how the Mets have faired in Don’t Disapoint and House Money Games this year.  We’ll go series by series.

Florida:  See above.  1-0 HMG

Philadelphia:  Remember the Philly series?  Remember the Mets winning the first game of the series and everyone claiming that they were never going to lose again?  That win put them in a great position because I expected them to lose the series.

They now had two House Money Games in front of them.  You remember what happened, unless you have forced it from your subconscious.  1-2 HMG

Washington:  Based on the fact the Mets were at home I expected a series win against the Nats.  They split the first two games setting up the first Don’t disappoint Game of the season.  0-1 DDG

Colorado:  See above.  0-3 DDG

Using these lovely new statistics, you can see why Mets fans are getting pretty whiny.

Maybe none of this makes sense to some of you.  That is unfortunate because it makes sense in my warped little mind so I am going to roll with it.

ATLANTA EXPECTATIONS

Now the Mets travel to Atlanta with a huge black cloud of disappointment hovering over their heads.  It is still early, so I expect the Mets to scrap out at least one win this weekend even though they are playing in Atlanta, a place that has not been too friendly over the years.

Let’s see what happens.