Some Quick Game Notes

I’m tired so here’s some quick hits…

• Dillon Gee’s performance tonight snapped a streak of 36 games in which Mets’ starter’s gave up two or more runs.  Out of all of the stats I’ve seen recently, this one illustrates the point I have been making about how average the rotation is collectively this year.
• Ron Darling’s annoyance at how much the Padres’ bullpen slowed the game down was amusing.

“These relief pitcher’s have put a parachute on this game.  Thatcher has faked to second four times this inning…”-Ron Darling

• Even though he had only one hit, David Wright had a huge impact on this game.  His three run blast is obvious, but I really enjoyed his fake throw to first to fool Maybin for an out in the bottom of the frame.  Don’t forget, this happened after his diving stop prevented Maybin from scoring in the first place.
• Chalk up two more runs allowed by Igarashi.  Seems like a nice dude, but I can’t say I’ll be too upset the day we see him leave the franchise permanently.  He is a run allowing machine.
• Jason Bay is Baying again (0 for his last 20)…
• No matter what the situation, a road series win is always a good thing.  Particularly at a park that the Mets have struggled in historically.

A Nifty Win

Ignore the fact the Mets are slightly injury plagued and need some help in the pitching department for one night.

Allow yourself to give them an “atta boy” for a change.  It is enjoyable to see them play with some sticktoitiveness and fight for a win after yesterday’s crushing blow.

A few feel good highlights for me tonight,

• David Wright’s three RBI night including a two run bomb and a big RBI single in the ninth inning. Amazing what the guy can do when his back isn’t broken.
• Lucas Duda is quietly becoming quite a run producer.  His two run, walk off single, gives him 10 RBIs in his last 11 games.  That’s almost one a game for you math majors out there
• Jason Bay goes deep again.  Nothing really witty to say here, I just liked his home run.
• Last but not least, I really got a kick out of Mike Baxter’s family’s reaction to his eighth inning, pinch hit, double.  Sweet.

Of course, a Midwestropolitan.com “Air Claw” goes out to each one of them.  While we’re at it, give yourself one too.

That my friends, is all.  Have a pleasant evening.

Hmpf

This game pissed me off so I’ll react in grunts…

• Pelfrey good game
• Confirmed, Angel Pagan back to his old head scratching ways after hiatus in 2010
• Lucas Duda’s could only enjoy his biggest home run as a Met for a half of an inning
• Daniel Murphy’s lack of a natural defensive position is glaringly hurtful
• Murph can still hit
• Jason Bay hit a home run…..yay
• Jose Reyes is still chilly
• Wish Wright would throw the ball over hand
• Izzy probably wishes he threw a curve ball to Stanton in the 10th
• Mets lose out on an opportunity to gain ground on the Braves

I feel better now.  The good thing is the Mets can still win this series.

I Guess Not

Earlier today I posed the following question:

Go ahead.  Point and laugh at my unfortunate misspelling of the word expect.  Get it out of your system.

If you must know, I mistakenly keyed an x instead of a c when I was tweeting from my phone.  Stupid fat fingers.  They have haunted me my whole life.

Now that’s been addressed I can move on to tonight’s game.

• With the exception of one Jayson Werth at bat, R.A. Dickey pitched well.
• When I posed the question above I wasn’t expecting the Mets to get shut out.  Ouch.

I’m not overly concerned about the shutout.  It was one of those games where the bats were a tad off of a number of pitches.  You’ll have that every once in a while.

• David Wright and Jason Bay continued to hit, which is nice.
• Jose Reyes went 0 for 4.

He’s been on an interesting pattern in the last two series.  He will have on 0fer one night and then follow-up with a Jose night the next game.  My hope is that he isn’t on the verge of a major cool down. 

The bottom line is that the Mets still find themselves in a position to pick up another road series win.  So I’m chalking this one up to not catching a couple of breaks with the bats and expect to see them put the pressure back on at the plate tomorrow.

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Quite The Intriguing Team

You have dealt with injuries to all of your star players and a number of supporting cast members.  You survive the endless talk about losing the most exciting player in the game.  You have been inundated with question after question about where one of your best players is going to be traded since the All-Star Break.  Said player is finally traded.

What do you do?

Sweep a team that was in the playoffs last year and is in contention again this year in their home ball park in a four game series.  Why the hell not.

Four days ago I had accepted that this team was officially in rebuilding mode for 2012. Now I find myself fascinated by the following questions:

• Can this team really shock the baseball world and make a run at the post season?
• Is Lucas Duda for real?
• How long was Wright’s back hurting him and can we expect this type of production now that he is healthy?
• Is Bobby Parnell coming of age?
• Can Jason Isringhausen hold up as the team’s closer for the rest of the season?
• How can this team win when Jose Reyes has one of his worst offensive series of the season (3 for 19)?
• Why is it that we still have not learned the reason for Mike Pelfrey’s excessive finger/palm licking?
• Why do managers, coaches, and training staff still have to wear uniform pants?
• Is Ike Davis still alive?
• Why is midwestropolitan.com this awesome?
• When will Major League Baseball change its archaic blackout restrictions for television coverage?
• Did the Wilpons finally learn to keep their traps shut after the Fred Fiasco at the beginning of the year?
• Is today’s game the mark of Jason Bay finally breaking out of his bay? (This question was more for you, because I have already trained myself not to think about it any longer this season).

Regardless of how many of these questions we get answered, I am happy to say I am anticipating an entertaining remainder of the 2011 season.  I still doubt it will end with a post season appearance, but at least it will keep me from re-organizing my sock drawer or alphabetizing my spice rack.

Annual Trip Recap

The annual trek to Cincinnati was a success.  A Mets win makes all of the travel time worth it.  For posterity’s sake, I wanted to summarize this year’s game experience.

Every year the interactions with Reds’ fans is typically fun.  This year wasn’t any different as it started when we stopped outside of Cincinnati to fill up our tanks:

One of our regular readers (@kelstarcher) wondered if I threw him an air claw.

We got caught in some traffic and missed batting practice.  Slight bummer, but were able to make it to our seats right after the national anthem.

Once we got settled in, I started tweeting the experience.  Of course, my first tweet failed because I attached a picture and I imagine it was too large of a file or something lame like that.  Maybe next year I take a member of our technical staff with us.

Anyway, here goes the game time tweets.

My reaction to J Bay ending the first inning run scoring extravaganza with another strikeout:

My reply to @MetsFanInPhilly after asking me if I was at the game:

During past ventures to the Great American Ballpark, I have been impressed with the overall baseball intelligence of Cincy fans.  Last night was a break from the norm.  It was about this time (Brandon Phillips first at bat) that I first witnessed what would be a recurring theme behind me:

I tried to spend some time observing things you normally don’t get to see when watching the game on TV:

The hash tag at the end was actually:

#nottheguyisouldstandnxttoconsideringinjuryhistoryofthemets.  Damn technical staff, where are you guys?

Back to the in game tweets. 

An absolute must:

Carlos Beltran had just scored on a sacrifice fly by J Bay:

The huge video screen in left field runs a promotion with Bronson Arroyo narrating.  Something about healthy kids making healthy choices.  I don’t recall because I was distracted by the following thought:

More from the super fans after Jose pops up in the seventh inning ending his night at the plate with an 0 for 5 performance:

At this point in the night, having the technical staff with me again would have been helpful.  I sent another failed tweet giving an air claw to Shannon, the nicest concession stand worker ever.  No joke.  She somehow made a trip in which I dropped ten bucks on popcorn and a lemon icey a pleasant experience.  Well done Shannon.

Several minutes later I became frustrated that I couldn’t find the Atlanta/Pittsburgh score on the out of town scoreboard:

After Pedro Beato got Drew Stubbs to fly out to end the eighth I tweeted the following (I wonder how many started to re-consider as the Reds made it interesting in the ninth?).

Another year, another trip.  I’m already looking forward to next season’s excursion.  I want to take a second to thank Sandy Alderson for listening to me.  Thanks Mr. Alderson!

See you next year Cincinnati.

Time To Build The 2012 Mets

Life is unfair and so is Major League Baseball.  If the Mets were in the National League Central they would be in the hunt for a division title.  They’re not, so it’s time friends.  Time for Mr. Alderson to show us what he can do.

He has given Terry Collins and his players enough time to prove they can compete for a playoff spot.  After this weekend’s disappointing series loss, it is clear that chances are slim to none, and slim left town with Logan Morrison’s eighth inning home run this afternoon.

As much as I don’t want to see it, I know Carlos Beltran will be dealt.  It also seems pretty clear that Jose Reyes is staying and the Mets are going to attempt to re-sign him.

What isn’t clear, is what else Sandy Alderson has in the works. Between now and opening day of 2012, Mr. Alderson has his work cut out for him.

Being the giver that I am, I figured I’d share with him who I’d like to see move on.

• Mike Pelfrey– I like Big Pelf and will always hope he does well.  However, I feel as if he has peaked as a Met and needs a change of scenery to see if he can thrive elsewhere.  The Mets have given him an ample amount of opportunities to prove he can be a reliable starter.  Too many ups and downs for me.
• Jason Bay– He’s not going anywhere anytime soon, but he belongs on this list for obvious reasons.  Maybe the Mets’ front office can blackmail high ranking officials from another team forcing them to make a deal for Bay.  It could happen.
• Angel Pagan– Similar to Pelfrey, Angel has been given plenty of opportunities to prove he can be an impact player.  He has regressed this year and his decision making ability irks me.
• Ryota Igarashi– Iggy is a bust.  His 6.25 ERA in 53 career appearances is explanation enough.
• D.J. Carrasco– Wasn’t a huge fan of his signing, and he hasn’t disproved my initial opinion.
• Bobby Parnell-  Parnell is last on this list for a reason.  I am still holding on to hope that the time he has remaining with Jason Isringhausen will help him get over the hump mentally.  Clearly he has electric stuff, he just doesn’t carry himself as if he believes in it.

I realize some of these players will log innings for the Mets in 2012 just as it is a reality that a number of players I didn’t list will not.  I just figured Mr. Alderson would want to get some feedback from Midwestropolitan.com before he starts building the 2012 Mets.

Good luck Mr. A., we believe in you.

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Bay Inspires New Hitting Terminology

I wish I could get out of this Bay.

In honor of Jason Bay’s 25th (not a joke), 0-fer…..

Raking

Definition:  When a hitter is performing extremely well at the plate.  It is common for a player that is raking to go 3 for 4 or 4 for 4 during contests when he is in this state.

Also see:  on fire, hot

Back Of His Baseball Card

Definition:  When a hitter is performing as expected.  This can range depending on a player’s ability.

Scuffling

Definition:  When a player has been hitting poorly for a very small period of time.

Also see:  mini slump

Slumping

Definition:  When a player has been hitting poorly for an extended period of time.  This can last a few weeks and sometimes for an entire month.

Baying

Definition:  When a player has been in a slump for over a season for no apparent reason (such as being too old, or injured).

Due to the fact this is a new term, I will use it in a couple of sentences for you.

1.  Larry is Baying.

2.  I haven’t witnessed a Bay like this from a player in quite some time.

3.  I’ve never seen a Bay like this as long as I’ve watched the game of baseball.  Is this guy ever going to hit again?  I don’t get it.

Clearly Bay is working hard and is carrying himself with absolute professionalism.  I respect that.

However, I have given up on Jason Bay returning to form as a New York Met.  I would love to see him break out of it, believe me.  We are no longer dealing with a small sample size so it is no longer inevitable that he will shake out of this.

Owning Cole Hamels & Another Start For Scott?

The Mets will not catch the Philadelphia Phillies this season.  Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer.

However, the continued owning of Cole Hamels keeps getting better. Today the Mets spanked Hamels around for a career high (or low depending on who you ask) seven earned runs.

I have to believe this is getting in Hamel’s head at this point.  Unfortunately, the Midwestropolitan research staff was unable to dig up any evidence of him weeping like a little girl in the visiting clubhouse.  Instead, he gave this bland reaction,

“Haven’t really been able to get a good roll against them.  It’s kind of one of those games where you just want to throw it out.”-Cole Hamels

Hairston To Start Tomorrow?

“One thing about Scott Hairston, about a guy stepping up when someone’s not around. If that’s not an example of it, I don’t know what is.”-Terry Collins

I’d like to see Hairston get a start tomorrow.  Try to see if he has a hot hand.

After an unbelievably horrible beginning of the season, he has been displaying some pop.  Something the Mets are seriously lacking right now. Assuming Carlos can play, I would let Bay take a day off.

Let me clarify that this is more of a preference than a statement.  I won’t be calling for TC’s head if he doesn’t get the nod.

P.S.

Jon Niese is good.

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Biting Toungues And Other Randomness

We try to make it a point not to write when we are frustrated with the Mets.  The last thing we want to have happen is for this to become a “rant a day” type of website.  We hope you visit for the humor and intelligent (I’ll let you be the final judge there) opinions we provide.

I’m not sharing this with you because I am practicing for an appearance on the Dr. Phil Show, ummkay.  I’m sharing this because I was in no position to publicize my thoughts about last night’s loss.

Heading into the game, I was genuinely excited.  I was anticipating a well-played ball game from the Mets.  Instead we got a dud.  R.A. Dickey was average, the offense was MIA, and defensively the Mets looked atrocious.  Not exactly how the second half of the season should start.

Had I written about it last night it would have been an expletive filled tirade that would have made most gangster rappers squeamish.  After a night of shut eye, I’m still disheartened about the performance.  However, it is just one game.  The Mets still have a chance to win the next two games and meet my expectations.

They certainly have their backs against the wall now.  But this team seems to be okay with that position.

A Couple Of Random Thoughts

No one has ever accused me of being the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I am somewhat surprised at the number of Mets fans that are caught up in K-Rod news.  Who cares how his option has changed with the Brewers?  The trade has been completed.  He is no longer a Met.  Let’s move forward.

Last night I shared the following thought on Twitter:

There really is no need to elaborate, I just wanted to share this with you.

While I am in the mood of sharing my tweets, I was a bit over zealous on this one:

I’m an honest guy.  I can admit when I’m wrong.  redturn2 is Justin Turner’s Twitter account for those of you that do not follow him or partake in the world of Twitter.

Well, on to this afternoon’s game.  Hopefully, Jon Niese will pitch the Mets into a tie in the series.

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