Who Needs Stars When You Have Pridie, Gee, & Turner?

A very enjoyable win tonight.  It is always fun to watch the young bucks (Dillon Gee, Jason Pridie, and Justin Turner) pull one out for the Amazin’s.

Combine the young bucks’ contributions with a stellar effort from the bullpen and you have a pretty nice Saturday night.

You have to think that Justin Turner’s go ahead 400 ft single in the eighth will earn him a start tomorrow against the lefty, Clayton Kershaw.

Dillon Gee Won’t Go Away

Hats off to Mr. Gee tonight.  That is quite the predicament to be thrown into.  Imagine prepping mentally for a relief appearance and then being told you are starting minutes before game time.  Solid.

I know I have mentioned this before, but I really feel comfortable with Gee as a starter.  Don’t ask me who he should replace because I don’t have an answer.  Maybe I won’t have to come up with one based on what we find about Chris Young.

By the way, the sound you hear is Tom sobbing in the background as he comes to terms with the roller coaster ride that is Chris Young’s health.

The Jason’s Continue To Kick Ass

• Jason Pridie goes 3 for 3 (should have gone 4 for 4 as he clearly would have beat out that throw from Kuo in the 8th.)
• Jason Bay scored the go ahead run
• I penned this amazing Non-Recap.  I hate to toot my own horn, but I am on fire ladies and gentleman.  The lightning speed in which I put forth this vast Mets knowledge has to be mind-boggling to you.   I digress.

With All Due Respect, The Washington Nationals Are Bastards

Unfortunately, the Mets still find themselves in the cellar as the Nationals just won’t relinquish their strangle hold on fourth place.  They beat the Marlins for the second consecutive game tonight.

Defining Win, KRod, & ESPN

Moving on to baseball on this historic day…..

There was a lot of talk about the come from behind win against the Nats last week being a signature victory.  If that game was a signature win, last night’s was a defining win.

Don’t get confused by my terminology.  The victory over the Phillies didn’t got the ole’ adrenaline pumping like the win against the Nats.  I am being very literal when choosing to use the word defining.

If a non-follower of the Mets asks you about them, simply tell them to watch last night’s game.  They will see a team that, for whatever reason, just can’t put all of the facets of the game together at the same time.

I will say this.  Grinding out a Don’t Disappoint Game Win last night makes a world of difference for the club and all of us.  Getting swept by the Phillies and being entrenched in a four game losing streak is not the place any of us want to be in.  Especially, heading into an off day.

Well done fellas.  12-16 looks so much better than 11-17.

Collins Use Of K-Rod

There is one thing I’ll say about Terry Collins.  He manages to win.  There is something you have to appreciate about that.  His use last night of K-Rod to keep the game tied speaks volumes.

Basically, Collins was saying, “I need this win, so I’m going to throw my best guy out there to stop the bleeding.  Screw conventional wisdom.”

I know plenty of people asked why not use him to preserve the lead?  The answer is simple.  Collins believed Izzy could get the job done.  Once that didn’t happen he went to his best option.

Speaking of K-Rod.  It would be absolutely stellar if everyone would stop talking about games finished and K-Rod’s contract vesting.  It is too early to worry about that right now.  I realize this is somewhat unrealistic, so I am prepared to grin and bare it.

ESPN Coverage

As I have stated in the past, Met fans are spoiled when it comes to baseball broadcasts.  Gary, Keith, and Ron are the best in the business and watching any other broadcast team can drive you nuts.

Last night was no exception.  To put it simply, the Worldwide Leader In Sports has a bland and mildly irritating crew this season.  I get the feeling if they unleashed Bobby V. they could spruce things up a bit.

Until then, audiences will be stuck with an aw shucks type of telecast more concerned about non-essential things like the food at the ballpark and the Philly Phanatic.  I get that during a national telecast you want to highlight what makes the home team’s ballpark unique, but you don’t need to beat us over the head with it.  I wish I had a dollar every time they used the words cheese steak and Philly Phanatic.

Tom G.  Motivational Speaker

A bit of a housekeeping note here.  If you have been trying to get a hold of Tom today, you may want to wait until tomorrow.  He has flown to New York and is planning on meeting with each member of Mets’ lineup individually to give them a stern lecture about how they need to increase their run production for his boy, Chris Young.

Tom’s phone is off so he can focus on the task at hand.

Here is a photo of him practicing on his girlfriend and roommate:

You Have To Do Better With RISP!!!!

Monday With Midwestropolitan

Just some random thoughts to get your week started now that I have recovered from Tom’s violation of Midwestropolitan’s own version of Omerta.

More on that in a bit.

Putting Things In Perspective

The series loss against the Nats was the first official failure of the season for the boys in blue and orange.  Remember, I don’t view things a game at a time.  To recap, the series win against the Marlins was definitely a plus and  the series loss to the Phillies was expected.  It will be interesting to see how the Mets react to a disappointing home series defeat.

At 4-5, the Mets find themselves only one game back of the NL Wildcard.  Yup, the Wildcard.  It has never been realistic to expect the Mets would challenge for the NL East title, even though they are only three games back in that particular race.

Their record is far from horrible.  Just ask the fans in Boston and Tampa Bay.  Well, maybe not Tampa Bay.  They probably wouldn’t care if the Rays were 8-1 rather than their current 1-8.  They are too busy checking out which restaurants have the best early bird specials to give a hoot.

Overall the Mets have yet to give us a sense of consistency at the plate or in the field.  Offensively they are either  a force to be reckoned with, or a team that looks like they couldn’t score against my son’s little league squad.

They have also been inconsistent in the field.  One day they are showing flashes of brilliance making run saving plays.  The next, they look like the New York Knights amidst their historic losing streak.

What is losing?

Losing is a disease…
…as contagious as polio.

Losing is a disease…
…as contagious as syphilis.

Losing is a disease…
…as contagious as bubonic plague…

The only thing that has been consistent is the piss poor performance of the bullpen as my colleague pointed out last night.

Never fear,  Mr. Alderson is here, complete with tag line for his recent roster move:

It’s the Iggy and Izzy show.

Hopefully, these guys will help shore up the bullpen.  I wonder if Izzy’s veteran presence will help out Parnell and some of the other guys.

How Yesterday’s Loss Ruined A Chance For Me To Avenge Tom’s Violation Of Midwestropolitan’s Omerta

I’m sure plenty of you noticed Tom’s shocking violation yesterday of an unwritten rule we have here at Midwestropolitan.  He took a text message that I sent him during a joyous occasion Saturday evening (Beltran’s second bomb), and turned it into a post mocking me.

That my friends is a no-no.  Needless to say, the gloves are off and Tom is sleeping with one eye open these days.  He is now looking over his shoulder every waking moment for punishment to be handed out.

What is this punishment you ask?

The first part is a physical torment that surely has him in a constant nervous sweat.  At any moment I could board a plane to Tucson, find him, kick him in the shins really really hard, and then board an airplane back to Indiana without uttering a word.

The second phase is a bit more obvious.  It involves making  fun of Tom for his not so secret man crush on Chris Young.  You can view the evidence here and here.  Embarrassing isn’t it folks?

Of course the Mets ruined it for me, as the bullpen blew Young’s second consecutive fine start in a way that surely brought Tom to his knee’s screaming “WHY!? WHYYYYYYYYYYY!?” with tears streaming down his face.

Oh well.  There’s always his next start.

Expectations For The Colorado Series

The Amazin’s will need a series win to make up for the set back agains the Nats.  This may be a tall order as I feel a split is more realistic against a team that many have predicted to give the Giants a run for their money in the NL West.

It doesn’t help that the Rockies of reeled off a 6-2 start including a 3-1 road record so far.

Look for some home magic with Big Pelf tonight.  He clearly pitched better at home last season so I am expecting to see the same in 2011.