New York Mets 2008

[metta]

I would like to visit the NY Met. sometime in the future...but it will probably not be this year.

http://www.metmuseum.org/

oh wait.....maybe your talking about a different NY MET

 

[Sausy]

I would like to visit the NY Met. sometime in the future...but it will probably not be this year.

http://www.metmuseum.org/

oh wait.....maybe your talking about a different NY MET

But that one is nice,too!

 

[sonny10305]

So some guys are sayin the Phillies have the Mets number? Well think again, cause my boys are making a big statement against that idea with their bats and pitching.

Another great game last night. Perez, was awesome allowing only four hits, struck out I think six maybe it was seven, but he did give up five walks. Oh I loved Howard looking for that slider but oh my goodness, he got the heater, caught ya lookin Ryan Once again he came up empty in the clutch. Poor baby.

Ok so in the 6th Ollie started to get a little wild, and wisely Willie got him outta there before he got into anymore trouble. Still, Oliver pitched 5 2-3 scoreless innings before Willie went to the red hot pen to get him the win.
up next Sanchez, who got Rollins to ground out, (love that hustle play) Well it can’t be all good, cause then Feliciano got into big ka ka loading up the bases, but no worries Met fans this ain’t September ’07. It was time for Heilman to get out of his Phillies funk, and even though he fell behind a bit, he did with a great clutch performance. He just needed to find his rhythm. Good for Willie, keepin the faith in Heilman
The Mets bullpen has become almost unhittable; I think I read the ERA is just under 2. And I have written about this before, I love Wagner’s new delivery, he is lights out.!! I’m sittin here trying to remember but I don’t think Billy has given up even one hot so far this season.

Mets beat the Phillies four in a row Ok,Ok, I know, Rollins has not played, he may play tonight,
Come on out Jimmy don't be scared, we wont bite, besides, we wanna show you our shinny new '08 broom.

I have to mention how good it is to see Reyes out there havin fun again.
Our #1 table setter is getting the job done again.

Then of course there is D-Wright who now leads the league in RBIs

 

[Sausy]

The thing I'm happiest with is that we are taking it to the Phillies,and while I can't say we have their number,we are confident we can beat them.I agree sonny about Reyes and David Wright,with Reyes happy,motivated and dangerous again and Wright starting off the year explosively....remember last year he had no homers in April and he didn't really heat up driving in runs until the second half?

Would like the Mets to complete the sweep tonight and send the Phillies out of Shea wondering about themselves a little!

 

[sonny10305]

The thing I'm happiest with is that we are taking it to the Phillies,and while I can't say we have their number,we are confident we can beat them.I agree sonny about Reyes and David Wright,with Reyes happy,motivated and dangerous again and Wright starting off the year explosively....remember last year he had no homers in April and he didn't really heat up driving in runs until the second half?

Would like the Mets to complete the sweep tonight and send the Phillies out of Shea wondering about themselves a little!

No sweep, but we won the series. Man did we need that!
I do remember David's poor stat last year, but I also remember his explosive finish

 

[Absolut]

I do remember David's poor stat last year, but I also remember his explosive finish

I'm sorry, my mind just became a little clouded with that thought...

Anywho, DAMMIT! Why couldn't you guys beat the Cubs?

Stupid 8th inning. You guys were doing so well with the bases loaded getting outs, and then...bam!

 

[Sausy]

No sweep, but we won the series. Man did we need that!
I do remember David's poor stat last year, but I also remember his explosive finish

Tough loss when we had them on the ropes psychologically.Damn the inconsistency that is Aaron Heilmann!These games happen,though.Just hope they now have the ability and confidence to bounce back more resiliently.Atlanta is gonna be tough this weekend,so we'll see.

I'm sorry, my mind just became a little clouded with that thought...

Anywho, DAMMIT! Why couldn't you guys beat the Cubs?

Stupid 8th inning. You guys were doing so well with the bases loaded getting outs, and then...bam!

My mind is in the same place yours is in regarding the thought of explosive finishes by David Wright!

At least you guys won.I'm just glad I was working rather than seeing the disaster unfold in the eighth and cussing nonstop at the TV.Maine held his own,but the offense also sputtered tonight.I hate inconsistency!

 

[sonny10305]

I'm sorry, my mind just became a little clouded with that thought...

Cory, You are soooo predictable, I knew when I wrote "explosive finish" you would gt a whole other meanin out of it That's why I love about ya


Anywho, DAMMIT! Why couldn't you guys beat the Cubs?

*Hides in shame from Abs* !

My mind is in the same place yours is in regarding the thought of explosive finishes by David Wright!

What "explosive finishes" are you refering to there babe

In the spirit of the theme of explosive here are some intereting shots of David

 

[Sausy]

What "explosive finishes" are you refering to there babe

In the spirit of the theme of explosive here are some intereting shots of David

I just those views!You're so thoughtful sonny!

And don't think Abs hasn't downloaded those valuable ass-ets already!

 

[Absolut]

I'd be more concerned as to why the Mets got swept by the Cubs

Bastards!

 

[Sausy]

I'd be more concerned as to why the Mets got swept by the Cubs

Bastards!

we've failed you!Do to us Mets fans as you will!

 

[Sausy]

It is just a shame there is no hair pulling smilie!No hitting,no relief....no victories!Swept by the Cubs....pathetic!

 

[Sausy]

Figueroa roughed up tonight,now Mets lose two straight to the Dodgers.Not the direction Mets fans are looking for at all,and I don't know what can inspire consistency at a minimum from this team.


sonny....thoughts....please!

 

[sonny10305]

Well our Mets have not exactly been playing as well as I had hoped they would, but I have faith that they will turn it around soon. They have to, they are now hitting around 245 which is pretty much rock bottom, and I think prolly around the bottom fifth of the league. But still, it’s only may, we got a lot-a baseball to play.

Let me first say, I am not one f those fans who believe all the blame should be put on one or two guys in the organization. I don’t give all the blame for the lack of hitting on HoJo, or the inconsistent pitching on Rick. It’s a team effort, all the players need to focus and start playing better. Reyes for example in a game last week was not focused at all when he failed to back up second base. There have been to mainly mental breakdowns, it’s one thing when you don’t play well, it happens, but when your head is not in the game and you don’t play the right way, I begin to get a little disgusted.
We have only Ryan Church ( I sure don't miss Millidge) currently hitting over 300, Reyes and Wright have barley scratched the surface of their potential. The rest of the guys are hitting soft as ever. But one of the things that have bugged me from the start is Willie’s batting order, I think now he finally has it right, in my opinion, and we should see some pay off soon, but maybe not for another couple of weeks.
I am watching the hitters closely and my feeling is you have to give a hitter a game plan to get into the batters box and put himself in a position to first of all identify a strike, 2-0, 2-1 3-0 3-1 and then they gotta swing, if they are not swinging at the right pitch and not putting the ball in play it’s nobody’s fault but the batter, and NOT HoJo.

Pitching is so damn inconsistent I can barely stand it. Perez for one, who remember won 15 games last year, is loopy. His mechanics are off, he tries to overthrow the ball, and throws to hard, he is not focused and once he gets dejected it gets worse for him inning by inning, He has been giving up long balls, can’t seem to find the plate, his body language says it all, Notice how when things are bad you can see him looking up and all around as if if to say “Help me”, he does not have control of his stuff, he is a mess.
One of the faults I will give to management is putting him in the third spot, a prominent spot in the rotation, he is too combustable, unpredictable, and very inconsistent. We will never win a championship with Perez in the third spot the way he is pitching right now. Now I know why the Pirates gave him up.

I wanna address another issue that has been making me climb the wall and that is all the booing going on at Shea. When the fans booed Santana in his first start at Shea, I thought, wait a minute, WTF is wrong with you people; have some respect for Gods sake, how do you think that helps the player? Opening day they were booing everybody, pitchers were getting booed after just 2-1
And that’s bullshit. Obviously the fans have not forgotten last year or are willing to give the Mets a chance this year. Quit the booing Mets fans; support your team through the good times and the bad. The hateful booing does nothing for the morale of the players and shows low class. I hate it!

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Sausy and Sonny are two old baseball fanatics. They agree that whoever dies first will try to come back and tell the other one if there's baseball in heaven.

One evening Sonny passes away in his sleep. A few nights later Sausy hears what sounds like Sonny's voice. "Sonny, is that you?" he asks.

"Of course it's me," Sonny replies.

"I can't believe it Sausy whispers. "So tell me, is there baseball in heaven?"

"Well, I have good news and bad news," Sonny says. "The good news is, yes, there's baseball in heaven."

"What's the bad news?" Sausy asks.

"The bad news is you're pitching tomorrow night...Sonny replies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Sausy]

I absolut-ly (pun intended) love that,sonny!But I didn't wanna have to show off my slider so soon!

I'm one of those trying to be patient,God I damn want to see a silver lining.I am proud of John Maine,who seems to be continuing to progress really well.He battles and has this competitiveness but also an even-temoperedness that really keeps him focused.Hemay not be an ace,but if he continues to pitch this well,he's going to be a really solid winner for years to come.

It is a team effort,(including management)both when they play as they are capable of, when they play without passion or purpose or with arrogant presumptiveness.They are capable of doing great things in the NL East and I am upset that the fans turn so easily on them,though I understand the frustration with this team.It would be good for those players who are doing all they can for the fans to have their backs rather than always get on their backs.We're NOT Phillies"fans" now,are we?

Last night's laugher against the Dodgers was something the Mets needed.I may pull my hair out with them,but I love them and support these guys 100%!I know from your passion and insight you feel the same way,and what you concluded your post sonny with was completely on the money!

 

[sonny10305]

Sausy, I think Cory, (abs) will love that pun

Well, that’s more like it
I loved beating up on the Dodgers yesterday, especially against Penny, who the Mets have pounded a lot. Batting average is going up, and runners in scoring position really improved, hitting in the clutch witch we have not seen them do in a while. So we end up 3-3 on that road trip.

Sure hope Pagan will be ok, what a tremendous catch. That’s how I like my Mets, tough, and making the extra effort. He goes for an MRI today and let’s hope the news will be good. This with his job up in the air, right now would not be a good time for him to go on the DL.

Maine was awesome, I sure wish he could a held out for that 9th inning, (too many fastballs) but no worries, he pitched like the John Maine we have all come to love. Ya gotta love that disappearing change up, down and in especially to right handed hitters he was in total control. Of course we gotta give Casanova credit for calling a great game. Now if only Perez could get his shit together, and Pelfrey come back strong. One of the things I wondered about with Fiquerro was if he and Brian Schneider have gotten to know one another enough, I don’t think they have had enough playing time. Schneider, who is a major part of the pitching puzzle, needs to learn more about Figueroa, I mean the dude has 5 pitches, and throws breaking balls to both sides of the plate. Once Schneider and Figueroa get in sync, watch out, cause they will crush the opposing team. I think one of the Dodgers biggest problems today was Penny not being able to get in sync with his catcher. I always felt that a good combo and match between pitcher and catcher helps win a lot of games. Of course, John Maine’s 2-0 hit in to center field with the bases loaded did not help make his day either.

Ryan Church continues to be consistent, I like Church in the 2 spot but I understand why Willie dropped him to the 5 spot for yesterday’s game. With Alou and Delgado out of that game we needed Church in that RBI spot. Plus Castillo came out of his slump in that #2 spot, so it’s all good.
And how about those reserves coming through yesterday.

David Wright may be coming out of his slump, yesterday’s double was an indication that he may have stopped over swinging, as I saw him do lately, he has been coming off the bat, a little to much upper body motion in his swing. But HoJo has noticed that and will be working with David on it.

 

[sonny10305]

Of course, John Maine’s 2-0 hit in to center field with the bases loaded did not help make his day either.

Opps, I meant 0-2

 

[Sausy]

Sonny,come back! Do I have to give you a to get you to talk Mets baseball!

Not happy with losing 2 of 3 to the Reds.Hoping the latest signs by Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran of offensive life will become more consistent.I did like that Mike Pelfrey really pitched well last night.

Not happy with Aaron Heilmann at all.He has a good outing or two,then completely blows up the next couple.He's kind of useless now,only being brought in to rebuild his confidence selectively for the time being.I don't know what's happened to him,but his ability to handle innings in middle relief make him essential to the club's success.This year,he's been completely unreliable.I'm so glad they dumped Jorge Sosa.He just wasn't doing the job.


Looking forward to the first of the last series of interleague games in their current stadiums between the Yanks and Mets this weekend!I'm of course as much as I like the Yankees a Mets fan first and foremost!Hoping we can gain some momentum out of this weeend,and especially looking forward to the national game on ESPN on Sunday night!

 

[sonny10305]

Sausy, I posted recently; it’s just above your last post.
Anyways, the Mets are a mess!
Granted they played pretty well against Arizona an LA, but the Reds and Nats series were a disaster, losing 3 out of 4 to Washington, what a disgrace, just pathetic, They also don’t seem to care so much a bout the losses, their killer instinct is MIA

The worst for me was game 4 against the Nats, Castillo and Wright not running to advance, Reyes not sliding in that attempt to take third after a bunt sac got him to second. I appreciate the aggressive move and attempting to get to third but the half ass execution was sooooo little league, what the hell was that!! Is the manager and staff teaching these guys anything??? Beltron was on third base with one out, all we needed was for Delgato to give us a fly ball to bring Beltron home. So what happens, Willie puts a contact play on, for those of you who don’t know, that means as soon as contact is made the runner goes, hoping with 1 out to score even on an out. But Beltron needs to learn what even I know, and that is he maybe should have taken a little Lead in foul ground, but you need to freeze on a line drive, see it through on the ground. Carlos, when the ball is hit YOU FREZZE, I mean when you’re going on contact, if the ball goes to the outfield you can pretty much walk home. Going on contact?? I don’t think so. The of course the double play nailed him on a 5-3-6 double play.
They are just playing sloppy baseball or what we call soft baseball, they don’t run balls out and when they do they fuck it up.

Something is going on in the club house that is beginning to disturb me, there seems to a division now between some of the players and Willie does not seem to be able to, or care to, do anything about it. We have a lack of focus on the field, as illustrated by Reyes’ insane bolt for third in the 8th of the last game with the Nats. Willie has got o start acting like a manager and get theses guys focused. And where is Omar?

Good for Billy Wagner for tellin it like it is, here’s a guy who has stepped up and performed this year, I was happy to hear him putting down the guys who fucked up that game and disappeared before anyone could interview them. Those guys have got to be there to address the media in good times and bad, and not just leave it up to guys like Wagner and Wright. They all need to tough it out and not calm up or take off after a game. It’s part of the job I think.




OK so there were some positive events. The introduction of Vargas who pitched well, although what the hell was Willie thinking taking him out of the game and putting Heilman in? What about Joe Smith who has been awesome. Heilman needs to go, enough already with this guy, send him back to the minors. Heilman wants to be a starter, he is not happy in the pen, so make him a starter in the minors. Also, Pelfrey showed promise once again. Taking a no hitter into the 7th.

I was real sorry to see my boy Figuero crash and burn; I had high hoes for that kid. I sincerely hope he can clear wavers and get back to AAA. I still think he will have a great future some day. I am also glad we kept Joe Smith. I thought he was a goner.

My main man David Wright has been struggling, but he is due to bust out. If you notice, a lot of pitchers are pitching him away. leading a lot with breaking balls and fast balls away and then going in on him with two strikes to get him. He is also puling too much again. Ya know, double dip.

The only thing helping this team is the fact that the NL East is just a lousy division. We gotta do well in the subway series we CAN NOT lose that series especially with the Yankees playing as bad as they are, and more importantly we have do very well against the Braves next week…we just gotta!

 

[Sausy]

Always appreciate your perspective on what's going on,sonny.I'm a little troubled by the division in the clubhouse,and even the fact that a real pro like David Wright has messed up the things you take for granted he always does recently.I don't think there is any racial component to Billy Wagner's criticism of Carlos Delgado,Carlos Beltran or Oliver Perez ...but I do feel that something is not clicking with the Latino players who seem to not be comfortable with the media spotlight.His words on the availability to accept responsibility of Beltran and Delgado were harsh but frustratingly true.Yet I hope it doesn't descend into cultural ugliness that would be uncalled for and unfair.But Beltran,Delgado,the still puzzlingly missing something Jose Reyes,Oliver Perez....they have to be more publicly willing to stand up and accept responsibility for part of the team's overall dreary performance so far.This whole controversy makes me somewhat uncomfortable.It's everything though....the starters are inconsistent,the relievers are unreliable,the defense is spotty,the baserunning is poor and clueless,the lineup hasn't put together any real streak that makes you think the Mets are righting the ship.

Aaron Heilmann should do what is best for the team,and if they still after his crappy year so far see him best serving them in the bullpen,so be it.If he doesn't like it,I hope he is shown the exit as quickly as possible.I'm not sold on a year long consistent Joe Smith yet,but I'm hoping now he is staying he will be a positive answer for the beleaguered bullpen.


I'm hoping for a good series this weekend,which will at least bring temporary relief for either hometeam.But the Braves series is critical and though I'm not certain it would happen it is being written that Willie Randolph's survival as Met skipper will depend on the Met's success(or failure)during the next few series,certainly by the end of the Atlanta series.

I think that something I saw in the paper today is what's at the heart of this mess.The Mets have not psychologically recovered from last September's collapse.....and some are in a state of denial about the whole thing.It was not just an unfortunate slump