New York Mets 2009

[Thad1527]

At least you're not Yankee fans. Because they're gonna have a l-o-n-g weekend.

 

[chance1]

^^
no pickup lines for me sonny - i'm currently taken
did meet my guy at the gym though soooooooo

boston radio is saying how great santana is

they're down on julio lugo - big money no production SS

listened to some of the game on radio - great win

keeps the wolves at the door i guess

when is reyes coming back?

diggin sheff

 

[Sausy]

The best win of the year.....damn if this were a playoff game,it would be a classic!3-2 come from behind Mets win over Boston.....first blown save of the year for Jon Papelbon,an unbelievable two run homer by Mets back up catcher Omir Santos after Papelbon had walked Gary Sheffield but had whiffed David Wright and Jeremy Reed with ease opening the ninth.

Ball hit right on the yellow line over the Green Monster marking a home run but was originally called a double...reversed after replay.Mike Pelfrey gave up two runs in the first but was outstanding over the next six,a great recovery from his last effort,with the infamous three balk "yips".Josh Beckett was brilliant giving up only one run.

JJ Putz closed the game for the Mets....gave up a ripped smash by Jason Bay that David Wright made an outstanding play on protecting the line(Luis Castillo made a sensational grab of David Wright's one hop throw. straddling second base nailing Kevin Youkilis who had led off with a walk)JD Drew ripped a liner to right for the second out,and Mike Lowell slapped a ball into the deep shortstop hole that Ramon Martinez ranged for and threw a perfect strike to first to
end the game.Putz still scares to death,but the defense responded brilliantly and Boston fans were sent home stunned.

I haven't been this pumped by a Mets win in awhile....this club believes in itself,they can go far.Sonny,of course I always keep the faith!
We love our Mets and just want them to play with passion and heart....it kills us when we see them falling into the old mentality that led to their last two regular season collapses.It gets us going when we see them playing great team ball and having everyone contribute.That's what separates the good from the great teams...besides the stars there are the role players who embrace the situation and compliment the big names.You win with everybody contributing,and it's always heartening to see the unsung heroes rise to the occasion when the situation demands it,like Omir Santos and the Mets defense in the ninth inning!

 

[sonny10305]

Chance, more about Jose in this post. I also heard the Boston press and fans gave Lugo a bad time. Perhaps he can recover the way Martinez did, but not till after this series with the Mets of course.

Sausy, I just knew you would post after that outstanding game.
A game that was better than sex. I had to go and look at my calendar cause it sure felt like an October game

I love beatin up on those opposition closers, but Papelbon was especially sweet.
Boston has some outstanding defense going for them in the outfield, the infield not so much. Besides beating Papelbon ya had to love those back to back fumbles with Beckett and that bad pick off and then getting in the way causing that pop up ball to drop. He should have stayed outta that play.

Not a whole lot to add about the game tat saucy did not cover, except to say I sure was premature of me to kill off Martinez, cause man oh man did he ever come through last night big time. I was so impressed by that turn around. If he can keep that up we can stop worrying about how soon Reyes can return. I also want mention Omir Santos, I hear Brian Schneider is almost fully healthy and has only to get back into his game shape. So what will that mean for Santos? Well I have said before that maybe the Mets need to carry three catchers, and I believe that more now than ever. Santos has contributed so much and you never know when injury prone Castro will go down again. Add to that we really don’t know what to expect from Brian when he returns. He could go either way. I was never a big fan of his bat but I do like the way he calls a game and works with the young pitchers especially Perez when he comes back. So who do we loose if we keep Santos, how about Green, I would be willing to give up a reliever (not Parnell) or one of the guys on the bench to keep Santos. I don’t want see him optioned back to AAA Buffalo.

I had to laugh about saucy’s comment about Putz, cause I too get a bit nervous when he comes into the game, not a lot but I sweat a little. But he was brilliant as was Pelfrey and Feliciano. In fact our pen has been superb; it now has an ERA of 2.84 which is the best in the majors. Yup I said MAJORS, not just the NL.
I guess you guys heard the reason K-Rod did not play was cause he had deilibilitating back spasms during the game, after calling EMTs they decided to take him to a local hospital for further evaluation.
The hope is a shot will ease his pain and hopefully they can help him avoid that pain With Reyes and Delgado still out we sure don’t need K-Rod to go down..

On the injury front, Reyes is looking less and less like he will need to go on the DL. He may be back Tuesday or Wednesday. Cora is also looking better and will begin to play catch next week, if that goes well he prolly won’t need surgery. Beltran is day to day with that knee, he did look a little uncomfortable last night as he ran the bases. But it does not appear to be anything to worry about. All of them remain day to day including Church.

D Wright cooled off a bit at the plate last night breaking his 13 game hitting streak. Gary Cohen said David was the “hottest thing on the planet right now” Oh Gary, you have no idea

Sweep today? Hey ya gotta believe

 

[chance1]

god do i love baseball in the boston/cape cod area

talking heads talking baseball

sooooo passionate

and knowledgeable

they love their baseball here - and it's nothing like in NY

can we sweep?

not likely

but it would be nice

great job by pelphrey

i like him

santana, maine, pelphrey is not a bad 1-2-3

when is ollie coming back?

 

[Sausy]

I knew that after such a classic game,inevitably a disappointment follows.I came home from work and was bummed to see the 12-5 Boston score over the Mets.Redding is a weak link,especially recovering from the arm problem developing during the preseason.And Stokes was downright horrid.

At least the Mets won 2 of 3...but they have got to play tough against the hapless Nationals,who tend to inexplicably give them fits.Beat the teams your supposed to beat,and compete with the better teams like Boston.You dominate the first and do comparatively well with the second,you're a serious division contender.

 

[Sausy]

Chance, more about Jose in this post. I also heard the Boston press and fans gave Lugo a bad time. Perhaps he can recover the way Martinez did, but not till after this series with the Mets of course.

Sausy, I just knew you would post after that outstanding game.
A game that was better than sex. I had to go and look at my calendar cause it sure felt like an October game



D Wright cooled off a bit at the plate last night breaking his 13 game hitting streak. Gary Cohen said David was the “hottest thing on the planet right now” Oh Gary, you have no idea

I loved Santana's effort the night before but it's games like this that make baseball such the intoxicating sport it is.If you're a Mets fan,you had to be elated by the sudden total reversal of the dynamic of the action.A dispiriting,quiet loss turned into a rousing,downright "Amazin'' come from behind victory!A collective "WTF?"uttered by Boston fanatics!And a solid but unsung rookie,Omir Santos,doing the job.....it points to the heart of the game,the timeless appeal all generations of fans appreciate.Great baseball moments like this get seared into your head....they're unforgettable,electric and magic.

And yes,sonny....gotta love your take on what Gary said about David.Definitely NOTHING hotter!

I'm hoping that Francisco Rodriguez returns soon.Never had back problems before.....when I read of the extent of the painfulness of his back spasms,how they literally made him collapse...I was really concerned.I hope the treatments work,but hoping they can do something to try avoiding future attacks of similar severity.I really get agita when Putz pitches noiw,especially with his apparent bone spur problems.Can he pitch this season effectively with it?Bobby Parnell gives me FAR more confidence right now.Firing the ball 100mph at times,with reasonable control,will have that effect on you!

Omir Santos should stay.He seems to be able to handle the bat pretty well,Castro isn't consistently healthy and offenively,Brian Schneider simply isn't consistent.

I like the things I read abot young catcher Josh Thole,who hit over .300 last season and is starting off well again offensively in AA ball.Not a power hitter,but has focused on making good contact and seems to be someone who can help offensively as well behind the plate in the Mets future.

 

[sonny10305]

So once again we can thank our pen for another loss.
Deja vu to last season and the season before that, when our guys in the bull pen cold not hold things down. Let me first say I still believe the Mets have an outstanding Pen. Just not last night
To begin with of course was Tim Redding who stunk it up, allowing eight hits, four walks and six runs in 4 2/3 innings. Then it was Sean Green who came on in the 5th with two on and two out. It only took one pitch, his first, to allow a single to Nick Green that scored both runs and gave Boston the lead. At least Nick Green was thrown out trying to take second base on the play. But my question is to Jerry Manual, WHY GREEN??? When I saw that I flipped out and yelled out, “Him? are you kiddin me” He is a throw back to everything that was wrong with our relief guys of the past. The weakest link for sure, and Jerry puts THAT GUY in that tight spot.
Jerry once again you continue to make stupid and costly decisions. But it was not our day to win cause even Stokes who has been pretty effective managed to fuck things up even more. But getting back to Shawn Green, yesterday I said I would like to send him down to make room on the roaster if we needed to and after yesterday, my position on that was strengthened. Green is a reminder of what killed us last year and the year before. The leader of what sausy called “our poison pen” GET RID OF HIM!

K-Rod felt much better yesterday and will be available tonight. WHEW!
Jose Reyes still looking good to return Tuesday or Wednesday. WHEW!
Carlos Beltran felt pretty good during his DH spot and may return to the outfield in a day or two. WHEW!
Oliver Perez could make his first rehab appearance with AAA Buffalo as soon as Tuesday.
Ryan Church is not improving and may be placed on the DL he will have his sore right hamstring examined today. If Ryan does go out how about we bring up Fernando Martinez. Yesterday I wrote about my wanting to see him back with the Mets. With so many guys going down, Fernando would be great for an everyday role. Martinez, is hitting .294 with seven homers and 26 RBI at AAA and normally I would say that would be a good place for him cause he could play everyday instead of sitting on her bench here. But with all that’s going on Fernando would play everyday here as well, so why not bring him down to help us at the infirmary that is the Mets camp.

Still we did win 2out of 3 at Fenway, and we did it with a cast of a lot of misfits. The Mets showed great character and I’m happy with that. Plus the Red Sox fans were all going nutz with all those Mets fans all over the place yelling “Lets go Mets” all weekend. A security guard at Fenway told Kevin Burkhardt that he had never saw so many opposing team fans at Fenway at one time. Those wacky Mets fans ya Gotta love us.
Speaking of Kevin Burkhardt, how cute was he playing around in the scoreboard yesterday hanging numbers and acting like a little kid lost in a candy factory.

David Wright made an outstanding diving catch on a Nick Green bunt that we will see in a lot of re runs in best of plays for a while.

I love this picture of David and Johan.

 

[chance1]

how come i am watching tim redding and i know he's not gonna last another inning - that we have the lead 5-3 and we gotta get his 85mph fastball out of the game

he and his kevin youkalis beard

but jerry manuel sits on his ass and lets redding give up the lead when he's already seen that he has nothing to give but meatballs

not digging manuel at all

not at all

nice to take 2 of 3 in beantown - loved it actually

but manuel should've pulled redding out

just as he should've let santana pitch the previous week after he gave up a leadoff single in the 8th

i think manuel is way over his head

way over

 

[syam24]

The Sunday loss in Boston didn't bother me too much. Boston is a damn good team, and should beat up on guys like Redding. The bullpen didn't help matters, but again, did not think we'd sweep the Bosox. Onto last nite's game a fairly solid performance except for the bullpen. Glad I don't smoke, would have gone thru half a pack of ciggies with all the walks and drama. The Sheffield HR was a pretty iffy thing, I'm thinking there just wasn't enuff to overturn the original HR call. Could have gone either way. Nice effort by John Maine! Will probably need some bats tonite with Livan pitching. Let's Go METS!!

 

[sonny10305]

I think most interesting part of last nights game would have to be John Maine, who went six innings, gave up four hits, struck out four, and allowed one run. The bad news is he walked four.
But all in all I thought he looked pretty good. I love his killer slider and watching him set up his fastball which you will notice is getting him the swings and misses her needs. John continues to take one step forward and one step back. While I am encouraged by his performance so far, his walks are a continuing problem. I also get concerned by the way he handles it mentally when he has problems on the mound, his body language says he is in pain emotionally something he can’t seem to control. He is constantly upset with himself and lakes confidence.
Johnny was totally pissed when Manual pulled him. I mean that did not sit well with him at all. It did not sit well with me either cause the pen came in and almost fucked everything up again. Bobby Parnell came in after his great appearance the other day but walked three, allowed one hit, and then walked in a run,
JJ Putz is back to having problems again, is it me or is something seriously wrong with his command, in particular his fastball Another nail bitter from JJ.
The bullpen continued giving me fits last night, they walked six batters. Fortunately the Nats left seven runners on base in the last innings.
I was anxious to see K-Rod after his back problems the other day; he got the job done but was a bit rocky. But he saved it, #13 and his ERA is now 0.83

What the Hell happened with Carlos Beltran who was thrown out at the plate to end the first inning, he had no shot, and we could see that when Razor sent him and he began running. That knee ain’t perfect yet and he should have stayed at third. I like Shines to be aggressive but he clearly should have taken Beltran’s knee into consideration when he sent him home. Bad move
Carlos will undergo an MRI today to see just what is going on with that knee

We beat the Nats but that’s what we are supposed to do. We need to beat up n the lesser teams which is something we failed to do last year. The next games are the Nationals and The Marlins, both teams are struggling now and we need to take advantage of that big time. After that it’s the Phillies and the Yankees both of who are playing really well. We must put some serious gains over the next two series before we meet the Phillies and Yankees, plain and simple. Problem is the fact that the Phillies are playing the Marlins and Nats this week as well, so it may be hard for us to a make any ground in the standings.
I am salivating over the Mets/Yankee games coming up. That will be awesome

Good news for Brian Church, the MRI on his right hamstring revealed no significant damage. and so he will not need to go on the DL
Jose Reyes however does not seem to be getting better, he did not even run yesterday which is worrying me. Now the Mets are saying he may be ready to play by Friday. Could Jose be headed for the DL after all?

You had to love those Red caps the Mets wore for Memorial Day, it was a part of
MLB's fundraising and awareness for Welcome Back Veterans, an important program that addresses the mental health and job needs of our returning Vets.

Tonight t it’s Hernandez facing Stammen.

Let’s go Mets

 

[chance1]

^ i went to the game last nite - pulling maine after 6 was bullshit

up 5-1 with a runner on first base he pinch hits murphy for him - crazy

manuel is of no use to me

parnell (love him) can't find the plate and all of a sudden a laugher is a nail biter

i did not like the red caps - as a fan it was distracting and when the mets were in the field, they looked like the nats

love the cause though so no biggie

1st and 3rd and one out in the 6th inning - ramon martinez up - how come manuel doesn't have him bunting - squeeze or suicide squeeze? the guy is hitting below .100 - he ends up hitting a fly ball to score wright on sac fly but ...........

good win

don't like manuel

 

[sonny10305]

^ i went to the game last nite - pulling maine after 6 was bullshit

l

The reason Manual gave for pulling Maine was due to the long six minute delay in the game while the umpires watched the replay. But Maine was in the cage staying loose so I am not buying into that at all, just another excuse from the Bumbling Mr. Manual. Just once instead of justifing his decisions with BS, I wanna hear him say "I messed (fucked) up"

BTW, we sure are getting our share of review of replays lately and so far to our advantage. I guess I like the idea but those umps have got to speed up the process. Six minutes to review a 15 second play is ridiculous. We can not leave the pitchers out there high and dry. Plus the games are long enough already.

 

[syam24]

I agree about the replay process taking too long, must get the time reduced.

Holy cow, a regular baseball game last nite! A complete game by a starting pitcher, fairly clean defense, no baserunning gaffes, no walking of everybody and their grandmother, a few clutch hits, even by Ramon Martinez, and last but certainly not least, a METS victory! I guess we should also be thankful that there doesn't appear to be any more injuries, although we'll have to wait and see how Omir Santos' foot/shin feels today. My guess is that Castro will catch tonite.

Got's to admit Omar appears pretty good with the signing of Sheffield, he's been big in recent games, and seems like he's enjoying his time with the Mets. Let's hope that continues. Let's go METS!!

 

[sonny10305]

Good post Syam, I was so excited over Hernandez and his complete game, which has not been done yet this year, not even by Santana who pitched the last one at the end of 08
Just one boo boo to Dunn and that was all she wrote. He only walked one, struck out six, and allowed nine hits, his location was spot on.
I was surprised but pleased that Manual finally did something right by leaving him in to complete the game in spite of a less than perfect eighth. Livan got all the ground balls and pop ups one could ask for and what is up with that wicked curve ball, did your eyes pop at those like mine did. Plus his location was spot on. Just magnificent.

I finally got my wish and saw Fernando Martinez (please don’t call him K-Mart) promoted yesterday, His first outing was under whelming but just give him a little time, I have seen this kid play and he will be a force to recon with. My only hope is that he has learned to have more patience at the plate, In Brooklyn he was too much of a free swinger and struck out a lot.

Gary Sheffield continues to get the job done with a line-drive homer to left. That was his second three-run shot in two days. When I think how I did not even want him on the team, how wrong I was. With so many big bats down Gary is picking up the slack in high fashion.

Another kid that is making his mark is Angel Pagon who once again made one of the highlight plays of the game with a dead on target throw to home. Also have to give kudos to Santos for staying with that play and getting Bard out. Awesome!

The walking wounded saga continues.
Reyes was finally put on the DL where he should have been days ago, although it is retroactive.
Beltran will miss three days but the good news has to be the MRI which showed no damage to that knee, he should be fine and back on Friday
Ryan Church who it was thought would not go on the DL has been placed there. With so many guys down we really need the spot, it was time to make that move. Besides he wasn’t getting any better.
Alex Cora is way ahead of schedule and is making good progress; he could be off the DL next week.

Ollie Perez had his first major league rehab start since going on the disabled list.
Ollie was, well… Ollie, he walked four of the first 10 batters he faced, including a bases-loaded walk, he was able to strike out the next two hitters and escaped bigger trouble. He did manage after giving up a leadoff double in the third, to retire the next seven batters in a row. Perez threw 88 pitches in 4.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits, and struck out five. His fastball was effective at a steady 90-92 mph and he mixed in his slider as he should. As you know, that’s the way to keep the batters off-balance.
So ok, he is on his way back, some good stuff some not so good stuff. Pretty much the same ole OIllie with maybe just a hint of improvement.
The Mets hope his rehab will continue to improve and he could return in about 10 days. When that happens I expect Redding to go to the Pen and Takahashi will go down to the minors.

The Mets are doing an outstanding job when you consider how many of the core guys are down. It just shows how well they can adjust to that sort of adversity and fight back. If we can play as well, as we have been with the irregulars just think of what will happen when everyone is back healthy.

I have not written about my boy Brad Holt in a while. I do keep up with him and he is getting closer to a promotion. He had another strong outing Sunday in a 6-1 win over the Sarasota Reds. Brad went six innings, giving up four hits and one walk while striking out 10…... 10!

Johan tonight will be going for the sweep.

 

[chance1]

couple of thoughts from moi ..........

When they picked up sheff early on i was like "gimme a break"
Now I love him - he's kinda sorta keeping his mouth shut and when he does say something it's team oriented
And he's batting cleanup
And playing a decent LF (the bar was low with Murphy )
And he's starting to tatoo balls - that HR last night was sick
Go Sheff - nice to say an older guy change for the better

Injury bug is nuts
Reyes, Church, Beltran - crazy
shoulda put Reyes on DL earlier - if Beltran is out for any length, yikes
Heard Beltran on radio interview saying he would do whatever it takes to play - love that shit - but hope he stays smart - not a huge Beltran fan as I do like fiery types but damn if he isn't doing it every day - and his CF play is mad good - so graceful

Going on sat to game vs. marlins - i am really liking citifield more and more

was there mon night and did not see sheff's HR as i was in my BF's seats - 3rd row sec 536 in LF - maddening as we did not see it go out and they showed no replays - which makes no sense

mets are playing as a team right now - just getting it done - i like that

let's go mets

 

[syam24]

So, it's back to bizarro baseball. What a crazy game that was last nite!! Johan walking the stadium, Fernando Martinez admiring his popup at home plate, another home run dispute, but alas another METS victory and back into 1st place. The good stuff was there, of course, with another big hit by Sheffield early on, Murphy breaking out with 5 RBI's, some good defense (a nice catch by Martinez against the fence), good bullpen work. More bizarre notes:
David Wright K's four times, and Chipper Jones K'd four times on the same nite, what are the odds on that!! Twin "Golden Sombreros". Bizarre nite indeed.....

 

[sonny10305]

First of all let me say how much I love the very welcomed and appreciated contributions to this thread.

A sweep is a sweep if when it’s against a struggling team like the Nationals,
Those are the kinds of teams we are expected to beat.

Santana had a rough night; hey it happens even to the great ones.
Johan had already thrown 120 pitches by the sixth inning, he also allowed three runs on three hits, and the biggest surprise to me was he walked six. He did strike out 11 however.
Now I don’t wanna sound like Johan was not treated well by the umpire but I thought some of those outside pitches were clearly strikes. The home plate ump was inconsistent making different calls to righties and lefties on basically the same pitch. Did anyone else notice that?
Very fucked up strike zone by that umpire, for sure.
Santana’s ERA has jumped to 1.77
Keep in mind he still leads the National League in strikeouts and wins. Sorry but I gotta defend him The bull pen was magnificent and came to Johan’s rescue in style, allowing him to get the win.

I dono what to say about Fernando Martinez, he sure is off to a weak start. I can forgive a lot of things like slow start at the plate, but when he did not run after popping up that ball I thought WTF? Why did he not run? UNFORGIVABLE. I have been watching him in the minors and have been a big fan, so when he got promoted I was psyched and excited for the kid. I thought here we go another D Wright. But when he got to the majors he basically fell apart, so lets hope he bounces back otherwise he will be gone in two weeks when Church returns. To bad, I feel really bad for him. But I am optimistic, only because I know and saw what he is capable of. He could very easily turn this thing around.

Daniel Murphy had a great night at the plate, yeah I know, at first base not so much, but his offense was awesome. Daniel went 3-4 with a double a home run and 5 RBIs. Dare I say it?? The Murph is back baby!
By the way the Mets are 5-5 in replay reviews with that Murphy home run last night. I also loved Kevin Burkhardt going through the stadium getting opinion about the Murphy homer, that was fun; Kevin is so good at that.

Only injury news comes from Alex Cora who I mentioned yesterday is healing well. He is gonna play three games with AAA Buffalo before being activated from the disabled list next week.
After throwing yesterday Cora saw the doctor and once again was told once again his won’t need surgery.

I keep thinking about Santos and how valuable he has become to the team. Schneider is just a short time away now from returning and that will mean Santos will in all probability be sent down. The Mets have said they will not carry three catchers. But obviously it’s all about the money with Castro, and any fool can see that Santos is better than Ramon. Hell, he’s better than Schneider. Brian does call a good game but Santos swings a better bat. I also think Castro will get hurt again, it’s only a matter of when and not if. I guess it’s a tough choice for the Mets, but I still believe we should carry there catchers and if not keep Santos and lose Castro. Just my opinion but I don’t know what else is going on in Omar’s head about this so I guess we have to respect his decision.
I will be very surprised if Santos remains after Schneider comes back, and in fact will say it ain’t gonna happen.

Day off today and then tomorrow the Mets take on the Marlins for three with Big Pelf on the mound.

Let’s go Mets!

 

[syam24]

I would not be surprised to see the Mets keep all 3 catchers for awhile, especially if the starting pitching remains fairly consistent. I'm thinking they can easily do without Takahashi in the bullpen, haven't seen him add too much on the plus side. Having the 3 catchers will enable one of the righties as a pinch hitter if needed without being too scared about an injury, and having no real catcher available.

 

[sonny10305]

I would not be surprised to see the Mets keep all 3 catchers for awhile, especially if the starting pitching remains fairly consistent. I'm thinking they can easily do without Takahashi in the bullpen, haven't seen him add too much on the plus side. Having the 3 catchers will enable one of the righties as a pinch hitter if needed without being too scared about an injury, and having no real catcher available.

There just has to be a way to keep three catchers.
Takahashi will be gone once Perez comes back, but how about Green? he is pretty much useless.
It would be Far better in my estimation to get rid of a relief guy, maybe even a bench player and keep Santos. Especially with the way the pen has been performing, we just do not need Green nearly as much as we need a third catcher.

OMAR, ARE YOU HEARING US???