The Mets 3-2 nail-biter was won by a fingernail. The fortunately unbitten fingernail on the outstretched finger of Lastings Milledge, who needed every millimeter of his digits as he glided just wide of the glove of Reds catcher David Ross, and scraped the corner of home plate for the Mets winning run. Milledge’s feet seemed to stutter-step as he left first early on the two out Ruben Gotay single, so the sneaky slide just barely made up enough for the time he lost before his speed kicked in.
Milledge was recalled from AAA New Orleans today, and represents some hustle and zip in the lineup, as the Mets waive goodbye to 57 year old Julio Franco, who is going straight into the Senior PGA. Also making the most of his opportunity was Gotay, playing second for the injured Jose Valentin, whose finger was bandaged up after breaking up a fight in Puerto Rico during the All Star break. The solid .342-hitting Gotay made team history homering back to back with Jose Reyes to start the game, which, oddly never happened since they started this crazy Mets journey back in 1962.
Its vexing that the veteran Valentin would get injured during what one assumes was a liquor- soaked late night situation during his shore leave from the Mets ship. Mets fans hope that looking back, Jose would rather the two combatants have bashed each other senseless while he lounged at home drinking mango juice and reading the Ted Williams book about hitting. While Gotay seems ready to be leaned on increasingly, its Milledge who will be quickly exposed if he fails. With the curse of injury to anyone who plays leftfield striking Moises Alou, Endy Chavez and Carlos Gomez, fate turns the lasting glow of its spotlight to Lastings Milledge.
Billy Wagner meanwhile, managed to bounce back from the two run homer he allowed to the Indians’ Victor Martinez in the All Star Game with the save. There is a mental disconnect when you throw closers into the dreaded “non-save situation” during the Midsummer Classic, so it was reassuring to see Wagner return to his dominant form when back in his ninth inning role, with all the “save situation” theme music and ceremony he seems to require.
Showing posts with label Mets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mets. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Mets' Maine Man
John Maine began his outing tonight in most auspicious fashion, becoming the first player in major league history to strike out four batters in an inning. Astros leadoff hitter Craig Biggio waved at a subterranean strike three slider, as did #2 hitter Hunter Pence. When #3 hitter Lance Berkman lost his bat in a flailing strike three attempt, it went flying into the on-deck circle, striking #4 hitter Carlos Lee and knocking him flat. Four batters felled in one swoop of a first inning.
Maine went on to fan a career high nine batters in the much needed, tide-turning 6-2 victory in Houston, coming after a late night escape flight that capped a brutal sweep by Colorado.
In the sixth, with runners on first and second and none out, Maine whistled a flame-trailing 94-mph offering high and tight past a lunging Berkman. Capitalizing on the big whiff, he crossed up Lee, who was way out ahead of a vicious and tantalizing slider for strike one. He later went back to the inside heat for a swinging strike three to Lee, and then got Loretta to pop up harmlessly, stepping right out of trouble with a calmness and even emotion you don’t usually see in second year players.
For seven solid innings the Astros offense was pushed down and prevented from breathing by the stifling Maine, until he ran out of gas in the eighth, 119 pitches deep. Lee, got his revenge with a run scoring double and scored himself on a Loretta single. With the score 5-2, the Mets were able to tiptoe out of further damage thanks to Pedro Feliciano, who struck out an angrily looking Morgan Ensberg, silenced the Astro rally and “set up” the closer Billy Wagner for a nice n easy ninth.
Maine’s rousing effort stopped some pretty serious Mets bleeding. After the Mets experienced a Rocky Mountain reduction of their psyche at the hands of Colorado – 47 Coors-aided hits and 34 runs allowed in 3 increasingly demoralizing losses - they were grateful for the poise of Maine and his instant heat out of the gate to set a different tone. Mets play-by-play guy Gary Cohen was inspired enough to anoint Maine as the Mets new “stopper”, and instantly the SNY cameras find the browbeaten visage of Tom Glavine in the dugout, who seemed to somehow sense that his inconsistent performance had just gotten him demoted out of that role.
Maine went on to fan a career high nine batters in the much needed, tide-turning 6-2 victory in Houston, coming after a late night escape flight that capped a brutal sweep by Colorado.
In the sixth, with runners on first and second and none out, Maine whistled a flame-trailing 94-mph offering high and tight past a lunging Berkman. Capitalizing on the big whiff, he crossed up Lee, who was way out ahead of a vicious and tantalizing slider for strike one. He later went back to the inside heat for a swinging strike three to Lee, and then got Loretta to pop up harmlessly, stepping right out of trouble with a calmness and even emotion you don’t usually see in second year players.
For seven solid innings the Astros offense was pushed down and prevented from breathing by the stifling Maine, until he ran out of gas in the eighth, 119 pitches deep. Lee, got his revenge with a run scoring double and scored himself on a Loretta single. With the score 5-2, the Mets were able to tiptoe out of further damage thanks to Pedro Feliciano, who struck out an angrily looking Morgan Ensberg, silenced the Astro rally and “set up” the closer Billy Wagner for a nice n easy ninth.
Maine’s rousing effort stopped some pretty serious Mets bleeding. After the Mets experienced a Rocky Mountain reduction of their psyche at the hands of Colorado – 47 Coors-aided hits and 34 runs allowed in 3 increasingly demoralizing losses - they were grateful for the poise of Maine and his instant heat out of the gate to set a different tone. Mets play-by-play guy Gary Cohen was inspired enough to anoint Maine as the Mets new “stopper”, and instantly the SNY cameras find the browbeaten visage of Tom Glavine in the dugout, who seemed to somehow sense that his inconsistent performance had just gotten him demoted out of that role.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
NY vs. NY a Wagnerian Saga
“Nein, W.” is the answer.
“Do you spell your name with a “V”, Mr. Wagner?” is the question. Or so goes a favorite joke of my classical music aficionado father.
The question for the Mets was how were they going to break a losing skid that saw them drop nein of their last ten games? And how would they do so against the suddenly resurgent Yankees, who have won nein in a row? The answer, like the joke, lies with a Mr. Wagner. Was the tonic for the Mets ills some type of psychological victory? Nein, it was a W, as the Mets triumphed over their Bronx rivals, 2-0 last night, on Wagner’s perfect neinth.
The somewhat unpredictable starter Oliver Perez pitched brilliantly, scattering six hits over his 7 1/3 shutout innings. And the Joe Smith/Pedro Feliciano two-headed monster that picked up the last two outs of the 8th suddenly seems like a serviceable replacement to the one confused head of Aaron Heilman. The perfect 9th Billy Wagner pitched was downright necessary for the Mets. To have blown, or even jeopardized the fragile 2-0 gem the Mets had pieced together would have been more devastating than if they got shelled from the get go.
After getting behind in the count to Posada (with his surprising .349 average) Wagner got Jorge to pop up, then froze Hideki Matsui with an unappetizing offering; an outside fastball that swerved in to skim the black on strike three for the second out. Robinson Cano, seeing Matsui’s open-mouthed hesitation, vowed to swing at Wagner’s nasty outside heat, and flailed at strike three, missing by a foot.
Billy Wagner’s lifetime .188 opponent’s batting average is best among active relievers. His continued ability to locate his feisty arsenal of pitches is needed to unlock the Mets potential, as we enter the heat of summer and the land of the 4-3, 3-2 one run games.
“Do you spell your name with a “V”, Mr. Wagner?” is the question. Or so goes a favorite joke of my classical music aficionado father.
The question for the Mets was how were they going to break a losing skid that saw them drop nein of their last ten games? And how would they do so against the suddenly resurgent Yankees, who have won nein in a row? The answer, like the joke, lies with a Mr. Wagner. Was the tonic for the Mets ills some type of psychological victory? Nein, it was a W, as the Mets triumphed over their Bronx rivals, 2-0 last night, on Wagner’s perfect neinth.
The somewhat unpredictable starter Oliver Perez pitched brilliantly, scattering six hits over his 7 1/3 shutout innings. And the Joe Smith/Pedro Feliciano two-headed monster that picked up the last two outs of the 8th suddenly seems like a serviceable replacement to the one confused head of Aaron Heilman. The perfect 9th Billy Wagner pitched was downright necessary for the Mets. To have blown, or even jeopardized the fragile 2-0 gem the Mets had pieced together would have been more devastating than if they got shelled from the get go.
After getting behind in the count to Posada (with his surprising .349 average) Wagner got Jorge to pop up, then froze Hideki Matsui with an unappetizing offering; an outside fastball that swerved in to skim the black on strike three for the second out. Robinson Cano, seeing Matsui’s open-mouthed hesitation, vowed to swing at Wagner’s nasty outside heat, and flailed at strike three, missing by a foot.
Billy Wagner’s lifetime .188 opponent’s batting average is best among active relievers. His continued ability to locate his feisty arsenal of pitches is needed to unlock the Mets potential, as we enter the heat of summer and the land of the 4-3, 3-2 one run games.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Mets Balk At Their Past
No moment better epitomizes the hope of the Mets young season than the two 12th inning balks committed by the remarkably hesitant Armando Benitez of the Giants out at Shea on May 30. With Jose Reyes juking and jiving on the bases, it was like the Mets past (symbolized by the flinty ego of Armando Benitez in the painful memories of his ’99-‘03 Mets stint) flinching at its immediate future, the irrepressible Reyes. A leg twitch by Armando, a hesitation of will which told of his fear, the smile of Reyes like a deadly and charming feline predator.
After Reyes scored on balk 2 and Carlos Delgado homered, the Mets were dancing around home plate in glee and, in a classic case of “don’t shoot the messenger,” Benitez was immediately shipped off to the Marlins in exchange for a fellow reliever, David Messenger. While the positive symbols were obvious to any Mets fan whose gastrointestinal health suffered when Benitez used to take the mound, it’s hard to celebrate in a season where its been declared “anything less than the World Series is a disappointment.”
Delgado's slump has continued; he struck out looking with the bases loaded Sunday, as the Mets got snakebit 4-1 by the D-Backs. The clutch bat of this wily veteran has provided its share of late inning magic, but cannot be counted on alone. As Beltran sat with a busted knee and Wright, just back from back spasms, looked tentative, the Mets offense, including an all-reserve outfield of Endy Chavez, Ben Johnson and Carlos Gomez, was punchless and beatable.
The Mets, at some point in their quest, will meet an opponent who won’t flinch. Reyes clearly will always be dancing and deadly and will be smiling a lot. And Delgado will be magic sometimes. However, in order to triumph, the Mets will need Wright and Beltran to be not just at their average selves, but stepping it up to that other level.
After Reyes scored on balk 2 and Carlos Delgado homered, the Mets were dancing around home plate in glee and, in a classic case of “don’t shoot the messenger,” Benitez was immediately shipped off to the Marlins in exchange for a fellow reliever, David Messenger. While the positive symbols were obvious to any Mets fan whose gastrointestinal health suffered when Benitez used to take the mound, it’s hard to celebrate in a season where its been declared “anything less than the World Series is a disappointment.”
Delgado's slump has continued; he struck out looking with the bases loaded Sunday, as the Mets got snakebit 4-1 by the D-Backs. The clutch bat of this wily veteran has provided its share of late inning magic, but cannot be counted on alone. As Beltran sat with a busted knee and Wright, just back from back spasms, looked tentative, the Mets offense, including an all-reserve outfield of Endy Chavez, Ben Johnson and Carlos Gomez, was punchless and beatable.
The Mets, at some point in their quest, will meet an opponent who won’t flinch. Reyes clearly will always be dancing and deadly and will be smiling a lot. And Delgado will be magic sometimes. However, in order to triumph, the Mets will need Wright and Beltran to be not just at their average selves, but stepping it up to that other level.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Reflections on the Mets Elimination
The David Wright Vitamin Water ads were instantly ubiquitous on the phone booths and bus stations of New York within days of the Mets horrific Game 7 elimination at the hands of the Cardinals. “For David Wright, it works” the ads contend, below a picture of Wright, not in the blue and orange of the Mets but in the plain white, unlabeled uniform of corporate America. Still smarting from the shocking conclusion of the playoffs, in which Wright only hit .216, I find myself asking angry questions as I face the omnipresent reminders from the folks at Vitamin Water. Such as: “If it works for David, does that mean he would have would have hit .000 without it?”, “How many hours in the batting cage did he miss while mugging for those shots?”, and “Why doesn’t he have his own flavor like 50 Cent?”
Is there anyone better than David Wright on whom to pin the blame for the Mets flameout? After watching the wheels of the pitching staff come off in brutal fashion with the shocking and/or predictable injuries to Martinez and El Duque, the Mets fans knew there would be significant amounts of postseason magic needed to carry the team through. The Mets entered the playoffs with a scotch-taped-together staff but with a confidence born from a season of dominant offense, clutch play, and a flair for the dramatic that left the Mets still a Vegas favorite. The killer was, that postseason pixie dust did indeed get sprinkled on the young, untested arms of John Maine and Oliver Perez, and then even Tom Glavine, the last of 300 game winners, found the dominance of his prime with a streak of 13 shutout innings. You even have to look at veteran Darren Oliver, who contemplated retirement after some bad outings with the AAA Iowa Cubs before joining the Mets this spring, had that one last meaningful moment he imagined was left in his arm, shutting out St. Louis for 6 innings in game 2 after starter Steve Trachsel was terrible. Overall the pitching was actually just fine. Coulda been a touching story about the pitchers. They even had that awesome Endy Chavez catch. What they needed was a couple more timely hits.
Mets fans looked at the Cardinals series, knowing pitching dominates in the postseason, and conceded the Cards had an advantage in this category. They had the soon-to-be two time Cy Young winner (Carpenter), a wily journeyman (Suppan) and that surfer looking guy with the blond hair who got booted from the Yankees (Weaver). Which certainly wouldn’t have been THAT daunting if the Mets had their usual guys, but even without Martinez and El Duque, 8 of 8 of the New York Posts’ experts picked the Mets to win the series, obviously not because of their pitching, but because their hitting was so powerful, so magical, so clutch.
And it was all season. Wright was at the heart of it all, his fat .358 average with runners at third and two outs, his hustle in clutch moments gave the Mets that final, deadly advantage beyond the huge talent of Reyes, Beltran, Delgado and Lo Duca. In the Cards series you could sense Wright’s absence as these other star hitters contributed in turn. Delgado was on fire, dropping bombs throughout, looking like a series MVP and getting walked three times in the decisive game 7. Beltran and Reyes each single-handedly seized one game, as Beltran’s homer was the only offense in the Mets 2-0 game one victory, and Reyes’ leadoff shot and speed were the advantage in game 5. Lo Duca scattered productive singles throughout, hitting a respectable .275 in the playoffs. The offense wasn’t on fire, but these clutch performances at least got them to game 7. Where was the clutch David Wright performance?
Modells sales executives stated this year David Wright finally ended a 10 year run by Derek Jeter as the top nameplated sports gear seller in New York. Anyone who has been to a Mets game in 2006 can attest it seems like well over 50% of the shirts and jerseys bear his name. It’s safe to say virtually all of the women who come to Shea sporting the name of a player have David Wright gear, much of it targeted toward Wright’s sex appeal, such as the “Mrs. Wright” version of the female-cut tee. David Wright is the face of the Mets.
It’s the nature of all sports, future potential for promising young stars is richly rewarded. David Wright has been rewarded because he is the plucky and likeable son of Virginia Beach cop, a hard-working 23 year old who practices, hustles, is humble and has a good attitude, and because he SHOULD come through in a Playoff game 7. He should get that key single the other way, fouling off pitches to get to something he can handle, controlling his nerves despite the noise and situation which is making the high-priced prima donnas around him crumble under pressure. Kind of like David Eckstein was able to do for the Cards.
So, having failed to come through in Game 7 and throughout the entire postseason, Wright owes one to the Mets fans. These fans who have given him so much unconditional love before the postseason even arrived as the guy we would/should/could rely on if we ever got there. That’s what Mets fans are thinking every day when they pass those dragonberry-red Vitamin Water ads on the way to work. That and “Steve Trachsel is terrible”.
Is there anyone better than David Wright on whom to pin the blame for the Mets flameout? After watching the wheels of the pitching staff come off in brutal fashion with the shocking and/or predictable injuries to Martinez and El Duque, the Mets fans knew there would be significant amounts of postseason magic needed to carry the team through. The Mets entered the playoffs with a scotch-taped-together staff but with a confidence born from a season of dominant offense, clutch play, and a flair for the dramatic that left the Mets still a Vegas favorite. The killer was, that postseason pixie dust did indeed get sprinkled on the young, untested arms of John Maine and Oliver Perez, and then even Tom Glavine, the last of 300 game winners, found the dominance of his prime with a streak of 13 shutout innings. You even have to look at veteran Darren Oliver, who contemplated retirement after some bad outings with the AAA Iowa Cubs before joining the Mets this spring, had that one last meaningful moment he imagined was left in his arm, shutting out St. Louis for 6 innings in game 2 after starter Steve Trachsel was terrible. Overall the pitching was actually just fine. Coulda been a touching story about the pitchers. They even had that awesome Endy Chavez catch. What they needed was a couple more timely hits.
Mets fans looked at the Cardinals series, knowing pitching dominates in the postseason, and conceded the Cards had an advantage in this category. They had the soon-to-be two time Cy Young winner (Carpenter), a wily journeyman (Suppan) and that surfer looking guy with the blond hair who got booted from the Yankees (Weaver). Which certainly wouldn’t have been THAT daunting if the Mets had their usual guys, but even without Martinez and El Duque, 8 of 8 of the New York Posts’ experts picked the Mets to win the series, obviously not because of their pitching, but because their hitting was so powerful, so magical, so clutch.
And it was all season. Wright was at the heart of it all, his fat .358 average with runners at third and two outs, his hustle in clutch moments gave the Mets that final, deadly advantage beyond the huge talent of Reyes, Beltran, Delgado and Lo Duca. In the Cards series you could sense Wright’s absence as these other star hitters contributed in turn. Delgado was on fire, dropping bombs throughout, looking like a series MVP and getting walked three times in the decisive game 7. Beltran and Reyes each single-handedly seized one game, as Beltran’s homer was the only offense in the Mets 2-0 game one victory, and Reyes’ leadoff shot and speed were the advantage in game 5. Lo Duca scattered productive singles throughout, hitting a respectable .275 in the playoffs. The offense wasn’t on fire, but these clutch performances at least got them to game 7. Where was the clutch David Wright performance?
Modells sales executives stated this year David Wright finally ended a 10 year run by Derek Jeter as the top nameplated sports gear seller in New York. Anyone who has been to a Mets game in 2006 can attest it seems like well over 50% of the shirts and jerseys bear his name. It’s safe to say virtually all of the women who come to Shea sporting the name of a player have David Wright gear, much of it targeted toward Wright’s sex appeal, such as the “Mrs. Wright” version of the female-cut tee. David Wright is the face of the Mets.
It’s the nature of all sports, future potential for promising young stars is richly rewarded. David Wright has been rewarded because he is the plucky and likeable son of Virginia Beach cop, a hard-working 23 year old who practices, hustles, is humble and has a good attitude, and because he SHOULD come through in a Playoff game 7. He should get that key single the other way, fouling off pitches to get to something he can handle, controlling his nerves despite the noise and situation which is making the high-priced prima donnas around him crumble under pressure. Kind of like David Eckstein was able to do for the Cards.
So, having failed to come through in Game 7 and throughout the entire postseason, Wright owes one to the Mets fans. These fans who have given him so much unconditional love before the postseason even arrived as the guy we would/should/could rely on if we ever got there. That’s what Mets fans are thinking every day when they pass those dragonberry-red Vitamin Water ads on the way to work. That and “Steve Trachsel is terrible”.
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