Friday, May 13, 2011
Within 3 of Mediocrity
It's not looking too promising tonight. They got within 3 games of .500 last night. If they swept the Astros over the weekend, they'd be at .500. The way today is going, it's not looking like that will happen.
Chad Ochoseconds?
Chad Ochocinco is getting on a bull tomorrow on the PBR circuit. Supposedly.
If he makes it for the full eight seconds... is he going to change his name to Chad Ochoseconds?
If he makes it for the full eight seconds... is he going to change his name to Chad Ochoseconds?
Nice Play Murphy
Just made the nice grab, won the footrace to the bag, then threw out Bill Hall at the plate by a mile.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Snow in May
A mix of rain and snow in May. What the hell? That's Colorado for you. It still amazes me why Colorado doesn't have a dome. One of these years, the Rockies are going to make to the World Series. They'll probably end up playing the Twins and we'll have blizzards delaying the series until spring training.
I'll admit, I didn't see the game last night, but when I was listening to the FAN this morning while driving to work, I heard that both Ike Davis and David Wright got hurt on an infield popup. David was scheduled to sit out with a bad back and Ike was in a walking boot. So if the game was not snowed out, rained out or whatever the hell they feel like calling it - was it going to look like a spring training lineup? What were we going to see - Murphy at Third, Turner at First and Hu at Second?
I'll admit, I didn't see the game last night, but when I was listening to the FAN this morning while driving to work, I heard that both Ike Davis and David Wright got hurt on an infield popup. David was scheduled to sit out with a bad back and Ike was in a walking boot. So if the game was not snowed out, rained out or whatever the hell they feel like calling it - was it going to look like a spring training lineup? What were we going to see - Murphy at Third, Turner at First and Hu at Second?
Sunday, May 8, 2011
34 Mets Thusfar
On the heels of my last post, one month into the regular season and the Mets have already used 17 players this year. 17 position players, 17 pitchers.
Not counting players on the DL (such as Pagan & Young), the following players have played a game in a Mets uniform that are not currently on the roster:
Brad Eamus
Lucas Duda
Mike Nickeas
DJ Carrasco
Blaine Boyer
Toss in the guys on the DL (like Parnell, who I've almost forgotten about now that his straight fastball isn't being hit all over the place) and that's a lot of roster turnover.
Not counting players on the DL (such as Pagan & Young), the following players have played a game in a Mets uniform that are not currently on the roster:
Brad Eamus
Lucas Duda
Mike Nickeas
DJ Carrasco
Blaine Boyer
Toss in the guys on the DL (like Parnell, who I've almost forgotten about now that his straight fastball isn't being hit all over the place) and that's a lot of roster turnover.
Year of the Pitcher and a 25 Man Roster
We've seen no-hitters aplenty in this latest renaissance of pitching. What's to account for it? Is it the crackdown on steroids? I'm sure that's a factor. Is it the testing for amphetamines? I think that's a factor as well. But I think there may be one other factor coming into play that amplifies the effect of the testing. The 25 man roster.
As there has been an increased scrutiny on pitch counts as well as the increased focus on on-base percentage, batters have been taking more pitches and going deeper into counts. This results in starting pitchers not going as deep into games, bullpens being used more and subsequently a larger bullpen. Twenty-five years ago, teams would carry ten pitchers. Today, you usually see a staff of twelve. This left fifteen position players a generation ago which has been reduced to thirteen today.
In the national league, this leaves 5 replacement players on any given day (provided everyone is healthy and does not have any day-to-day ailments that would keep a player inactive, but would not furnish a trip to the disable list), which has also given rise to the value of a super-utility player. The backup catcher usually isn't a masher and teams are reluctant to spend this extra guy in case of an emergency. Among the four remaining players, who are the pinch hitting options when the pitchers spot comes up? There's the fourth outfielder, the backup corner infielder, the backup middle infielder (speaking in generalities - none of these would usually big a big bench threat - if they were, they'd have cracked the starting lineup). That leaves one extra player on a national league roster. One extra threat. With the limited bench options, most teams don't have the luxury of carrying a power threat off the bench such as a Matt Stairs who knows his job description is generally limited to one chance a game to make the best of it. By and large, with the larger bullpens - the regular bench is severely weakened.
When the regular bench is weakened, that leaves to options - play your starters just about every day (which may lead to more injuries or just a wearing down that will result in less production over the course of the season - remember, no more greenies or steroids). If you rest your starters, you create holes in your lineup that can be exploited by pitching around the threats and moving the lineup to the easier outs. Get to the pitchers spot in a close game and you're not seeing the pinch hitting threat you would have years ago.
Back in 1986, the Mets could pinch hit Kevin Mitchell, Howard Johnson, Lee Mazzilli, Tim Teufel/Wally Backman (depending on who was platooning that day) and Danny Heep. That's a pretty good mix before you'd even have to get down to Ed Hearn or Kevin Elster.
Today (and granted the 2011 Mets are not the 1986 team by any stretch), if you have the starting lineup in the game, you'd have the options of Willie Harris, Jerry Hairston, Justin Turner, Ronnie Paulino and Chin-lung Hu. Give any starter a day off and you've made your lineup shorter for a good pitcher to exploit.
You're always going to have the ham and eggers - but the bigger bullpens weakens the bench. Weaken the bench, you'll create more opportunities for the really good pitchers such as Halliday, Lincecum, Lee, etc to exploit the weaknesses and dominate the game.
I'm no saying this is a bad thing. I'm no saying this is a good thing. I'm just saying this may very well be a contributing factor.
As there has been an increased scrutiny on pitch counts as well as the increased focus on on-base percentage, batters have been taking more pitches and going deeper into counts. This results in starting pitchers not going as deep into games, bullpens being used more and subsequently a larger bullpen. Twenty-five years ago, teams would carry ten pitchers. Today, you usually see a staff of twelve. This left fifteen position players a generation ago which has been reduced to thirteen today.
In the national league, this leaves 5 replacement players on any given day (provided everyone is healthy and does not have any day-to-day ailments that would keep a player inactive, but would not furnish a trip to the disable list), which has also given rise to the value of a super-utility player. The backup catcher usually isn't a masher and teams are reluctant to spend this extra guy in case of an emergency. Among the four remaining players, who are the pinch hitting options when the pitchers spot comes up? There's the fourth outfielder, the backup corner infielder, the backup middle infielder (speaking in generalities - none of these would usually big a big bench threat - if they were, they'd have cracked the starting lineup). That leaves one extra player on a national league roster. One extra threat. With the limited bench options, most teams don't have the luxury of carrying a power threat off the bench such as a Matt Stairs who knows his job description is generally limited to one chance a game to make the best of it. By and large, with the larger bullpens - the regular bench is severely weakened.
When the regular bench is weakened, that leaves to options - play your starters just about every day (which may lead to more injuries or just a wearing down that will result in less production over the course of the season - remember, no more greenies or steroids). If you rest your starters, you create holes in your lineup that can be exploited by pitching around the threats and moving the lineup to the easier outs. Get to the pitchers spot in a close game and you're not seeing the pinch hitting threat you would have years ago.
Back in 1986, the Mets could pinch hit Kevin Mitchell, Howard Johnson, Lee Mazzilli, Tim Teufel/Wally Backman (depending on who was platooning that day) and Danny Heep. That's a pretty good mix before you'd even have to get down to Ed Hearn or Kevin Elster.
Today (and granted the 2011 Mets are not the 1986 team by any stretch), if you have the starting lineup in the game, you'd have the options of Willie Harris, Jerry Hairston, Justin Turner, Ronnie Paulino and Chin-lung Hu. Give any starter a day off and you've made your lineup shorter for a good pitcher to exploit.
You're always going to have the ham and eggers - but the bigger bullpens weakens the bench. Weaken the bench, you'll create more opportunities for the really good pitchers such as Halliday, Lincecum, Lee, etc to exploit the weaknesses and dominate the game.
I'm no saying this is a bad thing. I'm no saying this is a good thing. I'm just saying this may very well be a contributing factor.
What happened to Ollie P?
The last I saw, he was signed by the Nationals in March and assigned to the AAA Syracuse Chiefs. I was looking to see what his stats looked like, but he hasn't played for them either this season. He's not on their AA team. I'm not seeing that he was released - it he on the DL or in extended spring training?
Seinfest at Citi
Tonight was the most enjoyable game at Citi this season. The Mets won, and in a clutch fashion with a pinch hit double in the bottom of 8th with the score tied - props to Justin Turner for the hit, but it was already the most enjoyable game before that.
First of all, I didn't freeze my ass off. Night games in early May still require jackets, but I wasn't shivering and it didn't feel like a football game in December, either. The Seinfeld atmosphere made it fun throughout the entire evening, from Keith Hernandez throwing out the first pitch, to Seinfeld trivia throughout the game, to the Soup Nazi handing out prizes for the trivia contests on the big screen, to Jerry Stiller singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, to even having the wave make its way around the stadium 5 straight times (there was actually a crowd big enough to do that).
Jose Reyes made a couple really boneheaded base running plays - getting picked off first by the catcher while his back was turned and he was standing off base and he later got caught trying to go to third on a ground ball to short.
But it was a good time had by all.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Jason Pridie
He came up big tonight.
Now I'm not taking a knock at the guy, I'm sure he's very nice and I can see from the interview they're doing with him on SNY that this next statement isn't the case...
But if I were him, I'd ask them to put a different picture of me on the scoreboard at Citi. The one they're using makes him look like Sloth from the Goonies.
Now I'm not taking a knock at the guy, I'm sure he's very nice and I can see from the interview they're doing with him on SNY that this next statement isn't the case...
But if I were him, I'd ask them to put a different picture of me on the scoreboard at Citi. The one they're using makes him look like Sloth from the Goonies.
Seinfeld is Coming
And it's not to the WB 11, or whatever they're calling it these days. I still remember those PIX games when I was a kid with the cheesy Atari graphics and you had to send a postcard to the station, hoping they'd call you up during the post-school / pre-dinner TV shows so you could yell "Pix! Pix! Pix!"
But I digress. It's black hat night tomorrow at Citi.
But I digress. It's black hat night tomorrow at Citi.
May the Solvent Team Win.
It's the battle of the hostile takeovers. The Debt Filled Dodgers vs. Madoff's Minions. May the solvent team win.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
F-F-F-Freezing at Citi Tonight
It was effing cold at Citi tonight. It was pretty much empty, except for all the Giants fans. The Lets Go Giants cheers drowned out the Mets cheers and in the 9th, "Hear the Beard!" was the heard chant.
Oh, and they lost again.
Oh, and they lost again.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
On to Extra Innings.
Dammit! Thole hit it to the pitcher for a 1-2-3 double play to send it to extra innings.
Back to the Mets Game.
They're walking Willie Harris to load the bases for Josh Thole. A lefty is in. Paulino to pinch hit?
Liriano going for the no-no.
Now I'm flipping between SNY and the MLB network. K-Rod just got the popout with the bases loaded to end the inning and send it to the bottom of the 9th. Francisco Liriano has a no hitter going in the 9th vs. the White Sox.
6-6 in the 7th.
I wish I was in Citifield tonight. I'd love to be able to feel the atmosphere in the crowd. I will be there tomorrow. Hopefully the Mets can handle Lincecum.
The Mets Seinfeld Hats are Coming!!!
Shannon at the Mets Police is thrilled that the black hats are coming this Saturday. No doubt he'll be the first in line.
If you are reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about - check out metspolice.com. No, I'm not affiliated with it, but it has become one of my favorite sites to regularly check out.
And the coffee is really good at that unnamed donut chain.
If you are reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about - check out metspolice.com. No, I'm not affiliated with it, but it has become one of my favorite sites to regularly check out.
And the coffee is really good at that unnamed donut chain.
A Non-Baseball Note.
I was watching the Mets/Phillies game on Sunday night when I heard the news. My wife was sitting on the couch and I told her to hush because I wasn't sure if I misheard what I thought I just heard. We got bin Laden. The crowd started to chant USA! USA!
Sorry, Mets. I grabbed the remote and turned on CNN.
I don't think anyone will forget where they were on September 11th, 2001. I remember the look on my colleague's face when the first tower fell. Minutes earlier, she was speaking to one of her relatives that was still in the building and she didn't know if he had gotten out in time. I was living in Jersey at the time, right across the river and all night I heard the military helicopters in the air and the air smelled different. My wife was in the city. She heard the second plane scream overhead and fly into the tower. She watched the towers fall. We are the lucky ones. No one we knew was lost. But both of us know many who did.
Hearing the news that an evil man had been killed brought no joy. I am glad he's gone. Bin Laden did not deserve to be breathing any longer. I am glad he was killed and shown swift and immediate justice as he was awakened in the middle of the night and taken out with the same lack of mercy, for those who show no mercy deserve none. But as I said to my wife as we were trying to describe what we were feeling, there is that innate knowing that is within all of us that have a conscience, that have a soul, that are not sociopaths that taking the life of someone and that killing is wrong. Obama did what had to be done. He made an incredibly tough decision. I applaud him for it. I'm proud that the man is our President. But there is still that inner gnawing that is within all of us, that feeling that we can't quite put our finger on, that is happy this bastard is dead and that he got what he deserved - but we know that it still feels wrong to celebrate a calculated killing.
The bastard is gone. If there is a hell, I hope he's burning in it. It won't bring back those we lost. It won't fill the void in the hearts of those who lost their loved ones.
Sorry, Mets. I grabbed the remote and turned on CNN.
I don't think anyone will forget where they were on September 11th, 2001. I remember the look on my colleague's face when the first tower fell. Minutes earlier, she was speaking to one of her relatives that was still in the building and she didn't know if he had gotten out in time. I was living in Jersey at the time, right across the river and all night I heard the military helicopters in the air and the air smelled different. My wife was in the city. She heard the second plane scream overhead and fly into the tower. She watched the towers fall. We are the lucky ones. No one we knew was lost. But both of us know many who did.
Hearing the news that an evil man had been killed brought no joy. I am glad he's gone. Bin Laden did not deserve to be breathing any longer. I am glad he was killed and shown swift and immediate justice as he was awakened in the middle of the night and taken out with the same lack of mercy, for those who show no mercy deserve none. But as I said to my wife as we were trying to describe what we were feeling, there is that innate knowing that is within all of us that have a conscience, that have a soul, that are not sociopaths that taking the life of someone and that killing is wrong. Obama did what had to be done. He made an incredibly tough decision. I applaud him for it. I'm proud that the man is our President. But there is still that inner gnawing that is within all of us, that feeling that we can't quite put our finger on, that is happy this bastard is dead and that he got what he deserved - but we know that it still feels wrong to celebrate a calculated killing.
The bastard is gone. If there is a hell, I hope he's burning in it. It won't bring back those we lost. It won't fill the void in the hearts of those who lost their loved ones.
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