We sprung him!

Brian Schnieder is free!!! Schnieder is out of the hospital and walking around the clubhouse this afternoon, according to Adam Rubin.

Wagner Jinxed

Billy Wagner lost his no-hitter today, losing the chance to become the first Met to throw a no-hitter for a whole season. With all of the discussion about his streak recently, the news media has to be blamed for mentioning the no-no before it was completed.

I'm taking credit for Delgado's breakout game. By implying his slump wouldn't end before Chinese Democracy was released, I reversed jinxed him into a good game. By mentioning this reverse jinx, I doomed him to another slump. So my vote still goes for Chinese Democracy.

Finally, the Braves may just be washed up. John Smoltz for sure. When you're giving up home runs to Delgado and Raul Casanova you're washed up in my mind. Just don't tell David Wright.

As of right now, we are in second place in the NL East, 1 game behind the Marlins. While we'd prefer to be on top with a cushion, we have to be happy to be in this, especially with the injuries we've sustained. Unfortunately, this looks like it could be the team we have for the rest of the year, with Alou's most recent injury.

The good news is we have had good pitching*, despite the fact that two of our five starters (Pedro and El Duque) have not pitched enough innings to qualify for a win this year. Back end of the bullpen is solid with Wagner and Sanchez.

After a month, this team seems to be in pretty good shape. Returns from injuries and a Delgado breakout will make this team a serious contender in October.

*Aaron Heilman not included

Check the Poll...

in the sidebar and vote.

Which will happen first:
Carlos Delgado breaks out of his slump

OR

Guns 'N Roses release their long-anticipated album Chinese Democracy

Whaddya think?

Appalling fan behavior

And it's not even at Shea. Even more shocking, it's not even in Philadelphia. Nope, it's in good ol' Atlanta. Guy gets beat up because he roots for the opposing team. Apparently, even Pittsburgh Pirates fans aren't safe in Hotlanta.

I'm a fan writing this. Most of the people who will read this are fans as well. How many of us would dream of decking another fan for wearing the other teams gear? I'm all for some friendly heckling, but this is over the line. To quote Joey Tribbiani, this guy is so far over the line, he can't even see where the line is. The line is a dot to this guy.

Fan behavior seems to be at an all-time low early in this season. Phillies fans are cheering injuries and throwing Mets fans over the railings. Braves fans are knocking opposing fans' teeth out. In a completely unrelated sport, I was at the Bills-Bengals game when Chad Johnson got carted off the field on a stretcher, and some fans were cheering. We're booing our own players frequently at Shea.

The sad part is, some "fans" can't go to the game without getting completely hammered. I just want to know why. If you want a beer or two, fine by me. But why do people have to have to get completely hammered and ruin the game for others? If you can't enjoy a baseball game without getting drunk, why are you at the game in the first place?

I have two words for these people. Stay home. If you can't have a good time at the game without getting smashed, don't go to the game. Just stay home and drink all you want. That way you can enjoy what you like, and the fans of the game can enjoy what they like. So just stay home.

Stop giving the rest of us a bad name.

Delg-adios

Let me preface this by saying I never really came around on Delgado, because of his comments after signing with the Marlins. I still resent him a little for that. I'll cheer for him to do well on our team, but my bias prevents me from believing he can. With that being said...

I think its about time to dump the big slugger. Check that, the big guy who could formerly slug. So far this year, the only pitcher he could get around on was Jaime Moyer. And I think this is a move better made early than late. Maybe not right now, but a move could be coming.

As long as the team is winning we can keep Delgado around. That should be obvious. But we need to win to the tune of 5 in a row, not alternate wins and losses. If we are well over .500 we can stick with him a little longer. But if the team is hovering at .500 by mid-May then it's go time for Delgado.

I'd love to see Carp at some point. I'm probably reaching, but I really think it's a good idea. And eventually I think Carp will be up anyway. At this point replacing Delgado would not be that difficult for Carp, especially if Delgado has 2 home runs with a .223 average at that point.

And I don't care about whether or not he's ready. He better get ready. We might put him on the Wright track and bring him up to triple-a for a few weeks, and then bring him up to the bigs. Or we could put him on the fast track and bring him up from Binghamton.

It all depends on how the next month plays out. If Delgado turns it around and starts hammering the ball and Carp slumps then this point is moot. However, if Delgado's struggles continue and the team suffers, the move has to be made. But what should we do with Delgado?

We could cut him. I mean he probably wants to go back to the Marlins anyway. Looking at their record they have the best chance to win right now, which is all he really wants.

Mental Toughness

We don't have it. It's unfortunate really. I wish we had it. But we don't.

How do I know we don't. ESPN has told me. Sports Illustrated told me. Eric Karabell told me on the Baseball Today podcast. An anonymous GM told me.

Its too bad really. I don't like knowing that if Aaron Heilman gives up a home run he can't come back the next day and strike out two batters with the bases loaded. It disappoints me that Jose Reyes can't bounce back from a 8 for 39 (.205 BA) to go 8 for his next 19 (.421 BA).

I'm concerned because Mike Pelfrey doesn't have "it". I don't think Nelson Figueroa will be able to recover from his world travels, his confidence is probably shot. It's a crying shame that Carlos Beltran has no leadership ability whatsoever.

We still can never beat the Phillies. Their in our heads. Our rotation has too many question marks. The Braves rotation is much more reliable. We won't finish any better than third.

Might as well give up on this season. The experts told me to.

I'm on top of the world!!!

Alright, 1/2 game lead over the Marlins for first in the NL East. Johan stepped up, David bounced back, and nobody remembers that this team is jinxed against the Phillies.

But here's the best part of my day. I watched real live baseball for the first time this spring. And I got to watch the Braves lose. Who cares if it was the Richmond Braves, they still lost. And watching stud prospect Brandon Jones (#4 in the Braves organization, according to Baseball America) drop an easy fly ball, sitting about 10 rows up from the spot he dropped the ball.

But here's the stunner of the night. Looking at the stats sheet in the program I learned that Salvatore Frank Fasano is the only player on the Richmond Braves to hit a triple this year. Let that sink in for a minute. Sal never hit a triple in his major league career, but he has one already this year.

Anyhow, its been a good day. Tomorrow could be better with a chance to watch the Mets play for the second time this year.

Thank God for nationally televised games. Let's Go Mets!!!

Turning Point

I think I'm officially ready to put 2007 behind me. You know, put it in writing, get over it. And I have a reason. This guy is gone:

And this guy is back:

Ever since the Carlos-Jose heart-to-heart (dashes galore!!!) this team has looked better. That lack of heart seems to be gone, replaced by the guy who makes this team run.

Jose said he didn't want to be the reason the team lost. And in my opinion, straight-faced Jose may not have been the reason we lost, but he wasn't helping us win. Reverting to his old form is the best way Jose can prevent losing. Don't think for one second the Phillies and Braves want to beat us more because of Jose's exuberance. It's ridiculous. They want to beat us because they want to win. Like every other team, regardless of their opposition.

But it's going to be a little tougher now because...

Heeeeeee's Baaaaaaaaccckkk...

The Stopper

What we have been hearing since the Johan trade is that he's a stopper. He can prevent a prolonged losing streak by picking up key victories. Apparently, we had a guy like that all along.

For the second time this season, Big Pelf has stepped up to stop a losing streak, right when it seemed like the fans were about to go over the edge. His last start was the first of a three-game winning streak, after dropping three straight to the Braves and Phillies. Now, with words like lackluster and disappointing being the predominant adjectives to describe the start of the Mets season, Pelf steps up again and gets a win.

Now, we had all heard what "they" were saying about him. Never going to be a #1 starter. Doesn't have the mental toughness. Might have what it takes to be a solid middle reliever. Doesn't have the killer instinct.

Well guess what. Maybe "they" were wrong. Maybe Big Pelf does have what it takes. He's proven it in this young season, holding the Phillies to two runs and throwing seven shutout innings against Washington, ending losing streaks both times. We'll see how his season pans out, but he makes me want to believe.

But we might want to keep that Johan around, just in case.

P.S. Welcome back Dirty.

Hits of an Angel

A parody of Lips of an Angel/tribute to Angel Pagan. Enjoy.

Why did this game run so late?
Shea is really rockin' right now
Charile quit your whining
You'll lose anyway
Can't hear a whisper through the roar of the crowd

Well
Your hit bounced
Through the infield
Boy did you ever come through
And drive in Jose with the winning run

It's really good to have you back
On our team
Your swing's so sweet
We're livin' on the hits of an Angel
Winnin' the walkoff game of the week
And why
Doesn't Charlie say good bye
To the umpire who made a good call
On the hit of an Angel

It's funny he's called safe tonight
And yes, it's the right call too
But it's not gonna stop old Charlie
From trying to start a fight
No I don't think he has a clue

Well
Your hit bounced
Through the infield
Boy did you ever come through
And drive in Jose with the winning run


It's really good to have you back
On our team
Your swing's so sweet
We're livin' on the hits of an Angel
Winnin' the walkoff game of the week
And why
Doesn't Charlie say good bye
To the umpire who made the right call
On the hit of an Angel

Enough's enough, I've suffered and I've seen the light

You're my Angel, come and save me tonight. You're my Angel, come and make it all right.

Walk-off hit for the Mets' best hitter in the clutch this year. What else did you expect? Pagan leads the team in RBI right now, and has a nifty .370 batting average. It's early, but still this is encouraging. He may not have Moises' pop, but he (along with Ryan Church) are driving in the runs right now. And he's racking up the hits, when pitchers are usually ahead of hitters.

But let's not forget to give this guy some credit too...


That pic's for you, lady readers (Hi Mom!!!). Big time two out double. Gameday made it look like it was smoked, as much as Gameday can. Two hits for Jose, and his first steal of the year. And scoring from second when Werth was playing shallow in center. I'm not sure how he was safe, but I think he was.

It looks like he got his hand in right before Coste applied the tag. Gameday only gives the one replay (which, by the way, is awesome to get replays right after they happen), so I didn't get a better angle of the play.

The angle isn't the best, but the Angel is pretty darn good.

I Wish You Would Step Back From That Ledge My Friend

Ok, how to go about this. Perspective talk or the sky is falling? Hmmm, neither.

Instead, let's focus on the positives for a moment.

1. Carlos Delgado. Two hits, one of which was a home run to open the scoring. He's hit well thus far in the season, and hopefully can keep it up.
2. Oliver Perez. Willie wasn't thrilled with his performance, but I'll take any performance in which he doesn't give up any runs. Also, he got in a situation early in the game where he walked the pitcher and eventually the bases were loaded. This is one of those situations where he implodes, but he got out of it. I also saw him imploding in the sixth, but Willie took him out in a move I agree with.
3. Another note on Ollie's performance yesterday. Watching the game on Gamecast he didn't have a ball hit deep at all. I can't tell how hard the balls were being hit, but it didn't look like he was getting hammered.
4. Our starting pitching, in general, has been good, when it was supposed to be a question mark. (We'll see how I feel after the Big Pelf pitches tonight)

The bad news. We can't hit. Our leadoff hitters don't get on, we don't hit with runners in scoring position, yesterday we had some serious WTP issues. Bullpen, also an issue. Joe Smith is our only reliever who has pitched more than one inning and has an ERA under 5.4. Fortunately, it's early in the season and those ERA's should come down. Shouldn't they?

What it boils down to is it's still early in the season. But I'm sick of this "every team goes through a rough patch" talk. Quit making excuses and go out and win. When you win, you don't have to make excuses.

Before when I said the worst is over...

... perhaps I spoke too soon.

First, Pedro goes down in his first start of the season. Then, John Maine proves that he is actually human and loses to the Braves. Then we waste a 1-run effort from Johan by not hitting the Braves pen (I can't blame them for not hitting Smoltz). And now, David Wright is painting the town with Britney.

Why, David, why?!!!






Just kidding folks. You just got Rickroll'd. Again. If you haven't heard, during Opening Day at Shea tomorrow Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley will be played after the top of the eighth inning.

And if you haven't heard about rickrolling (I looked it up today, so don't feel bad) here's the wikipedia definition:
In a rickroll, a person provides a link they claim is relevant to the topic at hand which actually takes the user to the Astley video.

Over at Metsblog Matthew Cerrone has been saying all along that we don't need a sing-along (don't worry, I wouldn't rickroll ya twice in one post). I have to say now I agree. This can only be bad karma for stealing Sweet Caroline.

Blessing in Disguise

After a couple of days to mull over this Pedro injury, I've decided that this could be a good thing. I have reasons, and they're three-fold.

Now, El Duque and Big Pelf can battle it out in the regular season. I hate to talk about our guys competing with each other, especially once the real games start, but it's going to happen. And now we can see them both against big league hitters in games that count. Hopefully, their competition will also elevate their games to lessen the impact of Pedro's injury.

Not only that, but if Pedro can stay healthy from when he returns (I'm expecting June, even if it is supposed to be mid-May), he should be fresher in October. Let's call this the Moises Alou theory (channeling my inner Sports Guy).

Finally, this gives the team a chance to show their mental toughness and all this other junk the experts are questioning. A good run here shows that the Mets can bounce back when facing adversity, despite how last year ended.

Based on Thursday night, I think we're off to a pretty good start.

Throw-Ins

Everyone discusses the core of the Mets as being David Wright and Jose Reyes. Solid young nucleus who came up through our system. The Mets also have a couple of pitchers who we acquired, but still treat as guys who we developed. John Maine and Oliver Perez.

These guys will be just as important to us in the next 5-10 years, if we can keep them together. They're our guys, even though we didn't bring them up through our system. Ollie had some success early in his career, posting a 2.98 ERA in Pittsburgh in 2004. However, he was a disaster before the trade, and considered a throw-in. John Maine was also a throw-in, with the gem of that deal being Jorge Juilo.

My point is, even though we didn't bring these two up through our system, they're our guys. They made their names on our team, so we feel like we brought them up. Getting steals like this in trades are just as satisfying as promoting players through our system. They're not some high-priced guy who became a superstar on another team. Not a guy who we sold the farm for...

Not that there's anything wrong with that either. Johan is the best pitcher in the game, the kind of guy you sell the farm for. And sure am glad he's here, and would make that trade every time. However, now we need to restock our farm system.

What we need to do is continue to develop these guys, and the pitchers in our system. What we need to stop doing is trading guys like Brian Bannister for Ambriorix Burgos. I'm worried that at the deadline Omar will think we need a starter because of injuries. And who knows, maybe he'll make the right move and win a title in '08. But he needs to make trades like those with Baltimore and Pittsburgh where we get a "throw-in project" who we can build up.

So Omar, don't forget the throw-in when you make your next deal. One more young solid starter and we'll be set for a decade.

April Fool

Moises Alou, I'm looking at you. Why, oh why, must you bring up the Bartman ordeal? Did he have the reaction of a guy who wouldn't have caught the ball? Not the way I remember it.

The point is, why are we talking about this now. It was 4 years ago, I think it's time to let go. Alex Gonzales was forgiven and forgotten, and he bobbled a ball that was in play.

And Moises, you're a Met now buddy. It's nice awfully nice of you to come out and defend Bartman. He probably really appreciates you bringing his name back in the limelight, reminding Cubs fans of their disdain for him. Maybe it's time to cut back on the interviews and get back to rehab. You know, maybe focus on this season instead of 4 years ago.

And one last thing Moises...

You would have caught that ball.

Opening Day

First of all I would like to apologize for the long layoff. Expect regular posts throughout the season. Okay, down to the nitty-gritty.

1-0

All we can really ask for at this point. Haters can say what they want about posting a dominating victory over the Marlins, but this is what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to take care of business against the Marlins, Nationals, and Pirates.

Oh, wait. Those other two teams all won yesterday. Oh, wait, they beat teams that are supposed to compete with us for a division title. Atlanta and Phillie both went down to teams that haven't been over .500 on the same day since March 31, 2003. Atlanta needed a gift from Jason Bay and Nate McClouth to even take the Pirates to extra innings.

Meanwhile, Johan did his thing in Miami, and David Wright continues his trend of extending hitting streaks between seasons with a double that blew this one open. Bullpen was shaky, but did the job on a day when bullpen issues were the big story, especially in Atlanta and Philadelphia.

The other big story: Former Mets helping us out. Xavier Nady (The Untier according to Baseball Tonight) hit two home runs against Atlanta, including the go-ahead 3 run blast in the 12th. Lastings belted a 2-run homer in Philly and scored the go-ahead run in the 9th. Lo Duca added an RBI double to extend Washington's lead.

If these guys do more damage against our division opponents for other teams that they did for the Mets then trading them works out well no matter what we got for them. As for our other trade this offseason, after one game it looks pretty good.