Mets Fans Forum

METS SHOULD LEARN FROM PEDRO: TIP YOUR HATS AND CALL THE PHILLIES 'MY DADDY'

2009-08-14T14:08:00.008-04:00

One of my best friends and fellow Mets fans emailed me the other day, saying he was hoping that former Met Pedro Martinez would pitch well in his Phillies debut, but that he still hated the Phillies and hoped they'd lose.

I wrote my buddy back, saying the opposite, that I hoped Pedro would not only win, but pitch a perfect game if he could.

As it was, Pedro the once-Met -- who could've easily been a Met again this year, if General Manager Omar Minaya reached out and signed him for a relative pittance -- labored through five innings while his team scored 12 runs for him and earned his first victory of the season. I hope it will be the first of many "Ws" for the incomparable right-hander who brought excitement to Shea Stadium every time he took the ball there, from 2005 through last season.

And I couldn't care less if he's racking up wins for the Mets' supposed arch rival.

After all, doesn't a rivalry involve two teams actively competing for top billing? Because right now the Mets so far out of the playoff picture behind the National League East Division-leading Phillies -- and so many other teams ahead of them in both the division and wild card race -- their biggest rivals are the Washington Nationals, who the Mets must stave off to avoid a last-place finish.

A rivalry also involves teams trading wins and losses. This year, the Phillies have beaten the Mets like a drum, winning seven of the last eight meetings. While the Mets won the season series against the Phillies last year, in the end it amounted to nothing with the Mets missing the playoffs and the Phillies winning a World Series. In the Mets' doomed 2007 season, they had seven opportunities to beat the Phillies from mid-August until late September and the Mets failed to win any one of those games.

Pedro knows all about an intra-division rival dominating his own team. Back in September 2004 as a Red Sox ace, he conceded, after a loss to the hated Yankees, "I just tip my hat to them and call the Yankees my daddy."

What else can the Mets do at this point, concerning the Phillies?

Before the 2007 season, Phillies' shortstop Jimmy Rollins called his squad "the team to beat," despite having finished well behind the Mets in the standings the previous year. While the Mets were busy squawking about Rollins's boast and choking away a seven-game lead with 17 games left, Rollins put his team on his back and carried them to a division title, later earning National League Most Valuable Player honors for his efforts.

Before the 2008 season, after ace starter Johan Santana was added to the Mets fold, Carlos Beltran warned the Phillies that the Mets would be the team to beat. Then in September of that year, the Phillies took two of three games from the Mets in a crucial showdown at Shea, en route to a World Series Championship, while the Mets' season crumbled on the season's final day.

Before this season?

Phillies' starter Cole Hamels called the Mets "choke artists" on a radio show.

How can anyone now argue that statement?

For Phillie-hating Mets fans, it only adds insult to injury to now to see Pedro pitching for the enemy. But for the combined dollars Minaya paid disappointing and injured pitchers Tim Redding, Fernando Nieve, Jonathon Niese, Nelson Figueroa and Livan Hernandez this year, he could just as easily have signed Pedro.

Not that Pedro may lift the Phillies back into the World Series. But at least with Pedro as a Met this year, if nothing else, fans could fondly look back to his brief Mets glory days in 2005 and 2006.

And with him as a Phillie now, it's another reminder of who's the parent and who's the child in the ongoing Mets-Phillies relationship.

ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMMING: MEL BROOKS SETS RACIAL HATRED AFLAME IN '70S MOVIE CLASSIC

2009-08-11T19:27:00.003-04:00

If you can't stomach the idea of watching Corey Sullivan as the Mets' new leadoff man, Fernando Tatis in the three hole -- and playing second base -- and the un-Ruthian Daniel Murphy batting cleanup, then tune in to CMT at 9 p.m. tonight for the hilarious 1970s Mel Brooks comedic tour de farce, "Blazing Saddles."

Mets pitchers could surely learn how to get out of jams the way leading man Cleavon Little (above) did, with a gun pointed at him. The way Little disarms the situation is well worth watching. It's likely CMT will clean up all the language, including the nasty racial slurs -- whose inclusion by Brooks was meant to highlight the ignorance and idiocy of racism of the time. Gene Wilder shines as Little's sidekick, "The Cisco Kid," while veteran comic players Harvey Korman and Madeline Kahn are sensational in their roles.

Longtime sports fans will likely recognize former NFL great, Alex Karras, playing the intellectually challenged Mongo, who horses learn not to mess with.

IF MINAYA IS SACKED, SUCCESSOR MUST CHOOSE FARM OVER FREE AGENTS

2009-08-11T12:30:00.003-04:00

If today's Adam Rubin story in the New York Daily News is accurate -- and based on his reporting throughout the last few years, there's every reason to believe it is -- about Mets General Manager Omar Minaya gradually being edged out of his post and Assistant General Manager John Ricco slowly being ushered in, Mets fans should rejoice.
Ricco already has accomplished the seemingly impossible -- made a positive impact on this year's club.

Ricco, Rubin reports -- not Minaya -- engineered the July swap with the Braves, of underperforming right fielder Ryan Church for Jeff Francouer. Francouer not only represents a considerable upgrade at that position, but also is several years younger than Church, has far more upside and has accomplished considerably more to this point in his career than Church and who, in about only a month with the club has exceeded Church's offensive numbers.

Ricco is the Mets payroll and rules compliance expert and according to Rubin's story, is not a talent evaluating whiz. If Ricco indeed replaces Minaya, his first order of business should be hiring the best Minor League coordinator he can possibly find.

Ricco will need that person to go about accomplishing something crucial Minaya hasn't -- building and maintaining a farm system that is the envy of every other Major League club.

Remember the good old days of the 1980s when then-GM Frank Cashen and has scouts constructed a pipeline and delivered such talented players as Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, Roger McDowell, Lenny Dykstra, Kevin Mitchell, Rick Aguilera to Shea Stadium?

Compare that bumper crop to what's currently on the field for the Mets.

Compare it to the talent of the top-two farm teams -- the AA club in Binghamton and AAA squad in Buffalo, whose poor records have both mired in last place in their respective divisions.

And the fruit has been harvested from the farm system over the last two seasons that Minaya and chest-baring, teeth-gnashing, recently-fired Vice President of Player Development Tony Bernazard have built, has been more rotten than ripe.

Daniel Murphy, who after 131 Major League at-bats last season, both Minaya and Manager Jerry Manuel anointed before Spring Training as the everyday left-fielder, has been a bust in the outfield -- and more importantly, at the plate, with a .252 average. First-baseman/outfielder Nick Evans, after narrowly missing making the big club after Spring Training, was demoted from AAA to AA.

Pitcher Jonathon Niese has been uneven at best before succumbing last week to a season-ending hamstring injury, injury-prone outfielder Fernando Martinez -- himself on the shelf with a leg injury -- hasn't demonstrated an ability to hit Major League pitching and hard-throwing reliever Bobby Parnell hasn't yet developed into a dependable setup reliever.

Even more problematic, the Mets' highest ranking prospects, such as catcher Josh Thole, pitchers Brad Holt and Jennry Mejia, first-baseman Ike Davis and second-baseman Reese Havens are several years away from the show.

If anyone needs more evidence that stocking a farm system with talent is more important to a club's success than splashy free agent signings and blockbuster trades, watch this week's Dodgers-Giants series, in which those two teams are fighting for supremacy in the National League West.

The Dodgers have been bursting with homegrown talent for the last three years and has yielded such impact players as catcher Russell Martin, outfielders Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier, first baseman James Loney and pitchers Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton and Clayton Kershaw. Martin is a two-time All Star, while Billingsley and Broxton are 2009 All Stars, while Kemp narrowly missed being named as a reserve.

The Giants, meanwhile, boast 2008 Cy Young Award winner and 2009 All Star starting pitcher and current strikeouts and ERA leader Tim Lincecum, third-baseman Pablo Sandoval, whose .331 average is fifth-best in the Majors, solid first-baseman Travis Ishikawa, speedy outfielder Fred Lewis, promising second-baseman Eugenio Velez and pitcher Jonathan Sanchez, who authored this season's first no-hitter.

Given the Mets plunge into medicority this season and poor prospects next year, it's not at all surprising the team lags far behind the Dodgers and Giants in the won-lost record. Even in their own division, the current leaders and defending World Series champion Phillies developed pitcher Cole Hamels, have outfirlder John Mayberry Jr. and in fact are so prospect-rich, they could afford to ship four of their best to Cleveland to snag last year's American League Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee.

Minaya, incidentally, knows Lee quite well. Minaya traded him away in 2004, when he was general manager of the now-defunct Montreal Expos.

That deal didn't work out so well for Minaya, just as his leadership isn't really working out now for the Mets.

But exchanging Ricco for Minaya alone won't improve the Mets fortunes.

That begins where every effective general manager has made a serious investment -- down on the farm.

ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMMING: GAME 1 OF CALIFORNIA BASEBALL CIVIL WAR KICKS OFF BY THE BAY

2009-08-10T13:51:00.004-04:00

Looking for an alternative to tonight's Mets-Diamondbacks game -- a playing-out-the-string contest between two non-playoff bound teams?

The prospect of the Mets' Daniel Murphy hitting in the cleanup spot doesn't excite you?

Then tune in tonight at 10 p.m. on MLB Extra Innings or mlb.com for the first game of a HUGE three-game series in San Francisco as the resurgent Giants do battle with their hated rivals, the National League Western Division-leading Dodgers.

While tonight's pitching match up of the Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda against the Giants' Jonathan Sanchez may not be the marquee confrontation of, say, Chad Billingsley vs. Matt Cain, or Clayton Kershaw battling All Star starter, Tim Lincecum, it still promises to be quite the showdown.

San Francisco enters the series 5.5 games behind the Dodgers -- and more importantly, tied with the Colorado Rockies atop the NL Wild Card leader board. So far, the Giants have taken three of four games from the Dodgers and you can bet the San Francisco faithful, always an edgy bunch, will be in full voice. Just hearing the reception for the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez when he steps to the plate for the first time is enough reason to tune in.

And who knows? With all the tension involved in this rivalry, a health care town hall meeting may erupt between the lines!

SMOOTH SANTANA ONLY MET WORTH WATCHING

2009-08-10T13:38:00.002-04:00

So why was there no "alternative programming" note for yesterday's Mets-Padres game? Only because it was the lone Met worth watching these days, Johan Santana's turn in the rotation.
The ace, who yesterday improved his record to a league-best 13 wins, against eight losses, stifled the Padres on five hits and one earned run, over eight innings as the Mets won their first game in Petco Park since the ill-fated 2007 season. And in addition to registering those eight strong innings, he chipped in at the plate with a run-scoring single, to up his season's RBI total to four.
Now, ask yourself, if you watched yesterday's game, how did the Mets score their runs. You don't remember, do you? That's because with a team dead last in the Majors in home runs, as the Mets are, there's not a lot of bang and sizzle in their offense. After all, the decisive blow with the Mets at the plate was a dropped line drive by the Padres' second baseman, which resulted in two runs scoring. But from the sound of it, on WPIX-TV, Gary Cohen may as well have been calling Jose Reyes's game-tying single from NLDS Game 3 in the magical year of 2006, with his loud and enthusiastic announcement that the game was now, "Four-to-nothing, New York!"
Well, maybe you can't blame the guy.
It's been a long time since there's been much to get excited about with the Mets at the plate.
But on the mound, at least every fifth day, there's no denying the excitement of watching Santana practice his craft.

DAILY ALTERNATIVE: FED UP WITH THE MESS? THE TV GUIDE TO ALTERNATE PROGRAMMING

2009-08-08T12:20:00.004-04:00

Let's face it: the Mets became unwatchable

months ago. So as a duty to long-suffering fans, I'm providing alternative television and cinema options to watching Mets baseball on TV.

Last night's choice for me was a foreign film I rented from the library, "The Bothersome Man."

It's a 2007 Norwegian film that is marketed and distributed by a fantastic company called the Film Movement, which has an extensive catalog of independently-made, smart movies that challenge the imagination and intellect and through beautiful photography and intriguing stories, open a window to the part of the world in which they were filmed.

"The Bothersome Man" is director Jens Lien's mind-bending and award-winning tale of a man who awakens to find himself on an empty bus and dropped off in the middle of a stunning, barren landscape in the middle of nowhere -- in reality, it's Icleand's Sprengisandur National Desert Reserve -- and is then transported by a stranger to a new home, where he is told he has a new job at a well-to-do-firm.

While it's not quite "The Matrix," or even "Dark City" and not quite fully in the sci-fi vein, the film succeeds in seducing you deeper into the mysteries Andreas, the leading character, wrestles with: Why is everyone in the unnamed city where he finds himself so polite? Why does the attractive young woman he begins dating and later moves in with, not express any emotion when he announces to her he's leaving her for someone else? How does he manage to sever his index finger in a gruesome mishap and later shower to find the digit completely repaired without any traceable evidence of the severing? Why does food seem to be tasteless? Why is he suddenly fired from his job the day after he asks his supervisor why there don't seem to be any children in the city?

And, perhaps most mysterious, where are those strains of haunting classical music he hears from a stranger's basement really coming from?

I give this film, which captured Norway's Amanda Awards (equivalent to the American Oscars) for best director, best screenplay and best actor, an 8.5 on a scale of 1 to 10 -- and it sure beats watching the Mets turn a 7th inning 2-0 lead into a a 6-2 loss as they did last night, punctuated by a walkoff grand slam by a Padres' unheralded, slap-hitting rookie off All Star closer, Francisco Rodriguez.

METS ACQUIRE CUB FARMHAND

2009-08-08T12:08:00.003-04:00

For reasons known only to Mets' General Manager Omar Minaya, the team today announced it has acquired 29-year-old AAA outfielder Jason DuBois -- we know, you've never heard of him, either -- from the Chicago Cubs.

Unless this guy is the second coming of Roy Hobbs, the power-hitting protagonist from the seminal 1980s baseball film, "The Natural," this acquisition is baffling, considering the surplus of spare-part outfielders the Mets have collected since the end of the 2008 season.

DuBois now joins such luminaries as Jeremy Reed, Cory Sullivan, Nick Evans and Emil Brown who all have manned the Mets outfield this season as reserves.

What sizable haul the Mets surrendered to acquire DuBois is at this point unknown.

FRANCOUER FIRST METS 'BEARD BOY' TO BREAK OUT RAZOR

2009-08-08T11:32:00.007-04:00

Recently, many Mets banded together to announce their solidarity in growing beards and keeping them until the team would reach the .500 mark.

But after Thursday night's loss in San Diego, right fielder Jeff Francouer, perhaps sensing that if he kept up the strange male beard bonding until season's end he might end up looking like the fourth member of the '80s cult rockers, ZZ Top (left), saw the light and broke out the razor.

"I might have had it until October," Francouer frankly told the New York Daily News.

Maybe now -- the day after yet another dismaying defeat, courtesy of a walkoff grand slam in San Diego off suddenly beatable closer, Francisco Rodriguez -- and sporting an embarrassing 51-58 record, other Mets will come to their collective senses and break out the shaving cream and electric and straight razors.

Otherwise, with the rate the Mets are plummeting in both the National League Eastern division and wild card standings, by September, they'd likely resemble the barnstorming Christian Israelite House of David teams of the 1920s and 1930s.

Could those teams be any worse than the current Mets?

The ridiculous exercise in communal hair growing underscores the futility of this lost Mets season. It's about as juvenile as that "Beavis and Butt-head" episode of yore, when the two laughable cartoon teenage buffoons cut hair from their heads, then clumsily glued the clumps to their faces in a pathetic attempt to "score" with chicks.

One can only hope Francouer's teammates will follow his example.

The notion that more follicles can get the Mets to the .500 mark -- or any kind of respectability -- this season is pure folly.

THE MAGIC IS BACK: METS SOCKIN' IT TO BOSTON:

2009-05-24T13:16:00.003-04:00

Wow.

How could it possibly get more exciting and exhilarating than last night?

THE TRAGIC IS BACK: INEPT METS REVERT TO '62 FORM IN BRUTAL, BONEHEAD EXTRA-INNING LOSS TO DODGERS

2009-05-19T02:25:00.010-04:00

Why didn't SNY give all of us fair warning last night it would preempt last night's Mets-Dodgers game for a showing of the 1970s classic slapstick Little League baseball comedy, "The Bad News Bears."

You know, that flick where in one scene, the shortstop plays one routine ground ball as if it's a live hand grenade and in another, fields and throws another toward his team's dugout. It's that celluloid classic where a relief pitcher foolishly lobs a fielded bunt somewhere in the vicinity of first base and later the center fielder calls off the left fielder at the last minute, but fails to catch the ball, allowing the winning run to go third base.

But the tragicomic facsimile of baseball reaches its climax with the Little Leaguers up at bat. In this scene, in the top of the 11th inning, the left fielder strokes a clutch, two-out, go-ahead extra base hit. The team joyously erupts in celebration in its dugout -- but wait!

Back on the field, suddenly the third baseman steps on the third base bag, the umpire signals "out" and guess what? The runner, it turns out, failed to touch third base on the way home.

In the bottom of the inning, the in spite of themselves, the Little League pitcher wriggles out of a nearly impossible jam by getting the hitter to bounce into a certain inning-ending double play -- only to have the first baseman field the ball then hurl it toward the opposing dugout, costing the game and completing the circle of complete ineptitude.

Wait.

What?

This wasn't "The Bad News Bears"?

Nope. It was the New York Mets.

Fresh off a game in San Francisco in which their starting pitcher committed a team-record three balks that directly led to two runs scoring, the Mets last night elevated their level of incompetence in Los Angeles as shortstop Ramon Martinez, pitcher Sean Green, center fielder Carlos Beltran and first baseman Jeremy Reed combined to make five errors (their most in a single game since committing six in a 2007 game against the Phillies) while Ryan Church made the single biggest base running blunder in years, failing to touch third base en route to home plate with what should've been the go-ahead run on an 11th inning triple by Angel Pagan.

Instead, the Mets stumbled and bumbled their way to an utterly humiliating 3-2 loss.

The string of mistakes led legendary Dodgers' play-by-play man Vin Scully to opine, on Fox Prime Ticket: "The way the Mets are playing tonight, they ought to be being managed by Casey Stengel. Shades of Marv Throneberry and the 1962 Mets."

Only the '62 Mets didn't have a $150 million player payroll and never spent a day in first place, where these current Mets -- by some miracle -- reside.

Those Mets were called "lovable losers."

But last night's gaffes were just plain loathsome.

The Mets have had plenty of west coast swings in their history in which they appeared jet-lagged. Last night, they played as if they were hungover, high, or had reverted to pre-pubescence.

The team's appalling and inexcusable ineptitude screams for an apology to the fan base -- some of whom undoubtedly stayed up until 2 a.m. Eastern Time -- which watched what passed for a live "Three Stooges" marathon.

It's especially jarring after the Mets played a week's worth of inspiring baseball.

These Mets are finding new and bizarre ways to lose games -- just as they did in 1962.

PAGAN RETURNS, DELGADO DL-ED

2009-05-16T13:00:00.004-04:00

Bad news from the Mets' medical front: As anticipated, Carlos Delgado has been out on the 15-day disabled list because of his hip impingement, which may require surgery.

Curiously, it is outfielder Angel Pagan (middle) -- who recently was arrested during a traffic stop for failure to pay 2005 parking offenses -- who was recalled from AAA Buffalo to replace Delgado on the roster and not prized outfield prospect Fernando Martinez (far left).

Martinez is batting .281 and leads the Bisons in home runs (4), RBI (20), hits (36) and doubles (12). Pagan, who got off to a red hot start last season while replacing then-left fielder Moises Alou, totaled his shoulder while running into the stands in Dodger Stadium chasing a foul pop. He was hitting .286 at AAA Buffalo during a rehabilitation assignment.

'WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO THE METS?': NEWLY INSPIRED PLAY, 'EDGE,' REMINISCENT OF '06

2009-05-16T12:20:00.003-04:00

The question was perfectly timed, asked the moment after Gary Sheffield and David Wright successfully executed a double steal Thursday night, to put themselves in scoring position.

"What's gotten into these Mets?" SNY analyst Keith Hernandez asked.

Indeed, it's what everyone following the Mets wants to know and hopes the team maintains whatever "it" is, after enduring incompetent and uninspired ends to the 2008 and 2007 seasons.

On most west coast trips, the Mets have started out lethargic in the first game. But not Thursday night, when they stole a club record seven bases -- including Wright's record-tying individual tally of four -- and churned out clutch hit after clutch hit to beat the Giants, 7-4. John Maine overcame a miserable start, gutting it out for 6.2 innings before handing the baton to the bullpen, which stymied the Giants the rest of the way.

But that was just a warmup act for last night's 8-6 Giants-slaying, arguably the Mets' inspired win of the young season.

Admit it. Just two weeks ago, when the Mets seemed to wilt whenever behind by two runs or more and couldn't sustain a nine-inning offensive attack, you wouldn't have given them a chance if you were told they'd be down 5-1 on the road after two innings to last year's National League Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum.

But yet there they were, racking up 10 hits off of him despite striking out eight times and driving him from the game with two runs in the sixth inning, then three more in the seventh to tie the game at 6-6, just a half-inning after Lincecum burned lackluster reliever Sean Green for an RBI single.

There was Wright -- replacing the lookalike impostor who's been wearing his No. 5 since last September -- swatting a clutch, three-run double off reliever Merkin Valdez, making a visibly upset Lincecum pout from the Giants' dugout.

And there, too, was Omir Santos.

Twice, Lincecum had made him look utterly foolish while striking him out, yet he got a key run home off of him with a sacrifice fly. And in the ninth inning, there was Santos again, driving in a vital insurance run with another sacrifice fly off Giants' closer, Brian Wilson.

And the last two nights, the Mets have been making their magic without slugging injured first baseman Carlos Delgado and shortstop Jose Reyes.

Save Monday's dreadful 8-3 debacle at Citi Field against the Braves and the Mets have shown a resiliency in every game since, reminiscent of the magical 2006 season.

Tuesday, the Mets overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat the Braves 4-3 in 10 innings. Wednesday, the Mets rallied from behind three times and took the Braves to 12 innings before falling, 8-7 while pushing the tying run to third base with one out.

Just two weeks ago, Mets' General Manager Omar Minaya publicly questioned if his club had an "edge."

Now -- thankfully -- the more pertinent question is: How long will the Mets maintain it?

GREEN WITH OUTRAGE, OLIVER A JINX: METS MUST SEND PITCHERS PACKING

2009-05-03T02:25:00.005-04:00

Long ago, sometime after his complete meltdown in the mid-'80s, I thought beleaguered Mets' reliever Doug Sisk -- he of the uncontrollable sinker and penchant for walks -- retired.

But no.

His spirit -- and his pitches are being channeled by Sean Green, who yesterday not only walked in the game-winning run against the Phillies in a 6-5, 10-inning loss, but also plunked a pinch-hitter with a wayward sinker. The fact that Green, who toiled in obscurity in Seattle and as his last name suggests, is new to this whole Mets-Phillies rivalry thing.

And he emerged from the bullpen wearing a deer-in-the-headlights look.

Green, who entered yesterday's game sporting an 8.41 ERA, largely the result of two straight batterings at Citi Field, needs to be sent on the the next train to Buffalo to work out his kinks in Triple-A.

Anyone wondering now why Seattle was so willing to include him in the deal that sent J.J. Putz to the Mets last winter?

Green's seatmate should be Mets' starter Oliver Perez -- more on him later -- who handed out walks on the mound the way a doctor's office does with lollipops, issuing six in just 2.1 sordid, stressful innings.

Back to Green, briefly.

Like Sisk, whose July 1984 meltdown in a game against the Chicago Cubs in the heat of a pennant race turned a 5-4 lead into an eventual 11-5 loss was that season's turning point, which saw the Mets tailspinning out of a division lead, Green shows little guts -- or command. Even in Green's first appearance, on Opening Day, in relief of Johan Santana with a runner in scoring position , gave up a screaming line drive to the gap which Daniel Murphy ran down.

Groundball pitchers aren't supposed to give up screamers.

Brian Stokes, who has yet to allow an earned run in 11 innings pitched -- let me type that again, in large enough for Mets' Manager Jerry Manuel to see -- BRIAN STOKES, WHO HAS YET TO ALLOW AN EARNED RUN IN 11 INNINGS PITCHED!!! -- would've been the much smarter choice to try and keep the Phillies at bay.

Naturally, he was left to sit idle in the bullpen while Green, predictably, wilted under pressure.

Solution: Send Green to Buffalo, replace him with Nelson Figueroa, who the Mets should never have released in the first place, then signed and assigned to Buffalo.

Of course, the game might not have even been close if not for yet another shoddy start by Oliver Perez, who made a valiant attempt to break Mike Hampton's club record of nine walks issued in a single appearance. But Perez fell just short and was relieved by 40-year-old rookie Ken Takahasi, who in his 2.2 innings of scoreless relief threw half the number of pitches Perez threw and looked completely at ease on the mound facing the Phillies' hitters.

Perez, who is becoming more and more reminiscent of Oliver, the misift kid from "the Brady Bunch" who was somehow foisted on that blended family and soon earned the nickname "Jinx" among the children for the bad luck that seemed to follow him and infect the tribe, seems to not be able to throw a strike if his life depends on it.
Solution: Insert Takahashi in the starting rotation and send Perez to Buffalo, with Green.

OK, so let's say Perez, as his Major League service time dictates, declines his assignment. Then how 'bout another one: an assignment to the Citi Field grounds crew?

How about a gig being Mr. Met's understudy?

Anything.

Just get Perez and Green off the roster. Immediately.

NEGATIVE NUMEROLOGY: TEN REASONS WHY THE METS ARE 9-12

2009-04-30T15:23:00.006-04:00

Nine wins, 12 losses.
If someone had told you before the season started that on the last day of April, with Carlos Beltran hitting close to .400, a rejuvenated Luis Castillo hitting over .300, Carlos Delgado driving in 16 runs, Ryan Church also hitting over .300 and a retooled bullpen featuring not one, but two established closers in Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz, and playing 15 games against non-playoff clubs like the Padres, Nationals, Reds, Cardinals and Marlins, would you believe the Mets record would be so dismal at this point?
Me neither.
But here are the top 10 reasons why the Mets are failing...
*No. 1: Incredibly sloppy defense at the worst possible moments
Whether it's Daniel Murphy twice already muffing routine plays in left field that cost games, Chruch committing a gaffe in right in another game and David Wright committing the same offense once at third base, or Pedro Feliciano balking in a vital go-ahead run in the late innings, the team appears fundamentally flawed. Not even Manager Jerry Manuel's making the team do infield and outfield drills before games has translated into results.
*No. 2: An offense that goes flaccid after the early innings.
If you score at home, notice how fewer pitches Mets hitters seem to see as the game progresses. Swinging early in the count and making outs kills potential rallies. None of the hitters -- at least late in games -- seem to believe in the old baseball adage "a walk is just as good as a hit."
*No.3: An offense that fails to support its ace.
I don't care if you're Cy Young himself, but any pitcher who gets a grand total of seven runs of offensive support in four starts, as Mets' ace Johan Santana has received so far this year, you're not going to be very successful.
*No. 4: Starters that can't last longer than five innings.
With the exception of one start each, both Oliver Perez and John Maine have struggled with control and getting lit up. In every start he's made so far, Livan Hernandez looks like a magician on the mound -- until the third time he goes through an opposition's batting order. Mike Pelfrey, who was in the 200 innings range last year, has yet to log six innings in a start. The short outings are taxing an already overburdened bullpen.
*No. 5: A re-tooled bullpen is struggling.
Both Putz and Sean Green started strong, but both have recently struggled with command and control. Green's ERA is 8.49 and Putz has walked more hitters (six) than he has struck out (four). Before his release, Darren O'Day allowed every runner he inherited to score, while Casey Fossum has already pitched himself off the roster with two ineffective appearances. Why Brian Stokes, who has yet to allow an earned run in 11 innings isn't getting more of an opportunity in crucial spots, is puzzling and Nelson Figueroa, a natural for a long relief role, was designated for assignment after making one of the few quality starts of the season and is now with the Mets' Triple-A Buffalo club.
*No. 6: David Wright looks lost at the plate.
Wright's late-season struggles with men on base last year have spilled over to this season and at his strikeout pace, legendary whiffer Rob Deer is somewhere feeling better about his career. Too often, Wright can't get around on hittable fastballs and takes too many hanging breaking pitches. His at-bats with men in scoring position are becoming predictable.
*No. 7: Absence of the running game and small ball.
Murphy doesn't belong in the No.2 hole, behind speedster Jose Reyes. While he possesses a great eye at the plate, he fouls off too many pitches and doesn't take enough to allow Reyes to run. Castillo, more of a "leadoff 1A" hitter is far better suited for the No. 2 hole, especially given his experience batting second and his impressive start with the bat. At times, Manuel appears to believe he's managing the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers, of the American League, instead of the National League Mets, sitting back and waiting for the three-run bomb instead of stealing, double-stealing, hitting-and-running and sacrificing. Playing in a big ballpark where home runs are infrequent, compels him to adopt more tactics to manufacture runs. At least twice this season in close games, with struggling hitters, Manuel has eschewed the sacrifice in favor of gambling for the ever-elusive extra base hit. Both times the hitters in question, Fernando Tatis and Wright, made unproductive outs.
*No. 8: Bullpen mismanagement.
Manuel's bullpen moves sometimes defy logic.
Tuesday night, for example, with the Mets clinging to a one-run lead and the Marlins sending up their eighth, ninth and leadoff hitters -- two of whom are switch-hitting speedsters and the fifth hitter a lefty -- Manuel opted to bring in the struggling Green, whose control and command have so far been suspect at best, instead of lefty Feliciano. Feliciano's presence would've made the speedsters turn around to bat right-handed, taking away a step or two out of the batter's box, if they decided to lay down bunts and if they got on base, put them at a disadvantage with a lefty on the mound. Green, a supposed ground ball pitcher, walked hitters and gave up a bomb and turned a 4-3 lead into a 7-4 deficit.
*No. 9: Not playing aggressively enough
The Mets have shown timidness on the basepaths by not running often enough, but also by not sliding when the situation called for it (twice, in Beltran's case) and not strongly breaking up potential double plays. On defense, does anyone remember the last time anyone on the Mets attempted to nab the lead runner on a sacrifice attempt?
*No. 10 Not doing the little things right
Stop me if you haven't seen the following: catcher's interference, throwing to the wrong base from the outfield, missing cutoff men on outfield throws, falling off the mound while throwing a pitch, failing to effectively block the plate, issuing leadoff walks, failing two nail the third out after the previous two batters made them and swinging early in counts when the situation calls for prolonging at-bats.
It's a wonder why the Mets aren't a lot worse than 9-12 right now.
If you have any more reasons to add to the list, then by all means, go ahead...

WHAT A MESS -- LACK OF FUNDAMENTALS SINKING METS' SHIP

2009-04-22T10:26:00.004-04:00

Counting up the fundamental mistakes in last night's 6-4 Mets loss in St. Louis sounds like the list of gifts in "The 12 Days of Christmas."

No matter what your religion, you know the tune. Now go ahead and sing the following words to the tune of that song...A slip-and-fall in left, One man picked off, catcher's interference, not sliding home, a bases loaded walk, missing cutoff men, leaving runners on, leaving the bag too early, too brief at-bats, blowing a big lead...and a partridge in a pear tree, right?

In case you missed it, in the blink of an eye last night, the Mets went from a slide away from going up 5-4 to trailing 5-4, en route to a 6-4 loss in a game they once led, 4-0.

Not pushing the panic button here, but right now the Mets don't look like a Major League ballclub. Daniel Murphy doesn't look at all like a Major League outfielder. No one besides Johan Santana has looked like a Major League starting pitcher — with the exception of one outing by Livan Hernandez and another by Oliver Perez — failing to turn in a quality start.

The hitters have been equally inept at bringing runners home from scoring position and while they muster good, multi-pitch at-bats in the early stages of the game, they don't replicate it later, often getting themselves out by putting the ball in play early in the count. In last night's disheartening loss, from the fifth inning on, Mets' hitters saw little over 40 pitches, about eight per inning.

The lightning of defeat flashed and stung quickly last night in the top of the 8th inning when Carlos Beltran daringly dashed home from third base on an errant throw — only to fail to slide at the last minute over the catcher's foot blocking his path, thus getting tagged for the third out. In what seemed an instant later, Brendan Ryan hit a routine line drive to left to Murphy, who promptly did his best Chevy Chase "Saturday Night Live" impression by slipping on an invisible banana peel in the grass — even helplessly flailing his glove at the ball for effect — while the ball rolled to the wall and Ryan raced to third base as the soon-to-be go-ahead run.

Murphy had already been picked off first base earlier in the game by Cardinals catcher, Yadier Molina. But he and Beltran aren't alone in committing gaffes.

Carlos Delgado, for the second time already this young season, came off the first base bag too early on a throw to him from shortstop Jose Reyes on what would've been an inning-ending double play, instead prolonging that inning.

While we're on the subject of prolonging innings, Ramon Castro, who earlier did a face plant after tripping over Albert Pujols at first base after grounding out, contributed to the cause by allowing his glove to make contact with a Cardinals hitter's bat and getting called for catcher's interference.

And of course all this happened in yet another maddeningly uneven start by Perez, who was solid through four innings and cleverly getting out of tight spots...until allowing a leadoff single to the opposing pitcher and then starting a walk-a-thon.

His replacement Casey Fossum, fresh from a Triple-A recall, relieved Perez with the bases loaded and subsequently failed to throw a pitch anywhere near the strike zone to the next hitter. Fossum forced in a run and immediately cementing his name for consideration in Mets annals as a candidate for futility in a debut appearance.

Time to push the panic button?

No.

But it's not at all too late to wonder if sloppy April losses will come back to bite the Mets in their collective butts in October.

To paraphrase former Mets Manager Yogi Berra, "It's getting late early."

AS METS MISS CHANCE TO SWEEP, THEY MULL OVER SACRIFICES MADE -- AND NOT MADE

2009-04-19T20:19:00.004-04:00

Hmmm...let's get this straight. A guy gets a job, does exactly what the boss tells him, then gets fired after just one day on the job?

Turns out, that's exactly what happened to Mets' Sunday starting pitcher, Nelson Figueroa, who was designated for assignment after Sunday's game, immediately following a strong six-inning performance.

Left-handed pitcher Casey Fossum recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to replace Figueroa. Figueroa was called up Sunday to replace Mike Pelfrey, whose start was skipped due to his forearm tendinitis.

Mets' manager Jerry Manuel told the New York news media he was hoping Figueroa would give the team six good innings and keep the Mets in the ballgame.

Figueroa responded in kind.

The Brooklyn, N.Y. native hurled six complete innings, allowing just three runs on five hits and departed trailing, 3-1. In fact, Figueroa registered what no other Mets pitcher not named Johan Santana has so far this season -- a quality start.

Fossum has impressed so far in two Triple-A starts, striking out 12 in 11 innings pitched and turning in an earned run average of 0.82. But is that worth sacrificing Figueroa, who seems far better suited to an eventual long relief role than injured free-agent signing, Tim Redding?

And speaking of sacrificing...

What was Jerry Manuel thinking not having Luis Castillo bat for Fernando Tatis and lay down a sacrifice bunt in a situation that cried out for it in Sunday's game?

The Mets mounted their best threat, down by a single run in the eighth inning, with runners at first and second base with none out with a tough, ground ball pitcher on the mound in Todd Coffey.

If Manuel went with the hot-hitting Castillo, who also happens to be the Mets' best bunter, it could've set up a golden chance to push the tying run 90 feet away and move the go-ahead run into scoring position. Even with Tatis batting, the Brewers' infield was positioning itself for the bunt and when Tatis swung away, it stunned the Brewers' TV crew, which said the Mets were giving the Brewers a break.

Sure enough, Tatis, who has yet to record a hit this season, whiffed on three pitches, before Omir Santos lined into an inning-ending double play.

A sweep sure would've been some good wind blowing into the Mets' sails, as they head to St. Louis for a three-game series against the Cardinals. It would've given them a 7-5 mark in the first dozen games, instead of a breeak-even mark of 6-6.You can say it's just April and you can't manage every game like it's one in the September pennant race...until you get to October and realize that the one game you wish you could have back, as the Mets have been bemoaning for the last two seasons, could've made the difference between the playoffs and going home for the fall.

GAME 7: WELCOME MAT -- MORE METS MISCUES RUIN HISTORIC HOME OPENER IN 6-5 LOSS TO PADRES

2009-04-13T19:33:00.010-04:00

The Mets tonight opened their spanking new ballpark with a slapstick performance that included their starting pitcher tripping and falling while delivering a pitch, an outfielder falling down and dropping a fly ball and reliever flinching while on the mound shaking off a sign from the catcher to balk in the deciding run. And that's just scratching the surface of the bizarre events that happened at Citi Field, where the Mets dropped a 6-5 decision to the visiting San Diego Padres.

The oddities began on Mets' starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey's second pitch, a fastball that Padres' leadoff hitter Jody Gerut (above) -- who last year hit three home runs against the Mets -- slugged into the right field stands for the first-ever home run in a regular season game at Citi Field, instantly giving the Padres a 1-0 lead. Gerut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, is the first hitter to lead off a game at a new ballpark with a home run for the first time since at least 1900.

Pelfrey's second inning was equally eerie. After he retired the first two Padres' hitters he tripped in mid-delivery while facing his opposite number, pitcher Walter Silva. Silva then lined Pelfrey's next pitch into right field for his first Major League hit and two batters later, scored on a two-run double by diminutive second baseman and 2006 World Series Most Valuable Player, David Eckstein.

The Padres' Adrian Gonzalez, a longtime Mets nemesis added a solo home run in the fifth inning to extend San Diego's lead to 5-1, but the Mets fought back with a game-tying rally in the bottom of the inning, capped by David Wright's three-run homer. It was Wright's first homer of the season and first by a Met at Citi Field, which prompted the new mechanical Home Run Apple to rise from its black metallic top hat beyond the center field fence.

But a mere half inning later, the Mets handed the lead -- and the game to the Padres. With reliever Brian Stokes on the mound, Luis Rodriguez launched a long fly ball to right field where Ryan Church, the usually dependable fielder, turned the wrong way and had the ball clank off of his glove for a three-base error. Pedro Feliciano was summoned to clean up the mess and he responded by getting the next two hitters out without allowing the go-ahead run to score. But while on the mound between pitches to Eckstein, Feliciano flinched while on the rubber for a balk, which sent Rodriguez home with the go-ahead run.

Then, to add insult to injury, the Mets failed in the last two innings against pitchers they cast off. Duaner Sanchez, whom the Mets released in March, set down New York 1-2-3 in the eight inning before Heath Bell -- an outspoken critic of Mets' management since his trade to San Diego following the 2006 season -- emphatically shut down the Mets in the ninth inning to earn the first save ever recorded at the new ballpark.

GAME SUMMARY

Winning pitcher --Mujica (1-1)

Losing pitcher -- Stokes (0-1)

2B -- Wright (2), Gerut (3), Eckstein 2, (4), Castillo (2)
Home Runs -- Gerut (1), A. Gonzalez (2), Wright (1)

RBI -- Gerut (1), Eckstein 2, (4), Giles (4), Castillo (2), A. Gonzalez (7), Murphy (3), Wright 3, (4)

Errors -- Church (1)

Balks -- Feliciano (1)

Wild Pitches -- Putz (1)

Runners left on base -- Mets 5, Padres, 9
Runners left in scoring position -- Mets 4, Padres, 3

Web gems -- Padres: Jody Gerut leaps and snares Carlos Beltran's hard hit drive while up against the center field fence in the bottom of the fourth.

METS NOTES: In what seemed like a flashback to Shea Stadium in August 1969, a stray cat at Citi Field got loose and ran from the third base line and jumped up on the screen behind home plate before scurrying into the first base stands near the Mets dugout. Church has now gone 30 plate appearances without striking out, the longest such streak of his career.

PHOTO CREDIT: NICK LANHAM/GETTY IMAGES

LEGENDARY PHILLIES' ANNOUNCER KALAS DEAD AT 73

2009-04-13T15:40:00.004-04:00

ESPN and other major news outlets are reporting that legendary and longtime Phillies TV and play-by-play voice Harry Kalas is dead at 73.

Kalas was found passed out this afternoon in the Phillies' broadcast booth at Nationals Park in Washington as he was preparing to cover this afternoon's Phillies-Nationals game.

Kalas, most famous for his "outta here" home run calls, also became a household voice narrating highlights for NFL Films and also voiced many TV spots, most recently for Campbell's Chunky Soup, which featured such NFL stars as Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb and Chargers' running back LaDanian Tomlinson.

Kalas, who was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award for contributions to baseball, also was a radio play-by-play voice for Westwood One's NFL broadcasts. Kalas's son, Todd was briefly the host of Mets Extra on WFAN-AM, shortly after its 1987 debut.

GAME 6: MURPHY'S LAW BLIGHTS SANTANA GEM -- DROPPED THIRD OUT HELPS MARLINS UNEARN A 2-1 WIN

2009-04-12T20:31:00.007-04:00

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. --

Mets' manager Jerry Manuel was dead-set against starting Gary Sheffield in right field today at Dolphin Stadium because he said he wanted his ace, Johan Santana to have the best defense behind him.

But it was Daniel Murphy's defense in left field that betrayed Santana in the bottom of the second inning that sealed the Mets' fate in an agonizing 2-1 loss that saw Santana's 13-strikeout performance squandered and his absorbing a loss since June 28, 2008.

With two outs and John Baker on first base, the Marlins' Cody Ross lofted a routine fly ball to Murphy in left. It appeared to all the world, except to Baker and Ross, who hustled all the way, that it would be the third out. But the ball clanked off the heel of Murphy's glove as he tried to squeeze it and rolled forward. Baker easily scored and Ross raced to second base to get in scoring position. Ross would soon be off and racing again, this time for home, as Ronny Paulino lined a single to drive him home.

Two runs would be all Marlins' ace Josh Johnson would need.

The right-hander economized his pitches and pumped in a strong, mid-90s fastball through his complete game performance. Johnson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before allowing a broken-bat bloop single to Luis Castillo.

One inning later, the Mets mounted the most serious threat to that point against Johnson, getting runners to first and second base with one out, via a David Wright single and error by third baseman Emilio Bonifacio. But Carlos Beltran bounced a 1-2 pitch to Johnson, who started an easy double play to escape trouble.

In the seventh inning, Johnson allowed a leadoff double to Ryan Church, whose six on the young season lead the Major Leagues, but then struck out Ramon Castro. In a curious and ultimately unsuccessful move, Castillo sacrificed Church to third and Johnson issued his only walk, to Jeremy Reed, who was pinch-hitting for Santana. But Jose Reyes, who failed to get the ball out of the infield in four at-bats, grounded out to Johnson to end the inning.

But Johnson fought his way out of his biggest jam in the top of the ninth inning to earn his complete game win.

After retiring the first two hitters, Carlos Delgado roped a double off the center field wall and Beltran promptly singled him home to draw the Mets within 2-1. That brought up Church, who lined a 3-1 pitch to left field, which Marlins' left-fielder Brett Carroll -- installed in the eight inning as, you guessed it, a defensive replacement, caught off of his shoe-tops to end the game.

GAME SUMMARY
Winning pitcher -- Johnson (2-0)
Losing pitcher -- Santana (1-1)
2B -- Hermida (1), Church (6)

RBI -- Paulino (2), Beltran (6)

Sacrifice bunts -- Santana (1), Castillo (2)

Caught Stealing -- Reyes (2, second base, Johnson/Paulino)
Double plays -- Marlins, 2

Errors -- Helms (1, missed catch), Murphy (1, catch), Castillo (2, fielding), Bonifacio (2, fielding)

Runners left on base -- Mets 5, Marlins, 3

Runners left in scoring position -- Mets 3, Marlins, 2
Web gems -- Marlins: Top ninth, one out, none on, Ramirez goes deep in the hole at shortstop to field Wright's grounder, then throws him out at first base by a step.

METS NOTES: Though he established a new high as a Met for strikeouts in a game with 13, Santana was defeated for the first time in a regular season game since June 28, 2008 in a loss to the New York Yankees. Both runs off Santana were unearned, lowering his ERA to 0.71. Johnson, though, lowered his ERA to 0.57.

PHOTO CREDIT: GARY ROTHSTEIN/NY DAILY NEWS

GAME 5: LIVAN DAZZLES IN DEBUT, METS MARCH PAST MARLINS WITH 15-HIT PARADE IN 8-4 WIN

2009-04-11T23:02:00.009-04:00

Livan Hernandez returned last night to Miami, the scene of his greatest on-field successes in his 13-year Major League career. In 1997, Hernandez -- a Cuban defector -- was a 21-year-old rookie who captured both the National League Championship and World Series Most Valuable Player awards as a Florida Marlin.

These days, he's a 34-year-old New York Mets fifth starter, trying to recapture the old form after the last three seasons' worth of knee problems. In his Mets' debut, the fifth starter turned in a first-rate debut, hurling 6.2 innings and allowing just two runs on six hits, in helping the Mets to an 8-4 victory over the Marlins.

Hernandez was buoyed by the Mets' 15 hits -- four of which were delivered by second baseman Luis Castillo who was just 1-for-10 on the young season entering last night's game. Castillo, David Wright and Jose Reyes all recorded their first RBIs of the season, as Reyes knocked in three with a two-run homer and an RBI double. Carlos Delgado added two more RBIs to his team-leading total of eight, while Ryan Church continued his torrid hitting with two doubles, giving him five on the young season.

Hernandez showed a wily veteran presence on the mound, changing speeds with fastballs, sliders and curve balls to escape a first-and-third, none out jam in the second inning by coaxing a shallow outfield fly ball and two straight strikeouts. Hernandez also contributed at the plate, tying a single-game Mets franchise record with three sacrifice bunts.

GAME SUMMARY

Winning pitcher -- Hernandez (1-0)

Losing pitcher -- Nolasco (1-1)

2B -- Reyes (1), Church 2, (5), Delgado (1), Beltran (1)
3B -- None

Home runs -- Reyes (1)

RBI -- Reyes 3, (3), Delgado 2, (8), Castillo (1), Helms (1), Bonifacio (5), Cora (2), Wright (1), Gload (1), Ramirez (9)

Sacrifice bunts -- Hernandez 3, (3), Castillo (1)

Sacrifice Flies -- Gload (1)

Stolen bases -- Hermida (1)

Caught Stealing -- None

Errors -- Cantu (1, throw), Bonifacio (1, throw), Wright (1, throw)

Runners left on base -- Mets 10, Marlins, 9
Runners left in scoring position -- Mets 7, Marlins, 4

Web gems -- Mets: Top third, Wright spears line drive by Ramirez, dives to tag Bonifacio for double play

METS NOTES: Before the game, the Mets designated for assignment utilityman and pinch-hitting specialist Marlon Anderson to make room for Hernandez on the 25-man roster. New York has 10 days to trade or release Anderson. If no team claims Anderson on waivers, he becomes a free agent and the Mets would be able to negotiate a Minor League contract and assignment with him. Anderson is due to make $1.15 million this season and strongly contributed to the Mets 2007 effort to reach the post-season with several clutch hits, but since then appeared unable to recapture that form. Anderson was 0-for-3 this season in pinch-hitting appearances.

GAME 4: CANTU'S SWORD MIGHTIER THAN METS 'PEN, AS MARLINS SCORE 5-4 WALKOFF WIN

2009-04-10T19:16:00.007-04:00

Jorge Cantu can do.
His two-out, walkoff single in the bottom of the ninth inning off Mets' reliever Darren O'Day brought home Emilio Bonifacio from second base to give the Marlins a 5-4 victory over New York.
The Mets rallied to draw even in the top of the ninth on a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single by Jeremy Reed, but Bonifacio set the stage with an infield hit. With him on first and two outs, O'Day pitched carefully to dangerous Marlins' shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who had already homered and smacked two singles and walked him on a 3-1 pitch to move Bonifacio into scoring position. Cantu then ripped an 0-1 pitch into left field scoring a sliding Bonifacio ahead of left fielder Daniel Murphy's throw.
John Maine started the game for the Mets and pitched five strong innings, overcoming giving up solo homers to Ramirez and Dan Uggla. Marlins' starter Anibal Sanchez was even stronger, shutting out the Mets on four hits through five innings, with five strikeouts.
At the plate, Carlos Beltran swatted his first homer of the season and added two singles and a run-scoring fielder's choice, while Ryan Church delivered three hits.
O'Day has now allowed all runners he has inherited in two appearances, to score.

GAME SUMMARY

Winning pitcher -- Lindstrom (1-0)
Losing pitcher -- Feliciano (0-1)
Blown Save -- Lindstrom
2B -- Murphy (1)
3B -- None
Home runs -- Ramirez (2), Uggla (2), Beltran (1)
RBI -- Ramirez (7), Uggla (6), Beltran 2, (5), Cantu (6), Tatis (1), Reed (1)
Sacrifice Flies -- Tatis (1)
Stolen bases -- None
Caught Stealing -- None
Runners left on base -- Mets 13, Marlins, 7
Runners left in scoring position -- Mets 6, Marlins, 5
Wild Pitch -- Maine (1)
Hit batsmen -- Calero (Delgado)
Balk -- Green (1)
Errors -- None
Web gems -- None

GAME 4: METS VS. MARLINS

2009-04-10T16:22:00.004-04:00

The Mets are in South Florida tonight for a three-game series against the very same Marlins that for the last two seasons have dashed the Mets' playoff hopes by defeating them on the last day of the season, in New York.

Tonight John Maine (10-8, 4.18 ERA in '08) takes on Anibal Sanchez. Maine is 3-1 lifetime vs. Florida, with a 2.75 ERA in 36 innings pitched. Sanchez (2-5, 5.57 ERA in '08), a Venezuelan native originally signed by the Boston Red Sox, hasn't equalled his 2006 freshman season, when he went 10-3 with a 2.83 ERA and finished ninth in that year's National League Rookie of the Year balloting. Sanchez has a 2-1 lifetime mark against the Mets, with a 3.63 ERA.

GAME 3: OLIVER TWIST -- UNEVEN PITCHING PERFORMANCE DOOMS PEREZ, METS TO 8-6 LOSS

2009-04-10T08:38:00.004-04:00

Since his July 31, 2006 acquisition, the Mets have truly never known which Oliver Perez will take the mound when he starts a game.

Will it be Dominant Ollie, the pitcher who rises to the occasion on the big stage, such as he did in National League Championship Series Game 7 of 2006, when he handcuffed the Cardinals on one scratched out earned run over six innings?

Or will it be Wild Ollie, who the next season in a must-win late September game against the Florida Marlins plunked three batters in a single inning en route to a crushing loss?

Yesterday at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Dominant Ollie pitched the first two innings, striking out four, but Wild Ollie relieved him for the next 2.1, walking five, as the Reds put together two two-run rallies in the third and fifth innings to wallop the Mets, 8-6.

The Mets rewarded Perez with a comfortable three-run lead in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by Carlos Beltran an a two-run double by Ryan Church, off Reds' starter Bronson Arroyo.

But in the bottom of the frame, Perez gave the runs back, starting it by walking Reds' catcher, Ryan Hanigan. Reds' first-baseman Joey Votto slugged a three-run homer to cap that inning's scoring. Again, the Mets took the lead in the top of the fifth inning on a fielder's choice groundout, but in the bottom, the Reds knocked Perez out with four more runs, aided by two more walks. The biggest blow in that inning was a two-out, two-run single by Reds' shosrtstop Paul Janish, off Mets' reliever Darren O'Day. The Mets would score single runs in the sixth and seveth innings on sacrifice flies, but whatever hopes the Mets had of tying the game in the ninth were quickly extinguished by Reds' closer Francisco Cordero, who struck out the side.

GAME SUMMARY
Winning pitcher -- Arroyo (1-0)
Losing pitcher -- Perez (0-1)
Save -- Cordero (1)
2B -- Church 2, (3)
Home runs -- Votto (2)
RBI -- Beltran (3), Church 2, (2); Votto 4, (7), Delgado 2, (6), Phillips (1), Janish 2, (2)

Stolen bases -- Encarnacion (1)

Caught Stealing -- Reyes (1, 2nd base, Hanigan/Janish)

Runners left on base -- Mets 5, Reds, 5
Runners left in scoring position -- Mets 3, Reds, 3

Errors -- Phillips (1, catch)
Hit batsmen -- O'Day (1, Encarnacion)

Web gems -- None

BULLETIN: TRAGEDY STRIKES ANGELS AS PITCHER ADENHART DIES IN CAR CRASH

2009-04-09T12:16:00.003-04:00

Major League Baseball today is mourning the death of 22-year-old Los Angeles Angels right handed pitcher Nick Adenhart who was killed last night in a fatal car crash just hours of pitching six scoreless innings in his 2009 debut, the Los Angeles Times reports. The newspaper reports that Adenhart's car was struck by a minivan which ran a red light and the accident is being treated as a hit-and-run accident.

Adenhart was considered a hot prospect and was being counted on to pick up slack in the Angels' rotation because of injuries to starters John Lackey and Ervin Santana. Adenhart was a teammate last year of current Mets' pitchers, Francisco Rodriguez and Darren O'Day.

GAME 3: METS VS. REDS 12:30 P.M.

2009-04-09T09:23:00.003-04:00

The Mets hope to break out and use the broom today at Great American Ballpark in the conclusion of their three-game series against the Reds today, as Oliver Perez takes the mound to battle Bronson Arroyo.

Perez is 9-4 lifetime against the Reds, the most career victories he has racked up against any team and Arroyo lifetime is 4-2 against the Mets. Arroyo went 15-11 last year with a 4.77 ERA. Arroyo and Perez actually tied for last year's National League lead in games started (34) and while Arroyo led all NL pitchers in earned runs allowed (106), Perez led all NL pitchers last season in no-decisions (17) and walks (105).

GAME 2: HANGING ON BY A HAIR -- FRANKIE'S HIGH-WIRE ACT PRESERVES METS 9-7 WIN

2009-04-08T19:31:00.009-04:00

In the span of two days, the Mets bullpen went from being invincible to merely human.

Just two days removed from a nearly perfect 3.1 innings in Monday's season opener, relievers Pedro Feliciano, Sean Green, J.J. Putz and closer Francisco Rodriguez combined to allow 3 runs, 4 hits and 2 walks in 4 innings, yet the Mets survived a 9th inning threat to defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 9-7 at Great American Ballpark.

Rodriguez, who earned his second save in as many games, followed his flawless inning Monday by leaving the bases loaded and retired the Reds' final hitter, Laynce Nix on a deep fly ball to centerfield. Rodriguez put himself in peril by walking leadoff hitter Brandon Phillips, but looked to have an easy inning when Jay Bruce popped a hanging breaking ball that fell harmlessly into second baseman Luis Castillo's hands. The next hitter, Edwin Encarnacion appeared to make the second out on a routine ground ball to David Wright, but the first base umpire ruled Encarnacion safe at first base because first baseman Carlos Delgado came off the bag early. Phillips scooted to third on the play, then Rodriguez walked Ramon Hernandez to load the bases.

But Rodriguez, who last year set the Major Leagues single-season saves record with 62, rebounded to strike out Alex Gonzalez swinging on a 3-2 fastball, then put away Nix.

It was no easier for Mets' starter, Mike Pelfrey, who lasted five innings and earned a win, despite allowing 4 first inning runs, 3 of them courtesy of a Joey Votto home run. But Delgado, who hit a two-run homer in the Mets' first inning, added RBIs in the fifth and seventh innings, while centerfielder Carlos Beltran struck the key blow, a go-ahead two-run single off Reds' starter and losing pitcher, Edinson Volquez, in the fifth.

Beltran's single was preceded earlier in the inning by a fielding error by Gonzalez and later in the seventh inning, the Mets benefited from Bruce's slipping and failing to field a Brian Schneider bases-loaded base hit, which cleared the bases and put New York up, 9-5.

GAME SUMMARY

Winning pitcher -- Pelfrey (1-0)

Losing pitcher -- Volquez (0-1)

Save -- Rodriguez (2)

2B -- Phillips (1), Church (1), Wright (1), Schneider (1)

3B -- Taveras (1)

Home runs -- Delgado (1), Votto (1)

RBI -- Delgado 4, (4); Votto 3, (3), Beltran 2, (2), Schneider 3, (3), Bruce 1, (1), Hernandez 1, (1), Dickerson 1, (1)

Stolen bases -- None

Caught Stealing -- Beltran (1/2nd base, Hernandez/Gonzalez); Votto (1/home, Pelfrey/Castillo/Schneider)

Runners left on base -- Mets 6, Reds, 9

Runners left in scoring position -- Mets 4, Reds, 6

Errors -- Reyes (1, throw); Gonzalez (1, fielding), Delgado (1, fielding)

Balk -- Pelfrey (1)Wild Pitch -- Volquez (1)

Web gems -- Reds: Top 1st, shortstop Alex Gonzalez makes diving catch of Jose Reyes line drive

GAME 2: METS AT REDS, 7 PM

2009-04-08T09:47:00.004-04:00

The Mets continue their three-game series in Cincinnati tonight, with a 7 p.m. start against the Reds, with Mike Pelfrey (13-11, 3.72 ERA in 2008) to take on 2008 All-Star, Edinson Volquez, (17-6, 3.21 ERA). Volquez started one game last year against the Mets and got a no-decision in a 7-5 Mets win. He lasted 5 innings, giving up 4 earned runs on 8 hits, walking 3 and striking out 3. Pelfrey is 2-2 lifetime against the Reds.

GAME 1 -- METS RELIEVERS ARE THE SEAL DEAL: BULLPEN AIRTIGHT IN 2-1 WIN

2009-04-06T21:49:00.007-04:00

Seven times last season, Mets' ace Johan Santana (left) exited a game with a lead, only to have the balky bullpen blow it.
So this afternoon, no one could blame him if he felt his stomach clench and his nerves buckle after being unexpectedly removed in the top of the sixth inning and having to sweat out the next three.
But one momentarily scary line drive and three uneventful innings later, after imported relievers Sean Green, J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez combined to retire 10 of the last 11 opposing hitters, Santana, his teammates and tortured Mets fans could relax. The Mets rode a gutty performance by Santana and a stellar effort by the bullpen to defeat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 on a raw, wet Opening Day, despite leaving 12 men on base -- including seven in scoring position. From the start, it seemed some Mets picked up where they left off in 2008.
Jose Reyes, who last year became only the second Met in club history to record more than 200 hits in a season, led off with a single and then stole second base, to add to his franchise-leading total. But in an eerie similarity to so many occasions last season, David Wright failed to bring Reyes home from third base, striking out against Reds' starting pitcher, Aaron Harang, with only one out. The Mets would leave the bases loaded in the fourth inning while Santana kept the Reds scoreless and then broke through in the fifth after left-fielder Daniel Murphy fouled off three 3-and-2 pitches, then drove a solo home run into the right field bleachers.
New York threatened to add to its lead, but Wright was nailed at home on a throw by Reds' right-fielder Jay Bruce on a Carlos Beltran single. It was a tough day on the basepaths for Wright, who, representing a valuable potential insurance run in the top of the ninth inning was picked off first base by pitcher Francisco Cordero.
Murphy drove in the second Mets run in the sixth inning with an RBI groundout before Santana -- who is undefeated since last July -- would be tested and surrender a run. Darnell McDonald lined a broken-bat single to start the inning and advanced to third base on a ground single by Joey Votto which narrowly eluded Santana's glove and an errant throw from Beltran. Brandon Phillips drove home the Reds' only run on a sacrifice fly and Santana exited after getting Jay Bruce on a foul pop to Wright.
That set the stage for Green, making his Mets' debut. A screaming line drive by Edwin Encarnacion at first appeared to be a game-tying extra-base hit to the left-center field gap, but Murphy, who'll never be known for his defense, sprinted over and flagged it down. Green, a sinker-slider pitcher, got three consecutive ground ball outs before giving way to Putz, who hurled a scoreless eighth inning before yielding to Rodriguez, who overpowered Reds' hitters on a weak groundout, a foul pop and a swinging strikeout.
At that moment, Rodriguez characteristically thumped his chest with both hands, then exclaimed while pointing skyward.
Moments later, when he repeated the gesture for good measure, it seemed fitting.
After last season, Santana and his teammates had to feel doubly thankful -- even after just one game.

Winning pitcher -- Johan Santana (1-0)
Losing pitcher -- Aaron Harang (0-1)
Save -- Francisco Rodriguez (1)

Home runs -- Murphy (1)
RBI -- Murphy (2)
Stolen bases -- Reyes (1), Church (1)

Web gems: Ryan Church makes sliding, juggling catch of a Ramon Hernandez line drive, then throws out Edwin Encarnacion scrambling back to first base (bottom second, none out). David Wright makes diving, short-hopped scoop of hard hit drive by Alex Gonzalez, then throws him out (bottom seventh, one out.)

ONCE AGAIN, IT'S ON!

2009-04-06T10:26:00.004-04:00

Weather permitting, the Mets take on the Cincinnati Reds from Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. The forecast calls for rain, possibly mixing with snow this afternoon, with a high temperature of 39 degrees.

The lineups...

Mets

Reyes ss

Murphy lf

Wright 3b

Delgado 1b

Beltran cf

Church rf

Schneider c

Castillo 2b

Santana p

Reds

Haisrton lf

McDonald cf

Votto 1b

Phillips 2b

Bruce rf

Encarnacion 3b

Hernandez c

Gonzalez ss

Harang p

There will be no live updates here for this game, but check back late night, when we open the floodgates for analysis and commentary.

WELCOME, PRESIDENT OBAMA

2009-01-21T23:41:00.004-05:00

Although this is not a political site, I'd like to take this moment -- albeit a day late, largely because like most of the rest of the country, I was glued to the TV watching his inauguration -- to welcome President Barack Obama and on behalf of Mets Fans Forum, wish him the best of success in his stewardship of our beloved country. The office is a sacred trust and all of us will hold him to the highest of standards, the way we do for all American presidents. If he matches his unbridled youthful energy, eternal optimism, highly elevated intelligence, calm demeanor, inspirational words and lofty accomplishments with meaningful and impactful actions and deeds, he will be a remarkable president. And though he's a White Sox fan, I hope Mets fans will be able to welcome him at Citi Field if he's invited to throw out a first pitch.

Mr. President, I tip my Mets' cap to you.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

2009-01-21T23:34:00.004-05:00

The Mets have added two new players to the mix. Early this week, they have signed lefty reliever Casey Fossum, the former Rays and Red Sox hurler, to a minor league deal and have invited him to Spring Training. The team has also signed reserve outfielder Cory Sullivan, the former Colorado Rockie, to a one-year, $600K deal, with incentives that could sweeten it. The puzzling thing is, Mets' GM Omar Minaya already acquired a backup outfielder in Jeremy Reed in the megadeal that netted the Mets relievers J.J. Putz and Sean Green. With other outfielders Fernando Tatis, Daniel Murphy, Ryan Church and Carlos Beltran already on the roster, seems like the trade winds might soon be blowing someone out of Queens to somewhere else...

BREAKING METS NEWS: TEAM SIGNS UTILITYMAN CORA TO ONE-YEAR PACT

2009-01-14T10:51:00.003-05:00

The New York Times is reporting the Mets have signed utility infielder Alex Cora, who last played for the Boston Red Sox to a one-year, $2 million deal. Cora started at shortstop for Boston in last year's American League Championship Series Game 7. Last season he batted .270 in 75 games. with nine RBI.
Cora is 33, plays second base and shortstop and his career highs for games played were in the 2003 and 2004 seasons with the Dodgers. He is a light hitter and best known for his glove and his bunting ability.

NL EAST BREAKING NEWS: LOWE AND BEHOLD, DEREK SIGNS FOUR-YEAR DEAL WITH BRAVES

2009-01-13T13:07:00.004-05:00

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution is reporting that the Atlanta Braves have come to terms with free-agent starting pitcher Derek Lowe on a four-year, $60 million deal.

If those indeed are the terms, it far surpasses a reported three-year, $36 million offer the Mets made to Lowe.

The Braves' move is the third significant one they've made this off-season to upgrade their starting rotation. Lowe joins right-handers Javier Vazquez, whom the Braves acquired from the Chicago White Sox and Kenshin Kawakami, a free agent the Braves recently signed after his long career with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League.

This week, longtime Braves' ace John Smoltz defected to the Boston Red Sox and it's not yet clear whether veteran lefty Tom Glavine will return to pitch for Atlanta.

CLAIM TO FAME: EX-MET AND ALL-TIME STOLEN BASE KING HENDERSON LIKELY TO BE VOTED INTO HALL TODAY

2009-01-12T11:50:00.005-05:00

In just more than 60 minutes from now, it's expected to be Rickey Time, as an announcement is expected to made that former Met Rickey Henderson -- who helped lead the Mets into the 1999 post-season -- has been voted into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

The charismatic Henderson, who often refers to himself in third person, is Major League Baseball's All-Time stolen base champion, with 1,406 and established a single-season record for stolen bases in 1982 with 130. Henderson also banged out 3,055 hits and scored 2,295 runs.

The announcement will is scheduled to air live today at 1:30 p.m. on MLB Network.

Here are some other impressive notes on Henderson's resume: He was a 10-time All-Star; won the American League Most Valuable Player Award in 1990; won the American league Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award in 1989; won a Gold Glove Award in 1981; won three Silver Slugger Awards; finished in the top five in batting average three times and drew 2,190 walks. he also won World Series rings in 1989 with Oakland and in 1993 with Toronto.

The Mets signed him as a free agent to a two-year contract after the 1998 season and made a huge impact. At age 40, Henderson led Mets regulars with a .315 batting average, hit 12 homers, knocked in 42 runs and stole 37 bases. Arguably, it was Henderson's last strong full season before he retired after the 2003 season. Henderson turned red hot at the end of the 1999 season, swatting a home run in the Mets 5-0 Wild Card tie-breaker win over the Cincinnati Reds and then going 6-for-15 and swiping six bases to help the Mets defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks three games to one in the National League Division Series.

But it was in the National League Championship Series that year that things went sour. Henderson managed only a 4-for-23 showing at the plate and his commitment was publicly questioned by teammate Turk Wendell. Henderson's behavior during Game 6 -- an extra-inning heartbreaking loss -- further bolstered Wendell's accusation that Henderson was a selfish player. After being removed from that game, Henderson was later discovered by teammates in the clubhouse, playing cards with teammate Bobby Bonilla.

That had then-manager Bobby Valentine seething. In the 2000 season, Henderson infuriated Valentine by appearing not to hustle after hitting balls into play. It was reported that Valentine took an ultimatum to then-General Manager Steve Phillips that if Henderson wasn't released, he would resign. Henderson was released after hitting just .219 in 31 games.

Henderson returned to the Mets in 2007 as the team's first-base coach and has often been a Mets baserunning instructor in Spring Training.

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-11T13:46:00.005-05:00

Yesterday's quiz question asked which ex-Met player and current Major League manager holds the record for most home runs by a player born in France.

The correct and answer is c) Bruce Bochy

Bochy, the current San Francisco Giants’ manager, who is best known for his managing of the San Diego Padres before that, is a former New York Met. Bochy played 17 games as a Met in the 1982 season, batting .306 in 49 at-bats, with two homers and eight RBIs. Bochy was born in Landes De Bussac, France in 1955. The Mets acquired Bochy from the Astros in a minor deal. New York released him after the ’82 season.

The other options…

a) Dave Trembley
Yes, Trembley is a French name and he currently manages the Baltimore Orioles. But Trembley never played for the Mets. He was born in Carthage, N.Y.

b) Cito Gaston
The man who skippered the Toronto Blue Jays to two World Series Championships in 1992 and 1993 returned last year to once again take the team’s helm. Gaston’s last name is of French origin and he played for the Braves and Padres. But he was born in San Antonio, Tex.

d) Clint Hurdle
He was once a Sports Illustrated cover boy as a Kansas City Royals prospect, but never reached Next-Big-Thing status. He played for the Mets in three different odd years in the 1980s – 1983, 1985 and 1987. He was most productive as a Met in 1985, when he hit three homers, but batted .195. He was born in Big Rapids, Mich.

METS UPDATE: PEDRO TALKING TO MARLINS

2009-01-10T21:47:00.004-05:00

ESPN Deportes reports tonight that free-agent pitcher Pedro Martinez, who has pitched the last four years for the Mets, is now negotiating a possible contract with the Florida Marlins.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-10T18:39:00.006-05:00

Today's quiz question has a French connection. Which former Met -- and current Major League manager -- holds the record for most Major League homers (26) hit by a French-born player?

a) Dave Trembley

b) Cito Gaston

c) Bruce Bochy

d) Clint Hurdle

Check back tomorrow for the answer...

NL EAST NEWS: BRAVES SIGN JAPANESE HURLER KAWAKAMI

2009-01-10T18:12:00.004-05:00

While they battle the Mets for the services of free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe, the Atlanta Braves made a major move today, signing right-handed starter Kenshin Kawakami to a three-year contract, according to mlb.com. Kawakami is 33 years old and pitched the last 11 years for the Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League. He was 9-5 last year with a 2.30 ERA and his repertoire includes a fastball in the low-90s, a cutter and a slow curve. Kawakami enjoyed his best seasons in 2004 and 2006, when he won 17 games in each of those years.

In 2004, Kawakami won the Sawamura Award for best pitcher and the Central League Most Valuable Player Award. Kawakami also has big-game pitching experience, having thrown games in the 2004 and 2006 Japan Series, helping lead the Dragons to the title in the latter year.

AL NEWS: BUSY BOSOX SIGN SAITO

2009-01-10T14:32:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, they pried possible future Hall of Fame right-hander John Smoltz from the Atlanta Braves after 21 seasons, signed reserve outfielder Rocco Baldelli and retained first-baseman/outfielder Mark Kotsay. Today, the Boston Red Sox added to an already deep bullpen by signing free-agent righty Takashi Saito to a one-year deal, with a club option for 2010, according to Fox Sports.

Saito, who will turn 39 next month, was a National League All-Star in 2007, when he recorded 39 of his 81 career saves. He spent a great deal of time last season on the disabled list with a torn ligament in his right elbow. The BoSox had already inked free-agent starter Brad Penny, Saito's teammate the last three seasons.

The Boston bullpen, already formidable with All-Star closer Jonathon Papelbon, now has Saito, lefty Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen and Justin Masterson helping set him up.

GIL GRIFFIN'S MET-AMUSINGS: JUMPING OFF THE DOCK OF THE BAY -- MINAYA TAKES LEAVE OF HIS SENSES IN SIGNING LIFELONG LOSER REDDING

2009-01-09T21:14:00.010-05:00

Someone – anyone – please tell me he didn’t do it.
Please tell me those words I read as a headline: “Mets Sign Tim Redding” on mlbtraderumors.com was a hallucination.
Please.
I beg anyone to tell me Mets General Manager Omar Minaya didn’t take temporary leave of his senses and waste $2.2 million for one year of the services of the former Nationals’ righty, Redding, a Major League pitcher who personifies subpar.
Perhaps the last sentence should’ve read “Redding, who has been accused of being a Major League pitcher."
Did Minaya not watch his own team pound Redding only two weeks before season’s end? Did Minaya not take not of the fact that Redding lasted three innings for the Mets, giving up seven hits and four runs?
Oh, it gets worse.
Redding just can’t pitch well against the Mets. Indeed, he doesn’t discriminate. Redding’s career high for wins? Ten, twice -- including last year, when he lost 11 and posted an ERA a sliver under 5.00. He also allowed 27 jacks and 195 hits in 182 innings. And Redding in his last 10 starts was 3-5 with – get this – a 6.49 ERA.
Oh, but wait.
Redding was among the top 10 National League pitchers in two categories: earned runs allowed and wild pitches.
And in 2003, Redding distinguished himself by leading the National League in losses with 14.
With his innings pitched total last year, one could use fashionable parlance -- read "excuse" --and call him an "innings eater." But what good is an innings eater who regurgitates lousy outings every time he takes the mound?
I don't want to hear the old argument former Mets' GM Steve Phillips used to justify his signing of Steve Trachsel after the 2001 season, saying Trachsel was up until then a very good pitcher who needed more run support. I'm not sure the 1927 Yankees would've had the firepower to support Redding's giving up nearly seven earned runs per nine innings, as he did in the second half of last year. I'm not even sure America's armed forces could.
What I wrote a month ago about Tim Redding still holds true: The Mets would be better off running the late – yes, late – legendary R&B singer Otis Redding to the mound every fifth day. Give it a couple of months and we won’t be sitting on the dock of the bay, as Otis once famously sang, but wanting to jump off the dock and straight into Flushing Bay after Redding gets lit up yet again.
Look at more of Redding's history.
In 2005, Redding lost all five starts as a San Diego Padre with a 9.10 ERA. That was after the Yankees had seen enough of him after one inning – you read right, one inning – in his only start in which he allowed six runs, four hits and four walks. Redding's record that year was 0-6.
After a year on the shelf with an injury, Redding followed that with a 3-6 campaign in 2007.
What’s even more astounding than Minaya signing Redding is that other actual baseball teams were clamoring to sign a guy with a 34-51 lifetime record.
Yes, Redding is a cheap option – with damn good reason. So was an Edsel. Redding is more of a last resort. And with Minaya wielding a big market budget for player payroll anf far better options out there, it makes his latest move that much more ludicrous.
The timing of this signing couldn’t be worse, not when the heated Braves are wooing quality starter Derek Lowe and reports have them preparing to top the Mets’ three-year, $36 million offer with one for four years and as much as $48 million.
Where is it written that the Mets must have at least one member of the starting rotation with a pitching resume that's a mountain of garbage and reeks of a local landfill?
And don’t talk to me about getting cheap help for the back end of the rotation.
Could the younger, far cheaper and untested Bobby Parnell or Jon Niese be any worse than Redding? In fact, last season Niese acomplished something in his second career start it took Redding 109 starts until last July to do: pitch eight complete innings in a game.
What does that tell you?
Has Redding been signed because the Mets have a secret desire to reenact the Jorge Sosa life story, with Redding in the starring role? Maybe Minaya is pining away for Trachsel.
This may go down as the Mets' worst-ever free agent signing, right up there with Minaya's other genius recruitments of Scott Schoeneweis and David Newhan and his retentions of Guillermo Mota and currently immovable Met, Luis Castillo.
And I’m gonna say this, too: Rip the Yankees for all their worth for elbowing aside all the smaller-market clubs for big talent by signing the likes of C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira if you want to. But ask yourself: Would they be content with signing someone like Redding?
Oh yeah, that’s right. They’d seen enough of Redding after one inning.
So why does Minaya think the refuse of Major League pitching is good enough for the Mets?
And more importantly, why does he think it's good enough for the fans?
Especially when this year, with the team moving into a new ballpark, it basically will cost a refinancing of a mortgage to access the product Minaya is assembling.

METS ROUNDUP: LOWE MEETS BRAVES IN ATLANTA, FEELER PUT OUT ON ROCKIES' OUTFIELDER, SCOUTS TO WATCH FORMER NATS' CLOSER CORDERO THROW

2009-01-09T00:52:00.004-05:00

Free-agent starter Derek Lowe visited the Atlanta Braves today, who severed ties with longtime pitcher John Smoltz, who, according to the Boston Globe, rejected an 11th hour plea from Manager Bobby Cox to stay in the south. The Mets, according to several news reports, are considered still to be the favorites in signing Lowe to a contract. Meanwhile, the Denver Post's Troy Renck posted a one-sentence item saying the Mets have interest in Rockies' outfielder Cory Sullivan, who Colorado didn't offer a new contract. Lastly, former Washington Nationals' closer Chad Cordero is scheduled to throw for scouts from several Major League teams including the Mets. Cordero has had arm troubles plaguing him the last two seasons.

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-09T00:38:00.004-05:00

Wednesday's quiz was a statement that you had to decide if it's true or false:

The Mets have never beaten Greg Maddux in the post-season.

The correct answer is...True.

But the last time the Mets faced Maddux in the post-season -- Game 3 of the 2006 National League Division Series -- they did something to him they'd never done before. The Mets knocked out the then-Dodger, strafing him for four runs and seven hits. Several Mets hitters did something they'd never tried before against him -- taking his pitches the other way and stroking opposite field hits. The biggest Mets' hit off Maddux in that game was an opposite field RBI double by Shawn Green, scoring Cliff Floyd who badly limped home with a re-aggravation of his ankle injury, rendering him ineffective for the rest of the pot-season.

The Mets, behind pitchers Steve Trachsel, Darren Oliver and Pedro Feliciano turned a

4-0 lead into a 5-4 deficit, but the Mets eventually rallied for a 9-5 win and series sweep of the Dodgers.

In his other post-season starts against the Mets, Maddux beat them in Game 1 of the 1999 National League Championship Series and got a no-decision in the Mets' "Grand Single" win in Game 5 of that series at Shea Stadium.

The Daily Mets Quiz returns later today.

NL NEWS: BREWERS SIGN HOFFMAN

2009-01-09T00:33:00.004-05:00

It's official, according to mlb.com. It'll be Trevor Time in Milwaukee, as baseball's All-Time saves leader Trevor Hoffman and the Brewers have reached an agreement on a one-year deal.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-09T00:32:00.000-05:00

...WILL RETURN LATER TODAY...

AL NEWS: BOSOX MAY TURN FREE-AGENT DOUBLE PLAY WITH SMOLTZ AND BALDELLI

2009-01-07T23:04:00.006-05:00

Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is reporting that the Red Sox are close to signing free-agent pitcher John Smoltz and free agent outfielder Rocco Baldelli, who was born in New England. Smoltz reportedly had been sought after by a variety of teams.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-07T22:54:00.001-05:00

Today’s quiz question is actually a statement.
You choose if it’s true or false:
The Mets never beat recently retired and certain future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux in a post-season game.

Learn the answer tomorrow.

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-07T21:43:00.003-05:00

Yesterday's quiz question asked: In Tom Seaver’s career 311 wins, which team did he amass 33 victories against, more than any other opponent?

The correct answer is b) San Diego Padres

Seaver won 33 games against the Friars, including a magnificent then-record-setting 19 strikeout performance at Shea Stadium in 1970 (including 10 Ks in a row). Since the Padres joined the National League in 1969, Seaver was especially masterful at Qualcomm Stadium, going 18-5 over his career with a 1.58 ERA. At Shea, he was 15-5 against the Pads.

The other options…

a) Montreal Expos
Seaver was a career 22-12 against the Expos including six shutouts, but only 10-9 in games he pitched in the Quebec province. In fact, pitching in Canada never seemed to agree with Seaver, who went a career 0-3 pitching in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

b) Los Angeles Dodgers
The Blue Crew was always tough on Seaver, who could only manage a career 22-22 mark against them. Interestingly, Seaver logged more innings against the Dodgers (398) than against any other club.

c) Atlanta Braves
Seaver dominated the Braves throughout his career, going 32-10, with 24 complete games (the most he had against any other club) and six shutouts.

LUIS MONTEAGUDO'S METS NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS FOR THE 2009 SEASON

2009-01-06T23:23:00.004-05:00

TOP TEN NEW YORK METS NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

10. Mr. Met -- I resolve to visit a specialist and find out why my head is so large.

9. Jose Reyes -- I resolve to try bunting for a hit at least once each game.

8. David Wright -- I resolve to rediscover the joy of the sacrifice fly when my team is trailing by a run.

7. Carlos Delgado -- I resolve to keep sipping from the fountain of youth.

6. Carlos Beltran -- I resolve to stay healthy for a whole year.

5. Ryan Church -- I resolve to avoid any concussions this year.

4. Daniel Murphy/Fernando Tatis -- We resolve that sharing is fun.

3. Omar Minaya -- I resolve to remember that I wanted a team built on youth, speed and agility.

2. Jerry Manuel -- I resolve to rediscover to win the manager of the year award again.

1. Johan Santana -- I resolve to win the Cy Young.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-06T20:33:00.006-05:00

Today’s question involves The Franchise, Tom Seaver.

Before his unforgivable 1977 exile to Cincinnati and during his triumphant return in 1983 (to be followed after that season by another unforgivable blunder that allowed him to be drafted away by the Chicago White Sox), Seaver won a franchise-record 198 games as a Met.

Today’s question is: In Seaver’s career 311 wins, against which team did he amass 33 victories, more than any other opponent?

Learn the answer by logging in tomorrow...

BREAKING NL NEWS: PHILLIES' ROMERO SUSPENDED 50 GAMES FOR VIOLATING PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT USE POLICY

2009-01-06T14:38:00.004-05:00

In a shocker that bears profound implications on the Mets-Phillies National League Eastern Division rivalry, the Associated Press is reporting that Phillies' left-handed reliever J.C. Romero has today been suspended by Major League Baseball for the first 50 games of the 2009 season for violating its performance enhancing drug use policy.

Romero, who won two World Series games in last year's Series win by the Phillies, appeared in 11 of the 18 games the Mets and Phillies played in 2008, winning one, losing two and posting a 3.38 ERA. In 2007, Romero dominated New York in 10 relief appearances, compiling a 1.50 ERA.

Romero tested positive for a banned substance, but the pitcher claims it was an over-the-counter supplement he bought at a nutrition store, the Associated Press reports.

The link to the AP story is here, with quotes from Romero: google.com

Here's more from the Philadelphia Daily News: philly.com and the Philadelphia Inquirer: philly.com

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-06T12:55:00.005-05:00

Yesterday’s quiz question was:
Which Mets pitcher, in an April 1993 game at Shea Stadium, allowed a home run to Dante Bichette—the first ever Colorado Rockies’ regular season home run?

The correct answer is c) Bret Saberhagen
The right-handed starter who at age 20 pitched the Kansas City Royals to a 1985 World Series victory, joined the Mets in 1992 in a blockbuster deal and was expected to be a mighty cog in a rock solid pitching staff. Despite his great stuff, though, injuries wrecked his first two seasons in Flushing. But on April 7, 1993, Saberhagen was on his game, handcuffing the Rockies on one run and two hits – one was Bichette’s historic homer in a 6-1 Mets win. The Mets would trade Saberhagen to those Rockies in the summer of 1995 for Colorado's playoff push. Saberhagen started and lost National League Division Series Game 4 for the Rockies in Atlanta.

The other options...

a) Eric Hillman
Like almost all other Mets pitchers, this tall lefty didn’t find much success in 1993. He went a miserable 2-9 in 27 appearances. Three more losses without any wins the next year sealed his permanent exit from Major League Baseball.

b) Frank Tanana
Longtime fans best know him from his halcyon years with the then-California Angels, from 1974 to 1980 when he teamed with Nolan Ryan to give that team a powerful lefty-righty one-two punch in its starting rotation. Tanana was a three-time All-Star during those years and three times was a Top 10 vote-getter for the American League Cy Young Award. He signed with the Mets as a free agent in 1993 at age 39 and posted an awful 7-15 mark with a 4.48 ERA. The Mets traded him to the Yankees in September, for whom he promptly lost his last two Major League decisions.

d) Anthony Young
A.Y., as he was known, turned out to be a throwback in Mets history – by being an unlucky loser. Know one quite knows how exactly Young offended the baseball gods, but they certainly unleashed their wrath upon him, beginning in 1992, when he went 2-14 as a starter and reliever. Not to be outdone, he followed the next season by going 1-16. Young suffered many indignities, but allowing the Rockies’ first-ever regular season homer wasn’t one of them.

AL NEWS: PETTITTE NIXES YANKEES' OFFER

2009-01-06T12:21:00.004-05:00

They broke the bank in the last couple of months to sign C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira to long term deals and even re-upped with Chien-Ming Wang for one year. But the Yankees aren't willing to go above and beyond the one-year, $10 million deal they offered Andy Pettitte, who has performed so well for the team in past post-season play. With his rejection of the Yanks' offer and if the Mets' pursuit of Derek Lowe is unsuccessful, Pettitte might present an intriguing option for General Manager Omar Minaya to consider, along with other available free-agent lefties Oliver Perez and Randy Wolf and job-searching righties Jon Garland and John Smoltz.

NL NEWS: HELL'S BELLS! WILL IT BE TREVOR TIME AT MILLER PARK?

2009-01-06T11:24:00.005-05:00

Odd as it may seem to see longtime San Diego Padre Trevor Hoffman -- Major League Baseball's All-Time saves leader -- in another uniform, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports today that it may happen. He reports that the Brewers now consider Hoffman their first choice to be their new closer. Hoffman was essentially shown the door by Padres' General Manager Kevin Towers, who reportedly made a "take it or leave it" one-year offer. It had also been reported that with Jeff Moorad, the former Diamondbacks' GM, in negotiations to buy the Padres, it might signal a re-opening of negotiations with Hoffman, arguably the franchise's most popular player in history, along with Dave Winfield, Randy Jones and Steve Garvey. "Hell's Bells," AC/DC's thunderous rock anthem, with its power guitar riffs and signature tolling bells that acompanied Hoffman's entrances into games at both Petco Park and Qualcomm Stadium could, in a few months, be rattling the rafters in Milwaukee's Miller Park.

GIL GRIFFIN'S MET-AMUSINGS: MANTRAS, BAGELS AND KVETCHING MOTIVATED MINAYA TO OVERHAUL BULLPEN

2009-01-05T19:07:00.009-05:00

You could say Mets fans literally shmeared General Manager Omar Minaya this off-season for assembling one of baseball’s worst-ever bullpens.
That’s because at bagel shops Minaya frequented, as he revealed at the Winter Meetings after announcing he had come to terms with free-agent closer Francisco Rodriguez, fans interrupted their noshing to push upon the GM their mandate in a three-word mantra:
“Fix the bullpen!”
Of course, observers like me had been screaming those words since late in the 2007 season – albeit with a very colorful, unprintable-in-a-family-blog word inserted between the words “the” and “bullpen.”
Now, 97 days after the (insert your own colorful word here) bullpen turned a 2-2 tie into a crushing 4-2 loss to the Florida Marlins on the last game of last season, costing the Mets a playoff spot, Minaya has nearly pulled off a complete overhaul.
Rodriguez – who last year established a new Major League single-season record with 62 saves – is now in the house, signed to a three-year, $36 million contract. J.J. Putz, a coveted two-time All-Star closer who Minaya acquired in a master-stroke three-team blockbuster is on board to set up Rodriguez. In the same trade which brought Putz, Minaya acquired reliever Sean Green, who scouts have said is a significant groundball machine upgrade over young Joe Smith, who was dealt to Cleveland.
It was Smith who – though fairly reliable last season – coughed up the Marlins’ second run in last season’s last game, with a bases-loaded walk. Minaya also exiled Scott Schoeneweis, who gave up the game’s tie-breaking home run to Wes Helms and let walk into oblivion closer-by-default Luis Ayala, who gave up an insurance run in that game via a solo home run. Minaya also sent Shea boo-birds’ favorite target Aaron Heilman to lowly Seattle – baseball’s answer to the witness protection program – where he can finally fulfill his desire of becoming a starting pitcher. Minaya also acquired journeyman reliever Rocky Cherry and youngster Darren O’Day in the Rule V Draft, and another youngster in Connor Robertson by dealing Schoeneweis to Arizona. By their colorful names alone – one sounds like a new Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor and the other is like a character James Joyce conceived, but never used in one of his novels – Cherry and O’Day are vast improvements.
In fact, the only holdovers from last year’s mess of a bullpen are lefty Pedro Feliciano and righty Duaner Sanchez, and if he has an impressive spring, Brian Stokes.
Minaya must need to add a skilled lefty to go along with Feliciano, if he wants to neutralize the powerful left-handed bats of opposing hitters such as Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez of the World Series Champion Phillies.
Minaya’s bullpen moves this off-season are almost enough to make fans forgive Minaya’s past gaffes in bullpen repair, beginning after the 2006 season with his signing of confessed steroid cheat Guillermo Mota to a two-year extension almost immediately after Mota was caught. The bullpen disrepair continued with Minaya’s foolish overpayment in dollars and years to Schoeneweis, his retention of Jorge Sosa in 2008, whose brief success with the Mets as a starter in 2007 looks like an aberration. Finally, Minaya signed damaged-goods righty Matt Wise, who lasted all of a month before succumbing to injury.
Now is one move away from transforming the bullpen from a leaky, putrid, ramshackle cesspool into an inviting room where Mets fans – and most importantly, starting pitchers – can depend on to provide real relief.
Minaya seems to have finally gotten the message from the fans.
But to get Minaya to make that one final bullpen move, it might be worth just one more trip to his favorite bagel joint for a final kvetching session.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-05T18:03:00.007-05:00

Today’s question involves expansion franchise firsts. Only this time it indirectly involves the Mets.
In an April 1993 game at Shea Stadium, which Mets pitcher allowed a home run to Dante Bichette—the first ever Colorado Rockies’ regular season home run?

a) Eric Hillman

b)Frank Tanana

c) Bret Saberhagen

d)Anthony Young

Log on tomorrow for the answer.

BREAKING AL NEWS: RAYS SIGN LEGENDARY MET-KILLER BURRELL

2009-01-05T17:34:00.003-05:00

Mets fans, the chance of your team's winning the National League East crown just dramatically improved, as one of the All-Time Mets killers has left the League. Free-agent outfielder Pat Burrell, who has historically worn out Mets pitching with 42 homers, 105 RBI, despite a .246 batting average in 151 games, has defected from the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies to sign a two-year deal with their Series opponents, the Tampa Bay Rays, according to Fox Sports. Burrell's 42 lifetime homers against the Mets is 16 more than his highest career total against any other club. Burrell is 31 and figures to see time in both the outfield and at designated hitter.

BREAKING NL NEWS: CUBS SIGN BRADLEY

2009-01-05T17:28:00.004-05:00

ESPN Radio and Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal are both reporting that the Chicago Cubs and free-agent outfielder Milton Bradley have agreed in principle to a three-year, $30 million contract, with built-in options. The switch-hitting outfielder batted a career-high .321, yet spent only 165 innings playing the outfield, spending most of his time as a designated hitter.

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-05T13:47:00.004-05:00

Yesterday's Daily Mets Quiz asked, what Mets pitcher opted to warm up from the bullpen mound at Shea, thus changing forever the way starting pitchers got loose before games?
The correct answer is c) Jack Fisher
At 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, he was affectionately known as “Fat Jack.” And he appeared to eat innings as much as he did food, throwing 227 in 1964 and 253.2 in 1965. But warming up from a mound instead of flat ground before starts didn’t help Fisher much, who in 1964, Shea Stadium’s first year, went 10-17 with a 4.23 ERA. In 1965, went a woeful 8-24, then improved the next year to 11-14. But in 1967, he reverted to his losing ways, going 8-17.

The other options…

a) Roger Craig
The man who started the first game in Mets history piled up losses like they were going out of style in just two seasons, but never pitched at Shea as a Met. He led the Mets with 10 wins in 1962 – and in losses, with 24, a team record Mets fans hope will never be equaled or broken. Craig almost equaled his losses record in 1963, losing 22 games and winning only five.

b) Al Jackson
Mets legendary broadcaster Bob Murphy often referred to the 5-foot-10, 169-pound lefty as “Little Alvin Jackson.” He pitched for the Mets in both the Polo Grounds and Shea. After losing 20 games along with Craig in 1962, he won a career-high 13 games in 1963 en route to a respectable 13-17 season with a 3.96 ERA. In Jackson’s first season as a Met at Shea, he went 11-16, then the next year reverted to 20-game loser form, going 8-20. Jackson even returned to the Mets in the World Championship year of 1969, making nine relief appearances.

d)Warren Spahn
The Hall of Famer who started more games than any other lefty in Major League history was briefly a Met in 1965, after pitching for both the Boston and Milwaukee Braves. Spahn, who won 363 games, but by the time he wore the orange-and-blue was long past his prime, went just 4-12.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-04T19:52:00.008-05:00

Today’s question is about pitching.
When Shea Stadium opened in 1964, it was one of the first venues in which the bullpens were behind the outfield fences and had mounds to throw off of.
In earlier days, pitchers warmed up on flat ground, in a circle near the dugout. What Mets pitcher opted to warm up from the bullpen mound, thus changing forever the way starting pitchers got loose before games?

a) Roger Craig

b) Al Jackson

c) Jack Fisher

d) Warren Spahn

Check here tomorrow for the answer.

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-04T16:57:00.004-05:00

Yesterday’s Daily Mets Quiz question was:
If Carlos Beltran had hit one into the right-center gap for an extra base hit that would’ve cleared the bases and given the Mets a miraculous 4-3 win in Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series, who would’ve scored the winning run?

The correct answer is b) Anderson HernandezHernandez was the runner at first base, having entered the game as a pinch-runner for slow-footed catcher Paul LoDuca, who had walked. Hernandez, who last year was traded to the Washington Nationals for reliever Luis Ayala, began the 2006 season as the Mets’ starting second baseman because Kaz Matsui was on the disabled list. Hernandez flashed a great glove, excellent range and great speed, but didn’t make much contact at bat.

The other options…

a) Julio Franco
The then-47-year-old pinch hitter batted .273 and swiped six bases on the year and his beating out what appeared to be a sure double-play grounder in Game 2 of the 2006 National League Division Series got the Mets a much-needed run in a close win over the Dodgers. But in the 2006 NLCS, he batted only twice and struck out both times. He didn’t appear in Game 7.

b) Endy Chavez
The man who made perhaps the most memorable great catch in Mets history, robbing the Cardinals’ Scott Rolen of a two-run homer in the top of the sixth inning of Game 7, represented the tying run in the bottom of the Mets’ ninth. He had singled, advancing the previous batter, Jose Valentin to second base. Valentin and Chavez both would be stranded in scoring position.

d) Michael Tucker
The veteran spare parts outfielder acquired as a bench piece during the 2006 season, pinch-hit in Game 7. He led off the bottom of the seventh inning, batting for pitcher Chad Bradford and flied out.

METS NEWS: WITH CASH FLOW, LOWE WANTS MO'

2009-01-03T21:56:00.003-05:00

So the chase is on.
Or is it?
The way super-agent Scott Boras has often used teams to bid against themselves, who knows if the Mets' rivals, the Braves and Phillies really are interested in Boras's last remaining big-money client, pitcher Derek Lowe.
The Mets are reported to have offered Lowe a three-year, $36M deal, which he turned down. Tonight on MLB Network, John Heyman reported that Lowe seeks at least $16M per season -- a hefty price, given Lowe's age, 36. Mets' General Manager tonight confirmed on MLB Network, the Mets' interest in Lowe and other free agent starting pitchers.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-03T17:09:00.004-05:00

Today’s question involves what might have been.

Let’s go back to that fateful rainy October 2006 night at Shea Stadium, for Game 7 of the National League Championship Series against the Cardinales. Mets batting in the bottom of the ninth inning trailing, 3-1, bases loaded, two outs, Carlos Beltran batting.
If Beltran hit one into the right-center gap for an extra base hit that would’ve cleared the bases and given the Mets a miraculous 4-3 win, who would’ve scored the winning run?

a) Julio Franco

b) Anderson Hernandez

c) Endy Chavez

d) Michael Tucker

The answer will be revealed tomorrow...

NL UPDATE: EX-D-BACKS' CEO CLOSE TO AGREEMENT TO BUY PADRES

2009-01-03T16:54:00.004-05:00

Hard to believe that just eight years ago, Jeff Moorad (left) was helping broker a deal with his client, first-baseman Mo Vaughn to be traded from the Angels to the Mets.

Vaughn, who now is helping improve the living conditions of New York low-income residents through a development company he owns, lasted just more than one fiasco-laden season with the Mets and exited the baseball stage after the 2003 season. Moorad quit representing players and became a big-time ownership player, become a partner and then CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Moorad's biggest career move to date is unfolding, as San Diego Union-Tribune sportswriter Tom Krasovic explains, as he is nearing a purchase of the Padres from their owner, John Moores.

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-03T14:19:00.005-05:00

Yesterday's quiz asked: Who was the last Mets pitcher to homer in a game?
The correct answer is c) John Maine
He may have a lifetime batting average of .093, but on the night of Tues. July 24, 2007 at Shea Stadium, Maine blasted a two-run shot off the Pirates’ Ian Snell in an 8-4 Mets win. The runner who scored ahead of Maine was Lastings Milledge, who infuriated the Pirates by wind-milling his right arm as if to wave Maine home. Milledge was plunked in his next at-bat, but later homered himself.

The other options…

a) Steve Trachsel
He may have taken forever between throwing pitches and he needed a ton of offensive support, but the man could hit. In the 2006 season, Trachsel hit his only homer as a Met. It came June 20, off the Reds’ Elizardo Ramirez in a 9-2 Mets win.

b) Mike Hampton
Mets fans may loathe him for leaving Flushing for Colorado as a free agent after his only Mets season in 2000, but despite his injury-riddled years that followed, Hampton was the Majors’ best hitting pitcher. He ripped seven homers in 2001 and has 15 in his career, more than any other active pitcher. But he didn’t have a single extra base hit as a Met, while hitting .274.

c) Doc Gooden
The man who at age 20 seemed destined for the Hall of Fame before years of battling substance abuse, hit eight homers in his career, seven as a Met. His last blast was in 1999, playing for Cleveland in an inter-league game against the Cincinnati Reds, off Steve Parris. Perhaps it was foreshadowing – Parris would be the starting pitcher the Mets would defeat later that season in the 163rd game Wild Card tie-breaker.

The Daily Mets Quiz returns later today...

MLB ROUNDUP: CHISOX ANGLING FOR ROBERTS; PADS MIGHT HAVE BUYER

2009-01-02T22:33:00.005-05:00

Hey, y'all, it's roundup time at the MLB corral. Here's what's up: Guess who's still in demand for the second straight off-season? Orioles' second-baseman, Brian Roberts. This time, it's the Chicago White Sox who want the former All-Star and they're dangling 17-game winner Gavin Floyd as bait. Elsewhere, in Arizona, Diamondbacks CEO Jeff Moorad -- the former agent for ex-Mets first-baseman Mo Vaughn -- has resigned his position to try and purchase the San Diego Padres, with a group of investors. Much obliged to masn.com and the Associated Press for those items.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-02T18:30:00.007-05:00

Today’s question: Who was the last Mets pitcher to hit a home run in game?

a) Steve Trachsel

b) Mike Hampton

c) John Maine

d) Doc Gooden

The answer will be revealed tomorrow.

NL NEWS: DODGERS REWORK JONES CONTRACT

2009-01-02T17:06:00.002-05:00

The Dodgers-Andruw Jones divorce is almost officially complete. John Heyman of si.com reports that Jones has agreed to defer half the $20 million left on his contract so his services can essentially be bought out by the team. That could free up money for the Dodgers to attempt to re-sign free agent outfielder Manny Ramirez, whom the rival Giants are actively bidding for.

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-02T16:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's quiz question was:
On June 12, 2003, when the Mets fired general manager Steve Phillips, they also made one of the most important promotions of a player from the Minor Leagues to the varsity squad. Who was that player?

The correct answer is b) Jose Reyes

Reyes, a two-time All-Star and the Mets career and single-season record holder for stolen bases was called up June 12, 2003. He made his debut that night at the Ballpark in Arlington against the Texas Rangers and batted ninth. Reyes went 0-for-5, with a run scored and RBI groundout. He also committed an error in an 11-0 Mets victory. Three days later in Anaheim, Reyes hit his first Major League homer, a grand slam off Angels’ pitcher Jarrod Washburn, in an 8-0 Mets win.

The other options

a) David Wright, a three-time National League All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award winner, made his Major League debut on July 21, 2004 at Shea Stadium in a game against the Montreal Expos. Wright batted seventh and went 0-for-4. The next day at Shea against Montreal, Wright collected his first two Major League hits in four at-bats and scored the Mets’ only run in a 4-1 loss.

b) Pedro Feliciano
His career took several twists and turns before he made his Major League debut with the Mets on September 4, 2002. Feliciano was originally drafted by the Dodgers in the 1995 amateur draft, then six years later, he was signed as a free agent by the Cincinnati Reds. In July 2002, the Mets acquired Feliciano with Reds’ outfielder Brady Clark and Minor League outfielder Raul Casanova in a trade for left-handed starting pitcher Shawn Estes. In his debut, Feliciano pitched two scoreless innings in an 11-3 win over the Marlins at Shea.

c) Oliver Perez made his Major League debut as a San Diego Padre on June 16, 2002 and started in winning fashion, out-dueling Mariners’ starter Jamie Moyer in a 5-3 Padres win over Seattle. Perez went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits, with four walks and seven strikeouts. Trevor Hoffman, Major League Baseball’s All-Time saves leader, earned a save in Perez’s victorious debut.

NL NEWS: DODGERS JONESING TO DUMP ANDRUW

2009-01-02T10:19:00.002-05:00

Just a few days ago it was reported the the Dodgers were considering swapping their bad contract player, Andruw Jones, to the Mets for theirs, Luis Castillo. Now comes word from the Los Angeles Times that the Dodgers are now devising ways to rid themselves of Jones by restructuring his contract to spread out payments, or eat the contract altogether. Jones may now join the company of NBA former star Stephon Marbury, who the New York Knicks are still attempting to pay for not playing for them.

NL NEWS: ANOTHER GIANT STEP? SAN FRAN NOW TALKING ABOUT BRINGING MANNY ABOARD

2009-01-01T22:21:00.005-05:00

Last week it was future Hall of Famer, pitcher Randy Johnson. Could this week bring 2004 World Series MVP Manny Ramirez to the Bay Area? Troy Renck of the Denver Post is pondering that question.

NL EAST NEWS: BIG CHANGES FOR NATS?

2009-01-01T22:00:00.013-05:00

There's possibly more change going on in Washington besides President-elect Barack Obama and his new administration moving in soon, displacing outgoing President George W. Bush.

Turns out, according to Bill Ladson, an mlb.com reporter, former Mets outfielder Lastings Milledge, whom the Mets traded after the 2007 season, could once again be on the trading block. And free-agent Gold Glove second-baseman Orlando Hudson could be on the Nats' radar to bring in. So could free-agent outfielder Milton Bradley and Milwaukee Brewers' first-baseman Prince Fielder, in a possible trade.

Just to review, the Nats have already added former Marlins' pitcher Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham and former Orioles' pitcher Daniel Cabrera.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2009-01-01T21:44:00.007-05:00

Today’s question: On June 12, 2003, when the Mets fired general manager Steve Phillips, they also made one of the most important promotions of a player from the Minor Leagues to the varsity squad. Who was that player?

a) David Wright

b) Jose Reyes

c) Pedro Feliciano

d) Oliver Perez

The answer will be revealed tomorrow.

LOWE NOT DOWN WITH METS' FIRST PITCH

2009-01-01T21:26:00.003-05:00

According to the New York Post and Newsday, free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe and his agent Scott Boras are unimpressed with the reported Mets' initial offer of three years and $36 million, leading the Boston Globe to speculate that Lowe will shop around to see if he can get a better deal elsewhere.
Read more by clicking these links:

nypost.com
newsday.com
bostonglobe.com

THE ANSWER IS...

2009-01-01T21:18:00.003-05:00

First, Happy New Year!

Yesterday's question was: Besides “X,” what’s the only other letter in the alphabet no Mets player’s surname has ever begun with?

The correct answer is “Q.”

The only other close contenders are “U” – just two Mets have had surnames begin with that letter and “I,” which has had only three Mets have it to begin their last names. The Mets have had only one player, Xavier Nady, whose name began with the letter “X.”

DAILY METS QUIZ

2008-12-31T17:11:00.001-05:00

Today’s question is about the ABCs. And no multiple choice today.
Besides “X,” what’s the only other letter in the alphabet no Mets player’s surname has ever begun with?

THE ANSWER IS...

2008-12-31T14:22:00.004-05:00

Yesterday's Daily Mets Quiz asked:
Who was the winning pitcher in the Mets' last World Series game victory -- a 4-2 decision at Shea Stadium in Game 3 of the 2000 Series, over the New York Yankees?
The correct answer is c) John Franco
The other options…

a) Rick Reed
The big right-hander from West Virginia was once famously described by former Mets’ broadcaster Tim McCarver as “the poor man’s Greg Maddux.” In Game 3 of the 2000 World Series, Reed, who started the game, seemed to be channeling the prime years of a guy in the Yankees’ dugout, ex-Met Doc Gooden. Reed fanned eight in six innings and most importantly, allowed just two runs, to keep the Mets in the game.

b) Armando Benitez
The mere mention of his name breaks the hearts of Mets fans everywhere. During the regular season, he was lights out with his trademark heater, establishing a Mets single-season record of 41 saves. But during the post-season, with everything on the line, Benitez was a liability. His 2000 post-season was doomed by his first appearance, when he allowed a game-tying home run to the Giants’ J.T. Snow in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. In Game 1 of the 2000 World Series, it was Benitez’s inability to preserve a 3-2 9th inning Mets lead that led to an extra inning loss. Still, Benitez saved Game 3, allowing one hit in a scoreless 9th Inning.

d) Dennis Cook
He was an emotionally-charged lefty relief specialist who helped form one of the best Mets’ bullpens in both 1999 and 2000. Cook appeared in Game 3, but was lifted after issuing a walk to start the 8th Inning. Franco picked him up, getting the next Yankees’ hitter to ground into a double play.

Check back later today for another Daily Mets Quiz.

BREAKING MLB NEWS: CLEVELAND ACQUIRES CUBS' 2B DE ROSA FOR THREE PROSPECTS

2008-12-31T13:46:00.006-05:00

ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting that Cleveland has just traded three Minor Leaguers to the Chicago Cubs for second-baseman Mark De Rosa. The prospects Cleveland dealt are all pitchers: Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer and John Caub. Olney writes that Cleveland may move De Rosa, 33, to third base. Last season De Rosa hit 21 homers and knocked in 87 runs, while batting .285. All De Rosa's offensive totals last year are career highs and he sports a lifetime batting average of .279.

Stevens split time last year between Cleveland's AA and AAA clubs and amassed a 3.52 ERA. Archer and Caub last season pitched on a Single-A Cleveland affiliate.

BREAKING MLB NEWS: HALOS SIGN FUENTES TO REPLACE K-ROD

2008-12-31T13:36:00.006-05:00

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have today announced in a press release, their signing of free-agent closer Brian Fuentes to a two-year contract, with a club option for a third year. ESPN'S Buster Olney reports the deal is worth $8.5 million in 2009, $9 million in 2010 and a vesting option for $9 million in 2011. Fuentes, who is 33, converted 30 saves in 34 chances in 2008 and has 115 career saves in 139 chances.

MLB NEWS: REPORTS SAY CUBS SET TO SIGN MILTON BRADLEY

2008-12-31T00:36:00.011-05:00

Comcast Sportsnet Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times are reporting the Cubs and free-agent outfielder Milton Bradley are close to agreeing to terms on a multi-year deal that could be announced as early as next week.

BREAKING NEWS: METS OFFER LOWE DEAL

2008-12-30T21:01:00.004-05:00

Jack Curry of the New York Times is reporting that, according to his baseball sources, the Mets have offered free agent pitcher Derek Lowe a three-year, $36 million contract.

MLB NEWS: CUBS, ROCKIES TALKING SWAP OF PTICHERS

2008-12-30T19:28:00.009-05:00

ESPN is reporting that the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies are discussing a straight one-for-one deal in which Cubs' starter Jason Marquis would be traded for reliever Luis Vizcaino.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2008-12-30T16:11:00.007-05:00

Today’s question is a follow-up to yesterday’s, about the Mets last World Series game win, Game 3, of 2000. It is, simply: Who was the Mets’ winning pitcher?

a) Rick Reed

b) Armando Benitez

c) John Franco

d) Dennis Cook

The answer will be revealed tomorrow.

THE ANSWER IS...

2008-12-30T12:37:00.006-05:00

Yesterday's Daily Mets Quiz went like this:

Blame it on the alignment of the stars or some other phenomenon, but in their first three World Series appearances, in Game 3 in each of those series, the Mets' leadoff hitter in those games each hit solo homers -- Tommie Agee in 1969, Wayne Garrett in 1973 and Lenny Dykstra in 1986. But Game 3 of the 2000 World Series was different.

Which Met led off the game and what did he do?

The correct answer is d) Timo Perez struck out swinging.
Perez – a rookie sensation the Mets plucked from obscurity – went ice cold against the Yankees in the 2000 World Series. After torching the Cardinals in five National League Championship Series games by collecting seven hits, scoring eight runs and stealing two bases, Perez went just 2-for-16 in the World Series. The biggest run Perez scored was one he should have, but didn’t. Mets fans will never forget Perez’s getting nailed at home plate in Game 1 after Todd Zeile’s drive appeared to have left the yard but instead ricocheted off the top of the left field wall. The other options...

a) Lenny Harris flied out, deep to right
Sorry. After Harris provided much-needed spark both off the bench and on the bases in 2000, he went 0-for-4 in that year's World Series. All of his official at-bats came in dreadful Game 2, the Roger-Clemens-threw-a-bat-shard-at-Mike-Piazza-and-the-Mets-didn't-retaliate-game. Harris would later say, of the Mets' non-response: "We should've thrown some hands."

b) Timo Perez bunted for a base hit
Would've been a great idea, given Perez's speed, but difficult to execute against the starting pitcher...breaking ball and change of speed master Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez.

c) Benny Agbayani doubled to left-center
Agbayani actually hit leadoff off Game 5, when then-Manager Bobby Valentine was desperate to shake up the Mets' moribund offense. Agbayani saved the double to left center when the Mets most needed it -- the bottom of the 8th inning of Game 3 -- and drove home Todd Zeile with the go-ahead run in a 2-2 tie. The Mets would win 4-2, their only victory in the Series, which broke a long Yankees' winning streak of World Series games and handed a loss to Hernandez.

MAJOR LEAGUE SOURCE SHOOTS DOWN CASTILLO-FOR-JONES TRADE RUMOR

2008-12-30T01:16:00.004-05:00

As quickly as word spread Monday afternoon, it was doused by late evening. A Major League Baseball source told mlb.com last night the Mets had once approached the Dodgers about trading second-baseman Luis Castillo to them, but only superficially. "It's not going to happen," the source said.

BREAKING NEWS: ESPN SAYS METS, DODGERS DISCUSSING POSSIBLE LUIS CASTILLO FOR ANDRUW JONES SWAP

2008-12-29T17:06:00.006-05:00

From the now THAT would be something file...ESPN's Buster Olney is reporting the Mets and Dodgers are mulling over trading bad contracts: the Mets would unload second-baseman Luis Castillo on L.A. while the Dodgers would dump Andruw Jones on the Mets.

Olney writes that the Mets, if they acquire Jones, might use him in right field, where Ryan Church currently plays. Hypothetically, Church could then be traded for starting or relief pitching help. Read more here, by clicking this link: espn.com

Meanwhile, the Boston Globe continues to report that the Mets may be interested in signing free agent catcher Jason Varitek, who free agent pitchers Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez have always raved about, when they threw to him in Boston.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2008-12-29T16:26:00.007-05:00

In one of the oddest accomplishments any team has achieved, in each of the first three World Series the Mets appeared in, their first batters each hit solo home runs to leadoff Game 3.
Tommie Agee did it in 1969, Wayne Garrett did it in 1973 and Lenny Dykstra went deep in 1986.
Today's question is:
Who was the Mets leadoff hitter in Game 3 of the 2000 World Series and what did he do?

a) Lenny Harris flied out to deep right

b) Timo Perez bunted for a base hit

c) Benny Agbayani doubled to left-center

d) Timo Perez struck out swinging

MLB NEWS ROUNDUP

2008-12-29T16:11:00.005-05:00

On the trail of Major League Baseball news today, besides the Mets expecting to make offers this week to free agent pitchers Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez, various news agencies are reporting the following items...The Orioles have signed free-agent left-handed pitcher Mark Hendrickson, who last season was Mets' ace Johan Santana's mound opponent on Opening Day in Miami.

Free agent slugging outfielder Adam Dunn is attracting interest from both the Dodgers and Cubs, the Toronto Blue Jays have signed catcher Michael Barrett to a Minor League contract and two Cuban players, pitchers Yadel Marti and outfielder Yasser Gomez, have defected to the Dominican Republic and are seeking Major League careers.

The Colorado Rockies are pursuing free agent starting pitcher Tim Redding (more on him in an old post on this blog site) and considering trading for Cubs' right-hander Jason Marquis.

These stories were reported in greater depth by mlb.com, the Baltimore Sun, Denver Post and ESPN.

Click this link for the piece about the Cuban players, by Enrique Rojas: espn.com

THE ASNWER IS...

2008-12-29T16:03:00.002-05:00

Yesterday’s question was: Whose club record for most appearances in a single season did Pedro Feliciano break last year, by getting the call 86 times?

The correct answer is c) Mike Stanton

In the dark ages of the last year of Manager Art Howe’s reign, in 2004, Stanton appeared in 84 games. After observing his stats for that season, one has every reason to ask why. Stanton’s record was a lackluster 2-6 and his ERA of 4.57 didn’t do much more to inspire confidence.

The other choices…

a) Roger McDowell, now the Atlanta Braves’ pitching coach, was a key member in the Mets 1980s resurgence, beginning with his rookie year in 1985. That year, when the Mets narrowly missed winning the National League East title, McDowell notched 17 saves. In the World Series Championship season in 1986, McDowell earned 14 wins and 22 saves. He turned in an unforgettable five shutout innings in relief in the epic Game 6 of the 1986 National League Championship Series and was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 1986 World Series.

b) Aaron Heilman, now a Seattle Mariner, appeared in a career-high 81 games in the ill-fated Collapse season of 2007.

d) Tug McGraw
The lasting image of the late left-handed closer is his dance on the old Veterans Stadium mound in 1980 as a Phillie, after shutting down the Kansas City Royals to seal a World Series Championship. But Mets fans will always remember his inspirational battle cry, “Ya Gotta Believe!” that helped the Mets come out of nowhere to win the 1973 National League crown. That year, McGraw appeared in 60 games, the most single-season appearances he ever logged as a Met, going 5-6 and saving 25 games.

Another Daily Mets Quiz will be posted later today, right here.

MLB NEWS: SOX PAY PENNY BIG DOLLARS

2008-12-28T17:38:00.012-05:00

With each passing day, it appears the Mets are getting better positioned to make a run on their terms at free agent pitchers Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez and Randy Wolf.

The latest development is the big-market Red Sox imminent signing of free agent right-handed starter Brad Penny, as was first reported by Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal and later by the Boston Herald and Boston Globe.

The deal, pending Penny's passing a physical, would be a one-year contract worth $5 million, with another $3 million more if he pitches at least 160 innings. Last year, just one season removed from starting the All Star Game for the National League, Penny battled a shoulder ailment and went just 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA.

With Boston spending on Penny and thus, filling a spot in their starting rotation, the Yankees' recent signings of A.J. Burnett and C.C. Sabathia and the Cubs' brass being on record that the team has spent whatever money was earmarked for signing free agents, it pretty much leaves just the Mets and Angels as big-market potential suitors for Lowe, whose agent is Scott Boras, who also represents Mets' center fielder Carlos Beltran and recent Mets' pitcher Oliver Perez.

On a trivial note about Penny, who is 29: He was the losing pitcher in the Mets' 2006 National League Division Series Game 1 win at She Stadium over the Dodgers.

DAILY METS TRIVIA QUESTION

2008-12-28T16:14:00.006-05:00

Today’s question is about appearances.

Last season, reliever Pedro Feliciano established a new Mets’ single-season record with 86 appearances. Whose record did he break?

Roger McDowell

Aaron Heilman

Mike Stanton

Tug McGraw

THE ANSWER IS...

2008-12-28T14:09:00.007-05:00

Yesterday's quiz question was about putting the team first.

It was: In which season did the Mets achieve their highest bteam batting average (.286)?

The correct answer is b) 1999

That’s the year the Mets hit .286 as a team and had five regulars all hit above .300., with a sixth batting .298. The five players above .500 were: Rickey Henderson at .315, Roger Cedeno at .313, Edgardo Alfonzo at .304, Mike Piazza at .303 and Robin Ventura at .301. John Olerud, who still holds the Mets’ single-season record for highest batting average at .354, hit .298 in 1999, while drawing a club-record 125 walks. That year, one of the most exciting in club history, saw three Mets – Piazza, Ventura and Alfonzo – drive in more than 100 runs, with Olerud narrowly missing the mark with 96. Light-hitting shortstop Rey Ordonez hit a full-season career high .258 and knocked in a career-best 60 runs. Even the new guys acquired at the July 31 trading deadline literally got into the swing of things. Outfielder Darryl Hamilton hit .339 and utility guy Shawon Dunston hit .344. Bench men Benny Agbayani hit .286 and Todd Pratt hit .293.

Edgardo Alfonzo

Roger Cedeno

Mike Piazza

Robin Ventura

Rickey Henderson

The other choices…

a) 2007
In the year that will be forever known to Mets fans as The Collapse, the Mets batted .282. In a half-season, outfielder Moises Alou batted .341 and set a new club record with a 30-game hitting streak. David Wright had a monster year, hitting .325

b) 1986
The year the Mets last won a World Series Championship, they hit .263 as a team. Keith Hernandez led the way with a .310 mark, with eventual World Series Most Valuable Player, third-baseman Ray Knight behind him at .298 and outfielder Lenny Dykstra hitting .295.

c) 1996
Though the Mets finished just four games from rock bottom in the National League East that year, the team could hit – it posted a collective .270 average. Outfielders Bernard Gilkey and Lance Johnson enjoyed career years. Gilkey swatted 30 homers, a still-standing club record 44 doubles and tied the existing record for RBI in a single year with 117. Johnson was an offensive juggernaut, batting .333, establishing still-standing club records for triples in a single year, with 21 and hits, with 227.

Log on later today for your Daily Mets Quiz.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2008-12-27T14:04:00.003-05:00

Today's question is about putting the team before individual players.
Here it is: In what season did the Mets achieve their highest team batting average, .286?

a) 2007
b) 1999
c) 1986
d) 1996

The answer will be revealed tomorrow.

MLB NEWS: REDS' SIGN LAST SEASON'S NL STOLEN BASE CHAMP TAVERAS

2008-12-27T13:53:00.005-05:00

The Dayton Daily News reports today that the Cincinnati Reds have signed outfielder Willy Taveras, who last year led the National League in steals, with 68, to a two-year contract worth an undisclosed amount. Taveras is expected to start in center field for Cincinnati and will likely be the first regular season batter Mets' ace Johan Santana may face when the two teams meet in the 2009 season opener.

THE ANSWER IS...

2008-12-27T12:56:00.003-05:00

Yesterday's question was: Which west African country in 2007 did Mets General Manager Omar Minaya participate in a Major League Baseball delegation to run clinics for Little League-age children?

The correct answer is c) Ghana
Mets’ General Manager Omar Minaya visited Ghana with other Major League Baseball officials in 2007 and helped put on a clinic in that country – sub-Saharan Africa’s first to win independence from European colonization, in 1956. It may take a while for baseball to catch on there, as Ghanaians are soccer-crazy, as evidenced by their support of the national Black Stars team, which reached the 2006 World Cup quarterfinals.

The other choices...

a) Nigeria
No Nigerian has yet reached the Major Leagues. The Milwaukee Brewers signed two Nigerian-born amateur baseball players in 2002, pitcher Augustine Ozorede and catcher, Gbenga Olayemi. Ozorede though, was killed in a car accident in Nigeria weeks before he was to participate in Spring Training. Olayemi played just 24 games with the Brewers’ Arizona League team in 2003, batting .170.

b) Liberia
Two years ago, this republic – founded by 19th century repatriated African-Americans – was the first African country to elect a female head of state, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Thomas Tapeh, a Liberian-born athlete, played earlier this decade in the National Football League. No one from this country has yet to make it in the Major Leagues.

c) Burkina Faso
Its name in English means “the land of upright men.” Every other year, this country’s capital Ougadougou (wah-gah-doh-GOO) plays host to FESPACO, the world’s largest festival of African-made films. But baseball has perhaps only been played there by American Peace Corps volunteers.

NEXT MOVES: REPORTS SAY METS IN DRIVER'S SEAT TO PLUCK REMAINING FREE AGENT PITCHERS

2008-12-27T12:44:00.011-05:00

Perez

Lowe

Wolf

In a market where the Yankees spent big, the Mets may yet capitalize. So says ESPN baseball beat writer Buster Olney, who says the orange-and-blue are in a good position to chase free agent starting pitchers Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez and Randy Wolf on their terms, not the players'. For more, check out Olney's column here: espn.com

Meanwhile, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that the Mets are waiting for Lowe's price to drop and are also considering re-signing pitcher Pedro Martinez. Read that report here: nypost.com

MLB NEWS: ONE GIANT UNIT -- RANDY JOHNSON SIGNS FREE AGENT DEAL WITH SAN FRANCISCO

2008-12-27T01:34:00.003-05:00

ESPN is reporting free agent left-handed starter Randy Jonson, just five wins shy of 300 in his illustrious career, has signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the San Francisco Giants.

Johnson, 45, is a native of Walnut Creek, in Northern California. He went 11-10 last year with a 3.91 ERA with the Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he pitched for eight of the last 10 seasons.

DAILY METS QUIZ

2008-12-26T15:35:00.006-05:00

Today's question indirectly relates to the African-American cultural holiday Kwanzaa, which begins today and is derived from many African societies’ celebrations of the harvest.
Here’s the question: Which west African country in 2007 did Mets’ General Manager Omar Minaya visit (a scene from it is captured in the picture below), with a delegation of other Major League Baseball officials, to organize a series of baseball clinics with Little League-age players?

a) Nigeria

b) Liberia

c) Ghana

d) Burkina Faso

The answer will be revealed here, tomorrow.

NEWS: SHAKEUP AT SNY PUSHES YALLOF, MAZZILLI OUT; BRINGS CARLIN AND OJEDA IN

2008-12-26T12:28:00.017-05:00

Carlin: In

Ojeda: In

Mazzilli: Out Yallof: Out

Mets fans who've grown accustomed to pre and post-game studio host Matt Yallof's friendly and engaging manner will no longer be seeing that in 2009 on Sports Net New York (SNY) broadcasts of Mets games. Fans who enjoyed Lee Mazzilli's sharp post-game insights won't see those this year on the network.

Bob Raismann of the New York Daily News reports today that Yallof and Mazzilli are out and Chris Carlin and former Mets lefty starter Bob Ojeda are in. Carlin will take over Yallof's studio hosting duty, while Ojeda will serve as an in-studio analyst. For more details, here's a link to Raismann's Daily News column: dailynews.com

Raismann also reports that SNY's former Mets in-game reporter, Chris Cotter, has left the network and sports broadcasting to sign on as an anchor with Fox Business Channel.

HAPPY KWANZAA, METS FANS!

2008-12-26T12:21:00.002-05:00

To all Mets fans celebrating Kwanzaa, here's wishing you the happiest one yet. As with the start of Hanukkah on this blog, check back later for a holiday-related Mets Daily Trivia Quiz.

THE ANSWER IS...

2008-12-26T12:15:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's Mets Daily Trivia Question went like this: Which Mets pitcher holds the club record for most post-season victories, with four?

The correct answer is a) Jerry Koosman

Here are the details on Koosman and additional information about the other choices given in the quiz and their roles in post-season Mets history:

“Kooz,” who started the second post-season game in Mets history, against the Atlanta Braves in 1969, still holds the Mets’ career post-season high for victories, with four. In that year’s World Series, Koosman won Game 2 and the clincher, Game 5 and posted a 2.04 ERA. In 1973, Koosman beat the Reds in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, best remembered for the infamous Pete Rose-Buddy Harrelson fight and in World Series Game 5, his six innings of shutout pitching against the Oakland A’s helped the Mets to a 3-2 advantage in games. Kooz won 140 games as a Met from 1967 through 1978 before being traded to the Minnesota Twins for a Class-A pitching prospect named Jesse Orosco…

b) Jesse Orosco
Little did Mets fans know when the Mets acquired him from the Twins for Jerry Koosman that eight years later, Orosco would be the winning pitcher in the game that sealed the team’s next pennant and save the contest that would clinch their next World Series Championship. Orosco won three post-season games as a Met, all in the 1986 National League Championship Series against the Houston Astros, with the biggest one coming in Game 6, in a 16-inning, 7-6 classic victory. In that year’s World Series, Orosco dominated the Boston Red Sox, saving two games while pitching 5.2 innings of shutout ball and striking out six. No other pitcher in Major League history has appeared in more games (1,252) than Orosco, whose career spanned 24 seasons.

c) Tom Seaver
“The Franchise” won three post-season games and certainly would’ve had more if not for the Mets’ anemic offense. Tom Terrific beat both the Braves and Orioles in post-season play in 1969 and in 1973 was the winning pitcher in the Mets’ Game 5 series-clincher over the Reds. In Game 1 of the Reds series, Seaver shutout the Big Red Machine for 7.1 innings, before eventually losing 2-1 on a Johnny Bench walk-off homer. In Game 3 of the 1973 World Series, Seaver allowed the A’s only two runs over eight innings and struck out 12, but the Mets’ offense produced its only two runs of the night in the bottom of the first inning and eventually lost, 3-2 in extra innings. In Game 6, in one of the most vilified decisions in Mets’ managerial history, with a 3-2 series lead, Yogi Berra trotted a flu-ridden Seaver, one day short of his normal rest, instead of saving him for a Game 7. Seaver soldiered on, allowing just two runs on six hits, but the Mets offense again was missing in action, scoring no runs for him, through seven innings. The Mets lost, 3-1.

d)Turk Wendell
The rubber-armed, resin-bag-on-the-mound-slamming, tooth-brushing-between-innings, animal-tooth-necklace-wearing, flaky No. 99 is arguably, still, the Mets best-ever setup reliever since bullpen roles became specialized in the ‘80s. Wendell’s philosophy, as he was quoted as saying was “to get our team back into the dugout as fast as possible.” With his wicked slider, he accomplished that many times. Wendell earned wins in the 1999 National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, that year’s National League Championship Series against Atlanta, then racked up another “W” against St. Louis in the 2000 National League Championship set. But the lingering post-season memory associated with Wendell is his allowing an extra-inning walk-off single to the Yankees’ Jose Vizcaino in Game 1 of the 2000 World Series which Mets fans to this day believe should’ve been a Mets win in regulation, if not for a blown save by then-closer Armando Benitez.