While the Mets are fighting for their baseball lives at Yankee Stadium, it's not too late to think about heading out to Shea Stadium for a much more important fight today. The Mets will host the fourth annual Relay for Life today, starting at 3 p.m. The details follow below the fold - but it's a good cause and gets you tickets to a Mets game.
It was a dark and stormy night.
No, really.
And that was just inside the Mets' clubhouse.
(Where is that drumbeat when I need it to back up that line?).
Actually, it was a little bit like sunshine in the visitor's clubhouse. Billy Wagner intercepted Carlos Delgado on his way into the room today and apologized for any misunderstanding - insisting that he didn't mean him when he spoke about players not being accountable Thursday.
Of course, the almost always truthful closer sounded very coached when he claimed that he was criticizing the media and innocently telling them to go talk to the players who played in the game. That sounds a little far-fetched, what with the whole, "They're gone, f---ing shocker," climax to his rant as he pointed towards the lockers of the players who had cleared out. Oh, and then he followed it up on his ESPN radio spot by describing exactly what he meant.
But damage control was in full effect today. Wagner said he was misunderstood. Delgado said he happily answers questions and had a personal emergency to tend to. And David Wright said he feels better about the team now than he did at the start of spring training.
Really?
Well, Omar Minaya then backed that up, saying there was no cause for alarm, that the Mets had 20 losses and the best team in baseball has 16. Well, as one reporter pointed out, extrapolate that out and the Mets are 16 games worse. Not quite what they signed on for when they cleared out the farm system and the bank account to land Johan Santana.
About the only thing that sounded unscripted was Willie Randolph, who admitted, "My head is on the chopping block." Minaya then dismissed that notion.
We'll see.
It's the start of the Subway Series tonight, but it feels like the start of something else for the Mets - the end.
The mood has been downright cranky most of the season and with good reason. After the historic collapse of 2007, the Mets spent the winter insisting how things would be different when they reconvened in 2008 - a hunger would be there, a motivation to avenge the collapse and a new attitude in place. Willie Randolph admitted that maybe he had not been vocal enough, tough enough.
Well, it's May 16 and the change, if it's there, I haven't seen it. I didn't see it in spring training and I don't see it now. So the one - loud - voice of dissent has come forward from Billy Wagner as we detail in today's Record. Randolph isn't happy about that, but someone has to say it, someone has to declare the current state of affairs unacceptable. If it isn't Randolph, Wagner is as good as anyone since, as one player noted, he'll likely be there longer than most of the culprits - and Randolph.
As far as Randolph, he may not deserve the fate that is rapidly approaching, but something is going to change and in sports, the manager is always the easiest target. The real problem is, just what does that accomplish? As Bob Klapisch noted in his column today, the Mets have no one on the staff who is the hard-edged, kick in the rear type.
Someone mentioned Frank Robinson to me, an odd choice, but a close friend of Omar Minaya and a definite screamer. I'm not sure I see that - but these names will start surfacing if the Mets don't turn things around. Immediately.
The tension was palpable in the clubhouse. Another frustrating loss. Jobs on the line.
And Billy Wagner was being asked to sum it all up - again. Wagner hadn't pitched in the game, but he was left to explain what was wrong with the Mets. And he had enough.
"Can somebody tell me why the (bleep) the closer is being interviewed and I didn't even play?" Wagner said, his voice rising. He paused and waved his hand in the direction of the lockers of Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran. "Why they're over there not being interviewed. Oh, I got it. They're gone. (Bleeping) shocker."
With that Wagner stalked out of the room. While a similar episode tagged Paul Lo Duca as a racist last year when he said, "Other guys in this room speak English," this was not a racial split as much as it was a divide between the players who are held accountable and those who bolt. Beltran did speak after the game, something that Wagner probably could not see. But Delgado was gone quickly - and not the only one.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing for the players who talk every day - Wagner, David Wright and a handful of others - is that the players who are struggling the most are the ones who don't often speak about it.
J.P. Pelzman in for Steve again tonight. We scribes were looking for some comments today from Johan Santana about facing the Yankees Friday in his introduction to the Subway Series, but he wasn't talking. Mets' media relations director Jay Horwitz said he advised Santana not to speak. Santana has been kind of scarce between starts and I definitely had at least one question I wanted to ask.
Santana always talks about not wanting to do anything 'crazy' while pitching. [It's basically the staying within yourself mantra.] But against the Yankees, would he consider doing something wacky, zany, or even---madcap? Inquiring minds want to know.
Willie Randolph had an interesting nugget in the pregame, when he noted that the Nationals' scripted dugout cheerleading on Monday was different from Jose Reyes' celebrations after Mets' homers, because Washington's display was 'choreographed.' Well, Reyes' schtick ain't exactly spontaneous, either. Whatever.
As for the Mets' 5-3 loss that followed, while it's true that Aaron Heilman gave up two ground-ball singles during his rough outing, you have to wonder how much longer Randolph will stay with him in the seventh-inning role, especially with Joe Smith still tearing it up. Smith relieved Heilman and fanned Ryan Zimmerman to end the seventh, and struck out two in his 1 1/3 perfect inning Wednesday. He had struck out seven straight hitters over four appearances until Aaron Boone managed a groundout to lead off the eighth.
The good news is Claudio Vargas had a very solid start and certainly earned himself another one in his Mets' debut. Don't confuse him with Jason Vargas, who is still with the organization but is likely done for the season after hip surgery.
What more can you want? Great sets of DVD's - FREE!
We have one winner and four more sets to give away. Check out the blog entry below with the quiz and win your set. By the way - the photo does not - does not - depict what you win. Mets' DVD's, yes. Millions of dollars, no.
Isn't this more exciting than Claudio Vargas pitching tonight against the Nationals?
Not only are we giving away five - that's 5, count 'em - DVD sets of Shea Stadium's greatest Mets games courtesy of the folks at A&E Home Video, valued at $59.99 per set (which you can win by scrolling down the blog to the quiz and contest), but there is more good news for Shea.
Conde Nast's Portfolio.com compared health code violations at the baseball stadiums across Major League Baseball and Shea, even in the final go-round with seemingly all the mops already sent over to Citi Field, ranked far down the list of violations. Sure, the Mets had 58 violations - but the Angels led the way with 732 violations. The Yankees had 45.
You won't have Jorge Sosa to kick around any more. Well, unless the Mets are the last team with any interest in him.
Sosa was designated for assignment, along with Nelson Figueroa, and the Mets placed Angel Pagan on the disabled list this afternoon. The team brought up Claudio Vargas, who will get the start Wednesday night, and Fernando Tatis and activated Matt Wise.
Sosa wore out his welcome almost since he completed a 6-1 start to his Mets' career last season. Progressively dropping further from grace, he went to the bullpen, from the set-up role to mop-up duty. He had actually pitched better of late, allowing just two hits in four scoreless innings in May, but a four-run inning Monday sealed his fate.
"I don't think he helped his chances," Omar Minaya said.
The Mets will now see if any team has interest in a trade while he's clearing waivers. If not, they will leave him exposed, seeing if someone wants to take him off their hands. Figueroa is a little sadder story - his quick ascent in his hometown plummeting as his control deserted him.
"I had an opportunity of a lifetime," he said. "And I walked my way out of it."
We just concluded a tour of Citi Field, which continues to progress toward it's Opening Day, 2009 debut, and it is beautiful. Shea Stadium - well, let's just say it's not beautiful.
But there have been moments which we're sure that any Mets fan will remember here. No, I don't mean pummeling a Phillies or Braves fan after too many beers. I mean, the games.
The fine folks at A&E Home Video have put together a six-disk set of DVD's chronicling the six essential games played at Shea Stadium by the Mets, and even better, they are providing me with five sets to dispense to our readers. And while it be enough of a contests just to let you guess the six games, we're going to make it slightly tougher.
While the information on the set follows below the fold, here's how we're going to do this. First, unlike some other blogs, we have no official rules. Do we really want to clutter this contest up with legalese? While our legal department may want to, until I hear otherwise, we'll do this with the best of intentions. So here are our only rules.
1. You must read our blog and the rest of the Record website - often. We can't check that, so we're going to trust you.
2. You must be at least 12 years old and be a legal resident of the United States. Why, I don't know? Keeping kids off the internet, outside actually playing baseball?
3. You must read the blog. Did we say that already? Well, read it more often and comment.
4. You must include your full name and address with your answer - the folks at A&E will be shipping the sets.
5. POST YOUR ANSWERS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.
6. I make all the final decisions. That's it. I trust you. Trust me. No arguments.
Okay, that's all the rules.
So how to give these away? Well, we've got five sets so here's what we'll do:
1. The first three contestants to correctly answer this quiz will each receive a set.
THE QUIZ:
Question 1: THE JORGE SOSA DIVISION: Who is the last Mets pitcher to allow 15 hits in a game?
Question 2: Who was the last Met to hit a walk-off home run before this season? And who did he hit it off?
Question 3: Who was the only Mets pitcher with a winning record in 1962? And what college did he attend? And who were the two 20-game losers?
Question 4: How many tie games have been played at Shea? And in the 3-3 tie against the Pirates, who hit the ball into the fog and who lost it?
Question 5: Name the four Mets who homered in their first major league at-bat - as a Met.
Question 6: The EXTRA-credit question: Who has hit an extra base hit in the most consecutive games for the Mets? And who has the most total extra base hits in their rookie season?
And then the final 2 will be distributed this way:
Set. No. 4: Will go to the best comment we receive before the Subway Series begins Friday night. That's solely my judgment as the best comment. Could be the longest, could be the most original, most thoughtful or closest to a unibomber manifesto.
Set. No. 5: This one must be in before the Subway Series, too - and whoever comes closest to naming the total scores of the Subway Series, gets it. That means for example, if the Mets win all three games, 2-1, then you give us 6-3 and you've got it nailed. For extra credit, tie-breaking power, give us the winning pitcher of all three games.
That's it. Enjoy - and read below for the press release info:
Continue reading "Farewell to Shea Stadium - The DVD Giveaway" »
J.P. here again, and here's an item that has special interest for me as The Record's Jets' beat writer. Here's the press release:
The New York Mets and New York Jets today announced the rescheduling of Jets Night at Shea to Tuesday, July 8 before the Mets host the San Francisco Giants. Jets Night at Shea – originally scheduled for Monday, April 28 – was postponed due to inclement weather. Fans holding tickets from the April 28 game wishing to attend the July 8 Jets Night at Shea should follow standard rain-check ticket exchange policy on Mets.com. Tickets for the April 28 game will not be valid for the July 8 game.
J.P. here again today. Willie Randolph was talking before the game about today's starter, Oliver Perez, and indicated that Perez will sometimes get his mechanics messed up during a game because he's 'like a jazz player improvising. He tries sometimes to invent things.'
When asked why Perez would do that, Randolph laughed and said, 'He's a lefty. He does things differently.'
Of course, the Mets' ace, Johan Santana, also is left-handed, and he always talks about NOT wanting to do anything crazy out there. As he said Saturday, 'you're not trying to rush anything or trying to go crazy or trying to do anything different.'
So I suppose that's why Santana hasn't considered using 'Let's Go Crazy' by Prince to warm up to at the start of the game. BTW, I write and bat left-handed but I throw right-handed, so I don't know if that makes me a crazy southpaw or not.
Too bad I don't have a pink pen today to honor my Mom on Mother's Day. MLB players are again using pink bats and pink wristbands to help raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.
J.P. again at the end of a long day at Shea. When you're covering a doubleheader, it's a fluid situation, as Eric Mangini might say. If the double-dip gets split, you have to adjust. With that in mind, here's a peek at the story I originally wrote about the doubleheader, focusing on the first game. This was done just prior to us being granted access to the clubhouse after the game, and my story in Sunday's Record will reflect the post-game from the nightcap as well. In the meantime, here's my 'first draft':
By J.P. PELZMAN
STAFF WRITER
NEW YORK - There are several ways to look at the fact that Carlos Delgado batted seventh in the Mets' lineup in the first game of their day-night doubleheader Saturday against Cincinnati.
There's manager Willie Randolph's explanation, that he did it to avoid having three straight lefty hitters in the lineup against a Reds' team that has two southpaws in its bullpen. Or the fact that at age 35, Delgado is on the back end of his career and may be hitting seventh more often.
Or there's the way it looked Saturday afternoon. With Delgado going 3-for-4 with a homer and a double from the seventh spot, the Mets pounded out 12 hits in a 12-6 win over Cincinnati in the first game. It was the second straight game in which the Mets have scored 12 runs.
That prosperity didn't last long, however, as the Mets slipped back into their offensive funk in the nightcap. Bronson Arroyo (2-4) allowed four hits and struck out nine over eight innings as the Reds earned a split with a 7-1 victory in a game in which several Mets' regulars rested. Mike Pelfrey (2-3) allowed eight hits and two runs over six innings.
The Mets hope the opener is more indicative of what their offense can do.
"When you've got Carlos Delgado batting seventh," David Wright said, "that says something about your lineup."
That batting order spoke quite forcefully Saturday afternoon.
"We got some contributions from everybody," manager Willie Randolph said, adding, "We're a much better club than we've shown and we've played. And we know that."
Delgado, who raised his average from .216 to .233, wasn't the only one who got in on the fun. Carlos Beltran went from .218 to .230 with a 2-for-3, five-RBI performance, and David Wright went 2-for-3 with three runs scored as he broke out of a 1-for-13 slide.
Delgado, who said hitting seventh doesn't bother him, had an RBI double in the sixth and a solo homer in the seventh.
"These last few days, I've been feeling pretty good at the plate," he said, adding that on the home run, "I was able to keep my hands back and make good contact."
"I've seen this coming for a week and a half," Randolph said of Delgado's resurgence.
Beltran had an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth off Matt Belisle (1-3), and his three-run triple off reliever Mike Lincoln in the sixth gave the Mets a 10-3 lead.
"Two weeks ago," Beltran said, "I would've pulled that ball foul. It was a good feeling that I was able to keep my hands inside. I feel good at the plate. I didn't think about anything."
Beltran meant that while he worked on mechanics in the batting cage before the game, he didn't consider any of that stuff during the game.
"I just looked for the ball," he said.
The Mets' offensive outburst was especially helpful on a day that ace Johan Santana (4-2) didn't have his best stuff. He tied a career-high by allowing 10 hits in six innings. But the Reds only managed three runs off him. He struck out Corey Patterson with two runners on to end the sixth inning, just after Randolph visited him on the mound. Santana threw 116 pitches in his outing.
"When I looked him in the eyes," the manager said, "I felt he was ready for the challenge."
"It wasn't the best stuff I could have," Santana said, "but it was good enough to win this game."
Santana struggled with allergies during the game, but didn't blame that factor.
"Allergies have been bothering me, but it's no excuse," Santana said. "I battled through and we were able to win."
J.P. here again from the day-night [ugh] doubleheader. And it turns out, Willie Randolph is a kindred spirit of mine in his dislike of day-nighters.
Before the opener, he said, 'What about the old-fashioned, straight-up doubleheader? How about doing that? Get it in, get it over with.'
He also noted, when asked, how the players don't like them, either. 'It's just unnatural,' he said, noting how it's not easy to play one game, sit around for several hours, and then play another.
Of course, separate admissions make the beancounters happy. But not Willie and me, that's for sure.
While I agree with Randolph on that one, I didn't agree with his second-inning strategy in the first game. With runners at first and third and one out in the second, he had Johan Santana bunting. Santana entered the AB 4-for-16 with three doubles, so it's obvious he knows how to handle a bat. He bunted and missed at two pitches and later struck out swinging, but the Mets scored because the third strike from Matt Belisle got past David Ross for a wild pitch. Still, a bad move by Randolph.
This is J.P. Pelzman, pinch-hitting for Steve this weekend. It turned out there was no 'window' in the rain over Flushing tonight, so the Reds-Mets game was postponed and will be part of a day-night doubleheader Saturday. That's because the single-admission doubleheader at Shea, as in many places in the major leagues [the Bronx, too], is just about extinct. Sigh.
I used to enjoy going to single-admission double-dips at Shea as a civilian, but I suppose the one I was at [as a paying customer] in July 2006 will be the last one I ever see here. [Mike Pelfrey made his debut in the second game and got the win that day.] I suspect they'll also be rare at Citi Field. Hey, I understand capitalism, but it would be nice to give people something for nothing once in awhile, just for the sake of good will. In the words of former Seton Hall [and former Mississippi and current Loyola of Chicago] guard Justin Cerasoli, 'Whatever.'
BTW, tickets for Friday's game are good for the Saturday night tilt.
Was a busy night, which is why it took me so long to get to this. Willie Randolph had some interesting comments about dealing with media scrutiny, which I wrote about for Saturday's Record. As for the news:
C Raul Casanova was DFAed [designated for assignment] so Ramon Castro could be activated from the DL. Castro and starting catcher Brian Schneider, among others, both wished him well before he left the clubhouse. Casanova was very classy about the move, and said he understood the Mets' situation. I hope somebody picks him up.
GM Omar Minaya said Pedro Martinez threw about 60 pitches in a bullpen session with live hitters in Florida Friday, but didn't speculate on what his timetable for returning might be. Minaya also said he didn't know when reliever Matt Wise might be activated. Wise is ready to go and was in the clubhouse Friday, but the Mets don't know what move they're going to make yet roster-wise.
That faint sound I think I can hear if I'm really quiet here, 3,000 miles from New York? Could it be?
Booing?
The Mets will take the field here at Chavez Ravine one more time today, trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers. It would be nice for the welcome back home if John Maine could outduel Brad Penny this afternoon, if the Mets bats could wake up - oh, and if nobody says anything too controversial.
Let's see, when they left in the wake of a 13-1 loss to the Pirates last week Billy Wagner was calling out Oliver Perez as if he was one of the angry fans, the angry fans were letting Carlos Delgado know that they don't like to be spurned and since the Mets have been out here a Willie Randolph comment was misconstrued in some place (and rehashed endlessly on sports talk radio) to say that the team likes to be on the road better.
Randolph didn't actually say that, but that won't matter if the Mets come back home having been swept by Joe Torre's team. We haven't seen the lineup yet, but figure that Moises Alou will get the day off after his wild ride around the bases Tuesday night and Brian Schneider likely will be given the day off, too.
So can a makeshift lineup get to Penny and turn things around? It would be nice.
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