Not the Day to be Late

For nearly 20 minutes Willie Randolph sat in his office with the media detailing the Mets struggles, trying to explain the underachieving of his $140 million team.

And then after penciling in the lineup, he found out that Ramon Castro, who would have been the starting catcher overslept at the team hotel and didn't arrive at Petco Park until 12:10 - 55 minutes before game time. Randolph yanked Castro out of the lineup and is expected to fine him.

It might be the last thing that Randolph and the Mets needed right now, struggling through three straight losses and an offensive blackout. And it's certainly the last thing that Castro needed - getting a chance to play and now putting Raul Casanova behind the plate, a catcher who has never caught Pedro Martinez.

Comments

[GravediggerHebner]

While I did not witness every pitch of all four games, when I was watching I felt that Willie made all the moves that I would have, and the team failed him at almost every step.

To be swept away by a team that was 13 games under .500 coming into the series, a team with a lineup that is Adrian Gonzalez and 7 Our Fathers, a team that has a patchwork starting staff and a closer with 4 gruesome losses, is unacceptable.

In an attempt to make myself feel better about the future I stayed up late to watch Met 1st round pick Ike Davis and his Arizona State team play in the 'Super Regionals.' When Ike grounded out to first late in the game with runners in scoring position and his team behind, I felt like he was already a Met.

If the Mets could only muster 9 runs in 4 games against that patchwork Padres staff, I shudder to think how awful they might look against Owings, Webb & Haren. Have the Elias Sports Bureau comb history to see if a team has ever scored negative runs.

I'm glad the Mets are not playing today, because I need a day off.