When Jerry Manuel took over the managers office form Willie Randolph, the one statement he made that resonated with Mets fans was that his team would be tough and fight through whatever adversity was in front of it. His quote was “Gangsta’s on the field, Ladies on the bus”. I thought it was a great motto and felt maybe Manuel would be a speak softly carry a big stick kind of guy but I was wrong. If anything Manuel let the rash of injuries suffered by his team, become a crutch for losing and all around stupid baseball. Gangsta’ my ass.  but, so far this spring, Manuel looks to be getting his Gangsta’ on.

I’ve been critical of Manuel for not coming to the Jason Bay coronation and not being around for that weak ass Winter Caravan the Mets rolled out this off season, but now I know what Manuel was up to, he was planning his going out in a blazing glory strategy for the season.

Manuel knows that his contract is chump change and the only reason he’s back is a combination of the injuries and Omar Minaya’s contract. Minaya got to stay because the Skill Sets are tired of paying guys not to work for them. Omar does not have the juice he once had the organization and if and when a managerial change is made he will have little input in the new hire, hell if the wheels fall off early, the outcry from Mets fans will so loud, even the tone deaf Skill Sets will hear it. So in a long winded way, I’m saying Jerry Manuel has nothing to lose here if he puts pressure on management to take the best twenty five players he feels give him and the team the best chance to win.

We are already hearing him push for Jenry Mejia to make the team as the 8^th inning set up man and you can bank on Manuel pushing either Hisanori Takahasi or Fernando Nieve to make the starting rotation over a struggling Ollie Perez, and dumping OP in the bullpen, while making it known that he was not responsible for his awful contract, and with Ike Davis at first base over Daniel Murphy. If Manuel thinks Davis would be better than Murphy at first he will make it public knowledge.  

It’s a win/win situation for Manuel. If he gets his way and gets to take the players he wants North, it’s possible he could not just make it through the season but get an extension as well. If he doesn’t, and the team tanks, he gets to spend the summer at home in Cali waiting for the Mets checks to clear. We all should have such problems. 

When I can not only go online and buy tickets to opening day and do so two hours into the exclusive pre-sale time frame, you know this organization has its work cut out for them to not have a repeat of last season.  If Jerry Manuel can convince Jeffey Skill Sets that bringing  Mejia and Davis up North to not only help the team win but also sell tickets, then J-Man will not just be a Gangsta’ he’ll be The Godfather.

tip of the Mets cap to Metstradamus for the picture

It looks like the Mets front office feels the bullpen situation is bit dicey, with Kelvin Escobar hurting and the lack of a second lefty to take the pressure of Perpetual Pedro, they have signed RHP Kiko Calero and are courting LHP Joe Biemel.

Calero has a history of arm/shoulder injury but his biggest asset is he works cheap, a minor league deal that turns into a major league deal for $850K When Calero is on he is quite effective with his slider and he also a fly ball pitcher who could thrive at $iti Field National Park . Biemel is doing a song and dance about how much he wants, I guess he hasn’t figured out that the Mets have started throwing nickels around like they are manhole covers, but the Mets have the calendar on their side as they saw with Calero who wasn’t happy to be out of work so long but took what he could get.  

We all love Ike Davis and we all hope he becomes the 30+ HR 100+ RBI guy we have been dreaming of and his Granny yesterday in St. Lonesome was baseball Viagra no doubt about it but let’s not get premature about pushing him North as the every day first baseman for opening day. Let’s have Ike get about 100 or so AB’s as a Bison and if he’s producing, by all means bring him up. Between Davis, Jenry Mejias, Fernando Martinez and Josh Thole its clear the Mets fan wants a homegrown star to root for maybe this one time the bad fortune of the organization turns and these four kids turn out to be the real deal.

Last night on Pro Baseball Central, we had Brian Costa, Mets beat writer for the Newark Star-Ledger on as a guest and when I asked him how things were down in St. Lonesome, he felt bad about letting us know the weather is very Un-Florida like, temps in the upper 30’s and 40’s, as he knew as we were speaking,  we here in the NY Metro area were in the midst of a snowstorm.

I know it’s the “in” thing around these parts to bitch and moan about this awful winter weather and believe me I’ve had enough of this shit as much as the next irate New Yorker , but what gets me is the shock of some people that the month of February sucks, weather wise that is. It’s always sucked. It’s winter, we live in the Northeast get over it.

Speaking of last night’s PBC, in addition to Brian Costa, we also had John Delcos join us as well as Mike Henderson of Nationals Pride, who gave us some great insight into the Nationals and what to expect from the DC team this season. So while you’re vegetating during this “Snow-Acain” click on the to the podcast here at Kranepool  Society or at our page on Blog Talk Radio and sit back, relax and be entertained .

One more piece of news about myself and Blog Talk Radio. I’m putting together my own radio progam on the network called, THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN, and the first episode will air tonight at 11PM ET. This will be like a test run and will run until 11:30PM but this Wednesday March 3rd,  I will do a full hour show  that will air live from 5PM to 6PM ET (when you first start a show on Blog Talk Radio your options are a bit narrow)

Whereas PRO BASEBALL CENTRAL is a Mets intensive show, THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN will encompass all news and views from MLB and a smattering of other sports topics that are newsworthy. I also want to bring on bloggers and baseball writers from other teams to get a more broad view of the happenings  around MLB.  But a big part of what I want to do with THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN, is to interview authors of baseball and other sports books along with folks at SABR who write outstanding essays in the various publications that SABR publishes.

I’ve received a lot of books and publications and after I read them, I find myself asking questions on how the subjects were researched and many more who, what, where and how’s.

I am in touch with many of these writers and bloggers and I’m putting together a guest list, so you can keep checking here at Kranepool Society for those announcements and if you’d like to be a guest on the show just drop me an e-mail at sinymets@aol.com

So if you’re up late tonight tune in and call in the call in number for THIS CALL TO THE BULLPEN is (646) 727-2465

As far as I’m concerned there are three spots open in the rotation. Johan Santana is of course the ace and with his pittance of a contract picked up Big Pelf gets a spot as well. So who gets the other three spots? John Maine and Ollie Perez are in the mix if both are still around as the rumblings are that Maine could be non-tendered and maybe Omar can get someone drunk at the winter meetings to take on OP but even with them still on the roster, I say the need to show that they belong. Both pitchers along with Big Pelf, Jon Niese , Fernando Nieve and Nelly Figs should fight for the 4 or 5 spot. Which means the Mets need to bring in two solid big league pitchers, so here are my candidates:

John Lackey

Lackey would be the signing of the off season but how much will it take and do the Skill Sets have the scratch to pay him? This will be the theme of the off season. Jeffey Skill Sets proclaims he and his daddy and Uncle Saul are far from broke, in fact we found out they made $48 mil off of Bernie The Kid Madoff Field of Scheme ,so do they go toe to toe and dollar for dollar with the Bronx Bastards for Lackey’s services? Do the Texas Rangers get in the mix as well as Lackey is from outside of Dallas and rumors are he’d love to pitch in Arlington and for Nolan Ryan. What to do, what to do and how high to you go? 5yrs/$75-$80 mil which is AJ Burnett money ? As much as the Highlanders need another starter and all their bluster about going after stars, I don’t think even they can take on another contract like that. So let’s see how much hair Jeffey’s got on his balls and make that offer to Lackey and see if he turns it down.

Jason Marquis

Word on the street is Marquis wants to be a Met but at what price? Marquis made a shade under $10 mil last season, so what would be his price 3yr/$36-$40 mil ? He is a workhorse and he has won 10 or more games the last 6 years with last year and 2004 as 15 game win seasons but is he a number 2 starter ? More of a 3 or 4 if you ask me.

Randy Wolf

Omar Minaya fucked up royally last season when he didn’t sign Wolf. He now has a chance to redeem himself. After signing with the Dodgers last year for about $5mil, Wolf finds himself on the free agent stroll again and a two year with an option should be what it takes to sign this journeyman.

Aaron Harang

I have always been intrigued by Harang and if the Mets wanted him and are willing to pick up the bulk of his contract they could get him for a couple of low level minor leaguers. The last two seasons have not been good for Harang  and he is due $12.5 mil in 2010 and $12.75 in 2011 and if he is traded his contract calls for Harang to make $14 mil mutual option or a $2.5 mil buyout. If I were the Mets GM I’d grab Harang at worst he’s a solid 3 at best he’s a strong #2 and excellent compliment to Santana.  This is the best low risk high reward move the Mets could make.

Bronson Arroyo

If Omar wanted to break Mike Francesa’ heart he’s go after Mike’s Man-Crush Arroyo. Both Harang and Arroyo cleared waivers last summer as their price tags are prohibited. Arroyo is owed $11mil in 2010 with a club option of $11 mil in 2011 or a $2mil buyout. Would you deal for both Harang and Arroyo ? I’d be very tempted to go for both and  I don’t think the price would be outlandish but again the Mets would be taking on close to $24 mil in salary for both so that looks like a long shot but taking either Arroyo or Harang would be a plus for the Mets.

If you’re Omar you also have to at least kick the tires on Erik Bedard and Ben Sheets again low risk/high reward types. Both pitchers are coming off suergy and both can be had for 1 yr deals so why not take a look see.

So if I’m ranking who I’d go after to fill the starting rotation next season it would be:

1. Lackey

2. Harang

3. Arroyo

4. Marquis

5. Wolf

5a. Bedard

6 Sheets

I think Lackey is a pipe dream as it will take a lot of years and money to land him so I don’t see him as a Met. Harang and or Arroyo is a much better bet via trade and I can see either Marquis or Wolf in Mets clothing next year.

Observations of Game 2 of the World Series from a conscientious objector:

Patients at the plate is a good thing but there comes a time when you have to change your approach. Last night the Phuck Phaces stayed a bit too passive as Pie Man was throwing first pitch strikes to just about every batter. When you see by the third inning that Burnett was on his game, it’s was up to the Phillie hitters to go up and attack that first pitch.

I should feel good for Petey and his performance last night but the spurned Mets fan in me is having a hard time doing that. What was Charlie Manuel thinking (or not thinking) when he let Petey go out for the 7^th inning. Hasn’t he heard of Grady Little? You’d think Manuel would take the 6 strong innings for Petey and call it a day but it just goes to show Manuel, like Joe Girardi has no confidence in his bullpen.

Speaking of Manuel and Joey G, have there ever been two diverse personalities running  clubs in a World Series?  Ol’ Cholly, acts like he’s on a fishing trip in the Ozarks on the bench, shucking and jiving with old Mets coach Sam Perlazzo and giving his Bazooka gum a work out. Girardi on the other hand is tighter than a crab’s ass on the bench, he makes Buck Showalter look like Spicolli.

“You know you’re a douchebag when”…………….Your team is tied 1-1 in the World Series and you write a blog and the best post you can come up with the day after a game is this.

I can not believe no one is killing El Capitano for his mind numbing at bat in the 7^th inning. I can see attempting to bunt on the first pitch but after that…are you kidding me?

Am I losing what’s left of my small mind but are Buck and McCaver actually doing a good job on the World Series telecast? As you see I have called them by their proper name instead of my nicknames for them (Doofus Joe and McFullofshit for you newbies) Buck has not subjected us to his forced hipster bullshit so far and McCarver has summoned his inner mid 1980’s when he was the Mets lead analyst with Ralph Kiner and long forgotten Steve (but down the Peroxide) Zabriski. Back in the day, McCarver was a  analyst on any baseball telecast but then for some reason he became crotchety and so insufferable, the Mets dumped him. He seems no longer angry or is he messing up names and (I can’t believe I’m writing this) is really on his game so far. OH GOD I NEED TO LIE DOWN!!!!

Now that pre game show…………ughhhhhhhhhh what a disaster.

METS NEWS!!!!!

The Mets have made some moves that have fallen under the World Series radar the last few days that begs the question, Just why are Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel coming back next year? As per Adam Rubin, the Mets have assigned the Bingo managers job to Tim (Shuffle) Tuffle and the St. Lonesome job to The People’s Cherce, Wally Backman. Ownership has also talked Sandy Johnson out of retiring and they are looking at hiring Bob Melvin to be Manuel replacement bench coach. That goes along with the hiring of Chip Hale as the new third base coach. Lame ducks? Shit, sititn’ ducks is more like it when it comes to Omar and Jerry.

The Orioles have given Melvin Mora his release. Even the 37 yr old Mora would be an improvement over Luis Castillo at 2^nd base. Not my first choice but Mora would be in the mix.

Intimidation is a major component in a sporting endeavor. The ability to get into your opponents head will make the difference between winning and losing when the physical aspect is so close, like it is in this World Series. The Highlanders have always liked to use this physiological warfare when dealing with an opponent. Whether it is the constant in stadium bombardment of how many championships they have won or trotting out old time players or prominent political hacks or just flaunting their monetary wealth, the Highlander are masters of head games. Sometimes is works, but sometimes it doesn’t and it looks likes this World Series is one of those times it doesn’t.

You think Cliff Lee is intimidated buy the Bronx Bastards or their palatial surroundings? Not in the least. When asked twice last night after his Game 1 gem first by Fox garden gnome, Ken Rosenthal, if he was nervous and then by Baseball Network’s Trenni Kusnierek, Lee just shrugged and said “What do I have to be nervous about” Lee went on to say that he prepared and did all his side work so he was ready to go and when you do your proper prep work what’s there to worry about? This was the same attitude that Josh Beckett had when his Marlins and Red Sox beat the Highlanders as well. Mystique and Aura, HA! My ass.

CC Sabathia did a good job last night but this biggest fault was falling behind in counts and the inability to throw strike one on a first pitch. Against Chase Utley he fell behind on his first pitch to the Philly second baseman 1-0 but came back to gain a 1-2 advantage as Utley just missed on two fastballs fouling them off. Utley then made Sabathia work by after getting the count even, Utley fouls off two more pitches and then CC misses for ball three and a full count to Utley. So now Utley has seen eight pitches in this at bat and the whole CC portfolio, now with two outs the last thing Sabathia wants is to walk Utley and bring up Ryan Howard with a man on. So CC tries to bust on inside on Utley but the pitches gets a little too much plate and Utley sends just barely over the right field wall for a 1-0 Philly lead. Sabathia pitched a terrific game but some times when you hook up against a guy who is tossing a classic, who have to be better than terrific.

If I’m Joe Girardi, I’d be very concerned about Phil Hughes. Hughes has been awful this October and the grumbling is he’s scared shit. Not a good rep to have and barking at home plate ump Gerry Davis doesn’t help his bad reputation either.

Speaking of Joey G, I’m done trying to figure out his bullpen moves. After the Phil Hughes melt down of walking Victorrino and Rollins, JG brought in Damaso Marte to go lefty-lefty with Utley and Howard. Now with Werth up JG goes with David Robinson who had nothing as he gave up a four pitch walk to Werth. Now you have the lefty Ibanez with in a bases loaded situation and the Highlanders down 2-0. The situation was calling for Phil Coke. But JG leaves in Robertson who gives up a two run single to Ibanez and 2-0 lead is now a 4-0 lead for Philly. That Ibanez AB was the turning point in the game as far as I’m concerned, the game was over at that point.

I’m fascinated by tonight’s match up of Petey and Pie Man. Petey is a Hall of Fame pitcher who like Cliff Lee will not be intimidated by the surroundings of this game. On the other hand, Pie Man has not shown the ability to step up his game in a big spot. You could say when it’s time to put up AJ Burnett is more cream puff than lemon meringue.

I was sitting in the Pepsi Porch today and after the Tatis homer the Home Run Apple did not go up probably due to the fact it hasn’t had a lot fo work this season and after the Schneider HR must have thought it’s day was done. A bunch of kids sitting in back of us started chanting “APPLE, APPLE, APPLE” and then the whole ball park joined in to scream “WE WANT THE APPLE” We had to wait until the end of the inning to get our second Apple raising of the game.

Tonight at 10 PM EDST  I will be a guest on Frankie The Sports Guy radio show tune in by clicking here.

What can I add about last night’s game that you don’t know already? How can you break down this game when it’s the same old same old? Everyone is screaming for Omar Minaya do something, what that something is and how he can obtain it  no one has an answer to. “GET A BAT, GET A BAT” is a popular rant but last night you scored 6 runs and still lost. What bat do you want? We’ve gone all over the tried names and none of them will make a difference. It’s not complex what the problems are with the Mets and you can look at charts and numbers and load up your nuclear slide rule and you will come up with the same result I do just through simple observation, the starting staff can go deep into games, thus the bullpen is worn out and is now ineffective add in the defense is atrocious and collectively the baseball IQ of the 25 man roster is at Special Ed level.

But more pathetic than that are the unnamed players whining for the front office to make a deal to “lift them” which to me is the pussy-fcation of this team. If Michael Jackson were alive he’d tell them to “man up”.

This slide is less about who isn’t here but more about the heart of who is here. D-Wright and Gary Sheffield (GARY SHEFFIELD!!!!! For Christ Sake!!!!) are doing everything they can to keep this team in contention with Wright near exhaustion and Sheff ready to blow out his knee. It’s time for other guys to step up and that means you Ryan Church and Fernando Tatis and Alex Cora to take more of a leadership role that he has slacked on recently. Most times team meeting are well…meaningless but I think this would be the exact right time for Wright, Sheff and Johan Santana to close the clubhouse door for a players only meeting to clear the air and figure out who is ready to fight for their season and who is ready to hide under the bed.

What a surprise, Carlos Beltran in going for a second opinion on his injured knee and he is going to Vail Colorado to visit Dr Richard Steadman a noted orthopedic doctor who specializes in micro-fracture surgery. See you in March Carlos.

“The New York Mets would like to announce the addition of Dr. Conrad Murray to their medical staff”

Thanks to The Dirty Mets Blog for a shout out to this site this morning.

The Mets Police has a clip of Vin Scully calling Sandy Koufax’ no hitter against the Mets 47 years ago today.

I think it’s great that Keith Hernandez, when not telling us that “batters are a bit tardy on the fastball”, is saving lives as a NYC EMT

I am thisclose to purchasing a LINCICUM 55 Giants jersey. I’m starting to feel like Nurse Jackie, I’m married to the Mets but I’m cheating with the Giants ( by the way how weird is it to watch Edie Falco as Nurse Jackie banging the guy who played Father Phil on The Sopranos?) especially when Tim Lincicum is pitching. The Giants do everything we wish the Mets would do. The play outstanding defense, they don’t beat themselves with stupidity both on D and at bat, they have solid starting pitching with the best 1-2 punch in the game with Lincicum and Matt Cain, a solid bullpen core that doesn’t get burned out as Bruce Bochy lets his starters go deep into games and sometimes lets them finish all 9 innings. I was never a big fan of Bochy when he was running the Padres bench but watching the Giants as much as I have so far this season he is doing an outstanding job.

I will be a guest on Mike Silva’ NEW YORK BASEBALL DIGEST RADIO SHOW tonight at 6:30PM on Blog Talk Radio.

The Hard Rock put out a nice spread and back in the day when animal fat and food drenched in oil were a staple of mine I’d have gone through 3 or 4 plates of food ( at times I have to stop myself from grabbing these middle aged guys in the too tight Dockers with their ample bellies hanging over their belts and telling them “I feel your pain stop killing yourself” ) but now it was just a raisin bagel a banana and an orange.

J-Man took the stage with Mike (The Sports Bloviator a/k/a TSB) Francesa. I have not seen Francesa in person in about two years and he looks the same. The guy is shape like a pear and can definitely do the “hippy-hippy shake” the man is as wide as an ol’ Buick Duce and a quarter.

Manuel was dress sharp in a light blue gray sports coat and grey slacks (ok now I’m feeling like one of queer eye dudes, I’m going to start singing show tunes in a minute) looking as cool as the other side of the pillow.

TSB after taking up too much time with his questions (no one was there to see or hear him) the floor was open for the audience to ask questions. Out of about 200 people in attendance only 20 people came forward to ask J-Man a question. You know I ran up to the head of the line but the point is for all the bitching and moaning I heard while standing on line outside the Hard Rock about his use of the bullpen and how the team is doomed not one of those big mouths stepped up to speak their mind to J-Man. That’s pretty weak.

My question to Manuel came from reading quotes in the paper today from Alex Cora. Cora since becoming an everyday player has stepped up on the field and in the clubhouse I loved his quote of  “it takes more than 5 superstars to win a World Series” so I asked how does having a player like Cora who seems to be a hands on guy in the clubhouse take the pressure off the manager ? Manuel said that was an excellent question as did TSB (I got to be careful not to dislocate my shoulder patting myself on the back) J-Man went on to say that Cora has been invaluable to him as he leads not just by example on the field but is looked up too and respected in the clubhouse. With Cora as one of his “top cops” policing the clubhouse it frees the manager up concentrate more on match ups and strategy. I followed that up with how  I perceive Cora has become very influential on David Wright as we see Wright flexing his status as a team leader more as when he confronted Big Pelf to step up and give the team more effective innings and how Wright is giving more quotes of substance in his interviews lately. Again Manuel liked that question (I think me and the skipper had a bonding moment there) and said that Wright has taken to Cora and that the team is Wright’ team. When asked by TSB when (if?) Delgado comes back will that change? Manuel said “No, this is David’s team”.

Some other topics that Manuel spoke on were:

Jose Reyes- Manuel is as puzzled as all of us when it comes to Jose. Manuel explained that the tendon behind Reyes knee is one that really has no use, that you can function very well without it. The problem is its frayed and that is where the problem is as that’s causing him the discomfort. If the tendon were to just break off, Reyes would be fine. I know I don’t get that either.

Johan Santana-He is his stud and the guy that he is relying on every 5^th day to give the Mets a chance to win. With a pitcher like Santana you cut down on the odds of a long losing streak.

How the Mets cope through the injuries-Manuel hinted that “small ball” will be the way to go as he “re-invents” the way he team goes about it offensively. He would love to have a big bat in fact he mentioned having a “big bat” several times this morning.

On asking Omar for reinforcements-J-Man says he doesn’t go to Omar and ask for players during the season as he feels that it is not fair to his players on board to do that but in the winter he says he talks to Omar regularly and has a big wish list.

One question to Manuel was on the way pitching staffs are put together and pitch counts. Manuel said that pitchers today are conditioned to just get to 100 pitches and that their mind set is since I’m at the 100 pitch time for me to come out. Pitchers today are programmed so that 100 pitches means I’m tired (fatigued was Manuel’ word) and it has become so physiological that even if they aren’t tired they talk themselves into believing that they are. Very interesting and revealing comments I thought. I have to keep that in mind when I’m screaming for Manuel to leave his starters in the game.

The downer of the morning was Francesa who just would not shut up. TSB seems to forget that he gets to speak to Manuel every week and for fans this may be the only time we get to pick the managers brain. Then of course TSB has to mention the Highlanders. When the Castillo drop was mentioned, TSB had to chime in with how Derek Jeter is great going back of pop ups. There was a collective groan from the fans but as much as I wanted to yell out “Shut the fuck up” I behaved myself. TSB spoke about the Highlanders so much that J-Man told him “that the (Highlanders) better be ready for us this weekend and they should be lucky they don’t see us in the second half when we’re healthy as then they’ d have no chance of winning” and of courses that was met with wild applause. At least Jerry Manuel knows his audience.

After yesterday’s loss to the Rays J-Man sounded like a guy at the end of his rope and to this Mets fan it seems he is sending out an S.O.S. to Omar Minaya to get him some relievers who can actually pitch at the major league level:

 Manager Jerry Manuel tried to shoulder the blame, saying he has overused Parnell, Green and Pedro Feliciano lately.

 What I need to do is really refresh the bullpen,” Manuel said. “I probably, to a fault, use them too much. I have to do all I can to refresh them and that will help.

“What I have to do is trust the other people I have down there.”

If that’s not a cry for help I don’t know what is. The Big Three (Parnell, Green and Feliciano) are the only pitchers not names Santana and Rodriguez that Manuel has faith in. Where Manuel has to take a hit is his lack of going to Brian Stokes. Stokes now becomes a major player in the pen. I really hope they have a Q & A session at this Mike Francesa/Jerry Manuel Breakfast tomorrow so I can ask J-Man why he buried Stokes for so long ? Hopefully I’ll eat my meal before I get tossed out of the proceedings.  

Problem here is there is no one to bring up besides Elmer Dressens who should have been here over Jon Switizer at this point. Lefty/righty who cares? Lets go with the best 7 guys we have.

This would all be a moot point if the Phillies were half way descent. Instead of looking at what’s going on down the Turnpike, Mets fans better watch Florida and Atlanta coming up on the outside.

Forget Adam Dunn, Mark DeRosa or Nick Johnson last time I looked they’re not pitchers and with everyone else looking for pitching the Mets just don’t have the chips to get in the trading game. J-Man better find a better way to manipulate his bullpen because the Calvary ain’t coming.

If you are free this Wednesday you should head over to Gallagher’s Steak House for lunch with Ron Darling and Bobby Ojeda  and a great charity:

  Gallagher’s Steak House and SNY Present: “An Afternoon With Ron Darling: A Benefit for Urban Dove” to Assist New York City’s at Risk Youth on Wednesday, June 24, at noon at Gallagher’s Steak House

 New York — New York Mets 1986 World Champion hurler and SNY Mets television analyst Ron Darling will be the guest of honor at a benefit luncheon for Urban Dove to assist New York City’s At-Risk Youth on Wednesday, June 24, at noon at Gallagher’s Steak House in New York City.

 An Afternoon with Ron Darling: A Benefit for Urban Dove” is priced at $75 per person, and includes a three course Power Lunch featuring Gallagher’s Certified Angus Beef steak as the entree, a copy of Darling’s book “The Complete Game,” and an autograph and Q & A session.  Seating is limited, and for reservations contact Gallagher’s at 212.245.5336. Darling’s teammate, pitcher B obby Ojeda, SNY’s Mets studio analyst, will be a special guest. Gallagher’s is located at 228 West 52nd Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in Manhattan’s Theater District.

 Also tomorrow night at Foley’s  Eddie Kranepool and George Foster will be on hand to sign autographs and talk baseball.

Going to baseball game dressed like an umpire is beyond being an asshole in fact it’s so fucked up I’m surprised no one in the New York State Senate has done this yet.

Someone forgot to tell Fredi Gonzalez that its INTER-LEAGUE play not a Little League Tournament. Gonzalez had a tough time keeping track of his personnel last night and it could cost him the win against the Highlanders. 

The more I watch the SF Giants the more I feel they are my dark horse team to win the NL Pennant. If you look at their individual stats they’re not pretty, to appreciate this team you have to watch them. I know for some that’s hard to do but sometimes you have to put your slide ruler down and shut off your calculator and actually WATCH a baseball game to get a real feel for the execution and beauty of the game that you can’t find on a stat sheet. 

Mets contemplate the future if  Carlos Beltran gets bad news on his MRI today