In the Mets world of ugly, Frenchy Francouer is starting to look beautiful to some Mets fans but be warned, it’s the lighting that makes him handsome when you get him home you will regret it. Don’t be swayed by Frenchy, it’s just lust in your heart, he is not the answer.

Hummmm let’s see mow the lawn during the hottest part of the day or watch the Mets and Oliver Perez pitch ? I think I’ll mow the lawn and take my mother in law shopping !

I watched the Red Sox-Tigers game last night and yes I was very happy to see Youk charge the mound and even go extreme and throw his helmet at Jersey Rick Porcello ( I was waiting for the cage and ladder the come down on Fenway for an old time ECW throwdown) as it was not just the fact that Victor Martinez was hit by a pitch (in retaliation for Miguel Cabreara getting plunked on the hand) but this was the second game in a row Youk was HBP and add in the fact that the Sawx have been struggling lately it gave his team a lift. Yeah, that’s right bench clearers have a way of lifting the team same as a good beat down in hockey does. I know a lot you folks love to watch sports while knitting a sweater and like it when the fella’s play nice-nice but the truth is a big part of competition is intimidation. That’s why our favorite baseball team is so disrespected because they are intimidated and need to grow some balls not just physically but mentally as well. This team, since that Adam Wainwright curveball to Carlos Beltran in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS has been neutered. From the owner to the front office to the players this is one passive bunch that has a disconnected with it’s fan base and this city because we don’t tolerate passiveness and excuse makers which is what the New York Mets are now.

Word to Jerry Manuel: Neither you or Gary Sheffield are coming back to the Mets next year. In fact if Sheff is re-signed I won’t be coming back to $iti Field next year same goes if Carlos Delgado is re-signed as well.

Word is that Billy Wags will be activated to the big league roster this Sunday and now the speculation begins, is it better to trade Wags before the 31^st ? Or keep him and let him file for free agency and get a supplemental draft pick for him? I’d take the draft pick. Sorry Billy but it’s a business decision.

Keep a good thought for Scott Schoenwiese as he tries to deal with his life’s tragedy.

I’d say by the next two weeks most of the newspapers in this town will stop covering the Mets with more than one writer and in fact don’t be surprised by the next road trip all you get is the AP game story. With the financial crunch and the fact that the NFL pre-season is starting the big stories in this town will be The Highlanders, The Giants, The Jets and The Highlanders. Unless something Bernazard like happens the Mets will be a fart in the wind to the fish wraps..

 Most stories in sports don’t shock me anymore but I have to admit this story shocked the shit out me. I admired this guy but now he is just a no good scumbag

Cory Sullivan, cf
Luis Castillo, 2b 
Fernando Tatis, 3b 
Daniel Murphy, 1b 
Jeff Francoeur, rf 
Jeremy Reed, lf 
Alex Cora, ss 
Brian Schneider, c 
Livan Hernandez, sp

WOW What a Murderer’s Row!!!!

The biggest threat in the lineup is Livan at 9

I’ll pass thank you (after listening to Gary and Ron’s openning) and watch Dodgers-Giants

To make matters worse my son and four other boys from our troop spent the night in the woods about 5 miles from our camp to fullfill thier wilderness survival reqs for a merit badge. The boys go into the woods for a night with just a sleeping bag, knife, water, mat, and two hot dogs and an apple. When they returned to camp this moring around 6 AM my son informed me that he saw a bear near their shelter but he was scared off by the noise.

With all that I’m ready to go home and get some concrete under my feet by the way Jerry Manuel needs to play Daniel Murphy every day and Omar needs to give Livan Hernandez his release, and Jeffey and Freddie Skill Sets need to come out hiding and speak to the fan base on how they are going to get this franchise back on track not for this season but for 2010 and beyond.

Time for everyone in the Mets organization to man up and realize this season is done and work on dealing off guys like Ryan Church, Garry Sheffield, Brian Schineder  and Fernando Tatis to name four.

It would be nice if someone in the Mets organization had the guts of a 13 year old Boy Scout

You can’t pitch any better than Livan Hernandez last night unless of course you’re Joel Pinero.

The toughest hurrdle for the Mets now is they must play flawless defense and they can’t get down by 3 runs or more in any game. Murphy was kicking himself for the throwing error that led to the first run but when El Hombre knocked in two with his single 3 runs may as well been 13 runs with the way Pineiro was hurling ground ball out after ground ball out.

J-Man tried to take the bullet for Livan on his botched fake bunt/hit and run attempt as Hernandez said after the game he did it on his own and Manuel claimed he put the play on. The thing is on the surface it was a bad play as the bunt was in order but f he executed it then it would have been the Mets Turning Point of The Game.

I watched two games last night the Mets-Cards then I flipped over to the Giants-A’s to see Tim Lincicum and for the first time in I don’t know when I saw two starters pitch complete games. WOW what’ s next a revival of wool uniforms?       

Gotta run school is back in session.

First off, Livan Hernandez was hotter than a jalapeño after the game as he wanted to finish the inning and I have to say I can’t blame him as Livan wants to live up to his reputation as work horse. He threw 127 pitches in his last start but also got an extra days rest for this one and at 103 pitches he’s just hitting his stride.

But J-Man decided to make the move but he brought in his best reliever not named Rodriguez to finish the inning in Bobby Parnell. Why not bring in Brian Stokes in that spot with his exploding fastball and save Parnell for the 8^th inning? I know JJ Putz had this incredible bullpen session with Old School Dan Werthen earlier in the day but lets face it Putz is an MRI patient ready to happen. His velocity is down a bit and his pitches are as flat as stale beer so maybe that bone spur he took a shot for is effecting him? How long will it be until Putz hears the words “Dr. Andrews will see you now”

Outstanding work by Landon Evanson at Bugs and Cranks with this interview of Dr. Ron Taylor the standout reliever on the 1969 World Champs. Of all the Q & A’s in interview this is made my day:

   Who was one player, or what was one aspect of that ‘69 Mets club that has never gotten just due for their contributions to that championship? Lost in the shuffle, so to speak.

Jerry Grote. He was an All-Star catcher, and he was the one that made that pitching staff great.

What was it that Grote did that made the pitching staff great? Was it calling games or handling the staff in pressure situations? What was it that Grote did that was so important to New York’s success?

We had confidence in the pitches he called, we very rarely shook Jerry off. And coming into a big game, in the World Series or in the playoffs, he would go out to the mound to meet you and support you.

Did you see Gary Sheffield running first to third last night? My legs hurt just watching him. The 40 year old Sheff is not built for everyday wear and tear.

How depressing a scene was PNC Ball Park last night? Rows and rows of empty seats as far as the eye can see. I know the Pirates have stunk for almost two decades but from what you hear the ballparks is a gem so between that and the nice weather you’d think they could get at least 25,000 fans to come out to see our Metsises.

Hard to rate the first appearance of Fernando Martinez as the kid went from Buffalo to a plane trip to NYC to $iti Field in a matter of hours so you can just imagine the type of out of body experience he was going through but at least we know that he will be stationed in right field for at least the next two weeks so we can gauge him better by then.

From what I ‘ve read about Wilson Valdez he is all glove no stick which is fine as the Mets need to shore up the middle of the infield and all he cost was money. Being that it’s Johan against the Nationals tonight does Valdez get the start over Ramon Martinez tonight? I’d say so.

I better see Daniel Murphy at first base tonight. The kid can’t get out of his slump sitting on the bench.

Ollie Perez did nothing in Buffalo last night that would rush his return back to Flushing. The one thing in OP’s favor is that Tim Redding has been underwhelming to say the least .Interesting that the Mets have not announced the starting pitcher for Sunday game in Florida as with the day off Thursday they could skip Redding and go with Livan.

Great post by Ken Davidoff on his evaluation of Omar Minaya. I don’t want to say Minaya is an enigma but my mood on him changes almost weekly. Omar handling the DL infuriates me. Omar the talent evaluator is a plus in my book. Omar the public speaker makes my ears bleed. Omar the dumpster diver is without peer. When it comes time to seal the big deal, even the most anti Omar detractors will agree he has always closed the deal which brings me back to Daniel Murphy.

I really like Murphy and I want him to show what’s in that bat of his and the fact that he looks so comfortable at first base has me hoping he will break out with some big hits . J-Man and Omar need to sit down and decide to either let Murphy play everyday at first for the next two three weeks and then decide if he stays at the big league level or goes to Buffalo. As I say I like Murphy a lot but this is the big leagues and if it’s a question of the league having caught up to Murphy or the fact that he has been scared by playing left field then the brain trust has to make the determination if Murphy is THE GUY for first base or if he’s not and go out and make a deal for a big bat.

I give J- Man credit for he has much more patience than I’d ever have with the way the front office keeps making him play short handed to the point that Livan Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey wore spikes last night in case either pitcher would be needed to pinch run or hit. How embarrassing would it have been if the Mets went to extra innings with a chance to win the game and the choice of the bench to hits was either Livan or Big Pelf?

I’m trying to figure out the rational for not DL’ing Reyes now instead of waiting until Friday? Does Omar feel the Nats are so bad he only needs 23 players to beat them? Does Omar feel that Reyes is not hurt as badly as he is letting on and wants him to “man up”? I hope that’s not the case because one thing you can say about Jose Reyes is he never comes out the lineup so he really must be hurting not to be back on the field. As far as Reyes calf injury and now Ryan “The Red Headed Step Child” Church with a hurtin’ hammy maybe it’s time to review the Mets training staff and the stretching routine they’re using.

Carlos Beltran is going for an MRI today and lucky for him the Mets are home as the only place they can go for MRI’s is in NYC

Of course the red caps that were worn around MLB were for a good cause in helping veterans through the sale of the caps to baseball fans but did all the players have to wear them? Red does not go with everything especially blue and orange. The Mets uni last night looked like an explosion at the Dutch Boy factory.

Even the most critical Omar observer (Rich?) has to admit he hit a gold mine by signing Gary Sheffield. But just how long this will last is the question.

Rumor has it, there was a kid on the NY Thruway this morning with his thumb out and a cardboard sign that read $iti Field on it.

Congrats to Sonia From The Block on being named to the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor as you remember she issued an injunction back in 1995 against MLB to stop the owners from implementing a Collective Bargaining Agreement and then opening camps with replacement players saving the game from embarrassment.

Last night was a tough one but I’m trying to keep a positive outlook (which is very very difficult) as Livan Hernandez was outstanding throwing strikes in a great bounce back start of his stinker in SF. Wright and Beltran are still carrying the team on their offensive shoulders and lo and behold Daniel Murphy was Gold Glove caliber at first base (just makes J-Man putting Jeremy Reed at first look more stupid) I didn’t see the bot of 8^th as I passed out and when I woke up at 1AM saw the results and turned over for four hours of sleep but from looking at the Gameday charts it looks like JJ Putz was throwing hard as his fastball was low mid 90’s so that is encouraging but when your offense is lacking protection for your big boys your pitching walks a slender tight rope. Add in the fact that the Hollywood Bums are a good baseball team that has not lost a step from the loss of Manny and are tough to beat at home. That being said I don’t have a good feeling about going into Boston this weekend. It didn’t take much for my positive outlook to turn to shit.

One area that I will roast the front office is another in the many episode of not getting injured players looked at and put on the DL. Reyes should have been sent for tests while in SF or LA as I know those two major cities have competent doctors and MRI machines that work very well. From Church’s mishandling from concussion to Delgado being flown across the country with a hip that needed surgery to the newest fuck up with Jose Reyes now looking like a DL candidate makes the Mets look amateurish and is one of the reasons fans have no faith in Omar Minaya and his board of directors.

On that note with Reyes looking like he will be gone for awhile and Alex Cora gone for a couple of months as well, how about going after Jeff Keppinger or even Ramon Santiago of the Tigers? Or Nick Green on the Red Sox it’s time for Omar to get to work.

I’ll have a lot more to talk about tonight on Pro Baseball Central so join us at 9PM EDST live and call in with your rants and raves at (646) 595-4462 If you can’t join us then listen to the podcast on our PBC site or on the upper right on this page.   

L Hern is experienced enough to get out of trouble and if he can’t do it then get rid of him. The only reason Hernandez is here is to give the bullpen a break if he can’t go at least 6 or 7 innings then he’s useless. 

I’m starting to think collars are getting a bit tight in Flushing and they better loosen up fast as the head to Philly this weekend.

Livan Hernandez may be just and innings eating back of the rotation pitcher but last night he was an artist. Hernandez proved everything that is the art of pitching. It doesn’t matter how hard you throw, if you have command of your pitches that you can hit whatever spot you want, then you’re a Master.

Jerry Manuel, Ryan Church has accepted your challenge

Two things went against Marlon Anderson, he hit left-handed and he wasn’t a pitcher so the Mets had to let him go. He shouldn’t have been with the team anyway as signing him to a two year deal was another Omar folly but Anderson did leave an impression on D-Wright and it seems he was more valuable to the team than most fans (me) felt:

“He was probably one of the most unselfish players that I’ve ever played with,”  

said. “He was always looking out for what he thought was the best thing for the team.”

That’s it for today. It’s Easter and I’m dining at my in laws today and want to get a good seat at the table so I can scarf down some lasagna (you can keep the lamb and the ham) and bogart the TV to watch the Mets . Later

David Wright