Yesterday I pulled a Mike Francesa as I was “In da cawh” listening to Howie and Wayne doing the Mets game on radio. I don’t listen to the Mets radio team very much as I’m either glued to the TV or at the game (I’m not one to listen to the game when I’m there I never understood that as everything you need to know is right in front of you) so I tend to forget how much Howie is one of us. Gary Cohen, of course is one of us as well and he sometime shows his frustration during a telecast or two but Howie was beside himself watching Ollie Perez throw a baseball yesterday (I refuse to call what he did pitching)

It was very cold and very windy yesterday and Howie and Wayne made a point to let us know how much the elements plus Perez’ inability to throw a strike, was putting the Mets defense in an uncomfortable spot. Howie painted a picture of infielders walking around the dirt between pitches to keep warm and to kill the boredom of long counts and walks, and of Ike Davis sticking both hands under his arms to stay warm. Both announcers made it known that the were fed up watching and detailing the play by play of another start of suckitude by Perez. From the derisive cheers when an actual strike was tossed by OP, I’d say the paying customers felt the same way. So what to do with Ollie Perez.

Well, forget about The Skill Sets releasing OP, not with a $12 mil salary for this season and (GULP!) next and there is no one in the baseball world stupid enough to take on that contract since the only dumb ass that would pay Perez that kind of money is already his employer. The easiest move is to replace OP with either Hisanori Takahashi or Raul Valdes in the rotation and move OP to the pen. The best move would be to just put Perez on waivers, let him go unclaimed and then assign him to Buffalo. That move would work if we knew when Ryota Igarhashi is coming back from a hammy strain but there’s been no info on his progress.

Whatever way it’s handled, nothing with Perez falls in the Mets favor. Management talks about “it’s all about winning” well, if that’s the case prove it, put Perez on waivers, when he clears, assign him to Buffalo. It’s the only way, Perez just sucks the life out of the team, the fans and the announcers. He has GOT TO GO!!!!!!

The Mets front office is trying to put a happy face on this team of theirs but deep down I’m sure they’re doing shots of Maalox over the pitching staff.

Big Pelf’ Long Balls on Parade has to be alarming to Mets decision makers so much so that the name Bronson Arroyo has come up again as a Mets trade target. A deal for Arroyo or any real life honest to goodness starting pitcher should have been done this off season but either money issued or stupidity prevented any such deal from happening.

The old saw is “don’t put too much stock in spring training” and that’s fine when your names is Santana, or Lincicum or Seaver. But when you are a struggling starter like Big Pelf, OP and Maine Man, you need to show me why I should have confidence in you on the mound and so far as we get to a week before opening day my confidence in this pitching staff on a scale of 1-10 is about a 3.

Am I being overly pessimistic? You tell me. Let’s play the Mike Francesa Approved “Unnda/Ovah Game with the pitching staff. Please go to the comments and leave your picks.

Number of games Johan Santana will win in 2010? Unnda/Ovah 14

Number of wins combined for Big Pelf/OP/Maine Man? Unnda/Ovah 27

Number of innings combined for Big Pelf/OP/Maine Man? Unnda/Ovah 450

Number of different starting pitchers the Mets will use in 2010? Unnda/Ovah 8

Number of appearances by Vitamin Pedro in 2010? Unnda?Ovah 75

Number of saves for Frankie Rodz in 2010? Unnda/Ovah 33

Number of pitchers total used by the Mets in 2010? Unnda/Ovah 21

The Mets get hammered in this town for a multitude of offenses and in most instances, the bludgeoning is warranted but when it comes to the decision by J-Man to work Jose Reyes into the 3 spot of the lineup, the criticism is not only unwarranted but it’s also senseless.

In today’s NY Post, avid Mets hater Joel Sherman (there are lot’s of Mets haters in MSM, Jon Heyman, Bill Madden, Tom Verducci and of course their Emperor Mike Francesa) has a full page column today take the Met to task for batting Reyes third, even though he admits it’s out of necessity and just something Manuel pulled out of his ass:

 The shift is a reaction to Carlos Beltran’s knee surgery, which will cost him at least a month of the season. Without Beltran to hit third, Manuel fears the lineup lacks length if he simply has David Wright bat third and Jason Bay fourth. The order would dip precipitously at No. 5, likely with Daniel Murphy. In addition, Manuel wants to preserve Reyes’ legs and feels batting him third will translate to fewer steal attempts to limit the risk of having runners thrown out in front of your best RBI men, Wright and Bay.

Sherman goes on in the article to give his hypothesis on why this is bad idea, but gives no solution, which of course there isn’t any. If Carlos Beltran were of sound mind and knee, this would not even be an issue but as we know the best laid plans of mice and Mets never go as planed and so they have this situation to make the best of the lineup until Beltran gets back.

Sherman lays out the answer to the why part of Reyes hitting third when he mentions Daniel Murphy hitting fifth. Murphy is not a #5 hitter. He’s a perfect #2 but the problem is Luis Castillo is also a perfect #2. And there is the problem; the Mets have two #2 and two #1 in Reyes and Angel Pagan.

From the rumbling’s from St. Lonesome, Beltran is progressing nicely and should just miss just the first month of the season (I know, I know you’ll believe it when you see it) so when he comes back Reyes moves back to the #1 spot and Beltran back to #3 and the team will live happily ever after. I hope.

To tell you the truth, I pretty much sick and tired about reading about Matt Holiday, Roy Halladay , John Lackey and most of all Orlando Hudson. Let me say this if you think O-Hudson is the answer as an up grade at second base on as a so called leader in the words of Mike Francesa “Yer Lawst”

The more reports I read the more pessimistic I get about the 2010 season and it all comes back to the ownership/management of this team.  As Mets fans I feel we must get it through our heads that the Mets will not contend for a post season berth in 2010. You hear people in sports say that teams take on the persona of its manager or head coach, well the Mets have taken on the persona of its ownership, weak, clueless and a lack of guts.

You all know my distain for Jeffey Wilpon and after reading “The Road to Hockeytown” by Jimmy Devellano, my disgust about the ownership of the Mets has increased.

For those of you are not hockey fans, Jimmy D is one of the best scouts/ front office men in NHL history. He started out as an unpaid scout for the then expansion St Louis Blues and worked his way to head scout of the NY Islanders and worked with Bill Torrey to build the Islander dynasty and then went on to become the GM of the Detroit Red Wings and lead them back into NHL Stanley Cup Champions. In his career Jimmy D was responsible for the personnel of 7 Stanley Cup Winners.

The one place where Devellano felt was a lost opportunity to win was in St. Louis. The Blues at the time were managed by Lynn Partick  and Scotty Bowman, two hockey legends  but the reason why in Jimmy D’s view the Blues didn’t win the Cup was due to Sid Solomon III, the son of the Blues owner Sid Solomon. Here is Devellano’ view of life with a son who knows nothing about a sports team he inherited:

{When I first got to St. Louis in 1967 there were two pretty good hockey people already there, by the names of Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman.

That St. Louis Blues team might have one day become a great organization and the Blues might have eventually won Stanley Cups after starting with two fine hockey people like that. Who knows, they could have had a dynasty there after the great start they had in their first three seasons.

But unfortunately, the owners son, Sid Solomon III, while a very nice guy, was awfully involved with the hockey club and was an awful meddler. We couldn’t keep mangers and coaches like Scotty Bowman because of his constant meddling. Sid was a good but he wasn’t a hockey person. He just didn’t know hockey. How could he have? He made his money in the insurance business, not the hockey business. He didn’t have a feel for the game.

His interference caused a lot of turmoil in St. Louis. They couldn’t retain good people they had in place, like Bowman an (Al) Arbour and it cost them dearly. The Solomons eventually lost their team through bankruptcy and that didn’t need to happen}

Is that not the Mets? Is Jeffey not Sid the IV? It’s not just Jeffey, I am totally sick and tired of David Howard, who really needs a heaping plate full of Shut the Fuck Up.

The Skill Sets have been very successful in the real estate world that’s what they are good at but when it comes to running a baseball team they are an out and out disaster. They have no clue on how to build a team and they have absolutely no people skills (I should call them the Non-Skill Sets) in other words they are not the Mets but the Mess.

This Mets team has a ton of holes. Starting pitching is the biggest followed by a strong defensive catcher, a big corner bat and a solid second baseman. The injuries of last season are a smoke screen to what this team needs to get back to being a contender. Even with a healthy Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana and a rejuvenated David Wright, this team still has no grasp of the fundamentals of baseball and a lack of physical and metal toughness. If you were a major league free agent why would you want to play for the Mets?

Maybe the best move the Mets could make this winter is to put up a for sale sign.

To tell you the truth, I pretty much sick and tired about reading about Matt Holiday, Roy Halladay , John Lackey and most of all Orlando Hudson. Let me say this if you think O-Hudson is the answer as an up grade at second base on as a so called leader in the words of Mike Francesa “Yer Lawst”

The more reports I read the more pessimistic I get about the 2010 season and it all comes back to the ownership/management of this team.  As Mets fans I feel we must get it through our heads that the Mets will not contend for a post season berth in 2010. You hear people in sports say that teams take on the persona of its manager or head coach, well the Mets have taken on the persona of its ownership, weak, clueless and a lack of guts.

You all know my distain for Jeffey Wilpon and after reading “The Road to Hockeytown” by Jimmy Devellano, my disgust about the ownership of the Mets has increased.

For those of you are not hockey fans, Jimmy D is one of the best scouts/ front office men in NHL history. He started out as an unpaid scout for the then expansion St Louis Blues and worked his way to head scout of the NY Islanders and worked with Bill Torrey to build the Islander dynasty and then went on to become the GM of the Detroit Red Wings and lead them back into NHL Stanley Cup Champions. In his career Jimmy D was responsible for the personnel of 7 Stanley Cup Winners.

The one place where Devellano felt was a lost opportunity to win was in St. Louis. The Blues at the time were managed by Lynn Partick  and Scotty Bowman, two hockey legends  but the reason why in Jimmy D’s view the Blues didn’t win the Cup was due to Sid Solomon III, the son of the Blues owner Sid Solomon. Here is Devellano’ view of life with a son who knows nothing about a sports team he inherited:

{When I first got to St. Louis in 1967 there were two pretty good hockey people already there, by the names of Lynn Patrick and Scotty Bowman.

That St. Louis Blues team might have one day become a great organization and the Blues might have eventually won Stanley Cups after starting with two fine hockey people like that. Who knows, they could have had a dynasty there after the great start they had in their first three seasons.

But unfortunately, the owners son, Sid Solomon III, while a very nice guy, was awfully involved with the hockey club and was an awful meddler. We couldn’t keep mangers and coaches like Scotty Bowman because of his constant meddling. Sid was a good but he wasn’t a hockey person. He just didn’t know hockey. How could he have? He made his money in the insurance business, not the hockey business. He didn’t have a feel for the game.

His interference caused a lot of turmoil in St. Louis. They couldn’t retain good people they had in place, like Bowman an (Al) Arbour and it cost them dearly. The Solomons eventually lost their team through bankruptcy and that didn’t need to happen}

Is that not the Mets? Is Jeffey not Sid the IV? It’s not just Jeffey, I am totally sick and tired of David Howard, who really needs a heaping plate full of Shut the Fuck Up.

The Skill Sets have been very successful in the real estate world that’s what they are good at but when it comes to running a baseball team they are an out and out disaster. They have no clue on how to build a team and they have absolutely no people skills (I should call them the Non-Skill Sets) in other words they are not the Mets but the Mess.

This Mets team has a ton of holes. Starting pitching is the biggest followed by a strong defensive catcher, a big corner bat and a solid second baseman. The injuries of last season are a smoke screen to what this team needs to get back to being a contender. Even with a healthy Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana and a rejuvenated David Wright, this team still has no grasp of the fundamentals of baseball and a lack of physical and metal toughness. If you were a major league free agent why would you want to play for the Mets?

Maybe the best move the Mets could make this winter is to put up a for sale sign.

 

So the Skill Sets have sent out invoices to their loyal season ticket holders and some of these customers it seemed got bigger decreases in the invoice than others. If you’re a fat cat who buys tickets in the Metropolitan section you get a bigger break than the guy who buys tickets in the Promenade. It seems the less you know or care about the Mets, the better the Mets organization takes care of you.  Oh yeah, the Skill Sets need a partial payment by December 4^th so they can pay Bobby Bonillia’ his yearly stipend from his buyout.

 

 

I’m a fan of Carlos Beltran as he is a great player and is a very charitable man, but as a GM he leaves a lot to be desired. Beltran stated yesterday he’d love for the Mets to bring back Carlos Delgado for next season. I’m glad Beltran is so fond of Delgado, but the next time I see Delgado at a Mets game it should be for Old Timers Day.

 

Who wouldn’t want a stud pitcher like Roy Halladay? But does it make sense for the Mets to get involved in a trade for the Blue Jay ace? Word is the Highlanders and BOSOX are ready to talk turkey with the Jay-Birds but who knows how much of this is fact or bullshit and if the Mets were to get involved do the Mets have the pieces to make it happen? It seems the Jay want quality over quantity so if you’re the Mets do you have anything that the Jays would want? If you take Vernon Wells of their hands you could get Halladay for nothing but do who wants to saddle themselves with $98.5 mil in contract? As you can see I have a lot of questions but no answers.

 

I saw this last night on via Twitter on the Tirico Suave site and like I said there, this is Gold PURE GOLD. Mike Francesa never looked so hip!

 

I saw a bunch of guys stand around Port Richmond Ave on Staten Island this morning looking for day labor work and I swear one of them was Lou Dobbs.

 

Seems that Chuckie Gruden could be the next head football coach at Norte Dame. I think it’s a foregone conclusion that Charlie Weis is the lamest of ducks at ND and the list of names will be filled with names like Chuckie, Urban Myer, and Skip Holtz to name three but the bottom line is Weis has not only been a coaching disaster but a prick as well. The funny thing about Weis and Eric Manasshole in Cleveland is they want to be like Billy B up in Foxboro but they forget if you want to be a first class asshole you better be a successful first class asshole.

 

As per Adam Rubin Carlos Beltran is going on the 15 day DL Ken Takahashi is going to Buffalo and Pat Misch comes up to NY

As Per Mike Francesa F-Mart is on the way back to Flushing

hide the shoe laces and sharp object.

Baseball like it ought to be, MY ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

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

 

 

 

Was last night THE GAME? Most seasons there is THE GAME, THE GAME you look back on when the season turned around, (or GULP went down the drain) THE GAME they do documentaries about, THE GAME that books are written about, Yeah THAT GAME.

 

For all the problems with empty seats, obstructive views and figuring out whether to eat at the Shake Shack, Mama’s or the Taqueria, last night was the first REAL Mets game of the $iti Field era. Yesterday on his bloviating radio show, Mike Francesa railed against the New Highlander Stadium that there was “no juice in the building” and the overpriced seats in the front row are unoccupado, well, Mets fans hold your heads high as the same can not be said about you at $iti Field last night.

 

Now I wasn’t there but on SNY it came through my TV like the crowd was totally into the game and why not, in the fine tradition of Seaver, and Gooden we now have the newest must see, can’t miss a start, starting pitcher in Johan Santana. If the Skill Sets are thinking of erecting a statue of the The Franchise outside $iti, they better save some bronze for The Franchise II, Santana.  

 

Why did J-Man take Santana out after 7 innings? I know his spot came up in the order with Sheffield on 1^st and 2 outs but the Putz was not available and Santana had only threw 101 pitches, in the 7^th he threw just 9 pitches (6 K’s) and the Mets took the lead and he was on extra rest, the adrenaline rush from the crowd would have put him over the top. God forbid he would be allowed to pitch a complete game and shut out our most hated rival. I don’t know about you but when I saw Feliciano come in to pitch the 8^th  I started think about the puke bucket.

 

I think the reason Jason Werth Mackey Sasser-ed the ball in right that arrived there due to Pedro Feliz error in the 7^th was he couldn’t tell if Delgado was running or standing still.

 

Enjoy your trip to purgatory Ollie.

 

Mike Vaccaro is my hero. It’s all about the FUNDIES. The most frustrating aspect of coaching is showing a player something and the player not able to execute it. I have kids with great arms that pitch for me but trying to explain the mechanic of pitching they just can’t grasp it. I’ve simplified it by just asking that they land on the ball of their front foot and bend they knee. When the do that they throw a low strike and look back at me in amazement. But on the next pitch, they go right back to the bad habit of landing on their heel and the ball flys right out of the strike zone. UGGH!

 

Nice to see Jon Niese get the start over Ken Takahashi. Niese’ record is nothing to get excited over (0-2  6.55 ERA in 5 starts) but it could be a factor of pitching for a very bad Buffalo Bisons team. One encouraging number for Niese is his 25/8 K/BB so maybe moving up with the big club will help him.

 

Not only does Denis POTVIN SUCK but he’s out of work as well. Hey Fishstick fans your boy is more associated with the Florida Panthers than he is if the soon to be KC Scouts LOL. 

 

    

 

 

 

 

I guess it’s tough for Mike Francesa to come to the realization that he is no longer relevant in this town when it comes to sports talk radio. Sure his ratings are as solid as they were when he was teamed with Chris Russo (it’s hard to fault a guy for taking more cash and the freedom to do his own show but Chris Russo right now is a non-entity in the sports talkie world) as that is more out of habit than getting anything newsworthy from the show as the man is so out of touch with the modern media world and what we have seen since the Mike and the Mad Dog breakup is Russo while off the mark many times, is 1,000 times for entertaining than Mike. Francesa’ ego will not allow him to have another co-host and the ones who were brought in all had to bow to the altar of the Sports Pope. Worship is not what’s needed from 1-6 Monday to Friday they need someone to tweak the Tank and have some real sports talk debate.

 

The problem is, Francesa is so set in his way he would never allow that. Mike can not comprehend that his listeners are as informed of not more informed than he is and his slip is showing. Last week he had some political hack on discussing President Obama’ address to Congress. Are you kidding me? Where was Mark Chernoff with the white towel?  I know what you’re saying “why listen to the show then”? And you’re right. I was a die hard Mike and the Mad Dog fan as my desk radio would be on the whole 5 hours but now I usually tune in and out while listening to music most of the day. I bring all this up because Francesa has been very underhanded in his treatment of David Wright and Ryan Church. By not concededing that Wright is one of the top 10 players in the game today, just showed Francesa’ ignorance and his nastiness. Make no mistake Mike Francesa is one nasty fuck and both Wright and Church gave him their ass to kiss and rightly so. Francesa can not get the big name NY athlete to do his show because of his piss poor personality, I mean for David Wright not to agree to come on his show, that’s all you need to know that Francesa either needs to get a personality transplant –a la Tom Coughlin-or he needs to pack it in as no one is tuning in to here his political views or reviews of movies made 60 years ago.  Check out Mike Silva’s NYBD as he posts about Francesa talking about he and Wright meeting in St Lonesome.

I tuned in more than usual to the show this week because Mike was in St Lonesome. It would have helped if Francesa did a little homework before he did his interviews. His one on one with Fernando Martinez was embarrassing as he really had no clue on the kids accomplishments, his age or what he has accomplished as a 20 year old playing in the Double A while most kids his age are Juniors in college and eligible to be drafted to a big league team come June. No all Francesa could talk about was the injury factor, not taking into account that maybe the young man was still transforming from a kid to a man. The best interview was with Oliver Perez who blew Francesa off after two questions. Of course there is the Wright/ Church matter that both players who made it known to Jay Horowitz that no way in hell were they going on with Francesa. So WFAN wasted all that money to send Mike down there just to wear those hideous sunglasses andto model his collection of black shirts.

 

Hey Mark Chernoff it’s TIME FOR A CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!