The Chan Ho Park Experiment Is Over

4 Innings, 6 Hits, 7 Runs (all earned), 2 Walks, 4 K's, 2 HR allowed and a 15.75 ERA. Aaron Sele however has pitched well in relief. Hmm. I wonder who suggested Sele instead of Park...

oh and the Yankees are off, so they remain in last place. Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!

All Star Voting is Underway | Pitching Change for Tonight's Game

So this is how my current All Star Ballot is looking. Comments are welcome:


First Base: Ortiz, D., BOS
Second Base: Kinsler, I., TEX
Third Base: Chavez, E., OAK
Shortstop: Lugo, J., BOS
Catcher: Mauer, J., MIN
Outfielder: Ramirez, M., BOS
Outfielder: Sizemore, G., CLE
Outfielder: Suzuki, I., SEA

First Base: Delgado, C., NYM
Second Base: Hudson, O., ARI
Third Base: Wright, D., NYM
Shortstop: Reyes, J., NYM
Catcher: Lo Duca, P., NYM
Outfielder: Alou, M., NYM
Outfielder: Beltran, C., NYM
Outfielder: Green, S., NYM

Honestly, based on numbers right now, Delgado and Wright are borderline at best. But I'll defend my choice vehemently. You can't argue the other Mets on the list. Beltran's almost as hot this spring as he was last spring. Reyes, LoDuca, Alou and Green are all hitting over .300 and are scorching hot right now.

I actually voted for Justin Morneau on a few of my ballots instead of Ortiz. I know, I know, but Morneau's the reigning MVP and he's pounding the league this year. How do you not vote for him?

From Mets.com: Chan Ho Park will make his regular-season debut for the Mets, replacing Orlando Hernandez, who is sidelined with a shoulder problem, when the Mets face the Marlins tonight at 7:10 ET. Be there to watch the Mets face left-hander Scott Olsen.

I can't say I'm excited to see (1) El Duque on the DL or (2) Chan Ho Park making a start for the Mets. I would say that you should give the starts to Sele - he's been pitching well out of the bullpen - but Sele's been pitching well out of the bullpen so why screw with him. Park wasn't horrible in Spring Training. I don't hate our chances with him on the mound. We'll see how he pitches tonight and pass judgment tomorrow!

Oh BTW, the Yankees are still in last place. Enjoy!

F The Yankees! - John Maine is the Man

On a weekend where the Mets were having an awful lot of trouble with the worst team in the league (tied for worst with the surprisingly bad Royals - I thought they might have had it this year), John Maine took the bump on Sunday with a lot to lose. He had the third best ERA in the league (1.71) coming in and a line up that could only be classified as second string (with Easley, Castro and 49 year old Julio Franco getting starts). If Maine finished the game going 6 innings with 3 runs and a half dozen hits, everyone would have been happy.

Instead, John Maine came out and dominated for 6 innings. Dmitri Young is home crying after a game like that. Maine struck him out three times and Young didn't even get close to the ball. Maine walked a few, but he went 7 strong (a little drama in the 7th but only one hit), gave up 3 hits all day, struck out a career high 8 and took home a strong win thanks to Beltran's home run (one of only two hits for the Mets against Nats starter Bergmann).

Here's a little quote from the Mets web site:
The Mets also got strong performances from starter John Maine (4-0, 1.35 ERA) and relievers Aaron Heilman, Scott Schoeneweis and Billy Wagner. Maine was spectacular, giving up three hits and striking out eight in seven innings. Schoeneweis came on with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth and got Ryan Church to ground out to Franco at first.

Beauty.

And now, to the really impressive part of our story. Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!

From RedSox.com: Manny Ramirez's 50th home run against the Yankees was one of three Red Sox long balls and helped Boston extend its AL East lead over last-place New York to 6 1/2 games. David Ortiz and Alex Cora also went deep, and Hideki Okajima made his 11th straight scoreless appearance.

Yeah. The LAST PLACE YANKEES. That's the four sweetest words ever put together. Despite the return of Chien Ming Wang, the Yankees Starters still suck. Wang gave up two of the homers, 4 runs, 3 walks and 1 measley strikeout.

Ha ha!

Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!

Mets Squeak One Out in Extras against Lowly Nats

The Mets seem to be having a little trouble with the Nationals. A team that's won only 8 games all season is giving fits to the team that supposed to win the NL. That's a little messed up.

I suppose every great team has their achilles heel team. The Suns this season had a lot of trouble with the Hawks. The Hawks. The Suns are arguably the second best team in the NBA this season (assuming Dallas as the first - but as my best subject is not basketball, I don't think I'd defend my position very vigorously). Maybe the Nationals are going to be the Mets' Hawks.

So it took 12 long innings and a good start by Tom Glavine, but the Mets finally pulled out a win. And who do we have to thank for this win? Damion Easley for tying it up (again) and Beltran and the boys for breaking through in the 12th.

I'm a little pissed because I couldn't actual watch either the Mets of the Sox games today. (BTW the Sox lost today to some bullshit team in the Bronx. I'm trying not to think about it) Fox blocks all the games in my baseball package during their broadcast and for some reason, Fox on the West Coast thinks we're more interested in the Cubs/Cardinals games instead of the Yankees/Red Sox. Who gives a rat's ass about the Cubs/Cardinals? I'm basically been forced to watch 3 Cubs Cardinals games so far this year and they've all been very boring. Who wouldn't want to watch the greatest rivalry in all of sports? Apparently Fox thinks we do. It's bullshit.

Then Cox Cable didn't broadcast the Mets Nationals game in the Extra Innings package. It seems I can watch as much Kansas City as I want, but the Mets are blacked out a couple times a week. I only got the package 10 days ago and the Mets have already been blacked out 3 times. Sometimes I hate the TV.

So I had to "watch" both games through the game cast, little play by play flash feeder on the MLB sites. It's nice to "see" the games this way, but you have no real idea of what's going on. Modern life has made me spoiled.

Alright, I guess that's all I've got. I'll write more tomorrow.

Oliver Perez Pitches Well but the Mets Lose to the Nats; Dice-K Bests Yanks

For anyone that was still on the fence, Daisuke Matsuzaka is going to be a solid major league pitcher. I still don't see that spark of a real ace pitcher (I used to cringe when it was Shilling's turn and the Mets were at Philly), but he's going to be a great #3 or a very good # 2. If he gets better than this, if he settles down and starts to pitch the way the Sox thought he could pitch, he could get to that # 1 feel. But he's still picking up how the American League works. We've seen him now against a variety (although a small one) of teams and he's pitched equally well. I think his annual salary is competitive with his stuff, it was that $52 posting fee that makes the deal ridiculous.

Oliver Perez pitched his ass off last year in game 7. That's mostly why he's back in the rotation for 2007. He pitched well his first outing, then go knocked around a bit - couldn't find the zone, but his last two outings he's pitched well enough to win. 9 K's in both outings and nary a walk between them. For a guy that used to strike out 6 and walk 8 in a game, that's a hell of an improvement. If he keeps this up, I think the media outlets of the world should annoint Rick Peterson the new Leo Mazzone and be done with it. Perez pitched 7 and gave up 4. Not a bad outing. The Mets offense just couldn't get it done in the end (no matter how hard Moises Alou tried - my brother Marc is SO wrong about Alou).

Its just one loss. It just infuriates me that it came against the Nationals. They are giving the work suck new meaning. To lose to the Nationals is a shame. A true shame.

NFL draft tomorrow! That should be fun. Then Mets baseball in the nations capital. Let's see if Glavine can help us bounce back from two losses in a row.

Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!

Mike Pelfrey Didn't Throw His Best Game, but He's Better than Hughes

So, Mike Pelfrey was less than stellar on Wednesday - http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070425&content_id=1929402&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym&partnered=rss_nym - giving up 6 runs in 3 innings and REFUSING to get away from his fastball which proved rather ineffective. The Mets site called it the "worst of his young career" and I doubt anyone can disagree.

The good news is: Philip Hughes, Yankee Savior, gave up 4 earned in 4 1/3 innings causing the Yankees to lose their sixth straight game. That's a shame. (Inside I'm laughing! Sometimes its hard to read sarcasm on the internet...) The Yankees' site is playing it off ("Hughes Shows Promise Despite Loss" - yeah, and an 8.31 era.), but it really says something about their starting pitching that they had to call him up this early.

Let me ask you all this: Who had April 15th as the date Carl Pavano would leave with injury in the pool? I didn't think he'd make it out a spring training. I was surprised that he even made a start. I thought he might break a nail while flossing or something and miss the rest of this season too.

The thing that worries me though is how Duaner Sanchez seems to be injured almost as often as Mr. Pavano. What's going on there?

Alright, back to work!

First Outings for Two Young Pitchers
P Hughes NYY 0-1 8.31 ERA 4.1 INN 7 Hits 4 ER 1 BB 5 K's
Pelfrey NYM 1-0 3.60 ERA 5 INN 5 Hits 2 ER 4 BB 3 K's

(thanks again Retrosheet.org!)

Mets Visiting the Desert a Week from Tonight

The Mets are coming to town early this year.

I really look forward to the brief visits the Mets make to the Valley of the Sun (which I call home). Mostly because when the Mets come to town its a four game series. I don't know why it always happens that way, but I'm not complaining. And secondly because no matter how good the Diamondbacks are (and they looked good the first week of this season) the Mets POUND them when I'm at the games here. The first game we saw at Chase Field with the Mets visiting, the Mets won 14 to 1 (and won by Victor Zambrano). They haven't let up since.

The Mets have played 8 games in the valley since I moved here and they are 8-0 with a ridiculous run differential. (76 to 16 since 2005 at Bank One Ballpark/Chase Field - thank you www.RetroSheet.org) And the games were never that close.

I'm happy to see one former Diamondback regular (Shawn Green), one former Diamondback bench player (Damion Easley - who saved our ASS the other night against Brian Fuentes, thanks Damion), and kind of happy to see one former DBack starter - El Duque Hernandez. When the DBacks signed him, I complained for months. He's washed up, he can't pitch, he sucks, he used to be a Yankee (the most vile of creatures). Then I watched him pitch against the Rockies for the home opener last year at Chase Field. God, he was awful. I think he made it about 4 innings and he walked a bunch (let's see if I'm right, RetroSheet.org says 4.2 and only 2 walks, so I guess I'm half right). Then I had to watch as the Mets traded for him at mid-season. Ugh!

But he's pitched well as a Met so far. That's why I've got mixed feelings. I'm pissed that he managed to hurt himself in time for the playoffs last year (but still blame Trachsel for not picking us up in that game we HAD to win in St. Louis - though the offense apparently had no answer for Jeff Suppan anyway. WTF? Really. I mean, Jeff F'ing Suppan.)

He'll be on the mound (if there's no changes to the rotation) next Thursday when the Mets open their series here. Hopefully, he'll be a little more of the Mets El Duque and little less of the DBacks El Douche when he starts.

Boston's out here in June (8 through the 10th). Maybe my Boston lovin' brother in law Erik will come out for another visit...

David vs. ... David? Would you rather have Wright or Ortiz?

I'm a bit of a David Wright fan. I'm writing this blog while wearing a David Wright T-Shirt. But if I was building a team from the ground up, I would seriously have to consider which David I would pick.

David Wright is young. He's an excellent hitter. His defense is very good and getting better. He's got power and poise. He's going to be a dangerous hitter in the NL for the next ten years.

But David Ortiz is the best clutch hitter in the game.

Wright brings more to the table in the way of defense, speed and hitting for a high average.

But David Ortiz is THE best clutch hitter in the game.

David Wright is the kind of guy that you build a team around. The Mets have decided to build their team - a team that came within 1 game of the World Series last year - around David Wright and Jose Reyes. And David Ortiz was let go by the Twins.

But David Ortiz is the BEST clutch hitter in the game.

It's a tough decision, but I think in the end I've really got to stick with David Wright. It really hurts to give up someone of Papi's quality, but the defense of David Wright makes up for the runners he would occassionally leave on base. I've got to stick with David Wright.

Comments are welcome.

It's a replay of the 1986 World Series with similar results!

I know what some of your are thinking... Boy, he's really going out on a limb, picking the two teams that are heavily favored to win their divisions this season. But if you've followed the Mets as long as I have, you know that when we're favored this early in the season, it has a tendency to fall through.

But I think this is the year.

You see, the Mets are winning right now (well not today, today they lost to Colorado) and David Wright has 1 RBI. Carlos Delgado has 1 home run. When those two guys get going, this offense is going to be disgusting.

The starting pitcher has been very solid so far (John Maine's ERA is under 2.00). The bullpen's been a little shaky this past week, but when Mota comes back, it should help. Heilmann will find his release point, Smith has looked very good, Feliciano looks like he did last year, and Billy Wagner's Billy Wagner.

The big surprise for me has been Shawn Green. He's hitting very well so far this season. I don't know if its just that the Mets keep playing the Braves and Greenie likes Braves pitching, but Green's been good so far. I know a lot of people are surprised by Moises Alou, but honestly, this is what I thought we were going to get. My little brother kept talking about what a horrible contract the Mets signed with Alou and they made a mistake and blah blah blah. Moises Alou has been nothing but steady for 15 years now. Why should you expect anything else? He might play 120 games this year, tops, but he'll provide a .300 average, probably 25 home runs, and 90 RBI's. What's not to like?

So that's the Mets half of the deal. Why is Boston getting back to the series? Starting pitching and David Ortiz. You can't pitch around Ortiz in pressure situations now. You have Manny and JD Drew (if he's healthy) behind him. What are you going to walk all three of them and hope Mike Lowell doesn't hurt you? Their bullpen is good enough and Papelbon is going to wreck the AL this year. He's disturbingly good. Their defense is pretty solid. Their only weak spot is the very bottom of the order with Coco Crisp - and his triple beat the Yankees last weekend.

So yeah, its an easy pick, but its the right pick. Prove me wrong.