Top 10 Best Switch Hitters in the Last 50 Years

So my buddies and I have been talking about the best switch hitters in history.

I built a little list of switch hitters, but revised my statement "in history" to "the last 50 years". Prior to 1955, I know precious little about baseball. I've done what I can to learn a lot - reading severa l books on the subject and picking the brains of as many older baseball fans I can find - but I don't know enough to effectively claim "in history" so I amended my title.

Anyway, this is my list.

1. Mickey Mantle
2. Eddie Murray
3. Larry "Chipper" Jones
4. Pete Rose
5. Robbie Alomar
6. Lance Berkman
7. Bernie Williams
8. Tim Raines
9. Howard "HoJo" Johnson
10. Carlos Beltran

My friend Gregg has Lance Berkman higher than I do. My brother Rob refused to put Berkman on his list. And there's been debate over how good a hitter Pete Rose actually was. Carlos Beltran and Lance Berkman are as high as they are based on their potential as much as their current career numbers.

I'd like to hear your comments on the subject. Chime in below!

Is Carlos Delgado's Slump Over?

I have spent the majority of the season worried about Carlos Delgado. I wasn't worried that he would never start hitting, I was worried that he would start hitting too late. The Mets and I have learned the hard way over the last 16 years that you can't go to sleep against the Braves.

My Mets broke their streak of division titles last year, but that doesn't mean the Braves are done. Quite the opposite! The Braves regrouped this off season with the intention of taking the East back from the Mets. And after leading a good part of this young season, the Braves remain only a few games behind the Mets.

What does this have to do with Carlos Delgado's slump?

Lots a people like to think that games in April and May don't mean as much. You hear the phrase "Hey, it's only April!" an awful lot. I've never agreed with this.

When it gets to September and you're out of first by 1 game and looking at golf reservations instead of the playoffs, where is the first place you look for games you could have won? You look at the games that just past because that's what's most familiar.

If you only look at the series in September where you won one of three in Atlanta instead of looking at the 3 games you lost in Pittsburgh in May, it will seem like the late games are the only important games. But the games in April and May count against your win/lose total the same as the games in August and September. Why treat them differently?

So with Carlos Delgado finally heating up here at the end of May, it means that we will likely have a good June. I would LOVE to see the Mets build at 9 or 10 game lead in the East in June like last year and cruise the rest of the season than fight off the Braves in September when they get hot.

Bobby Cox teams always perform well under pressure. They're not under as much pressure in May as they are in September, so you've got to beat them in May.

And you have to keep beating the teams you're supposed to beat. How many football teams wind up out the playoffs every year because they look forward and get beat by a team that is very bad? The Broncos last year proved that. There's at least one team every year that does it. Learn from their mistakes.

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So Delgado? OMG he's on fire.

2 Home runs in Florida so far tonight and a total of 5 hits / 8 at bats and 5 RBI in the series. He's on his way to really breaking out of this slump. I can't wait to see it.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy either. Delgado has been a boon to every city he's played in (see my previous comments about Mo Vaughn - very similar in their communities).

Bad news for the Mets though: Gomez tweaked his leg and he's day to day. Shawn Green is shaken up from Friday and Moises Alou isn't due back for a few days. If we have to rely on David Newhan, we're screwed.

My brother Rob has this theory that David Newhan is a writer working on a story with the Mets and that's why he keeps getting playing time. I know he's not playing because of his hitting.

Skip Bayless is a Frigging Idiot

Skip Bayless, one of the "analysts" on ESPN's Cold Pizza/First Take (or whatever they're calling it now), is the biggest idiot I've ever had the misfortune of listening to. I purposely don't watch that show because of this jackass. Every now and then I'll be passing the station and he's always on saying something stupid.

He spent 5 minutes this morning defending the Yankees and trying to convince us that they still have a chance because of the Wild Card. How can you possibly think that the Yanks - who are 3 games shy of .500 - will beat out Cleveland, Minnesota, and Detroit in the Central or Anaheim and Oakland in the West for the Wild Card. There is no way that the Yankees take the Wild Card from one of those teams.

His defense of the Yankees is based on one solid outing from Andy Pettite, a good game for Derek "I Love Men" Jeter, and the expectations of Roger Clemens return. Clemens didn't look particularly good yesterday against a minor league team. Bayless' excuse for this was "he wasn't trying against them". Yeah right. One of the few things I like about Roger Clemens is that he's a fighter. Clemens would fight his wife for the last piece of toast. He's not the kind of guy that's going to go easy on Minor Leaguers. He might have held back a little so he doesn't get hurt, but trust me, Roger Clemens wanted to win that game.

Basically, what it boils down to is this: Skip Bayless is a douche. He's a Yankee Loving Douche. 'Nuff Said.

Time off and a Rough Night against Kyle Davies...

So I had to take a little time away. Sorry. I was in New York getting married.

Thank you.

So I got to go to a game at Shea and I got some nice pictures of the construction on Citi Field. I got to see a game with my nephew (it was his first ever), two of my brothers, a sister in law and my then wife-to-be. We got to see Glavine's start against the Cubs where the Mets trailed, Wright hit a two run homer, and the Mets won on a walk-off walk after Delgado fouled off about 6 pitches to stay alive.

Then I got to watch the game live on TV in New York when the Mets came back with 6 runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Cubs (again) with Carlos Delgado (again) delivering a pinch hit single for the win.

I got to watch the Mets and Oliver Perez beat the Yanks 3-2 during my rehearsal dinner, then watching them almost blow a win after my wedding. Then when no wedding activities were still going on, the Mets lost to the Yankees on Sunday.

So I came home last night and tonight got the opportunity to watch the Mets turn it around and beat the Braves at Turner Field. Only problem is, the Mets didn't win. Not only did they not win, they looked horrible against Kyle Davies - a pitcher that I'm convinced the Braves only keep in the rotation to pitch against the Mets. He's now 4-2 against the Mets. The Mets continue to be ridiculously bad at Turner Field (despite being 6-3 there last year), and Carlos Delgado continues his struggles.

When he got those big hit & walk against the Cubs I thought Delgado could be working his way out of it, but tonight was solid evidence otherwise. They need Delgado to start hitting.

Alright, back to work. Enjoy your evening and keep on watchin! Boston is on top of the Yanks 7-3 right now in the bottom of the ninth. They're just waiting for Papelbon to close it out then the Sox will be 6 and 2 against the Yanks this season. Go Saux!!

Oliver Perez Shines in a Near One Hitter!

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/wrap.jsp?ymd=20070513&content_id=1962255&vkey=wrapup2005&fext=.jsp&team=home

Oliver Perez has been on fire of late. He went on a string of starts where he routinely struck out 9 or more and walked less than 2. His last outing he seemed more than shaky, giving up 8 in 4.2 innings to San Francisco giving up 5 hits, walking 2 striking out only one and allowing 2 homers.

Today Perez was brilliant. 8.1 innings allowing only one hit. The second hit was a solo homer. He struck out only 6, but walked only 1. Perez was dominating in a way that all of his former coaches and managers and GM's had ever hoped.

Reyes, Wright and Beltran all had good days, but again its Damion Easley who gets position player of the game for me. Easley was 3 for 5 driving in 4 runs. Damn. Just Damn.

Tomorrow night I'll be at the game as Tom Glavine looks for win 295 against Jason Marquis who's been red hot this season. It should be a very good game.

Let's not overlook something here. The Brewers came into this weekend in New York with something to prove. The Mets were a proven, veteran team and the Brewers are relatively young and haven't had a winning season in a while. These Brewers showed everyone this weekend that they can hang with and beat the big teams. You have to respect the Brewers this year. You can't help but like JJ Hardy and Prince Fielder, but role players this year like Tony Gwynn Jr could make a real difference to this team. You can't count out any team that has Craig Counsell on their roster. The Brewers will make it to the post season this year.

Mets Edge Out Brewers 5-4 Thanks Again to Damion Easley

David Wright, Carlos Delgado, Prince Fielder, Geoff Jenkins, JJ Hardy and Damion Easley all had homer runs last night. That's good news to the Mets because two of their most important - and least productive to this point - got homers last night. Beside the HR, Delgado had a couple nice swings. Wright's looked good for the past week. I think they're on their way to getting up to speed. And just in time too, because Shawn Green's hot streak is over. Since shaving his head with most of the team, Green has gone 0 for 12.

The real story of the night was Damion Easley. How can you not appreciate Damion Easley this year? Doing a fantastic job of filling in for last year's fill-in regular Jose Valentin. How big has Easley been? This is the fifth game this season he's won for the Mets. Really impressive. Thanks Damion.

This That and The Other...

So the Mets had the day off. Makes for a boring time for me.

Yesterday, Wright came through again, driving in 2 on a double to left. Good to see him turning on a high pitch like that. I couldn't tell if it was a fastball or a hanger, but either way its a good sign. I think he may be breaking out of this funk. Now if we could only get Delgado going...

The Yankees are starting to climb their way up the AL East. They're 1/1000th of a percentage point out of second place, but still 7 games back of my Red Sox. Nice. The Sox could bury the Yankees with another good series against them. And if the Sox play in Interleague anything like last year, they'll be just fine.

It's May folks. Baseball season is officially in high gear! Let's Go Mets!!

Glavine gave up 745 to Bonds, but gets win 294

Tommy Glavine pitched a fine game at Pac Bell SBC AT&T Park. He went 7 innings, giving up 7 hits included the homer to Bonds (his only run allowed) and striking out 5.

Reyes had a hot night to start with a double and a triple in the first two innings. Wright had a nice night bouncing back with a couple doubles and a 2 for 4 night. Delgado's still not firing on all cylinders, but once he does, this offense is going to be disgusting.

I don't know if its my age or the fact that he's been less of an ass this year, but I don't hate Barry Bonds half as much as I used to. He was one of the big three people in baseball that I wanted to see dead. Bonds, Chipper Jones, and John Smoltz. None of these three scare me the way they used to - they all had a way of beating my team at inopportune times - and they're all getting older. But I still vehemently hated Bonds as recently as last year. I just don't get it.

I guess I'm getting nice in my old age...

Say what you will about the Yankees, but they spend to win

I have never been anything that can be confused with a Yankees fan. The closest I ever came was feeling good for my Uncle Mario in 1996 when the Yankees won their first championship in a while. So I think I can say this without a hint of remorse: Despite the many things the Yankees do that suck, they work within the rules of the game to get the players they want.

The Yankees don't spend unnecessary time wittling down offers from free agents or nursing trades that they have no intention of making. There are teams that are perpetually in trade talks about one big name or another (I'm looking at you LA Anaheim Angels), but when the Yanks are talking about someone they get them.

If the Yankees threw as much money at Babe Ruth's grave as they just threw at Clemens, the Big Man would rise up and hit .320. The Yankees can afford it and its a player they need. Why not spend? Go for it.

I would rather see a big market, hey we got the money team like the Yankees spend that money to get a top class pitcher that they were desperate for. Bully to the Yanks. If my Mets did the same thing, I wouldn't compalin about it. So how can I complain about it when someone else does it?

So I missed a day!

I had a busy night last night and I didn't get a chance to post anything. Sorry about that.

I didn't get to watch the game, but as they lost 9 to 4, the less said about it the better. Apparently, Oliver Perez finally had his bad outing. We all new it was coming, but I was hoping it wouldn't be quite that bad. Let's just hope he bounces back his next start.

Still kind of busy tonight, but I'll be watching the game while I work. I'll definitely write something later. It started well - 3 straight doubles to start it out - and the Mets lead 3 to 0. Let's see what Glavine's got tonight.

Sox took care of business against the Jays winning 9 to 2. Beckett had a very solid outing giving up a lead off homer to Alex Rios to start the game and not a run more in 7 innings. Sox are on a roll!

All Good Things Must Come to an End...

Well, the Mets streak against the Diamondbacks finally came to an end. The DBacks won today's game 3 to1 on the strength of an Eric Byrnes double and some situational hitting from Stephen Drew. One of the most important things in a game that never shows up in a box score is hitters moving over runners so they have a better opportunity to score. Hitting behind a runner at second to get them to third is a basic tenet of the game and one of many core fundamentals that Stephen Drew does on a regular basis. Drew is going to be a very good player one day.

Mike Pelfrey had a much better fastball and a much better outing today than his last start. He went 5 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs on 3 hits while walking four and striking out one. Not Pelfrey's best start , but not his worst. He's coming along and hopefully by the end of the season he'll start maturing into something close to the pitcher that the Mets (and Mets fans like me) think he can be.

The bullpen pitched well - with the exception of Feliciano not being able to keep the last run (that was charged to Pelfrey, one of Feliciano's runners hasn't scored yet) and giving up 3 hits over own in the process. But the surprise for me was Lino Urdaneta. I have no idea who this guy is. I don't even remember seeing his name anywhere during the spring. How does a pitcher come out of no where? I don't get it...

On to San Francisco! Hopefully the Mets will have similar luck with the Giants now that Met Killer Jason Schmidt is "pitching" in Los Angeles. (I think Schmidt was put on the DL in LA - sad news for the dude that wrecked Mike Piazza. Mike hasn't been the same since the Schmidt brush back pitch that tore his groin apart.) I hope that the SanFran Fans are classy enough to give Alou a nice hand if he plays. Alou has been a class act wherever he's gone. There's no reason to diss the man.

Enjoy your Sunday evening. Everybody's got to work tomorrow!

Loyalty to the Team

Well, this morning my current softball team played two teams with several players that were on my former softball team. I faced a pitcher that was a teammate, another pitcher that I spent the winter practicing with, I hit the ball to a shortstop that was my best friend on the team last year, and then I watched more of my former teammates play each other after my games were done.

How hard must this be in the Major Leagues?

I felt guilty telling my current teammates the weaknesses of my former teammates. These were people that I considered friends and marched into "battle" with every Sunday, only to turn on them the following year. There's a lot more on the line for these Major Leaguers. How hard is it for Shawn Green and Damion Easley to tell their new Mets teammates about everything they know about their former team.

Just thinking about it.

Let's Talk about Morons at the Ballpark

So I was at the DBacks/Mets game again last night and the dude behind me said something really stupid.

Now, baseball has its own language. A very specific series of phrases and altruisms that helps the average baseball fan connect with his fellow fan. The Texas Leaguer. Ducks on the Pond. Dinger / Goin' Yard /Tater / Blast, etc. Touch 'Em All. And all sorts of little sayings like that.

Some moron behind me watched a Met hit a pop up to shallow centerfield and officially declared it "Candy Corn." He said "that's an easy play, that's Candy Corn."

The saying, my friend, is "Can of Corn." That play is so easy it's a can of corn. It's a baseball faux pas to screw up so old an expression. Of course, this was the same guy that yelled at Brandon Medders to throw fastballs exclusively to Carlos Delgado, then cheered when a curve went in for a called strike, saying "Yeah, nice curveball." And then demanded curves for the next half inning.

Otherwise, it was a classic night at the ballpark. It was "little league night" so the park was full of little ones wearing their uniforms. The hot dogs were good (and plentiful), the beer was good (and plentiful), the weather was good, my team won and the company was perfect My wife joined me).

Actually, a couple got married at the stadium before the game and another couple got engaged during the seventh inning stretch. What's more baseball than that?

More soon, stay focused and remember - even with the re-acquisition of Roger Clemens, the Yankees still suck. Chien Ming Wang be DAMNED!!

Mets Make it 13 Straight at Chase Field

Thanks to a two run homer from Shawn Green and a costly error by Scott Hairston, the Mets managed to pull out another win at Chase Field beating the Diamondbacks 6 to 2.

Carlos Delgado blasted through the Mendoza Line with a second inning double. Then followed it with a single in his next at bat. Then Delgado walked in his final two at bats. A good night for Delgado could mean a turnaround to his season. Hopefully this will mean good things for the Mets...

So Jorge Sosa had a pretty good night. He seemed to be in a fair amount of trouble throughout the night, but he only allowed 4 hits and 1 of the 2 runs scores the Diamondbacks put across. Sosa went 6 1/3. All in all a decent start for a guy who was in New Orleans yesterday.

The Yankees still suck by the way.

John Maine is coming into his own

Maine pitched 6 strong innings giving up one run, striking out 7 and walking only one.

Maine beat out Randy Johnson, who also struck out 7 and walked one. Johnson gave up 5 in 7 innings. The five runs are regrettable, but 7 innings is a good sign for Johnson who's still recovering from off-season back surgery.

The Mets continued to roll over Arizona in Chase Field. Twelve wins in a row at the friendly confines of Chase Field. And, as I've stated before, a ridiculous run differential since I moved to the Valley of the Sun. It's now up to 90 to 23. Crazy, crazy.

And hey, the Yankees lost a real pitcher's duel in the Bronx dropping to Seattle 15 to 11.

Snatching Victory from the Jaws of Defeat!

It didn't look good for the Mets last night. Micah Owings pitched a solid game, giving up 3 runs over 7 innings and leaving the game with a 4-3 lead.

Tommy Glavine didn't get career win 294, but he didn't loss the game either. Tommy's ND came on a night where he gave up a two run homer to mostly-backup catcher Chris Snyder and one to second baseman Orlando Hudson. Up and comer Stephen Drew drove in Eric Byrnes for the DBacks other run.

Moises Alou again figured in the scoring for the Mets. Driving in Beltran with a double, then scoring himself on a hit by LoDuca. The Mets could have gotten more in that fourth inning, but a throw by Chris Young to third clipped Shawn Green in the leg. Green retreated to second (where LoDuca was already headed) instead of continuing to first. He was promptly throw out at second by third baseman and all around utility sparkplug Alberto Callaspo. This is one of those duh errors that doesn't show up in the boxscore. Like Jay Peyton rounding second on a fly ball out, realizing there's only one out he retreats to first but doesn't touch second. Or Benny Agbayani handing the ball to a fan in the first row when there's 2 outs and runner on. The Mets have made lots of Duh errors. This is just another in that long line.

Anyway, back to the game.

The longest hit of the night went to Carlos Beltran. A monster homer that easily traveled 450 feet to right center. The ball hit into the new Diamond Club at Chase Field and bounced back out onto the field. Crazy, crazy big homer.

The game had great defense on both sides - Reyes making a ridiculous play up the middle and Drew trying the same play a half inning later and just falling short; Wright too a grounder deflected off Glavine's mitt and made a nice play to get the runner. In the bottom of the ninth, Shawn Green laid out for a ball destined to be a triple in the spacious alleys of Chase Field. Chris Young made a fine play going back on a ball hit to center.

The Diamondbacks website hints at the blame for the loss being Tony Clark's error in the top of the ninth. The ninth started with endy Chavez striking out against Jose Valverde and (ironically) ended with Chavez striking out against Dustin Nippert.

With one out (Chavez), Shawn Green came to the plate against former teammate Jose Valverde. Green hit a grounder to Tony Clark. Um, its not entirely fair to call it a grounder. The ball was hit rather hard and took a nasty bounce right in front of the normally sure-handed Clark (former Met). I'm sure Clark's beating himself up enough for the missed play - he doesn't need the DBacks web site chiming in. Anway, Green was followed by a great at bat from LoDuca (who doesn't seem to have anything OTHER than great at bats), then came another former Diamondback Damion Easley.

Now, my buddy Russ had been complaining all night about two players - Moises Alou and Damion Easley. I had mentioned several times that Damion Easley has been directly involved in the Mets winning no less than 3 games this season - either tying games up, or being the winning run. That said, coming up in the top of the ninth against the DBack closer and a former teammate, Damion Easley came through yet again.

Easley cracked a homer to left center right where the fence meets the back wall.

The stadium went nuts. Absolutely crazy. Of the 19,710 in reported attendence, there were probably 15,000 Mets fans and they all knew enough to stay around for the ninth.

Easley's homer put the Mets up 6 to 4. Easley was followed by a pinch hit single by the ageless Julio Franco. Then something happened that I have never seen in a visiting team park. The crowd started chanting the "Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose" song they play for him at Shea. Granted, it might not have been the whole stadium, but it was at least our whole left field bleacher section. The chant was started by my aforementioned buddy Russ and given life by a large man next to us with an equally large Mets tattoo on his leg.

A hit by Reyes chases Valverde and the DBacks brought in Dustin Nippert to face David Wright. Wright's been struggling this season and Nippert's been uphittable since his recent call up. Nippert will one day be a big star for his team. Wright already is.

Nippert started Wright off with the heat, getting to 94 on the sometimes stingy Chase Field radar guns. Wright and Nippert battled for a few pitches. The Wright launched a deep field to right-center gap, not as far as Beltran's monster shot, but enough to clear the fence with some breathing room.

The Mets were now up 9 to 4. Billy Wagner sat down and Scott Schoenweis got up. The rest as they say is history. Nippert got Chavez to strike out, Green made a helluva catch to rob Hudson in the top of the ninth, and the rest went quietly.

Just another game at what the large tattooed Mets fan deemed "Shea West".

This makes the run differential of the Mets v. Diamondbacks at BOB/Chase Field since I moved to Phoenix 85 to 20 in favor of the Mets. They are currently 9-0 in that span. Its bound to end sometime, but I'm sure glad it wasn't last night!

Hopefully, I'll get to see both of these teams here again come playoff time!

Tom Glavine vs. Micah Owings - Who's coming out on top?

Let's look at their career numbers:

Glavine - 21 Yr Career
.604 Winning %, 293 W, 192 L, 641 GS, 55 CG, 24 Shutouts, 4185.0 innings, 2,499 K's, 3.46 ERA, 1.303 WHIP

Pretty good.

Owings - 1st Year
.500 Winning %, 1 W, 1 L, 3 GS, 0 GS, 0 Shutous, 15.3 innings, 14 K's, 2.93 ERA, 1.174 WHIP

That's not bad at all.

Well, I'm heading to the park to see them square off in about 1/2 hour. I'll let you know which one looks better! I'm going to try to get some video while I'm at it. Sweet.

If I was waging, despite a pretty good season for him so far, I think I'd have to lay my money on Glavine. But we'll see. This is why they play the games.

Reyes and Maine Player and Pitcher of the Month

From Mets.com: "Jose Reyes and John Maine have now become the first Mets teammates to win the Player and Pitcher of the Month awards in the same month since Dwight Gooden and Gary Carter in September 1985."

That's right. More of this to come!

Wright is Back On Track | Oliver Perez looking like a Young Randy Johnson

David Wright had two more hits today driving in the final run for the Mets in a 6-2 victory. In and of itself, this is not important. Considering that a week ago Wright - who should be cornerstone of this offense for the forseeable future - had only 1 RBI and no home runs. Well he's managed to finally start to pull himself out of whatever funk he's been in. Hopefully this will cure him and he can get back to the form he had before the homerun derby last year. (Check out video on www.MetsTube.com).

Its kind of creepy actually how that home run derby damaged two big time hitters. I've never really liked Bobby Abreu, but after he won the home run derby two years ago, he couldn't hit a watermelon. Last year, Wright shows off in the first round of the home run derby and now he's hit, what 3 or 4 home runs since.

Outlaw the home run derby! (Or at least keep Wright from taking part).

Meanwhile, Oliver Perez continues to impress. Another pretty strong outing - 5.2, 3 hits, 3 runs, 1 earned, 10 K's. That's a solid line. I'd really like to see that be 6.2 or 7 innings like Maine gave us his last time out, but I'll take 5.2. That's better than Perez has been.

I was watching the video clips of his strikeouts over on Mets.com and he looks an awful lot like the Unit did a few years ago. Nasty fastball followed by a wicked slider. I'm not saying that Perez is as good as the Unit was - I'm not retarded - but he's in the middle of a run right now where he's looking really good. I hope he can keep it up. This is the kind of pitching that every team Perez has played for knew he was capable of.

And lastly, John Maine was named NL Pitcher of the Month. I can think of no one more deserving. He's # 1 in ERA (1.35), tied for second in wins (4), and this is his second full year in the bigs. He's been very impressive so far. Keep in up Maine!!

Omar Minaya Tampering with Miguel Cabrera

From SI.com:

"While the Mets were taking batting practice and the Marlins were stretching, Mets General Manager Omar Minaya engaged third baseman Miguel Cabrera in about a 10-minute conversation. Per Major League Baseball directive, it was tampering. Was Minaya recruiting Cabrera, a free agent after the 2009 season?"

That's what I like about Omar Minaya, he's always working. Why wait until 2009 to lay the seeds of a possible free agent signing? Do it now. Maybe he'll demand a trade mid-season or something. Who knows.

I'm sure Omar's going to play it off as they were talking about a mutual friend or where the best refried beans are in Miami, but the point is, Omar isn't thinking about improving the team just this year, he's thinking about improving the team YEARS from now. Go Omar.

This is a the kind of thing that I could see Theo Epstein doing. But Epstein would do it in a bear suit. I love that guy.

Good News Bad News Kind of Night for Mets & Sox

The good news is, David Wright finally hit a home run and Mike Pelfrey pitched much better than his last two outings.

The bad news is the Mets lost again 5-2, Papelbon blew a save setting up a Sox loss and Philip Hughes almost pitched a no hitter for his second start in the bigs.

The good news is Hughes may be injured, the Sox are still in first, the Mets hold onto second and the Yankees are still in last. Phew!

I have a very strong feeling that Chan Ho Park is heading back down to Triple A and Jorge Sosa's on his way up. Let's call it a hunch...

Yankees suck! Yankees suck!