CC Sabathia wasn't great, but he won; A.J. Burnett was very good, and he won; I guess Sergio Mitre is not the answer for the rotation slot of the injured Andy Pettitte; and Phil Hughes was fine until the rain delay, after which they were not going to send him back out.
Curtis Granderson hit 2 homers yesterday, and while he did have an RBI double yesterday, Alex Rodriguez remains at 599 career home runs, and says he's okay after getting plunked on the hand in the 8th inning.
Alex is okay, right? After all, he wouldn't lie to us...
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Is there another Major League Baseball team in New York? Since October 26, 2000, the only correct answer to that question has been, "No, that's just a vicious rumor."
And getting more vicious. The Mess just finished a roadtrip that was (Choose One: A, Atrocious; B, Maddening; C, Typical Flushing).
As of this typing, Jerry Manuel is still their manager, and Omar Minaya is still their general manager.
The Mets need to blow it all up. Admit that the experiment, as conducted by Minaya, has spectacularly failed. Failed as badly as conservatism, although, unlike conservatism, it isn't costing nearly enough jobs.
The Mets of the last few years have been built around the following guys: David Wright, Jose Reyes, Tom Glavine, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Pedro Martinez, Billy Wagner, John Maine, Oliver Perez, Johan Santana, Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez, and, most recently, Jason Bay.
Glavine, Delgado, Pedro the Punk and Billy Wags are gone, having given the Mets precious little.
It is time to dump the rest, except for Santana. Not because he is great, but because he is the one guy in that bunch who can legitimately be said to not be at fault for the disaster that the Mutts have become.
Wright, on a few brief occasions, looked like the best 3rd baseman in New York, better than Alex Rodriguez. I do not expect any more such occasions. He can't take the pressure.
Reyes is a joke. He was never better than Derek Jeter. At anything. Except maybe in growing hair. And in making himself look like a damn fool.
Beltran has spent almost his entire Met career underachieving -- much of that due to being injured, although he sure was healthy when he didn't take the bat off his shoulder at the end of Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, which is likely to remain the last postseason game the Mets ever play for several more years unless they give it up and start a new plan, which may get them back to the 2nd week of October in 4 years instead of 12 -- if that. (Unless, of course, Bud Selig tampers with the schedule again.)
Beltran's return from injury has not yet been particularly effective, and has been a disruptive influence on the clubhouse. "Addition by subtraction" is required here. Somebody might suggest that Beltran is already headed for "What if he hadn't gotten hurt?" speculations, but, face it, he was doomed the moment he decided that Flushing Meadow was the way to go. The Curse of Kevin Mitchell is powerful.
Maine and Perez stepped up with unexpected, yet superb performances in the 2006 postseason. Unfortunately, performing very well in the postseason only helps if you get into it. Since then, Maine has struggled, and Perez has been a nightmare for Met fans. He's actually back on the roster. Why? Apparently, one of the Wilpons (not sure whether it's father or son) is insistent upon him justifying his contract.
K-Rod has blown too many saves, and come close to blowing too many others. And when he does well -- especially after he blows a save, the game stays tied, the Mets score in the top half, and he gets out of it in the bottom half, and he perversely ends up as the winning pitcher -- he still celebrates as if he's just won the World Series. (Which he does know about, with the 2002 Angels. Along with Rod Barajas of the '01 Diamondbacks, Luis Castillo or the '03 Marlins and Alex Cora of the '07 Red Sox, although all of those except K-Rod's are steroid-tainted). You don't celebrate a win after you've blown a save, or else you look like both a fool and a jackass. Right now, K-Rod seems to be good for only one thing: Driving WFAN hosts crazy. In the case of some, it's a short drive.
And Jason Bay can't hit at Citi Field. Or maybe he can't hit in New York. I don't think it's that he can't hit outside Fenway Park, as he wasn't a bad road hitter with Boston, and he hit fairly well everywhere when he played for Pittsburgh. But he's done next to nothing for the Mets.
I would keep Santana, Barajas, Castillo (yes, don't judge him by that one blown pop-up against the Yankees last season), Ike Davis, Jeff Francoeur, Angel Pagan, Mike Pelfrey, R.A. Dickey, and one of their two Japanese pitchers (I'm not sure which one, I can never keep them straight, but one has been a fair starter thus far). These players are not totally hopeless, and in fact might be the basis of a good team if Met management does the right thing and gets rid of the failures.
But they won't. They won't do the right thing. Why? Because if they did the right thing, they would not be the Mets.
Would they?
Probably not: Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is suggesting that the Mets will make a trade with the Royals to bring in, among others, Kyle Farnsworth.
That's right, Kerosene Kyle. Not a Darn's Worth. True, he's having his best season in 5 years, but he can't pitch in New York, and he's 34.
If the Wilpons bring Farnsworth and his attitude in, I'm goin to start thinking that they don't love Met fans anymore.
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New York Football Challenge yesterday: Sporting Clube de Portugal (a.k.a. Sporting Lisbon) managed a tie with Tottenham, and the Red Bulls beat Manchester City. Of the 4, only the Red Bulls played anything like their starting lineup, although, with substitution rules relaxed as these were exhibitions/friendlies, they played half their starters in the 1st half and the other half of them in the 2nd. But there were plenty of starters from the other 3 clubs.
As an Arsenal fan, I loved seeing Thierry Henry out there for the Red Bulls, and Kolo Toure for Man City. I was disappointed that Man City did not play Patrick Vieira.
And I gave Emmanuel Adebayor all he deserved, although I didn't make bus jokes. The Togo team bus massacre goes alongside the Munich Air Disaster, and the deaths at Ibrox, Heysel and Hillsborough as things you don't joke about, no matter how much you hate the other team.
Memo to Spurs fans: Your game was over, and Sporting had already wrapped up the "tournament" championship, so what were you still doing there during the 2nd game? Were you there just to boo Thierry Henry, a greater player than your franchise has ever had or ever will? Or was it just to sing your stupid songs, half of which were ripped off of better clubs?
They are such idiots. First, they sang "When the Spurs Go Marching In" so slow it sounded like they were smoking pot. After 3 choruses, then they went into it so fast it was like they were on amphetamines.
Being a Spurs fan messes up your brain worse than any drug. Friends don't let friends choose Spurs. Dopes.
Forza Red Bull, and Up The Arsenal!
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This countdown has been corrected for changes in estimates and for my own errors.
Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 600th career home run: 3 (an estimate I've moved around more than Joe Torre moved him around in the batting order).
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series: 11, starting a week from this Friday night, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 2 weeks.
Days until the new English Premier League season starts: 19. Under 3 weeks. Arsenal's lid-lifter is the next day, Sunday, August 15, against Liverpool at Anfield.
Days until the first football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium (still unnamed): 20, the Giants against the Jets in a preseason exhibition (with the Jets as the "home team"), Monday, August 16, 8:00 PM on ESPN.
Days until Rutgers plays football again: 38.
Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 47. Under 7 weeks.
Days until the first regular-season Giants game at the new Meadowlands Stadium: 48.
Days until the first regular-season Jets game at the new Meadowlands Stadium: 49.
Days until the Devils play hockey again: 74, on Friday, October 8, at home at the Prudential Center in Newark, against the Dallas Stars. Under 11 weeks.
Days until Rutgers and Army play the first college football game at the new Meadowlands Stadium: 82.
Days until the Devils play another local rival: 90, on Sunday, October 24, at Madison Square Garden against The Scum. 3 months. Then the Rags come to the Prudential on Friday, November 5. The first game of the season against the Islanders is on Friday, November 26, the day after Thanksgiving, at the Nassau Coliseum, followed the next day by the first game of the season against the defending Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia Flyers, at The Rock.
Days until the next North London Derby: 118, with the British TV schedule having bumped it up a day to Sunday, November 21, at New Highbury. A little under 4 months.
Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 122.
Days until Derek Jeter collects his 3,000th career hit: 298 (estimated). 10 months.
Days until the Rutgers-Army football game at Yankee Stadium: 474.
Days until the last Nets game in New Jersey: 629 (estimated).
Days until the 2012 Olympics begin in London: 732.
Days until Alex Rodriguez collects his 3,000th career hit: 815 (estimated).
Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 700th career home run: 1,078 (estimated).
Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 1,287.
Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 756th career home run to surpass all-time leader Hank Aaron: 1,741 (estimated).
Days until Alex Rodriguez hits his 763rd career home run to become as close to a "real" all-time leader as we are likely to have: 1,765 (estimated).
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