Yanks Walk Off vs. Astros In Old-Fashioned Pitching Duel

The site of last night's game between the Yankees and the Houston Astros was a stadium built during the Obama Administration, blasting recent hit songs from its loudspeakers. It was broadcast on a classic baseball station (WPIX-Channel 11), rather than on the YES Network, but was also available on the Internet.

The Astros are in the American League, something that wasn't true just 2 years ago, and are leading their Division, something that would have been ridiculous as recently as 8 years ago. Someone who'd forgotten that the Astros had been bumped out of the National League would have seen this game on the schedule, and presumed that it was an Interleague game, something that would never have happened in the regular season as little as 19 years ago.

The starting pitchers were born in the Administrations of the elder George Bush and Ronald Reagan. Players from all over the world participated. Neither starter entered this season as anything resembling a star, and neither went the distance. Both, however, were paid enormously by the standards of the reserve clause era -- or even the 1st few years of free agency.

In spite of all this, the game was an old-fashioned pitching duel.

Nathan Eovaldi started for the Yankees. He's 25, and a native of the Houston area. In fact, he's from Alvin, Texas, hometown of another fireballer who actually did pitch for the Astros: Nolan Ryan.

Eovaldi hovered around 100 miles per hour all night. He seems to have 3 speeds: Fast, faster, and, "You wanna see it again? Oh, that's right, you didn't see it the first time." Nasty Nate, he's being called, although by all appearances he's a decent guy if you don't have to bat against him. Nor does he specialize in brushbacks or purpose pitches.

Pitching the way he did last night, he didn't have to. He went 8 innings, throwing 109 pitches, allowed 4 hits and 3 walks, and no runs. He struck out 7 -- a bit short of another Ryan parallel, but effective. Three Astros got as far as 2nd base, none as far as 3rd.

Scott Feldman started for the Astros. He's a 32-year-old 6-foot-7 native of Hawaii, but grew up in the Bay Area, in Burlingame, which some of you will recognize as California wine country, and others as the hometown of football coaching legend Dick Vermeil.

Perhaps "not anything resembling a star" is a little unfair in Feldman's case. In 2009, he went 17-9 for the Texas Rangers, although he didn't do so well in 2010, as he wasn't included on their postseason roster. He was injured much of 2011, but did appear in the postseason, including the World Series. He's only topped 8 wins once since 2009, and was 5-5 with a 3.75 ERA coming into last night's game.

But last night, Feldman was, effectively, Eovaldi's equal. He stranded Brian McCann after a leadoff single in the bottom of the 2nd inning. He allowed opening singles to Didi Gregorius and Stephen Drew in the 3rd, but allowed no run. He got a double play to erase McCann's leadoff single in the 4th. He got a strikeout and a double play to erase leadoff singles by McCann and Carlos Beltran in the 7th. That's right: McCann led off 3 innings with hits, and didn't score. Feldman allowed 6 hits, but no walks, and no runs.

It began to look like one of those games for the Yankees, where their lack of hitting would come back to bite them. Especially after Joe Girardi looked in his binder, and saw, "If your starter crosses 100 pitches, never, ever, ever let him pitch the next inning." So he brought in Andrew Miller, the closer, to start the 9th, and he immediately allowed a single to Evan Gattis. But he then induced a double play on Luis Valbuena, and struck out Chris Carter, to send the game to the bottom of the 9th scoreless.

Astros manager A.J. Hinch also went to his bullpen, bringing in Oliver Perez. Yes, the same Oliver Perez who first thrilled, then appalled, fans of that small club in Flushing. Admit it: You didn't know he was still in the major leagues.

Brett Gardner led off with a walk. Met fans would probably consider that typical of Perez, to walk a leadoff batter. Then he threw a wild pitch, to get Gardner to 2nd. Then, with Alex Rodriguez up, Hinch ordered an intentional walk to set up the double play. After all, in this instance, the lead baserunner was all that mattered, so a 2nd baserunner did the Yankees little good, but could have helped the Astros.

But Perez issued a very unintentional walk to McCann (his 4th time reaching base in the game), and now the bases were loaded with nobody out in a tie game in the bottom of the 9th.

Oliver Perez, ladies and gentlemen. He faced 3 batters and walked them all. Feldman faced 28 batters and walked exactly none.

Hinch had seen enough, and he pulled Perez for Chad Qualls.

The batter was Carlos Beltran. In 2004, he was a trade-deadline steal and a postseason hero for the Astros. Last night, he was a hero for the Yankees, sending a fly ball to center field. Carlos Gomez caught it, but knew he had no chance to catch the speedy Gardner, and didn't even throw. Gardner tagged up, and ballgame over.

Yankees 1, Astros 0. WP: Miller (2-2). No save. LP: Perez (2-2).

The Yankees celebrated by dumping bottles of water on Beltran's head. It looked like Poland Spring brand.

Water? I guess A.J. Burnett took the pie franchise with him when he left.

The series continues tonight. Ivan Nova starts against Dallas Keuchel, who started the All-Star Game for the American League. Yes, his name is Dallas, and he pitches for Houston.

*

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 1, tomorrow night, at 8:30 PM Eastern Time, away to the Chicago Fire.

Days until Arsenal play again: 4, this coming Saturday, 7:45 in the morning our time, away to North-East club Newcastle United. Yesterday, in a driving rain, Arsenal and once-mighty Liverpool played to an atrocious 0-0 tie, perhaps the sloppiest game I've ever seen 2 "big clubs" play. Arsenal got robbed, as an Aaron Ramsey goal was incorrectly ruled offside.

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 5, this Sunday night at 7:00, home to arch-rival D.C. United, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against the New England Revolution will be on Wednesday night, September 16, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Sunday night, October 18, at Red Bull Arena, the regular season finale. They've already played their 3 regular-season games against expansion New York City F.C., the team playing its "home" games in Yankee Stadium until they can get a new stadium built, and won them all. Small club in Da Bronx. The teams could, theoretically, meet in the Playoffs. The Red Bulls currently hold the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference, 5 points behind DC with 4 games in hand. But NYCFC are in 7th, level on points with the Montreal Impact, yet with inferior goal difference, and Montreal have a whopping 6 games in hand. So the chances of "Man City NYC" are not good.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 6, next Monday night, at 7:00 PM, at Fenway Park.

Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 10, on Friday night, September 4, in a friendly with Peru at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 11, on Saturday afternoon, September 5, home to Norfolk State.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: 17, on Friday night, September 11, home to Piscataway. (I previously had that listed as Thursday, September 3, away to Woodbridge. Apparently, that's a preseason scrimmage. We've played Woodbridge in most regular seasons since 1963, but not, apparently, in this one.)

Days until the Devils play again: 45, on Friday, October 9, home to the Winnipeg Jets. Under 7 weeks.

Days until the Islanders' first home game at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn: 45, also on Friday, October 9, against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks. Or, to put it another way, "61 Sleeps Till Brooklyn." Until then, despite having definitively played their last competitive game in the Nassau Coliseum, even with their 4 straight long-ago Stanley Cups, they're just a Small Club In Hempstead.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: 54, on Sunday, October 18, away to the Rangers.

Days until the next North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham: 90, on Saturday, November 7, at the Emirates Stadium. Just 3 months. (Most likely, at least the time -- currently 10 AM U.S. Eastern -- and possibly the date of this game could be moved to accommodate television. It could be moved to the next day, Sunday.)

Days until the next East Brunswick vs. Old Bridge Thanksgiving game: 93, on Thursday morning, November 26, at 11:00 AM, at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick. About 3 months. (I previously had it starting at 10 AM, but it's going to start at 11. Knowing EB, and knowing OB -- and you can't spell "SLOB" without "OB" -- it'll be over quickly, as they always seem to humiliate us.)

Days until the Copa América Centenario begins on U.S. soil: 283, on June 3, 2016. A little under 10 months. The tournament will be between teams from the North American, Central American and Caribbean region (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL, which is celebrating its 100th Anniversary). Although it's a member of CONCACAF rather than CONMEBOL, the U.S. is the host nation, and thus qualifies automatically, as it does for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Days until Euro 2016 begins in France: 290, on Friday, June 10.

Days until the next Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 346, on Friday, August 5, 2016. Under 1 year.

Days until the next World Cup begins in Russia: 1,028, on Friday June 8, 2018. Under 3 years.

Scandal Finale vs. Mariners

Last night was the finale of a 3-game series at home to the Seattle Mariners.

It was also the season finale of American Idol. Not to many idols in this game, American or otherwise.

It was also the season finale of Scandal. The Yankees played 3 games in this series, against the Seattle Mariners, and scored a total of 8 runs. Now that is a scandal finale.

It was also the season finale of Grey's Anatomy, which is set in Seattle. And, again, the Yankees resembled a medical drama.

In the top of the 5th, the Yankees were trailing 2-1, and Andy Pettitte started grimacing. Joe Girardi didn't like that, so he consulted his Binder.  Under, "Pitcher, starting, grimace" it read: "Go to mound, talk to him, see how he feels. * " He did not check the asterisk, which read, "A pitcher is usually going to tell you he's all right, even if his arm feels like Jell-O." (Major League reference.)

Girardi pulled Pettitte, and the Yankees went on to lose, 3-2. But we can't really blame the bullpen. Shawn Kelly allowed 1 run in 2 innings, 2 hits and no walks. Boone Logan actually managed to pitch an inning and a 3rd without setting the Stadium on fire. And Adam Warren threw a scoreless 9th.

The Yankee pitchers allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. That should have been enough to win.

The Yankees got 8 hits. Three of them came from Curtis Granderson. Oddly, none of those hits drove in a run, although he did score 1 of them. The Yankee runs came on rookie David Adams doubling Grandy home in the 2nd, and Robinson Cano singling home Ichiro Suzuki in the 7th. Other than that, there were singles by Ichiro, Brett Gardner and Chris Stewart -- more on that in a moment.

Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay, who've been lovely surprises thus far, went a combined 0-for-6 with 3 strikeouts. And Jayson Nix, starting at shortstop in place of the still-injured Derek Jeter, went 0-for-5, with 2 strikeouts and 5 men left on base. That's right, 5 LOB.

That is a scandal.

WP: Oliver Perez -- yes, ex-Met Ollie Perez, alive and well in the Pacific Northwest. SV: Tom Wilhelmsen (11). LP: Pettitte (4-3).

*

Pettitte has a tight left trapezius muscle: That's the neck, shoulders and upper back. Girardi thinks Pettitte will not miss his next start, which should be next Tuesday in Baltimore, although I wouldn't be surprised if Joe's Binder says, under "Pitcher, starting, muscle, tight, throwing side," "Hold him back another day."

But Stewart, who is already the Yankees' backup catcher, and is only starting because Francisco Cervelli is on the 60-Day Disabled List, pulled his groin in running out his hit in the 7th. He could be headed for the DL as well.

Which means Austin Romine and his 37 career major league plate appearances and his -34 OPS+ this season will be starting. (1-for-16, albeit the 1 hit is an RBI double. And a hit-by-pitch. So, BA .063, OBP .118, slugging .125, .243 OPS.) Romine is 24, from Orange County, California. He should be better than this by now.

In case you're wondering: The starting catcher for the last 2 years, Russell Martin, has a sizzling 154 OPS+ for the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, Jesus Montero, whom the Yankees traded to the Mariners along with Hector Noesi for Michael Pineda -- who is apparently almost ready to throw rehab games and could reach the majors in June -- is batting a mere .204 with an OPS+ of 68. Stewart's is 89, and before he got hurt Cervelli's was 136. Montero's season, so far, would be an improvement on Romine's, but not Stewart's, and not by a long shot on Cervelli's, although Martin's would be.

So again citing the lousy trade of Montero for Pineda is pointless -- since, thus far, it's been a wash, and reversing it wouldn't be helping the Yankees much.

The Toronto Blue Jays come in for a weekend series. Here's the pitching matchups for Pinstripes vs. Peskies:

Tonight, 7:00: Hiroki Kuroda vs. Mark Buehrle. Could be a great pitchers' duel. (But then, as John Sterling reminds us, "You know, Suzyn, you just can't predict baseball," so expect a slugfest.)

Tomorrow afternoon, 1:00: David Phelps vs. Brandon Morrow.

Sunday afternoon, 1:00: CC Sabathia vs. R.A. Dickey. Battle of the initials, the Yankee ace vs. the Cy Young winner the Mets let get away (in this decade). So far, Dickey's found that pitching against American League teams is hard.  Let's show him just how hard it is.

Willie Randolph and the Chicken Feathers

I've read some blogs from the Flushing Heathen saying that Willie Randolph did not do the job he was hired to do, and that's why he was fired; and, for that reason, the time of the season, the game of the day, and even the location of his firing don't matter.

These guys have a point. Willie did not do the job he was hired to do, which was to turn the Mets into World Champions and New York's Number 1 baseball team.

The Mets came within one run of a Pennant in 2006, came within one game of a Playoff berth and a Division Title in 2007, and now in 2008 are a sub-.500 team in a not very strong Division. And the Yankees, for all their difficulties since the bottom of the 9th inning on November 4, 2001, remain what they have been since the Met "dynasty" collapsed in 1992: New York's Number 1 baseball team.

What does this mean? It means that Met general manager Omar Minaya did not do the job he was hired to do: Get his manager the players he needed to do his job. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken feathers, to use a cleaned-up version of a classic analogy.

Jose Reyes is Rickey Henderson circa 1988, i.e. a player with a lot of talent but a bad attitude who has thus far underachieved while fooling fans and media into thinking he's great. Henderson eventually got sent to a team that was good enough for him to make the difference, and he did. He proved he had what it takes. Reyes may one day become a 1989 Rickey Henderson, but can he do it with this bunch? So far, no.

Carlos Beltran is a SPORT magazine article short of being what Reggie Jackson was in the spring of 1977. Minus the three World Championships, that is. (Lucky for him, SPORT went out of business in 2000 -- coincidentally, the last year the Mets won a Pennant.)

David Wright is a can't-miss prospect. Which is also what he was 2 years ago when the Flushing Heathen thought Willie Randolph knew how to manage.

Carlos Delgado is a switch-hitting Mo Vaughn -- minus about 50 pounds.

John Maine and Oliver Perez are starting to look like Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon, pleasant surprises when they weren't being counted on to be regular members of the starting rotation, but when they were counted on, so much for all that early promise.

Billy Wagner... Let's just say if he stood up as well on the mound as he does in the locker room, he'd be closer to Mariano Rivera than to Kyle Farnsworth.

And Johan Santana and, when able to pitch, Pedro Martinez, have made no difference at all. At least Santana's not a headhunter.

Just 3 months ago, the Flushing Heathen were so sure that this team was going all the way. And, thanks to the Three Stooges -- Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Omar Minaya -- they have gone all the way down the drain. As they always do.

At the rate the Washington Nationals are going, Willie could be their next manager. Wouldn't that be something, Willie leading the Nats against the Mets 18 or so times a year, 9 or so times a year at Citi Field, and showing the 46,000 or so fans -- 20,000 or so coming dressed as empty seats because they don't want to see a crummy team -- what they wanted gone.

Willie Randolph has the moral high ground. Met management, and the Met fans who wanted him gone, wouldn't know a moral high ground if it bit them in the Keith Hernandez. (Maybe Kramer and Newman were right about him. After all, as a broadcaster, he's spit on plenty of people.)

Something is rotten in the neighborhood of Flushing Meadow. The food is spoiled. Blame the distributor. Not the cook.

Chef Manuel, I don't envy you your new job. Here's your, uh, chicken feathers. See what you can make of it. I'm just glad I'm a Yankee Fan and I don't have to eat it.

Met fans, the Flushing Heathen, can eat it.

Enough Is Enough! Dump Farnsworth!

Tomorrow is June 4. It would have been my grandmother's birthday. I'll have something to say about her and her former teams -- the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Mets, the New York Football Giants, the New Jersey Devils and the Lakewood BlueClaws -- tomorrow.

Today, however, I gotta get something off my chest.

Kyle Farnsworth. If you don't mind me using dirty words. (NOTE: This was before I began using profanity in this blog.)

Hank Steinbrenner should have a talk with him, and say the same things Jackie Gleason would've said on The Honeymooners:

"You are a mental case!"

"I oughta belt you one!"

"You wanna go to the Moon? Do you wanna go to the Moon?" (Hey, when he gets there, he might see a few balls he gave up for home runs!)

"One of these days, one of these days... POW! Right in the kisser!"

"Get out. Get out! GET OUT!"

Kerosene Kyle blew another one last night: Tied 5-5 in the 8th at the Metrodome, he gave up back-to-back doubles, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Yankees.

Ashley and Rachel walking, good things happening with Twins. Farnsworth on the mound, bad things happening with Twins!

As long as Not a Darn's Worth is on the Yankees, Aaron Heilman will not be the most disgraceful figure in a New York bullpen!

How many times does a guy have to screw up a game before the manager (Joe Torre the last two years, Joe Girardi now) and management (Brian Cashman or Hank Steinbrenner) loses confidence in him?

Time to paraphrase Jackson. Not Reggie. Samuel L.

Enough is enough! I have had it with that motherf---ing Farnsworth on that motherf---ing mound!

(UPDATE: I had not yet decided to use profanity in this blog.)

*

I'm so mad at Farnsworth, I didn't even notice how the Mets did last night. Did they do any better?

Actually, I did notice: Oliver Perez got roughed up for six runs on only one out in the first inning. By the San Francisco Giants. The Barry Bonds-less, apparently steroid-less, Giants. The Mets lost, 10-2.

And the Detroit Red Wings, just 40 seconds or so from winning the Stanley Cup, got shocked with a last-minute goal, and then lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in triple overtime.

Detroit fans were chanting, "We want the Cup!" and almost had it. Then, dead silence. Then two and a half overtimes of sensational goaltending by Chris Osgood of Detroit and Marc-Andre Fleury of Pitt. Then it was over.

The Wing who stood to be the man who scored the Cup-winning goal? Brian Rafalski, of the Devils' 2000 and 2003 Cup winners, but whom general manager Lou Lamoriello refused to re-sign, with devastating results. (Then again, Rafalski is from the Detroit area, so maybe it was a lost cause, but Lam should have at least tried.) The guy who scored the winning goal last night? Petr Sykora, of the Devils' 2000 Cup winners. Game 6 tomorrow night in Pittsburgh; if the Pens can win that, too, Game 7 two nights later in Detroit.

Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA Title. We're gonna party like it's 1969. Or 1987.

Who do I root for in this one?

Ordinarily, I can't root for L.A. I especially can't root for Kobe Bryant, who really should have gone to jail for something he did with/to that girl in Colorado.

But Boston doesn't deserve it. Maybe Kevin Garnett does. Maybe Ray Allen does. Maybe Paul Pierce does. But I have had it with those motherf---ing frontrunners in that motherf---ing New England, talking about how they're the sports capital of the world. Just because they've won as many World Championships (so far, all by the Red Sox and Patriots) in the last 7 years as the New York Tri-State Area has won in the last 9 years. Except they've won 5 in the last 22 years, while New York/New Jersey has won 12 over that span. (Los Angeles? 7.)

Let's go Lakers.

Joba makes his first major league start tonight. Pedro returns. One should knock 'em dead. The other might take that literally.

Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Willie Randolph for the Mets Blowing a Playoff Berth

Back in the late 1970s, Garrett Morris played former New York Mets star Chico Escuela on Saturday Night Live. Chico wrote a book titled Bad Stuff 'Bout the Mets. Clearly, it was a parody of the kind of tell-all sports book pioneered by former Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton's Ball Four.

If Chico had been real, and is still alive in 2007, he could write at least one more sequel.

It was not much sooner than the end of the final game that several Met fans went on various message boards saying that the Mets' newly-completed collapse, blowing a seven-game lead with 17 to play, perhaps not the worst but maybe the most humiliating choke-job in regular-season baseball history, was all the fault of manager Willie Randolph.

Willie grew up in Brooklyn as a Met fan, played second base for the Yankees from 1976 to 1988, and closed his career with the Mets in 1992. He then became the Yankees' assistant general manager, and served as a Yankee coach until 2004. In three seasons managing the Mets, he has managed them to a respectable third-place finish, to within one run of a Pennant, and to within one game of a Division title. That may not look bad. But with the talent that Met fans think their team has, they should have gone further.

Unless, of course, the Mets just aren't that good, right?

No, of course not. The Mets are a great team. The best team in baseball. The best team in New York. And New York is a National League town. New York has always been a National League town. Jose Reyes is a better shortstop than Derek Jeter, just as Rey Ordonez was. David Wright is a better third baseman than Alex Rodriguez. Paul Lo Duca is a better catcher than Jorge Posada, just as Mike Piazza was. And Pedro Martinez is still a great pitcher, unlike Roger Clemens.

It can't be the fault of the players. So it's got to be all the fault of "Witless Willie."

When am I going to learn not to expect rational thought from the Flushing Heathen? After all, if these people were capable of ratoinal thought, they'd know: 26 > 2; since 1969, 6 > 1; since 1986, 4 > 0; and, most of all, they had their chance to "take over New York" in the 2000 World Series, and the Yankees ended the discussion.

But they blame Randolph, because it couldn't be the fault of the great Met players, right?

So, in the tradition of ESPN Classic, I present to you...

The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Willie Randolph for the New York Mets Blowing a Berth in the 2007 National League Playoffs

Now, I could just take the easy Number 1 answer: The Philadelphia Phillies were better. But I'm not so sure they are. Anyway, here's the Top 5:

5. Paul LoDuca. His hotheadedness got him thrown out of key games, and he publicly upbraided Randolph to the press and on a radio talk-show. Since LoDuca was considered a "team leader," several players followed his lead, and lost confidence in Randolph at the worst possible time.

4. The Left Side of the Infield. Reyes disappeared down the stretch, and proved that his discipline was not the equal of his talent. Wright was supposed to be this year's NL Most Valuable Player, an award that no player has ever won while on the Mets' roster; whereas A-Rod, stats be damned, is not an MVP. Wright came down the stretch playing less like A-Rod and more like A-Bum, just as he choked in the 2006 NLCS.

3. The Starting Rotation. At times, this season, Tom Glavine looked like a 300-game winner. At other times, he looked like a 41-year-old man. (Both of which, he actually is.) Pedro Martinez is "only" 35 going on 36 -- or so we were told, you never know with Caribbean pitchers -- but he is no longer capable of being the unstoppable pitcher he was from 1997 to 2000. (Of course, he really hadn't been that pitcher very often anyway.)

John Maine was not in 2007 what he was in late 2006. Oliver Perez was fine until the very end, falling apart when the Mets needed him most. And the Mets never found a reliable fifth starter.

2. The Bullpen. The closer is Billy Wagner, whose blown saves cost the Phillies Playoff berths in 2004 and 2005, and helped prevent the Houston Astros from winning a postseason series in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001. They have now cost the Mets the 2006 Pennant and the 2007 Division Title.

The top setup man is Aaron Heilman, who in 2006 gave up a Pennant-losing home run to Yadier Molina, the third-best Molina brother. Then there's the clearly washed-up Scott Schoenweis. Pedro Feliciano. Guillermo Mota. This is a bridge from a great rotation to a reliable closer? No, it's a bad connection from a shaky rotation to a shaky closer.

You've just seen Reasons 5 through 2. There's one major reason why Randolph should be exonerated. There's an old saying in baseball: You can't make chicken salad out of chicken, uh, feathers. Somebody assembled the surprisingly weak, not-especially-stout-hearted, undisciplined, clutchless bunch that Willie had to manage. That somebody is Reason Number 1:

1. Omar Minaya. The Mets' general manager is supposed to be a genius at getting the players necessary to win a World Series. His failure to get a reliable bullpen cost the Mets a 2005 Playoff berth, the 2006 Pennant, and now the 2007 Division Title. He went after Pedro, Glavine, Wagner and Schoenweis. He settled for Perez, Maine, Heilman, Feliciano and Mota. Meanwhile, across town, Mariano Rivera remains the best closer in baseball, and the Yankees found a bridge to him -- at least for 2007 -- in Joba Chamberlain.

(Or maybe we could blame The Dreaded SI Cover Jinx.)

In addition, Minaya pursued Carlos Beltran (very good at times, terribly disappointing at others) and Carlos Delgado (once a very good hitter, but now too injury-prone to matter much). And he pursued Pedro Martinez, who has been too injured to contribute much, a 36-year-old pitcher with the reliability of a 42-year-old pitcher.

Minaya has had the money. He has had no excuse. Just as the Mets blew it by getting rid of manager Bobby Valentine before getting rid of general manager Steve Phillips, they should dump Minaya along with Randolph. Better yet, dump him instead of Randolph.

As ESPN's Brian Kenny says on The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... , maybe I changed your mind, maybe I didn't, but I hope I at least made you think about it in a different light.

So a guy goes into a doctor's office. The doctor examines him, and tells him he needs surgery.

"I want a second opinion," the patient says.

"Okay," the doctor says. "The Mets stink."

(NOTE: When I began writing this blog, I intended to avoid using profanity. I have since given that up. Hence, I did not say, "You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit," which is how the line actually goes.)