Manuel Just Can't Leave Well Enough Alone
Leave to Met manager Jerry Manuel to give Met fans something to complain about after tonight's 11-0 victory.
First things first however. The Mets were just awesome tonight. It was the first time this season I can remember them totally imposing their will on their opponent, in this case a VERY good Cardinal team that had shut them out the night before. While David Wright was going 4 for 4, along with Ryan Church's 3-4, 2-rbi night and Fernando Tatis' 3 rbis, Nick Evans was hitting his first homerun of the year for another 2 rbis and Brian Schneider continued to pitch in with another 2-rbi game of his own.
Meanwhile, pitching sensation (can I say that yet?) Fernando Nieves was making Cardinal hitters look inept and confused at the plate. Nieves went 6 innings, struck out 5 and won for the third time without a loss. What a find this guy is! Good job, Omar!
Now, let's get to Jerry Manuel. First of all, it always hurts to continue to overwork a tired bullpen. It would have been nice to see Nieves go longer in the game (and I don't want to hear about pitchcount... after all, we've babied John Maine, Oliver Perez, Billy Wagner, etc. and they're all on the disabled list anyway - along with countless other pitchers from all of baseball. If there's anything more clearer in baseball, it should be that the pitchcount is a totally irrelevant number.)
But here's what really gets me: with the Mets up 11-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jerry used pitcher Livan Hernandez to pinch hit! You pinch-hit a pitcher for a pitcher with an 11-run lead?!?!? Can you imagine? Talk about rubbing it into your opponent! What? 11 runs isn't enough?
Trust me, I know Tony LaRussa and that move I'm sure did not go over well. It would not surprise me in the least if the first batter up for the Mets in tomorrow's game gets drilled with a pitch - and if that happens, I don't want to see any shocked faces from the Mets dugout. When you're up 11 runs (in the eighth inning no less - even the Mets bullpen can't blow that lead), you don't show up the other team with a lowlife classless act like the one Manuel pulled in tonight's game. I know Manuel thinks he's a "gansta" and all, but in the real world, 56-year-olds should know better.
In fact, I could see the embarrassment in Livan's eyes at the plate. Bush move, Jerry. And by the way, if a Met hitter does get plunked (and it'll probably be Alex Cora since he's sure to bat leadoff tomorrow), let's hope he doesn't get hurt or breaks something as a result. With the way the Mets are staffing the disabled list these days, that's certainly a possibility (Sheffield's hurt too now).
And if it does indeed happen, this one's on the Mets' gangsta who may not understand there are sometimes unforeseen consequences for showing up the other team.
First things first however. The Mets were just awesome tonight. It was the first time this season I can remember them totally imposing their will on their opponent, in this case a VERY good Cardinal team that had shut them out the night before. While David Wright was going 4 for 4, along with Ryan Church's 3-4, 2-rbi night and Fernando Tatis' 3 rbis, Nick Evans was hitting his first homerun of the year for another 2 rbis and Brian Schneider continued to pitch in with another 2-rbi game of his own. Meanwhile, pitching sensation (can I say that yet?) Fernando Nieves was making Cardinal hitters look inept and confused at the plate. Nieves went 6 innings, struck out 5 and won for the third time without a loss. What a find this guy is! Good job, Omar!
Now, let's get to Jerry Manuel. First of all, it always hurts to continue to overwork a tired bullpen. It would have been nice to see Nieves go longer in the game (and I don't want to hear about pitchcount... after all, we've babied John Maine, Oliver Perez, Billy Wagner, etc. and they're all on the disabled list anyway - along with countless other pitchers from all of baseball. If there's anything more clearer in baseball, it should be that the pitchcount is a totally irrelevant number.)
But here's what really gets me: with the Mets up 11-0 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jerry used pitcher Livan Hernandez to pinch hit! You pinch-hit a pitcher for a pitcher with an 11-run lead?!?!? Can you imagine? Talk about rubbing it into your opponent! What? 11 runs isn't enough?
Trust me, I know Tony LaRussa and that move I'm sure did not go over well. It would not surprise me in the least if the first batter up for the Mets in tomorrow's game gets drilled with a pitch - and if that happens, I don't want to see any shocked faces from the Mets dugout. When you're up 11 runs (in the eighth inning no less - even the Mets bullpen can't blow that lead), you don't show up the other team with a lowlife classless act like the one Manuel pulled in tonight's game. I know Manuel thinks he's a "gansta" and all, but in the real world, 56-year-olds should know better.
In fact, I could see the embarrassment in Livan's eyes at the plate. Bush move, Jerry. And by the way, if a Met hitter does get plunked (and it'll probably be Alex Cora since he's sure to bat leadoff tomorrow), let's hope he doesn't get hurt or breaks something as a result. With the way the Mets are staffing the disabled list these days, that's certainly a possibility (Sheffield's hurt too now).
And if it does indeed happen, this one's on the Mets' gangsta who may not understand there are sometimes unforeseen consequences for showing up the other team.
Labels: gansta, Nieves, pinch hitter, shutout
posted by Mets Fan Club @ 1:02 AM
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