Mets Drive For Five Successful, But Lose Nightcap - Clock's Ticking for Unlikely Deal

The Mets won their fifth game in a row by taking the early game of a day-night doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies by a score of 7-0. Johan Santana pitched, which clearly explains the shutout, although he needed help from Bobby Parnell and Tim Redding to finish the last two innings for him. Santana gave up just 4 hits in 7 innings, striking out 8 to up his record to 12-8. He has more wins than anyone else on the team has homeruns.

The Mets scored 5 times in the second which was much more than Johan needed. But just when you thought this team had solved their offensive woes, along came the second game of the day when the team scored just twice en route to a 4-2 loss - ending their modest winning streak at five games.

For six innings, Jonathan Niese looked pretty good. Then it all came apart for him in the seventh. But that's okay, because the kid looks like he may have some promise. Realistically, the Mets are out of postseason aspirations, so I'd really like to see them give Niese a shot at really showing us what he can do. Let's keep him in the rotation for the rest of the year and see what happens, regardless of how good or bad he is. (unless he gets hurt, of course)

On another note, my fingers are still crossed that the Mets can pull an upset here with the Roy Halladay sweepstakes. It looks like talks with all the other teams are dead, and as of this writing, there's just 2 more hours left before the trade deadline for the Mets to vulture a deal. Of course this year's over, but how nice would a signed Roy Halladay look in a Met uniform next year with a Santana-Halladay 1-2 punch in the rotation? Let's look towards the future here and make a deal fast!

I don't care what minor leaguers the Mets have to give up. After all, as stated many times before, the Mets overvalue everyone in their farm system and haven't developed ANY quality major league players in over 20 years (except for Reyes and Wright, who are coincidentally both still on the team).

Omar, want to save your job? Get off your no-deal-making, sit-around-watching-other-GMs-working, sportswriter accusing, language-mangling, spend-money-on-wrong-players butt and make this deal happen in two hours...

Read Between the Lines in Omar's Message to Fans Regarding Bernazard Firing

The Mets once again came up big last night, shutting out the Colorado Rockies 4-0 behind a stellar effort from Mike Pelfrey. The Mets have now won 4 games in a row. Jeff Francoeur continues to become an RBI machine since his arrival and David Wright looks like a huge weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

Yet the talk of the town continues to be off the field, where the Mets faithful yesterday received a message from Omar Minaya via the Mets newsletter - The Flushing Flash. Obviously, someone wrote it for him as it contained no grammatical errors, but it really makes me wonder: how dumb does Omar think we fans really are? Let's read between the lines with this. Omar's letter is in blue - the truth, in brackets:

I wanted for you to hear directly from me today regarding an update on the investigation of Tony Bernazard, our Vice President of Player Development.

[Sending a letter is so much better than publicly speaking. Don't judge me on my lack of knowledge regarding the spoken English language. See kids? It doesn't matter how stupid you are with language or how poorly you come across in a public venue, because somehow, I got a GM job regardless - and keep it to this day! Would it surprise anyone that I can't read or write a word of English? Could you possibly be looking at a modern day Forrest Gump?]

Prior to a series of articles published in the media, our Baseball Operations and Human Resources departments had begun looking into several matters involving Tony. Once those reports became public, we accelerated our investigation. We wanted it to be thorough and complete it as quickly as possible while still being fair to Tony. That process concluded over the weekend.

[We always knew what a horrible person Bernazard was, and we hired him anyway because he was my friend. Remember you're judged by the friends you hang out with and I vouched for this guy. That should say something about my judgement. I always tried to cover up his ridiculous antics but once someone actually noticed, we couldn't sweep it under the carpet anymore. Every day this story lingered, more and more people started calling for my job, so I really needed to do something drastic.]

Yesterday, I met with Tony in person to have a frank conversation about what we had learned following interviews with numerous people. I also wanted for Tony to have the opportunity to give his side of the story.

[I needed to make it look good legally, so Tony couldn't claim discrimination, play the race card in any way, or sue us for wrongful termination. But someone had to go - and it sure wasn't going to be me. So I listened to his profanity laced explanation about how unfair life is.]

After meeting with Tony, and giving a lot of thought to the facts, I came to a decision on Tony's status which I shared with Ownership last night. My recommendation was that we needed to part ways with Tony, as his behavior in his interaction with others was inconsistent with our organization's values. Ownership agreed with my assessment and accepted my recommendation.

[The fans were coming down on me... the media was coming down on me... I had no choice but to fire him to save my butt. I need to deflect mounting attention that I may be in way over my head with my job, and knowing the Mets front office boy is about as clueless as they come, I thought I would pull a classic "misdirection" and throw a writer under the bus. In so doing, I decided to embarrass myself further. By "recommendation", I mean "I was told to do this". And by "organization's values", I mean "we reward incompetence". Believe me, I know.]

I spoke with Tony this morning and informed him of my decision to terminate his employment with the Mets.

[With an armed police escort for safety, (being aware of Bernazard's proclivity to violent outbursts and disgraceful behavior), I fired him, never once giving any thought that it was my decision and judgement to hire him in the first place. Either way, I still have a high paying job that I've proven myself incompetent in and now he doesn't]

Personnel decisions are never easy. And one can't make them without giving it a lot of thought. It's even harder when you know someone as I do Tony. Tony and I go back a long time. He is a dedicated baseball man who loves the game, someone I like and respect, and someone who has contributed to the Mets. In the end, however, I just told him I couldn't leave him in his position after all that had transpired.

[I like someone who's abusive. I respect erratic behavior. Despite the fact Tony was Vice President of Player Development and never developed one player in his entire employ with the Mets speaks to his contributions. Even though on all accounts and on every level everyone knows what a blowhard this guy is, I don't see it, or I don't care, either way, he's the kind of person I like to call my friend. After all, I'm a GM and judged on my decision making ability, which includes giving a lot of thought on how to keep my job]

As General Manager of the Mets, I am fully accountable for our Baseball Operations department -- on and off the field -- and stand by this decision.

[Miraculously, I'm still in charge, and even though I use the term "accountable", I really don't mean it. In fact, this entire letter is CYA lip service to you fans I laugh at under my breath. Because if I really was "accountable", I'd have no choice but to resign seeing how I've embarrassed myself and the organization in just about every aspect of the job. Ownership is so stupid because they tolerate my incompetence. Tony had to go because I need to stay in a high paying job that everyone in baseball (including other GM's who repeatedly take advantage of my stupidity) knows I can't do. I stand by this decision because it somehow saves my job once again].

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Mets.

[Continue your blind, sheep-like devotion of a team that still needs to make major moves to gain any kind of credibility. Your purchase of tickets and merchandise continues to keep me employed.]

Improbable Day Ends with Tatis Pinch-Hit Grand Slam

July 27th, 2009... perhaps one of the greatest days in the history of the New York Mets. Like the battered woman who finally decides to leave her abusive husband, the Mets finally parted ways with their horrendous VP of Player Development Tony Bernazard, probably the biggest cancer the team has ever employed during their 47 year history. (and who never developed one single player).

Ironically, by firing this piece of garbage that is Bernazard, Omar Minaya may have given the Mets front office the straw that breaks the camel's back for his own job by handling the press conference announcing the firing just about as badly as possible. In an incredibly bizarre series of events, Omar (who's no public speaker) fired a cheap shot and had the nerve to throw Daily News reporter Adam Rubin completely under the bus, insinuating that Rubin wrote disparaging articles about Bernazard solely because he wanted his job. Nice move, Omar... you are completely reprehensible! And now, just as we called for the immediate firing of Tony Bastardard, it's couldn't be clearer that Omar needs to be the next one to go.

Tomorrow! You can't have your GM making statements like this - especially at a news conference when you'd think he'd know better and had some time to prepare. If the Mets needed just one more reason to fire Minaya, this would have to be it. It makes you wonder how Minaya got this job in the first place, right? And yes, I think Adam Rubin is more qualified to be the Mets GM than Omar. WILPONS: stop being incompetents and fire him immediately! Get some respect back... give the fans something to believe in! It's hard to believe, but the Wilpons are quickly surpassing the Knick's Dolans as the most inept owners in the entire sports world.

And how did the Mets team respond tonight knowing that 33 percent of their problems are now fired? How about a rare comeback capped by Fernando Tatis' pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning?!?! The Mets were actually down 3-1 in this game, but rallied for 2 big runs in the sixth to tie the game before Tatis' big shot lifted the team to their 3rd straight win. It was the first Mets pinch hit grand slam in nine years. WOW!

Lets give Jerry Manuel a little credit for this one, as I know I'd be right in assuming he was the only one in the ballpark (and everyone else watching on TV I'm sure) who didn't believe Tatis was about to ground into another rally-killing double play - especially with an 0-2 count! But Tatis delivered and hopefully something like this will turn the rest of the season around for him.

And why stop at just him? Perhaps July 27th, 2009 is the day the entire team gets an infusion of hope. After all, on July 26th, 1973 the Mets were in last place, 7.5 games behind before M. Donald Grant's bizarre locker-room tirade inspired Tug McGraw's famous "Ya Gotta Believe" line. Maybe we can draw parallels with today's firing of Bernazard and the insane press conference that ensued. Dare I say it? The Mets are just 6.5 games out of the wild card...

But we Mets fans really need to insist on the firing of Omar at this point for the good karma we'll need to make that happen.

All Forms of Electronic Communication Obviously Broken

No one's watching Met games these days. But talk about a bad Saturday night! On a sadistic level, I went to check the final score of the Mets game against the Houston Astros on my iphone, and my crazy phone displayed a 10-3 final in the Mets favor! The Mets? 10 runs? No way! I obviously have a malfunctioning iphone. Now I have to contact Apple to fix it.

Then, tuning into the Sunday ESPN game on my HD TV, I see a scrolling bar telling me the Mets beat the Astros again by a 8-3 margin. I don't believe it! Something must be wrong with my TV too! Plus, I heard the same thing on ESPN radio in my car! Now I have to get the radio fixed as well as every TV I own, all of which told me the same final scores!

Perhaps I'll get the real scores from my computer, I thought. And now my computer's busted because it's telling me those finals were actually correct. No way. Something must be wrong with my internet connection. Could there be any other possible explanation?

When I called ESPN directly to report the errors in the Mets scores, a representative told me that indeed, the Mets had took two games from the pesky Astros. Great - looks like my land-line's out of order too!

I guess I can call the Mets directly, but I'm sure I'll get the same song and dance. It's like asking a real estate agent if you should buy real estate. Yeah, sure... David Wright actually hit a homerun in Saturday night's 10-3 victory?... what was I, born yesterday!?! The Mets playing 2 consecutive error-free games? Get real! Winning a series on the road for the first time in 2 months? How dumb do you think I am!?

The only possible explanation is that every electronic device I own is broken and the whole world is in on the conspiracy to incorrectly inform us all of improbable scores in order to deflect attention to the fact that this pathetic organization hasn't fired Tony Bernazard yet.

What's next? That this team has any possible shot at beating the Rockies up next at Citi? Once my electronic equipment all gets repaired, I'm sure we'll go back to hearing more believeable results: such as Friday night's 5-4 loss with pitcher Mike Hampton going deep on Johan.

How is this guy NOT fired?!?!

On the heels of yesterday's relevation that Mets VP of player development Tony Bernazard ripped his shirt off and challenged minor-league players to fight him, now we find out the blowhard Bernazard has been involved in a series of even more bizarre instances over the recent weeks.

We're not even going to mention last night's 3-1 loss to Washington. No one cares anymore anyway. But how Bernazard's job is safe for now is beyond me, and just about everyone else that operates a successful business.

Regarding the fight incident, the Mets are stating they are "taking the matter seriously and investigating the situation". Our reaction? Complete BS (and no, I don't mean "blown save"). If the Mets were really taking this seriously, they would have fired this disgrace immediately - there is no need for any investigation.

He rips his shirt off and challenges players to a fight (now that's player development, right!?), then a new report says he unleashed a blazing barage of profanities and pouted like a child when he couldn't get the seat he wanted at a recent home game. Now we find out he had words with our All-Star closer Francisco Rodriquez on the team bus last week in Atlanta.

KROD's too classy to discuss the matter. But knowing how entitled Bernazard feels, we can probably guess pretty correctly at the conversation. When Met players say Bernazard is having a cancerous effect in the Mets' clubhouse, it's time for action - and the only action it's time for is firing action, no committees, no investigations, no panels, no "let's see what happens" inaction.

We can see how poorly this team is playing and call for the firing of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel on job performance, but we certainly can't cite them for boorish behaviors. Whether the Mets decide to keep them or fire them, it'll be based on a business decision and we as fans have to live with that. Incompetance? Maybe... But Minaya and Manuel on all surfaces seem to be good people. The same can't be said for Tony Bernazard - and that's exactly why he needs to be immediately fired if this organization wants to keep whatever level of respect they have left.

Let's face it. Fan's all over the country think the Mets are pathetic from the top to the bottom. Firing Bernazard will go a long way in telling the paying and viewing public that the kind of public antics displayed by him and those like him will not be tolerated!

Ask yourself this: Would YOU be fired in your job for the lack of professionalism Bernazard portrays on a consistent basis? The obvious response from anyone in the real world: "How is this guy NOT fired already!?!"

Here's our suggestion for the Mets if it'll make their decision any easier: take a West Coast trip, and fire this incompetant boob at 3:00 in the morning! Just like Bernazard did to Willie Randolph... Until then, as long as Bernazard's collecting a paycheck from the Mets, it makes it very hard to be a fan of this team.

Fire and Ice

When you lose to the worst team in baseball, you have to respond in some way. And so it goes with the Washington Nationals as they put a beating on the New York Mets 4-0 after losing to them the previous evening.

At MetsFanClub.com, we employ "The Secret", so I stopped watching after the Nats put up 2 runs in the bottom of the fourth, but apparently those who subjected themselves to the further torture say the Mets could do nothing against the Nats' John Lannan, who threw his first complete game shutout of his career. The Mets are ice cold - There's nothing else to say... who cares anyway at this point? Right?

It's bad enough the Mets can't hit and have been a complete embarrassment on the field for the past 6 weeks. Now a report comes out that Mets VP of player development Tony Bernazard (another incompetent that somehow keeps his job) recently took his shirt off and challenged the Double-A Binghamton Mets to a fight in the team's clubhouse after a game. In keeping with the line of thought from a previous post: fire him IMMEDIATELY! This is outrageous! The man's a disgrace. (should we even speculate on how he got his job in the first place?)

On the good news front, it seems the Mets front office have given Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel votes of confidence and have stated publicly that both their jobs are safe. How is that good news? Well, we all know what happens after a vote of confidence. (ask Bobby Valentine if you're not sure).

Remember when the die-hardedness of even the most optimistic fans said the Mets are still in it as long as they don't drop 10 games behind in the standings? Looks like it's time to start planning for next season. The Phillies don't lose and the Mets are ice cold - FIRE THEM ALL!

Mets Injuries Mount: Nieves to DL, Met Fans to Gastroenterologists

I know - Gastroenterologists is a big word, but unless you're employing "The Secret", how else can you describe the sick-to-your-stomach feeling you get by watching this team?

The Mets fell to the Braves yesterday (on national TV no less) by a score of 7-1. They dropped 3 of 4 in Atlanta (nothing new there... when the Braves were good, they beat the Mets. When the Braves are bad, they still beat the Mets) and if you take away the Mets 4-run explosion in the ninth inning of Saturday's game, the team totaled 5 runs in the entire 4 game series! It keeps getting worse and worse. The latest Met injury sees Fernando Nieve on the DL with a strained right quadriceps.

Now 9 games behind the red-hot Phillies, the Mets' season is hopelessly over at this point. Please don't remind me of the '69 squad that was 10 games back in August. That team had great pitching and pretty good defense. This team has Johan Santana - and that's it.

The Mets must decide now if they want to be sellers or buyers. The problem is they have nothing to sell and no reason to buy. Blame it on the minor league system that has turned out 2 everyday players over the past 20 years. And of those two, Reyes is still on the disabled list and Wright can't hit for power or in the clutch anymore.

Come to think of it, if I ran my business the way the Mets run theirs, I'd be OUT of business!

The Mets medical staff? FIRE THEM! The Mets minor league scouting system? FIRE THEM ALL! Howard Johnson as the hitting instructor?!?! Besides homeruns and meaningless RBIs, he wasn't a very good hitter himself in the majors. FIRE HIM! Razor Shines at third? FIRE HIM! Jerry Manuel, a manager the entire league knows is incompetent? FIRE HIM! And Omar Minaya? FIRE HIM too!

Let's clean house. And perhaps we can start at the top level and hope the Wilpon's REALLY got screwed by Madoff. By losing millions upon millions of dollars in his ponzi scheme (allegedly), perhaps they'll realize they can't afford ownership of this team any more and sell the Mets to some real baseball people, so us fans don't have to wait another 20 plus years for a championship.

The Secret to Watching the 2009 Mets

Many Met fans nationwide went to bed very angry after watching their team lose another embarrassing clunker to arch-rival Atlanta by an 11-0 margin. 11-0!!! But those who follow Mets Fan Club weren't among them at all. And you know why? Because followers of this blog know the secret to watching the 2009 Mets which I will reveal to you all again right now:

When you're ready to watch a Met game, sit back, relax, have a drink, grab some munchies, get totally psyched for the experience, and get ready to root for the Amazin's, your baseball team...

Then, (here's the critical part), AT ANY PART OF THE BALLGAME, as soon as the Mets trail by 1 run, turn the TV off, leave the stadium, turn the channel... do whatever you have to do to stop watching the game IMMEDIATELY because the team has NO ABILITY WHATSOEVER to win a game when they're trailing at any point in said game.

There you have it. By following this rule, you didn't have to watch Mike Pelfrey give up 9 runs in four innings in yesterday's game. You didn't have to see the entire team amass two measly hits off the likes of Jair Jurrjens. You wouldn't have seen Tim Redding's horrible outing in Pelfrey's relief. And you would have missed an 0 for 18 performance from a lineup including Angel Pagan, Luis Castillo, Jeremy Reed, Jeff Francoeur, Dan Murphy, Alex Cora, and Omir Santos. (Alex Cora - does he have a hit since May?!?!)

Sometimes, you may start watching the game when the Mets have a lead (not often of course, but it could happen). Take Thursday night's game against the Braves for example when you may have turned on the TV in the fourth inning with the Mets actually enjoying a short-lived lead. By employing "The Secret", you could have enjoyed about 4 innings of fun Met baseball watching. That is until the seventh inning when the Braves took the lead by a run off Pedro Feliciano. That's it - 1 run deficit. Game over. You then would have missed the entire 8th and 9th innings for the Mets, when they went a collective 0 for 6 with 4 strikeouts.

See how easy this is to be a Met fan employing "The Secret"? Wouldn't it be great to see this team just one time hit a big home run in the ninth, and maybe win a walkoff in extra innings? You know, like the Pittsburgh Pirates did last night!

Or wouldn't it also be really great for the team to realize they have a manager in way over his head and fire him to avoid further embarrassment as the season moves forward? You know, like the Washington Nationals did?

Wouldn't it be great to see this team develop some really good and exciting young players that the fans would enjoy going out to see? You know, like the Giants and Royals are doing?

I guess if it were easy being a Met fan, we'd all be Yankee fans, right?

Mets Homerun Apple Malfunctional - No One Notices for 2 Weeks

The Mets did the unthinkable in yesterday's 9-7 victory over the Reds: besides Mike Pelfrey's first victory at Citi Field in over 2 months, they actually hit a home run in the game! And as we all know, Met tradition has it that whenever the team hits a homerun, they raise the glorious "Apple" high behind the centerfield wall for the whole crowd to enjoy.

The team had gone 80 innings overall without a home run until Schneider and Tatis both went yard in the eighth inning. However, the apple did not respond to Tatis' dinger, leading to speculation amongst the ground crew that the storied Apple hasn't been working for weeks now.

"We're too busy doing routine maintainance that matters, like cutting the lawn and making sure the basepaths look good", said a source familiar with the situation. "The economy's bad. We need to cut back on unneccessary items, and felt due to the lack of hitting on this team, we could cut back on the Apple maintenance procedures and no one would notice."

And for the longest time, it looked like they were right. The Mets have been the team the bully kicks sand on. However, the Mets are now undefeated in the Jeff Francoeur era, who is now 4-9 as a Met. With the All-Star break coming at a perfect time for the entire team to rest, their latest 9 run, 16 hit explosion is making the rest of the league take notice that the Mets are ready to make a statement in the second half of the season.

... Last in majors with 26 homers at home, only one player on the entire team in double-digit homeruns, a clueless manager, a front office that other GM's know to be taken advantage of, a coaching staff that can't coach, an overall .42-45 record, and 6 1/2 games back of Philadelphia in the NL East, what that statement is we have no idea.

Welcome Jeff Francoeur

Newly acquired rightfielder Jeff Francoeur had a pretty nice first at-bat with his new team. His 2-rbi single in the first inning gave Johan Santana all the runs he needed as the Mets returned the favor from last night's shutout with a 4-0 shutout of their own against the Reds.

Santana (10-7) allowed five hits, struck out five and walked one, taking advantage of some rare run support (the Mets scored a total of seven big runs in his previous five starts). The Mets really wanted this game: KRod pitched the ninth in a non-save situation to close it out.

Francoeur went 2 for 4 in his Mets debut, and after one game, he's saying all the right things about wanting to play here in New York. The Mets traded for him yesterday, sending Ryan Church to Atlanta in a trade many consider a "TFTS" as in a "trade for trade sake", since on the surface it doesn't seem to address any problems the Mets and Atlanta are both facing. The Mets sent a 30-year old solid ballplayer and received a younger, worst hitter, better fielder with possibly a much higher upside if he can get his head on straight.

Here's what should concern Mets fans in the long run about this deal: The Braves rarely do anything wrong. And they rarely do anything that works out well for the Mets (see the Tom Glavine deal). We all have that friend we grew up with that always seems to do the wrong thing, always does stupid things, and always winds up with the short end of the stick. I get the feeling when the Braves (or any team for that matter) deal with Met management, the Mets are considered that stupid friend in the baseball GM world. Of course in real life, we feel sorry for that friend and tend to not take advantage of them. In business however, that's not the case. Somehow, the Mets are being fleeced in this deal - there's something out there we obviously don't know about. But the Braves do, and once again, they found a team to take Francoeur off their hands. Rumor has it they were going to out-right release this guy until they found a deal dumb enough to give them back a half-decent player.

Francoeur definitely has the potential to be a good player. However, it's going to take some serious coaching and hand-holding if he'll ever get back to the Francoeur of 2006 when he hit 29 homers and drove in 103 runs. (should we speculate how he put those numbers up in the first place?) But then again, how's the Mets coaching staff been working out for us so far? Exactly... My fingers are crossed in hope regardless.

Either way, sorry to see Ryan Church go. I'll certainly be one to applaud him when the Mets play the Braves after the All-Star break. I don't care what he says - he has every case to be upset about how this team treated him.

And lastly, sorry Jeff, but the "Frenchy" nickname thing has to go. This is New York... Vee don't "Frenchy" here!

Powerless Mets Leave Nothing to be Desired

Remember when Fernando Nieve was 3-0 and we were all thinking that maybe, just maybe, the Mets may have pulled a rabbit out of their hat with this guy? Well, after yesterday, he's now 3-3 and looking more like Fernando Valenzuela does - Today!

But this one really wasn't his fault at all. The Mets were lifeless against Bronson Arroyo, who tossed a 4-hitter for only his second career shutout by defeating the New York Mess 3-0.

The Mets have been shut out in three of their last five games. The last time they were shut out in three of five games was July 25-27, 1992, when they were shut out in three straight games. They also lost for the sixth time in their last seven games and have a whopping six extra-base hits in their last six games. The team has scored three or fewer runs in 12 of their last 15 games. So it's hard to ask a major league pitcher to go out there and pitch well knowing that as soon as they allow just one run, the game's over.

They're free-falling against Philly (now 6 1/2 games back) and reside in fourth place looking down on the Nationals, who believe it or not, face a brighter future than the Mets do. There's nothing else to say right now. Like the Mets hitters, I've got nothing.

Mets Lose Another Lackluster Game to Dodgers - And That's NOT The Bad News

The bad news is that Jerry Manuel continues to ruin any potential we see from Daniel Murphy. Off the heals of perhaps his best game of the season (both offensively and defensively), Manuel decided to sit him in last night's 11-2 loss to the Dodgers so he can "get Fernando Tatis going". We Met fans know where Tatis really should be going... Have you ever seen a big league team destroy a young kid's confidence more than the Mets and Jerry Manuel are doing to Murphy?

But that's not the worst of it. The worst part was watching another horrendous performance by Livan Hernandez. It wasn't long ago when we all marveled at his 5-1 record. Now he can't even record an out. Yesterday's atrocity totalled eight earned runs and eleven hits allowed in only 4 innings - and compared to his last couple of outings, this had to be considered one of his better starts! The same can be said about Tim Redding (3 runs allowed, 7.14 ERA), who's had his chances but now really needs to go the route of Aaron Heilman into Met-blivion. Take a look at this guy's last 10 outings - how is his ERA that low?!?!

More bad news: Met management must believe Angel Pagan is the answer to their problems as they activated him today to start in centerfield and bat leadoff in tonight's game against the Reds. So who does the team send down? None other than Nick Evans, perhaps the only batter in the lineup (other than Murphy) that's had any kind of clutch hits over the past 10 games.

Is there help on the horizon? Not likely, as management has indicated the team has the talent to compete "as is". That's bad news for us fans...

Here's an unfortunate reality check: With Omar Minaya steering this ship with Jerry Manuel at the helm, even the most optimistic of Met fans have to realize this season's over. Let's start playing the kids and see what they can do. That means Daniel Murphy at first regardless of the opposing pitcher... Nick Evans in the lineup somewhere... let's give Fernando Martinez a true shot at showing us what he can do... and let's see Jonathan Niese start a few games without the threat of being sent down after a bad performance. The team can't just "tread water" and hope for a break before everyone returns from the disabled list, as our fearless manager keeps repeating. The Mets have to play out the year as if no one on the disabled list will play again this year - especially when the Mets crack medical staff keep reminding us that there's no timetable for anyone's return. That usually translates into bad news as well.

And finally, like we Met fans need another dagger through the heart, things must be getting really bad for the Wilpons when they have to auction off a priceless part of the Mets history, namely their 1986 World Series Owner's Trophy. This is no joke. It's bad enough they design a whole new stadium that looks just like Ebbets Field - then forego any history of the past 40 plus years of the team. But to put a World Series Trophy up for auction? I guess Bernie Madoff took them real good. I don't know whether this makes me want to cry or vomit...

Perhaps I'll just save that feeling for tonight's game.

I... Can NOT... Believe... What I... Just Saw!!

Most times, announcers and broadcasters will say that phrase in response to an amazing play that just happened during an exciting game. "I can NOT believe what I just saw!" - and they emphasize each word to further enhance the incredibility of the moment.

Mets fans said the same thing last night. No, not on Daniel Murphy's spectacular acrobatic play at first that still has me wondering how he did it. No, in this instance, that phrase was uttered in the Mets second inning when they finally scored a run after 22 fruitless innings of pathetic play. The Mets were actually down a run when they scored, then posted an additional 4 more runs the rest of the game for a 5-4 win against the Dodgers, who were playing their second home game at the new Ebbets Field.

The Mets escaped a very shaky ninth inning with KRod allowing a ManRam shot and needing a big double play ground ball from the hot-hitting Andre Ethier to end the game with 2 runners on at the time. I can NOT believe what I just saw! - KRod didn't blow it and the Mets actually won a close ballgame, their first against the Dodgers this season.

And how about that bottom third inning for the Mets!? "I can NOT believe what I just saw", said Mets fans across the country. Not only did the Mets get an extra base hit (another double by Daniel Murphy), but David Wright actually drove him home with a single, snapping an 0-17 streak for his first RBI in 7 games! Amazin'!

Ollie Perez walks 7 batters in 5 innings and the Mets win the game? I can NOT believe what I just saw! Alex Cora, Gary Sheffield, Ryan Church, and Brian Schneider go a combined 2 for 16 and the Mets win the game? I can NOT believe what I just saw!

All in all, last night's game was a very pleasant surprise.

History Repeats Itself (Sort Of) As Dodgers Blank Mets

The Mets got shut out again last night. That's no surprise. They only had 4 hits the entire game. That's no surprise either. They haven't had an extra base hit in who even knows how many games at this point - much less a home run. And that's certainly no surprise with this weak hitting team of AAA type players at this point. The surprise is the way history repeats itself... somewhat.

When the Dodgers played their first game at Shea Stadium way back in 1964, the Mets were bad and the Dodgers were good, yet they lost to the Amazin's by a score of 8-0. Fast forward 45 years, and the Dodgers come into town to play their first game at Citi Field (and we all know how "Dodger-friendly" the ballpark is) when the Mets are supposedly good, yet the team from LA spanked the New Yorkers by an identical 8-0 score.

It must be tough for the Mets starting pitching staff to know that as soon as they allow just one run, the game's over. It didn't take Mike Pelfrey long to take his fourth loss of the year as the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez put up 3 quick runs to basically take the Mets completely out of the game in the second inning.

The Mets have now lost 9 of 11 and gone scoreless in the last 22 consecutive innings, with just 10 hits - all singles. Met pitchers walked seven Dodgers in the game and Met batters grounded twice into double plays. Dodger pinch hitter Blake DeWitt hit a seventh inning homerun off Tim Redding that still hasn't landed. Met pinch hitter Argenis Reyes struck out looking. Regardless, it was fun watching Manny Ramirez get tossed from the game, the lone Met highlight if you can even call it that.

In their last 4 games, the Mets have hit a measly .183, been outscored 21-3 and struck out 28 times. The "DaRK Wright" went o-for-3 again and is now hitless in his last 16 at-bats while the Mets have dropped into fourth place, 4½ games behind the NL East-leading Phillies. And, according to team sources, no timetable has been set for the return of anyone on the disabled list and the front office believes the team can still compete in the NL East "as-is".

Back in 1964, Met fans didn't know it, but they only had to wait 5 more years for a championship season. These days, with the way the Mets operate, I fear a much longer wait for history to repeat itself.

"The Dark Wright" is No Bat-man

Who can ever forget Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in "The Dark Knight"? Well, New Yorkers and Gotham City now have an even more sinister villain causing havoc and mayhem wherever he goes. And his name: "The Dark Wright" as in "DAvid the Rally Killer" Wright.

"The DaRK Wright" struck in this weekend sweep of a series against the first place Philadelphia Phillies to the tune of an 0 for 11 series, including a 1 for 21 July so far with 8 strikeouts and 2 double play groundouts killing whatever rallies the Mets could amass. Now that's damaging! There is no rally the DaRK Wright can't kill right now.

I would say these last three games were pretty big games, and just when we needed him the most, the "DaRK Wright", just like Christain Bale, let us all down with perhaps the worst offensive baseball since the final days of strikeout-king Dave Kingman.

Okay... I know this sounds very "what have you done for me lately" kind of thing, but the DaRK Wright really needs to do some soul searching here because he's absolutely killing the team. David, are you hurt? Not focused? Feeling too much pressure? Trying to carry the entire team on your shoulders?... Take a day off. Get your eyes checked out. Relax a little.

And as for Jerry Manuel, if you're not going to rest this guy, at least drop him in the batting order so he can't do too much damage up top. Joe Torre batted ARoid 8th (in the post season at that!). Terry Francona dropped Big Papi when he was slumping. Why can't you do likewise? (Oh, I forgot, those are real managers. My bad...)

As of today - the exact halfway point of the season with the team maybe in 3rd place at best and 3 games under .500 at 39-42, The DaRK Wright is hitting the lightest .329 I can ever remember. Sure that's a pretty solid batting average, but unfortunately batting averages do not win baseball games. Homeruns and rbis do, and the DaRK Wright's 5 and 42 respectively are not going to cut it if the Mets have any hope whatsoever just to stay in the NL East race, much less make the post-season.

Is Wright overrated? Is it unrealistic to ask him to step up his game? Perhaps... But he has a lot of things and intangibles going for him. If he wants to enjoy the glory of playing in New York (endorsements, nightlife, David Letterman appearances, etc.), it's only fair he takes the blame when it's warranted. Right now, he's the best chance we've got and he needs to start performing better in big games (or at least start making productive outs).

So what was the result of the DaRK Wright's diabolical holiday weekend plan? The Mets totalled 3 runs in the entire weekend series with the hated Phillies, losing 7-2 on Friday, 4-1 on Saturday, and 2-0 on Sunday. You saw a really bad Livan Hernandez losing to Rodrigo Lopez, his first win since July of 2007. Then you saw a young Fernando Nieves lose to Jamie Moyer, old enough to be his grandfather. And then, behind Johan Santana, you saw the team get a total of 4 hits against the likes of 4.69 ERA Joe Blanton. Pathetic for any team with resources. Any real team sweeps this series in Philly - which is what the Phillies did to the Mets... again.

That's the frustrating part of being a Mets fan: we know the team has resources. But while all the other GM's in baseball see injuries and crazy things happen to their teams and make moves, what does our Omar Minaya do? Like Commissioner Gordon, he just sits there and waits for his Batmen to bail him out. And just like Commissioner Gordon, Omar seems immune from criticism, somehow making blunder after blunder while keeping his job. This team reeks of Omar - when will he have to pay? If real GM's play chess, Omar's stuck on checkers. The worst part is that ownership seems content about it - and that's really bad news for Met fans, because it probably won't get better.

And lastly, I'm as patriotic and charitable as the next guy, but this "Red Cap" thing MLB is doing really irritates me. Anytime anything is "forced" on someone, it's almost always a bad idea and this honorary red cap farce is probably the worst baseball related idea since Fox's "Scooter" graphic. There's nothing worse than watching your team get completely humiliated by your arch enemy while wearing a red Philly-looking cap in the process.

The only red I want to see is the red phone ringing on Commissioner Omar's desk from Batman telling him he's fired. There's just something inherently wrong with watching the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Mariners, Royals, etc. wearing red. It's just wrong. And speaking of the Dodgers, they're up next at Citi. Remember they swept the Mets in LA a few weeks ago - and that was without Manny. Mets hitting coach Howard Johnson (also known as Chief O'Hara - another bumbler somehow avoiding the axe) better start coaching the hitters better... and fast!

In fact, tell me right now that the "Dark Wright" gets 3 hits total in the entire LA series, and I take it - it's come down to that. Because right now, amen, amen I say to you: citizens of Citi Field (also known as Gotham City Park) are in danger every time the DaRK Wright steps to the plate. And he's an All-Star! (you can't make this up folks)

Roller Coaster Game Ends with Mets Win

First they looked bad - really bad. Then they looked good - really good. Then they looked bad again, and finally the Mets ended up looking good again by winning an improbable game by a 9-8 final in 10 innings.

The Mets had to rally from 5 runs down to win this game. You read that right! There aren't any typos in that sentence. Usually, when the Mets are down by a run or two at any point in the game, you can stop watching and start doing something constructive instead because the team won't win that game. But today in Pittsburgh, it was a totally different story. In fact, it's the kind of win that can build momentum and turn a season around. Let's hope.

Ryan Church came up with another big hit to drive in Fernando Tatis in the 10th inning after there were 2 men out and nobody on base. Tatis was hit by a pitch and really took one for the team in this one. The Mets had to play the tenth inning because KRod blew his 3rd save opportunity of the year by allowing a monster shot from the bat of Adam LaRoche. Tatis was hit by a pitch previously in the game as well, plus he also hit a two-run homer which looked to give the Mets the insurance runs they hoped they wouldn't need. He totalled 3 hits, scored 4 runs, stole a base, didn't ground out into a double play by hustling down the line at first, and flashed a good glove in the field.

When the boxscore shows 11 different players batting in the ninth spot in the order, you know you're watching a roller coaster game. Nick Evans and Alex Cora each had 2 hits apiece in the game, and Daniel Murphy drove in 2 big runs to start the comeback rally.

And how bad was Tim Redding and his 6.99 ERA? He couldn't even make it past the third inning against the Pirates and will probably be bumped from the starting rotation after Oliver Perez makes his rehab start tomorrow. That's bad.

But a Met comeback?... a real Met rally?... scoring more than 1 run in an inning NOT due to a homerun?... that's good. The team is back at .500 and hopefully has a better attitude going into the 3 game set at Philly than they had 3 days ago.

Pitching, Defense Help Snap Losing Streak as Mets Pelfreyize Brewers

On a day former Mets closer John Franco ripped the team for their lack of leadership and mental mistakes, the Mets finally put together a good pitching and good defensive effort in today's 1-0 shutout of the Brewers, salvaging one game in Milwaukee and snapping their 5-game losing streak on the heels of a really nice outing by Mike Pelfrey.

Pelf struck out 6, walked 2 and went 7 2/3 innings for his sixth win against three losses. Sean Green came into the game in the eighth to record a huge "hold" - his biggest hold of the season no doubt - and KRod pitched the ninth for a huge Q-Save (that's a "quality save") to preserve the victory.

Not much happening with the bats as that's still a major concern for this team going into tomorrow's makeup game with the Pirates, and then on to Philadelphia for a 3-game set against the Phillies. The Mets have scored just 13 runs over their past 6 games (and remember 5 of them were charity), but in today's game, Ryan Church had the big RBI single in the sixth to drive in the lone run of the afternoon.

And with Prince Fielder on second base in the seventh (single and second on Pelfrey's fifth balk of the season), Brian Schenider quick-threw back to second to try to pick him off. Fielder knew he was deadmeat, so he tried for third instead and was thrown out on a nice tag by Wright. That was a huge defensive play that probably saved the game.

Interestingly enough, today's win was the Mets third 1-0 victory of the year, having gone all season last year without winning a 1-0 game. Strange... And trying to force team unity by making the entire team travel to the stadium by bus isn't really my idea of motivation (forcing people to do anything rarely solves any problems), but maybe Jerry's closed door session brainstorm idea yesterday is working. On to Pittsburgh!!!

Welcome to Third Place

As the Mets losing streak gains momentum, the team continues to falter in the standings of the National League East. A couple of days ago, we at MetsFanClub.com predicted a very interesting 4-team race towards the final week in September in this division, and it looks to be taking shape that way even as we speak.

Four games now separate first place Philadelphia with fourth place Atlanta with the Mets now occupying the third place spot after last night's loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee. Seems the Mets lose even when Johan Santana pitches too, this time to Milwaukee by a 6-3 final.

But let's not blame this one on Santana (despite the idiots calling into the FAN today about trading him for prospects - please!, don't they screen callers these days?). Besides Santana being mercilessly squeezed on strike calls from home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom, this time it was Mets centerfielder Fernando Martinez' turn to miss an easily catchable fly ball in the fourth inning, which put the Brewers well on their way to victory despite a 2-run homerun from David Wright in the first inning. It was Wright's first dinger since June 9th. (And we thought David Ortiz was slumping in the power department?!?!)

The team went 9-18 in June, their worst month in nearly six years. At 37-39, these third-place Mets are still just three games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East but only a game in front of Atlanta.

After another depressing loss, the injury-depleted Mets held a closed-door meeting that sources say lasted almost 30 minutes. It was reported that manager Jerry Manuel did all the talking. We'll see today whether he's an inspirational soul or not, but judging from the lineup Jerry's putting out for today's game, I have my doubts about a barrage of runs in the Mets favor.