Stubbornness... Thy name is Manuel

The Recap: Florida 2, Mets 1

While the Mets left their bats in New York, Fernando Nieve unleashed a wild-pitch in the bottom of the ninth, allowing the Marlins to win the game in "run-off fashion"

THE GOOD: If you like pitching duels, this one was a classic. Johan Santana and Florida ace Josh Johnson each went 7 innings until both were taken out due to the ridiculous pitch count theory of "saving a pitcher's arm". Meanwhile there are more pitchers on the disabled list today percentage-wise than at any point ever in the history of the game. What does that tell you?

THE BAD: I guess we're all stubborn to some extent. Maybe it's lingering in a bad job too long. Or perhaps staying in an abusive relationship. In the Mets case, it's Jerry Manuel continuing to bat Jose Reyes third when just about every indication tells even the most casual of fans that the move just isn't working. Once again, Reyes went 0-for-4, couldn't even bunt a runner over in a key at-bat, and the situation doesn't look to be getting any better. Every Met fan knows Reyes is best suited to bat leadoff and reek havoc on the basepaths like he does very well. Every Met fan knows it doesn't matter at this point who Jason Bay has batting in front of him and every Met fan knows despite all his strikeouts this year, David Wright is the most complete hitter on the team and should be batting third. Every Met fan knows this, every baseball analyst knows this, every commentator knows this, every Pepsi T-shirt crew member knows this, and every member of the grounds-crew probably knows this. Who doesn't know this? The manager (and probably the GM for that matter). And the reason we're still seeing this? Stubbornness.

The real bad news is that the middle of the Mets batting order will remain stagnant until Manuel "mans up" and admits his experiment has failed. And that won't happen, because he really needs a managerial win in his corner and can't admit that once again he's at the helm of another bad move. It's a vicious cycle.

THE UGLY: What is it with this team and Johan Santana? When Johan's on, the team can't score any runs for him. And when they do get him runs, he turns into Jose Lima and looks atrocious. Should Lebron James leave Cleveland for the big-time money and hopes of a championship? Ask Johan how that move's working out for him.