The Mets Are A Natural Disaster

• Cubs 9-Mets 6:

I don't think anyone who's watched the Mets for any significant length of time and has any baseball intelligence at all didn't see what was coming after they failed to score in the bottom

of the ninth inning with a runner at third base and no outs. This is not an isolated incident with the Mets as they find situations in which it's difficult not to score, yet find a way to accomplish the feat. Apparently, the "MVP candidate" David Wright has never heard of the term "shortening your swing based on the situation" because with Daniel Murphy on third base, Wright was hacking away as if he were looking to get his face time on SportsCenter with another walk-off home run instead of simply driving in the winning run with a fly ball. But, that's not why the Mets are the baseball equivalent of a natural disaster.
Like a hurricane or earthquake, there's no judgment or intent to injure; like any natural occurrence, what is simply is. Anyone who knows the Mets knew what was going to happen after they failed to score with that tailor-made opportunity in the bottom of the ninth. Just like the game against the Phillies in which they blew a 7-0 lead and ended up in extra innings, there was no way they were going to come back and win. The situation was such that I stopped watching the game. So confident in the Mets ability to demolish their playoff chances in the most painful way possible and quite likely give up a home run, I went downstairs to empty the dishwasher rather than watch it happen, because I knew what was going to happen and didn't have to watch.
Unlike the writer Stephen A. Smith, who claimed that he "didn't have to" watch the end of a

Jets-Patriots playoff game in January 2007 because, he wanted to imply, his innate football knowledge gave him the foresight to see the future but he was in reality talking out of his posterior, I truly knew what would happen...*

*I have to make a note here about Stephen A. Smith. As much as I rip him for his lack of even the most basic knowledge of baseball and football (he didn't know which team was in which division during his ill-fated TV show on ESPN), I read his column in ESPN the Magazine and the man's a very good, talented writer; skilled with the language, coherent and well-organized.

...because of that, after emptying my dishwasher, I walked back upstairs, looked at the TV

and saw Derrek Lee standing on second base, that the score was 7-6 and with Aramis Ramirez at the plate said, "Uh oh"; seconds later Ramirez deposited a Luis Ayala pitch into the left field bleachers to effectively end the game right there and then.
This isn't a function of any collapse; it's just the Mets being the Mets; being the thing that they are with no other definition necessary; whether or not they pull themselves out of this is another aspect of the Mets. As a franchise, they've fought out of worse situations than this (1973, 1986, 1999); and they've stumbled under the weight of themselves (1988, 1998, 2006, 2007). Which version they'll be this time will be discovered in the coming days, but no one who knows the team can feign surprise, because this is the Mets, for better or worse.

• Brewers 4-Pirates 2:

I'd suggest putting the brakes on the idea that these two wins against the Pirates (and

three in a row overall) have righted the Brewers sinking ship. C.C. Sabathia is showing far more courage than his body can handle and these taxing starts on three-days rest are going to haunt him in the coming years if he's not careful.*

*One note about pitchers. I contend that it's not the number of pitches per se that are causing the injuries, but when the pitcher gets physically tired, loses his leg drive and proper mechanics and deviates from throwing properly and as stress-free as possible, thereby overtaxing his arm and getting hurt; and Sabathia, while in shape for baseball, isn't exactly a bastion of physical fitness; but the Brewers know that they're not keeping him, so what do they really care about what happens with him after 2008?

Watching chunks of these two games made me see how bad the Pirates really are. I would be deeply concerned with the new management team because in addition to this embarrassing tete-a-tete betwen Scott Boras and team president Frank Coonelly as to whether or not Pedro Alvarez agreed to a deal or not, the deals that GM Neal Huntington

made at the trading deadline to shed the remaining marketable veterans on the Pirates roster are getting a horrible review in the short-term.
In dealing Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Yankees as part of one deal, the return had to be equal or better than what they would've gotten if they'd dealt both separately. With both players being in heavy demand and playing positions that were desperate needs for so many teams, the Pirates have to hope that Jose Tabata regains his lost luster as a prospect; that Dan McCutchen develops (and he's about to turn 26, a bit too old to be a "prospect"); that maybe the talented Ross Ohlendorf can become a useful pitcher as a starter or reliever (I'd make him a starter); and realize that Jeff Karstens is a soft-tossing journeyman. The return on that deal looks weak.
Then there was the three-way deal in which Jason Bay ended up with the Red Sox and

Manny Ramirez on the Dodgers. Andy LaRoche (whom I'm convinced the Pirates were as interested in the marketing ability of uniting him with his brother on the corners of their diamond as they were a cornerstone to their rebuilding project) has looked overmatched at the plate and clueless in the field. Brandon Moss and Craig Hanson have talent, so they may end up as useful pieces; and young Bryan Morris is at least three years away from the big leagues. The fact that the Dodgers gave up on LaRoche so quickly would be a red flag for me because the Dodgers development people have the results to indicate they know what they're doing and even though they were getting a star like Manny, wouldn't have just dumped a player they had as high an opinion of as everyone else seemed to as was the situation with LaRoche.
In essence, that Pirates lineup isn't at all scary, so the Brewers should be beating them.

Now tonight will be a major test because they've activated Yovani Gallardo to take the start. Gallardo was supposed to miss the entire season with a knee injury, but has returned. The Brewers don't have much of a choice than to try Gallardo (unless they want to put Sabathia out there again), but I'd question what kind of performance they're going to get from him (his numbers in his minor league rehab starts weren't very good), and they're not going to be able to get him too deeply into the game, which will put things in the hands of that awful bullpen.

• Will the Mets recover from this? Will the Brewers seize their opportunity? And how will the weather forecasts in New York affect everything?

It's a four game season now with everything all even. The game tonight will depend on whether or not the Mets score some runs early and get a decent performance from Pedro Martinez. The fans and media grasp tightly to what happened

the day before more than the players do. Once the game starts, there's not going to be any "what-if?" lamenting on the part of the players. They might try a little too hard with runners in scoring position; they might hold their collective breaths when the bullpen enters the game, but it won't be as a direct result of one game.
With the Brewers beating up on the Pirates, it has to be remembered that they're going to play the Cubs this weekend and while Cubs manager Lou Piniella is being prudent with his players, he's also managing the games to win. That they're going from playing one contender in New York to Milwaukee also adds into that equation because Piniella's not going to give the Brewers an easy time after the way his team battled against the Mets. The Brewers "recovery" from their dreadful slump will be judged by how they play this weekend.
The weather forecasts in New York are also very important. It's supposed to rain all weekend to the point that the games are in jeopardy. The media is suggesting that the possibility of rainouts and doubleheaders are a disadvantage for the Mets, but I see it the opposite way. If the Brewers are forced to play while the Mets are sitting in their clubhouse playing cards, the pressure will revert to the Brewers. Add in that the Cubs----knowing that if tonight's game is rained out, there's a very real possibility of having to play a makeup game in

New York on Monday to decide who's going to the playoffs----are going to do everything possible to avoid that and play as hard as they can to eliminate the Brewers if necessary actually gives the Mets an advantage. And at this point, I don't think the Mets would refuse any divine intervention to get them into the playoffs because what they're doing on the field isn't working, so maybe if they sit around and watch the Brewers implode, they'll have more success. They can't do much worse than they have in the past two Septembers if they're not playing. Mets manager Jerry Manuel's a spiritual guy, raising his arms to the sky and saying, "Let it rain!!!" wouldn't be such a bad idea since they've tried just about everything else.

It's Official---The Mets Are Unwatchable

• Mets 9-Nationals 7:

When Vinny Testaverde was playing in the NFL, his father was unable to watch the games

because he had a bad heart and got excited to the point that it was jeopardizing his health; I'm beginning to think that the Mets are going to be a proximate cause for some emergency room visits during the final week and a half of regular season play...*

*Did you know that former Van Halen frontman and failed radio talk show host David Lee Roth is an emergency medical technician? Can you imagine needing EMT assistance and seeing him standing over you?

This game was exhausting to watch and the players looked more relieved than happy that they managed to win a game over a team that's coming close to 100 losses. David Wright is a great player, but he sometimes gets into these gamelong funks in which he looks like he needs the jaws of life to extract his head from his posterior. In the top of the ninth inning, with runners at first and third and one out, he swung at a ball that was around neck high to strike out. Given that the score was 9-5 and the bullpen is in such disarray, wouldn't it have behooved Wright to choke up on the bat and try to smack the ball the other way for one at bat? I understand that's not the general job description for a number three hitter

and no one's asking him to move his hands up Jack Perconte-style six inches above the handle, but there's a time to try and whack one out of the park and there's a time to just make contact. Then he goes out on the field and, clearly thinking about and beating himself up over his failure at the plate the previous half inning, threw a ball in la-de-da fashion to first base on Lastings Milledge's routine grounder and gave the Nationals an opening that could very well have cost the Mets the game. Then there's Aaron Heilman...
It's at the point where manager Jerry Manuel can't put Heilman into any game unless the lead is eight runs or greater. This is not the time to be concerned about anyone's feelings and with the way he's performed in the bullpen over the past two seasons, the Mets are going to have to make a decision on whether to trade him or move him into the starting rotation; as for right now, he can only be used in an emergency or a major blowout. Al Reyes has been with the Mets for two weeks and hasn't gotten into a game; while I

understand that Heilman is above him on the totem pole, last night was a perfect game to put Reyes in and see what he's got. The same thing with Robert Parnell. I'll be stunned to see Heilman in another important game for the rest of the season.
This was an escape more than a win and the Mets are going to need Johan Santana to keep his pitch count low and go very deep into the game tonight not just to rest the bullpen, but because the majority of the bullpen's confidence is so shot that they can't be trusted to even hold the most comfortable of leads. They're facing a pitcher for the Nats in Tim Redding, whom they've had trouble with; but with Jose Reyes playing like he'd had a couple of Red Bulls and Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran hitting, the Mets are going to have to score early and often even with Santana pitching because they can't take any chances. (Incidentally, Delgado consciously altered his swing to try to drive an insurance run in the third inning, something Wright should take to heart.)

• Detroit 17-Texas 4:

Despite the unprecedented occurrences of two safeties to account for Texas's four points, Detroit executive Matt Millen celebrated the victory by saying, "See? Executiving isn't all that hard." Following the game, he was rewarded with a thirty-year contract extension.

• Brewers 6-Cubs 2:

Ben Sheets is a great talent, but what's his problem? In a game that the Brewers absolutely, positively had to win; with all the turmoil going on around the team after the managerial change amid a collapse; and with C.C. Sabathia having lost the night before, Sheets pulls himself out of the game after two innings with "forearm tightness"? He leaves a game that could possibly break the Brewers season if they lost it and lets their shaky bullpen bear the brunt of that pressure?
I'm not questioning someone else's injuries; nor am I saying that Sheets is imagining these maladies, but what must his teammates think of him after he pulls something like this only two weeks after yanking himself from a game against the Mets after five dominant innings in a game the Brewers eventually lost and served to start the current tailspin? What do the players

around the rest of the majors think when they watch SportsCenter or read the game recaps and see that Sheets pulled himself out of another game? It's going to be interesting to see who ponies up the cash to sign Sheets long-term after the season because with antics like this, he's a major risk to be the next Carl Pavano or Erik Bedard.
With all of this baggage, a team considering Sheets might be better off going after someone like Bronson Arroyo, who doesn't have half of Sheets's talent, but goes out there and pitches no matter what without complaint; teammates appreciate and respect that far more than they admire unused talent. If Sheets is begging out of games now as free agency is weeks away, what's going to

happen when he has an $80-120 million guaranteed contract to fall back on? Then how many injuries are going to crop up that are going to limit his innings and give him the excuse to pull himself from games? I said a couple of weeks ago that I'd risk signing Sheets with the idea that he'd find his groove and stay healthy with a different organization, but after this September display, I can't in good conscience recommend that any team risk such a huge amount of money on such a soft pitcher.

• Is this the time to be blogging?

I'm trying to imagine what none other than George Steinbrenner would be doing if one of his top baseball "experts" were sitting around blogging about his team as they're marching inexorably towards 100 losses, but then George would've fired the entire staff months ago. I

know what I would tell our old friend, Padres executive Paul DePodesta, regarding his blog, and it'd go something like this: "You have a choice, you can either work here in the baseball department trying to fix this mess you helped create, or you can sit around and write a blog; if you wanna work here, then work here and take that laptop and fling it out the window. Otherwise, beat it. Let me know by the morning what you wanna do."

• Sean Hannity's interview with Governor Sarah Palin:

I only saw bits and pieces of it, but from what I did see, Hannity looked as if he were seconds away from yanking Sarah's shoes off and giving her a foot massage.

The Increased Stress-Level From Watching The Mets

• Mets 5-Padres 3:

I don't know if there's a team in major league baseball that's more aggravating to watch than the New York Mets. No lead is ever safe especially with the injuries and trouble they're

having scoring runs and, with last season's epic collapse still such a fresh wound, there's an aspect of having to change channels or cover one's eyes to avoid even the possibility of a new, innovative way to lose.
In this most recent series alone the Mets, playing a dead team in the San Diego Padres, won two of three games like a boxer ahead on points and staying away just to preserve victory. On Tuesday it took three relievers to fill injured closer Billy Wagner's increasingly unbooable shoes and somehow turn a 6-2 lead into a 6-5 win. On Thursday, the bullpen blew another of Johan Santana's wins and had to wriggle out of a bases loaded, no-out situation in the eighth inning to keep the lead; then in the ninth, Scott Schoeneweis (whose forte is supposed to be dealing with lefties and who I said a few days ago should be made into the interim closer with Wagner out) gave up a game-tying homer to a lefty batter in Jody Gerut. In the bottom of the inning, Endy Chavez led off with a

single, then Jose Reyes popped a bunt up to the pitcher. It took David Wright's game-winning homer to prevent extra innings against a team that should be used as a punching bag instead of another reason for a trip to the cardiologist.
Before he passed away, the father of former NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde was unable to watch the games because he had a bad heart and got too excited, endangering his health. I get the same idea with most of the Mets games----win or lose----except they're not exacerbating someone's heart problem, they're causing it.

• Good move----Rays acquire Bradford; useless move----Phillies acquire Eyre:

The Rays acquisition of Chad Bradford from the Orioles is an excellent move to augment an already strong bullpen for the Rays. Bradford is a well-liked, calm, experienced veteran who

throws strikes with a funky submarine style of pitching and can still get out lefties if necessary. What this also does is add another dimension of diversity to the Rays bullpen. Wave after wave of different pitchers can be thrown at an opponent from Bradford and his quirky motion and minimal velocity; to the flamethrowing Grant Balfour; to the lefty J.P. Howell; to the sliders of Dan Wheeler; and the experience and meanness of closer Troy Percival. The Rays are serious about winning while they have the opening.
On the other side of the coin is the Phillies acquisition of Scott Eyre. Not only has Eyre been just awful this year, but what does it say that a team in first place like the Cubs is dealing a veteran, lefty relief pitcher to a team that they might have to face in the playoffs? While it's true that Eyre is a free agent at the end of the season, has been okay against lefties and a change sometimes awakens veterans, the Phillies also gave up a right-handed pitcher who looks like he has some ability in minor leaguer Brian Schlitter. Schlitter has 53 strikeouts in 44 innings for Clearwater in the Florida State League.
I'm wondering if the Phillies ownership is keeping tabs on what

outgoing GM Pat Gillick is doing to try and win right now because from the deals he's made for the likes of Joe Blanton and now Eyre, it looks like he's not at all hesitant to gut the farm system of remaining prospects to win now and the team isn't even that much better because of it. While Gillick isn't a kamikaze-type GM, he may be allowing the fact that he's leaving after this season to cloud his usually solid judgment. If that's the case, the organization's going to have problems in the future with this go-for-broke mentality especially since they're only getting mediocre veterans in return.

• Gauging the future of two of the worst teams in baseball:

I'm through waiting for the Padres to get a similar media-roasting as the Mariners have gotten this year even though they're in worse shape; but let's look at which team is going to have a better chance to jump into contention quickly.
As bad as the Mariners have been, their future is not dire. They have the goods to jump back into respectability and even contention as early as next season if they don't panic and

do stupid things to appease critics. They need a power-hitting first baseman and may need to clear out some players whose paycheck doesn't match their production (Ichiro), but other than that, they have the one thing any contending team is going to need----pitching.
Felix Hernandez is only 22 and will be a star. Les Miserables, Erik Bedard has been a disaster, but to dump him for pennies on the dollar would make no sense for the Mariners after what they gave up to get him; he also has one thing in his favor that would indicate he's going to stay healthy in 2009 and have a big year: impending free agency. Carlos Silva can't be as bad next year as he's been this year and is still a solid back of the rotation starter; I think he's been greatly affected by the poisonous atmosphere in the Mariners clubhouse and as that improves, so will Silva. They're also making Brandon Morrow into a starting pitcher and if he can win 10-12 games next year, they've got a solid rotation. Their bullpen will still be anchored by J.J. Putz, who isn't as great as he was in 2007, but is still a top-echelon closer. If they improve the lineup and clear out some disinterested veterans, they could be pretty good next year.
What do the Padres have to look forward to for the future? Greg Maddux? Trevor Hoffman? Jody Gerut? Scott Hairston? They have an MVP candidate in Adrian Gonzalez; there are some solid youngsters in San Diego like Kevin Kouzmanoff and Chase Headley; but Chris Young can't be counted on to stay healthy and deliver more than 10-12 wins and 150-180 innings; Heath Bell will probably be a decent closer in replacing Hoffman, but is leveling off after his brilliant work last season. And Jake Peavy is going to get hurt.

The main differences between the two organizations is that the Mariners saw that what they were doing wasn't working and are going to bring in a new GM/manager combination next season. If the manager, as rumored, is going to be Bobby Valentine, then they're going to get better and get better fast. The Padres don't appear prepared to change the road they're on by getting rid of anyone; they appear intent on moving forward as they have with downsliding veterans and journeymen. And why shouldn't they? They're not getting any of the deserved mocking and criticism that the Mariners are getting, so the pressure isn't there to change even if, on the whole, their organization is in worse shape with little hope for the future.

• A note on Brett Favre:

Is it just me, or is there anyone else out there thinking that Brett Fav...ruh is regretting coming out of retirement to go and play for the Jets? (The following YouTube clip isn't really relevant to the above statement, but I'm just seeing if I can link a video into my blogs. Thanks to the Fulbright Scholar and his step-by-step instructions, the attempt isn't ending with me flinging my fiancee's laptop against a wall.)

Does Josh Hamilton Deserve The Applause?

Years ago, Mike Tyson appeared at a British awards show and was greeted with an extended standing ovation as if he'd gone to the tribal areas of Afghanistan/Pakistan and

personally killed Osama Bin Laden while simultaneously negotiating a peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians and, while on leave, stopped the genocide in Darfur. The reality of the matter is that if Tyson weren't a famous boxer and was merely the misanthropic, antisocial deviant he was before (and after) his talent for boxing was discovered, 99% of the people in the audience at that awards show would have crossed the street in a panic if they saw him coming toward them. I'm not equating Josh Hamilton with Tyson, but the accolades Hamilton is receiving are in the same ballpark as that unfathomable standing ovation.
What, other than finally making use of a talent so rare, has Hamilton done to warrant being treated so reverently? I completely understand that the applause is for the recovery and not

the addiction; I completely understand that Hamilton's comeback is reason for others to see him as an example of rehabilitation because I'm sure many have either experienced Hamilton's problems firsthand or through family members; but it's getting a little out of control with the relentless promotion of Hamilton as someone to be admired because he was able to overcome addictions to cocaine, crack and alcohol and make use of his once-in-a-lifetime talent. And it's not as if his recovery is complete, end of story; he's only been clean for two and a half years. If I were the Rangers, I wouldn't even consider signing him to a long-term deal until it's absolutely necessary; and I wouldn't be standing and cheering for him as lustfully as the fans everywhere are now; and I wouldn't be writing such romantically-themed stories of redemption before a sufficient amount of time has passed to be able to state with confidence that he's going to be able to maintain his sobriety and on-field performance.
With Mike Tyson, people put up with his outside the ring issues because he still had

something that they could use. When he was younger, he still had that boxing ability that made him so wealthy; as he aged and got into more and more trouble, his mere image sold tickets as more of a sideshow freak than a champion. People didn't want to see him fight; they wanted to see him get into a brawl at a press conference; scream and attack people like a maniac; do something outrageous or take a brutal beating in the ring. Hamilton has been with four organizations in the past two years and not one of them was interested in Hamilton because they were concerned about him as a human being or because they were running a halfway house.
The Rays dumped him because they didn't want to protect such a player on their 40-man roster; the Cubs drafted him in the Rule 5 draft in a prearranged deal to send him to the Reds and make their organization a quick $50,000; the Reds wanted to take a chance on his talent; and the Rangers needed a center fielder after their other options fell through. If his skills had eroded due to the layoffs and self-abuse, Hamilton wouldn't have been an All Star; he would've been bouncing from organization to organization trying to recover what it was that he lost. That his gifts are still present is the main reason he's still in the big leagues and flourishing. It's not a question of "helping the fellow man" on the part of the Rangers or anyone else; it's a mutually beneficial arrangement. Hamilton can still play, so he's in the big leagues; the Rangers, Reds and Cubs had some use for him, so they benefited from it.
Hamilton can be an inspiration; he can be an example of what's lost by addiction and what's gained by faith and recovery; but to idolize him after such a brief time sober (with

relatively few valleys) is jumping the gun a bit. It's also a little out of line to be feting Josh Hamilton for getting himself clean when there are so

many players----Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, David Wright----who comport themselves in such a classy and positive way on and off the field and are basically expected to behave correctly and receive no credit for it; or players who've made the most of limited ability----David Eckstein----and didn't have the option of wasting years of their careers with out-of-control behaviors and expect to be given chance after chance. If he stays clean for an extended period of time, then Hamilton should receive a fair amount of credit; but to me, that time hasn't elapsed and these "inspiring stories" are premature for a player and person for whom "one day at a time" couldn't be a more apt description.