I gotta hand it to them. Every Single Time I think the Mets are ready to fade into darkness they surge forward and plant their flag in the ground as a major factor in the NL East.

Coming off the sweep at the hands of the Reds they square off against the Baltimore O’s and sweep ‘em out of Queens. In fact the Metsies came within 2 innings of shutting the O’s out for the entire series.

I swear Terry Collins should win manager of the Year. Who else could possibly have gotten more out of a “last place team” like the Mets were supposed to be?

Somehow we’re sitting pretty in second place 6 games over .500 and just 3 out of first.

Thats the good news… The bad news is the Yankees come in this weekend and will probably administer the ass kicking they normally give us. 

Meanwhile if you threw the yankees out of the mix the Mets are running through the Big Bad AL East like its the PCL.

As for Wednesday’s game Gee was fantastic until surrendering a 2 run bomb in the 8th. Sure enough the pen was very leaky as Frank-Franc loaded the bases in the 9th and walked in a run before wiggling out of the jam to close the game.

Valdespin got another start and TC said he likes the energy he brings. It looks like Cedeno and Tejada are coming back as early as this weekend so I hope TC will juggle his guys to ensure Valdespin’s development.

It took 3 starts after the No-No but with Johan’s dominant performance tues nite Terry Collins can finally exhale. Leaving his star pitcher in for 134 pitches to get the no-hitter while coming off surgery did not ruin his arm. 

I still maintain it was the correct move to risk his season/career for the 50 year in the making no-hitter, but now at least we’ve cleared this hurdle, the distraction has been tabled and we can all move on.

Meanwhile the Mets alternating get swept / sweep streak is alive and well with the 2 straight wins over the O’s.

Duda mashed number 11 but the real attention getter for BMF was Jordany Valdespin who collected 2 hits and 2 RBI. The kid has taken advantage of some unexpected PT and TC’s faith to keep running him out there.

Personally I love Valdespin and I’m ready to turn second base over to him. We all like Daniel Murphy but enough is enough. The guy hasn’t put a single ball over the wall all season and he doesn’t drive guys in either. 

If he’s slapping singles at a .330 clip I can live with it but he’s hitting .271 ….. an EMPTY .271.

Valdespin has about 1/5 th the AB Murphy has and already has 12 RBI to Murphy’s 28 not to mention 2 HR’s.

Even if he experiences growing pains considering Valdespin’s speed I think he can still generate more offense than Murphy. 

I’m just sayin’…

After watching RA post his second consecutive 1 hit complete game shutout, this one featuring 13Ks, I don’t think there is any disputing he’s the best pitcher in the game.  

But at this point I think he’s also the Greatest Knuckleballer of all time.

Phil Niekro may have amassed the most wins but he was never as dominant as Dickey has become. Joe Niekro wasn’t as good as his brother. 

Charlie Hough had a multi decade career but was never a dominant. 

Eddie Cicotte is credited as the inventor of the knuckle ball and some say his was the nastiest of all but he was banned from baseball in 1919 after participating in the Black Sox scandal.

Hoyt Wilhelm was a tremendous reliever but, just like Cicotte, I certainly never saw him pitch.

Tom Candiotti was another long time knuckler but was never a guy who dominated any season.

Wakefield at his best was pretty damn good… But he was never the best pitcher in the game.

RA Dickey now stands atop this list. 

RA Dickey has brought the knuckler to a new level and has safely ensconced himself as President the fraternity of knuckle ballers.

Unbelievable. 

Sweep or Swept?

Game thread…

Hate to say it but even after all the good vibes we’ve had this still feels like a .500 team to me.

We look dead in the water while getting swept by the Yankees. Then we turn around and sweep the Rays out of Tampa. Riding high and feeling good we come home and lose 3 straight to Cincy.

That’s a classic .500 team for you. 

For every step forward we give it right back. Some days and series’ we look like the bestest most scrappiest lil team in baseball. Then we’ll turn around and drop a weekend series without much of a fight.

At least Chris Young continued to look good. I think CY is still getting his legs under him but all told he’s been fantastic. He coulda won had he not allowed a 2 out rally to plate 3, only 2 earned, but its not easy when your team can only manage 1 run… Which of course was driven in by Young himself!

I don’t know where all the offense came from against the Rays but its painfully obvious the O missed the flight back to NY.

For the second straight day the Mets offense vs the Reds was flat. Now we’re in danger of getting swept… On Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day!!!