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BMF Apology To Omar
Omar, you were right all along.
I doubted your sanity when you traded Lastings Milledge for Church and Schneider but the truth is that was one of the best deals of the off-season.
In case anyone missed it Ryan Church, despite going 0-4, saved Sunday’s game with a great hustle play and his QB-like arm.
Church hustled in from right to recover an errant throw by Feliciano on a Chris Burke bunt. Flyin’ Ryan grabbed the ball with his bare hand and fired a seed to Wright in the nick of time to cut down Burke who was trying to make it all the way to 3rd.
Omar, BMF owes you an apology for trashing you this winter over the Milledge deal. I’ve completely reversed my position on this trade and I hereby stand down. You made the right call. I thank God you did because I can’t imagine what kind of shape this team would be in without Ryan Church and Brian Schneider.
***
As for the game - Johan was DOMINANT (d’ya hear that Shea boo-birds?) yet failed to get a win when a Mark Reynolds broken bat hit fell in off Joe Smith to tie the game at 2.
Santana - 1R, 6H, 4BB, 8K, 6IP – failed to see the 7th after needing 116 pitches. That’s definitely a lot of tosses but the D-Backs are a quality team that’s been smacking the ball all season so I really can’t sweat him too much on that.
How bout the Johan Santana K Korner that popped up in AZ! In lieu of "K’s" these fans used a photo of Santana’s face that was taken at his introductory press conference. I’m guessing this the 1st time in the history of sports a K Korner made use of a press conference photo.
***
Ugly drop of a foul ball that fell between the triumvirate of Wright, Schneider and Santana. Hard to know exactly what happened on the field but the onus is definitely on the pitcher to be the quarterback out there and decide whose makes the play.
***
BMF got a kick out of the "American Gladiator" duel the DBack mascot held with a fake Mr. Met over a stadium pool. Of course the home mascot knocked the faux Mr Met into the water, which is great, but can someone please tell me why the Diamondback mascot is a Cat named Baxter instead of a Snake???
I understand cats are more cuddly than snakes but if that’s the issue then just name your team the Arizona Cuddle Cats.
There should be a rule in sports: Your mascot MUST comply with your team name.
In protest BMF nominates Baxter to get blackballed from any future mascot HOF voting ala Mark McGwire.
***
Is it just me or does AZ lead the league in women standing behind home plate and gabbing? I guess there’s so much room in the stands behind home plate that women take advantage and chit-chat at length. Personally I think the D-Backs should instruct security to move people along because it looks terrible on TV.
I mean if I own a baseball team I want it to look like my fans actually care about the game.
***
BMF watched Sunday’s game on DirecTv in HD but the signal kept sticking, popping and dropping to black. Did anyone else experience this? I’m always curious to know if this was an issue with the CH11 feed, or limited to the HD signal, and/or a DirecTv issue.
Quick Hits:
• Great to see Beltran open the 9th with a sharply hit single.
• What a BAD decision to walk Luis Castillo who has been allergic to RBI’s his entire career in order to pitch to one of the premiere pinch-hitters Marlon Anderson in the 9th.
• Of course Anderson came thru yet again ripping an rbi single.
• Billy Wags rolled on with his career season by slamming the door on 9 pitches. I’d love to see Alpaca boy save Ollie Perez’s game Monday nite in LA.
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Mojo Kitty rocks the batting helmet for luck!
May 4th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
CW11 was glitch free for me.
May 4th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I’ll save my apologies until a flag flies in Flushing.
I’d like to clarify: Carlos Beltran is not paid to get on base. He’s not paid to not swing at bad pitches. Rather, he’s paid to bring runs in. You want a stat? How many game winning RBI does Carla have? That’s a FAR better metric to see if he’s in the top 50 in MLB categories. He’s in the top 10 in salaries and he SUCKS
I think the apologies are due to Willie. The guy is not a terrible skipper. This was a “dirty” win. Coop is right. I’ll apologize for Church and Schenider and Stings; but whatever. Show me the flag. This team will not win the WS. As Minaya SAID ON RECORD - not winning a WS is a FAILURE.
Pupil vs. Master coming up next.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Actually Lippy I beg to differ. I heard Omar say at a banquet that WIN or LOSE, we will have fun at Shea this year. To which Willie said - yeah, right! You don’t have to deal with the press afterwards! I never heard him say they would go to the WS.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:12 am
There is no all around CF in baseball I would rather have than Carlos Beltran. He is the best defensive OF in the history of the mets, and great to have in the middle of the lineup.
Lippy, Shut it
May 5th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Metsies took advantage of miscues—that’s a GOOD thing. We can all pop a blood vessel when they don’t take advantage, but a good team capitalizes so I’m happy.
What IS up with the piping on Santana’s uni? Got caught in the dryer?
Arizona Cuddle Cats!!!! hahahaaa
May 5th, 2008 at 7:46 am
sorry I guess I was talking to the in-game thread.
Is there a Church fan club or a Church of Church I can join?
May 5th, 2008 at 8:03 am
I think there was something wrong with the CW HD feed. I have Time Warner and I was having problems too–the picture would freeze and pixellate.
It was similar to a problem I used to have with TW Cable on CW HD & ESPN2 HD, so I thought the problem was reoccurring but I flipped to ESPN2 and there problem wasn’t there.
So it sounds like the problem was a feed problem. Plus the first inning or 2 wasn’t being sent in HD, so I suspect there were assorted problems with their feed.
As for the Milledge trade, to use the WFAN caller cliche, “You stole my thunder.”
I was prepared to write the same thing you wrote this morning. At this point, the trade is a huge success for the Mets.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Maybe the state of Johan’s piping is an indication that the Mets aren’t replacing the black unis and will retire them once the current set wears out.
C’mon, Charlie Samuels!
May 5th, 2008 at 8:26 am
BMF - I am glad you have finally realized that Lastings doesn’t belong !!
May 5th, 2008 at 8:30 am
I was having problems with the receptions also, even though i was watchin with antenna( down at my backyard) , the HD signal, was coming on and off, and for times it would freeze, but after the 3rd it stayed OK, then i checked the cable ( directv ) on TBS and it was OK, something happend with CW11, maybe the long distance from AZ…
Anyway, i will eat my words from friday, it’s getting noticeable, that these guys play better during the weekend, as opposed to weekdays, so it was a great series to win agains one of the strongest team right now… everyone brought a lilttle something to the party, it was an overall team win…
P.S : i will say it again, Beltran needs to be switched with wright to the 3rd spot, i agree with Lippy, beltran is not getting paid to get on base, he was caught twice looking at the 3rd strike, something that anybody else could have hit, if he wants to get on base moving to the 3rd hole, or even better 2nd, and church 3rd, and wright cleanup… this is not acceptable anymore, even delgado has a better average than Beltran now…
May 5th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Ohh one more thing: as for the Santana’s uniform talking, have you guys ever heard of superstition ? ? ? ( i think that’s the word )
May 5th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I watched half the game on dish network and the other half on time warner and there was plenty of freezing and pixelating on both.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:51 am
BMF: I don’t know if I would use the word DOMINANT to describe a six hit, 4 walk, 116 pitch, six inning performance, although it have seen enough these last two starts to see that the warm weather Johan is coming around. 8k’s yesterday, and lots of foul balls again. Last start there were something like 45 foul balls sending his pitch count way up. But I’m stll waiting to see the vintage Santana–like he looked when he shut down the Metsies last year.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Billy boy, he normally gets off to slow starts, don’t worry the Cy Young is coming.
You guys can gripe about your spotty connections but at least you get to hear the home team banter. I have to listen to Mark Grace wet his pants every time Haren struck out someone with his splitter. Really annoying.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:15 am
The hd broadcast froze so many times that by the 5th inning I switched to the low def
May 5th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Just to add some knowledge to the matter, all of these tv companies(cable and sat.) are having issues pumping out the hd signals. They’re competing to get more hd channels than there competitors but don’t have the bandwidth to accommodate the feeds. Hence you have shoddy service. It’s also relatively new technology so you are bound to have bumps in the road.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:46 am
If you are planning to watch the Mets tonite and you get the Extra innings package, you just might want to tune in the Phillies/Dbacks at 9:40. The D/Backs are starting this kid Max Scherzer. It’s his first start ever and only his second big league appearance, but already there’s more buzz about this kid than anyone since Sidd Finch. He was K’ing just under 15 a game this year in the minors, got called up and pitched 3 1/3 hitless innings with 7 K’s last week in his only appearance and was pushed right into a start tonite. Anyway, if he turns out to be the real deal, you can tell the grandkids about it, and if not, well our Mets start at 10:10.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Let’s go Cuddle Cats.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:20 am
BMF has got to take a hit again.
While I agree that Church has been a terrific addition, it is dangerous rating trades after only 1 month of baseball.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:52 am
GroteFan, wasn’t that what everyone was doing when crucifying Minaya for trading Milledge?!
May 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I think these guys are looking better and better, and I too am ready to join the Church of Church (Do they have a chapter at Mets Shul?). Taking advantage of the bullpen and mistakes, that’s what a pitching duel between two of the league’s best IS, that’s how you win those games and exactly what we did.
Beltran MUST be moved until he starts hitting. 3 spot is perfect because of his walks. I still am waiting to buy my WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT BELTRAN t-shirt!!
May 5th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
We want to get a group at Shea one day wearing little Church lady sweaters, wigs and glasses. When Ryan does something good, we’ll hold up signs that say “Isn’t that special?”
FGMF - I still like “wait for your pitch, Carlos!”
May 5th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Grote Fan, Sam INC- by that logic, we should not be crucifying Omar for Burgos/Bannister since we still have not seen what Burgos is made of. Just sayin’
May 5th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Burgos is made of feathers and tissue paper.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Coop, count me in for the Church ladies.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Bannister is 3 and 3 with 4.04 ERA this year and was only 12 and 9 with only 165 innings pitched…while it’s more than Burgos has done, BBB is hardly the next Seaver…
May 5th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Weird, I live in SoFla, watched the game on TBS HD on DirecTv and had no problems
BMF. I lived in AZ for 7 years, I’ve been to Chase Field, Sun Devil, and America West Arena many times, and I’m here to tell you, its just a bad sports town. The people that go to the games are there to be seen, they could care less about the game. There is no atmosphere at that ballpark, despite being a beautiful stadium, IMO.
One of the games, I think it was Saturday, there was an older couple sitting behind home plate, and I swear to God the woman was eating the entire game. My friends and I out there used to make a joke, the fans go to the games to eat
May 5th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Now Grote that’s just silly
of course if Lastings becomes a HOF’er and church and schneider peter out without the Mets having won a WS we might all look back at this deal with nagativity
But Omar, who took a TON of heat this winter for making that deal, deserves some praise - unless you’re one of those Met fans who insist on seeing the glass as half empty
I too have changed my mind about this trade and you know what - THAT’S WHAT FANS DO!!!
Guess what that’s what the PROS DO TOO!!! Just check in with baseball tonite to see what those guys are saying about Ryan Church
May 5th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
The Lip, since you obviously didn’t see my post yesterday, I’ll put it here again… ENOUGH WITH THE BASHING OF OMAR AND BELTRAN! We get it, you hate them. Talk about something else. As I said yesterday, I’ll leave BIC Willie out of my posts if you leave them out of yours. Deal?
As a ‘Stings backer, I have to say the deal does look very good for the Mets right now. Church and Schneider have been excellent and are a big reason the team isn’t a complete flop. My biggest problem with the deal is that I felt ‘Stings will become a star, would’ve been ready to go this year, is a righthanded bat and should have brought back more value. Though I still believe all those things, I have to give credit for the short-term success.
Looking forward to catching hilites of Scherzer vs Phils and watching Mets with Vin Scully announcing (which is the reason I sometimes tune in to random Dodger games. As well, will be sitting right behind home plate tomorrow and Wednesday so look for the goofy looking guy wearing a Go Big Pelf t-shirt (assuming BMF shipped it by now).
LET’S GO METS!
I’LL PRAY AT THE CHURCH OF CHURCH!
BEAT LA!
May 5th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I agree that the trade looks pretty good right now and I BBQ’d Omar as much as anybody when it was made. However, we will know for sure that it was successful when we start to see Ryan Church Facts posted daily on BMF…
May 5th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Coop I’m so there for Church ladies!! I’m a sculptor, maybe I’ll build little steeple hats or something!
Supposed to be in LA on Weds for the Met game (birthday celebration for born and bred Angeleno husband who is now a RABID Mets fan!). I’ve been sick but if I can keep it together and and am well enough to get on the plane tomorrow, I will bring a sign to the stadium shouting out Churchy and BMF!
May 5th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
dealio, Jake. fair enough. Have fun at the games.
Let’s Go Mets!
We’re stuck with BIC and Carla!
It could always be worse!
Lip
May 5th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
BTW the Church Lady idea wasn’t mine, it’s Dykstraws. Who’s a guy.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
love the Church ladies idea. Especially if Dykstraw is one.
What’s the over/under that the inevitable Randolph/Torre hug will make it onto the pregame?
I saw that Piazza got more votes than Keith for who’s number should be retired. I chalk that up to one thing: the folks texting these things in are too young to have seen Keith in person. Also didn’t Keith hem and haw about which hat he would wear if he was inducted into HOF?
May 5th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Just imagine how hot LosB is gonna get just to get his avg back to his customary .256???
I would move LosB out of the 4th hole, either swap him with Wright (3rd) or Church (2nd). His OBP is 158 points higher than is BA!?! He leads the team in walks, runs and in K’s…
To bat clean up, you need to be a lot more aggressive than he is right now…What kills me is when he swings, he has been making good contact, his approach is just all screwed up and backwards…
May 5th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
More positives: I really like Reyes’ energy lately, he looks like the Reyes of old and all charged up. Smokin!
Delgado has hit some balls very well that got caught. I can totally see him hitting a very hot groove at some point this season.
Alou brings it, every day, and that kind of energy is exactly what this team has been needing. don’t care who you are, you can’t slack with Alou on your team, its just embarrassing to be around him if you are not giving yr best effort.
Santana has been great and hasn’t even hit his usual second-half stride yet.
Figgy! I like this kid. Every time I see him I yell “GO BROOKLYN!!” Love the home town talent, being NY born and bred myself!
Joe Smith is back in form and if Willie doesn’t burn him up again he is going to be super-useful this season.
Feliciano to me is an unsung hero of the Mets. Wicked stuff, gets the job done, no muss no fuss.
Billy Wagner looks better than ever, just LOCKED IN. It took him 9 pitches yesterday to knock out the side.
All in all, we have some serious weak spots but I think if the Statue starts hitting and BigBabyBeltran wakes up out of his Sleeping Beauty coma (kiss the mole and he wakes up???), and Castillo hits the ball out of the infield occasionally, we could actually be in decent shape. Some people on here are so negative you’d think they are watching the ‘62 Mets. Have a little faith, people! Say a prayer at the Church of Church!
And for what its worth I think Omar has done a great job and I think people are crazy for blaming him for every little thing. The players still have to play!
May 5th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
No one plays a better center field than Carlos Beltran. With or without JLo’s help. He’ll win a few games with his bat before the season’s over.
Pessimist = Glass half empty.
Optimist = Glass half full.
Realist = The glass is too big.
May 5th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
A Lesson in Moderation.
Brought to you by The Lip
In all seriousness, I do not want to see Moises playing on the daily. I love having him and would like to see his bat in the lineup everyday in a perfect world, it can’t happen. He’s key to Met success in Oct.
Willie needs to institute some serious platooning.
I have major reservations about Cassanova because the same ought to apply for Schenider. Needless to say, he does not need to be babied as much as Moises, but he does needs a couple days off each week. Delgado may be getting his groove back on. Then again he may not be. A couple hot shot at bats do not a season make. Defensively, he’s deplorable. in light of this, he is a prime candidate for platooning. Maybe Marlon. I know there are those who want the left handed bat on the bench for a pinch - I say Moises can hit righties just as well and if not, we have Delgado.
I want Reyes to have a day off every 2 weeks or so, too - it keeps you rested. Give Beltran a day off , too.
Even give Church a day off. A Ryan Church is the type of player who wins championships. If he gets hurt, the Mets are f–ked. I am blown away by the caliber of play this guy has put out and I do not want to see him fizzle out from over use.
One thing is for sure, we have an older team and these guys have to rest. A Pagan, an Anderson, an Endy, BACKUP catcher from somewhere who can call good game need at bats and our vets need to stay rested and healthy. I’m no fan of babying these dudes - let it be known. You’ve gott make lemonade out of your roster, though so to speak.
It was delightful to have the Murder’s Rowesqu lineup over the weekend. Time has proven over and over again that we can’t get used to it - so let’s not be a 1 trick pony - let’s save that for October. Let’s play “down a man” and get our bench warmers hot. Maybe - just maybe - we can KEEP ourselves down man - voluntarily instead of down 2 or 3 involuntarily.
The bullpen is not quite so easy to manage. While I am inno way complaining about Johan, he has in fact been far from dominant. Maybe for the league - not for him by any stretch. Dude is right -yet again. Last year - May or June, he made f–king mincemeat out of the Mets. I think he went CG in like 2 hours and 12 minutes, too.
I don’t know what is going on w/ the rotation. It’s as if they play little league innings. I’m a fan of the mullet and the jacket. These guys need to get it together, though. In all honesty an dI’ve said it over and over again, it puts a skipper in a position that is compromising. if Randolph were clairvoyant it would not be a problem. Whine you need 6 relievers a night, at least one of them is going to f–k up. Wags is a c0nstant - so yes, it is an 8 inning game; but a lot can happen in thirds of the 6th, the 7th and 8th.
Big test for Oliver tonight. If he f–ks up again, I’m gonna have to rethink my position on him. If he’s good and we all know Ollie can be quite good, maybe he’ll get rolling. I would tell Oliver that it’s long night and even if he gets in trouble, he’s gotta hang tough and throw strikes, because he’s going 8 - we’re counting on him to go 8. Also, I want the 100 pitch pitch count raised to 115 for ALL starters excepting prima Donna Pedro- I don’t give a f–k. Everyone is way too hung up on it and it’s absurd. NONE of these guys are incapable of chucking 115 pitches - I’m not even saying that it’s automatic hook at 115 either. But 15 pitches can buy an inning and certainly 2/3 of one.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
The Lip has morphed into USMF.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
This is a huge game for Mr. Perez, we all know that.
Can we stay awake in L.A. though. I hope somebody packed the Power Bars.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I think I’m drinking the kool aid you guys are drinking. last night, I felt like Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally, now I feel like we got a team here. to think we won on a technicality. Go Mets.
PS Visit my site for more detes on Church Lady night. Dykstraw also wants to do the Blue Maine group but we have to coordinate that when Maine pitches.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Yankee Fan kills Red Sox fan (details at my site).
Phanatic better watch out. Just Sayin.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
wynd, I’m not sure if that was an insult or not, and if it was, who was it supposed to insult?
Say what you will, but I agree with Lip too…I was even thinking LosB needs a day of in LA just to think about a different approach at the plate…
And While I like O and think he’s done a good job overall with this team, one of the things O did wrong in my Book this off season is not signing a good Bench first basemen…there is no way that even IF Delgado bounced back and hit consistently, you’d want him playing more than 130 games this year…and Marlon and Damion are no way have the experience to be reliable backups.
May 5th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
USMF, not at all… just remarking that there was a long, cogent discourse set out in stages and offering alternatives and possible solutions, and instead of USMF at the top it was Lippylip the Lipster.
Nothing against a good pessimistic rant once in a while tho
May 5th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Irregardless!!
May 5th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
20 RBI !!!
January 24th, 2010 at 6:22 pm
yea Nice work: D
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