One More Thing...

A bunch of people in the media are bringing up the fact that the big players on the Mets have disappeared in big spots, while the Phillies guys have come through. Namely Reyes/Wright/Beltran compared to Rollins/Howard/Utley. I understand the argument and I have always been critical of the Mets guys not stepping up, at least Wright and Reyes. One point that I have not seen made though is the fact that Rollins & Utley are both 29 and Howard is 28. Reyes and Wright are still only 25. Before these past two years, the Phillies had a reputation of shrinking in September and never coming through. It took them a few years to get over the hump. I'm just saying we have to have a little patience with Reyes and Wright even if they are killing us right now.

Just to be clear, I am not saying that this is the rule. I know that the Brewers young guys like Fielder & Braun came up huge the past week and they had never really been here before. All I am saying is that you can't trade a Wright or Reyes at age 25 when they each have only had 3 chances at a pennant race/playoffs each while at young ages. Some players need to mature to hit in the big spot. Some are born that way and some never find it. I have faith that Reyes & Wright will find it. Its only natural to compare the Phillies core to the Mets core, but while they are all 28 or older, Reyes and Wright are still only 25, and they both did not go to college. There is a certain maturity and calmness on the field that the Phillies have developed that they did not have at 25, but do now. Even Braun with the Brewers was a star at the U before getting drafted where be probably cultivated a lot of that cockiness.

It Has Set In...

I think I was kind of in disbelief last night. I agree with a lot of what I wrote, but as I woke up this morning the dread of the season being over hit me pretty hard. No more baseball and no more Mets. Before I go any further I just wanna address this team. I have been a pretty big critic about their attitude of thinking they are better than they are, including how they handled the Willie Randolph firing. I will call out one guy for this attitude. Carlos Delgado. He had a great final 3 months of the season and could have been the MVP, but when he makes comments like "we have the talent to dominate the division", then he pisses me off. This team lost 2 straight years to the Phillies. The Mets can deny it all they want, but the Phillies have proven time and again over the past 2 years that they are the better team. Until the Mets either win the division or beat the Phillies in a playoff series, then they need to shut up about them.

Anyway, I'm glad the Giants are coming off their bye this week, and hopefully they will continue to distract me with wins deep into the winter.

I did not want seconds...

Today was a rough one. As if last year wasn't brutal enough, the Mets had to go and break our hearts again. Last year I was in disbelief at this time, but right now it just feels like a reoccurring nightmare. It is nowhere near the collapse as last year, but the bottom line is that this team did not play well down the stretch and blew a lead for the second straight year.

After the loss set in last year, I felt anger and betrayal. I didn't look forward to a new season, I just wanted to erase the past. I can honestly say that right now I want the 2009 season to start as soon as possible. With a new bullpen of course. I am not that naive Mets fan that just looks at the bullpen and places all the blame. I will be the first guy to point out how David Wright gave us nothing in the clutch. There is no arguing the fact that this Mets offense lives and dies by Jose Reyes getting on base, and in too many of these Sept games, he has disappeared. One thing I won't do is rip Carlos Beltran. Until he wins a championship in New York, everyone will point to that last pitch in 2006 against the Cards, but if you look at his career fairly you will see a guy who has been a big time player in big time games, at the plate, in the field and on the bases.

So once again, where do we go from here? I don't know how Omar will go about it, but we need a closer and a complete overhaul of the bullpen. I am pretty sure that we have seen the last of Heilman, Schowenweiss and at least one or two others. We locked Castillo into a long-term deal at 2nd base which looks very ugly right now. I honestly don't know where the Mets go as far as the line-up is concerned. Daniel Murphy looked very good late in the year, and he should get a chance to play somewhere everyday in Spring Training. Delgado will have his option picked up and I don't see Reyes, Wright or Beltran going anywhere. I think the catcher platoon worked out pretty well, but if they can find an improvement at that spot then there really is nothing stopping them.

What I would love is to acquire a guy like Brian Roberts from the Orioles. Obviously the Castillo contract hurts in that regard, but I just feel that this Mets offense relies way too much on Reyes. We need a high on base guy with speed to pair with Reyes at the top of the line-up to take some of the pressure off of him. Roberts is the perfect guy for this team, I just don't know how they can maneuver it. As for starting pitching you are bringing back Johan, Maine and Pelfrey. I would also sign Perez to 5 yrs 60 million if thats what it takes & let Pedro walk. Find a 5th starter among young guys and cheaper options.

Look, until the Mets prove they can win in the clutch, people will make fun and question them. I don't blame them. If I wasn't a Mets fan I'd be the first guy saying that they need to change the core of this team now that changing the manager did not change they play in September. At the same time though you need patience. I know patience is tough when youngsters like Ryan Howard and Ryan Braun are winning games for other teams, but you can't act irrationally. Look at the NFL. The Eagles lost three straight NFC title games, but they stuck with their guys. I know they brought TO in, but he wasn't around in the playoffs when they made their Super Bowl run. The same thing with Peyton Manning and the Colts. They stuck to their game and eventually won it all. I think that patience is key, especially in day and age. As for right now, I will root for Torre & the Dodgers, as well as the Rays. I have to watch baseball, but it won't be easy. This is the life of a Met fan. We know its never easy, but there is still so much potential on this roster for the future, especially when I compare it to days gone by (early to mid 1990s). I know that is overly optimistic, but after last years collapse, I feel like I have gone through the absolute worst and I can handle anything when it comes to this team. I am ready for some better times though...

Wknd Wonders

-The Yankees are done. Stick a form in them.

-I don't wanna hear any crying about their injuries. When you have a team filled with guys over the age of 35, they are going to get injured. Joba getting injured sucks, but that how it goes sometimes. The Rays just had Crawford go on the DL, while the Mets had Maine go on the DL. Fact is that the older your team, the more more risk of durability.

-I'm not the biggest Girardi fan, so take this as you will, but I all I know is that Torre did not miss one postseason in 12 years, and that included relying on guys like Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon when they were needed. As well as Wang and Cano being called up out of nowhere when no one even thought of them as big prospects.

-I don't think he changed that much to their end of year record, but you can't help but be a little envious of the excitement over at Jet camp. I have had that feeling when Piazza was traded to the Mets and we felt like we finally had a superstar to call our own, and I can tell you it is amazing.

-I hopped on the Rays bandwagon in June, but even I am surprised with how they have started to pull away a little bit. I still think the Sox will end up taking the division, but the Rays just won of 4 to start a big road trip, which is pretty important when you realize that they are a much better team at home.

-I am starting to think that it is just the Cubs year. I don't really see a weakness on that team. The Mets have the firepower and starting pitching to play with them, but they might not even get to the playoffs. The Dbacks have the pitching, but their lineup will have a lot of trouble against good pitching. If it is the Cubs year, then I guess you could say they are due, 100 years is a loooong time.

-The Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics were awesome. I don't usually get into that stuff, but I did Fri night for a bit. Really impressive, and so far I have watched more of the events than usual. Being awake when they are going on live helps with that I guess.

-Mets have a pretty easy rest of the month schedule-wise. Unless the Philles go in the tank though I see this going down to the last week of the season (unfortunately). I do not have confidence in this team winning those big games down the stretch. How could I after last year?

-RIP Bernie Mac

Late Night

A few months ago I started working nights. I go into the office every Sunday around 6ish and I work until 5AM Monday morning. I do that all week until 5AM Friday morning when my weekend starts. It has its good and bads, but for the most part the hours suck. The worst part is on those Fridays or Saturdays that I don't go out, I usually can't fall asleep before 2 or 3 AM. I have tried a few different things to try and fix this, but nothing really works. The bottom line is that five days a week I am awake all night, and it is not really possible to then function as a normal human being on the weekends. In reality it would take a couple weeks to get myself have on a normal schedule. In any event, I was just tossing and turning in bed and I thought, why not use this time to do something that I enjoy. So, here I am writing on this blog once again. Here I go..

Training camp for the 2008 NFL season started a couple weeks ago, so we now can officially put Super Bowl XLII in our rearview mirror. I was not writing when the Giants were making their run, so I missed the chance to express how amazing that was for me. I really never had one of my teams win a championship before. The Rangers won in 1994, but hockey was never as important to me as the other sports and I was only 11. Any championship would have been awesome for me, but this run by the Giants was as good as it gets. There is no reason to go over the specifics, as everyone knows what happen. All I know though is as it was going on, I kept on thinking to myself that it will never get better than this. I will never see my team go on a run so unexpected, and so pure as I did last January.

One of the reasons that it was so special personally was my friend David who I have mentioned before here. He passed away about a year ago. He introduced me to sports and more specifically, to the Giants. I remember watching the Giants play the Rams at home in the 1989 playoffs with him (they lost in OT on a long TD catch by Flipper Anderson). The first Super Bowl I remember watching was at his apartment, when Montana brought the Niners back against Cincinnati. I remember the Giants playing the Niners on Monday Night Football when they were both 10-1 in 1990, which at the time felt the biggest game ever. I remember him talking about the Giants being bad for so many years in the 60's and 70's. How he suffered for so long and Parcells brought them back. He was the guy I called when the Giants blew the playoff game to the Niners in January 2003. He was who I called for everything sports-related.

I also remember him passing last summer and how tough it was for me. Tougher than I ever could imagine. I missed him so much and I felt like I had no one who I could talk to or relate to on it. Every time I watched a game I thought about him. It just so happens that September the Mets went through a historic collapse where they blew something like a 7 game lead with 17 games to go in the season. Not having him there to talk to about it made it that much tougher. When the Giants season started, all I hoped was for them to have a great season for him. They started out 0-2, and could not have looked worse. They began to turn it around after beating Washington on the road with an unbelievable late game defensive stand, but the rest of the regular season was a bit of a roller coaster with them finishing 10-6 and in the playoffs for a 3rd straight year.

I never remember David going to a Giants game. I also never heard him trash Eli, when it seemed like the whole city was. He was as loyal a Giant fan as they come. When I ran the NYC marathon for him last November, the first thing I did when I finished was put on a brand new Giants sweatshirt in tribute to him.

The playoffs were an amazing run, but all I kept wishing was that I could have watched those games with him. I want to think that he saw those games somewhere and it made him feel as happy as it made me feel. Over the past year, I have been able to grieve and through that I have felt better. Every year around this time thought I can't help but think of him. The optimism of training camp. Reading a story in the paper everyday about a rookie, or a position battle, or a player who looks like he may have a breakout year. That is what David was all about. The hope of a new season. I know that there is nothing that the Giants can do this season to top what happened last year. So all I would say to them is not to try to. Play hard, and know that fans like me will never forget what they gave us one short year ago. To David, I would say I miss you, and I hope that you are able to watch somewhere because these Giants just might shock us again this year.

Tricky Tricky

Those tricky tricky Jets went out and got themselves a Hall of Famer. To be honest I did not think they had it in them. They proved me, and most of the sports world wrong by doing what it took to get Brett Favre from Packer Green to GANG GREEN. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the right thing to do for the franchise. Outside of maybe Bill Parcells, this is the biggest thing to happen to the franchise wince Super Bowl III. He has 10x the arm strength as Pennington and 100x the experience as Clemons. So I think that they are going to cruise to a playoff spot now that they got the QB to go along with a potentially great offensive line and a much improved defense. Actually, not quite...........

The Jets will definitely be better than last year. I would have felt that way without Brett Favre though. They have a very balanced team on both sides of the ball. The only thing that they really were lacking in my estimation was a couple big playmakers on offense. Brett Favre has had a history of turning many WRs into playmakers. Look at how his career spanned from Sterling Sharpe, to Robert Brooks, to Antonio Freeman, to Javon Walker, to Donald Drvier, to Greg Jennings. Not to mention a few TEs he did pretty well throwing to. My thing though is that I am not sold on Brett having another big-time year. Before last year, he has one terrible year and one mediocre year. He will be 39 in October. He could very easily have another one of those so-so years, which are definitely not what any Jet fan is anticipating.

I know the Jet fan mentality is not only that Favre could bring wins, but he makes them relevant. As a Met fan, I know how it feels to have the mentality that no one cares about your team because there is another team in town playing the same sport that steals all of your glory. The thing is though, how will these fans react if Favre starts slow and the Jets are 2-4 in the middle of October? Favre is known as a gunslinger and has had a reputation for having games over the years when he has absolutely killed his teams. He built up so much goodwill in Green Bay, that it did not really matter. He does not have that here, and I promise you they will let him here it if he is not holding up his end of the bargain.

I really hope that he does well. Jet fans deserve this, and I look forward to see him performing in New York. Maybe it is the Met fan in me though, seeing a franchise (and fanbase) desperate for attention reaching out to a guy past his prime to bring them to the promised land. I think this is a move the Jets had to make for the potential upside, I just fear that the downside is more likely, and would be such a punch to the gut for the fans. You know what thought? They're used to it, who am I kidding? In any event, congratulations Jet fans.

Chompin

Chompin at the bit here...

-Joba Chamberlain. Not that it means anything, but I don't like this guy. How can I? He is mean both with his pitches and his attitude on the field. Obviously, I don't like the Yankees, so the combination of him being really good and being an intimidator will grab my attention. Anyway, right now he is in Birmingham, AL about to get a second opinion on his ailing right shoulder. Honestly, I do not wish this guy any physical harm. I do have a major problem with the way the Yankees have babied their young pitchers though, so yes I would get some satisfaction from Joba having an arm injury. All that I have heard over the last year is how the Yankees are going to handle their young pitchers the "right way" and not wear them out. How they would gradually raise their innings totals from one year to the next and closely monitor their pitch counts. Comparisons were given to how the Cubs screwed up Wood and Prior, as well as the Mets ruining Generation K. Well, I think that Brian Cashman is an arrogant mofo who has no clue what he is doing when it comes to pitchers. Just look at his track record of signing and trading for pitchers. Also look at the number of pitchers that have been developed under Cashman's watch over the past 10+ years. A good article in the Times today mentions how Mussina threw 240 innings in 1992 at Joba's age. Cashman has this quote in the same article "“There are certainly no guarantees...But I’m very comfortable and confident in our pitching program. It limits the risk, but it doesn’t prevent injuries.” Well you know what? Hughes and Kennedy suffered major setbacks this year. Now with this Joba news, he could join the party. If that happens, none of these guys will come near the increase in innings the Yankees forecast and where will they be next year? I am not saying that the Yankees are alone in all this, but I look at the Mets wil Pelfrey (who is having a strong year) and I don't really hear any of this junk. I dunno, I just think that the "Yankee Plan" is not one designed on developing horses on the mound. I was already getting shit from my boy for saying moving Joba to the rotation was gunna a mistake. Well, I still think the Yankees don't know what they are doing and that will be proven in good time.

-Phew! OK, how many times is a Mets manager this season going to give the ball to Heilman in a big spot? People talk about Wagner blowing 7 saves, but Heilman has ruined at least 10 games. I know hes got good stuff and hes a resilient guy, but how many times do I have to see him give up a home run to blow a lead? Lets just give this dude a few days off and then gradually work him back into the mix. No more two innings at a time, unless you give him two days off after. No coming into a game unless we are down by 3, up by 3 or in extra innings. Let him prove it for about a month, while also letting him get some much needed race. He will be needed in Sept, but at this rate I think his arm might fall off before Labor Day (not that many Met fans would mind).

-Anyone have any tips on how to get thru plantar facitis (sp?)?? Sucks when you go out to rip a 7 mile run and it feels like someone is jabbing an ice pick into ur foot 3 miles away from ur apt with no metrocard to get back.....

I guss thats all folks....Lookin forward to seein those champion Giants back on the field Thurs night, eventhough there is no bigger d*cktease than preseason football...

Guess Who's Back

It's been awhile, but here I am. Recently I have found myself with a lot to say on sports (and no one to tell it to, since I work in the darkness). Right now is a very interesting time in baseball. We potentially have five division races that could go down to the end of the season, with four of those have more than two teams very much still in the division race. Home teams have dominated this year at a rate higher than usual, which adds an extra bit of intrigue to those late season series. People will want to write off the teams like Tampa & Minnesota, but take a look at their home records. I think its the combination of being young and built to play indoors, but each just dominates at home. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the division races. I'll start with the Junior circuit...

AL East

For years it has been all about Sox/Yanks. Finally we have another team that came to play. The Rays will be there until the end too. They have a very balanced line-up with power, speed and lefty/righty combos to cause math-up problems. Their bullpen has been great and their starting rotation has been pretty consistent from 1-5. Their #5 starter (Sonnanstine) has 11 wins already. They have an advantage right now in the standings, but they have a long west coast road trip coming up next week where they go into Seattle, Oakland and Texas. Plus they end the season with an 8 game road trip into Baltimore and Detroit. I think they have the players to win the division, but they are going to have to play better on the road down the stretch to be able to hold onto this lead. I think they have the consistent starting pitching to get it done, but I am not sure about the consistency of that line-up.

The Sox has went through one of the weirdest couple of weeks a team could have. This next month will show me if they are still the team to beat in the AL. To me, the one thing that set up apart from every team in baseball over the past 5 years was the 3-4 Manny/Papi combo. It will go down right next to Gehrig/Ruth, Mantle Maris, McCovey/Mays as one of the best of all time. Now they don't have that. They still have a very potent line-up, but there definitely is not that same fear in the middle of that line-up. Their rotation is extremely good, but their bullpen is shaky at best. With all that being said though, I would be shocked if they did not make the playoffs.

As for the Yankees, they are a much more dangerous team than they were 2 weeks ago. If you asked me their most glaring problems then I would have said right-handed power, back-end of the rotation, and lack of a lefty in the bullpen. Well, two of those things were fixed with the Nady/Marte trade. Plus, with Pudge they don't have to play a .220 hitter everyday in Molina, which is pretty important since Melky is already an everyday player who is a horrible offensive performer. The back-end of the rotation is still a problem, but Hughes and Kennedy will both get another shot at some point, and Wang could be heard from (even if it isn't by Sept 1). They end the year with a 6 game road trip, the last 3 being in Boston. If they are behind both the Rays and Sox going into that, it will be a very tough proposition.

Prediction: 1. Sox 2. Rays 3. Yanks

AL Central

Three team race if you count the Tigers (who are in rough shape after getting swept out of Tampa). The White Sox have been leading most of the season and I think it is there division to lose. The Tigers have played much better since May 1, but they dug themselves too big a hole in the beginning of the year to come back. The Twins are very dangerous, but they just don't have the offensive fire-power to compete on the road consistently. Lirano coming back is a yuuuuge wild card, and they will be in it until the end. The White Sox have the strongest team from top to bottom, but they have a weirdly constructed offensive team. A lot of older guys and no true center fielder. Their starting pitching is very solid. The White Sox go into Minnesota the second to last series of the year. If they don't have some breathing room before that, then they will be in trouble because after that the Twins finish with 3 games at home against Kansas City.

1. White Sox 2. Twins 3. Tigers

AL West

ANGELS.

Wild Card

Twins.

I really want to say the Rays, but their September schedule is just so much tougher than the Twins. They play the Yanks/Red Sox 12 times and finish with 8 games on the road. The Rays and Twins do play a 4 game sat in September in Tampa which could be huge for Tampa's cause, but in the end I just don't think they will get it done.

NL EAST

The Mets are full of themselves. They have been like this for years now. Ever since their playoff run in 2006, they have acted like they are the Sox or the Yanks and they have this great track record of making the playoffs and winning, which is flat-out wrong. They made Willie the scapegoat for last year and acted like that winning streak around the all-star break was what they were meant to do all year. All that winning streak did though was mask the fact that they have an inadequate team. Their #5 hitter the past couple of days has either been Tatis or Easly. That is a joke. I don't know what the Pirates were asking for, but when I see the prospects the Yankees gave up and what the Dodgers gave up for Manny it bothers me that I will see either Tatis or Endy playing every day the rest of the year. The Mets have the best starting rotation in the league, and that is really their only chance of winning this thing. They have to dominate to give their constantly overused bullpen a rest, and take pressure off their offense that just does not have the horses (unless Chuch comes back, then things look a little different).

The Phillies have a monster offense, but shaky pitching. Hammels is the only guy in that rotation I would trust. Their hitting is not only great, but they have a very strong bench, which helps them a ton late in games. Not to mention they have built great character over the past couple of seasons and continue to have this "us against the world" mentality, especially when it comes to facing the Mets. They will be there until the end for sure, I think it depends more on how the Mets and Marlins hold up rather then if Philly does.

The Marlins are a pesky bunch. There is really no better way to say it. If I had to pick one guy on that team that represents the group it would be Dan Uggla. Plays hard, hits a ton of home runs, strike out all the time and is a DH in the field. The pitching is inconsistent, and does not have anything close to an ace. I keep thinking that they will fall out of it, but they just hang around. I still think by Sept 1 they will be about 5 or 6 back of the Mets/Phils. They go into Shea though the last weekend of the season. I will be there Sunday Sept 28 to say goodbye to the old ballpark. Last year the Mets ended their year on a Sunday at Shea against Florida. Will history repeat itself? Ugh..

1. Mets 2. Phillies 3. Marlins

AL Central

The Cubs are the cream of the crop this year in the NL. They made a huge statement sweeping the Brewers in Milwaukee last week. They have a dominant offense, which is even better now with Soriano back. The rotation is scary if Harden can stay healthy, and the bullpen has been great all year. They play with a swagger that comes from their manager. I think they win the division and leave the Cards and Brewers to fight for the scraps. As for that, I think the Brewers have to be the favorite. With Sabathia and Sheets at the top of that rotation I don't care about the clowns they have in their bullpen. I watch the Cards play and see the line-ups they put out there and I don't understand how they are even a .500 team. You have to credit the manager and the front office that keep this team competitive year in and year out.

1. Cubs 2. Brewers 3. Cards

AL West

The West was won the day the Dodgers traded for Manny. He brings a presence to that franchise that they have not had since Piazza. I think this team goes on a bigtime run over the next 20 games. Billingsly is developing into an ace and the bullpen has been good even without Saito. The Dbacks built such a huge lead, but their offense has just not been consistent. They have too many young hitters that strike out a lot and don't hit in big spots. They needed a Manny or Texiera to come in as much as anyone in the league, but they did not pull the trigger. Their pitching will keep them in it, but Manny will lift the Dodgers to the playoffs.

1. Dodgers 2. D'Backs

Wild Card

Brewers

The Sabathia deal gives them two aces at the top of their staff. Over the course of a season they can overcome their horrible pen with their offense and starting pitching. The Phillies have the guts, but just not nearly enough arms. If they could have gotten a Burnett this might be a different story.

PLAYOFFS?!?!

AL would be weird without the Yanks and even wierder with the Rays. Up until Manny was gone I would have said the Sox were the team to beat. Like I said, that dynamic with Manny/Ortiz was such a weapon in big games. Now I look at the Sox as a very tough team, but missing that intimidating element they used to have. Angels look like the team to beat, with the best manager in baseball armed with his best team yet.

The NL could shape up to have a great NLCS. Think about a Dodgers/Mets, Cubs/Dodgers, or Mets/Cubs match-up. From a historical standpoint, those are all great mach-ups for the bigtime baseball fan. I think the Cubs will be there, not sure about the other two. In a short series, the Brewers could crash the pary with those two horses in their rotation.

BTW...I know you contraries and Sox clowns will tell me how much of a cancer Manny was in the clubhouse and how his teammates wanted him gone, blahblahblah. I understand all that and I still feel that after the trade deadline passed they woulda realized he was here until the end of the season and would have adjusted just like they have so many times in the past. I will never believe that the Red Sox have a better chance to win this year with Jason Bay in left field and not Manny.

Feels good to be back. You won't be getting a post every day, but check back frequently and I assure you that there will be good shit on a consistent basis. This one was a bit long. I had a lot to get off my chest about the sport in general. Anyway, no more STKAFI, since Isiah is gone. We will have to figure out a new one. Until then...Peace!