As a handful of you were watching Hee-Seop Choi unload off of Dan Wheeler last night, you might have been wondering whether, aside from Dream Team 1, whether there's ever been an international stage where the USA succeeded by not only winning, but also getting people to like us.  Anytime we do anything in front of other countries, we usually either suck or make asses of ourselves. 

I, on the other hand, was thinking, "Hey, wasn't Dan Wheeler on the Mets?  Didn't he have a fantastic year for the Astros last year?  What did we get for him?"

So Wheeler threw 73.1 innings for the 'Stros in 71 games, posting a 2.21 ERA and a WHIP of 0.98.  Opponents batted .204 against him.

The Mets traded him the year before for minor league outfielder Adam Seuss.  You remember Adam Seuss.  He tested positive for steroids last April after the Mets cut him.

So, just to recap, we sent a good reliever to the Astros for a juicehead, and then a year later, we shipped 40% of our rotation for a handful relievers, two of whom, Schmoll and Maine, have looked horrendous in Grapefruit ball.  Good job.

Kirk Rueter retired today.

Among his noted accomplishments, he had a .586 winning pct and is the winningest lefty in Giants history.

But he also accomplished a bizzare statistical feat.

He gave up more runs than he struck people out.

Now, if you're terrible, that's easy to do, but then you don't stay in the majors that long.

But that's really hard to do if you're actually good.... to have batters put that many balls in play and still succeed.  It certainly keeps your fielders on their toes.

In fact, I went and looked it up and I could only find one other pitcher with a career of any note who has also done that.

At first I thought it was about velocity.  So I thought about other junk ballers...  Moyer, Wakefield, Hough, nope, nope, nope.

Not even close.

Ground ball guys?  Quisenberry, Innis?   Quisenberry comes close, but no cigar.

Damn.

Well, I did find two more.  The first one is just amazing.

Cy Young.

Yup, that's right.  What are the odds that Kirk Rueter and Cy Young wind up in any kind of a trivia question answer together?

So, then I thought maybe it had something to do with that era.  So I checked out other notables...  Matthewson, Grove, Waddell, Brown, Ciccote.  Nope. 

Well, so for a moment there, I thought I had the best trivia question ever...  but then I found one more who just ruins it.

Another ground ball guy, and also a former Giant.

Billy Swift.

Fuck you, Billy Swift.  You ruined my trivia question.

This post brought to you by Baseball Reference.

Link: ESPN.com - MLB - Soriano: Nationals have three weeks.

Hmm...   The Nationals have two secondbasemen, Soriano and Vidro.  The Mets have none.

They also have no starting pitching.

You know, when the Mets had like 7 starting pitchers, they could have traded Zambrano or Kris Benson to the Nationals for Jose Vidro or done something to try to get Soriano.

But now we have nothing to trade them but hard throwing bullpen scrubs and the Nats have a good bullpen.

Link: Kaz is well prepared for new challenge this spring -- Newsday.com.

Kaz Matsui is painfully aware of his tenuous situation on the Mets. As the Japanese infielder said yesterday, "I read the papers."

Hopefully, he reads blogs, too.  Kaz, you stink.  You're not worth the $7 million we're paying you.  I'd trade you for a bucket of baseballs and a foam hand if I could.

Kind of a yawner.

I'm glad Pittsburgh won, but you really only had to watch two plays...  the 75 yard run and the reverse.  Their biggest runs were by their quarterback and their best throw came from a wide receiver--and they don't even have Kordell Stewart anymore.

All of Seattle's big plays got called back on penalties.

And, not only did most of the commercials really suck, but didn't it seam like have of them were house ads?  I don't think all the spots sold.  Suckiness exceptions were for the streaking lamb during horse football and for the girl tackling.   

Losing 17-11 to the STV Scrappers wasn't exactly the way the Fordham Young Alumni softball team wanted to open their season, but the guys and gals in maroon made enough of a showing to give fans something to look forward to this season.

Crafty pitching from Brian "Strikes" Cuthbert (FCLC '01) and solid defense kept Fordham in the game through the first three frames.  Alexis "The Cannon" Kramer (FCRH '01) led the glovework, getting four of the team's first six outs in the field, including an unassisted double play in the second.  The outfield of Jason "Wheels" Giannitti (FCRH '02), Kevin "I'm not a small" Rodricks (FCRH '99, GSAS '04) and Larry "Young at Heart" Porco (GSAS '80) turned in some key plays to keep things close.  STV lead after three 3-0.

David "I live on the same block as Charlie" Murphy (FCRH '04) finally put Fordham on the board with a bases loaded two run single, scoring Christine "Nickname to be named later" Schildknecht (CBA '99) and Giannitti.  Charlie "Its my blog, so I make the nicknames" O'Donnell (CBA '01) singled home another run to knot it at three. Kramer than followed with a laser over the left fielder for a two run homer that put Fordham ahead 5-3.

After STV got one back, Fordham tacked on even more runs in the next frame.   The team had eight consecutive hits in the fifth, plating six more runs.  Fordham's females set things up in the inning with Christine "Christine" Guerrero (FCRH '99), Sofia "Steamroller" Won (CBA '03), and Schildknecht all reaching base and scoring.  Jim "The Wright Stuff" Gallagher (CBA '99) drove in a run with his second hit and also scored a run.  Murphy, O'Donnell, and Cuthbert all took part in the barrage, each hitting run scoring singles. 

All the hitting seemed to wear down the Fordham team, though, as the wheels came off the train in the sixth and seventh.  Despite flashy glovework from Nicole "Full Coverage"* Horsford (FCRH '99) at first, the defense didn't keep up, leaving opportunities open for STV to climb back and take a sizable lead with some timely hitting.  When it was finally over, STV would score five in the six and a painful eight in the seventh--13 unanswered runs.  Still, Fordham left the field in good spirits, looking forward to its April 21st practice and next game on Friday the 29th. 

All Fordham alumni are welcome to join us at our practice and afterwards at our regular "Third Thursday" Happy Hour.  T. G. Whitney's on 53rd between 2nd and 3rd.  Practice first, drink after.  Players will be signing autographs at the bar.

* See, the "Full Coverage" nickname is funny only if you know that Nicole works for HIP, the health plan.  She works for a health plan and she plays a great first base.  Clever, no?

Link: New York Daily News - Mets - Bob Raissman's Tuning In: Mex marks spot in Met booth.

Make no mistake, Hernandez, who will work about 110 games, is the star of this show. In TV baseball the main analyst always is. Hernandez has earned top billing. It's not just about his knowledge of the game. Anyone who played big-league baseball for 17 seasons knows the ins and outs. It's his ability to communicate what he knows with clarity, passion and honesty. Hernandez has developed a style.

It ain't white bread and butter.

This team isn't going anywhere.  Fast.

And you know what?  They haven't been going anywhere, for a long time.  This has got to be, given the kind of resources that have been available, the most mismanaged franchise in sports ever.  Now, keep in mind that my knowledge of sports franchise management really only goes back about 15 years, but in that period, since 1990, I'd put up this team against anyone. 

It all started in 1990, when they fired Davey Johnson.  That's when the Mets, in my era, started making decisions that had nothing to do with on the field performance whatsoever. 

Under Johnson, the Mets never finished lower than 2nd, and they won two division titles and one World Series.  That was before realignment, when you basically had to win at least 96 games to get into the playoffs.  Competitive baseball... year in, year out. 

And for that, he got canned.  Right about then, the wheels came off the track.  In came the high-priced flops:  Vince Coleman, Bobby Bo, Bret Saberhagen, Eddie Murray, etc. etc. so on and so forth.  We all know the story there.  Then, a few years later we go to the World Series on the back of a catcher and no outfield.  Oh, and the pitch before Kenny Rogers' last pitch to the Braves?  That was a ball as well.  He couldn't throw a strike with the season on the line TWICE. 

But let's talk about now.  Let's talk about how ridiculous this team is now and what really kills me--the fact that the best players aren't the ones getting the most playing time.  Its become management by politics and it drives me nuts. 

Mike Piazza is batting .243.  Remember Jason Phillips?  He's up at .287.  Now, granted with the few meaningless homeruns Mike's hit, his OPS is within a few points of Phillips, but Phillips is throwing out about 20% of the runners than run against him... and A LOT less people run against him.  Mike is tossing them out at a 10% clip, which means my grandmother has a shot on the back end of a double steal at least.  Oh, and the big difference.  Jason Phillips is making about $300k.  Piazza makes $300k a week... not just during the season... all year. 

But, he's still probably better, at least offensively, than half the catchers in the league.  The problem is, we have him batting 5th.  How about flip flopping him with David Wright, who, out of the regulars, leads the team in slugging, total bases, and is 2nd in RBI.  Plus, the guy draws walks and has a .400+ on base pct.  Well, but you can't do that, because then poor Mike and his $15 million feelings are going to get hurt.  You know what?  For $15 million, they could bat me 10th.  New York City teachers make what Mike makes in a day.  He has no right to complain if they move him in the lineup, move him to another position, or trade him to the Orioles for a bucket of baseballs.  I'm sick of watching this guy leave 5 on a night and ground out into a double play with runners in scoring position.

You know who else they're afraid to bench?  How about Tommy Glavine?  Seven guys have started games for the Mets this year.  Glavine has the 2nd worst ERA and the worst WHIP out of any of them.   After the All-Star break last year, Glavine posted a 4-7 record with a 5.06 ERA.  So, the fact that Aaron Heilman isn't a permanent fixture in this rotation, ahead of Glavine, is a joke.  But, he's Tom Glavine, so you can't send him to the bullpen.  So, we're stuck with him for as long as he wants to keep losing to the Braves.

Speaking of money pits...  How about Kaz Matsui?  First of all, and I brought this up at the time, Miguel Tejada (the Miguel Tejada that drove in 150 runs last year), is making about $12 million a year.  Matsui is making $7 million--a guy who had never batted before in the US, and for $5 million more we could have had the 2002 AL MVP.  A lot of good that extra $5 million did.  This is a guy who, when it was obvious that he couldn't play shortstop in the majors, wouldn't give in on the clause in his contract that said he could only play short.  So, we had to wait until the offseason to switch his position.  But, what's spent is spent, and now we put this yahoo out in the field just because we spent the money.  If it were up to me, I'd hand Cairo the job now and Matsui would never bat again.  Does it say in his contract that we have to play him at all?

Bat Wright 5th.  Trade Glavine, Piazza, and Matsui to anyone who will take them.  Let Heilman pitch every 5th day.  Get Rickey Henderson back...  to teach Jose Reyes the strike zone and how to draw a a walk.  (Hell, he could teach Ishii and Zambrano where the strike zone is, too.)   Health Bell should always come out of the bullpen before Manny Aybar.   

And for the love of God, please let Carlos Beltran run.  I don't care who bats behind him.  What the hell is the point of spending all this money on a 30-30 guy if you don't let him steal?  Did I mention I'd like to manage the team?

Goddamn it.   Why is everyone so down on Jae Seo?  We got one halfway decent righty out of the bullpen and a scrub who had a 5+ ERA last year for someone that went 8-2 2.59...  Maybe he had leprocy and I just didn't notice.  If he did, then this was a good trade. 

Link: ESPN.com - MLB - Seo headed to L.A. as Dodgers, Mets swap pitchers.

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers, in search of starting pitching, acquired right-hander Jae Seo and left-handed reliever Tim Hamulack from the New York Mets on Wednesday for right-handed relievers Duaner Sanchez and Steve Schmoll.

Seo, a 28-year-old South Korean, made 14 starts for the Mets last season, going 8-2 with a 2.59 ERA. He walked 16 and struck out 59 in 90 1/3 innings. He also spent time with Triple-A Norfolk.

Link: New York Daily News - Home - Submariner Bradford drops into Mets' relief corps.

I think I speak for all former wiffleballers everywhere when I say that its great to have someone with a ridiculous windup back in the mets bullpen.

Let's bring back Jeff Innis while we're at it.  How's this for a stat?  In 1991, he pitched 69 games -- 84 innings... and didn't have a win or a save.  He had a 2.66 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.  Anybody know what he's up to now?

  Entering last night's games, we were a tie ahead of the team behind us for the last and final spot in our division for the playoffs.  We played at 6:30, which made it difficult for most of our team to show up, so we had to start off shorthanded, playing 5 on 6.  Backs against the wall, Dodge This! came out firing, wiping the floor with our first opponent despite being short, 14-5.  We wound up taking 3 our of the 4 games in our match, and the only way we could have missed the playoffs was if the team behind us went 4-0.  Well, we nearly did miss, since they went 3-1 in the late came, which we got word of this morning.  We play next Sunday night 3/13 at 7:50 at Martin Luther King on 65th and Amsterdam against Dodgy McShady, who we beat twice last night pretty handily and Get Outta Dodge.  If we win we might face the obnoxious purple team, Balls of Furry.  D-O-D... G-E...  Dodge This!!!  woooooooooo

This is quite concerning...   I just went and ordered "The Seat".

Link: Serious Riders, Your Bicycle Seat May Affect Your Love Life - New York Times.

A raft of new studies suggest that cyclists, particularly men, should be careful which bicycle seats they choose.

The studies add to earlier evidence that traditional bicycle saddles, the kind with a narrow rear and pointy nose, play a role in sexual impotence.

Link: New York Daily News - Mets - Mets add old reliable.

With Julio following in the footsteps of John and Matt, the Mets have had every player named Franco in major league history.

My best friend Brian, who I know for twenty years now, since we first played t-ball together the summer before first grade, has invested in a new business with his brother Jim.  Its called Diamond Player Development and its a great place to fine tune your baseball skills if you really want to develop into a top tier player.

When I was younger, I had coaches who played favorites--got other kids more playing time.  It wasn't until I was put on a team that was so bad that there was no way anyone was going to cut into my time  that I even started to get any good.  By then I  was 13, and although I developed into a  pretty good contact hitter and a solid outfielder, I really didn't have much of a chance of making my high school or college teams.

I always wish I had real coaches when I was at critical points in my development.  Well, I went down to DPD last weekend and I saw firsthand what kids have the advantage of today.  There were kids in batting cages who were getting videotaped and had their swing analyzed by a pro instructor.  Who knows how good I could have been with that kind of technology!  Ah well.  I suppose corporate softball will have to do.

So anyway, Brian and I spent some time in the cages on our own.  Think of this video as the "before" video.  Maybe Jim will will be kind enough to point out all the stuff I'm doing wrong.  I know one thing I have an issue doing is really turning my hips and using my legs to generate much power.  They turn, but they're not really planted very well and so its just more like spinning my wheels and not going anywhere.

View this clip on Vimeo

So drop on by to DPD or if you have a team or individual that wants some real coaching, contact Jim.

Link: ESPN.com - MLB - Marines No. 1: Valentine's team wins Japan Series.

Bobby Valentine became the first foreign manager to win the Japan Series when his Chiba Lotte Marines completed a four-game sweep of the Hanshin Tigers with a 3-2 victory Wednesday.

Before the playoffs, I made some predictions.   Here's how they fared:

Padres vs. Cardinals:  Cardinals in 1.

The Cardinals are going to win the first game 23-1.  The Padres will concede the rest of the series and apoligize for even being in the playoffs with an 82-80 record. 

Result:  Amazingly enough, this actually happened.  I was spot on.

Astros and Braves:  Astros in 4.

The Braves, too, will apoligize for continuing to win the National League East.  Roger Clemens will nail Chipper Jones in the face intentially, ruining a division series perfect game but then get the next guy to preserve the no-hitter.  Clemens will use age and dementia as an excuse for the wayward 97MPH fastball.  Nobody buys it.  Doesn't matter...  everyone's tired of the Braves anyway.

Status: I called this one.  'Stros in four.  No face knocking, though, but Clemens did come up big in the last game, making up for his first effort.

Yanks and Angels:  Angels in 5. 

Garret Anderson will drive in 10 runs.  Still, he will be drafted in the 12th round of most fantasy leagues next year.  He will legally change his name to "No respect."  Arod will go another year without a ring.  Yankee stadium will be packed with fans who got corporate seats and have never been to a baseball game before.  They'll wonder why that Ruth fellow isn't playing.  Mariano Rivera will not give up a run in his 5 appearences.  Neither will K-Rod.

Status:  Called this one, too!   I was off, though.  Garret only drove in 7, but still lead the team.  No one could have called Bengie Molina, though.  K-rod gave up runs and so did Mariano.

Sox vs. Sox:  Red Sox in 4.

Podsednick will steal 8 bases in the series.  Both teams will combine for more than 8 runs in every game.  Red Sox fans won't even watch or attend, because, after last year, everything else is gravy.  I can't seriously pick the White Sox here, mostly because, as Brian pointed out, they're throwing out Jose Contraras in the first game.

Status:  Boy, did I blow this one.  Contraras came up big and the Red Sox didn't.  As for the run scoring, every game had at least 8 runs in it...  almost got that one at least.  Pod:  1 stolen base. 

Angels - White Sox?

Angels in 7...

Garret Anderson:  More RBI.  Series MVP.

33 years old... total of 16 2/3 innings of total major league experience. 

Now he's 10-0.

Did anyone get the number of that turnip truck?  I'd like to see if any closers fell off of it for the Mets to use in 2006.

Reminds me of that line about how the Yanks could pick up a hooker on the West Side Highway and insert her at second base and she'd probably manage to hit .280.

They have no place competing this year and I hope the Sox beat the pants off of them this Series.

Ironic how they also wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Jason Giambi, right?  A year ago, he was  dead to them.  Now, he's the prodigal son.

I just got tix for Giants - Saints on Monday night...    They went on sale on ticketmaster at 10AM...   great seats, too!

Its   1AM.  When I got home from tonight's Met loss, I found an NES emulator called Console Classix.

Of course, what was the first thing I did.

You guessed it.  I played a game of Tecmo Super Bowl.  I was the Raiders.  In this game, for some reason, Bo Jackson is a god among mere mortals.  I mean, he can't be touched.  Even when the other team picks the right defense and 11 guys pile on him, he breaks out of it and runs down the field.  I dominated the Houston Oilers 58-7.  Here's the final boxscore:

Things to note:

Bo only ran for an 27.7 yards per carry and only 8 of his 18 runs resulted in touchdowns.  At only 499 yards, this was a subpar game for Bo, but its been about 12 years since I've played the game.

I did attempt one pass with Jay Schroeder, whose scrubbiness in Tecmo was surpassed only by his real life ineptitude.  He got picked off in his one attempt.  That was the end of the Jay Schroeder experiment. 

Marcus Allen did not get the ball.

Do you think Bo has ever actually played this game?

I've been a bit quiet about this baseball season, but I've been watching, not to worry.

Here's my update:

I say a little prayer to David Wright every night that he will watch over this franchise and deliver us a championship.  This guy, at 22, is amazing.  No question about it--he's the best position player the Mets have developed since Strawberry.  Jeez... that's 20 years ago.  Its ironic, too, that he plays third, because historically thirdbase has been a black hole for this team forever.  Something like 150 different people have played third for the Mets in their 43 year history.

I believed in Jae Seo.  Always have. 

Tom Glavine still sucks.

Mike Piazza is the new Jake Taylor.  You watch...  they tie for the wildcard and Piazza lays down a bunt while Jose Reyes scores from second.

I've never seen an infield so divided.  Could Reyes and Wright be more exciting?   Could Matsui and Mienkczewitz be any worse?  Maybe this Mike Jacobs kid will play out. 

Cliff Floyd.  We knew what we got there.  Healthy=good.  He's healthy this year.

Carlos Beltran?  Jeez...    what a bust he's been.  At least he's finally started running.  It would be useful if he could turn it up a notch in September like he did in last year's playoffs.  Apparently, he seems to be better with some broken bones in his face.  Now all the disappointments are trying it.  Randy Johnson.  Adrian Beltre.  Jason Schmidt.  Players from all around the league are smashing their faces against their teammates. 

I don't know how this season will turn out, but I will say that Philly and Houston are pretty beatable and I'm not particularly scared of them.  And... can the Braves stop winning?  BTW... Did anyone else notice that Julio Franco turned 47 this week?

You have no idea how hard I want the Indians to nab the wildcard in the American League.  Can someone tell Jhonny Peralta that he spells his name wrong?

I hope Red Sox-Cards is more exciting this year.  The Cards really didn't put up much of a fight last time.