So, in addition to getting El Duque, which will probably turn out ok, the Mets pulled this off today:

The Mets acquired left-hander Dave Williams from the Reds in exchange for Class A right-hander Robert Manuel.

In eight starts with Cincinnati this season, Williams, 27, was 2-3 with a 7.20 ERA. In 40 innings, he allowed 54 hits, 34 runs, 32 earned, with 16 walks and 16 strikeouts.

Manuel, 22, was signed as a non-drafted free agent June 17, 2005. He went 8-1 with a 2.06 ERA in 12 games (five starts) for the Gulf Coast League Mets (low Class A) in 2005. In 56 2/3 innings, he allowed 55 hits, 19 runs, 13 earned, with four walks and 49 strikeouts. Manuel tied for the GCL lead in wins, was second in ERA, and fourth in strikeouts. Robert also appeared in two contests for the Brooklyn Cyclones (low Class) of the N.Y.-Penn League, going 0-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He pitched 5 innings in two relief appearances, permitting five hits, one earned run, with five strikeouts.

So we gained five years and five times the suckiness.   Great.

Places to play in this city are few and far between as it is...   and now one of the only three full-size fields in Manhattan with lights is going to be demolished this summer to make room for science buildings.

I just got this note from ZogSports:

Goldman Field at City College is one of ZogSports’ most heavily used fields (City College is one of five full size fields in Manhattan and one of only three with lights). You also know that thanks to you, all of our leagues have become popular. The reason why each of our leagues sells out quickly is that we currently don’t have enough field space to accommodate the demand.

 

It has come to our attention that City College and CUNY plan to demolish the field at City College starting this summer in order to build new science buildings. This would adversely affect all of our leagues, not just those currently using City College as a venue.

 

ZogSports is taking a lead role to avoid the demolition of the field and we need your help. It is important to get as many people as possible to sign the petition to save the field.

The       

      Goldman

      

      Center

      not only serves as the home for       

      City

      

      College's NCAA athletic teams and intramural programs, but also

      

      A.P.

      

      Randolph

      

      High School

      

      (NYC public school) and countless community groups including:

 

        

      

                                               

	Harlem           Little League
	Harlem           Youth Soccer
	Doc’s           NYC Youth Lacrosse League
	ZogSports           (charity-focused, co-ed sports league for young professionals)
	N.Y.C. Metro Sports
	And           many other youth and community organizations

Sign this petition to help preserve this field.

Are there seriously no old buidings up at 133rd. that they city can't refurbish and use for a science building?  Why is recreational space the first target?

Ok, so the first pitch has been thrown and the 2005 Baseball Playoffs are underway.

Here are my predictions:

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. 

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.

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.

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.

League Championship Series:

Cards and Astros:  Astros in 6.

Pitching wins games.  Clemens will give up four hits in his two shutouts... 3 in the first game, 1 in his second appearence.  Craig Biggio will also pitch, catch and play SS, and be solid all around.  He'll also get his helmet dirty.  As good as the Cards are, the three headed pitching monster will just be too much to take.  Rocket, Pettitte and Oswalt...   bye bye Birds.

Red Sox and Angels:   Red Sox in 7.

This will be the most dramatic series of the post season.  Garrett Anderson will win MVP in spite of the Angels loss.  These games are going to be slugfests.  I'm not too keen on either team's pitching.  Look out for Earvin Santana, though...   he could be a pleasent surprise for the Angels.

World Series:

Red Sox and Astros:   Astros in 6.

The Red Sox just aren't as good as they were last year.  No Pedro.  Shilling has been hurt.  Keith Foulke is gone.  They're still a fun bunch and probably going to be the best playoff team in the AL, but the best teams this year are the Cards and the Astros and either one could beat them.  I'm a fan of Craig Biggio because he's not flashy and he plays wherever they want him to... and just hits.   I'd like to see him win a Series MVP, but I feel like Lidge is going to factor in here at some point.  Roger Clemens will retire after this season, then come back in the spring and pitch seven more seasons, breaking Ryan's K record.

Billy Wagner and I both had big Sundays...   

When Wagner was asked if he was ready to go again after blowing a four run lead for the Mets on Saturday, he responded, "Does a one-legged duck swim in circles?"

For you cityfolk, he meant yes.

So when he came back on out for the third day in a row to nail down the rubber game of this weekend's Subway Series, it was big. 

Billy, I know how you feel.

Last week, Sunday morning softball was an utter disaster.  After getting yanked in the middle of an inning after booted two routine fly balls, I left the field and didn't return.  It was pretty much a low point in my casual team sports career.

So when I rejoined the team yesterday and the first ball came to me in right...  I had a little voice in my head.

"Don't f*ckin' miss this...  don't f*ckin' miss this."

Caught.

[Sigh of relief]

So when I got back to the dugout, we all had a good laugh about getting that behind me.

But just catching a flyball wasn't quite enough to nail the coffin shut on last week's demons.  So, when their lefty cleanup hitter came up in a 7-2 game with two on, I knew it was time for a hammer.

The kid hadn't taken a pitch all day and everything he hit was hard....  pulled hard.   So I backed up to the edge of our field, about 20 feet from the next field over (no fences).   Brian said that when the ball left his bat and said over his head at first, he figured it was gone.  But I was on my horse and got a step on it. 

He told me after that I must have been thinking, "I might actually have this."

He was totally right.

I figure given the time I was running, I was about 75 feet past the edge of our field, fully into the outfield of the next one over.... and I caught the ball in-stride with my hand high in the air.

Redemption feels good.... especially when you undo exactly what you screwed up on the last time.

Today, redemption feels a little sore, though.  I played three softball games yesterday, two in the morning, and one Zog game in the afternoon...  sandwiching a Zog touch football playoff game in the middle.  Three softball wins and one football loss...   all in all a pretty good day.

Mica Scalin from the Pan made this awesome video of our dodgeball tournament.   She even used some text to speech tools to make the music.  So cool!

Now that Victor Zambrano has done us all a favor and injured his arm, ending his season, it makes you think of how awful some of the Mets trades have been over the last few years.  Certainly Scott Kazmir has a bright future and has looked brilliant at times, but he has yet to win his first Cy Young, so, while its hard to imagine the Zambrano trade not being a waste, its still too early to tell.

So what is the worst Mets trade ever?

How about Jason Isringhausen for Billy Taylor?  We traded a live young arm with a big 12-6 curve for a 38 year old washed up closer.  Isringhausen would go on to post 215 saves and counting since his 7/99 trade, posting ERAs under 3.00 over the last 5 years straight.  Billy Taylor would go on to throw 29 more innings of Major League ball before taking his rightful place at the top of the scrap heap.

So I just got pinged with an e-mail about some upcoming Red Hot Chili Peppers concert dates...   and there were two ways to get first dibs on tickets:  Buy the album on iTunes or join the fan club.  Well, I didn't know there was a fan club, but since I'm a fan, I'm happy to join.

But, they want to charge me $30.

Pay to be a fan??

You should be given access to the fan club or exclusive presales based on your support of the group.  Shelling out money for concerts should get you fan points, but you shouldn't allow people to pay their way to the front of the crowd w/o actually buying anything.

Tom Glavine is 4-2, with a 1.94 ERA.  He's sending guys down on strikes at a clip of almost 8 per game, even though his career average is a little more than 5.

Greg Maddux is 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA and a WHIP just over one.

Kenny Rogers?  4-2 with a 2.59 ERA and a WHIP of .98.  I still hate the bastard for ending the Braves series.  (The pitch before was a ball, too...  )

What year is this again?  1995?

Maybe when I retire from venture capital, I'll start pitching in the majors. 

A first grade teacher in New York explains to her class that she is a Yankees fan.
She asks her students to raise their hands if they, too, are Yankee fans.
Everyone in the class raises their hand except one little girl.
The teacher looks at the girl with surprise and says, "Janie, why didn't
you raise your hand?"

"Because I'm not a Yankee's fan," she replied.

The teacher, still shocked , asked, "Well, if you are not a Yankee's fan, then who are you a fan of?"

"I am a Met's fan , and proud of it," Janie replied.

The teacher could not believe her ears. "Janie, why are you a Mets' fan?"

"Because my mom is a Mets' fan, and my dad is Mets' fan, so I'm a Mets' fan too!"

"Well," said the teacher in a obviously annoyed tone, "That is no reason for you to be a Mets' fan. You don't have to be just like your parents all of the time. What if your mom were a moron and your dad were a moron, what would you be then?"

"Then ," Janie smiled, "We'd be Yankee fans."

MiniCharlie has the details on how you can see Fred, Brad, Fred's kids Josh and Jessica, and my friend Jen take on lots of nextNYers in dodgeball tonight!  Come out to watch the action!

My little sidebar guy is quickly becoming a MetPal...   I've posted a new message about Met's bizzare fashion sense.

Adam Rubin has another great post at the NY Daily News Mets blog...    This one has the results of an interview he did with David Wright and what Wright's "All Youth" team looks like.  Here's a funny exchange about his choice at third:

Wright picked one player who could beat him out for the starting nod at third base in the All-Star Game.

As Wright began, he said: “Give me Miguel Cabrera.”

“To play outfield?” I asked.

“Is he playing third base?” Wright said.

“Yes.”

“I’ll play outfield,” Wright continued.

Sweet...

The Mets win, and Xavier Nady chips in 4 hits to provide me with some great false hope about my fantasy baseball season, and then I get a great link from Oberkirch:

Ballbug! Memeorandum for baseball!

Cool!

So its Opening Day and the Daily News has a blogger liveblogging the rainy start to the season.

In honor of the season's start, I've updated my SitePal message with a message about the Mets' Kaz Matsui.

BTW...  Tonight is also opening night for my ZogSports softball team.  We're now called "Waiting for Turiansky" in honor of Eric Turiansky, who signed up to play with us last year, but never showed.  Before every game, he'd send us a message saying, "No, seriously, I'm really going to play this time!  Can't wait to meet all of you!"

Eric Turiansky.  Games: 0.   At-bats: 0.  Humor: Priceless.

I'm really getting into DigiCharlie over on my sidebar...     There's a new message...more bald, twice the funny.

I officially volunteer to play left field for the Washington Nationals.  I have years of little league and softball experience.  I'm a contact hitter that hits to the opposite field.  Please contact my agent, Fred Wilson, if interested.

This Soriano "not playing left" garbage is ridiculous.

And I've seen it before...   with good and bad results.  It really just goes to show you the charactor of the player.

Remember Todd Hundley in left?  That was a total disaster, because Hundley didn't even really try.  He didn't want to play out there and you knew it.

Mike Piazza at first?  Well, at least he tried.  He wasn't very good, but he was at least mildly serviceable.  He should have started doing that earlier, though, and maybe he could have been halfway decent.

The best example, though, and a guy I'd have on my team any day of the week is Craig Biggio. 

Craig, go catch.   Okay.

Craig, go play second.  Okay, no problem.

Craig, go play center.  Done.

Craig, go back to second.  Great.

How about A-Rod?  Moves to third to play for a contending team.

So when Soriano says he refuses to play at all rather than play second, I say, sit the bum.  Let him miss a whole season.  Its the same with the Mets and Matsui.  He couldn't field his way out of a hat at short, but it was in his contract that he couldn't move.  He should have offered to move, or they should have said, "Fine, don't play."

Playing baseball professionally for millions of dollars a year is a priviledge.  Not a right.  A lot of guys would take your place in a heartbeat and be just as entertaining and just as productive. 

Soriano, you're no Robin Yount.

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.