To Live and Die in L.A.

Game 61 - Mets

Dodgers 6, Mets 5 (10 innings)
Record: 38-23

It's super lame to go to sleep rather than stay up for barn-burners like this. And for the second straight night, I went to bed with the Mets winning and awoke to find they'd blown the lead. This time, they didn't come back and win. 

For the recap, you're best off visiting longtime aces of the Met Blogosphere at Amazin' Avenue for their take on last night's loss. Brandon Nimmo did an amusing (well, it would have been amusing) spin dance in left field as the game-winning hit dropped in 2 feet from him. Brazoban blew the lead an inning before. Max Muncy killed us again. 

Sigh... such is life playing the best offense in the bigs. On the plus side, we got our first-ever MLC post title reference to Wang Chung* out of this game.

*Okay, so I did use this reference 19 (!) years ago in a post where I conflated the Mets roster with musical acts. Rereading this, I apparently used to be a more fun blogger!

On the other plus side... Soto looks like he's warming up. And Megill, who was trash in the first inning, held fast after that and went 6. I like the pluck in this team against the mighty D Train. 

I'm going to try to stay up tonight and watch 'til the end.

(Me writing that means this is where the Mets go down 9-1 in the 3rd inning and I don't need to.)

Beat L.A. 

LGM

I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down

Games 75 & 76 - Mets

Brewers 10, Mets 6
Brewers 6, Mets 3
Record: 37-39

So in the bottom of the 4th with the bases loaded -- loaded in part because Kelly fell down on a routine fly ball -- this kid hits one over Ahmad's head in left. Ahmad retrieves it and fires it to Tanner, who throws a one-hopper to the plate, one that hit Engelberg in the gut but somehow caromed over to the backstop, allowing the 3rd run to score. But then when Amanda picked up the loose ball, she hurled it down to Jimmy Feldman to try to get the hitter there . . . but alas, she whipped it into left field, so all four runs came around to score on the play. Suddenly it was Brewers 5, Bears 2.

The Mets fill the air with beautiful music these days . . . music like this!

Any time I feel like the Mets make a play where even on our old beer league softball team we'd be annoyed at the poor level of play and boneheadedness . . . well, I need to stop letting that feeling get to me, because it's happening over and over. Tonight's play, filed away with the other moronic gaffes of the season, are starting to form a recurring theme for Jerry Manuel's fleeting 2009 season.

Here's the problem: you might absolve Manuel from any responsibility for the team's losing record because of the extreme ridiculousness of the injury situation. And you might not be wrong in doing so. Somewhere, though, you have to wonder why players like Ryan Church, Luis Castillo, Johan Santana, and other high-priced veterans keep making rookie blunders.

You have to look at uncannily bad defense.
And putrid baserunning mistakes.
Giving games away over and over and over again.

And you have to wonder if Omar Minaya places the blame on Jerry's shoulders the way he did last season when Willie's boys were engaging in similarly dysfunctional behaviors. And if there will be any consistency the way you want consistent treatment from GM's, managers, umpires, and parents (but not bartenders). And even if eventually the crosshairs will leave the manager's visage for something more . . . General.

For now, though, Willie's in the other dugout smiling. Actually, when FSN Wisconsin interviewed him the inning after the T-ball home run, Willie Randolph was laughing out loud. Saying the right things, but actually laughing. And he has every right to be.


[Of course, for all the Mets have shamefully done this season, they still have haven't done what the Red Sox did tonight. Not yet at least.]

One Drop

Games 57 through 59 - Mets

Phillies 5, Mets 4 (11)
Phillies 6, Mets 3 (10)
Yankees 9, Mets 8
Record: 31-28

Does this kind of crap happen to other teams? Doesn't it seem like it only happens to the Mets?

Just when the thoughts of Ryan Church missing third began to fade away, another T-ball Special by the Mets invades the highlight films and blooper reels. Luis Castillo single-handedly (bitter pun intended) lost the game against the loathsome Yankees last night, dropping the would-be game-ending pop-up.

It was much worse than any words here could describe it. Think Buckner. Durham. Timmy Lupus. Jackie Smith. Robin Williams in The Best of Times. Chevy Chase, Jerry Lewis, TJ in right field after too much pregame in the parking lot. Hideous.

And so the Mets continue to defy the "just one game" philosophy. These kinds of losses have carry-over, and enough of them are making everyone see this team as cursed, crappy, or at the very least critically lacking in concentration.

It's obviously not just Luis Castillo's embarrassing drop. (Though there are few forums worse for that to have happened than Yankee Stadium. Poor guy.)

Or Church's gaffe at 3rd. (Memo to Jerry Manuel: your staunch support of Castillo for a very bad mistake is great; it just stands in stark contrast to the near-mockery you gave Church after his mistake. Way to be a dick who plays favorites.)

Let's remember that Carlos Delgado -- yes, he played this season -- dropped an even easier pop-up in the 9th inning a couple of months ago, but he was lucky enough to dodge the heat when the Mets held on for the win.

Let's remember the easy drops by our outfielders -- almost every regular out there has dropped a ball that led to a run, runs, or even a loss. It keeps happening.

D-W, for all of the incredible hitting he's been giving us -- and it's been awesome -- has made some severely costly errors of his own. We don't have to even get into Ramon Martinez; while he had so many muffs and boots they started calling him "Ugg," he's not the caliber of player from whom we expect strong play. And by "strong play" we mean "adequate fielding that most AA fielders can muster."

So what's the problem? Can you accurately point the finger at Jerry Manuel? Or is it Omar Minaya's fault? Or, and it pains me to say this cockamamie theory is gaining more credence, is it the Curse of the Wilpons? Are we destined to see our team wallow in miserable mediocrity, title-less unless you count "Kings of the Dipshits" for as long as this brain trust owns and operates it?

I don't know. I only know that my first question in this post was answered last night after the Mets game. Highlights from around the league included a bone-headed play by Milton Bradley who threw the ball into the stands with two outs -- costing the Cubs, who lost the game. So yes, these asinine things do happen to at least one other team: The Chicago Cubs. That's the comparison . . . the team cursed (or at least crappy) since 1908. Sweet.

Buckle up, Township. It could be a rough ride.

West L.A. Fadeaway

Game 40 - Mets

Dodgers 2, Mets 1
Record: 21-19

I'm getting sick from the Mets. Not sick of them -- I am coming down with illness because of this road trip. I am staying up night after night until 1 or 2 in the AM to watch our lads. There was something about watching them beat up on the SFO-mo's for three nights that staved off the repercussions of sleep deprivation. Now that the Mets are dropping game upon game, I'm falling prey. Sore throat, makings of a cold, perpetual headache . . . all on the eve of a holiday weekend. Swell.

Jose Reyes. Hurt again. When he gets dinged, you can cue up The Cranberries. If this calf problem does indeed linger, that coupled with the Hipster's issues may just make this team a .500 ballclub. The rotation was never slated to be top-notch beyond Santana. With the roster down two of its four core guys, the prognosis is not . . . well, it's not good.

Poor Ramon Martinez. Pressed into action because of roster limitations (hi, Omar!), he looks for all the world like he's swinging with the wrong end of the bat. 0-for-12 now, and it may be worse than his stats would indicate.

On the plus side: Daniel Murphy played a stellar first base last night. We'll take that. I mean, he's never looked more lost at the plate, but anything Kong/Piazza-like at fielding the position might've been more than we could stomach at this point. The next Keith? We'll hold off on that label. But in last night's small sample size, he looked like a 1B-2 at least, up from the LF-4 he'd been posting for weeks. Baby steps, light-hitting glove man at 1B. We'll take it.

Timely hitting . . . p'shaw. Who needs it? Timeliness is next to godliness, and the Mets have displayed an ungodly amount of untimely hitting. They strand so many damn people, I've taken to calling Met games "three-hour tours."

So . . . three craptacular outings in L.A. I can't stand that city, anyway. Like Rob might say, bite me, Randy Newman. After a much-needed day of rest, the Mets head up to Fenway for the aforementioned MLC showdown. The Mets are sharpening their Bowie knife for this gunfight as we speak.

The Worst Day Since Yesterday

Game 39 - Mets

Dodgers 5, Mets 3
Record: 21-18

Now this loss was more like it.

Wait . . . what?

I guess what I mean is that it was a step up not to see the Mets inflict a humiliating implosion of a defeat on themselves. This game came down to John Maine pitching okay for the most part but making a few crucial mistakes. He allowed a double to the opposing pitcher (bad) and a three-run difference-maker to a pretty good hitter (acceptable). It was a tolerable, tidy loss to a good team. Baby steps, don't make the papers with your semi-retarded gaffes. Baby steps, don't get compared to the biggest laughingstock in modern baseball history.

I am, of course, increasingly perplexed by Jerry Manuel doing things like starting -- and sticking with -- Ramon Martinez despite the writing on the wall (and on the dugout wall, and mowed into the outfield grass, and on the overhead blimp) saying that Martinez is a bit out of his league these days. Ramon had some nice moments for the Mets last fall, but once he'd gone 0-for-8 in his first two games of the season, including striking out (badly, like miss-by-a-foot badly) three times last night, he came up with a couple of runners aboard in the 8th. All signs pointed to the Mets' last gasp, all signs pointed to a pinch-hitter. Nope. G. I. D. P. Inning/threat over. Pretty much game over. A minor complaint.

At least Martinez didn't have two errors again last night. Baby steps.

And ah, Daniel Murphy, embarrassing me for having ever mentioned "Golden Boy II." He got picked off in the first inning, but that doesn't tell the tale. While the pitcher was very much still set, he took off for second base. Chad Billingsley looked over as if to say, "Really? Okay," and casually threw him out at second. Five whole minutes later, Murph drops an easy fly ball (like he wanted to fit in with the clowns from the night prior) that ends up becoming an unearned run. Unreal. This team gives away runs like it can afford to. Note to the Mets: after surging into first place, you became the pirate looking at forty and pissed it away so fast, never meant to last. Good song; bad idea.

Where the momentum of the Giants series went is a mystery. The truth is that this team is talented enough to compensate for some botched plays and mental mistakes in many cases. The sad fact is that if they're going to keep making those botched plays and mental mistakes, it will cost them in enough other cases to keep them from being an elite contender. Feeling some satisfaction in an old-fashioned loss that wasn't completely embarrassing is embarrassing in and of itself.

Right the ship. Be better. Stop sucking.

Missing

Games 35 through 38 - Mets

Mets 8, Giants 6
Mets 9, Giants 6
Giants 2, Mets 0
Dodgers 3, Mets 2 (11)
Record: 21-17

It's really hard to know where to begin this morning. Okay, we'll go with the obvious one. Really?? You missed 3rd base?

Here's when you know that as a collective, though you are in first place (until tomorrow) and you make millions of dollars, you should hang your heads for a moment in miserable embarrassment: Nearly every publication that recapped the game has made at least one comparison between your team and the 1962 New York Mets. Oof.

Here's one reason.

"Marvelous Marv" Throneberry: in June of '62, while trying to run down a base runner, he collided while attempting to tag the runner without having the ball. Interference was called, and Chicago then scored four runs. Later in the same game, Throneberry lined a triple down the line but was called out for failing to touch first base.

When Stengel stormed out to protest, the umpire cut him off, informing him that Marv had missed second base, too.

"Well," Stengel replied, "I know he touched third base because he's standing on it."

The baserunning this season has been downright wretched. Was anything actually instructed in Spring Training? I know at this point in their careers, guys shouldn't need extended tutelage to know to slide when there's a close play, but they're not doing it. They consistently do not slide. (Church was picked off when he didn't slide earlier in the game, but the ump blew the call badly.) When they slide, it's head-first (see Cora, Alex AND ligament tear) and never in danger of knocking someone over who's blocking the bag/plate. They take the extra base at all the wrong opportunities. Their game situation savvy is shockingly limited. They are stealing bases at a record clip of late, and yet they seem to know nothing of baserunning. It's staggering.

That said, Church missing third is simply an embarrassing, untimely mistake that -- on rare occasion -- happens. What has ensued is even worse, so says I.

Jerry Manuel:
“Uhh, a guy missed third base. That’s unbelievable. I can’t explain why or how or anything. But, he actually missed the base… To me, it’s just hard to miss third base. I’ve known some guys to miss first, because they’re looking for the ball and misstep, but I have rarely, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a guy miss third base in a situation like that. I don’t know, I don’t have any explanation.”

Why he did not go out to argue the call of Church missing the bag:

“I asked Razor and he said he missed it.”

Failing to stick by your men when they need it most is failing your men. Manuel has never seemed to take to Ryan Church for some reason. Throwing him under the bus sends one message -- you'd better be one of Jerry's guys (Jerry's Kids?) or he's not going to back you when you fuck up. Thanks, dick. I know it was mind-numbingly bad what happened, but you're the manager. You know he's going to get hammered in the press. You stand by him in a show of suppport. Way to go, Jerry. Stand up guy.

And this starts to spread like mildew in a grimy shower. Here's Carlos Beltran's quote about Angel Pagan, who in his eagerness to make a play, did break a cardinal outfield rule but did nothing warranting further embarrassment:

"I called for the ball like six times," Beltran said. "But Pagan stood in the middle and I couldn't put my glove on the ball. On a ball like that, I have priority. If Pagan would have called for that ball, my job is to get out of the way. He's been in center field before, so he knows that when the center fielder calls for the ball, everyone has to get out of the way."

That's it, Carlos. Cover your ass, ensure everyone knows it wasn't your fault, chastise the guy who just got back up here yesterday. Well played.

But then, Jerry did stick up for Pagan:

"Angel, as talented and as quick as he is, he can be underneath a ball and really not know it, because you’re so used to covering that ground, but you’ve got to give way to the center fielder.”

That's the proper way to deflect the criticism. Talk about his merits, spin it positively, let him off the hook. He feels bad enough, he's going to get some abuse in the papers. No need to pile on.

Somewhere in the City of Angels, Ryan Church reads/hears these quotes in succession and delivers a hearty "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" . . .

Hey, uh, Omar? You paying attention here? I understand that sometimes General Managing isn't that easy. You figured this gig was all about constructing a team with virtually limitless payroll (unless you want to give Derek Lowe a fourth year, and then it snaps shut) and kicking back for six months, right? We're sorry, but you might need to actually do some in-season dealing and strategery. It shouldn't be that hard; your predecessors' midseason trades were the stuff of Rob Zombie's daydreams, so the bar is low. But if Jose Reyes is going to miss any more time (please, please, no), Ramon Martinez may not be the answer. (Small sample size, but 0-for-5 with 2 errors is glaring.) And the Delgado situation, while unfortunate and not your fault, has exposed a lack of a true Plan B. Make one. Lickety-split.

You see, Mr. Minaya, they don't just give them fancy Manager of the Year trophies to the guy whose team collects the most W's. That's nice and all, but in these economically unbalanced times, what's more impressive is the fellow who takes a not-so-luxurious situation and applies his managerial skill to will his team to overachieve. They're recognized as people who really did something.

Same goes for GM work. Theo Epstein has excelled in his role because he understands the dynamics of a baseball organization and people in general, but he'd be the first guy to tell you that he's also blessed with a fat payroll and ownership support, and that GM's in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and the like who can manage to break .500 are no less impressive. So now that you have to actually put your mind to this -- your mind, your foresight, your powers of persuasion, and your faith in the baseball minds that surround you -- let's see what you've got. Because the way things are headed, it's like one more quote goes:

See, you may be the biggest thing that ever hit this area, but you're still two-bit outlaws. I never met a soul more affable than you, Butch, or faster than the Kid, but you're still nothing but two-bit outlaws on the dodge. It's over, don't you get that? Your times is over and you're gonna die bloody, and all you can do is choose where.

Take It Back

Game 31 - Mets

Braves 8, Mets 3
Record: 17-14

It still works. I can still talk about the Mets' strengths, only to see them fade away instantaneously. Last night was a Bob Lanier-sized punt in the crotch, Atlanta Braves-style. I was sure that the unearned run Atlanta scratched across in the top of the first would hold up. I almost wish it had.

Instead, we aren't (merely) lamenting Fernando Tatis's inexperience at 1B and how Derek Lowe is just so much better than Oliver Perez. Both of those things are reasons for concern, don't get me wrong. It's just that last night we have a handful of other culprits.

Culprit #1: Jerry "I Misplaced My Manager's Instruction" Manuel

The skipper pulled Santana after 108 pitches. 6 1/3 IP, one on, one out. Not egregious, but it was a 1-1 barn-burner and the 7th inning options aren't as sure as 8 & 9, especially when you stick to formulaic bullpen usage. Long-term, I get it. I was still irritated.

Culprit #2: Bobby "Sub" Parnell

Parns let his first batter reach on a single, then got an out. Also not egregious, but part of the miserable equation.

Culprit #3: Me

"Even Pedro Feliciano has been not-terrible." 5/11/09
What in Sam Hill was I thinking? Just moronic. Hear me now and believe me later, this will never happen again. Ever. He is wretched refuse. And the lesson, as always, is that I am an idiot.

Culprit #4: Jose "Nothing's Unbootable" Reyes

Jose could have ended the inning when the first batter that Pedro Feliciano (who is terrible, by the way) threw to, against all odds, did not hit a home run or a line drive down the line but instead dribbled one up the middle. I'm not kidding you, if this ball had been rolling any more slowly, it would have been sitting still. Jose, obviously befuddled by the fact that a guy hitting off Feliciano didn't walk or crush one off the right-field wall, somehow, someway misplayed it. This was egregious. Playmakers make plays. Hell, even A-ball shortstops make these plays.

Culprit #5: Jerry Manuel, Redux

What do we all know about Pedro Feliciano? Other than that he is horrible and bad for a bullpen, he's a lefty specialist. Not that special, I realize, but the point is that he's worse against righties. What do we know about Matt Diaz? He sucks against righties to the point where he's platoon-only. So why let him bat against Feliciano? Because Jerry doesn't believe in platoon advantage!!

Culprit #6: Pedro Feliciano

You had to know this was coming, right? Just because Reyes inexpicably kept the inning alive and your manager & pitching coach leave you out there in a tough spot doesn't entirely let you off the hook. The 2-run single to Diaz was utterly predictable and foreseen by everyone from Gary Cohen to Gary Coleman. But the subsequent 2-run single to Casey "Kick In the" Kotchman was just more fuel to the eternal flame that shall forever burn for you, Pedro. I shall never extol your virtues as a big-league reliever ever again. You are forever entrenched in the . . . uh, trench . . . where Armando Benitz, Dan Wheeler, and a host of others wallow. Enjoy.

Culprit #7: The hitters

Yeah, I know, Derek Lowe is awesome. His sinker is a rally-killer. He'd induced all of one GIDP in 30 innings of work coming into last night. The Mets did it three times. Boys, if you expect to contend, you're going to have to eventually win a game in which you trail after seven innings. Otherwise, just rest everybody after the 7th and let Pedro Feliciano mop up 8 and 9 every game. Granted, last night wasn't egregious, what with the 'pen leaking more runs away late and the Mets managing 3 runs in a Santana start (actually quite a big number, relatively speaking). Just come on.

Culprit #8: Me, again

17-13 isn't so comfortable, and even a seven-game winning streak isn't impressive enough to forget about the 10-13 start. My optimism . . . it's annoying.

So there was plenty of blame to go around. But let's just blame Feliciano and move on.