[[ NEW YORK METS 2009 OFFSEASON POST: Beltran ahead of schedule ]]

[btllovesjays]

Originally Posted by GSDOUBLEU

whats wrong with this guy? Rowand.

 

[vctry20]

Originally Posted by true 3 blue

3rd Balk?

W T F?

Never understood what a balk was, how do you call those?

basically making a move towards home without going home. It can be as obvious as the one in the first or just a little tick...now the umpires arelooking for it though

 

[TheGodFresco]

Originally Posted by BTLlovesJays

Originally Posted by GSDOUBLEU

whats wrong with these guys

fixed

 

[true 3 blue]

Takahashi is the goods.

 

[btllovesjays]

Gotta tie it this inning

EDIT:

 

[addictedtofreshkicks]

 

[holdupstop23]

Jerry is brutal.

Absolutely horrible move.

 

[true 3 blue]

What happened?

 

[holdupstop23]

Pinch hit Murphy for Angel Pagan.

 

[mez 0ne]

giants must've counted their blessings this morning.

funny thing is, its Reed and Pagan who killed easy rallies with 0 or 1 outs......Reyes and Gado wouldve been appreciated tonight.

sometimes it just wasnt meant to be

 

[j steezzz]

I don't even care for this game tonight.... CELTICS ARE DONE!!!

 

[shuges]

No runs.

 

[btllovesjays]

Tough game, gotta move on and take 2 from LA.

 

[youngin33]

Pelf looked good, besides 3 balks obviously.

Reyes needs to get back ASAP, and Delgado will be much appreciated too. Better to deal with these injuries early rather than later though.

 

[cincoseisdos]

Defensively, this game was appreciated from both sides

See you guys tomorrow night

Debating whether or not to go, cheap stubhub seats available

 

[TheGodFresco]

Good series guys, even though los Gigantes only took 1.

 

[mez 0ne]

- Only caught one inning at a nearby bar from where I was workin', saw Al Harrington just chillin' outside with 2 other dudes by a parked car.

Yelled "Get Buckkkeeetttss" and dude gave me a nod and a stare as if he hears that 24/7.

- Damn 3 balks by Pelf and bases loaded with no outs and once again with 1 out....double play

- I heard Steve Phillips say Beltran is not a consistent player? What the ##*$ is he talking about, I was

- But on a side note, !$* is Reed starting over Murphy, direct quote from Jerry in regards to why Murphy is slumping:

"he's not playing, probably on a consistent basis like he would like to be"

Really Jerry? How aboutyou let him PLAY?!?? You praise him all spring training now he is being wasted on the bench...PLAY HIM!

 

[johnnyredstorm]

Originally Posted by Mez 0ne

- Only caught one inning at a nearby bar from where I was workin', saw Al Harrington just chillin' outside with 2 other dudes by a parked car.

Yelled "Get Buckkkeeetttss" and dude gave me a nod and a stare as if he hears that 24/7.

- Damn 3 balks by Pelf and bases loaded with no outs and once again with 1 out....double play

- I heard Steve Phillips say Beltran is not a consistent player? What the ##*$ is he talking about, I was

- But on a side note, !$* is Reed starting over Murphy, direct quote from Jerry in regards to why Murphy is slumping:

"he's not playing, probably on a consistent basis like he would like to be"

Really Jerry? How aboutyou let him PLAY?!?? You praise him all spring training now he is being wasted on the bench...PLAY HIM!

Jerry really is a borderline terrible manager. I understand sitting Murph against Randy Johnson but his bat could have really been used tonightespecially with the lack of control Cain had early on.

 

[holdupstop23]

Murphy started last night.

 

[mez 0ne]

I figured Reed started over him so I'm assuming Reed started at first?

But even with the start, Murphy needs at bats, he can' sit on the bench rotting away. Who cares about giving Reed at bats who is he?

3-1 is a good way to start this tough road trip. SF is a very good home team especially with their pitching and we scored some runs, now off to LA and Boston.

We can win 2 of 3 at LA I'm more worried about Beantown.

http://www.amazinavenue.com/2009/5/18/878410/an-open-letter-to-espn#comments
[h2]An Open Letter To ESPN[/h2]

by Sam Page on May 18, 2009 12:48 AM EDT

24 comments

To whom it may concern:

Please remove Steve Phillips from all of your baseball broadcasts. During Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter, Phillips has been a relatively unspectacular commentator. Allowing Phillips to speak outside of these timed, mostly scripted intervals, however, has proven to be like a jailbreak, where the prisoners are all the stupidest thoughts about baseball.

After the Mets got off to a modest start this season, Steve Phillips used the late-innings of a Mets/Braves broadcast to hop on all the worst bandwagons of opinion about this team. He latched onto the most nebulous accusations against the Mets, many perpetrated by his successor as GM, Omar Minaya. Phillips accused the team of "lacking edge" a sentiment I've argued is a refuge for people who can't understand the real issues with a team. He cited Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and David Wright, in particular, as lacking this edge, and in turn, attributed the Mets inability to reach the playoffs on them. To the rational observer, this statement seemed pretty ironic, since Wright, Beltran, and Reyes have been shown to be more helpful in bringing their team to the postseason, than just one other player in the National League. Phillips also claimed the Mets lacked a player that "never made mistakes," truly a lofty goal in a sport where even the best players fail 60% of the time. Derek Jeter and Kevin Youkilis were then contrasted as two players who never make mistakes, a claim that probably didn't help your networks' perceived pandering to the biggest markets.

If Mr. Phillips thinks Derek Jeter is perfect, it probably explains much about why his time with the Mets came to a screeching halt in the early-2000s. Jeter represents some of the most overvalued qualities in baseball: hitting for average and fundamentally solid, no-range fielding. Thankfully the Wilpons canned Steve Phillips when they did, because I hate to imagine how he'd fare in a market that's increasingly focused on young talented players and advanced fielding metrics, neither of which Phillips seems to believe in.

Before ESPN's most recent broadcast of the Mets, however, the setting was different. Entering yesterday's game, the Mets were in first place in the East, and much of the stupid "edge" talk surrounding this team had died down. I think the accused, David Wright, said it best:

"The definition of edge is going out there and getting a few wins, and then all of a sudden you don't have to worry about anyone talking about edge anymore"

Many of us expected Phillips to back down from his earlier platitudes, or at least, act as if it had never happened. Instead, he went on the offensive, accusing David Wright and Jose Reyes of lacking leadership. At this point, somewhat miraculously, the much-maligned Joe Morgan came to the rescue and began rebutting much of the stupidity coming out of Phillips' mouth. Joe Morgan, a man who your own employees had alledgdly accused of misinformed broadcasting, a man who had a wildly successful website devoted to making fun of his ineptitude, suddenly sounded like the voice of reason. Morgan pleaded with Phillips that Wright's leadership was subtle and still developing. He argued that Reyes' fun-loving attitude was not necessarily a bad thing. Ol' Joe even made the most obvious point of all: there's absolutely no way the Mets would be better off without their superstars. At one point, Phillips even cited New York talk radio, the lowest common denominator of sports discussion, for the idea of trading Jose Reyes. Joe Morgan laughed.

Still Phillips persisted, and I wanted at that point to ask him a few questions of my own, like: "Do you think the Toronto Blue Jays would mind Wright's lack of leadership?" or "How bad would the Indians be if they suffered through Reyes' immature antics?" Every time I see your network's "Best Team In Baseball" ad, in which Phillips brags about drafting Wright, I die a little inside. I suggest a new ad, where Phillips instead says "...and that's how Mike Hampton rejected my 8-year contract offer, thus giving me a supplemental pick, which I then used to draft high-school thirdbaseman, who I repeatedly tried to trade for crappy outfielders."

Perhaps the most telling part of the whole broadcast was when Phillips had to deliver an obviously prepared presentation on Carlos Beltran being a five-tool player, after ripping him. Needless to say, he wasn't too convincing. At that point, Joe Morgan devolved back into his usual sub-moronic drivel about "the sixth-tool being the brain," which Phillips saw as a great chance to talk about what he really thought about Carlos Beltran. "Carlos Beltran doesn't always exemplify a strong mental game" or something like that, cue video of him not sliding into home. Forget the preponderance of statistical evidence showing Beltran to be one of the smarter baserunners ever. At that point, however, I just turned off the TV.

So, please fire Steve Phillips, or at least remove him from broadcasts. He nearly drove one organization into the ground with his lack of baseball knowledge and I fear he will do the same to yours.

--Sam


Glad I'm not the only one who realized this. The way he bashed on Beltran last night was a joke, calling him inconsistent

 

[lazyj10]

Sitting damn near on the field is something. Gives you some perspective of how the players feel with a crowd on them, just how quick the game actuallyis. Johan is something, glad I got to see him live.

Sat next to some Mets fans (and those actually from NY) which was nice. I forgot my damn hat and it was so damn hot I had to buy a giants one (

).

And LOL at you seeing Al Harrington. I've seen him out here, can't stand that dude. Will give props on the girl he was with, though.

 

[mez 0ne]

Sounds dope, snap any pics?

My goal one year is to take a trip to Cali during a Mets west coast trip and catching a game at san Fran and L.A.

Tonight Redding makes his debut vs the Met killer Wolf. If the Mets can steal this win (you don't know what to expect from Redding), they should win 2 of3.

 

[lazyj10]

Yeah, we got some pics, gotta get them off the camera...

The guy we sat next to went to 3/4 of the games, so that's pretty cool..he opted to sit all around the park. If you can do it, I suggest it for sure.

 

[mez 0ne]

Nice.

But on a more serious note:

[table][tr][td] [h2] [/h2] [/td] [td] [table][tr][td]News: Delgado To Have Surgery[/td] [/tr][tr][td]By Mike Nichols - May 18, 2009 6:07 pm[/td] [/tr][/table][/td] [/tr][/table]
The Mets have announced Carlos Delgado will undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur and repair a torn labrum in his hip tomorrow in New York.

…from what i can gather, delgado will likely be out until the all-star break…


Basically the same thing as A-Rod....6-8 weeks with some rehab afterwards, not too bad considering this could have been far far worse.

Still a BIG loss though but better now than late.

Get well Gato.

 

[venom lyrix]

I heard Reyes is out again...and i think they said Tatis is gonna play SS again