Mike's Mets: May 2006 Archives

Stop Confusing Major League Baseball with the NFL

In an article for Yahoo Sports, Jeff Passan makes a valid point on the draconian nature of MLB's blackout policy, but, as so many others have done, he allows himself to meander into fantastical nonsense: Jey Cho is 24 years old. He helps manage trusts. He enjoys watching the Oakland...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Lastings' First

Mets fans have had their first real look at Lastings Milledge last night, and he has made a favorable impression. The papers were full of stories on the debut, and how he almost never made it out of Providence to get there. One of the interesting things that we're reading...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:58 PM | Permalink

Mets Offense Takes a Night Off

Diamondbacks 7 - Mets 2 I've been battling the flu for a week, and I'm starting to feel as if I'm losing the battle. I was drifting a little in and out mentally watching the game tonight. The Mets had their hits off Miguel Batista, and some hard outs....

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Nady's Emergency Appendectomy Leads to Milledge Time at Shea

Just when you thought things couldn't possibly take another sudden turn this season, word is out that the "untouchable" prospect is coming to town. From Kit Stier's report on Mets.com: The Mets placed outfielder Xavier Nady on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday and recalled outfielder Lastings Milledge from Triple-A...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Where Are All The "Experts" Now?

I remember going into this season reading story after story by national baseball writers full of gloom and doom for the New York Mets. One after another, they opined that Omar Minaya's decision to trade Kris Benson and Jae Seo would hurt the Mets, with some predicting dire consequences. One...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

An Up and Down Game That Ends All Wright

Mets 8 - Diamondbacks 7 Steve Trachsel wasn't great tonight, but he was good enough to survive a pair of rain delays and keep his team in the game for 6 innings. A pair of home runs by Eric Byrnes really hurt him, although the one-handed first inning homer came...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Mets Face Off Against D-Backs at Shea

After taking advantage of some sloppy play by the young Marlins yesterday, the Mets return home to face a veteran club, the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-backs, who suffered through a 77-85 season in 2005, have looked good early in 2006. They're sitting 9 games over .500 at 29-20, and are...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:51 PM | Permalink

Mets Take Advantage of Marlin Mistakes to Take Series

Mets 7 - Marlins 3 The Marlins made multiple costly mistakes today, and the Mets took advantage of them to take the rubber game of the weekend series. Meanwhile, Orlando Hernandez managed to be good enough in 5 innings of work to win his Mets debut. The game went the...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

The Mets Will Face a Big Test in June

Tom Glavine righted the ship yesterday, helping the Mets to avoid their first 3-game losing streak of the season. Now, in Orlando Hernandez' inaugural Mets start, they have a chance to win this series against the Marlins before they head home to face the western division leading Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:01 PM | Permalink

Wright's Four Hits Help Glavine to 8th Win

Mets 7 - Marlins 4 The Marlins managed nothing at all against Tom Glavine for the first 5 innings, while the Mets kept pecking away at Dontrelle Willis. The formula was good enough to survive a little late-inning drama and carry Tom Glavine to his eighth win, tying Arizona's Brandon...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Mets Looking to Get Back On Track Against Dontrelle

The Mets face the Marlins again this afternoon, with Tom Glavine facing off against Dontrelle Willis. The D-Train has been struggling this year, but has always done well versus the Mets. He pitched well against the Mets early in the season in New York, giving up 2 runs in 8...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:48 PM | Permalink

Stinker in Miami

Marlins 5 - Mets 1 The Mets wasted a good start by Pedro Martinez with one of their poorest offensive showings of the year. They managed only 2 scratch hits and an unearned run against rookie Josh Johnson, continuing their maddening streak of failures against rookie starters. Pedro allowed 2...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

A Moment of Silence for a Dream

The pain was transparently obvious on Jeremi Gonzalez' face after Ryan Howard beat him for the second home run in the first inning yesterday. A promising start against the Brewers, a terrible one against the Yankees where he took the hill with the flu bug, and now this -- first...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Once Again, the Fans Had No Voice

This is going to be my last word on the Mets allowing two unqualified "personalities" to take over the radio booth for an entire game against second place Philadelphia. I've already adequately detailed why this bush-league promotional stunt bothered me so much, but I thought the way this day ended...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Opportunity Lost

Phillies 5 - Mets 3 To start this without admitting in advance that I would have signed up for 2 of 3 in a second at the start of this series would be foolish. Having said that, the Mets had an opportunity to send a powerful message to the Phillies...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hope for the Bottom of the Rotation

While no one is looking at the Mets starting staff as "cured", the events of the past 24 hours certainly have opened up at least the possibility of some much-needed stabilization. After doing his best to scare the hell out of Mets fans by throwing 15 of his first 21...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mets Take Series From Philly

Mets 5 - Phillies 4 Just like Steve Trachsel yesterday, Alay Soler's control got him into trouble early. Unlike Trachsel, Soler settled down and threw some strikes, kept his team in the game and earned the respect and gratitude of an overworked bullpen. Soler mixed speeds well, and displayed a...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Trachsel Looking a Lot Like Pre-Makeover Glavine

While I was undergoing the sensory root canal of watching Steve Trachsel struggle through 5 innings against the Phillies yesterday, I wondered whether Jose Lima could have done much worse that Trachsel performed. Sadly, the answer that came back to me was, yes, he could. Still, Trachsel spent most of...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beltran Sends Them Home Happy

Mets 9 - Phillies 8 (16) When Carlos Beltran's home run disappeared over the right field bullpen and into the night at 12:33 AM, the Mets had their first lead of the 5-1/2 hour contest. It was the only one that mattered. Steve Trachsel started the game for the Mets,...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

New Blog Link; At the Quarter Pole

I just added a link to a Mets/Jets Blog named I, Rob. The author, Rob O'Daniel, has a nicely researched piece on Alay Soler well worth checking out. With the Mets preparing to play their 44th game of the season tonight, over a quarter of the season is now history....

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:51 PM | Permalink

Our Arms Are Dangerous, But To Whom?

The Mets are entering a very important three game series with the Phillies, depending on the back of their rotations to carry them through. Steve Trachsel pitches tonight. His last time out he was almost perfect against Mulder and the Cardinals. Unfortunately for him, Mulder was better. Trachsel's very good...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:47 PM | Permalink

Now Auditioning for the Mets Starting Rotation...

Marty Noble has a story on Mets.com laying out the fact that when Alay Soler starts for the Mets Wednesday or Thursday, he will be the ninth starting pitcher used by the club this season. Noble has a chart going back to 1986 showing the date that the club used...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 9:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here Come the Phillies

The subway series is over, and I'm sure that many Mets fans join me in gratitude that we have a day to catch our breath before the series against the Phillies. Last night's game seemed especially draining to me, as the Mets spent most of the night doing nothing against...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:01 PM | Permalink

Redemption For Wagner, A Win For Glavine

Mets 4 - Yankees 3 There are some games that the Mets win that I feel more emotionally drained at the end of than losses. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving the win back, but this was one of those games that are a lot tougher on the fans...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Let's Solve These Problems For Once

The debate goes on after Billy Wagner's shocking implosion against the Yankees yesterday. While Randolph's decision to bring Wagner into a 4-0 game after pitching the night before was not indefensible (although I didn't agree with it), I personally felt his stubbornness in staying with Wagner reflected a lack of...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Willie and Wagner Toss Away a Game

Yankees 6 - Mets 5 (11) I've been steady in my support of Willie Randolph, but I won't let him off the hook for today's loss. Wagner has already shown a frightening fragility in pitching back to back games. Compound that with the fact that this was a day game...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 6:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Afterglow

Quick turnaround between last night's game and this afternoon's game, so this will just be a fast down and dirty post this morning. Last night's game was a terrific win for the Mets. Put into a hole early by Jeremi Gonzalez' absolute ineffectiveness against the Yankees, the Mets dug themselves...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:13 PM | Permalink

Exit Sandman

Mets 7 - Yankees 6 David Wright's 2 out, ninth inning walkoff hit beat Mariano Rivera and the Yankees in a game where the Mets had come from behind all night. Jeremi Gonzalez started the game for the Mets and put them in a big hole early. The Yankees scored...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Retro Review: The Bad Guys Won!

A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo-chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, The Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform--and Maybe the Best In this, the twentieth anniversary season of the last Mets World Championship, it...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:46 PM | Permalink

It's Not Just Lima

The papers are full of subway series hype today, which doesn't hold very much interest for me. I know some really feed on this stuff, but I believe that it's run its course. My concerns are how well my team is playing and their chances to keep playing into October....

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:33 PM | Permalink

Lima Hell

Cardinals 6 - Mets 3 I'm not going to talk much about this game. Frankly, watching it once was hard enough, and I have no desire to relive it. There wasn't a single aspect of this game where the Mets performed well, and the final score doesn't do justice to...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Feedback on Mike and the Mad Dog Ruining a Broadcast

Yesterday I wrote about my disappointment with the Mets for their decision to allow WFAN's Mike Francesa and Chris Russo take over an entire radio broadcast of an important game versus the Phillies. Admitting that I was no fan of the duo, I felt that this was irresponsible on the...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

It's a Long Season, and Sometimes it Just Sucks

Cardinals 1 - Mets 0 The above title sums up my feelings about disappointing games like tonight's. Steve Trachsel finally gave the team the lift they so desperately needed from him, and it all went to waste as a failure to deliver in the clutch cost the Mets another game....

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Mike and the Mad Dog in the Mets Booth: Bad Idea

From the official press release on Mets.com: WFAN's afternoon hosts Mike and the Mad Dog, Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, respectively, for the first time in station history, will call the live play by play and provide color analysis when the New York Mets face the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday,...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 6:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

Maturity? No, Just Sanity

Yesterday I was accused of something for the first time in my 47 years: maturity. Lisa had a good laugh over that one, although I greatly appreciated the thought. I assure everyone that it was an accident, and promise it won't happen again. Anyway, we spoke our piece about letting...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mets Outlast Rain and Cardinals

Mets 8 - Cardinals 3 The crimson-clad St. Louis faithful like to think of themselves as the "greatest baseball fans in the world." Go ahead -- ask any one of them, they'll only be too happy to tell you. They were a little tough to find after a measly 1:40...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

May We Now Turn the Page On the Kazmir Trade?

By now, everyone has heard the news that Victor Zambrano's Mets career is likely finished, with the strong possibility that he may be done, period. Maybe it serves to close the door on a truly pathetic page in Mets history. A team that had no real chance to contend made...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

News on Zambrano, Newsday Blog

I just discovered today that Newsday has a New York Mets blog, too, which seems to be updated fairly frequently. You can find the blog here. If you use a newsreader you can subscribe to the feed. In an entry today titled Bad News for Zambrano, Anthony Reiber makes the...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Victor's Elbow, Marty's Bag

Two items of interest for Mets fans on this off day in the schedule: Zambrano's surgery and an interesting Marty Noble Mailbag feature on Mets.com. AP: Victor has his elbow surgery Victor Zambrano underwent surgery to replace the torn elbow tendon today. According to the Associated Press: During the operation,...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

No One Ever Promised It Would Be Easy

After dropping the first two series on this road trip, the New York Mets have an off day before beginning a 3-game series with the Cardinals tomorrow. The Mets team that is limping into St. Louis bears little resemblance to the team that showed some early-season strut in April. Losing...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Mets Drop Second Series in a Row

Brewers 6 - Mets 5 (10) Okay, it's official now. The ship may not be sinking, but it certainly is floundering. Pedro struck out 10, but gave up a couple of home runs and was lucky to escape with a no decision. Duaner Sanchez was better, but not great. The...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Gonzalez Not the Final Answer, But Will Do for Now

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there, including mine. As I mentioned previously, I wasn't able to watch most of last night's game live because we celebrated Lisa's birthday last night. I DVRed the game and watched most of it later on, paying particular attention to Jeremi Gonzalez'...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Mets Overcome Brewers and Brutal Umpiring

Mets 9 - Brewers 8 Jeremi Gonzalez gave the Mets a respectable effort, and Jose Valentin had the game of his short Mets career. Still, it looked like it might all go for naught thanks to some poor relief pitching, a gritty Brewers team, and some of the honest-to-God worst...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:25 AM | Permalink

The Mets Need to Find Some Answers Soon

I've spent some time this afternoon looking at what others have had to say about various aspects of the starting pitching situation. Tomorrow is Lisa's birthday, and I'm taking her out tonight, so I may not watch tonight's game. Normally the prospect of missing a game gives me at least...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Requiem for Lima Time

I understand why the Mets rolled the dice with Jose Lima for a couple of starts, I really do. He had a decent year in LA two seasons ago, and he's a little bit of a flake that's not afraid to pitch under pressure. He would have been perfect for...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Lima Time Has Come and Gone

Brewers 9 - Mets 6 A late game comeback came up short for the Mets as they dropped their second in a row, and 4th out of their last five. On offense, it was about missed opportunities and a failure once again to put a struggling pitcher away. Again none...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Stop Making Excuses for Trachsel

Last night's loss in Philly was more dreary than awful. The Mets didn't catch any breaks, on the field or with Mother Nature. Steve Trachsel has done what he's mostly done since coming back from his back surgery last season. He's pitched bad enough to lose, but not terrible enough...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Mother Nature Helps Phillies in Rubber Game

Phillies 2 - Mets 0 (5) Centerfielder Aaron Rowand stole 3 runs from the Mets with a circus catch in the first inning, and Steve Trachsel again just wasn't good enough to pick up the team. The end result was a frustrating loss in a game that just made it...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:11 PM | Permalink

Congratulations to Vinny and All Suscom Subscribers

I'm a little late with this, I know, but congratulations to Vinny from Metsville.com and all of the other Mets fans in the Carmel, NY area that now have SportsNet New York on their cable system. There still are Mets fans that are blacked out of watching their team on...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Okay Trachsel, It's Your Turn

I guess I've come off at times as fairly critical of Steve Trachsel. I've always respected Trachsel, who gave the Mets some decent innings in some dark years, but never have been able to buy into the Trachsel worship of some Mets fans. I've found it interesting that many of...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:45 PM | Permalink

Mets and Tom Glavine Stop Phillies Streak

Mets 13 - Phillies 4 This game was almost over when the Mets went up 10-0 after 3. In a grownup size ballpark it would have been. The Mets played sharp, crisp baseball today, and took advantage of some sloppy play by the home team. There was a little too...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Bringing the "A" Game, Heilman's Role

The Mets lost a tough game in Philly last night. A stirring comeback went flat on a funky triple and the combination of a swinging bunt and a poor defensive play. I thought part of the reason the Mets lost last night was due to some plays they failed to...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

The Bullpen and Some Sloppy Play Cost a Game

Phillies 5 - Mets 4 The Mets made a nice late game comeback today, but it was all for naught as an Aaron Heilman throwing error lost them the opening game of the series against Philadelphia. Pedro started for the Mets, and looked shaky in the first inning, walking both...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Bell Replaces Fortunato

As Adam Rubin is reporting in his Surfing the Mets blog, it will be RHP Bartolome Fortunato who will be going down to Norfolk as Heath Bell comes up to the big club. It makes a lot more sense. Feliciano is doing a decent job, and you figure he'll be...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:12 PM | Permalink

Looking For a Pitcher to Step Up

An important series against Philadelphia kicks off a challenging 2 week stretch for the first-place Mets. The surging Phillies have ridden an 8 game winning streak to second place in the Eastern Division, only 4 games behind the Mets. You suspect from reading the papers today that there's a good...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Why MLB's Revenue Sharing Concerns Us All

According to Maury Brown in the Hardball Times, the New York Mets contributed $24 million in MLB revenue sharing dollars last year. Regular readers of this site know that I have a strong opinion on the use of revenue sharing to level the playing field in major league baseball. Although...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Omar Has a Tough Choice to Make With the Pitching

As expected, there are plenty of folks in the mainstream press that have the answer to the Mets' arms shortage. If Omar doesn't find anything that appeals to him there, he has plenty of bloggers like me that are more than willing to chime in with our thoughts. That's one...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Mets Drop Finale But Prove Their Point

Braves 13 - Mets 3 Jose Lima and Bartolome Fortunato took their beatings like men, but make no mistake about it, they were beaten up badly. For Fortunato, who is likely to disappear back to Norfolk it was no big deal. For Lima, it was a somber reminder of his...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Zambrano's Sad Saga Takes Another Wrong Turn

Needless to say, the papers are full of Victor Zambrano news today. Losing one of their already thin complement of starting pitchers has put the Mets behind the eight ball. There has been a lot of discussion as to whether this injury is the fault of Zambrano himself for trying...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:57 PM | Permalink

The Ghosts of Shea Stadium are Just Toying With Atlanta Now

Mets 6 - Braves 5 Like a cat with a mouse, the ghosts of Shea Stadium are playing a cruel game with the Braves. What can we do to make you guys think you have a chance? I know, we'll remove the Mets starter with an injury while your alleged...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Excuse Me, But I Waste No Tears On the Braves

Bob Klapisch has a nice column in the Bergen Record on the angst being suffered by some of the long time Braves at the realization that their stranglehold on the eastern division could be history. Although none of them are ceding the division to the Mets, they acknowledge that the...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:37 PM | Permalink

On a Long Night in Flushing, the Braves Find Their Own House of Horrors

Mets 8 - Braves 7 (14) Please forgive your exhausted blogger if he doesn't give you a detailed recap of Friday night's marathon victory. Suffice to say, this was a game the Mets refused to lose, but seemed unable to win. The Mets left 19 men on base, and always...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Looking Down on the Braves

The Braves are coming to town again, floundering as they have for much of this young season. Still, they haven't given up on the hope that they hold some magic over the Mets, and point to their 2 0f 3 triumph over the Mets in New York last month. You...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Glavine and Nady Sink Frustrated Pirates

Mets 6 - Pirates 0 The Mets managed to get a few guys on base tonight against Paul Maholm, but only had a solitary run to show for it -- and that came on a bases loaded walk to Xavier Nady. The Mets wound up leaving 11 runners on base...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:27 PM | Permalink

The Best is Yet to Come for the 2006 Mets

As of last night's game, the Mets have played exactly one sixth of their schedule. Their 18-9 record would certainly point to a successful start, despite the fact that the offense has basically struggled for over two weeks. The team averaged over 5.5 runs a game in getting off to...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:55 PM | Permalink

Delgado and Chavez Keep Mets Out of Heartbreak Hotel

Mets 4 - Pirates 3 (12) Billy Wagner blew his third save of the season, spoiling terrific efforts from both Pedro and Aaron Heilman, but the rest of the bullpen came up big and Carlos Delgado's 12th inning walkoff homer salvaged a win for the Mets. Despite abysmal conditions with...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Alay Soler Gets Promoted, Adelphia Still Sucks

As previously mentioned, Adam Rubin's Surfing the Mets blog is a great asset for Mets fans. In an entry today, Rubin passes along news about Alay Soler along with some other useful information. Cuban defector Alay Soler, who went 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in five starts for St. Lucie,...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 2:56 PM | Permalink

It's Time for the Lumber to Show Up

After a sizzling start through the first two weeks of the season, the Mets offense has shown only flashes of the asset it should become for this team. You would like to think that as the season wears on, the Mets offense will be good enough to pick up their...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:56 AM | Permalink

A Disheartening Offensive Performance

Nationals 6 - Mets 2 When you're a blogger that follows a team on a day-in, day-out basis, some days you're going to find yourself just plain disgusted. Today was one of those days for me. I love baseball, which is why I chose to do this, but games like...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Could Alay Soler Be A Piece Of The Puzzle?

In today's Baseball America's Daily Dish, Aaron Fitt brings up the same question about Alay Soler that I asked in my earlier post: Pelfrey already in Double-A, Soler Next? The clock is ticking on Alay Soler in the Florida State League. The Cuban defector was dynamite yet again last night...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

No One's Apologizing For Last Night's Win

A reader named Matt took exception to my characterization of last night as the Mets winning a game that they didn't really deserve -- pointing out that the Nationals certainly didn't do anything to deserve winning the game more, while the Mets certainly got great pitching all night, especially from...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

When Someone Offers You a Gift, Take It

Mets 2 - Nationals 1 It wasn't pretty, but it looks the same in the standings as all the other wins. The Mets accepted Washington's generosity and won a game they really didn't deserve on a walk-off error in the bottom of the ninth, improving to 17 - 8 and...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I'm Fine, Thanks

I've received some really nice e-mail today after mentioning in passing earlier that some health issues have been responsible for the mid-afternoon appearances of my "morning" post. I greatly appreciate the concern, but it's nothing all that major. I mention my problems with chronic Lyme disease in my "about" page,...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Pitching for a Winner

Now that the first month of the season has passed, we're beginning to get a read on the 2006 New York Mets. With a 16-8 record and a 6-game lead over both the Braves and the Phillies, there's not much to quibble with. After getting off to a good start...

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By Mike Steffanos, posted at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Mike's Mets

New York Mets discussion, news and historical perspective -- now getting by with a little help from my friends.

May 31, 2006