Hitting the ground in anticipation of the re-emergence of the Evil Ollie?
But look, Dan Warthen, the pitching coach who replaced guru Rick Peterson, has tinkered with Perez's delivery a little bit, wiped away the cobwebs of Peterson's one theory fits all coaching and who knows, maybe he's found a way to wipe off the soot and expose the shine of Oliver Perez once and for all. Then again, maybe Perez will walk a dozen when he pitches next, against the Phillies. There's simply no way of knowing.
In the meantime, the Mets earned their Subway Series split against the Number One team in NYC (and yes, Jerry Manuel is right regardless of what Mets fans think if for no other reason than it is reality, is not defeatist and should be a motivator rather than ego-buster...) and now hit the road for what may well be a devastating run against the Cardinals and Phillies.
We'll get a few hours to make a big deal about Jose Reyes throwing his glove in a little trantrum after Delgado let an off the mark throw glance off his glove for an error, a Reyes error. Sure, a better first baseman would have had it but this is Delgado we're talking about. He can't be arsed to exert himself too much very often.
This is the second noticeable tantrum by Reyes in the Manuel regime and comes a day after he was stupidly picked off second base at a key moment in the game. Is there much else he can do to fall out of everyone's good graces? Sure, you can argue he is showing passion out there and normally I'd say give the guy a pass, I'm sure you'd have been pissed off if you'd have done the same thing and then watched the ball bounce off Delgado's glove like that but the thing is, I'm still pissed off about that pick-off so I'm not in the mood to cut the kid some slack. Even if in the WHAT IF scenario, he hadn't been picked off 2nd and Wright ended up driving him home and the Mets ended up winning on Saturday instead of losing it only would have postponed a loss in today's game because well, That's How the Mets Roll. Win one, lose one. One up, one down. Good follows bad and bad follows good. Inconsistency - the same we castigate Perez for but the same the Mets demonstrate game after game, week after week, month after month.
But before more misery is heaped upon the Mets allow them to savour a few delicious moments.
Wagner thanks the Hillbilly Gods that A-Hole's long fly ball didn't go over the fence and tie the game.
There was Delgado's smash in the 3rd inning to make it 2-0, Ryan Church's successful return to the lineup and Billy Wagner's barely functional outing that earned a save in the 9th to solidify it.
Where does it all leave the Mets?
Well, at precisely the halfway point of the season it leaves them 1 game under .500 yet miraculously, only three games out of first place in the NL East.
It leaves them an even .500 under Jerry Manuel meaning well, right about the same place they've been this entire season regardless of whose running the show: A maddening team of ups and downs who cannot find the consistency to run off a nice 7 or 8 game winning streak.
So put this little Subway Series split up there on the fridge and enjoy it for a day because with the Mets heading for St Louis and then for Philly, I can't see a way for this week to end on a happy note.
Not unless the Mets are truly going to start finding their ritmo with the emergence of Perez (and maybe even Pedro if tipping pitches really IS his problem and not old age), the return of Church (and who knows, maybe even Alou), and of course, that long awaited spurt that pushes them forward and up over the top of the NL East.
Like the rest of the Mets limited fiefdom however, I've learned not to really wish for such crazy things.
You can only take them one win at a time.
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3 comments:
did you see how david wright put his arm around his manager's shoulders as they walked off the field after the game? maybe there's a foundation of solidarity that was missing under Willie and maybe the Mets will eventually find their way out of their shell of mediocrity and start winning with a vengeance...starting this week against the Cards and Phillies! Go Mets!
lots an lots of ifs. the mets are all about ifs. Here is my if: If Omar gets fired maybe we can straighten this organization out for the future. If Omar stays we are definitely cooked.
I'm beginning to agree with you jdon. When it comes time to gut this team, Omar is not the guy to do it. I think he's simply not hard enough to be a GM in NYC. His failure to resolve the Willie thing shows his baseball judgement is tainted by emotion at the expense of the team. Who knows how many past and future transactions fall into the same category. Sack Omar at the All-Star break, let the guy they replace him with have a few weeks to assess and then start getting rid of whoever they can get rid of for future players.
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