Archie Bunker's Army

Logically, the Mets are not going to win every series they play the rest of the season and valid or not, Jerry Manuel seems pretty upbeat: “You know what?” he crooned after the 7-5 loss and dropping out of first. “I feel good about the way we’re playing, I feel good about the way we fought back. I think we’ve got a good team, a good group of men, and I think we’re going to be fine.” Does he need smelling salts? Is he trying to overcome the dread and fear of what lies ahead with a little well-intentioned enthusiasm? Uggla Out at the plate in the 2nd Hmmmm. Let's see we've got John Maine with some sort of strange (and probably misdiagnosed) "mild strain" of his right rotator cuff. One starter on the ropes. We've got Mike Pelfrey , last night's pitcher, suffering a rare bit of mortality after a long and successful winning streak. Pelfrey is about 26 innings from his career high in innings-pitched meaning that whlst he has been hot we may have seen him alre...

Show of hands: Back in May or even June, who amongst you thought you'd be mentioning Carlos Delgado and Aaron Heilman in the same breath as victory and heroes? Thought so, yet there they were last night, leading the Mets on to a key 4-1 victory ovder the Marlins to hold serve on a slim first place lead in the face of a Phillies victory. It was Delgado's 2-run homer, his like what, 100th homer in July already to go with his .367 batting average for the month and Heilman's unexpectedly clutch four strikeouts in two innings of set-up work to Hillbilly Wagner , who earned save number 27. And in addition to that pair, another candidate for the annual Laughingstock to Lazarus Award , Oliver Perez wowed 'em again with with a solid, albeit somewhat abbreviated performance and knocks his ERA down to 1.36 over his last 6 starts. And frankly, the emergence of Perez, Pelfrey and Delgado form a solid nucleus for explaining why the Mets suddenly look like NL East favourites inste...

Letting the Florida Marlins abuse the Mets bullpen is bad enough but not in and of itself a tragedy - the bullpen has performed admirably over the last month and there will always be the occasional hiccup. In this case it was primarily down to Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis , who combined to allow the Marlins to score 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to take what turned out to be an insurmountable 7-3 lead, driving half of the stadium's occupants, estimated to be Mets fans, from the stadium early. No pitching with pain More troubling than the bullpen's inauspicious outing, perhaps as they were still feeling overworked from their long stints on Saturday night (Smith having pitched 1 1/3 innings and Schoeneweis having pitched a mere inning and perhaps having no excuse after all for giving up 4 hits and 3 earned runs in a lone inning), was the fact that the bullpen was required as early as the 5th inning when starter John Maine was removed against his will with shoulder pain a...

For all he was roundly rubbished for failing to come out for the 9th innning in his last outing which the bullpen blew, with the bullpen exhausted, an even fatter lead at his disposal and perhaps his ears burning, Johan Santana pitched his complete game, finally, his first as a Met and the first place lead is still a full game over the Phillies. Finally made it to 9! Following Saturday night's epic loss which saw the entirety of the bullpen stretched to capacity and Aaron Heilman surrender the game-losing homerun to Pujols in the 14th in his third inning of relief, there was good reason to see Santana stretch it out all the way for a change. Saturday night's 5 hour 9 minute marathon temporarily derailed an otherwise wonderous Met run but, considering they started a battery consisting of Brandon Knight , in essence, a minor league relief pitcher and Robinson Cancel , who last started a game behind the plate in the Majors when Jose Reyes was getting his lunch money stolen from...

Don't look now but with 5 consecutive games wherein Met starters have gone at least 7 innings, the rotation is looking like it's already gearing up for the post season. A tip of the hat to the new gangsta of the rotation. Last night, it was Mike Pelfrey's turn, now 7-0 with a 2.57 ERA in his last 11 starts, the most remarkable transformation of mutt to star since, I dunno, Carlos Delgado . Kaboom! The right time to find himself... Delgado of course, had another home run last night, his 9th in his last 25 games combined with 28 RBIs in that period. Although many minor heroes, these were the two keys to the Mets' 7-2 win over what looks like a highly over-rated Cardinals team choking on fumes which, combined with the Braves' beating of the Phillies, increased the Mets' new lead to two games in the NL East. Two disappointing notes. Do-Wanner Sanchez had his second consecutive miserable outing, loading the bases with none out in the 9th, similar to the opening g...

Holy Heilman , coming into the game in the 8th, game tied 1-1, two out with the bases loaded after Oliver Perez's brilliantly pitched game, facing Jason Werth , who homered for the Phillies lone run a few innings before, and what do you know, Heilman saves the day (and eventually earns his first win of the season.) Has our once-favourite whipping boy finally graduated to consistency? Not enough can be said about Perez's performance, continued dominance over the Phillies. 12 strikeouts. Nearly 8 innings pitched giving up only 1 run, dominating in large part. In reality he should have had the win for this game but that is his hard luck - 4 great starts against the Phillies, no victories to show for it. More importantly, not just against the Phillies, Perez has five consecutive stunning starts under his belt - is this nearly the end of the now you're brilliant, now you're not mound schitzophrenia he has demonstrated most of his career? But the Mets had been held by Ja...

So the Mets pen blows a three run lead one night, saves a three run lead the following night. There was a lot of chatter after Tuesday's game about goats. Third base coach Luis Aguayo for twice getting Endy Chavez thrown out at the plate by a mile. Both Jerry Manuel and Johan Santana for going to the pen in the 9th to watch a three run lead and certain victory disintegrate. And of course, Duaner Sanchez and Pedro Feliciano for failing to do their jobs. But to me, Jose Reyes' bonehead brain freeze in the 9th that sustained the Phillies' rally and ultimately led to victory was the biggest offence of all because we've seen this kind of molasses on-the-field thinking from him before cost the Mets a game. Mets are back in first place Last night, different story. Reyes popped a three run homer in the 6th that proved decisive. John Maine , who has pitched with great disappointment over his last four starts showed some of his 2007 form and continued his domination of...

I suppose we should be more honest than dramatic. The Mets bleeeeeeeeeeew a golden opportunity to get the first punch in of this three game series and simultaneously knock the Phillies out of first. Jose Bonehead There, I've said it. Don't feel any better for it, but it's said. Surely by now you've heard that the Mets, cruising along with a three run lead going into the 9th allowed the Phillies to score SIX RUNS and subsequently bleeeeeeeew the game, a sure victory. Did I mention Jose, Bonehead? Now, Jose's brain freeze didn't necessarily cost the Mets the game. After all, there was the matter of a few horrific bullpen performances from Duaner Sanchez and Pedro Feliciano to contend with, but jesus Jose, how about a little help from the infield? With the bases loaded Joe Smith comes in, does his job,induces a chopper, everybody's going to look smart and whisper relief but NO. Jose Reyes what? Unable to choose which out to take there were so many stari...

Well, it might not be the "final" push in what is yet to be a long season of ups and downs but the All Star game is finally over. The 10 game hitting streak is over. Hush, don't say it, but the seasons of Pedro Martinez , Hillbilly Wagner and Ryan Church could be over. The losses are not confirmed yet and in fact Wagner's MRI turned out not to be an atomic bomb of bad news but be wary. Looking on the bright side, at least now Wagner will have a built-in excuse for blowing key leads in tight, important, pressure-filled games... In the interim, it's time to get down to the real business: Game 100 of the season: The Philadelphia Phillies with whom the Mets are still tied for first despite managing a mere split in Cincinnati following the All Star game against the Reds. Johan Santana , the oft-bemoaned ace of the squad will start in the opening and says "That's what I'm here for, these kind of games. We put ourselves in this situation and that...

10 games in a row and tied for first place. Against the Giants and Rockies, dregs of the NL West, Met pitching was impeccable and they outscored their opponents during a 6 game stretch by a 27-4 margin. Against the Reds, a team that ranked near the bottom of the league in team batting average, runs scored, hitting with runners in scoring position or the bases loaded, and during two-out scoring chances, Met pitching allowed an unfortunate 8 runs but fortunately, Met bats were wild enough to produce 10 runs of their own. Kaboom! David Wright's 2-run boomer ties game in 9th The burning question apparently, is not a 10-game winning streak, is not being tied with the Phillies for first base, is not a massive turn around for what was a sad sack and inconsistent Mets team. It is what the hell is wrong with Johan Santana ? Ace pitcher? Santana who makes about $632,352 per appearance, should have been paying his teammates after giving up 5 runs in a mere 4 innings. Whilst he wasn't e...

So the "halfway" mark is here - well, the "more-than-halfway" mark to be accurate given that some 59% of the season is already behind us. The Mets have improved but they still aren't fit. The norm is a halfway mark report card but as bizarre as this beginning and midway point has been for the Mets, it's really quite impossible to bother trying to figure out if the Mets of the first three months or the last month are the team to be graded. Do we grade them on their ability to be inconsistent? They certainly merit an A for inconsistency. Do we grade them during the Willie months, certainly an F, given that Willie got the sack and didn't guide the Mets to 9 game winning streaks. Do we grade them on the Jerry month? A so-so beginning building to this All-Star break climax. Do we grade our belief or faith in these Mets team? Does a 9 game winning streak really make the Mets the favourite of the division? Ugly, quasi-developed Mets There have been two dif...

"Can you hear the drums Fernando? I remember long ago another starry night like this In the firelight Fernando You were humming to yourself and softly strumming your guitar I could hear the distant drums And sounds of bugle calls were coming from afar" Brace yourselves for the new Mets' theme song, Abba's Fernando ... On the one hand a mini sort of run had to be expected from these Mets eventually. I mean there is a modicum of talent on this team to begin with, the manager was fired, coaches were sacked, a GM head was on the chopping block and well, it's difficult to imagine that an entire team could walk in a somnambulistic unity for an entire season without something major happening. On the other hand, if you think back a month ago or maybe even two weeks ago it actually wasn't that difficult to imagine the team's collective apathy resulting in the GM getting sacked, the core being dismantled and a fire sale being conducted amid a massive fan upheaval ...

When these pages were last dulled by the obsequious presence of the Army the Mets were still diligently gathering evidence of the mediocrity. They'd were in St Louis, had split the first two games of a four game series with another three game series on the road in Philly on the horizan. The Army felt safe in its belief that upon return from its undisclosed location it would be discovered that either the Metsies had continued treading water in a vortex of unrequited hope or would be preparing the first and likely last fire sale of the Omar regime, miserable with disappointment at all the lofty dreams gone painfully awry. Well whoop-dee-doo As it turns out, neither was the case. Instead, eight days later the Mets are riding a five game winning streak which includes three wins in a row over the Phuckin' Phillies and two shutout wins in a row over the They Might Not Be Giants . Not only that but even the Mets organisation appears to have allowed themselves enough enthusiasm to unl...

Of course when your buried neck deep in mediocrity and every day is another drudgery of explaining to the world the reasons why you try but just can't get it done, a victory is a nice diversion. Mets survive to struggle on another day and Duaner Sanchez, struck by a line drive, barely survives the mishap Even one wherein your winning pitcher is a guy who probably isn't even going to stay with the team very long and you run yourself out of a potentially big opening inning with aggressive yet foolhearted baserunning. Not even a reasonably good start will likely keep Armas with the team. In a season of disappointments yes, we should probably cherish every little victory. A victory over your most distant wildcard rival, whose lead was narrowed to six games. A victory with a minor league pitcher starting in Tony Armas for you. A victory on the road against the team with the second best record in the National League. A victory led in part by a back up catcher in Castro , who matched...

"We just looked sometimes lethargic. We have to be careful that doesn't become a pattern." says Jerry Manuel after last night's stinging 7-1 loss, like his manager's position is allowing him unique insight he didn't have as the bench coach. Be careful it doesn't become a pattern? Jerry where the fuck have you been the last two seasons? It's not in a danger of becoming a pattern, Jerry. It's already set in fucking stone. The Mets are a rubbish team with the focus and concentration of Oliver Perez and after a few weeks of Jerry Manuel I think it's now safe to say he isn't the man who is going to change that. And maybe nobody is. Maybe it's time for the Mets to simply get rid of as much of this excess baggage calling itself a team that they can rid of and start all over again with a new GM, a new manager, whatever can be salvaged from a gutted minor league system and whatever they can get for the junkyard of a team they have remai...

You figure it out. Oliver Perez , one of the more frustrating pitchers in baseball, is now 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA for the Mets when pitching against the Yankees and the Mets earned a deserved split of the Subway Series. Another one of those little mysteries of the universe, how Perez can seem so sweet some days and so utterly, devestatingly incompetent on others. 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 i...

With Johan Santana starting on fire, striking out five of the first nine batters he faced in three scoreless innings, the temptation to contemplate victory and greatness was ripe for the plucking. But for those of you who have watched the Mets at all this season, you know better. Johan to Wright: Whattacha wanna do dees afternoon, Davey? Wright to Johan: Oh, I dunno Johan, why don't we stand near the foul line and watch baseballs NOT roll foul and end up as base hits? Johan to Wright: Ok, esounds like fung! For three innings you could try and let yourself feel good but for the nagging feeling deep down, the knowing , that Santana would not keep it up (my favourite scenario between innings was surrendering a massive, solar-plexus punching gopherball to turn the game around considering Santana seems to throw at least one a game...)and you merely had to recall Pedro strolling along through 4 last Saturday in Colorado before the roof caved in and the floor gave way. Well, nothing...

So typical of the Mets season. Game One, an afternoon shit-kicking punctuated by Carlos Delgado , the least likely of heroes. And this endless little caged mouse's exercise wheel spins again and the Mets come home to bedazzle their fans with a fresh form of malaise. Is it surprising, a brief high followed by a rapidly sinking low? It is the calling card of the 2008 Mets. There'll be no jumping out of hotel windows tonight Pedro, you've had a great career. Pedro tells the man upstairs if he doesn't start getting some love, he's going to cut him. Now add insult to injury by allowing this muppet to stage his career comeback against the Mets. So there you have it folks, a day/night doubleheader. One massive win, one massive loss. Just about where you'd expect it.

18:12 Pregame - listening to online WFAN to get warmed up. It's Friday, post-work in England, pissing down, got eight 440 ml draught cans of Guinness , combustibles and Mike Francesa is busy proving with a vengeance what a champion moron he is - I'd almost forgotten after all this time...I lost track of how many stupid things he said after about 45 seconds. After the first few I was going to keep a long list of stupid comments by Francesa but then I realised without a stenographer, it's impossible. And thankfully at least the Maddog has got a day off. That makes sense. Biggest NYC baseball day of the season and he's got the day off. Looking for work, no doubt. Anyway, took advantage of free 5 day subscription to the MLBTV promotion so if all goes well I'll have the good fortune of watching rather than just listening. A dollop of Keef Hernandez to keep things interested. I sense from reading It's Mets For Me with my tea and crumpets every day that th...

You can't really say it's something to be proud of, avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners. But, taking in mind the bright side, at least they weren't swept by them. They followed the humiliation of an 11-0 loss with miniature run explosion of their own through the first three innings, jumping ahead to an 8-0 lead through the first three innings before falling silent for the rest of the game. Maybe the whole team should be given a day off. David Wright , after being benched for a game (or call it a "day off", however you want to coin it,) homered in his first two at-bats over the first two innings and Jose Reyes hit a three-run homer of his his own in the third inning. But Carlos Delgado , who unlike Wright, isn't getting benched, or "rested", had another hitless night to his credit, dropping his batting average down to .229. He may be getting more rest in the future though. Andy Phillips , conceivably a back-up first baseman was c...