Pagan tears up minor league pitching in rehab stint
As my friend Tony and I arrived at Damaschke Field in Central New York to watch the single-A minor league Oneonta Tigers play, we were expecting to see a regular minor league game… until we heard the starting lineup.
When I heard that one of the best Mets, Angel Pagan, was batting second and playing left field for Brooklyn, I was so excited that my eyes nearly popped out. I knew Pagan was on the DL, but had no idea when he would begin rehab starts, or where. I never would have believed that the Mets would have sent him on a four-hour bus ride from Brooklyn to Oneonta when he is injured. Because of that reason, I have an inkling that he flew in from a local airport, such as Albany.
Pagan went 2-2 with two singles up the middle. He unsuccessfully attempted to stretch his first single into a double, getting thrown out at second by a mile. He made a jogging catch in left field and showed no signs of pain or problems. He was taken out after his second at-bat, but still ran the bases until the inning was completed.
Several kids (Mets fans) in attendance immediately acknowledged his presence, screaming chants of "Angel" while he was on deck and around the dugout. He was nice enough to tip his hat, wave, and smile to them.
Wagner’s All-Star blown save a blessing in disguise?
A team that believes in itself down the stretch shouldn’t want home field advantage. A team that believes they can win both on the road and at home with no problem should be the most successful team, meaning that home field advantage shouldn’t make a difference. Most of the time, the team that makes the World Series in each league is the team that has been on fire, meaning that they should keep winning.
Instead, if they don’t have home-field advantage, they should be satisfied. Here is why: If a team wants and believes they can win as many games as necessary in the playoffs, they wouldn’t want home-field advantage because you end up at home.
In baseball, a seven-game series means that the team with home-field has the first two games home, the next THREE away, and if needed, the final two at home. This is certainly an advantage if this series would go to six or seven games, but in no way would it be an advantage if it went in the range of four to five games.
Why would a team that is on fire coming into the World Series want home-field advantage if the fourth game, possibly the clincher, wouldn’t be a home game, and especially if they believe they can win each game they play?
Easley’s late blast gives Mets seventh straight victory
As my mind was recalling several great Damion Easley late-game moments from 2007, I was hoping Damion could continue to put those memories in my mind. Of course, with the bases empty and two outs with no score in the bottom of the eighth, Easley had no problem with launching the pitch over the left-center field wall to give the Mets the lead against the Rockies. Last year he did this on several occasions in the same exact spot.
Billy Wagner had no difficulty closing the game, as he got hitters to swing at high, lasering, 98-mph fastballs out of the zone.
You never know what Oliver Perez is going to do, but lately he has done his job. He went 4 2/3 innings before giving up a hit, and was removed with nobody out in the seventh inning.
Mets pop into the race like fireworks on the fourth
With my busy summer, I haven’t been able to find much time to write here, but it wasn’t too long ago that I ripped this team for it’s inconsistency. That may not be the last time I say that in this time period, but it appears I will be saying it less and less as this team keeps winning without losing the following day.
Before my very eyes, the Mets jumped to 1.5 games behind the Phillies… and that won’t change because both the Mets and Phillies came out victorious tonight. Also, the Mets are now in a tie for second place with the Florida Marlins.
The Mets have won five games in a row, including last night’s, which matches a season-high. The team is three games above .500, and the pitching staff has registered back-to-back shutouts in the first two games of this series against the Giants.
We’ll see how consistent this usually inconsistent team can be in the coming weeks.
Inconsistency
Instead of elaborating for hours about the Mets’ problems, you only need to point toward one problem to fix.
Winning one day by a large margin hasn’t once meant they have picked up any momentum whatsoever. A perfect example is any doubleheader the Mets play. On June 15, the Mets lost the first game of a doubleheader against the Rangers, 8-7. They bounced back to win the second game, 4-2. Last week, the Mets opened the four-game, crosstown series against the Yankees by winning the first game of a two-stadium doubleheader. People say it is tough to sweep a doubleheader, but the Mets couldn’t win back-to-back games if they were offered a billion dollars in the contract instead of their original multi-million dollar contracts.
Finally, after losing the first game of their current series with the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis, they as usual won the second game and lost the third.
Are you starting to see the pattern? I thought so. It all circles around to one simple mistake by the Mets’ organization: Firing Willie Randolph. It is quite simple: If you would like for your team to have consistency, don’t shake the coaching staff up. That’s a cardinal rule for consistency, but apparently, not in this organization.
And now they wonder why they have hovered around .500. Hmm