Stand Up And Boo Palmeiro
Yesterday Rafael Palmeiro saw his first action since his 10-game steroid suspension. The fans reaction was mixed . Though many cheered there were clearly many who booed too.
I remember when Keith Hernandez returned from a drug ban many years ago (or maybe it was when Dwight Gooden returned). The late Dick Young was writing for the New York Post at the time. I don’t know how many people reading this will remember Young. He was a real tough cookie and seemed to get off on writing controvesial columns. On the day Hernandez (or Gooden, again I forget which one) was scheduled to return the Post had a big headline for Young’s column on the back page. It read “Stand Up And Boo.”
At the time I thought this was not right. Here’s a player who was suspended for doing something wrong, had sought help and worked his way back. Wouldn’t booing be counter productive for the player? Couldn’t it send that player right back to the substance he was working so hard to get away from? Shouldn’t we show the player that we support his comeback?
Interestingly when Palmeiro returned I had no such thoughts. I found myself questioning why there was anybody cheering. In this case I side with the “Stand Up And Boo” philosophy. This man was brazen in front of Congress and then turned around and got caught doing what he just told Congress he never did. Then he revised his statement to say he never ‘knowingly’ took the stuff and hid behind a confidentiality agreement that was certainly his right to break without penalty as his reason for not elaborating.
When you’re a professional athlete you make it your business to know what you’re putting in your body. You don’t take something and just trust that there’s nothing in it. You ask the person giving it to you. You read the ingredients. You research it. So I don’t buy for a minute that he didn’t know what he was taking.
The sign in the stands (that has been shown on every sports show since Palmeiro’s first at bat yesterday and is in every sports section in the country today said it best. “Welcome Back, Cheater”.
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Fate Says No-No to Pedro
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
Pedro Martinez showed yesterday why he’s one of the best pitchers in the game. After getting rocked in his last outing he pitched a gem yesterday, taking a no hitter into the eighth inning and finnishing with a complete game 2-hitter (2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO). An excellent game by any standards. Yet all I see in the media is how Pedro came so close to a no-hitter and how Gerald Williams let the game get away. Check this out from today’s New York Times:
…Gerald Williams crashed into the center-field wall, allowing a triple that set up the winning rally.
Sounds alot like blaming Williams to me but the truth is that it would have been a tough catch for any ceter fielder. In fact, Pedro said that if Williams couldn’t get it then odds are that Carlos Beltran, the man Williams is subbing for, would not have gotten it eithr. Cliff Floyd also voiced support for the substitute center fielder.
Nobody (that I have read) has commented that the Mets should have won the game regardless of all this. When your ace takes a no hitter into the latter parts of the game you damn well better give him enough runs to get him the win even if he does lose the no-no (barring a complete breakdown where many runs are scored off him). In this case all it would have taken were 3 runs. Even without Beltran in the lineup this team should have been capable of providing 3 runs to their ace. Instead, they blew another excellent outing by Pedro.
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Beltran and Cameron Worse Than Originally Thought
Newsday is reporting that the injuries to Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron are worse than originally diagnosed. Cameron will need surgery on the broken bones in his face and Beltran has a displaced facial fracture that will most likely not need surgery but will have some more tests done today. Cameron is probably gone for the season while Beltran will probably be out for at least a week.
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Mets Sign Takatsu
The Mets signed former White Sox reliever Shingo Takatsu to a minor league deal. Unless something crazy happens I don’t expect him to be promoted to the big league club until the roster expansion in September.
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Tough Day
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
As I predicted yesterday, Tom Glavine pitched well enough to win (7 IP, 9 H, 2 ER). Unfortunately fate had other plans.
In the bottom of the 7th inning Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron dived at the same ball in right center and collided with each other heads first. Beltran walked off the field under his own power and suffered relatively minor injuries with a sore shoulder and a cut on his face. But Cameron was taken away on a stretcher. It was later announced that Cameron had a broken nose and several breaks in both cheekbones as well as a concussion. Both men were in the hospital over night last night for observation. Beltran is expected to play again soon, however Cameron was put on the DL with an unknown time table for his return. (VÃctor DÃaz was recalled to take Cameron’s spot on the roster.)
On the play the batter, David Ross, made the heads up play of continuing to run the bases. He was safe at third and scored the winning run on a Joe Randa single.
The Mets third starting outfielder, Cliff Floyd, was hit on the knee by a pitched ball from Akinori Otsuka an inning later. Today’s Post says Floyd thought it was on purpose. He probably did think that but I believe that’s just an outlet for his anger over his teammates going down. Roberto Hernandez was hit in the pitching hand by a batted ball. Both players are expected to play through the injuries though I think Hernandez will take a couple of days off.
All in all this was not a good day for the Mets. Cameron is lost for a while (maybe the rest of the season) and it remains to be seen how long Beltran will be out. Floyd will be playing with a bad knee. These events will have repercussions for this team for quite a while and puts Omar Minaya on the hot seat to get a deal done by the waiver trade deadline.
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That’s More Like It
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
The Mets bea the Padres last night thanks to the arm of Kris Benson (.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO) and the bat of David Wright (4 for 5, 3 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI).
Tom Glavine takes the hil for the Mets this afternoon. Glavine will try to even his season record and I’m pretty optimistic that he can get it done. Since a horrible 2.1 inning outing on June 19 in which he allowed 8 hits and 6 earned runs Glavine has a 3.55 ERA and 1.44 WHIP over 50.2 innings (8 starts). Hardly hall of fame caliber numbers but in this era of baseball those numbers are not too bad and should be enough to best Padres starter Woody Williams.
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Pedro Gets Rocked
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
Pedro Martinez suffered his worst outing of the year in last night’s 8-3 loss to the Padres. San Diego is leading the NL West but has an identical record to the Mets. They are one of the teams the Mets must play better against if they want to get into the playoffs (especially if they don’t want to lose in the first round). The Padres are on a bit of a roll, winning 6 of their last 7 games. A streat like that will not go on much longer considering they’re a .500 team (just look at the Mets this year to see an example) so I expect them to rebound from last night’s beating and take tonight’s game as Kris Benson takes on Brian Lawrence.
In other news yesterday, Doug Mientkiewicz was placed on the DL prior to last night’s game to make room for Kazuo Matsui. Matsui will be a utility man and will likely only see late inning work in games that have already been decided. It pretty much looks like Miguel Cairo is the starting second baseman and Willie Randolph has said that Chris Woodward is the backup shortstop so Matsui will see extremely limited playing time and only at second base at least until Randolph and Omar Minaya decide the team is no longer in contention. At which point I’d expect Matsui to get much more playing time as a way of showcasing him for a possible trade.
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A Nice Night for a Game
Click here for a recap of last night’s game.
Last night I got to make a rare trip to Shea Stadium. I don’t go very often for myriad reasons. In fact I only go a few times a year. So when I go I like be treated to a good game. That’s what I got last night.
VÃctor Zambrano (8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO) had an excellent outing. Though his ERA was bumped up in his last start he has had a very good second half of the season so far having more good outings than bad ones. If he could get hot at the right time then he could be a pivotal figure in the Mets fate.
Cliff Floyd continued to show why he is the teams best hitter going 3 for 3 and hitting his 26th homer. David Wright had a good game, too, with 3 RBIs.
The weekend sweep really put a strain on the Cubs chances to stay in the wild card race and kept the Mets in a position where they aren’t too far back. The team that gets hottest at the right time is going to be the team to get the wild card spot but Houston, currently in the wild card position, has a slight edge based on scheduling and the fact that the teams they are battling for that spot are mostly teams in the NL East who will be playing against each other alot and whose wins and losses will cancel each other out to a certain extent.
The teams next stop will be San Diego to start a 3 game set with the Padres. Kazuo Matsui is excpected to be activated off of the DL for that series and you have to wonder what the team has in mind for him. He’ll fill a utility role to start with but what will his role become? The team has to find a way to bolster his value if they have any chance of trading him during the off season. Regardless of how they handle him it’s clear that he is not the answer to the question “How do you complete the Mets infield?”.
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Blame Willie
I have only one question about yesterday’s game. Why was Roberto Hernandez in there at all? He had pitched the two previous games (not very well but that shouldn’t be a factor anyway) and at his age shouldn’t be pitching 3 games in a row if at all possible. He’s showing signs that his success earlier in the year may have been above his ability at this stage in his career. Why put him out there? As easy as it is to point the finger at Hernandez for blowing the game I think Willie Randolph is really the person to blame here fo putting Hernandez in the game to begin with.
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This Just In…
I just heard that former Met Lee Mazzilli was fired as manager of the Baltimore Orioles. Sorry to hear it, Maz. I don’t think you’re the reason you’re team has been sucking lately.
Taking Mazzilli’s place on an interim basis will be none other than former Mets coach Sam Perlozzo. Congratulations, Sam.
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