What’s Wrong With This Picture?
What’s wrong with this picture?
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Poll: Should Murphy Play Every Day?
Daniel Murphy misplayed another 2 balls in left field last night and I’m beginning to wonder whether the Mets are doing the right thing by sticking with him every day in left field. Based on this post at The Mets Report I’m not alone.
I don’t blame Murphy for the way he’s playing the position. After all he’s learning at the major league level and working very hard at it. But is the value of his bat greater than the liability of his inept play in the field?
The way I see it the Mets have four options with Murphy:
- Continue to stay the course and let him play in left every day despite the fact that he shows almost daily that he doesn’t belong there.
- Platoon him with Fernando Tatis and/or Gary Sheffield. This minimizes the damage Murphy can do in the field while keeping his bat in the lineup regularly.
- Bench him until he proves he can play the position.
- Send him to the minors to learn how to play the position better while not costing the team games.
What do you think? Answer the poll below.
[poll id=”2″]
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Padres Complain About Obstructed Views
In the latest episode of “obstructed views at CitiField” it appears that the Sand Diego Padres have filed a complaint with the league that the visiting bullpen has an obstructed view. (Hat tip to Mets Police at this post.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: in this age of ball park design there is no excuse for an obstructed view seat anywhere in the stadium. Out of all the things that people have complained about at CitiField this is the biggest fail.
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Putz Breaks Our Hearts For The First Time
Last night was the first opportunity I had to watch a game from start to finish. And an interesting game it was.
Oliver Perez sucked. Even before the 5th inning explosion that knocked him out of the game Perez did not have very good stuff. I don’t care how many times Gary Cohen says he only gave up 2 hits through 4 innings. In 4 out of the 5 innings he pitched (4 2/3 really) he allowed the lead off hitter to reach base including a single by opposing pitcher Todd Wellemeyer. He was very wild throwing 43 balls and 33 strikes.
Despite that the Mets were still in the game in the 8th inning when J.J. Putz came in the game and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits to lose the game. I’m not going to come down on Putz (it’s just one bad outing) but anyone who thinks the 8th and 9th innings are guaranteed now that Putz and Francisco Rodriguez are here is disillusioned.
The game also included two Mets being thrown out at the plate (Daniel Murphy and Carlos Beltran). Murphy was also picked off of first base in the first inning and fell in left field while trying to make a play 2 times.
This game was at first hopeful but finally heartbreaking. I hope we’re not in for this kind of thing for the rest of the season.
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Ex Met Bannister To Start For Royals
Former Met Brian Bannister has been recalled by the Kansas City Royals and will start their game against the Indians on Wednesday night in Cleveland.
Bannister, 28, was 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA in three starts for Omaha. He suffered through a 9-16 season last year with a 5.76 ERA. Bannister was traded by the Mets to the Royals for Ambiorix Burgos after an injury shortened 2006 season and was 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA in his first season in Kansas City.
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This Day in Mets History
Guess which one of these two events are more memorable for me:
1966—The Braves won their first game in Atlanta by beating the New York Mets 8-4.
1970—Tom Seaver of the Mets struck out the last 10 Padres he faced for a 2-1 victory over San Diego. He gave up two hits and finished with a total of 19 strikeouts, tying Steve Carlton’s major league record.
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Mets Sign Wily Mo Pena
The Mets have signed Wily Mo Pena to a minor league deal. Pena had refused a minor league assignment with the Washington Nationals during spring training so I thought it was interesting that he’d accept a minor league deal here. Turns out that there is a clause in the contract that allows him to opt out if he is not promoted to the major league club within two months. I have no clue what Pena gives the Mets beyond injury & Gary Sheffield insurance.
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Gooden Signature To Be Erased
While visiting CitiField for the opening of the new stadium former Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden visited one of the many eateries in the new stadium to greet the fans. While there Gooden was asked to sign a wall of the Ebbets Club, found on the the first-base line. The former Cy Young winner obliged and thus was born the famous signature wall that fans have been visiting for photos ever since.
Sounds like a nice story but ownership doesn’t seem to agree. They want to remove the autograph from the wall. I can understand them being upset that someone defaced their new ballpark. After so much money has been spent on building and hyping the new stadium how could they support this vandalism on it’s first opening day?
But I think the Wilpons are missing an opportunity here. This was a nice, cheap and informal way to inject some Mets history in a ballpark that is almost completely devoid of it. Sure it was unauthorized by ownership. But they need to think out of the box a little. Sure it’s one signature now. But if Gooden’s signature is on the wall you can bet that the next time Gary Carter or Rusty Staub or Ed Kranepool are in the building they’d add their signatures to the wall. Before you know it you have a full wall of signatures from past Mets and an attraction for fans to come and take their pictures while enjoying their sandwiches.
No, the Wilpons have their heads too much in the Dodgers past to realize that even though they didn’t authorize the signature it could add something nice and niche for fans who are already disgruntled with the stadium design and decore.
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Pitching Matchups For St. Louis
The St. Louis Cardinals have reworked their rotation due to their rainout yesterday. Here’s the latest pitching matchups for the Mets visit this week:
Tuesday – Oliver Perez (1-1, 7.84) vs. Todd Wellemeyer (1-1, 4.50), 8:15 p.m., SNY.
Wednesday – John Maine (0-1, 7.20) vs. Joel Piniero (2-0, 5.40), 8:15 p.m., SNY and ESPN.
Thursday – Livan Hernandez (1-0, 4.63) vs. Adam Wainwright (2-0, 3.31), 1:40 p.m., SNY.
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Top 5 Issues With CitiField
With 6 games under their belts at CitiField, Mets fans have had a fair chance to sample the new stadium and formulate their own opinions about it. I have not been to CitiField and do not know when I will have the chance (the issues of expense and personal scheduling conspire to make such trips few and far between for me) but have done a fair amount of reading on the issues surrounding the new stadium and have come up with my top 5 issues. Feel free to agree, disagree or add your own issues in the comments.
5 – Economic timing: The economy is number one on most people’s minds but when CitiField was conceived nobody could have seen things getting as bad as they have gotten. The inability of anyone to foresee these tough times is why this is slotted at number 5. When a new stadium is built ticket prices will rise more than normal. Even scalpers will be asking for more money until the novelty of the new stadium wears off. With unemployment off the charts and people trying to save now more than ever before this is just not the time for such expensive ticket prices.
4 – Ebbets Field motif: New York used to have two National League teams: The New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. The Mets orange and blue colors are taken from the colors of those two teams. But of these two teams the Mets are probably more an extension of the Dodgers than the Giants. However the Mets are definitely not the Dodgers. The Dodgers are a whole other franchise. I have no problem with the existence of a Jackie Robinson Rotunda. I have no problem with a facade that resembles Ebbets Field. But it seems like there has been more attention paid toward these features of CitiField than anything Mets related. Furthermore, if the Dodgers stayed in New York (regardless of if they would be in Brooklyn or Queens) Ebbets field would not exist and would probably be spoken of as negatively as most people seem to talk about Shea Stadium. The team that played there wanted to get rid of it for many of the same reasons people wanted to get rid of Shea. I have no problem with Brooklyn Dodgers nostalgia but not at the cost of what should be Mets nostalgia?
3 – Too many distractions: One of the things I liked about going to Shea was that once you got their you’d be watching the game. You had no choice, really, since there was nothing else to do. I understand that not everybody agrees with that point of view and so ownership has built several other attractions into CitiField. The new attractions (mostly places to buy food) are new revenue streams for the club that promise to bring in more money. (Do you think fans will reap the benefits of the new revenue streams by offsetting tickets prices? I think not. But I digress.) The problem I have with all of the new attractions is that it takes people away from the game. Shouldn’t the product you put on the field be what brings people to the park?
2 – Fewer seats: I understand the economics behind having more luxury boxes. But to have fewer regular seats than Shea is unconscionable. It shuts out more average fans from seeing games. Fewer average fans will be going to games this year anyway (see number 5 above). However when economic times improve these fans will want to go to games but will not be able to because supply will not be able to meet demand. Obviously that will cause ticket prices to rise again (due to the law of supply and demand) and once again ownership will find a way to line their pockets while screwing their fans.
1 – Obstructed Views: In this age of stadium design there is no excuse for an obstructed view seat yet this seems to be the biggest complaint I’m hearing about CitiField. It does not matter how many video screens you install to help those with obstructed views see the action. If they wanted to watch on a video screen they’d be at home watching on TV (unless, of course the owners find more ways to black out games on TV). Maybe ownership should have focused a little more on the game experience and a little less on Brooklyn Dodgers nostalgia and trying to win culinary awards.
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