Ollie Ollie Oxen Pea!

Oliver Perez and I have had a tumultuous relationship this season. Much like the Mets flickering with .500 ball this season, much like Ollie's own season representation in 2008, it flickers through brilliance, and flickers with mediocrity.

Plus he is a Boras Bonus-Brat Baby, and he wants to leave New York.

Our relationship is complicated this year.

One of his sabor-like aspects is that he can be electrifiying at times. Electrifying, then erratic. There is no in-between. I am at a stage of our relationship where I need more stability. Kind of like the Mets this year too -- flirting with awesomeness (like Friday afternoon's romp in the Bronx)...to flirting with ho-hum-dom (like Friday night's game).

But I certainly love the Big Game Ollie when he rears his head. And BGO certainly turned up today in sabor-like fashion, for the Battle of New York -- the last one at Shea Stadium ever, and the last one of 2008.
What else can I say? Besides Oh Pea, who was brilliant in dominating the Yank-these once again, the Mets offense was once again asleep at the wheel, leaving what seemed like 900 men on base -- this ducks on the pond business really needs to stop.

The good news is, Ryan Church is back. The bad news is, Carlos Delgado won't drive 9 RBIs every game.

But besides Oh Pea giving me (and the team) what I (they) need, I wasn't originally planning to go to today's game, or any game of the Subway Series.

I went to a game in the Bronx last month, so I felt pretty set. I guess that I am a bit jaded as far as the Mets go these days. But when SassDawg called me this morning and said he had located an extra seat for today, I thought -- what the heck? In fact, on a sappy and mushy note, Zoe's and my "anniversary" just passed, and our first "date" was at the Subway Series when Oh Pea pitched. I thought -- Although Pea and I are on the outs, this has a good feeling to it. So when Dawg and Uncle Dawg went outside for a cigarette to the designated "smoking areas," they decided to try to find better seats, so I went to sit with my gal Zoe down in Loge for the rest of the game. It was hot, like Africa hot out. But I started to get a little overwhelmed with the whole Shea Stadium closing business. Here is a day when the stadium was completely full from my vantage point in Loge.

All in all, any day that the Mets win and especially against the Yankees is a very good day.

Now if we can only convince Oh Pea that EVERY game is a big game, we might have some victory parties around here.

Bloggerati Descend On Metsopotamia

Did a game actually go on? Well, all I know is an AL pitcher hitting .095 on the year hit a GRAND SLAM off of one of arguably the best pitchers in baseball (can "Second Half" Johan show up already? C'mon, it's the NL, weaker hitting line ups and all that shit) in the 2nd inning - then promptly got hurt in a home plate collision with Carlos Beltran (ouch), and well, David Wright just fucking everything up. Sorry if I sound a little grouchy -- I was just as excited as everyone else was about this team coming back home. And believe me when I tell ya, the crowd (small, it was a Monday night game, for petes sakes) did not boo once. Well, I guess they didn't have to - but when the Mets were introduced as "Jerry Manuel's" as the line up was announced, the crowd responded favorably. I guess the whole fertilizer reference was lost on them - well, good, I know what he meant and this was just another example of the NY media taking something out of nothing...Manuel is good in my book (just win the rest of the series, and you won't hear any more booing, trust me).

Now, I guess the real excitement of the game was that a few weeks back, the great Metstradamus himself invited a few of the bloggers out for a game as his brother was coming in from out of town. Well, fun! I gave the Coop seats away, Zoe and I RSVP'd "yes" and away we went. Believe it or not, a few good things came out of the game.

1.) I got to chill with homey Zoe after a long weekend that I spent alternatingly puking and napping when I wasn't, and a weekend she arguably had it better than me playing poker and hanging out with friends.

2.) I got to sit in the realm of greatness with Greg from Faith and Fear and of course Metstradamus but also the Blogger Formerly Known as Yes Joe, It's Toasted (now "Toasty Joe - the Interim Manager Edition).

3.) I also got to meet the Great "Rickey Henderson!"

4.) Our team even won boxes of Bubba Burgers! I tried to get a good shot of the crew on the Diamond Vision - couldn't see anyone from our crew. Oh and in case anyone was wondering -- there are no Bubba Burgers in the boxes they give away. It's a coupon for "Free" Bubbas, plus a T-shirt.

5.) Being that I really was too afraid to eat anything, I did opt try a Kozy Shack pudding -- I know, at $3 for a little shot glass of it, it seems a lot, but a nice breakaway for the vegetarian who alternates eating french fries and peanuts at games. No beer for Coop tonight either. Probably not till this weekend.

Other than that, I mean, what else can I say -- it was a boring game and had it not been blogger night, I probably would have opted to stay home anyway due to me being sick all weekend. Although I did leave early -- even if there was a comeback of 6/30/2000 proportions, I probably would not have been able to enjoy it.

But I do have pics of the team! At one point, I saw some woman walking around with a shirt that said "Red Sox Nation."

Then I started thinking, we need a name for our "land." I mean, there's Patriots Country, Red Sox Nation, the Black Hole in Oakland...what clever name could we have?

I asked Greg his thoughts and he said he's been trying to get "Metsopotamia" in the mainstream and he's seen maybe one other blogger use it.

Well, Greg, here's a second.

Welcome to Metsopotamia. And tell me if I spelled it right.

Jerry's Kids

First we had Church Ladies...now we have Jerry's Kids (thanks to Dykstraw).

I saw something last night while watching the Mets win.

I saw lightheartedness in the dugout.

I saw players wanting to make great plays. Whether that meant a dive or running down a fly ball, you could tell they wanted to get that out.

I saw Carlos Delgado smile.

I saw Carlos Beltran smile.

I saw the boys rally around John Maine when he was taken out of the game...and clearly, John did NOT want to come out, but did a fist bump approval for Joe Smith who got that last out for him.

I saw team work.

I saw Jerry's Kids. And if firing Willie contributed to this type of play that we have been BEGGING as a collective fan base for over a year, then why wasn't it done sooner?

I'm actually excited to them finish this series and blow back into town on Monday.

Information Overload: Please Stop

Gosh, why is it all of a sudden fashionable to take Willie Randolph's side? Now I will be the first person to admit that the way Willie was fired was not the way i would have done it -- if I had it my way, I would have done it after the 2005 season, when the team could have won the Wild Card -- but que cera, cera. Whatever.

Now there is a new sheriff in town and I'm wondering if the change is going to make everyone involved look a little bit better. Or better yet, a new gangster, who as Fenster would say would flip you fa' real.

Perhaps his handling of Jose Reyes will be a little bit more conducive to the youngster's success. Maybe his handle of the veterans will be a little more balanced.

And perhaps Omar Minaya will be able to salvage what is left of this season by instilling Jerry Manuel as the Mets manager for the rest of 2008. I doubt Willie Randolph would be talking street with his guys, only talking about how sweet champagne is going to taste when they are on the golf course in October.

I'm being mean, but I'm tired, old, cranky and suffering from major writers block. Deal with it.

Just Forfeit!

I admit, when the Mets are on the west coast, I am perfectly content with finding out the score in the morning. Of course, I usually miss some kind of fireworks (like Oh Pea getting shelled for like 900 runs in 1/3 of an inning), but last night I actually missed a game I could have sat and watched. That said, I was in bed at an early hour, for my road trip to Baltimore this weekend really wiped me out (I'm old, deal with it).

So imagine my surprised while I was visiting some of my go-to in the morning blogs, that I go to find out the score of the game (c'mon BMF - at least give me a teaser in the first sentence on whether the Mets won or not!!) - and I see this:

Mets Name Manuel Interim Manager.

OK, totally not what I would have done. Not at this point. As I have always said, the time to fire Willie would have been at the end of last season. So even though Omar stuck up for him and gave him his backing (I think not as some evil-doer cover-his-ass kind of thing but an Omar loyalty issue) last year and even as much as a couple of weeks ago, I was going to back Willie too. Not because I thought he was the best guy for the job (I truly believe that would be Ken Oberkfell or Wally Backman at this point), but he was OUR guy. He was one of us. He went through the collapse, he was in danger of losing his job while the rest of the world is going through tough economic times. I felt like finally in these last few weeks Willie was one of us.

I know, big change from me - #1 Willie-hater (well, I'm sure I have some competition there, but I was certainly up there).

But the logic in firing Willie now I just don't get. But I can sort of understand it. At the same time, the following logic I do NOT get.

Tom Nieto - gone. As first base coach, what decisions has he made that have impacted the team greatly? As Joe D over at Metsmerized said yesterday, he pats some of the best ass I have ever seen. Very encouraging. Plus, I mean, of course this is just I like Tom Nieto, I've met him a few times and he's very cool. I don't think he did anything to warrant being let go (unless he is one of Willie's guys). I always felt though in the spirit of cleaning house, he should go on principle. But man, he was the last guy in picking-and-choosing I would have chosen.

Rick Peterson - Gone. Soul Glo has come under fire recently for the regression of John Maine (who was one-half of the one-two punch in the Mets pitching staff last year, with Oh Pea), and Oh Pea who has been regressing more and more to his erratic side lately. Also, Mike Pelfrey has been showing that he can come around but rumor had it he responds better to the NO pitching coach -- who I believe was Randy Niemann last year...not the guy who was promoted in RP's place, Dan Warthen. Who's this guy? Apparently he was promoted this year. I would rather have Randy Niemann, who is a no-nonsense old-school pitching guru. But maybe this guy is what we need for now. I'd have rather kept Peterson than that, but whatever.

Again, in the spirit of cleaning house, why on earth wasn't Send-'em-home Sandy let go? He's been responsible for more gaffes this season than I can pinpoint on Willie.

But now that Jerry Manuel has been named interim manager, I wonder if they have told him - you are only here for the rest of the season, you will interview for the job as everyone else would? Because as a result of Manuel's recently vacated position as bench coach, NO manager Ken Oberkfell (who is sort of a cult figure in Mets blog-land) dues have paid off and he will be bench coach with the big club. Halllelujah. About time they have some astute baseball folks up with the big team.

Here are my thoughts on the situation. Personally, I think it stinks that the team waited for the team to be on the road to fire Willie. This situation first off reeks of Wilpon interference. Kind of like the trades of Kris Benson (a good thing) because of his loud-mouthed wife and Lastings Milledge (potentially bad thing) for having a flashy personality plus the blackballing of Wally Backman in the organization, the Wilpons' fingerprints are all over this catastrophe. As much I don't like and didn't like Willie as NY Mets, it was pretty shitty to do things the way they did -- dragging it out, letting things bend in the wind.

Omar Minaya once said that if Willie didn't win, then he (meaning Omar) wasn't doing his job properly. So if anything Omar's loyalty was actually a good thing in this juncture. He wasn't going to make Willie the scapegoat for his short-sightedness.

But I also wonder if the Wilpons have told Omar - get this team ship righted. Otherwise you are next. And fire Willie. We don't need the distractions.

Because, you know, the Mets don't have enough of those these days.

As much as I feel bad for Willie, c'est la vie. He'll get another job, hopefully with the Yankees so he can go home once again.

But don't expect this team to go on a tear. As a poster on BMF said today - it's like starting a fire with a wet paper towel.

Just another routine Mets management jumbling.

What's Wrong With the Sport I Love

Mr. E and I took a Mets sabbatical this weekend and enjoyed some crabs, clam strips, hush puppies, some blues music and above all some Orioles baseball in Baltimore. Now, I bleed Mets blue, but for those who truly know me know my favorite player ever across all teams is Cal Ripken. I know, a non-Met. But besides his blue ocean eyes (which you will see me glowing over in my "Fantasy" team post), he played the game hard, honest and was an overall good guy. Guys like him are gone from baseball, I'm afraid, for good. But maybe for the exception of David Wright. But even Wright doesn't (yet) have the power to make everyone around him better. That was Rip.

But I'm not going to talk about Rip. Instead, I'm going to "rip" on the Wilpons and basically all the owners of baseball and give them a big ol' MSF-U for ruining the sport of baseball. I mean, we can look at history, and point the finger at George Steinbrenner and the Yankees for outspending everyone and making the art of free agency an art in dickery. But I mean instead of owners having a gentleman's agreement about this stuff, we get douchebags like A-Fraud getting pay days that are 3/4 the GDP of a small impoverished African nation.

But as we can see with the advent of CitiField, fans like you, me and even Mr. Met are going to be drastically changed by this new landscape.

When Metsgrrl and I went to Miller Park last year, it was interesting because the seats were good, the food was fairly priced (but then again, we are used to $6 hot dogs and $8 beers in NY, and this is the midwest, maybe fans out there don't like 'em either) and we got into the .300 Club, their version of the "Diamond Club." If any of you have been in the Diamond Club, I mean, there is the restaurant where you can sit down and get non-baseball fare, which from what I hear is pretty good (I have never been in there, though I have had Diamond Club passes for two years). I know in the bar-area, the bathrooms are heinous and the help is rude. Whatever. My point is, the .300 Club was definitely catering to the businessman special. But wait - this is Milwaukee we're talking about. Is Jim-Bob going to drive his tractor to the game and hang out in the .300 club?

With the pushing off of CitiField's pricing structure and the failure to reach out to season ticket holders to discuss options, I am getting a little upset about the prospect of being priced out of my favorite team's ballpark. Meanwhile, Richie Rich will be able to entertain his client non-fans in seats that should be open to us. I'm not saying corporations don't have a right to this stuff - I'm just saying it not only sucks, but baseball (as I have been saying all along) is a jay-oh-bee, and no longer a game.

I found this article via a link on Yahoo! today: Far from Cheap Seats. Basically stating the obvious - that baseball will eventually become like Knicks games at the Garden - empty, devoid of any real fan except the stars.

" 'Are we going to charge 5,000 people a lot to go to the game?' Trost asked. 'Yeah, but we will deliver.' As big money changes baseball, pushing salaries ever higher, the fan baseball is trying to attract is changing, too. A generation of new stadiums with the latest in innovations has allowed teams to transform the old box seat into an entertainment palace, essentially moving the luxury suite to the field level, bumping families for corporations."

Now, I don't mind getting bumped out of the field level because I've seen over the years, the "real fans" don't sit there anyway. But why? I know that times change and the rules change, but this is all ridonculous already. I don't even attend all my games, but I'm just a little concerned about reselling my tix. It's a little selfish I know - but it sucks for people who want to attend the games all around.

The Mets Divas "Fantasy" Team

I'm not talking about what happened today. Or the day that shall not be talked about ever again. 'K?

Rather, I want to introduce you to the Mets Divas "Fantasy Team." See, I am a baseball chick through and through, and not a groupie (shut up, Dykstraw). But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy cute butts in uniforms.

As an example, whenever John Maine is pitching, I *may* get a text from Zoe or someone that says something to this effect - I just want to squeeze his tushy. And I might have gotten something from someone who may like to identify herself as saying to me - how come I never noticed what a nice ass he has, especially in the white uniform?

Now, my dad couldn't say something like that, but I can. And that's what I think rocks about women who like sports. We watch for the enjoyment of the sport - but also for the fringe benefits. Like tight butts in uniforms.

So ladies, I ask, who is on your Fantasy Team? And I don't mean the teams you form when you draft certain guys on ESPN, Yahoo! Sports or whatever. No, I mean, is Scott Schoeneweis (thanks, Schmifty!) a "starter" on your Fantasy Team? Cause he's certainly on mine.

And lately, Brian Schneider has been a starter on my Fantasy Team too. I didn't think he was particularly hot - until I saw him in the Mercedes-Benz commercial? Holy crap. He's got a hot bod. Johan Santana, he's pretty easy on the eyes. And I wouldn't kick Duaner Sanchez out of bed either.

But your Fantasy League, like all good fantasy teams, they don't have to include just Mets per se unless you are a one-woman team. But for example, my Fantasy Team Hall of Fame definitely has Cal Ripken on it (and I'm not talking about the old man either). His eyes are blue like the ocean. *SIGH*

Other current players are Grady Sizemore, Jacoby Ellsbury...although to be honest, I think they are way too young for me. Hey, maybe they'll think I'm a cougar.

So ladies, ladies, ladies. Step right up and don't be shy - tell us who your "fantasy" players are! Cause hey, it's gotta be better than what we are seeing right now on the field. Pitiful.

The Coop Says...

Just because I'm bored with the team right now doesn't mean I can't plug plug plug away.

Two things - one is that our own fearless leader, Willie Randolph, is helping to promote the launch of a new search engine called BeFitNYC.org - which will allow New Yorkers to find fitness activities in their neighborhoods around the city. The official announcement will be tomorrow, at 12 pm at the Prospect Park Tennis Center. Check it out.

Lastly, the guys over at the Rocks Off Concert Cruises have asked Mets fan to stand up and be counted! For selected Saturday games in the summer, they are hosting a cruise that departs from Skyport Marina at 23rd and FDR. I've been told there is beer, food, music, and a refreshing breeze.

The cruises are on the Half Moon, which departs from the , and boarding begins at 12:30 pm the day of the game, with departure at 1 pm. They last for 2 hours and there are lots of cool sights to see from the boat, like Riker's Island and LaGuardia Airport. Tickets to the game are included in the price of the cruise ($39 in advance, $45 day of), or people who already have game tickets can come along for $20 ($25 day of).

I am tempted to take them up on their offer, just to see what it is all about. Unfortunately, I won't be able too until late July, but who's comin' wit' me! Should be more interesting than the games at this point.

I will be at the game tomorrow, so stop by and say hi peeps.

Living in Denial

One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is to thumb through the New York Times with usually one of the cats trying to lay across exactly what I am reading at the time, with my coffee and maybe some breakfast foods. Lo and behold, in the Travel section of the weekend NYT is the cover story: Buy Me Some Sushi and Baby-Back Ribs (by Peter Meehan).

My first thought was - how come no one told me about this wonderful job?

The second is - where would Shea rank in the quality of food? (Read: Very low)

I enjoy visiting newer stadiums and even older stadium that are storied (Wrigley, Fenway) -- but I am always amazed by the options at any of these places that overpass anything that Shea could have possibly had.

Back in the day, when they had Harry M Stevens as the vendor (before being sold to Aramark), I remember a "pizza roll" being sold in the concessions - it was this glorious deep-fried ginormous egg roll but with pizza filling (just cheese and sauce, I wasn't big on the meat toppings, even as a kid who was a carnivore). Their fries were also better - thin and McDonalds-like.

The story rated Shea's hot dogs as the thing to eat. I disagree. Um, you can't go wrong with the peanuts. Or the french fries from the self-service stand on Loge, by the CitiField exhibit. Trust me, it's worth the trip. I have my seats on Mezzanine, and the Grand Central stand has these soggy and mushy Nathan's fries.

I also disagreed with the Nathan's hot dog assessment. Even as a meat-eater last year when my summer diet consisted of hot dogs and beer (while the rest of the time I ate salads and meat-free everything), I always opted for the Kosher stand. So take it from The Coop, the kosher stand can do no wrong (their knishes are fab).

But the only thing I will spend my money on are beers. And the Mets Martini at the Diamond Club.

So what else? Oh, I am skipping the series next weekend against the Rangers and going down to Baltimore. Mr. E is coming too, I guess as an impromptu father's day exhibition. The write up also included Camden Yards' best foods - honestly, I don't know how any self-respecting travel writer or baseball fan could do a taste-test at Oriole Park and NOT go to the Boog's BBQ in CF bleachers. Even so, i am not a meat-eater, but I would seriously have to be restrained from getting their pulled pork BBQ (OK, saying it out loud is kinda gross but whatev).

He also made no mention of the Crab Fry stand at Citizens Bank Park in Philly, as I like to call it the Crack Fry stand. Also, to Zoe's luck who opted NOT to get the cheesesteak when we were in Philly in April, Meehan says under no circumstances should you get a cheesesteak in Philly. Which I agree with. While I have never opted for the cheesesteak in Philly's park, I say the best cheesesteaks (again, when I used to eat them) are across the river in Cherry Hill, NJ. I forget the name of the place, but I would have gone back there as a carnivore.

Kinda like you can't find good pizza in New York City, you can't get a good cheesesteak in Philly. Jersey rocks both. OK, I digress.

Another thing that was funny is that while he said that Fenway's kosher dog was this nasty rubbery thing that couldn't even be disguised with ketchup, mustard, relish, etc, I thought it was funny there was zero mention of the ballpark's "signature food" the Fenway Frank. Uh, hello nasty. OK first off it's WHITE - I'm sure hot dogs aren't supposed to be pink or red or whatever, but it's just not appetizing looking. It's not appetizing, period.

Lastly, Tropicana Field was by far the most boring stadium I ever visited, till I found their $5 buckets of beer. Hail Tampa.

So definitely click on the link and read the story. It makes me want to visit the stadiums and do the taste test myself. Or maybe not. I still think bringing my own peanuts, chips, falafel, etc and water is my best bet for any stadium. Then go out to dinner after the game.

Oh and I'm not talking about the Mets lackluster performance in San Diego. Denial is not just a river. Peace.

LOOKY LOOKY!

I don't think anyone wants to hear me bitch about the Mets losing two in a row to the Padres. Quite frankly, I am a little disengaged from it because they've been playing so late. For me, it's tough to get worked up about it. But as Woodside Frank used to say, those guys suck worse than WE do. 'Nuff said.

But today I am going to go down a nicer route. See, the website GaryKeithRon.Com was nice enough to inform me that there is a NEW shirt available for purchase - the "Keith" shirt. I do have to admit, I have yet to purchase one of these shirts which are in support of several charities, but this Keith is edgy enough for me to get out there and throw my hat into the ring!

There's also a promotion to go to an afternoon game in July against the Giants. Visit the site for more detes!

For now, I'm just going to be depressed that Johan didn't win. AGAIN.

The Case Against Rick Peterson

First off, hat tip goes to Ed over at Mets Fever (btw, is it me, or does anyone hear the "Dance Fever" theme song in their head saying Mets....Fever - dona don...ok I'm done) for the following link. Essentially, Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports, who I've come to learn as whatever he says is good for Mets is generally the polar opposite of what is exactly in the team's best interests, had a piece on why the Mets -- even with the case of Oliver Perez's regression into Mr. Ollie Hyde these days (I won't even touch the implosion from Monday night - I still think the Mets should have traded him after the Johan trade - and yes, even with Pedro hindsight) -- should not fire Rick Peterson (scroll down to the Pedro article).

Anyway, as Ed pointed out, the heart of the argument states this: "The Mets would be foolish to fire Peterson, who helped revive left-hander Tom Glavine and transform right-hander John Maine and left-handed reliever Pedro Feliciano — among others — into valuable parts."

Okay. I disagree with everything right there, save the sentiment about John Maine which I will give Soul Glo a little credit for. If you think about it actually, that's RP's bread and butter right there - the unharnessed and untapped young finesse pitcher who needs a little TLC. Sound familiar? Hmmm, ever hear of guys named Hudson, Mulder and Zito out in Oakland in the early 2000s? Thought so. Anyway, that's RP's MO - to make these finesse pitchers in essence dominant.

But on the flip side, we do see some bad innings out of Maine. Thankfully it's usually just one inning -- but enough to do significant damage if the offense takes a nap or the bullpen comes in and does further damage (like last Friday against the Dodgers).

I digress. My point is, I think that Peterson has overstayed his welcome and needs to go. Ketchup on your ice cream? No, I don't like that mixture either, but he's tinkering with so much that aint broke, he might as well do that.

Now back to the Rosenthal quote. Fact: It was not Rick Peterson who got through to Tom Glavine - who by all accounts had a rocky first two-and-a-half years adjusting to Questec and everything else he could bitch about. But Glavine was set in his ways, I doubt that ANY pitching coach (outside of Mazzone) could have told him to make adjustments.

However, it is a mistake to think that it was Peterson who helped him. It was PEDRO MARTINEZ, who said - Hey Mr Glavine (I swear, that was his quote in the papers), you are tipping your pitches.

Tom Glavine was soon our go-to guy until, well, the last game of 2007. But I won't go there right now.

Now for Pedro Martinez, I should not even dignify that with a repsonse -- OK, this is PEDRO FREAKING MARTINEZ we are talking about. Unless Rick Peterson knows how to cure old men of their shoulder woes, hamstring injuries, etc., I highly doubt he had much to do with Pedro Martinez going to the weaker-hitting National League from a tough division in the heavy-hitting American League.

But hey, let's not touch the starters that Peterson has actively worked with and have regressed before our very eyes - Mike Pelfrey, who has shown signs of improvement, but it's obvious too many cooks are spoiling the broth with this kid. He worked well with Randy Niemann down in the minors, whatever he is doing with Peterson is not working well for any party. As for Oh Pea, well I won't insult your intelligence. It could just be that Oh Pea has that whole 10 cent head with the million dollar arm syndrome. Sucks for him and Borasshole (which makes me chuckle, a little).

But then Rosenthal points out that Pedro Feliciano has worked well under Soul Glo's tutelege. Now I admit that Schoeneweis has turned his shit around this season and well, he worked with Chad Bradford in Oakland, that was something else. But, um, has he forgotten the following names: Aaron Heilman, Guillermo Mota, et al who have openly regressed and had their mechanics tinkered with? Seriously, Aaron Heilman is a GOOD pitcher with nasty stuff. Joe Janish had a piece on Metsblog the other day about how Heilman should be a starter because he has four, count 'em, FOUR pitches, whereas Mike Pelfrey has like one, one and half, something like that. Anyway, the point is, Heilman is talented, he's smart, he has the make up of a starter and Peterson if he's working with him (and Heilman listens) is fucking with a good thing. That sucks. Especially, I mean, who knows how much pull he actually has within the organization - remember, the whole "I can fix him in 10 minutes"-gate. If anything, that should have been evidence enough that he needs and needed to go. Plus, someone mentioned that it's probably Peterson whispering in Willie's ear about the whole 100-pitch count. As long as his starters look good, who gives a shit about the rest of the game, right?

I will thank Peterson for his help with John Maine and helping turn around Oh Pea if just for one season. But if he can't toughen his pitchers up, he has to go. His ego, mullet and windbreaker just overstayed their welcome. Have a nice semi-retirement in Wall Township. Later.

***************************************************

Oh and as of 11:34 in the 5th inning we have 1 run off Barry Zito and his 8,000,000 ERA.

One run? We have one goddamn run?