Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Thanks, But No Thanks

We all need to get our minds off this losing. Here is some comic relief, courtesy of our favorite relief pitcher: the Show himself.

Take a look at this, I just noticed it on the Mets' website:

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/community/teammates_evening.jsp

Look at the "Live Auction Items". They look pretty cool. Shagging balls with Carlos Beltran could be neat. Golf is always fun, and I heard Tom Glavine was pretty good, so that would be interesting. A Spanish lesson from Jose Reyes would be entertaining, at least. A hitting clinic with Carlos Delgado might even be beneficial in life. But notice the fifth item on that list: "A pitching clinic with Scott Schoeneweis."

Oh boy, sign me up for that one!

"Hey Scott, what is it like to have a 7.00 ERA?"

"Hey Mr. Showen-whatever, what is the first thing that pops into your head when an opponent hits a three-run homer off of you?"

"It is a lot of fun to be the butt of every Met fan's joke, isn't it?"

"What do you do to walk a batter on four pitches? The mechanics on that must be so complex- could you please show me?"

"What is your favorite way to give up runs?"

"Do you think you could give some of that money back to Mr. Wilpon? I'm sure we could use it do find a suitable replac... I mean another suitable left-handed specialist."

Another Day, Another Way to Lose....

This losing stretch is awfully depressing. The Mets just keep losing- and it doesn't look like the shortcomings will end tonight as the Mets are trailing 6-1 in the seventh inning. The whole team just looks dead when they play. There is no life, no enthusiasm, no energy. Frankly, I guess no one can blame them in that regard. I'm sure that it isn't much fun when you lose. But there is no sense of urgency, no attitude that tells me that they have any desire to snap out of this funk. Where are the upset rants in the dugouts by fed-up team leaders? Are there even team leaders? Where are the drastic measures from Willie Randolph to inspire his ballclub? Why not bench Delgado or Beltran until they show that they really want to play? There is no desire. I don't get the feeling that the Mets' players are all that excited about playing baseball.

Whether or not they are enjoying to play, I know for sure that they are not very much fun to watch. It is painful to watch this team play right now. There comes a point in time when an individual loses all confidence in something. I sometimes lose all confidence in my golf swing off the tee, and it has bad repercussions. I often lose confidence in Michigan's defense in college football, and they do not disappoint my low expectations (in fact, they sometimes exceed them). Right now, I have absolutely no confidence in this Mets team. You know it's bad when your team trails 3-1 in the second inning, and you are already convinced that they are going to lose, as it was last night. Tonight, I have the game turned off after the sixth inning, because I have no confidence in the Mets' ability right now. Not in the pitching, not in the hitting, not in the fielding, nothing. It's not going to get any better either. After dropping two out of three to the Diamondbacks, getting swept by the Phillies, dropping two out of three to the Tigers, and being swept by the Dodgers, the Mets will play three against the red-hot Yankees in the Bronx, and then play the Twins, Athletics, and Cardinals during a nine-game homestand. It is safe to say that the Mets had better get it turned around soon, or they will be WAY under water by the All Star break.

I did call this blog "For Better or For Worse", implying that I will follow this team whether they win or not. I would say that this is probably the stretch of the season commonly referred to as the "worse". I really can't wait until this whole thing is in the rear-view mirror.

Let's Go Mets, regardless! Let's get something going in the Bronx.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Okay: STEP AWAY FROM THE EDGE!!

The recent skid by the Mets is admittedly concerning. Let me give a brief rundown of the stats for the Mets during their 2-9 stretch here in the month of June:

-They have lost eight of their last nine games.

-They have lost nine of their last eleven since sweeping the Marlins at the end of May.

-If it had not been for two wins by throw-in starter Jorge Sosa during this stretch, the Mets would be 0-11 in June. That is a .000 winning percentage, if you're wondering. Ouch.

-Since May 9th, a 5-3 win against the Giants in San Francisco, the Mets are 16-15 (a record obviously skewed by the recent drop-off), are hitting just .257 as a team, and have scored 105 runs and have just 99 RBI's- both stats are near the bottom of the National League.

- The team ERA during this stretch is 4.13- pretty high.

- The Mets have been unable to score runs recently: in 22 of the Mets' 39 games since May 1st, the Mets have scored four runs or less. The Mets have scored more than three runs in just three of their eleven games in June, two of them losses regardless. They have scored two runs or less in five of those eleven games. I'm beginning to wonder whether this offense might be a bit overrated. There is no way this is all a result of Moises Alou's absence.

-Jose Reyes, after hitting .356 in April and winning player of the month honors, is hitting .269 since May 9th, and is really struggling at the plate. I don't have the same subjective confidence as I used to have when he stood in the box, and I'm sure he doesn't either.

-Carlos Beltran, after hitting .356 with six homers and 23 RBI's in April, hit .234 in May with two homers and twelve RBI's. In June so far, he is hitting .194 with one homer and one RBI. In addition, he has drawn just one walk in June. He is in the slump of all slumps- but it is still masked by his incredible April. His stats since the beginning of May are (almost) worse than Carlos Delgado's during April, the only difference being that Beltran was hitting .356 before his slump, while Delgado, for all intents and purposes, was hitting .000 before his. This naturally makes Beltran's slump much quieter. Since May 1st, his average has plummeted from .356 all the way down to .278.

-I'm not sure which number is worse: that Scott Shoeneweis' ERA is 7.06, or that the Mets are paying him 3.6 million to do it.

These numbers are all VERY bad, and I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't worried. Frankly, all this losing is getting very old, and this team is becoming hard to watch. However, every team has losing streaks, and every team has bad ones. Last year, the Mets went 3-7 before their famous 9-1 road trip. Everybody has slumps and skids. And every team comes out of them eventually. The Mets will be no exception. They are too talented, too experienced, and too resilient to not play better.

The Mets just need someone to get hot, catch a couple breaks, and get some good pitching to get back on track. A nice old dominant-in-all-facets cruiser tomorrow could really be helpful, especially heading back to New York to play the Yankees- who are suddenly playing very well of late. A loss tomorrow against the Dodgers to finish the sweep would be very bad. I am of the opinion that tomorrow's game is a must-win. The Mets have to get the ball rolling somehow. I am confident that they will get it turned around. All they need is a couple hot players, some good breaks, and off they go on a nice little winning streak. I've almost forgotten what it feels like to win a couple games in a row...

Did You Know...
All this talk about the Braves being "back to dominance" is getting on my nerves. Atlanta started the year a sparkeling 7-1. But the Tomahawks are just 28-29 since, and 7-11 in their last 19. I guess this doesn't speak very favorably to the Mets, who are just two games up on the Braves right now.