You can root for the Mets without being convinced of their doom
I’m sure you’re all just dying to hear what I have to say about the Mitchell Report. Well I wrote my TOTK.com article on it this week. Big Names, Bigger Needles.
The report is just the tip of the iceberg.
I’m amused that Roger Clemens is scared of needles, but it’s very sad that it seems like the only reason he didn’t take HGH in addition to steroids is because he didn’t like the “Belly button shot”.
I think the Mets are a better team than the Yankees, and despite the past two weeks, I think the Mets are going to win this series. I’ll give some reasons for each game, I’m not panicking, and I don’t think the Mets are either.
Game 1: Perez vs. Clemens
Oliver Perez has really pitched well here in New York. He’s pitched some of the biggest games and done well. Game 7 last year, the three wins against Atlanta, and he beat the Yankees at Shea. He lost his last start and he hasn’t had two bad outings like that all season. I expect him to bounce back strong tonight.
Obviously the offense is the problem, but I think they can wake up tonight. Clemens threw well over 100 pitches just getting through six innings against Pittsburgh, and the Mets offense is a lot scarier than that. If the Mets work counts, and let Clemens throw as many pitches as he did in his last start, he won’t make it six. Even if the Mets don’t capitalize on him, that leaves a good stretch of iffy Yankee bullpen to beat up on. Nothing wakes up bats like Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth.
Game 2: Clippard vs. Glavine
Would you believe people are actually saying that this match-up favors the Yankees? Seriously? Tom Glavine is miles ahead of Tyler Clippard, and after his poor start in Detroit, you know he’s going to come back strong. The Mets often struggle against new guys, but Clippard is no longer new, they’ve seen him before, and they’re going to be ready for him. This will be another early to the bullpen day for the Yankees.
Game 3: Hernandez vs. Wang
I feel like this match-up may favor the Yankees a bit, but Hernandez is a fierce competitor, facing his old team, coming off a bad start, and has pitched very very well recently besides that. The Mets have apparently never seen Wang, but he’s been around enough that I don’t think they’re going to fall prey to him the way they would’ve if this was his first year. At the very least I think the Mets will compete, and he won’t pitch a complete game like he did recently. The Yankee bullpen could be tired by this point if my other two games went as planned, so even if he does pitch well, the Mets have a chance to put their foot down on a tiring bullpen.
The Mets are done with their slump. They’re going to win these games, because they need to start winning games. Everybody needs to have some Faith in this team. It was 24 years ago today that the Mets started putting together the ’86 puzzle by acquiring Keith Hernandez. I wonder if Gary will remember that and mention it to him tonight.
Surely if you’re reading this you’re only doing so to see how I’m possibly going to be optimistic at a time like this. There is a lot to be down on lately with the Mets and I am, and surely you are too, sick of hearing about it.
No baseball today, unless you count finding out if the Yankees are going to welcome in the Mets at .500, or on a nine game winning streak. Either way, I’m predicting they are going to be no better than .500 on Monday.
The Mets are obviously not as bad as they’ve been playing. You can complain about individual pieces and problems, but every team always has something that’s not going right. The problem is that they all were happening at once. It doesn’t matter where Lo Duca hits in the lineup, as no one’s driving in runs from anywhere.
Obviously the Mets aren’t going to lose nine of ten for the rest of the season. The important thing is that they’re still in first place. They’ve lost maybe two games in the standings during this streak. Atlanta has struggled too, they couldn’t even catch a cold. Obviously Philadelphia wasn’t going to be eliminated after a bad first two weeks, but they haven’t caught us either, despite the sweep. I don’t think they’re anything to be worried about either. The Mets will visit them at the end of the month, playing better baseball and thirsty for revenge after last week.
There is no reason to panic, or declare the season over. Although declaring the season over right now would put us in the playoffs. The Mets are going to play good baseball again. If they started doing that on Friday, they’d again be padding the lead, not trying to play catch up.
The Mets didn’t have a streak like this last year, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for these guys. Last year they cruised, and they lost in the playoffs. The Mets are now feeling the pains of losing, they’re learning that despite being the team to beat in the NL East, they can’t take it for granted. They need to take that message to heart, and go out there with fire and passion to win in each game. They don’t look happy right now, and that’s good. They’re not enjoying the losing streak, and they know the media frenzy that’s going to take place this weekend. Maybe being back to being treated as second-class citizens, and the second best team will spark the fire that they need.
Sometimes losing can teach a team a lot, and when they learn their lesson, they will be able to win that much more effectively. I see good things for this weekend, remember the three Cs. Clobber Clemens and Clippard.
As Mike Pelfrey struggles in the first inning, the return of Roger Clemens is eminent. He announced it during the Yankee game, from George Steinbrenner’s box. Can this guy do anything without drama? In his YES interview shortly after he’s talking about things like how some of the Yankees don’t have World Series rings yet, about the parade after they win, and about how he’s been pushing himself and will push himself hard to return quickly. He says he’s going to try for the end of May, or June 1st as his return date. June 1st just happens to be a Friday night game in Fenway Park.
One of these years the wheels are going to come off, and he’s just not going to be that good. Note that he’s switching back to the American League and this very well could be the year. A lot of the moves George Steinbrenner makes to ‘fix’ the Yankees on his own don’t always work out quite the way a Yankee fan would hope. Could the idea of Roger Clemens being around keep Cashman from signing someone else around the trade deadline that could help them more?
On a clubhouse cohesion note, Clemens will supposedly be afforded the same travel schedule he enjoyed in Houston. There is often talk of the drawbacks of a 24 and 1 clubhouse, but with the Yankees it seems to be a lot of 22 and 1 and 1 and 1. Will him not being present for big road series, or being in Houston for big home games, keep him from really meshing with his teammates? There are a lot of Yankees that weren’t around the last time he was, and what kind of example does it set? Does this motivate any free agents the Yankees try to sign in the off season to not only try to get more money out of the Yankees, but other perks as well? Roger Clemens claims his return is all about his new teammates and winning a World Series, but that’s probably a lot of public relations bullshit.
Only time can truly tell, but I’m going to predict that Roger goes 4-3 with a 4.52 ERA. I will probably be way off, but predicting he’s going to go 8-1 with a 2.3 ERA and win the World Series MVP just isn’t as satisfying, and goes against my Optimistic Mets standpoint.