Wrighting a Wrong: a second chance for the 2010 (and beyond) New York Mets

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Big T

As you sure that you and our favorite Giants fan are not one in the same?

No, but I am descended from Giants fans, in fact. Great-grandad owned an itsy-bitsy piece of the team when it was in NY, and I'm due to inherit a 1954 World Series ring, someday. (Take your time, dad; I don't need the ring, honest.)

I am enjoying your writing style as well as the subtle little Canada references.... you ever been to Canada eh?

Mom and Dad took me to Expo '67, although I don't remember it. But I've seen the pictures. In '76, I went on a school trip to Montreal and Quebec City; saw the Plains of Abraham, and brand-new and shiny Stade Olympique. No concrete chunks fell on my head.

Never been to Toronto (named after the Lone Ranger's faithful Canadian companion?), though.

Keep on trucking, I am enjoying the ride..

Thank you. And the action will soon(-ish) be underway!

[Amazin69]

Saturday, April 3, 2011

The season starts tomorrow, with the Mets playing our first game on Monday. So let's take a quick check of the waiver wire, shall we?


Wait, what are Thome and Hafner doing on waivers? Oh, did I forget to tell you that I abolished the DH?

(Hey, just because I like to have an ultra-realistic basis for my game doesn't mean I won't get my grubby little paw-prints all over it. Inter-league play should really go, too, but I think I'll wait until an expansion happens, then I'll realign the divisions so we don't have the Loser's Trophy, er, "Wild Card", and kill off inter-league at the same time. "Tradition!" )

(Oh, and Hafner really shouldn't come as any surprise, lack of a defensive position or not. He's had two crappy seasons, he's injury-prone, and he's carrying an $11 mill/yr price tag. I'd be thinking about dumping him, too.)

Mike Lowell looks interesting, but not with that $12,000,000 salary. We do have about $13.5 million available in the budget, but I'm not going spend it all in one place. Besides, I'm trying to cut payroll, make room to go after free agents in the off-season and try re-signing Jose Reyes next year.

OTOH, there is one player I decided to put a claim in on:

Yes, he's a 35-year-old Latino (is Rudy writing the scouting reports thinking that he's still working for Omar?), but he's got very nice defensive skills and is supposedly able to make contact. Better than Alex Cora, anyhow. And he only costs $800K, about 40% of Cora's salary. (Of course, we still have to find a way to dump Cora, but…baby steps, first.)

Since I'm taking a look at the waiver wire, I might as well look at the available free agents as well:


I offer minor-league deals to T.J. Bohn (whom Rudy really seems to like) to Brian Barton (another decent-hitting outfielder, only 27), and to J.R. House and Colt Morton, to provide minor-league catching depth. But, at the top of the chart, there is perhaps the very definition of "Fool's Gold" sitting there, just waiting for the right fool:


Okay, look, I know what the deal is. I know that Dukes is a very longshot to live up to his scouting report. I know he has less character than [insert name of despised political figure here]. I know that the "Personality" section might as well read "What are you, stupid?" or " Run away! ". Or, to quote the telegram that Bill Veeck's mother sent him when he hired Rogers Hornsby to manage the Browns, "What makes you think you're smarter than your father was?" (Veeck Sr. was a Cubs executive when Hornsby managed there in 1930-1932. It didn't work any better for Bill, Jr.)

But…it's only $1.6 million. For that kind of money, I can afford to take the chance. So, I offer him a contract, too. (Sucker!)

(I tried this in my first game, too. Dukes hit a resounding .165 for the first 6 weeks, cleared waivers, got sent to Buffalo, homered and doubled in his first game there, and broke his wrist and was out for the year. Oddly enough, his popularity soared. So, let's see if this idea is doomed to failure, or if statistical deviations worked against me last time, and we'll regress to a happier norm this time around.)

I also decide to offer minor-league deals to a few pitchers, including an ex-Met:

Bad year last year for Yusi, but he did fine in '08; I'll send him to Binghamton and see what happens.

Next: Opening Day! (Really! No Foolin'!)

[Amazin69]

Sunday, April 4, 2011

Everybody signed their contracts, and a few people signed contracts with other clubs:





And Baseball America issued its prospects list:



From which we were absent.

But finally, it was time for baseball. Or, more precisely, for the first of 19 matchups between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. The first of 19 insanely over-done hypefests which are emblematic of how ESPN has become unwatchable over the years So let's fire up the DVR, mute the sound, and FF past the cuts back to the ESPN studios in Bristol every 30 seconds to watch the Yankees and the Sox, opening the season at Fenway.

The game turned out to be a pitcher's duel between C.C. Sabathia and Jon Lester. Sabathia gave up two runs in the bottom of the first (a one-out double by Marco Scutaro, who was promptly singled home by Dustin Pedroia; Pedroia took second on the throw, went to third on a Kevin Youklis grounder, and scored on Victor Martinez's two-out hit), but settled in afterwards. In the Yankees' fifth, Marcus Thames singled with one out, but C.C.'s bunt attempt resulted in Thames getting forced at 2B. However, Derek Jeter walked, moving Sabathia up to second, and Jorge Posada singled to score him, cutting it to 2-1, Red Sox. Lester fell behind 2-0 on Alex Rodriguez, but rallied to strike him out to end the inning.

Two innings later, Sabathia, learning to enjoy hitting, led off the top of the 7th inning with a double to the warning track in right-center. Jeter walked on four pitches, but Lester, on a 3-2 count, got Posada to hit into the 5-4-3 DP. Manny Delcarmen came in to get Rodriguez to fly out, stranding C.C. at third, Hideki Okajima cruised through the 8th, and Jonathan Papelbon worked a 1-2-3 9th for the save.

Yankee fans flooded local sports talk stations with angry calls, George Steinbrenner fired Billy Martin (a fairly interesting turn of events, given that they're both dead), and the Sons of Sam Horn had a spontaneous dance party in Kenmore Square:


ESPN immediately launched into 48 consecutive hours of pre-game coverage, leading up to "Apocalypse 2-The Most Important Rematch in the History of the Universe" on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the REAL season starts. Mets-Marlins. Be there…or be forced to watch ESPN.

[Amazin69]

Monday, April 5, 2011

Florida Marlins (0-0)
at
New York Mets (0-0)

Josh Johnson (0-0) v. Johan Santana (0-0)

And so it begins.

Santana surrenders a one-out single to Chris Coghlan in the first, and Coghlan steals second, but Johan strikes out Hanley Ramirez and gets Cody Ross on a grounder to third to end the inning.

In the bottom of the frame, with one out, Elijah Dukes falls behind 0-2, gets jammed but somehow lines one over the first-base bag for a double. David Wright pulls a pitch down the left-field line for a more-conventional double and an RBI, and with two outs, Angel Pagan sends an 0-2 pitch of his own over the right-center field fence, good for 406 feet of distance and a 3-0 lead.

Nothing of note until the 6th inning where, with one out, Cameron Maybin spoils Johan's shutout bid by losing one over the left-field fence. Somewhat rattled, Santana then walks Coghlan and gives up a single to Ramirez. He battles back to strike out Ross (in an 8-pitch AB), but then Dan Uggla doubles in both runners, and we're tied.

Skip to the bottom of the 7th where, with one out, Mike Jacobs walks and Henry Blanco lines a double to left-center to move two into scoring position. Surprisingly, Jerry lets Johan hit for himself, and he delivers a sac fly to deep center, scoring Jacobs and chasing Johnson from the game.

In the 8th, Johan gives up a single to Coghlan (again?) and a one-out single to Ross, but gets Uggla to hit into the 6-4-3 to end the inning

Francisco Rodriguez zips through the ninth and the Mets, as usual, start the season 1-0. It's easy when you know how.

Player of the Game:

Johan Santana (8 IP, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 K, SF, Win)

[MadBum]

Psh, Big T...he's only on Page 2 and he's got a game up! Let him get to Page 4 with just pre-season previews and we'll start making comparisons

I'm really liking the game format and how you go over things in the recap. Still early to get a feeling for your writing style, of course, but it looks great to date. Allow me to join in your Red-Sox Yankee/ESPN hating fan club; is there room for one more?

Johan isn't hurt, and he's still Johan. Great showing out of him, and your offense did just enough. Even the Roid Rage played a part! Or as he's known by most, Mike Jacobs. Good start.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by MadBum

Psh, Big T...he's only on Page 2 and he's got a game up! Let him get to Page 4 with just pre-season previews and we'll start making comparisons

Well, much though I tried to attentuate things by talking about rookie-league catching prospects and the like, the cold hard truth was that I'm using actual 2010 rosters to start; not much point in previewing what was already heavily-previewed IRL. I mean, could I really hope to top that piece Sports Illustrated ran about how the Mariners were going to dominate because of their awesome UZR?

(Along those lines, next season is the 25th anniversary of SI's 1987 "Indian Uprising" prediction. I wonder if they'll do a commemorative re-issue? )

I'm really liking the game format and how you go over things in the recap. Still early to get a feeling for your writing style, of course, but it looks great to date.

Thank you. I did find it interesting that I wrote the Yankee game in the past and the Mets' in the present tense; I hadn't planned that. I may keep that dichotomy, though…with my passion for the Amazin's making their games more immediate, or something.

Allow me to join in your Red-Sox Yankee/ESPN hating fan club; is there room for one more?

And I used to ESPN. Dan and Keith, Boomer and Bob Ley and Gayle Gardner. Even Kilborn and Ravech on the 11PT (2AM Bristol time) "feel-good edition". (It really was.)

Nowadays, it's as if the entire network has been taken over by the one guy I could never stand, Dick Vitale. Loud and brash and hyped to the max. Get a T-O, bay-BEES!!! All of you. Sigh.

Johan isn't hurt, and he's still Johan. Great showing out of him, and your offense did just enough. Even the Roid Rage played a part! Or as he's known by most, Mike Jacobs. Good start.

Yeah, who said April was the cruelest month? Suck that, T.S. Eliot!!

("Suck that, T.S. Eliot!!"? My rhetorical skills may not be up to major-league standards, I admit.)

[Amazin69]

Some good pitching performances on Opening Day:


(And some not-so-good ones, as well, of course.)

At Arlington TX, the Rangers' Rich Harden took a no-hitter into the 8th inning, until Alex Gonzalez broke it up with a two-out single on Harden's 115th and final pitch of the day. Frank Francisco and Darren Oliver completed the 6-0 shut-out and one-hitter.

At Cellphone Park, Chicago, the Indians' Asdrubal Cabrera doubled in the 1st, hit a two-run homer in the 3rd, and hit an RBI double in the 4th to drive the White Sox' Jake Peavy to the showers, as Cleveland built an 8-1 lead and eventually won, 10-5.

At Kansas City, the Royals pounded Detroit starter Justin Verlander for nine runs in the bottom of the 3rd (Willie Bloomquist doubled and then hit a 3-run HR later in the inning), which was enough support for a struggling Zack Greinke, as the Royals went on to win, 15-6.

At Anaheim, Angels starter Jered Weaver took a 5-0 lead and a two-hitter into the ninth, but he walked Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel and then gave up a home run to Justin Morneau, necessitating Brian Fuentes coming on to record the final two outs and the save.

At Oakland, Jose Lopez hit a 1st-inning HR off of Athletics starter Justin Duchscherer, making his return after missing all of 2009 with an injury. But Duchscherer settled in and the A's rolled to a 10-1 win. Felix Hernandez allowed the first four runs and took the loss for Seattle.

In National League action, President Obama and the rest of the crowd in Washington D.C. saw the Nationals' John Lannan take a no-hit bid into the 7th. But a two-out walk to Shane Victorino and ensuing singles by Ben Francisco and Carlos Ruiz enabled the Phillies to tie the game at 1-1, and Jimmy Rollins doubled home the winning tally in the 10th inning.

At Cincinnati, the Reds surprisingly gave the opening day start to late-signee Jarrod Washburn, who said he'd been working out all spring and was ready to go. A Joey Votto double in the 1st gave Washburn a 1-0 lead, but then his arm tightened up in the 2nd and he had to leave the game. However, six Cincy relievers made that one run stand-up, combining on a 4-hit shutout. Chris Carpenter allowed five hits and took the tough loss for St. Louis.

At Pittsburgh, the visiting Dodgers got to a tiring Paul Maholm for five runs in the 8th to break a 2-2 tie, and won, 7-3.

At Milwaukee, the Colorado Rockies rocked Yovani Gallardo and his successors, winning 11-2. Carlos Gonzalez tripled and homered, driving in five runs.

At Atlanta, rookie Jason Heyward homered and Jair Jurrjens dominated the Cubs, as the Braves built a 4-1 lead. But a 64-minute rain delay in the 6th chased Jurrjens from the mound, and the Cubs jumped on Eric O'Flaherty en route to a 6-run 7th inning and an eventual 9-4 triumph.

At Houston, Wandy Rodriguez out-dueled Tim Lincecum of visiting San Francisco, 2-0. A 6th-inning double by Pedro Feliz accounted for all the scoring.

At Phoenix, AZ, Dan Haren shut out the Padres through the first 8 innings, leaving with a 3-0 lead. Chad Qualls allowed a 2-run homer to Will Venable in the 9th, but Bob Howry came in to get the final two outs, and claim the save.

Lastly, the Kansas City Royals signed reliever Chad Bradford to a contract. The submariner denied that there was anything underhanded about the contract negotiations…

(Okay, sorry for the bad pun, I just needed a way to end the post. My bad.)

[Amazin69]

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Mets had today off, but Augie Ojeda cleared waivers, so we sent Niese down. Here are the current lineups:



And here is the pitching staff:



The White Sox claimed Mike Lowell, btw. And teams continued to sign veteran free agents:



Also, the Padres continued to try and corner the market on 40+ relievers, signing Brian Shouse, and David Weathers is now an Angel. Yes, he's a member of the Los Angeles Angels (I cut off "of Anaheim", because the game thought it was part of the nickname, not the city designation), or as we say en espanol: "Los Angeles de Los Angeles".

[Amazin69]

At Houston, the Giants loaded the bases to start the 1st inning…but Roy Oswalt then struck out the side and cruised to a 7-1 win, helped by a 3-run HR by Hunter Pence in the 4th. Juan Uribe strained an abdominal muscle legging out a double; he'll be out for 5 weeks.

At Milwaukee, a 2-run HR by Ryan Braun in the 8th inning off of Colorado's Aaron Cook made the difference in a 3-1 Brew Crew win. Randy Wolf went 8 strong innings for the W.

At Phoenix, the Diamondbacks scored 7 runs off of Kevin Correia in the 1st inning, which was enough for the 7-3 win. Pitcher Edwin Jackson capped the rally with a bases-loaded triple. Left Fielder Conor Jackson suffered a bone bruise when he was hit by a pitch and will miss 2 weeks; Ryan Roberts is expected to take his place in the lineup.

In the American League, the last two teams to begin their season met in St. Petersburg, FL, and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Baltimore Orioles 2-1, on Fernando Perez's pinch single in the 7th. Matt Garza outdueled the O's Kevin Millwood for the W. Baltimore 1B Michael Aubrey suffered an intercostal strain running the bases; he will miss a week's worth of action, but will not be placed on the Disabled List. Garrett Atkins will take his place.

At Boston, J.D. Drew singled in one run in the 5th and doubled in another in the 7th, accounting for all the scoring in a 2-0 Red Sox win. John Lackey threw 8 scoreless innings for the Sox. The Yankees' Alex Rodriguez left the game after his back tightened up while making a throw; he is expected to take two weeks to recover, but the Yankees say they believe he'll be able to stay in the lineup.



At Anaheim, a Howie Kendrick double in the 3rd and a Kendry Morales HR in the 5th were the key blows as the Angels took a 4-0 lead. Joel Piniero tired in the 8th, allowing the Twins to cut the lead in half, but Brian Fuentes took care of the last three outs and the Angels won, 4-2.

At Oakland, Casey Kotchman's 2-run HR in the top of the 10th gave Seattle a 4-2 lead, but Jack Cust matched that with his own 2-run shot in the bottom of the inning and, after Mark Ellis walked and was sacrificed to 2nd base, a pinch-double by Landon Powell gave the Athletics the 5-4 comeback win.

(I think I'm going to cut the out-of-town games down to just one-line skinnys from now on; even this format takes too much effort.)

[Amazin69]

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Florida Marlins (0-1)
at
New York Mets (1-0)

Ricky Nolasco (0-0) v. John Maine (0-0)

And here we go again…

The Mets used to make a bit of a production out of "Opening Day 2", having Rodney Dangerfield come throw out the first ball (because game 2 got no respect! No respect!). Not a big promotion this year, but another sell-out crowd. Clearly New York is very excited about the 2010 Mets. Or possibly, very gullible.

John Maine gives up a one-out single to the persistenly-annoying Chris Coghlan in the top of the 1st, and one out later wild-pitches Coghlan to second. But Maine gets Dan Uggla to tap back to the mound to end the inning.

In the bottom of the frame, with two outs, David Wright tries the innovative tactic of "hit the ball to Jorge Cantu". The American-born-but-Mexican-raised Cantu, perhaps under the delusion that he's trying out for "El Tri" rather than playing "3-B", kicks the ball and Wright reaches on the error. Clean-up hitter Jason Bay (Oy…) singles past Cantu to put two aboard, but Angel Pagan grounds to Uggla and the game remains scoreless.

Skip ahead to the bottom of the 3rd, where Maine decides to emulate Wright (hey, if he's going to copy one of our hitters, whom better?) and grounds to Cantu, who fields this one cleanly…and throws the ball into RF. Luis Castillo lines one over Uggla's head and into the right-center gap for an RBI double, Elijah Dukes walks, and Wright singles in the hole between first and second. Unfortunately, the ball hits Dukes, so that's the first out, but Bay grounds one over the third-base bag for a double and a second run, Pagan lines a single over Hanley Ramirez to make it 3-0 and Augie Ojeda grounds one just past Uggla's glove up the middle for run number 4. Mike Jacobs walks to load the bases, and while Ricky Nolasco is able to retire Henry Blanco on a fly to right, Maine lines one into short right for a five-run lead…and the end of the inning when Ojeda runs through the stop sign at third and is easily out at home. But 5-0, Mets.

Maine cruises until the 6th, when John Baker the Touchdown Maker singles leading off, and one out later, Cameron Maybin also singles, putting two on base for The Persistently-Annoying Chris Coghlan. His double past Wright breaks the shutout, and Ramirez lines a single to center to score Maybin. But Maine bears down to whiff Uggla, and with Cody Ross at-bat, Ramirez for some reason tries to steal second. He's out and so are the Marlins.

In the 8th, Coghlan (who else?) works a walk with 2 out, which prompts Jerry to pull Maine and try Kiko Calero for the first time this year. Calero justifies Jerry's faith by getting Ramirez to fly to RF to end the inning.

On to the 9th, and K-Rod takes the ball. He gives up a one-out single to Ross and a two-out single to Cantu, just to mess with my mind, but pinch-hitter Scott Cousins swings at the first pitch and rolls one to Alex Cora (replacing Castillo for defense), and that's the ballgame.

2 down, 160 to go.

Player of the Game:

John Maine (7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K; 1-3, RBI, Run; W)

[Amazin69]

Other Scores (HOME team in CAPS):

orioles 9, RAYS 6

- HRs by Atkins, Scott, & Markakis

yankees 4, RED SOX 2 (10 inns.)

- 2-out error by Victor Martinez, playing 1B, lets winning runs score

RANGERS 13, blue jays 1

- Nelson Cruz 2 HRs

WHITE SOX 7, indians 6

- 2-out error by Jordan Brown, playing 3B, prolongs CHI 9th; Beckham wins it.

tigers 7, ROYALS 3

- Brandon Inge Grand-Slam in 7th the difference

ANGELS 16, twins 12

- Angels waste early 9-3 lead, win with 4 in 8th; Hunter 2-run HR breaks tie

ATHLETICS 8, mariners 2

- Seattle starter Snell yields 5 runs in 2.2 IP

rockies 8, BREWERS 3

- 7 shutout innings for Jason Hammel

giants 5, ASTROS 1

- Schierholtz RBI, Rowand 2-run HR in top of 1st stand up

dodgers 4, PIRATES 3 (10 inns.)

- Russell Martin HR wins it

NATIONALS 6, phillies 4 (10 inns.)

- Madson yields tie in 9th, walkoff HR to Carlos Maldonado in 10th

BRAVES 9, cubs 2

- Prado 2B, HR, 4 RBI

cardinals 9, REDS 3

- Ludwick GS in 7th seals it

DIAMONDBACKS 4, padres 3

- Mark Reynolds 2 2Bs, 2 runs scored

injuries

Ty Wigginton, BAL; hip strain, out 2 weeks
Vernon Wells, TOR; herniated disc, out 3-4 weeks

transactions

Atlanta signs MR Scott Eyre
Kansas City signs MR Eddie Guardado

[Amazin69]

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Florida Marlins (0-2)
at
New York Mets (2-0)

Anibal Sanchez (0-0) vs. Mike Pelfrey (0-0)

Cameron Maybin hits Mike Pelfrey's first pitch of the game 367 ft. over the left field wall. Not the most auspicious start to Pelf's season, I wouldn't think. Pelfrey follows by walking The Persistently Annoying Chris Coghlan, but gets Hanley Ramirez to hit into the 5-4-3 DP, and strikes out Dan Uggla to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Angel Pagan and Augie Ojeda hit one-out singles and then pull a double-steal, getting two into scoring position for Mike Jacobs, who is hitless on the young season. And he stays that way, popping up to Ramirez. Henry Blanco also pops up and the threat dies.

As does another threat in the next inning when Luis Castillo walks with one out and David Wright singles with two down, but cleanup hitter Jason Bay (Oy…) swings and misses at strike three to strand them.

In the top of the 4th, Uggla draws a leadoff walk and two outs later scores when Jorge Cantu bangs one off the fence in right-center for a double. 2-0, Fish.

Pagan draws a walk to start things off in our half of the 4th and one out later, Jacobs decides he'd better get a hit eventually, so he lines Anibal Sanchez's 0-1 pitch over the fence in right to tie the game. (Good timing, Jake.)

With game all even again, Pelfrey goes out for the top of the 5th, and after striking out Sanchez, gives up a single to Maybin, a triple to Coghlan (of course), a single to Ramirez, a double to Uggla, and a single to Cody Ross, good for 3 runs, a lucky break when Uggla tried to score on Ross's single and Pagan threw him out at home, and an early shower. Sean Green makes his 2010 debut and strikes out Gaby Sanchez to end things, but we're down 5-2.

We can't do anything against Sanchez, Burke Badenhop, and Clay Hensley the next three innings. Meanwhile Green pitches the 6th, Nelson Figueroa the 7th, and then Hisanori Takahashi comes in to start the 8th. With one on and one out (and a 1-0 count), Gaby Sanchez launches one 416 feet into the center field stands and now we're really dead. Damn tack-on runs (or Tak-on runs, in this case).

The Marlins bring in Leo Nunez to start the 9th, even though he's their closer and they're up by 5. Blanco doubles, and Castillo moves him to third with a 1-out single. And then Elijah Dukes parks one in the seats in left, cutting it to 7-5. (DAMN Tak-on runs!)

Reynel Pinto comes on and gets Wright to ground to Cantu for the second out. (Apparently Cantu brought his glove today.) But then Bay mashes one 408 ft into the left-center stands for our third roundtripper of the day and a 7-6 deficit. Up steps Pagan…and flies to short left on the first pitch. Coghlan (who else?) rushes in to grab it. Game over. Damn.

Met of the Game (not "Player of the Game", since we lost)

Jason Bay (of our three home-run hitters, he's the one we need to deliver consistently)

[majormet]

Enjoying this thread.... Jason Bay is going to get past his 6 homer total pretty quickly here unlike in the real 2010.

Augie Ojeda bats 6th, he will be interesting to watch as you picked him up. Every so often in OOTP you can pick up an odd player that puts up anomaly numbers for you.

[Big T]

Gotta hate those "Tak on runs" . A 2-1 start, Jason Bay homers and Jacobs gets a hit, what more can you ask when Jason Bay is on pace for a 50 HR season....

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by majormet

Enjoying this thread.... Jason Bay is going to get past his 6 homer total pretty quickly here unlike in the real 2010.

Originally posted by BigT:
Gotta hate those "Tak on runs" . A 2-1 start, Jason Bay homers and Jacobs gets a hit, what more can you ask when Jason Bay is on pace for a 50 HR season....

I'll believe Jason is going to get past 6 HRs when I see him hit #7. I'm not taking anything for granted with that guy; I've learned from experience.

(Even if I did make a facepack pic of JBay in Mets togs. I may not like him so much, but I want all the guys wearing the orange and blue in their pics. I also did Mets pics for Johan, Figueroa, Pagan, Barajas, and Blanco; still need to do it for Jacobs, Tatis [he's wearing a Zephyrs' cap in his pic], Acosta and Sean Green, IIRC.)

Augie Ojeda bats 6th, he will be interesting to watch as you picked him up. Every so often in OOTP you can pick up an odd player that puts up anomaly numbers for you.

Augie isn't hitting 6th so much because he's awesome, but because the 1B and catcher combos couldn't spell "OBP" if you spotted them the "O" & the "B". Might as well have someone on base on the rare occasions when Jacobs connects, right?

And welcome, majormet! Hope I continue to keep things interesting.

And speaking of "interesting" and "picking up players"…

[MadBum]

Gotta love the Spontaneous Ninth Inning Rally, even if it came up just a bit short. Love the nicknames thus far, I just have a simple request is that you give Scott Cousins some nickname like the Scourge of the Earth or Heathen or Colossal Steaming Turd. I think you can give it a guess as to why Gotta love Elijah Dukes actually doing something that involves solid play on the field. Looking forward to how your Mets build off a solid opening series against the Fish.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by MadBum

Gotta love the Spontaneous Ninth Inning Rally, even if it came up just a bit short. Love the nicknames thus far, I just have a simple request is that you give Scott Cousins some nickname like the Scourge of the Earth or Heathen or Colossal Steaming Turd. I think you can give it a guess as to why

Ah, I forgot it was Cousins who went Buster-hunting. (You always remember your own team's enemies best, of course. Pete Rose…Roger Clemens…Angel "I've got a flight to catch" Hernandez… )

Gotta love Elijah Dukes actually doing something that involves solid play on the field. Looking forward to how your Mets build off a solid opening series against the Fish.

Hey, even a blind squirrel is right twice a day. Or something like that.

[Amazin69]

Not content with our rocking .667 winning percentage, I went scouring the waiver wire for possible pickups. And I found this guy (who'd been cut loose by the Royals when they signed Guardado):



Okay, okay, I know. He's a right-handed Ollie, the scouts love him, he has four good pitches…and he's been beaten like a rented goalie for the last two seasons. And he's never had a year as good as Ollie did in '08.

But…he's only making $1.7 million. I'm going to stick him in long relief for a month. If he sucks, I dump him, and if someone picks him up, I'm only out about $300K. If no one wants him, I'll have him try starting again, in Buffalo. And if Hochevar starts throwing Smochevar and lives up to his scouting reports…well, then, nice upside.

My second decision may be even more inexcusable. (The picture is spoilery in that it shows the waiver claim went through. That's because I've played ahead a bit, and I somehow lost the original screencap. Sorry.)



What was I saying about Omar having a fetish for old Latino players? "Little O" is about to turn 43, for Julio Franco's sake! But he's a leader in the clubhouse, popular with the fans, a fantastic glove at 3 positions, and a good pinch-runner. What more could I want in a scrub? (Apart from some vestige of offensive skill, which Omar V. entirely lacks. I think Omar Minaya might be able to outhit him at this point. But still, I think this could be a useful move. Fingers crossed.)

[Amazin69]

Other Games (HOME team in CAPS)

dodgers 8, PIRATES 2

- 6 in the 3rd for L.A.

cardinals 7, REDS 5

- Holliday HR in 5th snaps 2-2 tie, 4 insurance runs in 7th prove useful

phillies 4, NATIONALS 2

- Strasburg MLB debut: 3.2 IP, 1 R, L (left after rain delay in 4th)

braves 3, CUBS 2

- Fukudome 2B breaks tie in 9th, Marmol blitzed in bottom half (3H, 2BB, SF) for loss

blue jays 6, RANGERS 5 (11)

-Jays lose early 5-1 lead; Lind HR off Oliver wins it

ROYALS 3, tigers 0

ATHLETICS 3, mariners 1

- Braden's 8 shutout innings lead A's to 4-game sweep

RAYS 7, orioles 5 (10)

- O's waste 4-0 lead; Pena walkoff HR vs. M. Gonzalez

indians 5, WHITE SOX 2

- Brantley 2-RBI double in 3-run 2nd

ANGELS 14, twins 2

- 1-1 in 6th; Brandon Wood 5 RBI

injuries
Gordon Beckham, CHI (A); sprained knee, out 3 weeks

[Amazin69]

Friday, April 9, 2010

Washington Nationals (1-2)
at
New York Mets (2-1)

Scott Olsen (0-0) vs. Johan Santana (1-0, 3.38)

The off-day on Tuesday means we can bring back Johan on normal (3 days') rest, and delay using Ollie for a day. If Johan ends up with 45 starts to Ollie's 35, I won't mind that at all.

Speaking of Johan, he zips through the first two innings, striking out the side in the 2nd, but Olsen is just as perfect. In the 3rd, Willie Harris hits one in the first-base hole; Fernando Tatis makes the play, but Johan, covering 1B, drops the throw. He gets Pudge Rodriguez to pop up, but Olsen bunts Harris to 2B and Nyjer Morgan doubles home the unearned run. Damn.

In the 4th, Johan gives up 1-out singles to Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn, but then gets Josh Willingham to rap one right at David Wright, who steps on 3B and fires across the diamond for the inning-ending DP.

In the bottom of the inning, Angel Pagan gets our first hit of the day with a grounder up the middle, and Wright lines into left-center to put two on. Jason "Oy" Bay rolls back to the mound, but slowly enough that Olsen can only get the force at 2B, leaving runners at the corners. Elijah Dukes walks on four pitches, loading the bases for Augie Ojeda, who sends a 1-1 pitch deep to right…but only deep enough for a sac fly to tie it up. Olsen throws two balls to Rod Barajas, the second a wild pitch that puts two in scoring position, but Rod flies out to RF to end the threat.

Morgan singles to start the Washington 6th, but then is caught stealing. Lucky for Johan, as he yields another single to Christian Guzman and then walks Zimmerman. Dunn grounds out 3-1 (Johan holding the throw this time), moving both runners up, and Johan walks Willingham…and then sees Ian Desmond line his 1-0 pitch in the gap in left, good for 2 bases and 2 runs. Harris singles in a 3rd run before Johan gets I-Rod to fly out and end things.

Pagan doubles off the right-center fence to start our half of the inning. Wright works a full count before grounding to 2B, but at least he advanced the runner. Not to much benefit, though, as Bay goes down swinging and Dukes grounds to SS. And so much for that threat.

Morgan singles with one out in the top of the 7th, and goes to 2B on a wild pitch. Johan gets Guzman to fly out, but Jerry decides that's enough, and brings in Sean Green to face Zimmerman. He works a full count before Green gets him to look at strike 3.

We can't do anything with Olsen, still, and in the 8th, Green gives up a one-out walk, a two-out single to Harris, and then Ivan Rodriguez finally gets a clutch hit, a double off the RF wall for two insurance runs.

Nelson Figueroa gets the last out of the 8th and Hisanori Takahashi survives the 9th, but Olsen has us beat. Complete game, and the win. Which means a loss for us. He deserved it, pitched very well.

Player of the Game

Scott Olsen (CG, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K) He earned it.