Gone Fishing

No baseball for me this weekend and that is probably a good thing. While the Braves have not exactly dominated the Mets this series, it took two nice comebacks to make it interesting. Bookied pointed out the other day that David Wright wondered if any team won a division and lost every series to the second place team?

That is a pretty damn good question and one that is of concern. While many people may not fear the Braves, there is enough games to be played between the two that continued dominance on the Braves part could lead to an unfavorable ending. Sure, the Wildcard is probably coming out of the NL East, but that surely is not a slam dunk and the only sure way of heading into the playoffs is by taking first place.

The Mets are 8-4 against the Braves so far with seven games left. The Mets are 3.5 out and if the Braves continue at this pace of kicking the Mets around, they will take 5 of the next 7 between the two thereby erasing any deficit and essentially putting this race at a tie.

I'm not sure why popular sentiment is the Mets will post a better record than the Braves in the non-Met/Brave games. Since June 1st, the Mets are 30-32 and the Braves 30-30. If you ask me, this division might not only be heavily influenced by their remaining seven games, but may be decided by those seven games.

It is inexcusable to be pushed around by them at this point and the Mets need to wake up and smoke them in their remaining seven games and absolutely have to

* * *
Craptastic.

Reporters screamed out questions, but all he managed to say was, "I'm Matt Murphy from Queens, N.Y."

And surprisingly, Bonds is the Anti-A-Rod.

"I just hope he didn't get hurt," Bonds said after the game, which the Giants lost 8-6 to the Washington Nationals. He said he had no interest in getting the ball back for himself.

"I don't want the ball," Bonds said. "I've never believed a home run ball belonged to the player. If he caught it, it's his."

Of course, A-Rod asks other Gold Glove winners for their mitts and collects them so it stands to reason he would like to have this momentous piece of history in his collection.

But back to Bonds' ball, the kid who caught it might keep it! I can only hope this is posturing trying to shake up someone who has the hots for the ball because if

I guess BP solved a problem for a lot of people. But what they are really saying is nothing is comparable like Buster said in his blog. Comparing what Aaron did to what Bonds did is like apples and oranges. Bonds is the best hitter that we have seen with our stupid little eyes and we should enjoy the ride as baseball fans and respect the man’s accomplishments. Unlike McGwire, his legacy is not just homers.

With Beltran back tomorrow, it would seem that Milledge is the odd man out. I think most of us believe there isn't much Milledge can do.

Milledge is hitting .400 since July 21, but that's not going to be enough to unseat Green, apparently. I think Willie's position is going to be that Milledge doesn't have the arm to play right. He said this last year after Milledge threw that seed to third base in one of his first few games. As if Green is Roberto Clemente in the field, wearing those cement shoes.

I did not get a chance to see today's tough loss, but my friend called me and said that Anderson playing in center attributed to the loss. He said at least one run scored that should not have with a real center fielder there, the Braves were taking extra bases on him, and his dive that injured him would have been unnecessary with a real centerfielder there.

Aside for the normal rest (which in the case of young players should not be much at all), Milledge should be in there everyday. Period. I'm not sure what is so confusing about this?

Swellicious...

The New York Mets announced today that they have signed international free agents Cesar David Puello Santana and Wilmer Alejandro Flores. Puello, 16, is an outfielder from the Dominican Republic, while Flores, a 16-year-old infielder, hails from Venezuela. Both players will report to the Mets Instructional League in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

I guess people offered Flores more, but the puberty-ridden Flores chose the Mets. I wonder if it was the Latin influence in the front office or just the all around goodness of the Mets.

Rough crowd.

How can you not love it?

By the time the latest Redneck Games ended Sunday, more than 54 arrests and citations had been issued on charges ranging from public intoxication to speeding, according to the Henderson County Sheriff's Department.

Do not fear the unknown. Embrace it and try and learn.

If you have not seen the Jake Brown exploding shoe fiasco, check it out.

Pedro got rocked, but you have to keep things in perspective. It was his first start back and he topped off at 89. He threw strikes and was working on stuff rather than trying to get kids out. If he is still getting shelled in his third or fourth start, then I would start to worry.

The scenario...

Smoltz is on the ropes.
Willie sends up Anderson, but doesn't announce him anticipating a pitching change if the lefty goes up.
Not wanting to waste his favorite pinch hitter, he pulls Anderson back and sends out Ruben Gotay.
David Newhan sits on the bench.
Pitching change occurs and Easley is sent up.
Easely walks...yada...yada...yada...Mets win.

My first thought was that Willie out Willied himself. My second thought was, "oh how cute! Willie is trying to manage". A solitary tear rolled down my face....but while Willie's thought process was correct to try and keep as many bullets in the holster as possible and not waste a good pinch hitter, why not use David Newhan? Why waste the guy who is arguably better than the one he did not want to waste. I can only think that Willie wanted to keep Anderson and was unsure of Cox's next move.

If Willie puts Newhan in as the waste bat and Cox doesn't make a move, Willie does not have a favorable match-up going on. At least with Gotay at the plate, he gets a good batter in there and then saves his new favorite pinch hitter. I guess the point is that I truly hope he did not send Gotay up there knowing he was going to be wasted and thought there was a shot Smoltz would get one more batter. If he did send him up with no thought that he was hedging his bet, his disdain for younger players is clearly clouding his decision making process to alarmingly high levels.

I'm off to Lake George for more beer and grilled meats than is fit for human consumption. I'll be back on Monday and I certainly hope the Mets will have been able to at least add a game to their lead on the field in the NL East.