So I am done. I have labeled all 616 (and counting) posts that I have made in the last three years.
Clearly, I have talked about politics way too much. I blame the election.
Going forward, I think it is safe to say that politics will have a much more equal distribution with sports, family, movies, music, books, technology, my phone etc, etc...
I am excited about the changes to The Head and how I can incorporate what I do on a day to day basis with this space.
As I am typing this, ESPN Sports Center is on in the background and I am forced to listen to Mark McGuire tell, and retell what he did and did not do, and why he is the victim, and how hard this has all been for him.
Pardon me Mark, if I don't shed any tears for you. Your neck looks like that of a rooster.
You were a marginal player with a ton of "natural" power. Prove to me that you were not on something when you were hitting bombs in college...
Your career was defined by what outside substances did for your ability to hit for power and keep your breaking down body on the field.
Nothing you, or Tony La Russa says is going to get me to feel even the slightest bit of sympathy for you.
I hate what this has all done to my sport. Thank god no one in the NFL or College Football takes anything illegal...
I see this only as a positive. With the introduction of the MLB Network last year, the only reason I watch ESPN now is for the actual games.
I have no use for a network that is so hungry for ratings and total market domination that they have forgone sports journalism for TMZ.com and Entertainment Tonight.
I don't care about breaking developments in the Tiger Woods Saga. I want highlights, and injury news, and information related to what happens on the field.
I am not dumb enough to not know that this crap gets ratings, otherwise they wouldn't do it.
But I don't have to watch it.
So good for you Peter.
I was in Fenway days after his life threatening anurism. The place went crazy when they announced he was going to be ok.
Peter has been the reason I have watched Baseball Tonight for going on 10 years. I am excited to see what he choses to do in his life after ESPN.
And this... in a nutshell describes everything that I think is wrong with the New York Mets.
Matt Cerrone is always talking about how the Mets lack a clear focus, which they do.
They have a serious failure of communications both within the organization and with getting thier message out to the fans.
There are times where I seriously wonder if they think at all before making moves.
My judgement of Omar Minaya would be considerd on the negative end of the "How Much Do You Love Omar Minaya" scale.
I think that he is a bumbling idiot. I really do. I do not think that Omar is an idiot because he botches the English language. I think he botches the English Language because he is an idiot, and would botch any language. I have never heard translations of him speaking Spanish, but my guess would be that he sounds like an idiot in any language, because he is an idiot.
My record on how I feel about Omar has been document pretty throughly, here, here, and here...I hate the guy.
I think that he has had opportunites fall into his lap more often than he has made smart moves.
The fact is, had the Yankees and Red Sox not dropped out (partly for fear of Santana's arm falling off, which it did) there is no way Omar gets him.
He has done one thing well, and that has been spending Jeff and Fred's money. He goes out and gets big free agents. Which I think he will do again this winter.
I believe we will end up with Matt Holliday or Jason Bay as well as John Lackey and possibly Jason Marquis, all of which I would be ok with.
What he wont do is use his finacial clout the way Brian Cashman does to spin two prospects into an All-Star Center Fielder or the way Theo Epstein uses his superior ability to manipulate other teams into taking his garbage.
Omar does none of this, because he doesn't know how to.
When the book is finally closed on the Omar Minaya era in Mets history, it will be a story of missed opportunity and failure.
The sad thing for me is that we are going to have had a tiny window in which to enjoy David Wright, Jose Reyes, Johan Santana, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez all in their prime. We are going to waste that opportunity because although Omar had the brain to put these players on the same roster, he has failed miserably to manage the other 20 players on the roster.
I have done a good job of managing my expectations this winter.
I still think (see how I didn't say believe, I said "think") that he will land a few of the biggest names out there this winter.
I think that in the past he has done a good job filling major holes with big-time free agents (see Beltran, Pedro, K-Rod, Santana, Delgado, etc. etc..) and our two biggest needs right now are Left Field and Starting Pitcher.
It would not shock me to see Matt Holliday and John Lackey as Mets next year. If Jason Bay goes back to Boston, it really only makes sense. I just don't see teams having that kind of money to spend, whereas Omar is looking at around 20-30 million in payroll flexibility.
If they went cheeper, signed a few of Jason Marquis, Doug Davis, John Garland as SP and Mike Cameron or someone like that for LF, I could also live with that and see it happening.
Barring something crazy happening, like Alex Rodriguez remembering that he is Alex Rodriguez and not Lou Gehrig, we are going to have ourselves a Phillies-Yankees World Series.
Seeing as the Mets have been out of the hunt for the Championship since, oh I don't know, 2006...I have had plenty of time to think about which team I would like to see win it.
I typically root for underdogs. I think it is part of my Irish heritage. We are natural underdogs.
But the Phillies are the the reigning champions and the Yankees are the Yankees. There is no team to naturally cheer for.
I came into my Met fandom far too late for the Braves to be my mortal enemy. I loath the Marlins and everything about them. From the huge, empty stadium, to their business plan that has them groom top tier talent to win a championship, and then sell everyone off all while keeping their payroll under 20 million.
I hate the Phillies. I hate their fans. I hate their uniforms. I hate their mascot. I hate their slob of a manager.
I hate that the Mets are not more like them.
There, I said it.
The Phillies are everything that I wish the Mets were.
They have likable star players. How can anyone hate Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez or Chase Utley.
Notice I didn't mention Frodo Victorino. I hate him still.
They have homegrown talent.
Their GM knows how to make impact trades (see Cliff Lee)
Their stadium is not a tribute to a team that resides 3000 miles away.
They have dominant starting pitching.
and perhaps most importantly, THEY PLAY TO WIN THE GAMES (thanks Herm)
They play freaking hard. They are cocky and arrogant and I love it. The Mets have never played like that as long as I have been watching.
This is why I watch baseball. Last night was awesome. I am not a full-time Twins fan by any stretch. But living in Rochester, it is easy to cheer for a team when you watched more than half their roster come through our AAA club. Guys I have watched in person were major contributors last night. The list includes, but is not limited to Alexi Casilla, Scott Baker, Michael Cuddyer, Jesse Crain, Matt Tolbert and many more.
This was an incredible game and was simply too much fun. I paid little to no attention in my class last night as I followed the game on my phone. Sorry Professor.
So now the Twins, who found themselves three games out of first with four games to play will now face off against the HATED NY Yankees at 6:00 pm today. Every rational measure of talent and advantage has the Yankees walking away with this thing.
The Twins went 0-7 against them this year.
I am not going to say that I think the Twins will win this thing. All I will say is if they can manage a split in NY and get back to Minnesota tied, it could get interesting. Sabathia is the only pitcher the Yanks have that I would declare as a hands down favorite to win. A.J. Burnett and Andy Petitte are in no way sure things this week.
I will say only this, The Twins have absolutely no pressure on them. They were supposed to be planning their vacations and cleaning out their lockers right now. Instead they are boarding a plane and getting ready to take on the most hated franchise in sports. They really Can't lose, no matter the outcome.
I have some thoughts on Twins Catcher, and general heart-throb (Terry's Man-Crush, or one of the many) Joe Mauer and his "Inevitable" transition to Pin Stripes, but I'll save it for later.
Right now, I am just ready to watch some baseball.
The 2009 New York Mets were a failure of Epic Proportions. Two words define everything that this team was. Epic. Fail.
Look, I understand as a sports fan that your team is not going to win every game, every year. I get that.
If I were a Minnesota Twins fan, and trust me, I have had to do some serious soul searching as to whether that is a switch I should make, I would be be completely happy with a team that just competed. I would be thrilled that the Twins find themselves in a one game playoff today. Hell, I am thrilled. I can't wait to watch that game, but I digress.
The fact is, I am a New York Mets fan. I can't help but read Metsblog. I can't help but care what happens with this team.
It is this inability of mine to let go that led me to both read and watch what transpired yesterday.
And what transpired yesterday was a whole lot of nothing. I repeat...A Whole Lot of Nothing.
Jeff Wilpon, in his press conference yesterday characterized what happened this year as "Unacceptable"
And then to prove what, in the Bizzaro World that the New York Mets exist in, can be defined as Unacceptable, Wilpon and his father who played the role of Bernine Maddoff's doormat this summer, endorsed both Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel for the 2010 season.
This is the same Omar Minaya who has botched this team's roster for three years. The same Omar Minaya who mistakenly believes that trading for Johan Santana and signing Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez some how makes up for the laundry list of EPIC FAILS that he is responsible for...a list that includes
Oliver Perez 3yrs/36 Million Moises Alou Luis Castillo
The Daniel Murphy can play Left Field experiment
The utter failure of the minor league system
Tony Bernazard
Heath Bell
Matt Lindsrom
And on and on and on...
Omar Minaya is a bumbling moron, which has nothing to do with the fact that he has a limited grasp of the English language. The dude could speak Portuguese and only Portuguese if he could compile a competitive roster.
And Jerry Manuel. Jerry Friggen Manuel.
Jerry, who I realize was forced to manage with one arm tied behind his back, thanks in no small part to what Omar Minaya considers a Major League roster (See Above).
But like David Wright, who failed EPICALLY to rise to the occasion and lead this team, Jerry Manuel wilted when the pressure was on. As players started to get hurt, and the team faced increasing adversity this season, instead of rallying his troops and playing hard, sound baseball, Jerry's boys played less disciplined, appeared to give up and not care what the outcome was.
From base running blunders, to dropped pop-ups. Blown leads and walk-off grand slams, the 2009 New York Mets found new and increasingly embarrassing ways to fail. Epically.
And as the pressure increased, where a good manager would have taken this burden upon himself, and demanded a higher level of baseball be played. Jerry laughed through post game pressers. He laid blame at other's feet. He said he had players who were not major league ready playing roles that were larger then they were ready for.
Guess what Jerry, that means two things.
1. Omar Minaya failed. Epically. To put together a major league roster.
2. You Jerry, failed to get the most out of these players. To get the absolute best of out all 25 men on your roster. You failed. And then you laughed about it. Then you were given another year to "fix" what is wrong.
The larger point is that there is no "Fix" for what is wrong with this team. You cannot fix the problem by giving the wheel to the same men who drove this bus off the cliff.
Jerry, Omar...
They only do it because they love me, Right? *He said with mascara tear stains running down his cheeks*
Another season of New York Metropolitans baseball has come to an end. This year instead of waiting until September to blow a huge lead and break my heart, they decided it would be better to go for more of a slow bleed strategy.
The season started with so much promise. A new stadium, a lineup full of all-stars. One of the best pitchers in the game at the front of the rotaton. One of the best pitchers in the game at the back of the bull pen. A manager who wasn't Willie Randolph.
I ignored the warning signs. Shrugged off any doubts that the roster was thin behind the stars. I didn't care that the back half of the rotation consisted of question marks and crossed fingers.
I was ready for an amazin' Mets season.
I used the #1 overall pick in my fantasy baseball league to take David Wright. This would be the year that he put it all together and proved that he was more than just hype and thick eyebrows.
Then it all started to crumble. Star player after star player went down with what was initially considered minor injuries, only to find out later that what was ailing them was something far more severe than originally diagnosed. It happened once and we thought it was odd. It happened twice and we thought it was coincidence. Then we realized with the 3rd and 4th key players went down with major injury, that like V says, there are no coincidences. This Mets team was snake bitten. The black cloud that has perpetually hung over this team for the last three years had not moved, we just didn't see it at first.
The 2006 playoffs, Endy Chavez's game saving catch seem like they happened in another lifetime. These Mets, the Mets of the last three seasons, are simply and utterly incapable of winning.
I am far less upset this year than I have been in the past. I stopped paying attention in the middle of the Summer. If that makes me a bad fan so be it. I think it makes me a realist. There was a series with the Phillies, we were down by like 7 games at the time, and I thought to myself, if we can just sweep, if only we can sweep...Then we turned around and got swept. Season Over.
To continue the "V for Vendetta" theme, good guys wind, bad guys lose, and as always, England prevails.
Except in this case it goes more like...Other team wins, Mets lose, and as always, the Mets fail.
Ok, so having said all of that, where do we go from here. How do we even begin to start to fix this.
I think that a few things absolutely have to happen.
The first of which, like the video above, is Heads Need to Roll.
Omar Minaya is not a good GM. Period. He is inept, he is a bumbling, stumbling train wreck.
He was handed Johan Santana on a silver platter, it was not a stroke of Managerial Genius.
Omar Minaya needs to be fired. Assistant GM John Ricco needs to be made the GM.
Jerry Manuel needs to be fired. Sorry Jerry, I think you are a nice guy. I think that you do, for the most part a good job. But the lack of discipline, the general laziness that this team played with all year, even when they were still in it, has to fall on you. Sorry Gangsta, ya gotta go.
Howard Johnson can stay as hitting coach. Dan Warthen I guess is good enough to remain the pitching coach. There is only so much you can do when you are handed Oliver Perez and told to make him your #3 starter, refer to the statements regarding Omar Minaya above.
As far as player moves go, this team needs to be built on pitching and defense. I don't care about home run totals. A healthy David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, and Jeff Francouer for the season will improve the offense.
We need either a Left Fielder or a First Basemen. I would be thrilled with Matt Holliday, I would die if we could find a way to bring in Prince Fielder. But aside from those two, give me some players who play hard, and can hit and run a bit and I will be happy. Luis Castillo needs to go. Find a way to move him, pay him if you have to. I don't care. We need an Orlando Hudson type.
The money needs to be spent on pitching. We need some guns, both in the rotation and the bullpen.
We need a solid, legitimate #2 starter. John Lackey fits that mold. We need pitchers. We need power arms that are relatively young and can solidify this rotation.
We need a team that can limit the damage, keep the ball in our huge park and throw deep in games. I have always like Jon Garland. Give me a John Lackey, John Garland, and maybe like a Doug Davis type to match up with what we currently have:
Santana Lackey Garland Pelfrey Maine Perez Parnell Niese etc..
This season has been a vast, immesurable disappointment. We need to wipe this entire slate clean, we need a fresh start. March 2010 needs to feel like we are starting over completely fresh. I hate you New York Mets. Don't make me regret not throwing in the towel and becoming a full-time Twins fan. I am still here. Don't make me rethink my choice.
The ghost ship that is the New York Mets continues to drift aimlessly around the National League, its crew having all but abandoned it, a lamentable calm having descended over its decks.
No more honest words have ever been spoken. I stopped watching months ago. Clean-house, top to bottom. Omar, you had your chance to prove that you are capable of doing this, your clearly not.
There is more to putting together a championship club than the big-splash trade/free-agent.
Beltran, good move Santana, good move...
No doubt about it. It's the little things, the smaller pieces that make up a roster where he continually falls on his face.
If this was the 1980s, [none] of these guys would be in the big leagues right now because if you hit .210-.230 and you can't execute, I don't think you should be out here. When you can't bunt, hit-and-run, squeeze and move the guy over, you better hit 40 home runs and drive in 140. Is the clubhouse closed? We should open it and let them [answer] why they're so horse [expletive]. I talked to them. One thing about it: Good teams win games. Bad teams have meetings. Well, I think we're to the point of having a lot of meetings. That's all I can say.
I know how he feels. It seems like the last two years the Mets have been a "meeting" team, not a winning team.
I though a lot of this would change when the Mets brought in Snoop Manuel of the "Gangstas get on the field, ladies get on the bus" quote fame.
Unfortunately I have seen little to no difference between Manuel's managerial style and his moronic predecessor.
If Ozzie hates his team so much, maybe instead of a bat or an arm for the rotation, Omar could swing a deal with the White Sox for Ozz, sending Snoop back to his old team.
I traded away David Wright, the #1 overall pick in my league (I had the #1 pick and did not take Pujols, really Terrance?) and I am having no pangs of regret at this point. June 9th and Wright has 3 bombs. Brewer's Ace Yovanni Gallardo has 3 bombs. He is a pitcher.
Today I am hating Shane Victorino. He is actually becoming my least favorite player in the league, including Alex Rodriguez.
He has a fat face, which pisses me off. She, I mean He showboats then complains when Reyes Showboats. He interfered with Reyes last night, then stood there with this stupid look on his stupid face like, "got 'cha". I hate this fat little Hawaiian.
I guessed Manny was on steriods. This does not shock me, no one shocks me. If it came out today that David Wright tested positive, I would not be shocked.
We as a society have the most hypocritical stance on the subject of performance enhancing drugs. I don't care. I think the way we have portrayed Barry Bonds as an enemy of the state is unfair. Do I think he took drugs, knowingly? Yes. Do I care, No.
As long as a guy seems sorry, we are quick to forgive. As long as a guy has the good sense to get out before he gets caught, (yes I am looking at you Brett Boone), we don't care.
I don't care. I think Manny is still one of the best right handed hitters in the history of the game. Do I think Albert Pujols, arguably the best firstbasemen in the history of the game has done so without the assistance of something banned? No.
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My semester ended this week. (aside from the project that I still have to do next week that I don't even want to think about right now).
Getting my Masters is harder than I thought it would be.
I saw Wolverine. It was sweet. It kicked off my summer movie extravaganza. Star Trek next, the Terminator, it just keeps getting better.
I assulted an elderly woman yesterday when I was supposed to voulenteering at an elderly home. I sprayed her in the face with purple puffy paint. Sorry Gladys.
So the Mets opened Citi Field last night. They lost a 6-5 game that was fun and exciting.
I love the new park, I think it is great and can't wait until I can get down there. I never bonded with Shea Stadium. I never went there and I always thought it looked like a dump. The old park always looked to me like it was still under construction even 40 years later.
The biggest improvement in my opinion is the lack of obnoxious and irritating noises that the Mets played between at bats and pitches at Shea. If you have not heard it think the "Mortal Combat" soundtrack turned up to 11.
Maybe the best moment last night was Terry once again proving he has an uncanny ability to call home runs. With the mets down by 3, runners on the corners, 2 outs and David Wright came to the plate. Terry texted his buddy Mike with the count 1-0 at 8:47 and said "Here comes a bomb"... at 8:49 and a 3-2 count Wright launched a monster 3-run HR off a breaking ball at his shins. How did Terry know this was going to happen?
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