They really didn’t waste any time. In two games they’ve managed to run the dizzying gamut of baseball emotions, from the giddy excitement of finally seeing Santana, to “oh fuck, fuck fuck, Pedro’s injured again, fuck.” The dominance and exuberance of youth, giving away to the frailty and uncertainty of age. The entire spectrum of baseball, covered in two games. Everything that happens from now on will seem redundant.
The commercials on am sports radio have to be considered as a candidate for the lowest form of expression ever produced.
Perhaps the best thing about Santana was the sense, not entirely logical, that we were finally done with relying on the murky depths of the rotation, who would now only appear in the number five spot. With Pedro injured, two out of five starts have to come from some mix of Pelfery, El Duque, Jorge Sosa, Nelson Figureoa, the last of whom, Willy Randolph apparently said would probably replace Pedro on the roster.
It was almost inevitable that Pedro would spend some time on the DL at some point, but the hope was that it would have come at some latter point in the season, after he had demonstrated an ability to stay with the team.
Indeed, in terms of actual baseball the injury to Pedro has the potential to be relatively minor. Pedro was probably expected to do fairly little, with the most serious expectations, after Santana, falling on Oliver Perez and John Maine. At the same time, the idea of the five Cy Youngs between Pedro and Santana, the new ace and the old ace at the top of the rotation counted for something, if only to the fans. In truth, Pedro has not had a very major effect on either of the last two seasons, and, while most of the anticipation was geared towards Santana, there was also a fair amount of excitement at the prospect of finally seeing what the Mets had in Martinez.
And perhaps the best thing about watching Santana was knowing that he would be followed by Pedro, and the expectation that the Mets dominance on the mound would continue into the next game.
…actually sports talk itself might be worse than the commercials. They just blamed Spike Lee for the state of the Knicks.
Showing posts with label Johan Santana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johan Santana. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Mets 2008 Preview: Starting Pitchers
Today I’ll be previewing starting pitchers because, after the infielders, I am most sure about the composition of the rotation.
Johan Santana
Chinese Zodiac: Sheep
Career ERA: 3.22
The arrival of the second best athlete traded from a Minnesota team in the last ten months catapulted the Mets from a shaky team with questions at several positions, into favorites to compete, not only in the NL East, but also for the world championship. I spent a lot of time thinking about this and decided that you probably are better off being a basketball team with Kevin Garnett than a baseball team with Santana. The logic being that in MLB there are perhaps two or three pitchers (Beckett, C.C. Sabathia) that give you more or less what you get from Santana, where as the NBA has one other player, Tim Duncan, who gives Garnett’s combination of lock-down interior defense and solid scoring near the basket; and Duncan has been proving for years that if you surround one of these guys with the right combination of jump shooters and flopping foreign role players, you can compete for the championship until you run out of fingers for rings. Still, in much the way that a KG or a Tim Duncan can improve their team on offense and defense by controlling the paint and taking pressure of their teammates, the presence of a true ace allows for a better rested bullpen, and takes pressure off both the back of the rotation and the lineup. Fortunately, aside from the loss of KG and Johan, everything else about living in Minnesota is completely awesome.
Pedro Martinez
Chinese Zodiac: Pig
Career ERA: 2.80
How will Pedro’s surgically repaired shoulder hold up? How will he adjust to being the number two pitcher on the team? How many jack-ass articles will be written in The Post about Pedro being too greedy and egotistical to come back to the Mets in ’09? Where will Pedro pitch in ’09? And how will he cope with the feelings of remorse brought on by PETA’s letter of protest? Honestly, the outlook on all of these things is good, and the reports from camp are that Pedro is almost enjoying his secondary status. And, in much the way that Santana’s dominance takes pressure of the rest of the Mets on the field, Pedro’s eccentricity and charisma should take pressure off of them in the media. PEDRO FACT: Pedro drives a black Austin-Martin with his number “45” engraved on the hubcaps.
Oliver Perez
Chinese Zodiac: Rooster
Career ERA: 4.43
Sam’s Mets Blog favorite Oliver Perez continues on his quest for some kind of consistency in ‘08. Why can’t he just be good all the time, dammit? The neat thing about Perez is that he still holds out the possibility of transforming into an ace, although the chances of this happening seem more remote every year. I suspect the same oscillation between brilliant starts and disasters. In other news, Ollie won his salary arbitration with the club, which got him a raise of something like $ 4 million. I would really like to know how he spent the night after the arbitration hearing; I hope it involved drinking tequila with Rick Peterson.
John Maine
Chinese Zodiac: Rooster
Career ERA: 4.19
At some point during spring training, one of the Mets Notes, on Mets.com, was a bunch of bullshit about John Maine going on line for the first time in his life. My assumption is that a reporter saw Maine on a computer and Maine claimed he had never used one before as a joke-- either that, or it was a joke on the part of the reporter. With other ballplayers I might be more inclined to believe this, but Maine is presented as almost an intellectual by baseball standards, doing crossword puzzles and Soduku and occasionally speaking in full sentences. Apparently Maine and Perez have been playing pranks on each other in spring training, and I wonder if this is just fun and games or the seeds of real animosity between the two pitchers vying for #3 status.
TBD
The Old Duque (Rooster, or possibly Snake) vs. Big Pelf (Pig)debate took a turn for the terrible as both of them got lit up by the Cardinals on Sunday. Omar Minaya has apparently mentioned Nelson Figueroa (Tiger)and John Niese (Tiger) as possible alternatives. Although, El Duque and Pelfery will split another start before the season begins, I would have to think that any alternative is looking very good. As Dorothy Parker said, “When given a choice of bottom of the rotation starters, I always take the one I haven’t tried before.” Personally, I’m pulling for N-Fig.
Johan Santana
Chinese Zodiac: Sheep
Career ERA: 3.22
The arrival of the second best athlete traded from a Minnesota team in the last ten months catapulted the Mets from a shaky team with questions at several positions, into favorites to compete, not only in the NL East, but also for the world championship. I spent a lot of time thinking about this and decided that you probably are better off being a basketball team with Kevin Garnett than a baseball team with Santana. The logic being that in MLB there are perhaps two or three pitchers (Beckett, C.C. Sabathia) that give you more or less what you get from Santana, where as the NBA has one other player, Tim Duncan, who gives Garnett’s combination of lock-down interior defense and solid scoring near the basket; and Duncan has been proving for years that if you surround one of these guys with the right combination of jump shooters and flopping foreign role players, you can compete for the championship until you run out of fingers for rings. Still, in much the way that a KG or a Tim Duncan can improve their team on offense and defense by controlling the paint and taking pressure of their teammates, the presence of a true ace allows for a better rested bullpen, and takes pressure off both the back of the rotation and the lineup. Fortunately, aside from the loss of KG and Johan, everything else about living in Minnesota is completely awesome.
Pedro Martinez
Chinese Zodiac: Pig
Career ERA: 2.80
How will Pedro’s surgically repaired shoulder hold up? How will he adjust to being the number two pitcher on the team? How many jack-ass articles will be written in The Post about Pedro being too greedy and egotistical to come back to the Mets in ’09? Where will Pedro pitch in ’09? And how will he cope with the feelings of remorse brought on by PETA’s letter of protest? Honestly, the outlook on all of these things is good, and the reports from camp are that Pedro is almost enjoying his secondary status. And, in much the way that Santana’s dominance takes pressure of the rest of the Mets on the field, Pedro’s eccentricity and charisma should take pressure off of them in the media. PEDRO FACT: Pedro drives a black Austin-Martin with his number “45” engraved on the hubcaps.
Oliver Perez
Chinese Zodiac: Rooster
Career ERA: 4.43
Sam’s Mets Blog favorite Oliver Perez continues on his quest for some kind of consistency in ‘08. Why can’t he just be good all the time, dammit? The neat thing about Perez is that he still holds out the possibility of transforming into an ace, although the chances of this happening seem more remote every year. I suspect the same oscillation between brilliant starts and disasters. In other news, Ollie won his salary arbitration with the club, which got him a raise of something like $ 4 million. I would really like to know how he spent the night after the arbitration hearing; I hope it involved drinking tequila with Rick Peterson.
John Maine
Chinese Zodiac: Rooster
Career ERA: 4.19
At some point during spring training, one of the Mets Notes, on Mets.com, was a bunch of bullshit about John Maine going on line for the first time in his life. My assumption is that a reporter saw Maine on a computer and Maine claimed he had never used one before as a joke-- either that, or it was a joke on the part of the reporter. With other ballplayers I might be more inclined to believe this, but Maine is presented as almost an intellectual by baseball standards, doing crossword puzzles and Soduku and occasionally speaking in full sentences. Apparently Maine and Perez have been playing pranks on each other in spring training, and I wonder if this is just fun and games or the seeds of real animosity between the two pitchers vying for #3 status.
TBD
The Old Duque (Rooster, or possibly Snake) vs. Big Pelf (Pig)debate took a turn for the terrible as both of them got lit up by the Cardinals on Sunday. Omar Minaya has apparently mentioned Nelson Figueroa (Tiger)and John Niese (Tiger) as possible alternatives. Although, El Duque and Pelfery will split another start before the season begins, I would have to think that any alternative is looking very good. As Dorothy Parker said, “When given a choice of bottom of the rotation starters, I always take the one I haven’t tried before.” Personally, I’m pulling for N-Fig.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Two Assholes
Mathew Wallace, of Newsday, is really annoyed that the Mets put out an add campaign last year that sort of implied that they would win, and then had the nerve to loose. He thinks that the Mets are old and bad, and that if they don’t win this year, next year everyone will be traded and fired. He poses this question: “Can the addition of Santana, who can help out only once every five days, really cure all that ailed the 2007 Mets, the failures of heart and discipline and character?”
Well, no, Santana can’t do that, and when the Mets compete for the “heart and discipline and character” pennant they just might be screwed. But Wallace seems to be confusing “heart and discipline and character” with “a bullpen.” And the failures of the bullpen are something that Santana actually could cure, since he will (hopefully) do a good job of pitching innings that otherwise would be pitched, badly, by the bullpen. And if the pitchers in the bullpen pitch fewer innings, than they might do a better job in the innings that they do pitch. So Santana does have a really good chance to help the Mets in one of the areas most closely associated with the collapse, even by only playing once every five days…as most people with a passing familiarity with the game of baseball are aware.
***
Utility infielder Scott Spiezio, formerly of the Cardinals, has a weird goatee that he dies red and a hard rock/grunge/metal band called Sandfrog, and he hit the Mets really hard in the 2006 NLCS. Now he has been release by the Cards, after a warrant was issued for his arrest, following a wild night of drinking, driving, fighting, and hiding in closets. My favorite: “As the two men were helping Spiezio, he began vomiting. Parisi asked Spiezio why he couldn't make it to the toilet. Angered, Spiezio grabbed Parisi and began wrestling him. Parisi tried to protect himself and Spiezio said, 'You know I can kick your ass.'”
…Sandfrog’s web page is just a black screen, so I guess that means they are more into Metal than the other stuff.
For more on these and other stories, take a look at “It’s Mets for Me” which also has a good picture of a man throwing a kitten.
RUBEN TEJADA WATCH: Tejada is now hitting .750 with two RBIs.
Well, no, Santana can’t do that, and when the Mets compete for the “heart and discipline and character” pennant they just might be screwed. But Wallace seems to be confusing “heart and discipline and character” with “a bullpen.” And the failures of the bullpen are something that Santana actually could cure, since he will (hopefully) do a good job of pitching innings that otherwise would be pitched, badly, by the bullpen. And if the pitchers in the bullpen pitch fewer innings, than they might do a better job in the innings that they do pitch. So Santana does have a really good chance to help the Mets in one of the areas most closely associated with the collapse, even by only playing once every five days…as most people with a passing familiarity with the game of baseball are aware.
***
Utility infielder Scott Spiezio, formerly of the Cardinals, has a weird goatee that he dies red and a hard rock/grunge/metal band called Sandfrog, and he hit the Mets really hard in the 2006 NLCS. Now he has been release by the Cards, after a warrant was issued for his arrest, following a wild night of drinking, driving, fighting, and hiding in closets. My favorite: “As the two men were helping Spiezio, he began vomiting. Parisi asked Spiezio why he couldn't make it to the toilet. Angered, Spiezio grabbed Parisi and began wrestling him. Parisi tried to protect himself and Spiezio said, 'You know I can kick your ass.'”
…Sandfrog’s web page is just a black screen, so I guess that means they are more into Metal than the other stuff.
For more on these and other stories, take a look at “It’s Mets for Me” which also has a good picture of a man throwing a kitten.
RUBEN TEJADA WATCH: Tejada is now hitting .750 with two RBIs.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
If Carlos Delgado can Hit .400, then Barak Obama can be Elected President
At some point today, I thought to myself, “huh, I sure am glad that the Mets went out and got Santana, because otherwise I might be tempted to pay attention to/worry about this whole primary election thing, which, from the small pieces of information that I have gathered somewhat inadvertently, seems to be a total bummer.”
The election process, at this point, reminds me of the Mets two weeks ago when they had not gotten Santana and the club was trying to muster enthusiasm over the possible signing of Liavan Hernandez: a development, which under sane circumstances would be regarded as pretty much a disaster, emerges as a positive only by virtue of the absolute horror that proceeded it.
The one possible ray of hope would seem to emanate from Barak Obama, who distinguishes himself by having provided me with no particular reason to hate him. He seems sort of like Steve Trachsel would seem, if he pitched for the team that you rooted for and the other starters in the rotation were Jose Lima, Scott Schoenwise, Barak Obama and me: it’s not quite like he gives your team a good chance of winning, but he doesn’t really guarantee a loss so, hey, that’s something.
I was still glad that the Mets had signed Santana, (thus removing the temptation to transfer any psychic energy into supporting Obama) because the signing of Santana seems to bode more definitely well for the cause of Mets baseball, than the election of Obama would bode for the cause of things in general not going to hell completely. Santana definitely make the Mets a stronger ballclub; the Superbowl was clearly an excellent football game and I am completely glad that the Giants won. You can’t really ever reach that degree of certainty about anything in politics, which is one of the reasons that sports are great.
But, if through some strange all-American alchemy, it were possible to get Obama the Democratic nomination by sending Santana back to Minnesota, would I pull the trigger on that deal? I honestly can’t figure that one out. Fortunately, my Google Overlords have bestowed upon me the power of putting polls up on my blog, so you can weigh in-- that is if the process of voting in the primaries hasn’t exhausted your capacity to choose between two categories that are meaningless. (do bear in mind that the question refers to Obama getting the Democratic nomination, not becoming President of the United states)
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH, the Mets are paying Santana $137.5 million for six years of pitching (an option exists for a seventh year, but whatever). In 2005, according to a Democratic Party Website, the Iraq war was costing $195 million a day. So, for the money that the Mets are giving for six years of Santana, they could afford to occupy Iraq for a little less than seventeen hours. (in 2005)
The election process, at this point, reminds me of the Mets two weeks ago when they had not gotten Santana and the club was trying to muster enthusiasm over the possible signing of Liavan Hernandez: a development, which under sane circumstances would be regarded as pretty much a disaster, emerges as a positive only by virtue of the absolute horror that proceeded it.
The one possible ray of hope would seem to emanate from Barak Obama, who distinguishes himself by having provided me with no particular reason to hate him. He seems sort of like Steve Trachsel would seem, if he pitched for the team that you rooted for and the other starters in the rotation were Jose Lima, Scott Schoenwise, Barak Obama and me: it’s not quite like he gives your team a good chance of winning, but he doesn’t really guarantee a loss so, hey, that’s something.
I was still glad that the Mets had signed Santana, (thus removing the temptation to transfer any psychic energy into supporting Obama) because the signing of Santana seems to bode more definitely well for the cause of Mets baseball, than the election of Obama would bode for the cause of things in general not going to hell completely. Santana definitely make the Mets a stronger ballclub; the Superbowl was clearly an excellent football game and I am completely glad that the Giants won. You can’t really ever reach that degree of certainty about anything in politics, which is one of the reasons that sports are great.
But, if through some strange all-American alchemy, it were possible to get Obama the Democratic nomination by sending Santana back to Minnesota, would I pull the trigger on that deal? I honestly can’t figure that one out. Fortunately, my Google Overlords have bestowed upon me the power of putting polls up on my blog, so you can weigh in-- that is if the process of voting in the primaries hasn’t exhausted your capacity to choose between two categories that are meaningless. (do bear in mind that the question refers to Obama getting the Democratic nomination, not becoming President of the United states)
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH, the Mets are paying Santana $137.5 million for six years of pitching (an option exists for a seventh year, but whatever). In 2005, according to a Democratic Party Website, the Iraq war was costing $195 million a day. So, for the money that the Mets are giving for six years of Santana, they could afford to occupy Iraq for a little less than seventeen hours. (in 2005)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Great News
So it looks like the Mets got Johan Santana, at the mere price of Carlos Gomez and three of their best pitching prospects. I’m almost sad: I had pretty much resigned myself to futility in ’08, and now I’m going to have to be all disappointed, angry and depressed when they blow it.
But seriously folks: Santana, Pedro, El Duque, Ollie and John Maine? That rotation is so good that I think I’ll be able to sleep at night, even with Shoenwise in the bullpen.
Anyhow, in honor of the Mets sudden relevance, and because this is the 100th post on this blog, here is a look back at ten of my favorite posts:
--This post suggests that an additional honor be bestowed on one of the inaugural Hall-of-Famers.
--This post also looks back at baseball history, at a player whose rare disability gave his team an unusual dimension.
--“Please Sir, can I have some more?” Oliver Perez is currently in arbitration talks with the club, asking them for an extra $4 million. This post illuminates why I would be happy if he got it.
--Gary Sheffield latter clarified his comments about Latinos being easier to control than African-Americans, saying that he was actually talking about how Latin-American players are ineligible for the draft, and thus more at the mercy of ballclubs. I took his pre-clarified statement to task in this post.
--This is a chronicle of my first trip to Shea in ’07.
--“The Called 3rd Strike in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” is probably the best title that I ever came up with.
--This post discusses the similarities between mets.com and Pravda. And now that Comrade Marty Noble has been utterly discredited, can I have his job, please? No?…bummer.
--I offer these posts as a specimen of pre-Mitchell thinking on PEDs.
--This is a poignant reflection, on the time between the second-to-last, and last games of the season.
--It is hard to feel sympathetic towards Stephon Marbury, as the Knicks recent stretch of not being utterly horrible seems highly correlated with him being out for the season. I still like the job that this post did of exploring the intricacies of his persona.
Thanks to "Nigel" for help with the list.
But seriously folks: Santana, Pedro, El Duque, Ollie and John Maine? That rotation is so good that I think I’ll be able to sleep at night, even with Shoenwise in the bullpen.
Anyhow, in honor of the Mets sudden relevance, and because this is the 100th post on this blog, here is a look back at ten of my favorite posts:
--This post suggests that an additional honor be bestowed on one of the inaugural Hall-of-Famers.
--This post also looks back at baseball history, at a player whose rare disability gave his team an unusual dimension.
--“Please Sir, can I have some more?” Oliver Perez is currently in arbitration talks with the club, asking them for an extra $4 million. This post illuminates why I would be happy if he got it.
--Gary Sheffield latter clarified his comments about Latinos being easier to control than African-Americans, saying that he was actually talking about how Latin-American players are ineligible for the draft, and thus more at the mercy of ballclubs. I took his pre-clarified statement to task in this post.
--This is a chronicle of my first trip to Shea in ’07.
--“The Called 3rd Strike in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” is probably the best title that I ever came up with.
--This post discusses the similarities between mets.com and Pravda. And now that Comrade Marty Noble has been utterly discredited, can I have his job, please? No?…bummer.
--I offer these posts as a specimen of pre-Mitchell thinking on PEDs.
--This is a poignant reflection, on the time between the second-to-last, and last games of the season.
--It is hard to feel sympathetic towards Stephon Marbury, as the Knicks recent stretch of not being utterly horrible seems highly correlated with him being out for the season. I still like the job that this post did of exploring the intricacies of his persona.
Thanks to "Nigel" for help with the list.
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