Betty's No Good Clothes Shop And Pancake House
Friday, August 29, 2003
Mets 3, Braves 1
Watching a team that's fifteen games under .500 play the first place team it trails by upwards of 25 games in August isn't supposed to be fun. A Mets starting lineup featuring Jay Bell and Joe McEwing certainly isn't supposed to be a recipe for offensive excitement. And honestly, twenty year old shortstops just aren't supposed to put on record-breaking shows of power against the Atlanta Braves. But obviously, someone forgot to tell Jose Reyes. Having never hit more than eight home runs in a full minor league season, Reyes now has five in just 263 major league at bats after becoming the youngest player ever to homer from both sides of the plate last night. And just to make sure no one could criticize anything about his game, he also drew a walk.
And in addition to the Reyes show, Met fans got to see Al Leiter toss his best start of the season, going seven scoreless innings giving up just two hits and one walk while striking out six. The walk total is the most remarkable and encouraging part of his line, but Leiter's overall performance since the All-Star break continues to erase memories of his pre-break, pre-injury work. Leiter is now 5-2 with a 1.65 ERA in the second have after going 8-5, 5.57 in the first half. His strikeout rate is up from 6.6 per nine innings before the break to 8.6 after, and his walk rate, while still not great, is down from 5.8 to 4.2 per nine. Who knows how long this will continue or which Leiter we'll see next year, but he, like Tom Glavine, continues to give Met fans reasons to believe he's not done yet.
Tonight, Steve Trachsel (13-7, 4.01) looks to keep on winning against the Phillies and upcoming free agent Kevin Millwood. Trachsel is 4-0 in his last five starts with a 1.51 ERA. ¶ joe | 2:03 PM | 0 comments
Watching a team that's fifteen games under .500 play the first place team it trails by upwards of 25 games in August isn't supposed to be fun. A Mets starting lineup featuring Jay Bell and Joe McEwing certainly isn't supposed to be a recipe for offensive excitement. And honestly, twenty year old shortstops just aren't supposed to put on record-breaking shows of power against the Atlanta Braves. But obviously, someone forgot to tell Jose Reyes. Having never hit more than eight home runs in a full minor league season, Reyes now has five in just 263 major league at bats after becoming the youngest player ever to homer from both sides of the plate last night. And just to make sure no one could criticize anything about his game, he also drew a walk.
And in addition to the Reyes show, Met fans got to see Al Leiter toss his best start of the season, going seven scoreless innings giving up just two hits and one walk while striking out six. The walk total is the most remarkable and encouraging part of his line, but Leiter's overall performance since the All-Star break continues to erase memories of his pre-break, pre-injury work. Leiter is now 5-2 with a 1.65 ERA in the second have after going 8-5, 5.57 in the first half. His strikeout rate is up from 6.6 per nine innings before the break to 8.6 after, and his walk rate, while still not great, is down from 5.8 to 4.2 per nine. Who knows how long this will continue or which Leiter we'll see next year, but he, like Tom Glavine, continues to give Met fans reasons to believe he's not done yet.
Tonight, Steve Trachsel (13-7, 4.01) looks to keep on winning against the Phillies and upcoming free agent Kevin Millwood. Trachsel is 4-0 in his last five starts with a 1.51 ERA. ¶ joe | 2:03 PM | 0 comments
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Fun with Site Meter!
I think this is by far the oddest Google search anyone has ever used to get to my site, at least as long as I've been checking such things:
"why wrestlers were tights do they fell good"
None of those are typos, at least on my part. I hope to never, ever learn anything about the thought process that led up to that search. And I'm not sure whether or not I should feel dirty that it led someone here. I think I'll stop thinking about it now. ¶ joe | 8:14 PM | 0 comments
I think this is by far the oddest Google search anyone has ever used to get to my site, at least as long as I've been checking such things:
"why wrestlers were tights do they fell good"
None of those are typos, at least on my part. I hope to never, ever learn anything about the thought process that led up to that search. And I'm not sure whether or not I should feel dirty that it led someone here. I think I'll stop thinking about it now. ¶ joe | 8:14 PM | 0 comments
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Mets 6, Braves 5
Ah, Mets vs. Braves at the end of August. Prior to the season, a Met fan looks at his schedule and sees this series with a little bit of hope that it'll mean something. That the two teams will be battling over the NL East. Okay, maybe that's a little strong. That the Mets will be trying to make a 1969-esque Miraculous Comeback from eight to ten games back while still having the Wild Card to fall back on. Yes, once upon a time these were the kind of series that Met fans looked forward to, hoping the New Yorkers could score enough runs to keep Armando Benitez the hell away from the mound. Hoping that Larry "Chipper" Jones would trip and break his ankle on the way to the ballpark. But this year, all of that is gone. The playoff hopes. Benitez. Okay, the Larry hate is probably still there.
So with nothing on the line, the Mets went out and beat the Braves. Jae Weong Seo won his third consecutive start, going five innings, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out five and walking none to even his record at 8-8. The Met bullpen was a little shaky in trying to preserve his win, as Mike Stanton gave up a home run in the nine to narrow the lead to the slimmest of margins before finishing off his fourth save of the year.
But as has been the case on numerous occasions during this rivarly in recent years, Mike Piazza did the heavy lifting for the Mets, driving in three with a home run in the first. Timo Perez drove in two more with a double in the sixth and later scored the sixth run on a balk. Jose Reyes had a single in four at bats, scoring a run. Ty Wigginton had a double and a walk in four plate appearances.
Tomorrow it's Al Leiter (12-7, 4.47) against Horacio Ramirez (8-4, 4.26). ¶ joe | 1:10 AM | 0 comments
Ah, Mets vs. Braves at the end of August. Prior to the season, a Met fan looks at his schedule and sees this series with a little bit of hope that it'll mean something. That the two teams will be battling over the NL East. Okay, maybe that's a little strong. That the Mets will be trying to make a 1969-esque Miraculous Comeback from eight to ten games back while still having the Wild Card to fall back on. Yes, once upon a time these were the kind of series that Met fans looked forward to, hoping the New Yorkers could score enough runs to keep Armando Benitez the hell away from the mound. Hoping that Larry "Chipper" Jones would trip and break his ankle on the way to the ballpark. But this year, all of that is gone. The playoff hopes. Benitez. Okay, the Larry hate is probably still there.
So with nothing on the line, the Mets went out and beat the Braves. Jae Weong Seo won his third consecutive start, going five innings, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out five and walking none to even his record at 8-8. The Met bullpen was a little shaky in trying to preserve his win, as Mike Stanton gave up a home run in the nine to narrow the lead to the slimmest of margins before finishing off his fourth save of the year.
But as has been the case on numerous occasions during this rivarly in recent years, Mike Piazza did the heavy lifting for the Mets, driving in three with a home run in the first. Timo Perez drove in two more with a double in the sixth and later scored the sixth run on a balk. Jose Reyes had a single in four at bats, scoring a run. Ty Wigginton had a double and a walk in four plate appearances.
Tomorrow it's Al Leiter (12-7, 4.47) against Horacio Ramirez (8-4, 4.26). ¶ joe | 1:10 AM | 0 comments
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Mets 8, Rockies 0
At present Jose Reyes has hit safely in 17 straight games. At present the Mets have 38 more games scheduled to be played this season. Opening day next year would be quite the event were things to continue as they are at present for the rest of the season, would it not? Reyes had another multihit game on Monday, the twelfth during his streak, singling twice, walking once, stealing a base and scoring three runs. Jason Phillips also had a fine offensive day, with two hits including a two-run homer, his tenth of the season. Mike Piazza put one over the wall as well, his ninth of the season. Piazza also walked twice and drove in three runs.
But the star of the show was Steve Trachsel, who carried another no-hit bid into the sixth inning and wound up tossing his second one-hit shutout of the season, striking out three and walking none. The win was Trachsel's third in a row and twelfth overall, tying him for the team lead with the resurgent Al Leiter. ¶ joe | 2:02 AM | 0 comments
At present Jose Reyes has hit safely in 17 straight games. At present the Mets have 38 more games scheduled to be played this season. Opening day next year would be quite the event were things to continue as they are at present for the rest of the season, would it not? Reyes had another multihit game on Monday, the twelfth during his streak, singling twice, walking once, stealing a base and scoring three runs. Jason Phillips also had a fine offensive day, with two hits including a two-run homer, his tenth of the season. Mike Piazza put one over the wall as well, his ninth of the season. Piazza also walked twice and drove in three runs.
But the star of the show was Steve Trachsel, who carried another no-hit bid into the sixth inning and wound up tossing his second one-hit shutout of the season, striking out three and walking none. The win was Trachsel's third in a row and twelfth overall, tying him for the team lead with the resurgent Al Leiter. ¶ joe | 2:02 AM | 0 comments
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Mets 9, Giants 2
Guys who hit .176 in AAA usually aren't expected to come up and make much of an impact at the major league level. In fact, that kind of a batting average will usually keep a player in the minors for a while longer. So while the Mets have gotten solid contributions from a number of players called up from Norfolk, the expectations placed upon this particular player may not have been in line with his recent minor league performance. Of course, when your AAA catcher's name is Mike Piazza, you might be justified in taking a chance on him.
After going 3 for 17 in a rehab stint at Norfolk, Piazza returned to Shea Stadium on Wednesday and picked up right where he had left off. Piazza was red-hot, hitting .333/.422/.613 with seven home runs when a strained groin put him on the shelf. He returned to go 3 for 5 with a home run and five RBI to led the Mets to their second straight victory.
Jose Reyes had two more hits to extend his hitting streak to thirteen games. He also stole his eleventh base in thirteen attempts. His batting average is up to .300 for the first time since his first game as he continues to excel at the major league level. His on-base (.318) and slugging (.400) percentages aren't anything spectacular yet, but of course he is still just 20 years old and the youngest player in the major leagues, so I think he could be classified as living up to the hype at this point.
Ty Wigginton had a big game as well, going three for three with a pair of doubles, a walk and a stolen base.
Of course, with all the offense, a good performance from Steve Trachsel might get overlooked. Trachsel earned his eleventh win of the season, going seven and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out four.
Today's game will see Tom Glavine (7-11, 4.93) try to continue the winning streak against Jesse Foppert (8-8, 5.08). ¶ joe | 12:57 PM | 0 comments
Guys who hit .176 in AAA usually aren't expected to come up and make much of an impact at the major league level. In fact, that kind of a batting average will usually keep a player in the minors for a while longer. So while the Mets have gotten solid contributions from a number of players called up from Norfolk, the expectations placed upon this particular player may not have been in line with his recent minor league performance. Of course, when your AAA catcher's name is Mike Piazza, you might be justified in taking a chance on him.
After going 3 for 17 in a rehab stint at Norfolk, Piazza returned to Shea Stadium on Wednesday and picked up right where he had left off. Piazza was red-hot, hitting .333/.422/.613 with seven home runs when a strained groin put him on the shelf. He returned to go 3 for 5 with a home run and five RBI to led the Mets to their second straight victory.
Jose Reyes had two more hits to extend his hitting streak to thirteen games. He also stole his eleventh base in thirteen attempts. His batting average is up to .300 for the first time since his first game as he continues to excel at the major league level. His on-base (.318) and slugging (.400) percentages aren't anything spectacular yet, but of course he is still just 20 years old and the youngest player in the major leagues, so I think he could be classified as living up to the hype at this point.
Ty Wigginton had a big game as well, going three for three with a pair of doubles, a walk and a stolen base.
Of course, with all the offense, a good performance from Steve Trachsel might get overlooked. Trachsel earned his eleventh win of the season, going seven and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out four.
Today's game will see Tom Glavine (7-11, 4.93) try to continue the winning streak against Jesse Foppert (8-8, 5.08). ¶ joe | 12:57 PM | 0 comments
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Mets 5, Giants 4
Aaron Heilman's ninth major league start wasn't anything spectacular, but it was an encouraging performance for the struggling rookie that earned him his second win. Heilman went five innings and tied a season high with seven strikeouts, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks. He allowed one home run, to that Bonds fellow you may have heard of. Heilman still gave up more hits and walks than I'd like to see in a relatively short outing, throwing just 84 pitches, but the strikeouts are nice to see and perhaps he can build on this success and settle in at the major league level against a team with fewer superhuman left fielders.
Offensively, Jason Phillips had another big game, going two for three with a double, a home run and a walk. Phillips' power numbers haven't been anything special this year, but he continues to do a great job getting on base, hitting .326/.397/.475. Phillips has definitely shown that he deserves to continue to play every day upon Mike Piazza's impending return. Even if Piazza does make a transition to a full-time first baseman, Phillips has proven far more valuable as an every day player than the slumping Vance Wilson (.241/.288/.378). Jose Reyes' hitting streak is now at eleven, as he went two for four with an RBI double.
Tomorrow, Steve Trachsel (10-7, 4.58) takes on Jerome Williams (5-2, 2.96). ¶ joe | 1:17 AM | 0 comments
Aaron Heilman's ninth major league start wasn't anything spectacular, but it was an encouraging performance for the struggling rookie that earned him his second win. Heilman went five innings and tied a season high with seven strikeouts, allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks. He allowed one home run, to that Bonds fellow you may have heard of. Heilman still gave up more hits and walks than I'd like to see in a relatively short outing, throwing just 84 pitches, but the strikeouts are nice to see and perhaps he can build on this success and settle in at the major league level against a team with fewer superhuman left fielders.
Offensively, Jason Phillips had another big game, going two for three with a double, a home run and a walk. Phillips' power numbers haven't been anything special this year, but he continues to do a great job getting on base, hitting .326/.397/.475. Phillips has definitely shown that he deserves to continue to play every day upon Mike Piazza's impending return. Even if Piazza does make a transition to a full-time first baseman, Phillips has proven far more valuable as an every day player than the slumping Vance Wilson (.241/.288/.378). Jose Reyes' hitting streak is now at eleven, as he went two for four with an RBI double.
Tomorrow, Steve Trachsel (10-7, 4.58) takes on Jerome Williams (5-2, 2.96). ¶ joe | 1:17 AM | 0 comments
Saturday, August 09, 2003
Mets 3, Diamondbacks 1
Well, it's a start. After a series of ineffective starts and health concerns, Tom Glavine went out and gave a very solid performance to earn his seventh win of the season. Glavine threw just 73 pitches over six innings, giving up one run on four hits while walking and striking out two. The win is his first in over a month and a good sign fiven that he had to leave his last start after just one inning due to injury.
Roger Cedeno continued his hot hitting, going three for five with a double and an RBI as well as a stolen base. Cedeno is hitting .500/.485/.750 in the month of August. We can only hope he keeps this up long so that his stats might trick someone into trading for him in the off season. Who knows, maybe some slow-witted American League team could use him as a DH or something. Interesting note: entering tonight's game, Cedeno's batting average was .268 against both righties and lefties. Jose Reyes went one for four with an RBI infield single and also drew another walk. Current numbers: .295/.315/.394. And National League offensive rookie of the year Jason Phillips went hitless in four at bats, but did draw a walk of his own. He's now at .318/.391/.458.
Tomorrow, Jae Weong Seo (5-8, 4.34) goes for his first win in nine starts against Elmer Dessens (6-7, 4.92).
¶ joe | 1:25 AM | 0 comments
Well, it's a start. After a series of ineffective starts and health concerns, Tom Glavine went out and gave a very solid performance to earn his seventh win of the season. Glavine threw just 73 pitches over six innings, giving up one run on four hits while walking and striking out two. The win is his first in over a month and a good sign fiven that he had to leave his last start after just one inning due to injury.
Roger Cedeno continued his hot hitting, going three for five with a double and an RBI as well as a stolen base. Cedeno is hitting .500/.485/.750 in the month of August. We can only hope he keeps this up long so that his stats might trick someone into trading for him in the off season. Who knows, maybe some slow-witted American League team could use him as a DH or something. Interesting note: entering tonight's game, Cedeno's batting average was .268 against both righties and lefties. Jose Reyes went one for four with an RBI infield single and also drew another walk. Current numbers: .295/.315/.394. And National League offensive rookie of the year Jason Phillips went hitless in four at bats, but did draw a walk of his own. He's now at .318/.391/.458.
Tomorrow, Jae Weong Seo (5-8, 4.34) goes for his first win in nine starts against Elmer Dessens (6-7, 4.92).
¶ joe | 1:25 AM | 0 comments
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Say what now?
The following is this week's comment alongside the Mets' number 28 ranking in ESPN.com's Power Alley:
"With the veterans he's been able to unload, Jim Duquette has shown he's worthy of being the Muts' full-time GM."
Now, correct me if I'm way out of line here, but wouldn't he have to have actually gotten something useful in return for the veterans he unloaded to have shown he's worthy of that? Now I'm not saying he got absolutely nothing, or that a better GM could have necessarily gotten significantly more. But let's not act like unloading "proven veterans" in the final year of their contracts on contending teams is some kind of monumental achievement. I think it's too early to really tell whether Duquette will make a good long term solution for the Mets, but I still say if Billy Beane's available, he's the guy I want generally managing this team. ¶ joe | 1:14 AM | 0 comments
The following is this week's comment alongside the Mets' number 28 ranking in ESPN.com's Power Alley:
"With the veterans he's been able to unload, Jim Duquette has shown he's worthy of being the Muts' full-time GM."
Now, correct me if I'm way out of line here, but wouldn't he have to have actually gotten something useful in return for the veterans he unloaded to have shown he's worthy of that? Now I'm not saying he got absolutely nothing, or that a better GM could have necessarily gotten significantly more. But let's not act like unloading "proven veterans" in the final year of their contracts on contending teams is some kind of monumental achievement. I think it's too early to really tell whether Duquette will make a good long term solution for the Mets, but I still say if Billy Beane's available, he's the guy I want generally managing this team. ¶ joe | 1:14 AM | 0 comments
Astros 11, Mets 1
So Aaron Heilman's major league career is off to a less than encouraging start. Tonight it was three innings, six runs, seven hits, two walks and two home runs. Oh, and three strikeouts. He's now giving up home runs at the rate of 2.0 per nine innings as well as walking 4.9 while striking out 6.8. The home run rate is completely out of wack from his minor league numbers (and major league equivalencies) over the last three years, so hopefully it's just nerves and adjusting to the major leagues inflating those numbers. The walk rates are also up ocnsiderably from his minor league numbers, so again there may be hope that what we're seeing right now isn't the real Aaron Heilman. And he's striking out pretty much exactly as many at the major league level as he was at AAA, so there's at least one positive development. Eight starts certainly isn't enough to condemn the man to the scrap heap, but he's certainly got some work to do to live up to the hype at this point.
On the offensive side, Jose Reyes brought some good news, singling twice in four at bats at walking for the second night in a row to put him at .292/.309/.395, leaving his OPS above .700 for the first time since his first night in the majors. He's had a hit in seven straight games now. And surprisingly enough, Marco Scutaro managed to get into the game and had a walk and a hit in three plate appearances.
Tomorrow, Steve Trachsel (9-7, 4.54) goes for his tenth win of the season against Tim Redding (8-9, 3.73). ¶ joe | 1:06 AM | 0 comments
So Aaron Heilman's major league career is off to a less than encouraging start. Tonight it was three innings, six runs, seven hits, two walks and two home runs. Oh, and three strikeouts. He's now giving up home runs at the rate of 2.0 per nine innings as well as walking 4.9 while striking out 6.8. The home run rate is completely out of wack from his minor league numbers (and major league equivalencies) over the last three years, so hopefully it's just nerves and adjusting to the major leagues inflating those numbers. The walk rates are also up ocnsiderably from his minor league numbers, so again there may be hope that what we're seeing right now isn't the real Aaron Heilman. And he's striking out pretty much exactly as many at the major league level as he was at AAA, so there's at least one positive development. Eight starts certainly isn't enough to condemn the man to the scrap heap, but he's certainly got some work to do to live up to the hype at this point.
On the offensive side, Jose Reyes brought some good news, singling twice in four at bats at walking for the second night in a row to put him at .292/.309/.395, leaving his OPS above .700 for the first time since his first night in the majors. He's had a hit in seven straight games now. And surprisingly enough, Marco Scutaro managed to get into the game and had a walk and a hit in three plate appearances.
Tomorrow, Steve Trachsel (9-7, 4.54) goes for his tenth win of the season against Tim Redding (8-9, 3.73). ¶ joe | 1:06 AM | 0 comments
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
Mets 10, Astros 1
During this season of general offensive ineptitude, the Mets have managed to occasionally pull together and put some runs on the board for Al Leiter. Five times the team has scored ten runs and in all but one of those games, Leiter has been the team's starting and the game's winning pitcher. Tonight Leiter continued his string of post-DL effective efforts, giving up just one run in six innings on five hits. Once again his number of walks was less than stellar, as he walked four over those six innings, but he did manage six strikeouts. His ERA in four starts since returning from the disabled list is just 1.08 but his healthy 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings come with 5.0 walks per nine. And while his WHIP is down from the ungodly 1.79 that accompanied him to the disabled list, the post-injury 1.32 is still not pretty. So while the results have been good and his numbers do seem to be coming around a bit, judging from the numbers, he's still got some things to work on if he's going to sustain this success. The increase in the strikeout rate is a big plus if he can keep it up, but those walks and hits need to come down a bit.
Of course, the Met offense had a very nice showing with contribution up and down the lineup, with every starter either getting a hit, driving in or scoring a run. Yep, even Leiter had a single off of the second base bag and scored a run. A three run homer from the slumping Vance Wilson was the big blow in the Mets' seven run fifth inning and Tony Clark blasted his third home run in two games. Jose Reyes went two for four with his eighth double and *gasp* his fifth walk! He's now hitting .287/.302/.392 with eight doubles, four triples and one home run. He's driven in 24 runs and scored 27 and is eight for ten in stolen bases. Roger Cedeno also had another good night, going two for four with a double, two runs and an RBI. Cliff Floyd also doubled and drove in two runs.
Tomorrow it's Aaron Heilman (1-4, 6.93) against Wade Miller (7-10, 4.83). ¶ joe | 1:24 AM | 0 comments
During this season of general offensive ineptitude, the Mets have managed to occasionally pull together and put some runs on the board for Al Leiter. Five times the team has scored ten runs and in all but one of those games, Leiter has been the team's starting and the game's winning pitcher. Tonight Leiter continued his string of post-DL effective efforts, giving up just one run in six innings on five hits. Once again his number of walks was less than stellar, as he walked four over those six innings, but he did manage six strikeouts. His ERA in four starts since returning from the disabled list is just 1.08 but his healthy 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings come with 5.0 walks per nine. And while his WHIP is down from the ungodly 1.79 that accompanied him to the disabled list, the post-injury 1.32 is still not pretty. So while the results have been good and his numbers do seem to be coming around a bit, judging from the numbers, he's still got some things to work on if he's going to sustain this success. The increase in the strikeout rate is a big plus if he can keep it up, but those walks and hits need to come down a bit.
Of course, the Met offense had a very nice showing with contribution up and down the lineup, with every starter either getting a hit, driving in or scoring a run. Yep, even Leiter had a single off of the second base bag and scored a run. A three run homer from the slumping Vance Wilson was the big blow in the Mets' seven run fifth inning and Tony Clark blasted his third home run in two games. Jose Reyes went two for four with his eighth double and *gasp* his fifth walk! He's now hitting .287/.302/.392 with eight doubles, four triples and one home run. He's driven in 24 runs and scored 27 and is eight for ten in stolen bases. Roger Cedeno also had another good night, going two for four with a double, two runs and an RBI. Cliff Floyd also doubled and drove in two runs.
Tomorrow it's Aaron Heilman (1-4, 6.93) against Wade Miller (7-10, 4.83). ¶ joe | 1:24 AM | 0 comments
