Good Ol' Armando!

I know I'm about a day late with this one, but I just wanted to talk about how good it was to see our old friend Armando Benitez come into Wednesday's game in the 9th inning, with the game tied. I know, it wasn't those save situations we know Armando has thrived in, but, golly, just watching the big ol' sweaty guy out there again just warmed my heart. And the results were just the same as they'd always been. Armando, you old rascal! You haven't changed a bit!

All sarcasm aside, it really wasn't too surprising to see Benitez melt down in a non-save situation. I guess you can't argue the move too much. I don't know too much about the Giants bullpen, but why not bring in Kline in that situation? I know, conventional wisdom says live or die with your best, and there wouldn't be a save situation for the Giants anyway, and he hadn't pitched in the series...but you knew he was going to melt down in that spot. No, he wasn't helped when Durham didn't pull up on Reyes's fly ball (he claimed to not have heard Linden calling him off), but once Armando walked Chavez, you knew he was screwed. It was just a matter of when.

Good to see Wright come through with the big hit when it was all said and done. I'll recycle a comment here and say that now Wright's had a couple of nice games in a row. But let's see him make it a third one, and maybe a 4th and a 5th before I'll say he's officially back. Same with Delgado, who popped one into the Bay, and also came through with the big double to tie the game in the 8th inning, although the run was more due cause of Beltran's speed as opposed to a true long hit...I heard it on the radio, and then seeing the replay, Tom McCarthy made it sound like the ball was hit much further in the gap.

This game was another example of the type of Willieball that I really like: I know it's a day game after a night game, I know it's getaway day, and I know there's a long, cross-country flight after the game. But damn it all, Willie goes for the jugular. LoDuca's in there. Alou's in there. Green's in there. Even the one bench guy he started, Ruben Gotay, chipped in with a HR off Morris.

(And, perhaps I'll eat a little crow for the guy who called me out for omitting Gotay from my capsule on Jose Valentin in March...I didn't figure Gotay to be much of a factor at all, but then again, when the other option, Anderson Hernandez, is barely hitting .200 in AAA, Gotay may well have been the only viable option. I still don't think he's going to stick, but he could prove himself to be another one of those heady, intangible guys that comes off the bench and always does something. Only 3 hits so far, but he's made them count.)

Do whatever it takes. Just keep winning. And games like Monday look like a mere hiccup in the larger picture. 5 of 7 on the West Coast, and now back home for a nice 10-game homestand with Milwaukee (bring me the head of Jeff Suppan on Friday night), Chicago (Welcome back, Cliff!) and the first installation of the Madness that is the Mets/Yankees series (where The Ballclub will be fully represented on Sunday Night).

A Scorching Case of VD...
Completely and totally unrelated to anything involving the Mets, but it does involve a much-ballyhooed ex-Met who never panned out, but our old friend Victor Diaz hit his first HR of the season for the Texas Rangers this afternoon, a pinch-hit grand slam off of Sean Henn in the 8th inning of a 14-2 wipeout of the Yankees in the Bronx.

I have to say that I wish Diaz well; he hasn't done much for the Rangers since being called up a couple of weeks ago. I remember him singlehandedly wrecking the Cubs season in 2004 with a 9th inning 3-run HR off of La Troy Hawkins, leading to a Mets victory in late September, and thinking he might well be ticketed for stardom. But weaknesses were exposed when he was starting full time in 2005, in particular his inability to recognize off-speed and breaking pitches, and, more alarming, his inability to adequately field any particular position. He again had a chance in 2006, but he had a miserable spring, got buried on the bench when Nady started off hot and then got buried in the minors, and eventually dealt to Texas for peanuts (unless Mike Nickeas surprises me). Oddly enough, he hit cleanup for Texas in his first start, which also happened to be the night Philip Hughes injured himself during a no-hit bid.

Enough e-ink on marginal ex-Mets. Bring on the Brews!

Awake Is the New Sleep

I did it! I stayed up for all of last night's game! Well, mostly. I drifted off once or twice, but I was definitely awake and alert for Wagner to close it out, and before that for Feliciano to strike out Bonds in the eighth, which was my favorite single moment of the game.

What did we learn last night?

• LoDuca and Wright are battling their way off the schneid. Delgado's still deep in the woods.

• Kevin Burkhardt's job looks really, really fun.

• Keith has the following positions on being a teammate: he deplores the "Clemens clause" and would be upset if one of his teammates had it; despite his pro-team-unity stance, he would not be persuaded to shave his head for his boys; however, he would meet them halfway and lose the mustache, which Gary and I agree would actually be the bigger sacrifice. The Keith has spoken.

• Aaron Sele's excuse: family photo coming up. Dubious but we'll allow it. Glavine's: he was starting, so you don't mess with him, plus he hinted he might join in today. Jose's: he's hitting .350; why mess with that? Plus, he's got the best hair. Aaron Heilman's: um, what exactly is your excuse, Aaron?

• For some reason, I would have banked on Beltran's being a holdout, but it turns out he was actually one of the ringleaders, plus he did most of the barbering. So there you go.

Don't sit under the mango tree with anyone else but me
An excellent question was put to us in the comments section about Pedro Martinez (who, by the way, I'm convinced would have shaved his head). Was his signing worth it? He missed the playoffs last season, which certainly had an impact despite the clutch performances was saw from Maine and Perez, and he'll miss most of this year too. If he comes back when he's projected to and then doesn't miss any more significant time, that will be about one full year out of the four he's signed for, and $14 million of his salary, that he wasn't contributing on the field.

Those are the cons. What about his time on the field so far? You can't argue with 2005. Pedro turned in a great year, going 15-8 with a 2.82 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 208 strikeouts, and a .204 average against. He did, however, get shut down at the end of the season, earning a tongue-lashing from local radio lunatic Chris Russo. In 2006 he again started out strong until injuries hampered him and started to hurt his performances. He was 5-1 before the undershirt incident and 4-7 after, with his ERA jumping from 2.50 to 7.10.

In a worst-case scenario, let's say Pedro's comeback, slated for August, goes very poorly and maybe he even re-injures himself, and he decides to retire. Best case, he comes back fine, pitches well down the stretch and in the playoffs, collects a shiny new ring, is fairly effective next season with a minimum of DL time, and hangs 'em up after 2008 a hero to Mets fans and Red Sox fans alike. To answer the anonymous commenter's question: I don't have a problem with the signing either way.

Here's why.

The contract was for four years, $53 million. Let's face it, the Mets could and can still afford that. The key for me here is that they didn't go to a fifth year or beyond. Long contracts are far more crippling then simply expensive contracts. Moreover, that 2005 season in which Martinez was so effective was crucial for fans to once again believe in their team, which had built a horrible reputation for throwing money at has-beens, burnouts, and other assorted nightmares.

There was a lot of talk, and I don't know if this can be proved or disproved, that signing Pedro gave the team a leg up on signing Carlos Beltran as well as other, less major free agents. (Additionally, as much of a hard time as Beltran had that year, he wasn't the only face of the franchise. Pedro's presence and positive vibes, along with David Wright's, had to deflect some of the heat from him, even if Carlos still took his share.) Again, this is a rich team, so maybe those signing happen anyway, but (and again, we're just taking various insiders' words for it) Pedro's presence made the clubhouse click and set a certain tone, without ever stepping on Willie Randolph's toes or annoying more staid veterans like Tom Glavine (as far as we know). This countered any fears that anyone may have had stemming from reports out of Boston about demands for special treatment and pissing contests between Pedro and Curt Schilling.

With all that said, if a great team hadn't been built around Pedro it would be a very different story. This only works because the team can get by without him and, if you trust the early results, pitchers like Maine and Perez (and I hope Pelfrey) can hold the fort in his absence. Which raises an interesting question: if the team can get by without Pedro, how was signing him still worth it? Well, first there's the aforementioned "transition year" of 2005 in which good will was built up before the remaining parts (Delgado, LoDuca, etc.) had been put in place. Second, there's the matter of this year's playoffs, if God willing we're involved in them. Pedro is in line to be the proverbial free deadline addition and finishing piece to the rotation. And most of all, you have to look at it from the perspective of when the signing was made, balancing risk and reward. The Mets accepted the risk and prepared to make do if Pedro missed significant time. They made sure that it wouldn't kill them. And it hasn't.

The flip side is the reward: when healthy, Pedro has been excellent. He's only a six-inning pitcher? Who isn't these days? And besides, this bullpen is built to work.

But to get down to brass tacks, it really does come down to money. He was a good signing for Mets because they could afford him and afford to eat the missed time. They could take the rewards while hedging against the risk. If it was a smaller-payroll team that banked on him for the same money and years, they'd have crippled themselves in the process, and it would have been a terrible signing. If the worst-case scenario I described earlier actually happens, maybe fans will revisit how we feel about this, but for now I think that this team was in just the right position to make this a worthwhile signing.

Solidarity!

By now we've all noticed that everyone on the Mets has shaved their heads bald either before or after yesterday's game. I heard an interview with LoDuca on the radio following the game that this was the brainchild of himself and Wright. Apparently, the idea of the entire team shaving their heads had been discussed, but only yesterday did LoDuca enter the clubhouse with a mohawk, and Wright completely bald.

And with Beltran at the shears, just about everyone else followed suit.

It's this kind of behavior, the club doing goofy things together that you like to see. It's weird, but it does bring you closer to the team. The Red Sox did something similar in 2003 and 2004 between shaved heads and mutant facial hair, and it was interesting to see how the team dynamic led to successful results, and in the case of the '04 Sox, a world championship.

Following Monday night's debacle by the Bay, it was clear that the Mets needed a little bit of a jolt. Perez looked miserable out there in the 5th, and as his defense failed around him, it seemed like he lost his concentration. And overall, the team just looked flat. Maybe it was the travel, who knows, but last night, they looked the exact opposite.

Glavine led the charge with 7 strong innings for win #294, despite the fact that he hadn't shave his head (and LoDuca reported that he said he would do so after the game, and he did indeed). His only real mistake came on Bonds's HR in the 4th , a solo shot to make it 4-1, but the Giants got no closer.

(I'll avoid slinging accusations at Bonds, but note that that was HR #745 for him. The Giants are at Shea at the end of May. If Bonds has an unconscious month, I'm not saying he will, but it's possible that he could be right around the record at the end of the month, rolling into Shea...)

But it was the bald-headed warriors that led the way for the Mets last night. Bald Reyes (editor's note: Reyes kept his hair, and with a .350 BA, why not? -Guapo) Bald Wright and Bald Barber Beltran kicked off the game with consecutive doubles, and the Mets plated 3 in the first, and were well on their way to breaking out of this mini-funk.


Good games all around for everyone, and good to erase the bad feelings from Monday night. Gone, like the hair on the heads of the Mets. LoDuca reported that, after the game, everyone on the team, the coaches, and even PR man Jay Horowitz had joined in the hair parade.

And so, behind Bald John Maine, the bald wonders continue their adventures this afternoon, looking to take the series in San Francisco, and looking to end this West Coast swing on a positive note.

Quick Hits: Clemens, Night Games, a Decent Sopranos Episode

Although I caught a little of yesterday's Yankee game, I missed the sickening spectacle of seeing Roger Clemens's Evita/Lou Gehrig moment, announcing to the huddled and pinstriped masses his intention to return this season to the Yankees (at $8,888 per pitch). To commemorate the event, ESPN.com has freed up Bill Simmons's 2001 column in which he explains why Clemens is more than just another guy who leaves his team for big free agent money; rather, he's the Antichrist.

Slate does the same thing with Seth Stevenson's 2004 piece:

Also: You are fat. They say you've got this hard-core training regimen, with calisthenics and whatnot. I'm not seeing it. You're wicked fat.

Oh, perhaps that was uncalled for. You know what else was uncalled for? Sucking, every time it mattered. You ruined my childhood, fatty. Because the trauma you put me through as a young, impressionable Red Sox fan has stunted my emotional growth, I revert to a juvenile mind-set whenever I see you. Like repeatedly calling you fat.

That's Clemens for you, never exactly bringing out the best in either his teammates or his detractors (I'd say fans, too, but he doesn't have any).

And you know, people forget this now, but there was a time when Clemens was really, really out of shape. Double chin and everything. Like, "Is that Clemens or Clemenza?" fat. It's good to be reminded of this from time to time when TV guys are fawning over him about his offseason training routine.

Along the way Stevenson offhandedly drops in a suggestion that Clemens would probably give very serious consideration to if he thought of it: hiring himself out start by start to the highest bidder. In fact, I bet you he tries that next season.

News on teams we actually like
I've got night-game-itis this week. If I couldn't make it past the second quarter for any of those ridiculous Mavs-Warriors games (go Warriors!), then there's no way I'm going to manage to get past, say, the fifth inning of these games versus los Gigantes. With that said, Zito v. Perez tonight is a really compelling matchup. Two young(ish) enigmatic lefties squaring off always makes for a good time. I'll do my best to stick it out.

Mets2Moon and I will be there Friday to welcome the Mets back to Shea. And we'll be sure to avoid the parking lot.

Green is the valley blue is the night
Now, finally, a Sopranos episode you could sink your teeth into. Not perfect, mind you, but who's expecting that anymore? Nothing else last night quite hit the same pitch-perfect tone as the Los Lobos song they used for the closing credits, but all in all this was more like it. No more "who's that guy?" out-of-left-field characters wasting our time. Paulie, Christopher, Tony, A.J., Dr. Melfi. Sad-sack Tim Daly, just trying to hack out a Law & Order episode. Lap dances. Some poor schlemeil getting his ass kicked over owed money. The old, good stuff. When Tony grabs a gun hearing a car revving up the driveway behind him, a genuine "here we go" chill moment.

I don't expect the show to regain its old fastball in the last four episodes, but if it can keep changing speeds and locating, we'll be fine. And when Chris Moltisanti gets got, and I'm convinced he will, that'll be the most genuinely sad death of a sociopath in TV history. Ever notice how his name is an echo of Frank Pentangeli's from Godfather II? "Many saints"/"five angels"? If Tony has to do Chris in himself, it'll be like Big Pussy + Tony B. times infinity.

Raising Arizona

By losing Sunday's game in Arizona, the Mets failed to pull off the 4-game sweep of the D'Backs in Chase (nee Bank One Ballpark) Field. In fact, that was the first time they'd lost out in the Desert since May 11, 2004, when Steve Finley and Shea Hillenbrand torched Al Leiter 9-5. The streak began the next night when Kaz Matsui led off the game with a Home Run off of Randy Johnson, and Glavine pitched shutout ball into the 8th inning, a 1-0 victory.

And since then, it seems like the Mets just roll into Arizona and beat the D'Backs around like a group of red-headed stepchildren. In fact, since the D'Backs have abandoned their old purple-based group of 43 different uniform combinations in favor of a hideous red-based jersey scheme, they really are red-headed at times (and as an aside, how ridiculous are those uniforms? I can't tell if the Mets were playing the Anaheim Angels or the Houston Astros. Talk about going from bad to worse!). But I digress. In 2005, the Mets came into Arizona in late August and swept a 4 game series, with Mike Jacobs, David Wright and Victor Diaz leading 14-1 and 18-4 thrashings, sandwiched by taut, low scoring victories. In June 2006, the Mets surged into Arizona in June like a freight train during their 9-1 road trip, with strong pitching efforts by El Duque and Alay Soler leading the way for another 4-game wipeout.

This weekend appeared to be more of the same, with Sunday's game the lone exception. Thursday's game, as detailed here, featured a 9th inning meltdown by Arizona, as the Mets came back with a 6-run 9th inning. Friday night's story was, of course, John Maine continuing to look like an All-Star, and Julio Franco extending his record as the oldest man ever to hit a home run in a 5-3 victory.

Lost in the shuffle in that game was that not only did Franco homer off of Johnson, he also stole a base in the 8th inning. Amazingly, someone older than Julio has done that. I myself forgot that, but apparently, Arlie Latham was 49 when he stole a base, and Julio is still merely 48.

Maine continues to look sharp, even when he doesn't have his best stuff. As we've mentioned about Maine, it's not necessarily that we expect him to blow everyone away and throw shutouts each time out. He hasn't done that and he doesn't need to. But what he needs to do, and what he has continued to do very well over the early part of this season is he has been able to minimize damage, and get himself out of jams. In the 3rd inning, he gave up his only run of the game on a Chris B. Young RBI single, but Reyes alertly tagged Young out after he overslid second base. Maine had men on base in just about all of his 6 innings (only retiring the side in order in the 5th), but he was able to rebound, either by the strikeout, or with help from his defense (Reyes's play, and a DP in the second). To close it out, Maine had a 1st and 2nd, 1 out jam in the 6th, but he was able to get Byrnes (who looks like a blond-headed Mark Fidrych), and simply blew away Stephen Drew for his final out of the night. Maine himself admitted that he didn't have his best stuff, but he gutted it out anyway, and the end result certainly acquits him fine.

Also lost in that game was the non-catch by Chavez in the 8th inning, which nearly gave me a double heart attack considering 1) The ball may not have been caught by Chavez, but it certainly wasn't over the fence and 2) Chavez nearly broke his ankle in the process, but fortunately turned out to be fine. The picture here tells you all you need to know. The ball isn't over the wall, and Endy basically is about to get a glove full of popcorn by this Steve Bartman wanna-be, thereby confounding the umpire into calling the ball a HR. Fortunately, it turns out to be moot as the Mets still won the game.

Howie Rose on WFAN said following the game something to the effect of, "Ever since last year, you almost take for granted that Endy is going to make that catch every time. But sometimes, you just don't come up with it."

True. And he probably didn't catch it. But get the damn call right. It wasn't over the fence.

Saturday, it's Jorge Sosa, coming out of nowhere and pitching 6.2 strong innings, looking like the Anti-Chan Ho Park and surprising the hell out of all of us in the process. I saw Sosa a couple of times last season with Atlanta, and he certainly gave no indication of being effective. And he certainly didn't impress anyone in Spring Training. But it appeared that he righted himself in the Minors, and last night he threw great. Aided by a 2-run HR from Shawn Green (and a hearty Mazel Tov to Shawn for his stellar performance so far this season) and a 2-run single from LoDuca (aided by some sloppy Arizona fielding), the Mets again knocked around a tough pitcher in Brandon Webb and came away with yet another victory in Arizona, 6-2.

And so, with 3 games already in the bag, you can't really tear your hair out over Sunday's loss. Once again, Pelfrey looked good, if uneven over his 5+ innings. He got himself in trouble in the first, got out of it with only 1 run allowed, and looked OK through the middle innings before getting into more trouble in the 5th. But Willie basically threw the "B" team out there, with Beltran, Alou, LoDuca and Easley resting, and against Livan Hernandez the team looked mostly punchless.

Sure, there were a couple of bad moments, Gotay's brilliant stab and glove-flip up the middle was botched when Reyes tried to bare-hand the ball, which he dropped (and with Livan Hernandez running, Gotay might have actually had time to set and throw back to first, but it's still a difficult play), and Feliciano looking a little shaky before getting out of a jam in the 6th. But, again, you'll sign for 3 of 4 to start this road trip anytime.

Other odd notes: Burgos went down with Sosa being called up. It's not really a questionable move, since Burgos had been so inconsistent, and had just become the garbage-time guy out of the bullpen. He threw 2 innings on Friday and gave up the HR/non-HR to Hudson in his last outing, and that seemed like Typical Burgos. He could blow you away, or he could blow himself up, and there really didn't seem to be any in between. Some time in AAA ought to do him good. Let him pitch regularly for a while and work it out.

Lino Urdaneta is up, and made his first appearance on Sunday, following his lone ML outing coming with Detroit in September, 2004, in the midst of a 26-5 thrashing at the hands of KC, where Urdaneta faced 6 batters, gave up 6 runs and failed to get an out, resulting in him entering this game with a career ERA of Infinity, which he was able to lower to a much more manageable 81.00 with his 2/3 of an inning on Sunday.

Wright and Delgado continue to scuffle at the plate, only showing flashes of brilliance, and nothing consistent. Keep plugging away. They'll get started eventually. I hope...

So, all in all, a successful weekend in Arizona. And now further west we go...

"If you're going to San Francisco..."