Back to Business

So, I'm back from vacation and it seems I've missed very little. While I was away, the Mets, predictably, got throttled in a Morning game in Washington, did nothing noteworthy against the Cardinals, dispersed for the All-Star Break, came back, won the first two games over the weekend against the Colorados, and then as they usually do, got lit on fire on Sunday. I saw none of these games, and in fact was out of the country for most of them. I even missed Michael Conforto represent the Mets at the All Star Game, where he got a hit while Joe Buck was busy extolling the virtues of someone who wasn't even on the field at that moment.

But so tonight was the first game I'd had the opportunity to see since I returned, and in fact I actually had tickets for tonight, but instead opted to swap them out for Wednesday for a variety of reasons, among them that day's starting pitcher. I tend to rue these Mets/Cardinals games, generally because the Cardinals are constantly persnickety and annoying, and their fans run around with selfie sticks and sniff their own underwear. I've gone over the whole "least favorite fans" bit innumerable times, and Cardinals fans are near the top of that list.

I made a wise decision not going tonight. Though I put the game on late and actually missed Zack Wheeler's outing altogether, I had the poor fortune of tuning in just as Hansel Robles made his return after an exile to AAA, and as such had the poor fortune of seeing Tommy Pham send Robles' second pitch into orbit for a 3-run Home Run that essentially scorched the game from there. It's nice to see that Robles really changed and grew and improved as a pitcher in his time in the minors. And you wonder why I've had enough of him.

The Mets still don't quit, though, and against Adam Wainwright (and by tuning in late, I missed the assorted waxing poetic about Wainwright and 2006 and another era that ultimately left us wanting more), they fought back for a pair of runs thanks to a Lucas Duda Home Run and a Jose Reyes not-Home Run that was kicked around the Outfield by Magneuris Sierra or whatever his name is. But they got no closer than 6-3. That's not to say they didn't have opportunities, but against Brett Cecil (not an ex-Yankee), the Mets got two men on in the 9th, and had Yoenis Cespedes at the plate, with a 3-0 count...and Cespedes summarily swung at a sucker pitch and hit into an easy Double Play to end the game.

This is my welcome back? Gee. Thanks, guys.

Back To Game Speed

I didn't have much to say this week, even as far as assessing the state of the Mets after the first half of the season. There's not much to say. They're hanging in, in spite of some injuries and a lot of inconsistencies, and a general lack of situational hitting. The goal for the second half: Be better.

Friday night in Philadelphia was a good start as they beat the Phillies, 5-3, taking out a team that they need to do a better job against since they're going to see each other 12 times (at least) over the remainder of the season. Though Yoenis Cespedes was still out, recovering from his leg injury, Juan Lagares did a good job in his place, hitting a Home Run and generally being in the middle of things. Neil Walker, who also could be better, hit a 3-run Home Run off Jeremy Hellickson, and this was enough in support of Bartolo Colon and company.

This was, in essence, a night for the Mets snubbed All Stars to shine. Yes, the Mets lost 2 of their 4 All Stars to injury, and so I had no problem with Cespedes or Syndergaard not appearing (even though Syndergaard was there to tip his cap and do Syndergaard things). I was, however, puzzled over the disappearance of Colon and Jeurys Familia in the game. Especially since Terry Collins was managing the game. Now, I care very little about the All Star Game in general. I'll usually watch the game, if only to root for the National League, which more often than not has been a losing cause, and also to see the Mets, in the hope that they will represent themselves well. David Wright was usually very good at this, since he played in 7 games and almost always got a hit. Few Mets All Stars did better to this particular end than Jacob deGrom did last year, of course. So I watched, halfheartedly, some of the later innings to see Colon and Familia. But they never showed up. And that's a bit of a shame. Familia is one thing, but Bartolo Colon making the All Star Team at age 43 is almost like a Lifetime Achievement award. How many more times will this happen? So they were both apparently pissed off and I can't blame them. Their own manager couldn't get them in the damn game? It wasn't right.

That's all I have to say about that, but if nothing else the first game back last night was their night to prove themselves worthy, and they both did well, Colon picking up his 8th win of the season, Familia got his 32nd Save, the Mets were back in business and now I have to start paying attention every day again, which was tough after a few days off, and I ended up sleeping through the first 6 innings. But in the end all is well, and here we go.

Make Them Remember

Generally, I want two things out of the All Star Game. I want the National League to win, and I want the Mets playing in the game to represent themselves well.

I got one out of two this year in Cincinnati. Though the American League, behind Mike Trout (sorry Cubs fans, Trout is the real Baseball Jesus, not Kris Bryant), won the game by a mostly forgettable 6- 3 margin, the lone Met presence at the game acquitted himself particularly well. Jacob deGrom performed so remarkably well, in fact, that he forcibly interjected not just himself, but his team into the conversation.

deGrom entered the game in the top of the 6th inning with the National League trailing 3- 1. Just one inning earlier, Clayton Kershaw, who was selected for the game at the last minute over a possibly more-deserving Jeurys Familia, had pitched and was battered around for two runs, and eventually took the loss in the game. To this point, our wonderful friends at FOX had done just about everything possible to pretend that the Mets actually did not exist. Prior to the game, if you watched their 1st half Highlight package, there were clips from every team, including the lousy Phillies and the Mickey Mouse Marlins, but not a single Mets clip to be found, except from the night that they found themselves on the wrong side of History, and even then, that wasn't a Mets clip, that was at the expense of the Mets. Kirk Nieuwenhuis was among a select few to knock 3 Home Runs in a game, but was he in the montage? Oh no. We don't abscond to show the Mets. They're not relevant. They're not attractive. They're boring. It wouldn't have surprised me if FOX had found a way to omit the Mets from the "Franchise Four" ceremony (where, if you were paying attention, the Washington Nationals Franchise Four included four players who never actually played for the Washington Nationals—so if you're keeping score, the Nationals have un-retired the Expos' retired numbers, basically ignored the Expos heritage and history, and yet haven't yet actually distinguished themselves from the Expos). When announcing the rosters, that plastic-haired schmuck Joe Buck sneered as he said, "And from the Mets..." as though they weren't even worthy of sending someone to the game. And, through the first five innings, things played out as such.

Then, Jacob deGrom entered the game and not-so-subtly told FOX to kiss his ass.

We have been watching deGrom ply his trade all season, and not for nothing but he was the National League Rookie of the Year last season, and so maybe it wasn't quite so surprising to us that he pitched well. But when you have one inning and one shot to make an impression on a National TV audience, you want to make your mark, and deGrom did that with Style. I'm not sure where deGrom had been hiding his 98mph fastball, but he had one inning and I'm sure he figured he was just going to let it fly, and for 10 pitches, that's just what he did. That's 10 pitches, because that was all he needed to strike out the three American League batters he faced.

He came out with a purpose and basically gassed Stephen Vogt on three pitches, and three such effortless pitches that Buck and Harold Reynolds immediately had to perk up. Jason Kipnis followed and deGrom gassed him too, only needing 4 pitches to blow him out of the box. Now, I was fired up, because now everyone had to take notice. deGrom was putting on his own personal show. Jose Iglesias was next and by this point he probably could have been told what was coming and still wouldn't have come close to hitting it, and didn't come particularly close on any of the three pitches he saw, and once he got to two strikes, I'd bet just about every Mets fan watching was up and roaring like we were watching him in person to will him to that 3rd strike, and that's just what he got.

No, it was not the first time a Mets pitcher had gone out in an All Star Game and struck out the side. But you think back to Dwight Gooden doing it in 1984 and you see deGrom simply overpowering a trio of befuddled looking AL batters, and you hear announcers who had earlier scoffed at the mere mention of your team now totally awestruck, and then he's actually getting interviewed in the dugout, and by game's end he's now regarded as the standout performer for the National League, well, maybe people shouldn't be taking the Mets so lightly.

Lighting Up The Night

To say that the game itself is the least interesting part of the All-Star Festivities is probably an understatement. The game rarely, if ever, lives up to the hype; I can only remember a handful of games that might have generated some excitement. They tend to be disjointed, sleepy affairs, certainly not for the short-attention span generation. Recent years have seen me become bored and tune out the game entirely, usually after the 4th or 5th inning, or whenever the Mets representatives had already played.

This year's affair held more juice than normal, if only because it was at Citi Field, my home ballpark, and much of the pomp and circumstance would basically be in my backyard. This wasn't like in 2008, when the whole thing was basically a Yankee lather job. This was the Mets moment in the sun, Citi Field's night to shine. Of course, the game was a dud overall, a 3-0 American League victory that featured great pitching, and more great pitching, and even more great pitching, and little else. But if nothing else, the hosts held up their end of the bargain.

You knew Matt Harvey would be cranked up for this particular start (and probably looking for a little more recognition), especially after the roaring ovation he received upon his introduction. But he nearly had his wheels come off in the 1st after allowing a leadoff double to Mike Trout and then hitting Robinson Cano (who was nice enough to not bother getting out of the way of Harvey's tailing fastball, but Harvey, ever gracious, apologized afterward), but Harvey, who has made a habit of not breaking, struck out Miguel Cabrera and, one out later, Jose Bautista to get out of the inning untarnished. His second inning was spotless, featuring a strikeout of Adam Jones, and thusly, his evening was done after two innings, allowing one hit and striking out 3, which was more or less a normal outing for him (you know, without the hype and getting pulled after 2 innings).

Unfortunately, the National League couldn't muster any runs for Harvey, which has been a recurring theme for him this year. In fact, the NL managed all of 3 hits against the AL. But, one of them was by the All Star Game's de facto Master of Ceremonies, David Wright, who has a habit of getting at least one hit every time he plays in an All Star Game, kept his streak going with a 7th inning single that ended up being of little consequence.

And then, there was Citi Field. The Mets had last hosted an All Star Game in 1964, the first year at Shea Stadium. As a kid, I wondered when, or if, there would ever be another at Shea. As I got older, I realized why there never was: most stadiums were now these shimmering new palaces. Shea Stadium was what it was. Our loveable blue blob. Magnificent in its time, but lacking in pizzazz. The All Star Game needs some pizzazz (usually because the game stinks). Citi Field debuted in 2009 with that pizzazz and, in its 5th season, hosted its first All Star Game. And although I wasn't there because I wasn't approved for a loan, it seemed to me that Citi Field did not disappoint as host. The Mets fans were out in full force, giving the representatives of the Phillies, Braves, Nationals and Yankees their well-deserved jeers (Jose Fernandez of the Marlins didn't appear to draw much of a reaction, probably because he's young and he hasn't pissed us off yet). David Wright, Matt Harvey, Terry Collins and Davey Johnson were given their much-deserved heroes' welcomes. Even departed players Carlos Beltran and Carlos Gomez received warm welcomes. The park looked great, it played fair and a fine time appeared to be had by all.

Now, will it be another 49 years before the Mets host another All Star Game?

Working Forward

It's very easy to complain about several of the bad things that have gone on with the Mets to this point this season. It's also been just as easy to forget that nobody thought the Mets would be especially good to begin with. But, in the thick of the Baseball season, emotions always get the better of us. That's just part of being a fan. The Mets, to this point, have been often maddening, often frustrating and sometimes enjoyable. And with the season half over, it's time to take a look at what the hell has gone on this year.

What's Gone Right:

Matt Harvey: Duh. But what's been surprising about Harvey is just how completely dominant he has looked so early in his career. We knew he'd be good. We didn't think he'd immediately launch himself into a Seaver/Gooden stratosphere in his first full season in the Major Leagues. But that's what's happened. He started off his season with a 7 inning, 1 hit, 0 run, 10 strikeout effort and hasn't looked back, to the point where his good outings usually involve him taking a shutout or a no-hitter into the late innings of games, and his bad outings might be better than the best days of most. Fans have picked up on this. And the reward is that Harvey will now be introduced to the entire nation when he starts the All Star Game tomorrow night.

Bobby Parnell: I was pretty sick of Parnell after last season because he never managed to put it together enough to have an actual role in the Bullpen. And he had a good season last year, but when he was bad, he was awful. That said, when Terry Collins named him the closer in Spring Training, I was all for it, just to see what the hell he was made of, once and for all. And Parnell has responded by, for the most part, having a great season and really carving a niche for himself as a Major League quality closer.

David Wright: At this point, Wright is sort of just doing whatever he can to carry the team. The problem is that he's had no consistent protection or support and so while his numbers look somewhat thin, how much more could he logically do?

The Future: It's going to be interesting, if nothing else. Harvey's proven himself to be such a polished product that he's put a bit of heat on these other young pups that are on the way up. Zack Wheeler has come up and was up and down in his first couple of outings, before putting forward a great start in San Francisco (that I was only able to follow on a rumor level from Canada). Meanwhile, there's also Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero who are lighting things up in the minors. The problem is that although there's a boatload of pitching, there's no offense to speak of, at least as far as I can tell. Wilmer Flores appears ready to ascend, but does he have a position? Does anyone else really register on anyone's particular radars? Which begs the question: Will Syndergaard or Montero really make an impact here, or are they going to be some high-level trade bait?

What's been OK:
Daniel Murphy: Yeah, sure, when he gets on a hot streak, he looks great, but then he goes into one of those funks where he starts grounding out all the time and moping around like Leonard Hofstadter. Strange as it may sound, Murphy is actually one of the elder statesman on this club and it's hard to imagine that he's going to get much better than he already is. That's all fine and good if he's going to be the Murphy who can hit .320. But if he's the Murphy who hits .268, that won't wash.

Jeremy Hefner: Jeremy Hefner deserves some particular commendation for pitching as well as he has of late, because I really don't think anyone gave him enough credit to pitch that well. I certainly didn't, and I've been pleasantly surprised by how well he's performed. His record is still sort of ugly, but it's been a bit more bad luck and less bad pitching as his season has progressed. Yes, he was bad at the beginning, but he's proven himself a valuable part of the rotation, particularly as injuries cropped up around him.

Dillon Gee: Similar to Hefner. Gee had an awful start to the season but he's turned it around, pretty much starting with his outing against the Yankees and working forward from there. Safe to say he's just about back at the level he was throwing at when he got hurt last year. Except when he faces the Phillies.

Other pleasant surprises include: Josh Satin (Expected nothing, got surprising production), Omar Quintanilla (Holds the fort well enough), Carlos Torres (Got people out), John Buck (April only).

What's been bad:
Unfortunately, everything else. Ike Davis got off to the same bad start he got off to in 2012, but this time he couldn't pull himself out of it and now appears to be right on the verge of hopelessness, which is shocking because he hit 32 Home Runs in about half a season last year. Lucas Duda somehow drew all sorts of attention for walking a lot early in the season, which seemed to be to be a whole lot of grasping at straws because he also had numbers that looked something like 6 Home Runs and 14 RBI, which means that he's either walking or hitting a HR, and that only works if your name is Dave Kingman. Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Anthony Recker have run into a couple of fastballs at opportune moments in time but that's about the only noteworthy things they've done. Ruben Tejada made me look like an idiot for casting Edgardo Alfonzo comparisons on him, and after last season who wouldn't have, but his performance to this point has been beyond reproach. Jordany Valdespin has proven himself to be little more than an untalented Lastings Milledge-type and his recent outburst over his demotion may have signed his ticket out of town. The Bullpen, the bullpen, the bullpen. Passes go to LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Rice and David Aardsma but everyone else? No, no, no. I'd go in depth but who needs the aggravation? Jonathon Niese has, to this point, failed to build on his strong year last year and in the process is now injured, the rest of his season in limbo. Shaun Marcum, I only shake my head and at least there was some tangible reason for the fact that he looked like the most miserable man on the planet every time he took the mound.

The past few years, the Mets have come out of the All-Star Break after a reasonably promising first half and proceeded to make complete asses out of themselves each year. This probably won't happen again, if only because they sufficiently buried themselves in the first half, but maybe these pitchers will keep the Mets sort of afloat, and just maybe they'll pull themselves up to around .500 for the season. I don't know for certain if they can pull this off, but they've managed to drag themselves out of the abyss over the last month and one can only hope that this will carry over into the 2nd half. Again, the key word here is hope, because that's the one thing the Mets have left.

Enough Of You

I'm far too exasperated about today's game to really write anything tangible, beyond "Everyone that isn't Matt Harvey or David Wright stinks," and besides, I've been writing that all season. Matt Harvey took his first loss of the season today, although he's pitched well enough to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 12-0 right now.

Instead, I've decided to rant about something else.

Today, there was a story circulating around about the Mets approaching a dating site for Cougars with the idea that they would push them to vote for David Wright for the All Star Game. The idea came about because David Wright, who has remained one of the Mets Matinee Idols throughout his career, was voted by this site as "MLB's Hottest Cub." A silly ploy, but, hey, why not? Back up your feelings with some votes. I fail to see why this would be so illogical, or even newsworthy. Of course, somehow this was leaked to Deadspin, which has sort of become a bastion of Met Haters (This oddly did not happen when Will Leitch was in charge, and he was as anti-Met as they come), who will take pretty much any story they can find related to the Mets and spin it so that the Mets come off looking pathetic and ridiculous.

This is what bothers me: So, the San Francisco Giants can go to all the lengths they want to stuff the ballot box to the gills, essentially rigging things so that guys like Marco Scutaro and Brandon Belt are elected starters for the All Star Game, thus ensuring more deserving players aren't elected. David Wright may not be all-world, but among his peers in the National League, he's probably the best one going right now. Yet, somehow, Pablo Sandoval eked him out at the last second last year, and again leads him by close to 200,000 votes this year in spite of the fact that he's probably not even in the top HALF of NL 3rd Basemen. But, since the San Francisco Giants are a "respectable" team, nobody really bats much of an eyelash at them or their chicanery. Every team tries to get the vote out for their own guys, but what the Giants have done is kind of ridiculous.

So, then, why are the Mets, who are trying to get their DESERVING 3rd Baseman elected to the All Star Game, which by the way is being played in HIS HOME BALLPARK, subject to ridicule for their methods? It's because they're the Mets, and the Mets are inherently stupid and should be made fun of for any reason possible. This is the way the Mets are now portrayed. It started off with the Bernie Madoff scandal and seems to have spiraled from there.

Well, I've had enough. Leave the Mets alone. Mets fans have suffered enough over the past 6 seasons. We don't need the blogosphere picking on us for trying to get our guy voted into the All Star Game, we don't need to get ridiculed for every little stupid thing that happens, and we don't need places like the Post making everything into a Met-slamfest. We get it. We stink. It's going to be several years before it gets better. Stop picking on the Mets just because they're the Mets. Just let us suffer in silence and try to get our guy into our All Star Game.

Snubbed!

I have, in my over 25 years of going to Mets games, tried to make it to as many of the "important" games as I could. Among these are Opening Day, which I've made it to every year since 2005, plus several other non-consecutive seasons, closing day, the Subway Series (which has grown tired for me in recent years, so I stopped going), 5 Postseason games and, of course, the Final Game at Shea Stadium, and the First Game at Citi Field.

With the All Star Game coming to Citi Field this coming season, I figured I'd make every good effort to make it there, too. I'd renewed my 15-game plan last Summer with an eye to getting first crack at tickets, which apparently were only available in "strips" that included tickets to the All Star Fanfest at the Javits Center (which I attended in 2008 and mostly enjoyed), the All Star Sunday festivities (Futures Game, Celebrity Softball), the Home Run Derby and, of course, the game itself on Tuesday. It seemed like a whole lot of crotch-grabbing just to get a ticket, but, nonetheless, I figured if nothing else I could sell off the Sunday and Monday tickets and just go to the game.

You know, provided I could afford the tickets in the first place. This was no guarantee. My fear was that the tickets would prove so prohibitively expensive that I wouldn't be able to get them in the first place. I scoured around the internet to see how much tickets to the 2012 All Star Game in Kansas City cost, but I couldn't really find anything. I know that the Mets had little control over how much tickets would cost, but the first bad sign I'd heard was about a month or so ago when, while listening to WFAN as is my wont, I heard someone mention that when MLB and the Mets were setting the pricing scale for the game, the prices were set "at the high end" of the spectrum.

Still, I figured they couldn't cost THAT much. I've been to NLDS and NLCS games, and those tickets are priced by MLB (at least I believe they are), and started at $45 for the Division Series and $80 for the LCS. So, maybe they'd be about $200-$300 a pop, with all the other junk they were adding on. I got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago reminding me to "Save The Date" of January 29th, which was when they were making All Star tickets available for 15-game plan holders. A few days later, my Account Representative called me to make sure I'd received that message. I told him I had, and I asked him what the pricing structure would be. To my dismay, he confirmed my fears by telling me that the strips "start at around $500."

I told him I'd try to make it work. I suppose that didn't make much difference to him; he's not on commission or anything, and what's besides the point, I was full of crap. There was no real way I was going to make that work. Even if I tried selling off the Sunday and Monday tickets, I'm not really in any kind of position to plonk down approximately $300 more than I paid for my 15 games to go to the All Star Game. So, I knew this morning, when I got an e-mail from the Mets with my "Special one-time only Password" to purchase "Your All Star Ticket Strips," I knew I was simply receiving the privilege of logging onto the Mets website to see just how badly I wasn't able to afford tickets.

I have, in the now 5 seasons I've been buying my ticket plan at Citi Field, sitting in what's generally been known as the "Promenade Infield," generally in sections 518, or, in 2011, 517 (and a move to 512 in 2013). A ticket strip in one of these sections for the All Star game will set you back $703, or, approximately $20 more than I spent on the two seats in my 15-game plan for the entire 2013 season. Now, my 15 games are one of the few luxuries in life I afford myself, because dammit, I love the Mets that much. Tickets to the All Star Game, at least for me, would have been a nice little bonus had the price been relatively reasonable. $703 was redonkulous. Even choosing a lesser seat was out of the question; strips in the Promenade Reserved were absurd at $553. The Promenade Outfield was merely a pittance at $453 per strip. At least I could have gotten two strips for more than my ticket plan instead of just one in that section.

So, at the risk of getting too "99%," I'll stop here. Those of you who feel you can afford to fork over this kind of money for an All Star Ticket Strip, I tip my cap. But unless I can find my way into a deal on Stubhub or some such outlet, it's doubtful I'll be at the game. The Fanfest, however, is another story...

Splat

I'm beginning to think the Mets might be better off without an All Star Break.

It seems as though, the past few seasons, the Mets have come into the All Star Break in relatively good shape, and then come out of the break reeling. In 2010, there was that west coast swing that basically killed their season. Last year, who can remember. This year, after a first half that showed more good than bad, and gave us all some hope for a productive second half, the Mets went into Atlanta and promptly lost all three games, two of them with the two pitchers who have carried them all season long on the mound, and the third just a muddled mess.

Well, fitting for another midseason trip to the house of horrors that is Turner Field. Where do we go from here? I'm not quite sure.

This past weekend seems to have more or less killed all the good vibes from the first half, because now it seems like everyone has started to expect the Mets to come back to earth once again. Much of the blame seems to be falling on management for their general lack of activity, but then again, the trading deadline is still two weeks away, so there could still be help on the way. But in what form? And at what price?

The Mets still don't have many tradeable pieces that would net someone of impact; dealing Matt Harvey or Zack Wheeler appears to be out of the question (something I don't argue with), but at the same time, neither appears to be ready to see the Majors. Of the two, Harvey is obviously closer, with Wheeler still in AA ball, and rumors are swirling that he may yet be called up with Dillon Gee now on the shelf, possibly for the remainder of the season. It didn't make sense for Harvey to come up earlier in the season, particularly when there were still testable pieces available for the Mets to slot in rather than make the panic move. It makes more sense now. While Dillon Gee was up and down over the first half of the season, he showed more good than bad. His most readily available replacements, Jeremy Hefner and Miguel Batista, have shown that they're not adequate enough, and after bouncing from Toronto, to Seattle and then to the Yankees, Chris Schwinden mysteriously has found himself back with the Mets. And if THREE other teams couldn't find use for him, I'd be hard pressed to think the Mets would be able to squeeze anything out of him this time around either. So, nothing better is there, and good luck trying to land a good starter via trade without sacrificing Harvey or Wheeler.

This is, of course, the usual conundrum, because every Mets fan would like to have their cake and eat it too. They want to have Zack Greinke (a terrible fit in NY given his prior mental health problems) or Matt Garza this year, AND have Harvey and Wheeler coming up in the future. I know that the Mets are easily a piece or two away from being a serious contender this season. I understand this. I want the Mets to win just as much as anyone. But looking around the Majors, it's clear that most teams that win (and are not the Yankees) are the teams that, mostly, build from within. It's the teams like Arizona, San Francisco, Texas, St. Louis, etc that the Mets should be trying to emulate, and not making reactionary bad deals in order to win now, when winning now isn't necessarily a given (see: Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano).

Zack Wheeler was brought in with the hopes that he'd be a top of the rotation starter. Scouts compare him to Clayton Kershaw from the right side. He seems almost certain to draw heavy consideration to make the rotation in 2013. This means he should probably be left alone right now.

The larger issues for the Mets remain the Bullpen and Left Field. You all already know my thoughts on Bullpens. Bringing up Josh Edgin is a nice start in the right direction. Any brainless pitcher who can pitch an inning to reasonable success can be had rather cheaply. A good left fielder may be more of a stretch. Either way, it's up to the Mets to just do the best they can and hopefully some help will come. But the fans have to keep themselves in check and look at the bigger picture. Yes, we're all frustrated and it's been a few years since we've been contenders. Yes, we're all a little impatient. But for the Mets to sacrifice their future to try to win in a year where that's not a given even with some impact help never works out. It's not worth setting back what Alderson and the boys are trying to do here. Let's try to remember this.

Maybe It's Not Just Us...

I didn't see very much of the All-Star game last night. I was busy most of the evening and by time I turned the game on, it was already the 9th inning and Francisco Rodriguez was in, preparing to inflict some hurt on some AL Batters. Then, they flashed to Mariano Rivera in the AL Bullpen, and I immediately became rather nauseous.

What I missed, apparently, was the National League pretty much putting forth a performance that was worthy of the Mets. They plated 3 runs on 4 hits in the 2nd inning, a rally sparked by our own David Wright, and managed to get only 1 hit the rest of the game.

I know that the MO in this game is that pitching tends to dominate, but there are, every so often, some random outbursts of power, like when the AL ripped Clemens for 6 runs in the 1st inning in 2004 (which may or may not have been the result of his batterymate Mike Piazza tipping batters, but that's another story for another time). Not so much this time around. It's no great shock that I root for the NL in this game every year. I think I watched my first All-Star Game in 1987, and the NL won that one, even though I was long asleep before the game ended. The American League has won every other game since then, except for a random 3-year period in the mid-90s. That's a rather long and excessive string of dominance (and yes, I am aware that the NL had won 11 in a row at one point in the 70s.), and one that has now drawn out over 13 years. It seems like the AL has the answer every single time, whether they're beating the NL off the field, or squeaking one out, like they did last night.

But now it's done and by tomorrow most people won't even remember who was in the All-Star game. Hell, I don't even know who was in the game, for the most part. Time to reload and re-energize for the 2nd half.