Disgusted

I didn't watch yesterday's "pitchers duel" between Mike Pelfrey and the Nat's Jason Bergmann (who was recalled from the minor leagues). 1-0. And not one for us.

I'm not giving the blow by blow, but yet again the matzo bats failed. Just call the Nats Mike Huckabee - unlikely to win it all, but certainly exceeding expectations.

Me, I'm just disgusted.

Exorcise the Ghosts

Poor Metsies. Last night's 5-4 loss to the Phillies was a tough pill to swallow. It was supposed to get easier without Jimmy Rollins. And it was. Until last night.

Pelfrey's pitching was ok (nothing remarkable and nothing near his last appearances). The Mets defense, on the other hand, was excellent - they contained the Phillies to just four runs until a 6th inning that was as momentous as Iowa for Obama. Four runs, tie game.

But the relievers came in and the Mets went back to their early spring ways. Stranding base runners, striking out while swinging. The ghosts of the past.

Praying for a Surge

The Mets have had a lovely week thus far, pounding the Nats in a manner reminiscent of Desert Storm. Pitching, alive and well, even Mike Pelfrey. But tonight, it is now 11 pm and things are starting to look more like the more recent foray into a large, oil filled country in the Middle East.

It's the 12th inning, the Mets barely scrambled to the 2-2 tie in the 8th. It's not the pitching. Again, we are suffering from the bats that are as flat as matzoh. Passover is Saturday boys. I need my surge today. It may or may not work, but if it's all you got, it's all you got.

They're Alive

I saw the NY Mets last night - capitalizing on every error by the hated (but not reviled, I save that for the Braves) Phillies. Now where the hell were they this weekend?

8-2 and the bullpen held it together. Pelfrey held it together. The bats sort of performed (not so much as the Phillies bullpen melted down, but I'll take it).

Change in momentum = change in attitude= wins. In life and in baseball.

Half Alive, But Alive Still

8-4, they got it done. It wasn't perfect, but the pitching seems to be alive again (Mike Pelfrey, I misjudged thee). The bats were alive, but the defense remains as sloppy as Fred Thompson's stump appearances.

I am off to the Sunshine State on Friday and I will join the Mets on Saturday with my parents on the holiest day of the Jewish year. Let's hope for the best; I need to believe that somebody up there is a Mets fan, I am kinda starting to wonder. At least we can hope for a better Florida appearance than Thompson endured.

Phillies are still duking it out with the Cards, but we're still at game and a half. It's a big number in New York right now.

Bittersweet

My favorite kinda chocolate is not that sticky sweet milk crap. It is dark chocolate, which is sweet, but also has a faint bite of bitterness. Maybe I just need something bitter to fully enjoy the sweetness of the rest of it.

The Mets are bittersweet too with the terrible news about Carlos Gomez fracture, Do Luca's sentence, and the bruises of the Colorado massacre. But, they did win last night, 6-2. Johnny M. continued his dominance and grace under pressure and Carlos D made some hits. Progress.

We'll see what happens tonight. Pelfrey is pitching, which history tells us may be more like bitters than bittersweet.

New Orleans Ain't Queens

I have not actually seen the Mets in over 2 weeks, so I am thankful for next weekend's series with the Yankees that will be on TV. I am hoping their new dos haven't grown out too much so I can see how cute they actually are with their haircuts. I have been so preoccupied with spring I haven't watched ESPN all week.

But enough. I went for a long bike ride today- over 20 miles- to prepare for my biking trip through Italy (which is now less than 2 weeks away) and came home to find out that Oliver pretty much rocked the house against the team with the best record in baseball - one hit, one run through 8 plus innings. The guy's a stud. 9-1 Mets and they took the series against the Brewers.

Oliver is winning his mental game these days, unlike poor Mike Pelfrey, who got sent back to the barnyard. Poor kid. He does not have as much experience as Oliver, but he never really got his break. Sometimes, you just need to win one to turn it around. When nothing's going right, you need one little thing to work in order to remind you how to get it back on track, to show you that something other than failure is possible. Maybe Pelfrey can get that where the competition is a little less fierce - the barnyard of New Orleans isn't Queens.

While I am all smiles today about Oliver, these things are day to day. So right now, I will relish a beautiful spring day and Oliver's win. After all, it will soon be 100 and disgusting outside and we now have a hole in the pitching rotation and who the hell knows who is going to fill it?

Like Butter, But Not in a Good Way

Today's 12-3 loss to the Brewers was a meltdown. I only read about it, but aside from the puddle left by Pelfrey, our relief squad liquefied. Now granted, the Brewers have the best record in baseball, but it appears that today was about bad pitching more than anything else.

The question now becomes what happens to Pelfrey. Will he be back? I am not sure we have a choice, since El Duque's return is unclear. It's still early May, no time for tears. Let's see how Oliver does tomorrow.

Kool Aid

Mike Pelfrey is drinking Oliver's Kool Aid, it seems. Tonight he found his mojo after a tough first inning, a la Oliver on Friday against the Nats.

They lost, but let's hope it's for the good of the order.

P.S. Yankee update.... after my earlier post - tonight's no hitter is the 26-year old finding another job. Or the case of Joe Torre, keeping his job. For now.

P.P.S. It should be noted that while I am not a Yankees fan, I am a Joe Torre fan. He is a Brooklyn boy, after all.

Pelfrey, Pitching, Patience

So the meltdown of yesterday is weighing on me. Pitcher Pelfrey’s second collapse against a subpar team (first Washngton, now Colorado) leaves me wondering what happens to our fifth pitching spot. Our bats are only as good as our pitching, after all. And if Maine and Oliver can hold it together and El Duque’s and Tommy’s bodies can hold together, we just might have a shot come the fall.

When I think about how far away September is, I do realize it is a little bit early to be spreading on the melodrama. I mean, what the hell, it is APRIL. APRIL. If I start freaking out now, I will either be in a straight jacket or at least on Lithium by the time the leaves are turning brown.

I guess sometimes you can’t sweat one win or one loss – it can drive you to drink. It might just be more important to find one thing you could have done a little better and try to do it the next time. As goes baseball, so goes life.

So young Mr. Pelfrey, I apologize. When I see you next time, do better.