Month: July 2008

Mets Take 9 Game Win Streak Into Second Half

PHOENIX, AZ - May 6: Mike Pelfrey #34 of the ...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

The Mets go into the traditional second half of the season tonight with a nine game winning streak, confidence, and swagger. The last two weeks have seen Mike Pelfrey dominate all competition like the next coming of Roy Halladay. His recent performances have symbolized the Mets turnaround from the most lifeless team that money could buy to a team of united players that are achieving, if not exceeding, their potential.

As the Mets series in Cincinnati begins tonight, there will still be questions about Ryan Church’s foggy head, Carlos Delgado’s resurgent bat, Pedro Martinez’ ability to stabilize his spot in the rotation, and Billy Wagner’s ability to close “the big game”, and the crater in left field that Moises Alou left behind.

But there won’t be questions about the Mets desire to win and intestinal fortitude. There were plenty of those questions during the first two months of this season. That has miraculously changed under the direction of manager Jerry Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen.

It’s difficult to quantify how much the managerial and coaching changes have changed the Mets. I haven’t seen Dan Warthen throwing seven shutout innings but I have seen that from Oliver Perez and Pelfrey. I haven’t seen Jerry Manuel have a 9 RBI game but I did see that from Delgado. But something clearly changed on this team when the manager/coaching purge occurred. The Met took a little time to stabilize… Then caught fire!!!

The biggest change for me, as a fan, is that I like watching this team over the last month. I didn’t for the first two months of the season. It wasn’t fun or enjoyable. I understand that the Mets winning streak won’t carry into September, that’s not what I’m talking about. What I like about this team is their resiliency, their ability to mount a comeback, and the appearance that they want to win as badly as I want them to. That’s the kind of team that I’ll pay to watch.

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Report: Mets To Promote From Within

Joel Sherman of the NY Post reports that Omar Minaya may pass on trades this month in favor of moving some of the Mets top prospects to the big leagues. Specifically, the Mets are thinking about moving Fernando Martinez into the outfield. Lefty Jon Niese could fit into the rotation and Bobby Parnell or Eddie Kunz may get work in the bullpen.

If Fernando Tatis and Endy Chavez cool off they could give Martinez a shot in left field. At 19 years old he has to play every day. If he’s not in the lineup every day, he shouldn’t be in the majors.

Apparently, the Rockies wanted Carlos Beltran in a trade for Matt Holliday so the Mets weren’t interested.

Video- Mets Hot Going Into The Break

Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin appears on ESPN’s First Take to talk about the state of the Mets at the All-Star break. The topics include Jerry Manuel’s influence during the team’s turnaround, Mike Pelfrey, and Ryan Church’s impact on the Mets trade needs.

Pelfrey NL Player of The Week

PHOENIX, AZ - MAY 6: Mike Pelfrey #34 of the ...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Mike Pelfrey was named the National League player of the week. The New York Mets pitcher has won six consecutive games and has a 2.26 ERA in his last nine starts. Pelfrey has just been phenomenal for the last month and a half. I know that this run started under the tutelage of Rick Peterson but new pitching coach Dan Warthen has clearly had a tangible impact on the Mets pitching staff.

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Link: Decline of The National League

National LeagueImage via Wikipedia

On a day when the only news is the All-Star Home Run Derby, I’m scouring some articles that I’ve been eyeing for a few days. Darren Everson wrote a nice piece for the Wall Street Journal that analyzes the dominance of the American League over the National League since the designated hitter was instituted in 1973.

Wall Street Journal

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Official Scorer Red Foley Dies At 79

Red Foley died today at Booth Memorial Hospital in Flushing. He’s one of the most well known scorers in baseball history. He scored ten World Series’ and worked more than 3,000 games between 1966-2002. Red also worked for the Daily News for 34 years before retiring in 1981 covering New York sports teams. He covered baseball almost exclusively from 1970-1981, primarily covering the New York Mets.