Cardinals versus Mets – “Clash of the Titans”

The Mets and Cardinals played and epic battle on Apirl 17, 2010 over 20 innings. David Daniels writes about his own epic struggle to follow the game during the movie “Clash of the Titans”.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Cardinals vs Mets! Albert Pujols vs Johan Santana. A Titan vs a… well, Santana.

That’s about as close as you’ll get on the Mets. The classic confrontation of the unstoppable force verus the very movable but suddenly immovable Mets!

20 innings of crazy baseball which, after the 12th inning I mostly missed. Who can watch 7 hours of baseball? The game should have ended around 7pm. I had plans for 9pm to see “Clash of the Titans” so I kept my plans, as a promise is a promise.

Thanks to everyone on twitter who kept giving me updates after I couldn’t watch. Besides following @matthewcerrone and @dave_doyle I know I have @mr_met_fan updates coming straight through to my phone as well as updates from @miketino10 and @aiahrachel. Some Mets fans who crack me up, keep me updated as to the Mets score, and keep me entertained when I can’t get to a TV. I was probably the only person laughing in the middle of such a suspense filled movie. Continue reading “Cardinals versus Mets – “Clash of the Titans””

Mets Links: Bobby Valentine, Jeff Francoeur, Mike Pelfrey

Mets v Cardinals X

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsHere are your Sunday morning Mets links covering the last week. The Mets have gone 2-4 over the last week which includes a home loss to Washington, a road series loss to the Rockies, and splitting the first two games in St. Louis. Along the way, we’ve speculated about Jerry Manuel’s job security, the players’ disdain for Manuel, Mike Pelfrey’s early success, and the possible return of Bobby Valentine.

Here are the links:

  • MetsBlog– Jon Heyman says the Mets aren’t considering firing Jerry Manuel at this time. If they do, Bob Melvin will get the call to take over the team.
  • Daily News– Mike Lupica writes that if Manuel gets fired, it has to be Bobby Valentine that gets the call to come back
  • ESPN– Bobby Valentine told Chris Russo on XM Radio that he doesn’t believe that managing the Mets is in his immediate future
  • On The Black-Kerel Cooper sums up my feelings about this team perfectly. They’re a very difficult team to watch over the last week. Exasperating, really.
  • Studious Metsimus– This is a good comparison to the Mets 1992 team. The worst team that money could buy.
  • ESPN– This is a good article about Jeff Francoeur and his unusually good start this season. Francoeur credits Howard Johnson for the hot start that he’s off to.
  • MetsBlog – Mike Pelfrey gives credit to Henry Blanco for his excellent game in Colorado this week. He went 7 shutout innings and struck out 6.
  • MLBTradeRumors– This is the whole story about how Joel Pineiro didn’t end up with the Mets despite everyone (including Pineiro) thinking that he would
  • ESPN– Rich Couthino writes a good piece about Jackie Robinson Day this week and it’s relation to the Mets

Those are the big stories for the week. Let’s hope for something better than the 2-4 record they put up this past week. Let’s go Mets!

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Video: Jose Reyes on Mets-Cardinals 20 Inning Game

There are a lot of reactions coming in from last night’s 20 inning marathon game. I’ll be getting those reactions up throughout the morning. Whenever Fox Sports has a Saturday game for the Mets, there’s always a lot of video to post.

Here’s some video from Jose Reyes after the game with Ken Rosenthal talking about the fatigue of playing in such a long game. He also asks if the Mets bench was talking about how they had to get some hits off the Cardinals position players that were pitching. It’s a good, short interview.
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Mets 2 – Cardinals 1 April 17, 2010

Mets' Wright throws his helmet after striking out against the Cardinals in MLB game in St Louis

http://cdn.pis.picapp.com/IamProd/PicAppPIS/JavaScript/PisV4.jsThis game was so crazy I can’t even describe the whole thing without writing a novel. I’ll hit the highlights and make sure you check out the messy box score link at the bottom of the post. The game had a bunch of great defensive plays and sitting on the edge of your seat moments. If you didn’t put seven hours into watching this one, here are the highlights:

  • There wasn’t a run scored until Jeff Francoeur hit a sac fly to score Jose Reyes in the top of the 19th
  • Alex Cora had a game saving catch diving into the stands to catch a fly ball while he was playing first base, of all things
  • The Cardinals loaded the bases three times in extras without scoring
  • Of course, Yadier Molina singled home Albert Pujols in the bottom of the 19th to tie it
  • K-Rod blew the save in the 19th
  • Mike Pelfrey got the first save of his career by pitching the 20th inning
  • Two position players pitched for the Cardinals: Felipe Lopez and Jeff Mather

This game was wild. There’s usually one of these crazy games every few years. So it’s good to get it out of the way early in the season. They’ll play on national TV again tomorrow night on ESPN in the rubber game of the series.

Box score

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Video: Jeff Francoeur – No Problem With Manuel

Last night ESPN Baseball Tonight aired a report by Seth Everett that several players have a problem with Jerry Manuel. The players Everett cited were Jeff Francoeur, David Wright, Johan Santana, and Jose Reyes. He listed the supposed reasons they all have a problem with Manuel.

Before today’s marathon game against the Cardinals, Francoeur responded and denied Everett’s report as a complete falsehood. See the interview below with Ken Rosenthal.
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Preview: Mets at Cardinals April 17, 2010

New York Mets (3-7) at St. Louis Cardinals (7-3) 4:10 pm

Johan Santana (1-1 4.91) vs. Jaime Garcia (1-0 1.50)

TV: FOX   Radio: WFAN

What to watch: The Mets and Cards start two national TV games in a row, beginning today. Santana lost his last start tot he Nationals giving up a grand slam in the first inning. He’ll certainly be looking for some redemption today. Garcia is 23 years-old and pitched an excellent game in his only other start this season against the Brewers, going 6 IP and giving up 1 ER.

Don’t forget to visit The Mets Report Live Game Chat during the game to chat with other Mets fans!

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Oliver Perez Shuts Cardinals Down – Bullpen Fails Him

Oliver Perez delivers
Image by afagen via Flickr

The Amazin’ Mets find another Amazin’ way to lose a game. Oliver Perez pitched a great game, but from what I’ve seen of Ollie in the past he has about two or three games like this a season where he gets up and totally dominates a much better team while losing to the crappy ones. If you were one of those people who said Ollie would rise to the occasion and pitch a good game last night, you were right.

I have never seen this Ollie though. I have seen overpowering Ollie, I have seen completely nasty Ollie but I have never seen crafty Ollie. The curve-balls, sliders and off-speed stuff kept the Cardinals off balance all night. I have to admit I was glued to the TV watching this Ollie. Will he be back again this year? Continue reading “Oliver Perez Shuts Cardinals Down – Bullpen Fails Him”