Die Hard Mets Fan

Die Hard Mets Fan would like to congratulate Jose Reyes for becoming the Mets All-Time triples leader after hitting the 63rd of his career today against the Reds.  Jose passed Mookie Wilson on the club’s all-time list. Reyes did it during his 2,928th big league at-bat while Mookie did it during his 4,027th big league at-bat. The most triples Jose ever hit in one season was 17 in 2005, but Lance Johnson holds the club record with 21 in 1996. So far, Jose hit 11 triples this season. Reyes is only 25 so he shouldn’t become much slower until he’s at least 30. He should definitely raise the bar for those to follow.

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For those of you that are fans of Jose Reyes, the New York Times found out that Jimmy Rollins had to go through some tough times before becoming the MVP last season. Rollins said…

Sometimes it takes a year or two, but with me, it took three. I was the same way until I figured out who the heck I was. I could run, I could play, I was fast, but it was all raw ability. But now, I’m showing off my raw ability, with learning, with knowledge. I’ve learned the game. I understand the game. You come out of that, you’re a completely different player.

The big thing for me is: how do you make that adjustment? That’s the learning curve. He still has the tools, a great arm. He does have power, hits from both sides of the plate, speed, good glove. The mental makeup. He’s a smart baseball player. He’s the complete package, but he won’t fully mature until his failures start making sense to him.

At times, it was like, I don’t care what you say. Other times, it was like, O.K., let me try it. Or, I’m struggling, let me try what they say. If I’m feeling good, I didn’t listen to what they say. When I’m feeling bad, all right, I’ll try it. But now, I’ve processed all the information, and I know me. I can’t do Ryan Howard. I can’t do Chase Utley. I can only do Jimmy Rollins.

People always have more expectations for you than they have for themselves. Put that out of your mind, learn who you are, know who you are and go out and do it. Believe me, people will accept you, because my on-base percentage has never been high, but I score runs. What’s more important? Me being on base or me scoring runs? If I’m scoring more runs, I’m doing my job.

Wright and Reyes quickly became my new favorite Mets, but you probably know by now that I have completely fallen out of love with Reyes over the past year. The most important thing that Jimmy mentioned was that Jose ‘won’t fully mature until his failures start making sense to him’. That’s the same thing as when people admit they have a problem at AA. Maybe Jerry Manuel will be able to get into Reyes’ head. Otherwise, somebody else has to whether it’s management or a player. He needs to be molded into a Professional baseball player.

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So most Mets fans wanted Willie whacked and those of you who wanted that got their wish. The only improvement since then is the play of Jose Reyes. Reyes has decided to finally play baseball once Jerry Manuel took over which is another reason why this guy is so hard to root for. Otherwise, the team is playing exactly the same under Manuel as they did under Willie.

Last night, Manuel took Johan Santana out of the game against the Phillies after pitching eight innings. The score was 2-2 at the time, and Manuel brought in Duaner Sanchez to save the game but ended up giving a two-out RBI single to Shane Victornino. It was a very questionable move Mets fans because Santana only had 95 pitches when he was taken out. We know that Willie would’ve taken Johan out too. So what’s different? Absolutely nothing. The Bullpen still couldn’t save the game. It’s the same problem as last season. The Bullpen was smokin’ until July of 2007, and then they couldn’t hold a lead the rest of the season. Since I’m such a realistic Mets fan, I saw the collapse coming a mile away. It began in July, and I knew that the Mets wouldn’t have been able to do anything in the Playoffs if they ended up making it. Of course I thought that they would’ve made the Playoffs, but I saw the flaws and knew that they would’ve been outed in the first round. We were hoping that Sanchez would’ve come back and pitch like he did in ‘06. Omar brought in Matt Wise in the offseason. Duaner’s return didn’t live up to the hype, and Wise hasn’t done much of anything before being placed on the DL.

My point has always been that this is on the players. It doesn’t matter if Willie or Jerry is the Coach. I also heard on WFAN that Willie wasn’t able to punish Reyes whenever Reyes acted up because Minaya said that Reyes was too valuable to the team. So Jose has gotten away with whatever he wanted. You can see on the field that Reyes’ immaturity has regressed. He never showed it until he was benched by Willie for not running out a few ground balls last year. These on-the-field temper tantrums are current because Reyes never did that in his first few seasons. Now, the Mets fired the Manager who did the right thing by benching him so Jose can continue to feel like he’s bigger than the team. I’ve got a huge problem with all of this. The Phillies had no problem benching Jimmy Rollins for not running out a ground ball, and Rollins was the MVP last year. Jimmy said he deserved to be benched. So why can’t the Mets do this? Why can’t Reyes handle being benched? I have no idea, but the Mets have to do something with Reyes. I know that Jose puts up great numbers when it doesn’t matter a la A-Rod, but where was Reyes in the ‘06 Playoff, in September ‘07, and in the first half of ‘08? He’s nowhere to be found when there’s pressure or criticism which means he lacks Rocky Balboa heart. It’s a shame with all of that talent. Just like Lorenzo said to Calogero in A Bronx Tale, “There’s nothing worst than wasted talent.”

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Even though Jose Reyes is quickly becoming one of the players on the Mets that I want traded immediately, I was going to congratulate him for tying the Mets All-Time triples record that was set by Mookie Wilson.  However, I just came across a really juicy article by the New York Post which made me change my mind.  During the game when Reyes threw his glove up in the air, Keith Hernandez said that the Mets were “babying” Reyes and “He’s got to get over that. Enough babying going on now. He’s a grown man. He’s been around a long enough time. Take off the kid gloves.”  Well, Jose’s friends and relatives told him what Keith said which led to a “very heated” situation on the plane out to St. Louis.  After Reyes confronted Hernadez, Keith said “I was just doing my job - you should do yours.”  Supposedly, they almost were about to exchange punches.  Both Jose and Keith deny that the situation was anything more than a conversation, but other players on the plane said otherwise.

Toe-to-toe, blow-for-blow, round-for-round, I got Keith’s back in this one.  I love his quote, “I was just doing my job - you should do yours.”  Isn’t that the truth.  He’s one of my favorite Mets of All-Time, and he’s a legend in Queens.  He has rings and played the game the way it should be played.  Reyes is like a pimple on Keith’s rear end right now so he’s messing with the wrong cat.  The Mets are babying Jose, and this is just another incident on his part so this is it for me.  I now want him out as much as I want Delgado and Castillo out.  I would only have been impressed by Reyes if he shut the hell up and played like a professional who makes millions of dollars.  He is going backwards instead of forwards, and that shouldn’t happen at 25.  I don’t remember this stuff happening the first three seasons, it’s all since he got benched by Willie.  He has no heart which is why he’s unable to come through in the clutch or listen to people when he’s does wrong.  I would feel much better if he was doing this stuff when he was a rookie and not doing it anymore.  This kid’s heads too damn big.

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I was just about to write a post bashing Jose Reyes for another base running error during today’s Yankees-Mets game.  While I was looking for more Mets material, I found out that Jeremy Cothran of The Star-Ledger already had this to say about Reyes…

I could waste a ton of column inches on how Jose Reyes is one of the more dynamic shortstops in baseball. And I could also waste a lot of column inches on why he just drives you up a freakin wall.

Case in point, the fifth inning. With two outs, Reyes gets picked off second base (which I predicted would happen to the Ledger’s Lisa Kennelly). Getting picked off is going to happen when you steal bases, but there is absolutely ZERO excuse to get picked off second with two outs. David Wright was at the plate and a base hit would have scored Reyes.

Inexcusable.

I couldn’t agree more.  Jose wasn’t stealing, he got picked off with 2 outs with Wright at the plate.  On top of that, Pettitte got confused before he even threw to second which delayed the pickoff attempt.  This means that Reyes had even more time than normal to get back to second.  The Mets were losing 2-1 at the time.  These poor base running decisions have become common for Reyes in ‘08.  I stopped defending Reyes after he stopped playing for Willie last season.  I know that on any given day he can be the best player in baseball, but he has more things that I don’t like than I do like.  He quickly became one of my favorite Mets.  He lost points for not performing in the ‘06 Playoffs, but I made the excuse that he’s young and will make it up in the future.  In ‘07, he was on fire for the first half of the season and disappeared down the stretch when it mattered most…all because Willie benched him for not running out ground balls.  In ‘08, he is an average player offensively and defensively.  He keeps making these base running errors.  His attitude sucks.  My love for him has faded, and he needs to finish ‘08 as strong as he began ‘07 for my love for him to come back.

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Everybody knows how great Jose Reyes can be, and everybody knows how bad he can be and how childish he can be.  This is why I wanted the Mets to trade Reyes for Santana if Reyes wasn’t injured during the collapse.  One of my beefs with the team was that they didn’t explain what was wrong with Jose until Spring Training which was way too late for them to trade him.  I already realized that he has A-Rod syndrome meaning it never takes place in big spots (i.e., September or October).  Reyes didn’t do anything in the Playoffs in ‘06, and he didn’t do anything in the second half of ‘07.  I agreed with Willie 100% for benching him, and Reyes stopped playing baseball since.  This guy is soft.  He doesn’t even go out their and play for his own self pride.  Now, Jose is Manuel’s problem.  Sucks to be Jerry.

Billy Witz at the New York Times believes that Jerry Manuel’s ability to succeed largely depends on his ability to manage Jose Reyes.  Witz described Reyes as “The embodiment of the team. The usual descriptions of Reyes — plenty of talent, inconsistent, questionable attention span — are often apt adjectives for the Mets, too.”  Billy thinks Manuel’s approach to Reyes already appears to be more personal and contemporary than Randolph’s.  We’ll have to see how this plays out in the future.  Reyes is too old to be acting like a child.  He’s 25 already, and Wright isn’t out there acting like that.  If he can’t overcome getting benched when he messed up then how will he overcome anything that happens on the field?

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There are two grimy articles about Tony Bernazard today.  Bernazard was mentioned a few times in other articles as well.  I only knew who he was by title.  I knew he had a lot of power with the Mets, and I knew that he didn’t like Willie.  These articles by Newsday and the New York Times really let us know more about Tony.  None of the articles had anything good to say about it.  I know we never wrote about him before.

Mets.com:

Manuel resting his stars for long haul

Manuel’s first win a sweet one - Anthony DiComo summarized last night’s Mets-Angels game.

Mets in good shape if ‘pen is as well - Anthony DiComo put together a pregame analysis for tomorrow night’s game between the Mets and the Rockies.

Manuel’s main rule: Play hard - Yesterday, Jerry Manuel stated, “I’m giving them some freedom. I don’t care what you look like, how your hair looks, your growth — it doesn’t matter to me. Just play hard.”

Randolph offers own version of events - Yesterday, Willie Randolph expressed his side of the story…

I thought he was talking about whacking a couple of my coaches. That’s why I was stunned. I didn’t think it was going to happen. At the time, I felt the way he was talking to me, that I was pretty secure for the time being, whatever that means.

This, really, in my mind, all happened way, way too early. We all know that baseball is a long season — it’s a marathon. For me, it’s a little abrupt, and I know that you can talk all you want to about expectations and stuff like that, but … I just wish I had the opportunity to see it through. That’s all.

I’m not ready to retire. When you get a taste of managing, it’s kind of cool. And I want to get back to doing that. We’ll see.

Newsday:

Perception on Mets’ Bernazard: He’s a bad, bad guy - A lot of people believe that Tony Bernazard played a role in the midnight massacre.  When asked about it, Bernazard said “I’m not going to comment on it. I don’t talk about what we talk about internally. I’ve got a great reputation. I don’t have to defend myself against unfounded rumors.”  Ken Davidoff did some digging on Bernazard’s reputation and found out that “The truth, however, is that Bernazard’s reputation has taken a pummeling. Take this for what it’s worth, but yesterday, I received two phone calls from industry contacts - the first, a longtime friend of many Hispanic players, and the second, a scout from an American League team. Both, unsolicited, brought up Bernazard, both professed to not know him and both offered the same sentiment: “I hear he’s a really bad guy.”"

Will ex-Mets manager Randolph get a second chance? - Ken Davidoff asked around the league to see if they believe that Randolph will get another shot at managing a ball club, and most of them think he will.

THIS DAY AT THE OLD BALLPARK - Newsday lets us know what took place at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium on June 19 of a year in the past.  “June 19, 1989, at Shea Stadium: Dwight Gooden wins his 100th career game, 5-3, over the Expos. His 100-37 career record is second only to Whitey Ford’s 100-36 start. Howard Johnson knocks in four runs with two homers.”

New York Daily News:

Jerry Manuel restart just what struggling Mets needed

Rick Peterson not bitter over Met firing

Jerry Manuel pitches in to help David Wright’s hitting

Goose Gossage brings heat on Jose Reyes’ dancing

New York Post:

INSIDE JOBBED - Bart Hubbuch and Joel Sherman pointed out that friends of Willie’s told The Post that Willie felt betrayed by Manuel.

REYES REWARDS MANUEL’S FAITH

MANUEL HIGH ON WARTHEN

VALENTINE FEELS FOR WILLIE - Bobby Valentine said, “I hope Willie is OK. I was fired during the season with Texas. It was not a fun time.”

The New York Times:

Bernazard Finds Himself in Middle of Mets’ Turmoil

The Star-Ledger:

Oblivious? Reyes’ mind-set not always obvious

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Unfortunately, Jerry Manuel lost his Mets debut even with Santana on the mound.  Santana didn’t look good at all last night.  I was pretty annoyed with how Jose Reyes handled him self when he was taken out of the game.  Very classless, and that was in the first inning of Manuel’s debut.  Reyes looked like a baby out there, and then he threw his helmet.  I wish Jerry made an example of him.  I know he said that Reyes’ behavior was unacceptable in the post game which is a start.  Hopefully the Mets can get a victory tonight so they win the series.

Mets.com:

Manuel’s managerial debut spoiled - Rhett Bollinger summarized last night’s Mets-Angels game.

Mets shift their focus to winning games - Rhett Bollinger wrote up a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Mets and the Angels.

Newsday:

Omar deserves plenty of blame for Mets’ fiasco

New York Daily News:

Next nightmare will be Omar Minaya’s

Willie Randolph knew he was a ‘dead man walking’

New zookeeper for flawed Mets as Jerry Manuel inherits mess

New York Post:

KINGS OF QUEENS ACT LIKE CLOWNS

EAST RIVALS NOT PHIL-ING ANY SYMPATHY FOR METS

BIZARRE DAY HAS FITTING END - A FIASCO

PETERSON DESERVED BETTER FATE

New York Times:

New Mets Manager Mixes Intellect With Fire

The Star-Ledger:

In this corner…

Willie’s side of the story

Willie: ‘This happened way, way too early’ - Willie spoke extensively for the first time since being let go by the Mets, and Colin Stephenson captured his thoughts.

More of the same in Manuel’s debut (a loss)

Willie not ready to talk

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That has to have been one of the busiest days in Mets land in a long time.  Unfortunately, three guys lost their jobs.  It’s a new regime now.  Jerry Manuel is the the interim manager of the Mets.  That sounds bad, but what do you expect as a Mets fan?

Mets.com:

Mets name Manuel interim manager - Anthony DiComo reported that the Mets promoted Jerry Manuel to interim manager.

Minaya explains Randolph’s dismissal

Manuel, Randolph share similarities

Mets fans react to Willie’s dismissal

Hurdle talks Randolph dismissal - Rockies manager Clint Hurdle had this to say about Randolph, “He’s a good baseball man. When a door closes for a man of his abilities, another one will open somewhere down the line.”

Mets face uphill climb in All-Star races - Anthony DiComo noted, “In the latest tally of online voting, released Tuesday by Major League Baseball, no Mets player is close to earning an All-Star start at his position.”

Williams proving he could be Draft steal - Kevin T. Czerwinski pointed out that the Mets’ 40th-round pick, Seth Williams, has been tearing it up in College World Series.

Mets sign, seal, deliver win for Pelfrey - Anthony DiComo summarized last night’s Mets-Angels game.

DH offers Mets plenty of options - Anthony DiComo put together a pregame analysis for tonight’s game between the Mets and the Angels.

Newsday:

More than 21,000 miles on Mets since May 1 - David Lennon believes that the players are tired because they have traveled 21,611 miles since the start of May.

New York Daily News:

Pals go to bat for Willie Randolph

Derek Jeter calls Willie Randolph firing ‘unfortunate’

Fans quick to condemn Mets’ handling of Willie Randolph firing

New York Times:

Mets Put Him In. Is He Ready to Play? - Joshua Robinson asks, “Recently the question has arisen: How much does a weary, and slumping, David Wright really help the Mets?”

The Star-Ledger:

Jose Reyes pulled from the game, reacts angrily

Firings and Hirings: A complete look at the Mets eventful day - The Star-Ledger compiled dozens of articles about a very busy day in Mets history.  If you check out the article then you will be able to read all of their articles about today.

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The New York Mets (30-33) are playing Game 64 of the 2008 Regular Season against the Arizona Diamondbacks (35-30) at Shea Stadium.  It’s the second game of the three-game series.  The game began at 7:10 p.m., and it was aired on SNY.

Happy 25th Birthday Jose Reyes!

Diamondbacks Lineup: Young, Drew, Hudson, Jackson, Tracy, Reynolds, Snyder, Salazar, Brandon Webb (11-2).

Mets Lineup: Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Anderson, Schneider, Chavez, Mike Pelfrey (2-6).

In the Top of the 1st, Young grounded a leadoff single past Reyes.  Pelfrey picked off Young at first.  Drew grounded out to short.  Hudson grounded out to second to end the inning.  In the Bottom of the 1st, Webb pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  In the Top of the 2nd, Jackson lined a leadoff single into center.  Tracy grounded to short, and the Mets turned the double play.  Pelfrey fanned Reynolds to end the inning.  In the Bottom of the 2nd, Webb retired the side in the second straight inning.  In the Top of the 3rd, Snyder drew a leadoff walk.  Pelfrey caught Salazar looking at strike three.  Webb grounded to first, and Delgado made the out at first as Snyder advanced to second.  Young lined out to left to end the inning stranding Snyder on second.  In the Bottom of the 3rd, Webb retired the lineup in order the first time around.

In the Top of the 4th, Hudson lined a one-out double to the gap in right center.  Jackson grounded to short, and Reyes made the out at first as Hudson moved over to third.  Tracy grounded to short, and Reyes made the out at first to end the inning stranding Hudson on third.  In the Bottom of the 4th, Reyes beat out a drag bunt down the first base line for a leadoff single.  Castillo chopped the ball towards the pitcher so Webb (Error on Brandon Webb) attempted to make the out at first, but Tracy dropped the ball so Castillo is safe at first and Reyes advanced to third.  Wright grounded to third, and Reynolds held Reyes up at third before making the out at first as Castillo advanced to second.  Carlos Beltran lined a one-out 2-run single into right center which scored Jose Reyes and Luis Castillo.  Delgado lined the ball back to the pitcher and hit him in the back so Webb kneeled down as the ball rolled into left field, and Delgado ended up with a single as Beltran went from first to third (Melvin checked on Webb).  Marlon Anderson grounded to first, and the Diamondbacks only got the out at second on the double play attempt as Carlos Beltran came home to score.  Schneider grounded out to second to end the inning stranding Anderson on first, but the Mets got a 3-0 lead.  In the Top of the 5th, Pelfrey pitched his first 1-2-3 inning of the game.  In the Bottom of the 5th, Pelfrey grounded a one-out single up the middle for his first hit of the year.  Reyes grounded to second, and the Diamondbacks turned the inning ending double play.  In the Top of the 6th, Pelfrey retired the side in order for the second straight inning.  In the Bottom of the 6th, Melvin replaced Webb with Scherzer.  Beltran drew a two-out walk.  Scherzer fanned Delgado to end the inning stranding Beltran on first.

In the Top of the 7th, Hudson lined a leadoff single into left.  Jackson flied out to left.  Tracy drew a one-out walk (Peterson made a visit to the mound).  Pelfrey then fanned Reynolds and Snyder to end the inning stranding runners on first and second.  In the Bottom of the 7th, Scherzer pitched a 1-2-3 inning.  In the Top of the 8th, Pelfrey retired the side in order.  In the Bottom of the 8th, Melvin replaced Scherzer with Cruz.  Reyes struck out swinging at a wild pitch that went to the backstop so Reyes arrived safely at first giving the Mets a one-out base runner.  With Castillo at the plate, Snyder threw out Reyes as he attempted to steal second.  Castillo drew a two-out walk.  With Wright in the batters box, Snyder threw out Castillo as he stole second.  In the Top of the 9th, Pelfrey will be attempting a complete game shutout.  Drew lined a leadoff single into right.  Randolph replaced Pelfrey after his best outing of his career with Wagner.  Pelfrey received a standing ovation from the Shea Faithful.  Wagner fanned Hudson.  Jackson drove a one-out double into the gap in left center, and Drew went from first to third.  Wagner struck out Tracy, but the pitch went in the dirt so Schneider looked back Drew and made the out at first.  Mark Reynolds smoked a two-out 3-run homer to left scoring Stephen Drew and Chad Tracy to tie this game up.  The fans let him the Mets hear it after that.  In the Bottom of the 9th, Melvin replaced Cruz with Peña.  Beltran drew a one-out walk.  Peña struck Delgado out swinging.  Aguila is pinch hitting for Wagner, and Aguila lined a two-out single into right, and Beltran moved over to second.  Schneider flied out to center to end the inning stranding runners on first and second.

In the Top of the 10th, Randolph replaced Wagner with Feliciano.  Burke is pinch hitting for Salazar, and Burke drew a leadoff walk on four pitches.  Owings is pinch hitting for Peña, and Feliciano fanned Owings.  Young grounded to second, and Castillo got the lead runner out at second.  Drew grounded to second, and Castillo made the out at first to end the inning stranding Burke on first.  In the Bottom of the 10th, Melvin replaced Peña with Qualls.  Qualls retired the side in order.  In the Top of the 11th, Randolph replaced Feliciano with Heilman.  Tracy grounded a two-out single through the hole on the right side.  Heilman struck out Reynolds to end the inning stranding Tracy on first.  In the Bottom of the 11th, Wright grounded a one-out single up the middle.  Beltran grounded to short, and Drew tagged second to get the lead runner.  Delgado grounded out to first to end the inning stranding Beltran on first.  In the Top of the 12th, Heilman retired the side in order.  In the Bottom of the 12th, Melvin replaced Qualls with Gonzalez.  Schneider lined a one-out single into right.  Chavez flied out to right.  Tatis is pinch hitting for Heilman, and Tatis grounded out to short to end the inning strandind Schneider on first.

In the Top of the 13th, Randolph replaced Heilman with Vargas.  Drew grounded to third, and Wright dove to stop the ball but could not get up on his feet to make a better throw to first on time giving the Diamondbacks a one-out base runner.  Upton lined a one-out single into center, and Drew moved over to second.  Jackson grounded to third, and Wright turned the inning ending double play.  In the Bottom of the 13th, Castillo grounded to third and beat it out for a one-out infield single.  Wright popped up in foul ground along the first base line, and Tracy made the catch.  Carlos Beltran hit a two-out 2-run walk off home run to right center field scoring Luis Castillo.

Final Score: Arizona Diamondbacks 3 - New York Mets 5.  The MLB.com Box Score is attached.  Claudio Vargas (3-2) got the win while Edgar Gonzalez (1-3) took the loss.

Game Notes:

• Mike Pelfrey pitched an absolute gem tonight.  He pitched 8.0 Innings allowing 5 Hits, 1 Run, 1 ER, 2 BBs, and he had 8 SOs before Willie pulled him after giving up a hit to the first batter in the 9th.
• Carlos Beltran lined a 2-run single into right to put the Mets on the board in the 4th.
• Billy Wagner gave up a 3-run shot in the 9th which tied up the game.
• Carlos Beltran hit a 2-run walk off in the 13th.

Series Notes:

• The Diamondbacks and the Mets are tied 1-1.

Other Notes:

• Since June 1st, this is the Mets trend: w-l-w-w-l-l-l-l-l-w.
• The Mets are currently 1-1 on this home stand.
• The Mets are two games under .500 with a 31-33 record.

I’m very happy that the Mets were able to at least win this game after how well Big Pelf pitched.  Pelfrey had two pretty good outings prior to tonight and a great outing tonight, and he still hasn’t gotten a win.  As a fan, I just want to see my boys in blue and orange win sometimes.  And a walkoff homer by Beltran is always entertaining.  It would be better if they weren’t in a rut.

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