ISSUE #5

Week Four

(April 25^th – May 1^st)

“Never Say Die,

cause if you’re dead you can’t speak”

New York Mets

(9 -13)

5^th place/6.5 GB

The Past (week three): Houston Astros Series… Mets fell to 1 – 8 at Citi Field after losing the first two games against Houston. Embarrassing, sad and awful as the bats disappeared and the pitching continued to give up runs. This all of course took place until my lady and I walked in to witness this sorry looking team ourselves. After paying double the price of our tickets to get into Citi Field for parking, we saw and diagnosed something different since the Mets opened in Florida on April 1^st.

During Houston’s second batter (Angel Sanchez) of the game it appeared that he swung and missed at strike three. Home plate umpire Doug Eddings quickly showed the visible sign of a foul tip…and Terry Collins was out of the dugout. At first it looked calm and collected as my seats in section 524 were way too far away to really understand the emotion, but the longer Collins stayed out there the more I inched to the edge of my seat. Finger pointing and huge flailing arms began gesturing about and now Terry Collins was on fire spitting out his disgust in the face of Eddings. Top of the 1^st, one out and Terry Collins was getting booted! The crowed woke up rapidly and started cheering loudly. Looking around I thought maybe this would be the most entertaining portion of the night banking on how horrible the Mets have been. Whether Terry Collins wanted to start a spark Thursday night, or was just so stressed and fed up he didn’t want to coach the team anymore it worked. The Mets hit and hit well. D. Wright broke out of a 0 for 20 slump going 2 for 3 with a HR and a 2 RBI double. Backup catcher Mike Nickeas hit his first Major League HR of his career and Ike Davis hit a bomb to the bridge in right-center field. Chris Capuano (2-1, 5.95) took a dog’s day to throw the damn ball to the plate but pitched very effectively. News of the night was the return of concussed Jason Bay who had the song “Alive” from Pearl Jam playing as he walked up to bat. Funny huh, “I’m still alive” blasting through the Citi Field speakers made me have a chuckle given that its been ten months since the last time he suited up for a Major League game. The team played well and hopefully the Top 6 in the lineup will produce together and make a difference.

·         In 2004 Seattle Mariners manager Bob Melvin was ejected while handing in his lineup card before the game. He said a few words about the night before (what he thought was a bad call) and the umpire through him out prior to the first pitch of the game.

Arizona Diamondbacks Series… Well, the Mets woke up! The lineup is in tack, and the pitchers lasted some innings. A sweep can make anyone feel better about their situation even if they are still in last place in the division. Pelfrey finally pitched a good game on Friday going a strong 7 innings giving up five hits and one run. On a rainy Saturday afternoon Dillon Gee got his second win in as many starts pitching a solid 6 innings while giving up five hits and two runs. In both games Ike Davis hit what I like to call monster homeruns making it three days in a row with a “Citi-Field Bomb”, which is never easy to do. Jason Bay, who now has a hit in all four games since his return to the ballpark also added a HR of his own. On Sunday another Mets pitcher showed up. Jon Niese pitched 7 stellar innings getting over the 0-3 hump this April snatching his first victory and leading the Mets to their first four game winning streak of the season.

It’s funny, but plain to see…pitch 6 or 7 innings of good solid baseball, giving the offense a chance to produce without playing catch up and good things will happen. The bad this week was losing the first two to Houston…never should of happen, but they did what they needed to do and that was to take all three from Arizona. This will give the Mets some confidence needed in taking the next step towards playing .500 baseball.

Player of the Week: No doubt about this one folks, David Wright showed off some of his power waking up the Mets and the diehard fans this week. 3 HRs and 7 RBI’s this week and only struck out one time in 14 at bats against the Diamondbacks this past weekend. 

EXTRA NEWS: D.J. Carrasco was sent down to Triple-A Buffalo to make room for Chris Young who should be activated for Tuesday nights start. Dillon Gee will move to the bullpen. Angel Pagan was placed on the 15 day DL earlier in the week after colliding with Turner chasing a short fly ball.

The Future (week four):            

Projected Pitching Match-ups

Game 23: Mets @ Nationals on Tuesday April 26^th at 7:05pm

                          (Chris Young 1-0, 1.46) vs. (Jordan Zimmermann 1-3, 3.70)

            Game 24: Mets @ Nationals on Wednesday April 27^th at 7:05pm

                          (R.A. Dickey 1-3, 4.10) vs. (Tom Gorzelanny 0-2, 4.16)

            Game 25: Mets @ Nationals on Thursday April 28^th at 7:05pm

                         (Chris Capuano 2-1, 5.95) vs. (Livan Hernandez 2-2, 3.48)

            Game 26: Mets @ Phillies on Friday April 29^th at 7:05pm 

                        (Mike Pelfrey 1-2, 7.32) vs. (Joe Blanton 0-1, 5.92)              

            Game 27: Mets @ Phillies on Saturday April 30^th at 1:05pm

                        (Jon Niese 1-3, 5.10) vs. (Roy Halladay 3-1, 2.41)

            Game 28: Mets @ Phillies on Sunday May 1^st at 8:00pm

                        (Chris Young 1-0, 1.46) vs. (Cliff Lee 2-1, 3.91)

Game Twenty-Three thru Twenty-Five – A spark was set by Terry Collins early Thursday night and the team followed with wins. Starting pitching that lasted, bats that produced and wins at Citi Field hopefully getting the Mets on the right path. This all should and will continue with a trip to the President’s city. Washington, still without Ryan Zimmerman whose on the DL and a pitching staff with more questions than answers put the resurging Flushing crew in good shape starting of week four of the 2011 season. They need two out of three here and can’t settle for anything less. Chris Young should return from his first DL stint of the season and R.A. Dickey will follow.

Game Twenty-Six thru Twenty-Eight – Another big weekend against the city of brotherly love. The bad thing about a city slogan like that is if you’re not someone’s brother in Philly, they fucking hate you. What can I say about this series besides the fact that the Mets need to maintain this winning streak a go into Philadelphia hot. It’s their only chance as they are scheduled to face some masters of the mound, in Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee by week’s end. As when these teams first met earlier this month if the Mets steal one they’ve done their job…however they need, and I can’t stress this enough, they need to win in Washington first.

(A “weak” long prediction 3-3)

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New York Yankees

(10 - 6)

1^st place by 3 games

  The Past (week three):  Toronto Blue Jays Series… I thought they would split their series with Toronto and they did. Sadly, last issue’s player of the week, Mariano Rivera, was one of the major reasons why the Yankees fell in Game 1 of the series. After pitching in 9 of the Yankees first 15 games of the season, Mo was flawless. He pitched 8 1/3 innings giving up 4 hits, walking zero and striking out 7. So the day was soon to be near…as it occurred late Tuesday night in Canada. Mo blew his first save of the season giving up 2 ERs, but held the Blue jays from winning in the bottom of the 9^th.The kicker was Ivan Nova pitching a terrible 10^th inning. Yankees lost 6-5 in 10, then came back fearless in Game 2 on Wednesday night. Alex Rodriguez was back in the lineup and Bartolo Colon took the mound for his first start since 2009, because of the “injured” Phil Hughes. The Yankees continued to hit, threaten with plenty of base runners and space out their scoring throughout the 9 innings. ODD STAT TIME: Over the first 144 innings this season the Yankees have scored at least one run in 50 innings. They continue spreading it out mostly by homeruns in the offensive department and so far Joe Girardi is steaming through some starting pitching issues.

Three questions bear down on the necks of the Yankee top suites and it’s what are we going to do about Brett Gardner? His bat is like a turtle running, almost still at .128 and he even lost his step on the base paths getting caught swiping bags 3 out of 6 times this year. He was only caught 9 times all of last year! Secondly, is Ivan Nova going to be in the rotation after his Sunday start this weekend? (This will be answered next week.) Finally, I have to bring it up…is Girardi already over using Mariano, when the set-up man can be used as a closer as well? Mo is and will be the best at his position long after he retires from baseball and life itself, but Joe…the man’s 42 and it’s only week three.

            Baltimore Orioles Series… The bombs were dropped in Baltimore for two games this weekend. The Yankees are now averaging 2 HRs a game leading the Major Leagues with 36 total HRs in 16 games and it’s coming from all over the lineup. After another rainout on Friday night the Yankees put on a show the following night for what seems to be their second home. If you were a blind man, you would think by the reaction of the crowed every time the Yankees scored in Camden Yards that they were the home team. Five missiles were hit on Saturday night in the 15-3 romp the Yankees put on the now regularly losing Orioles. Russell Martin had his second multi-homer game of the season and continues to be a work horse behind the plate. Posada seems to only hit HRs knocking out his 6^th of the season while holding a dismal .153 batting average. The greatest smack of the night came from the future Hall of Famer Alex Rodriguez, blasting his 5^th of the season with the bases juiced. With an astounding total of 22 grand slams in his career A-Rod is now just one more big hit away from tying Lou Gehrig in that category. C.C. finally got his first win of the season pitching well against the team he recorded 7 wins against last year and Brett Gardner hit his first HR of the season putting a nice period on the exciting offensive night.

            Day two of the series wasn’t as pretty. A wins a win, but Mo blew his second save in as many tries. Joe Girardi went to the sandman in the bottom of the 8^th and runners on the corner. A four out save…Mo has done this many times in his career so why worry? Brett Gardner’s speed saved Rivera right away tracking down a sharp hit ball making a beautiful catch to end the 8^th inning Baltimore threat. Then Rivera started off the 9^th with a walk…worst thing you can do. The Orioles then strung a couple hits together to tie the game at three for extra innings. Two blown saves this week, but the Yankees won one and lost the other. You’ll take it right? Now he just needs to shut down the door on his next outing to regain some support in his ever long dominance Mariano Rivera is known for. Other notes, Freddy Garcia pitched extremely well Sunday afternoon giving up only 2 hits and striking out 7 batters in 6 innings. Boon Logan also pitched well in relief holing Baltimore hitless for an inning and a third, gaining his first victory of the season.

Player of the Week: I understand that this jinxed the hell out of Mariano last week so I’ll do my best to keep this quiet, but with the return of Alex Rodriguez Wednesday night after missing just two games he still looks the best I’ve ever seen him. So comfortable at the plate and real confident this man is a wrecking ball. With his 22^nd grand slam of his career and a few walks here and there A-Rod has now reached base in all 15 games he has played this season.

EXTRA NEWS: Francisco Cervelli could come off the DL by Wednesday to back-up the used and abused Russell Martin.

The Future (week four):

Projected Pitching Match-ups

Game 22:  White Sox @ Yankees on Monday April 25^th at 7:05pm 

                          (Philip Humber 1-2, 4.42) vs. (A.J. Burnett 3-0, 4.37)

            Game 23:  White Sox @ Yankees on Tuesday April 26^th at 7:05pm 

                          (Gavin Floyd 2-1, 4.00) vs. (Ivan Nova 1-2, 7.63)

            Game 24:  White Sox @ Yankees on Wednesday April 27^th at 7:05pm 

                         (Mark Buehrle 1-2, 5.40) vs. (Bartolo Colon 1-1, 3.50)

            Game 25:  White Sox @ Yankees on Thursday April 28^th at 7:05pm 

                        (Edwin Jackson 2-2, 4.88) vs. (C.C. Sabathia 1-1, 2.73)

            Game 26:  Blue Jays @ Yankees on Friday April 29^th at 7:05pm

                        (Ricky Romero 1-3, 3.00) vs. (Freddy Garcia 1-0, 0.69)

            Game 27:  Blue Jays @ Yankees on Saturday April 30^th at 4:05pm

                        ((Kyle Drabek 1-0, 3.00) vs. (A.J. Burnett 3-0, 4.37)

            Game 28:  Blue Jays @ Yankees on Sunday May 1^st at 1:05pm

                        (TBA) vs. (Ivan Nova 1-2, 7.63)

Game Twenty-Two thru Twenty-Five – I’m excited, I’m really intrigued to see how far a ball can fly in the perfect setting…Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers lead the majors in HR’s with 36 on the season and a show it has been. Four Yankee starters have six or more homeruns and A-Rod is relaxing in the background with five. I see the White Sox as the other city with bats that can cry out fury and change games in seconds. Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin have 11 HRs between them and 16 RBI’s each. This four game series is going to be explosive and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the “Bleacher Creatures” out of breath from chasing down all the long balls. The only downer about this series is the bad start Chi-Town is walking through a 2-11 stretch where they can’t seem to do anything right. Can Ozzie straighten the ship on the biggest stage in the in baseball? If not I’m sure it could say a bunch of things that could get him fired.

Game Twenty-Six thru Twenty-Eight – Oh those Blue Jays…well I said the Yankees would split last week’s two game series and they did…that’s because they were playing in Canada. Toronto was 4–6 last year at Yankee Stadium and that’s nothing to write home about, but with Drabek and Romero slated to start I’m sure Toronto can get one again.

 (A “weak” long prediction 3-3)

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Living in a Fantasy 1-2-3:

-          Who Killed It? – 1. Ryan Braun signed a sweet contract extension and then blasted away this week in Milwaukee. He slammed 3 HRs this week, driving in 9 RBI’s and killed it with a .480 batting average raising his season average to .377. The chase to Votto begins! 2. Once again a Phillies starting pitcher had an untouchable outing. This week it was Roy Halladay’s pitching performance in the beautiful city of San Diego. He went 8 and 2/3 innings throwing 130 pitches, striking out 14 Padres. It’s really sick to watch this guy pitch every time he takes the mound and since moving to the NL last year he has been flawless 90% of the time.   3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s Jarad Weaver is on fire getting his 5^th win in as many starts this past week. He was a fantasy breakout last year and all you people who got your hands on him after the 6^th or 7^th rounds on draft day, a big pat on the back in worth it. Also, he's a two-start pitcher this week so no fooling around...start the bitch!

-          Who Thrilled It? – 1 & 2. This week is special. The top two spots in the “Thrilled It” section has to go to the three and four hitters over in LA. The dodgers have quietly gained some confidence at the plate scoring some runs last week. Some of this has to do with the promotion of the rookie power bat Jerry Sands, who was called up last week, but most of the offensive surge came from Andre Either and Matt Kemp. Andre is running with a 21 game hit streak and Matt Kemp had two game winning hits over the past week and is now batting .402…what more can you ask for as the approach the Rockies and fall into 2^nd place.  3. In some shape or form I was continuing the Kansas City Royals trend in this section and I didn’t have to look far. Riding an 18 game hit streak is the third baseman turned Outfielder Alex Gordon. The teams didn’t have such a fantastic week losing three straight to Texas this weekend, but Gordon has helped the team stay just over .500 at 12-10 on the season. He is batting .356 on the year and hopes to continue his hit streak into week four when his team travels to Cleveland.

-          Who’s on Deck? – 1. Jed Lowrie the backup 2B and SS on a Boston red Sox team had some luck with the team starting off so slow. It gained this 27 year-old a chance to start over the past week and accumulate some at bats. Since he began seeing some regular playing time on April 16^th he has hit in every game but one and stacked up 3 HRs and 10 RBI’s.  2. Tampa bay’s new Left Fielder Sam Fuld persist to get on base frequently in his new lead-off spot role on the team and dominate in multiple ways each game. His OBP is scorching at .388 with a .346 AVG. He has stolen 10 out of 13 bases as well, but did achieve his first “golden sombrero” Sunday afternoon. I have now taken my own advice and will be starting Fuld and Gordon on my fantasy team. Watch the reality kick in people…also I want to give a shout out to James Shields going the distance in two games straight winning both games striking out 16 and giving up only one run.  3. On September 6, 2006 Anibal Sanchez pitched a no hitter. It was his rookie season and he had his amazing night. For the following five years he had been nothing but a hot and cold pitcher who frequently jumped up and down from Majors to the minors. On April 22^nd, he almost did it again bringing a no hit bid into the 9^th inning against the big bats of Colorado.

Adam Hammer’s Loose Lips

- “Baseball had 21 rainouts in 2010 and we already have 16 this year. Bud Selig is considering the Mr. Burns (The Simpsons) idea and have giant "rain-blockers" installed over the stadiums.”

- “Mariano Rivera pulled a Joe Nathan pulling a Ke$ha and blew two saves this week. When reached for comment about all these closers taking after her Ke$ha said, ("Slurp -slurp").”

- “Roy Halladay struck out 14 Padres on Sunday. Imagine what he could do if he was brought back up to the Big Leagues, you know, the American League.”

Best Series You Missed – Astros @ Brewers, as the hit barraged was on. The series was won by the Brewers taking two games of three, but the Astros would not give in easily until game three. The first two games had a total of 60 hits, 36 runs scored and an extra-inning game for good measure on Saturday night. The Brewers attempted a comeback, only to come up short and fall in defeat in the 10^th. Oh, and how many times did that silly mascot slide down that ridiculous yellow twirling slide in Left Field? 6 times, but also had to stand clear from Houston’s 3 HR’s in the series.

Best Series for you to Catch –

SERIES 1:  Reds(11-11) @ Brewers (11-10) – The Reds are coming off a long hard stretch since losing 3 out of 4 to the Pirates, getting swept by the D-backs and losing 2 out of 3 against another division rival, St. Louis. Now on a 2-8 breaking wave since their last off day on April 14^th the Reds need to show the fans in Milwaukee that backing down is not an option. The Brew crew on the other hand started out the season 0-5 and has now gained some ground taking 2 out of 3 against the Phillies earlier this week in Philly. They also just gained a team spark by signing Ryan Braun, who was on a tear last week, though 2020 for a 105 million dollar contract extension. With R. Weeks and Braun all signed up what will happen with Cecil Feilder’s little (big) boy? The Brewers lineup is just as good as the Reds and both teams are filled with young talent pitching and behind the scenes lurking in the background. This will certainly be a series to watch for any baseball fan.

SERIES 2:  White Sox (8-14) @ Yankees (12-6) – I know that Chicago’s record shouldn’t boast this serious series, but two simple reasons of why I’m picking this series as one to watch will explain all…

ONE: The powerhouse lineups get ready to swing their bats for four big games at Yankee Stadium, where the balls seem to fly out on a check-swing. The starting pitching is edged by the White Sox, (regardless of ERA) but their bullpen is an atrocious piece of work. The White Sox bullpen reminds me of the manure filled pick-up truck in “Back to the Future pt. 2” that has spilled all over the road. The White Sox bullpen foiled leads regularly. The bullpen has blown 6 of 7 save chances, four by Matt Thornton alone. To add another punch while they’re knocked out, four out of the seven relief pitchers in the bullpen have ERA’s over 6.23. Awful, I know. Chicago doesn’t even know who their closer is right now. As I say give Sergio the shot! On the other side of things the Yankee’s starting pitching has been purely average, while the bullpen has become their strongest defense…don’t prove me wrong Joba…Soriano…wake up!

TWO: For the completely selfish reason that I picked these two teams to be the only ones left, playing in the AL Championship in late October. I can dream, so I will.

And now for your reading pleasure…

***

The Future; According to the Late-Great George Carlin

“A time machine will be built, but no one will have time to use it.”

 

NEXT WEEK

Monday May 2^nd

^{(Week Five May 2nd – 8th)}

^{“One Month Down,}

^&

 ^{Plenty to Go”}

Last Quip by Doctor KAS – “The New York Knicks were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and The New York Rangers lost four out of five to the Washington Capitals losing in their 1^st round of the NHL Playoffs………...

I guess a sad statement is to follow for the traumatic week in New York sports, but my brain never seemed to care in the first place.”

ISSUE #4

Week Three

(April 18^th – April 24^th)

“Importance of Winning… (In April)”

          Baseball is a funny game…

A funny game that involves millions upon billions of dollars each year…

Billions of dollars that surrounds a game.

Isn’t that funny?

You take pride for instance. My beloved Pirates have been a miserable franchise to root for the past eighteen, going on nineteen years. What I tend to do is, clear my mind throughout the winter months and gather up all the positive aspects of the team I can find deep within my soul assembling all the possible reasons to get behind the team approaching the new year. (This usually takes about five to ten minutes in early March). Then I really boost up my spirits by thinking of all the miracles that can be and start believing in the exciting concept of “what if’s” that can carry me through spring training. When the weather begins to warm I know what is soon to come…the month of April, my month... my teams’ playoffs. The never, ever changing hope for these writer’s eyes…to witness winning Pirate baseball. A time when all teams are created equal (record wise, not payroll wise). Come May, or if luck persist and June is not so gloom, I’ll be done with World Series aspirations. My team will be in the dumps, but I’ll move on because of my love for the game. It’s extremely hard to take, but I’ve had my practice of dealing with disappointment so it’s a part of my summer.

            A lot happens inside a fan when your team doesn’t win in April. You lose interest, people lose money, enthusiasts become disgruntle and the downward spiral begins. Before you know it, the Manager of the team gets the ax, the General Manager is asked to step down at the end of the season and owners of the ball club still find ways how to make millions while the home team continues to lose. Now at this point, the owner’s swindle in making a profit for a down and out squad and starts enjoying the money more than the aspect of winning. The Mets are in the midst of following this path of failure. This isn’t a small city where tickets are 25 bucks on the 1^st base line…the prices are extravagant here in NY and a serious loss of revenue is not expected. Look at all those damn empty seats in Yankee Stadium…and they are winning! On TV the Bronx looks vacant nightly and they still refuse to lower the prices. Are we not in financial trouble?

            It’s like the airline companies. There are so many planes in the sky with half the capacity filled because the JetBlue’s and the American Airlines expect or play to a greater entity…greed, greedy, filthy money. I heard this past winter Southwest Airlines lost over a million dollars during this past winter’s snowstorms effecting three major airports and I don’t feel bad for them. Funny thing is they don’t feel bad for us as they just tap on new price hikes to gain the money back out of our pockets. It’s an easy equation that these companies already messed up completely because of their voracity, less flight taking off, less planes in the sky, fewer cancellations equals more bang for your buck. More of a demand gets you more asses in the seats. All planes taking off would be packed and worth the thousands in fuel. Am I wrong? Maybe.

            This can work for baseball in a simpler way. Cheaper seats, cheaper prices will get more fans in the stadium no matter how bad the team performs, because people are coming out to see baseball. A game. Your team needs to win in April to keep hope alive yes, but if they don’t then Charlie What’s-his-name is not going to take his two and a half kids to the ballpark for 200 dollars and spend $4.50 each on a two-bite hotdog. Parking is sometimes more expensive then the seats itself and that right there is remarkably ridiculous no matter how you look at it. The stadiums across the country have been empty, hopefully it’s because of the bad weather…but possibly it’s because the fans have no hope in their team.

            What everyone has forgotten over the years is that baseball is a sport, entertainment and excitement for the working people of this great country. And as the story has grown in this country the millionaires want to be billionaires and the billionaires look down on us without any care for anyone’s well-being. All the citizens ask for is some reasonable exciting entertainment to help us get by or just put aside our lives for a while. To have one pay 8 to 10 dollars a beer is an atrocity in every way and if there were regulations on things like charging 5 bucks for a bottle of water is criminal. The New York Mets are on the verge of losing this battle by playing awful baseball in April. They are better than this by far.

New York Mets

(5 - 11)

5^th Place/6.0 GB

The Past (week two): Colorado Rockies Series…I think the word is brutal. I like to go with sad or just simply awful. The Mets showed the home crowd very little in this series and by the end of the four-game debacle at Citi Field, Mets fans were glad to see the team ship out to Atlanta. The Mets had the lead in each game at one point and lead Colorado XXX times within the series only to lose it multiple times, eventually being swept by the Rockies compiling a five game losing streak. The bullpen was pretty unreliable and the starting pitchers can’t seem to keep the Mets in the game past the 5^th inning. This is unacceptable by any team’s standards. The man of the hour was Troy Tulowitzki going 10 for 16 with 4 HRs (one in each game) and 8 RBI’s. He was unstoppable and officially named as the Met killer. Only one positive came from this series, it was a hard thing to find, but there was something there. The Mets never gave up until the second game of the double header. They lost each of the first three games by only 1 run battling back repeatedly, hitting the Rockies bullpen, but fell short because the hole was too deep to dig out of. The spirit is there…maybe an uplifting visit to Atlanta waits in the foreground giving the Mets some false hope in their short three-game set down south.

Atlanta Braves Series…Well, well, well Met fans what can you say? It’s been a bad week. Two doubleheaders and a seven game losing streak entering Sunday afternoons game. Bad news, they hold sole possession of last place…worse news Dillon Gee is the starting pitcher in the series finale.

After a miserable series against the Rockies, the Mets went down to Atlanta and had to play a double-dip because of a Friday night rainout. They strung together 8 hits and only 2 runs on the fateful day setting a season long seven game skid. You might think that hitting the ball was the most significant problem of the week, but honestly I think it’s that weak pitching staff. They only lost 4 – 2 followed by a shutout of 4 – 0 but these pitchers can’t get out of the 6^th inning. D.J. Carrasco was pulled after throwing 86 pitches in 3 and 2/3rds. Giving up 3 runs, 3 walks and here’s the kicker…3 HRs to the Atlanta batters. Later that night Mike Pelfrey, the staff ace, once again couldn’t find his way out of a wet paper bag. Leaving in the 6^th inning with two men on and nobody out Big Pelf surrendered 11 hits and 4 runs. Pee-u! One positive, his ERA is now below double digits with a whopping 9.72. If losing two doubleheaders in the same weeks isn’t rough enough they have to pull a pitcher out of the slim deck of cards for game three.

Dillon Gee, who we saw a bit of last year in September, got the job done. Still following the trend of leaving the game before completing 6 innings Gee at least got 2 outs in the sixth before leaving. The Mets needed this win so bad that they through two of their starters out to hold a 3 – 1 lead. Chris Capuano got an out to finish off the 6^th and then R. A. Dickey pitched a one hit 7^th. Odd, but I guess you could say it worked. The Mets held on to win 3 – 2 and snapped a long seven game losing streak.

Player of the week: Jose Reyes continues to hit the ball and get on base, but it’s obviously not enough. He had an 8 game hitting streak going on which is always exciting, but lost it in the 1^st game of the double header in Atlanta. He’s sitting on a respectable average at .315 for a leadoff hitter and stole 3 bases in the double header alone. He added one more in the rubber game and now has 6 on the season.

The Future (week three):          

Projected Pitching Match-ups

Game 17: Astros @ Mets on Tuesday April 19^th at 7:10pm

                          (Wandy Rodriguez 0-2, 7.31) vs. (Jon Niese 0-2, 6.88)

            Game 18: Astros @ Mets on Wednesday April 20^th at 7:10pm

                          (Bud Norris 1-1, 5.06) vs. (R.A. Dickey)

            Game 19: Astros @ Mets on Thursday April 21^st at 7:10pm

                         (J.A. Happ 1-2, 5.79) vs. (Chris Capuano)

            Game 20: Diamondbacks @ Mets on Friday April 22^nd at 7:10pm 

                        (TBA) vs. (Mike Pelfrey 0-2, 9.72)

            Game 21: Diamondbacks @ Mets on Saturday April 23^rd at 1:10pm

                        (TBA) vs. (Dillon Gee 1-0, 1.59)

            Game 22: Diamondbacks @ Mets on Sunday April 24^th at 1:10pm

                        (TBA) vs. (Jon Niese 0-2, 6.88)

Game Seventeen thru Nineteen – The Mets have some work to do to say the least. I will witness this team for the first time in 2011 this Thursday as my beautiful lady and I hope to see a “W” against one of the lowliest teams in the MLB. Two weeks ago I said that the Mets should take care of business against the Washington nationals and the failed miserably. Well, take-two my friends, cause if the Mets can’t do it against the Houston Astros they should just sell the players and get some prospects cause April will literally be a wash. The Astros are in bad shape and the main reason why the Mets should win all 3 games, yup I said it all three, is because there lineup is way better and they’re the home team. Last year the Mets were a very respectable 47-34 in Citi Field and this year so far they are 1-6 leaving the fans crying for their parking money back… (This in my case will cost more than the two tickets combined). This series should be the start of a great ending to a slow start and should make the April showers emerge into some much needed sunshine.

Game Twenty thru Twenty-Two – The Mets are an astounding 24-13 at Chase Field (Bank One Ballpark) in Arizona since it opened in 1998 and since 2005 they are 13-2…oh shit, wait a minute…damn their not playing there this weekend. Oh well, it’s still the Diamondbacks and they are not a top-notch team by any means. Kirk Gibson is a leader who is trying to right the ship over in Arizona with electrifying youngsters like Justin Upton, Chris Young, Stephen Drew and former Yankee prospect Ian Kennedy, but the D-backs have way too many inconsistencies to beat up on the Mets. I hope. So the Mets will either beat themselves or have their biggest week of the year. If it works out, the Mets will go with Mike Pelfrey who needs to level it all out and focus on getting to the 7^th inning, Chris Young if his shoulder holds up, and Jon Niese who seems to be fantastic until the 5^th or 6^th inning until he implodes. Boy that sounds like a lot of problems; however, they can all be settled with one good week of baseball. This is the week for the Mets to get a grip and straighten the ship.

(A “weak” long prediction 4 - 2)

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New York Yankees

(9 - 5)

1st Place by 2.5 games

The Past (week two):  Baltimore Orioles Series…It was a three game series knocked down to two because of a Tuesday night PPD. Good for the Orioles, not the Yankees. The Yankees took both 7 – 4 and 6 – 5. In the first game the Yankees took a solid lead with A.J. on the hill and he was good through 5 innings. Struggling in the 6^th he gave up four runs and had to departure leaving the game up to the bullpen and it was a success. A.J. surprises all Bombers fans by reaching a 3 – 0 mark to start the season and happy days are here to stay. Big Mo picked up his fifth save of the season. Game two had to be won the opposite way. Baltimore came out strong and took advantage of the severely struggling Phil Hughes, who couldn’t get the radar gun past 88 MPH after the 1^st inning. The Orioles took a 5 – 0 lead going into the bottom of the 5^th and then the Yankees turned it on! Get this, batters three through seven (Tex, A-Rod, Cano, Swish and Posada) all had an RBI while spreading the hits around in the comeback. A-Rod topped the night at 3 for 3 with two doubles and a walk, raising his average over .400. Bartolo Colon and his large body shut the Baltimore batters down while Joba Chamberlin blocked the plate with his large body on a passed ball in the 8^th. Rivera pitched a spotless 10^th to pick up the win after a sacrifice fly by Nick Swisher in the bottom of the 10^th.

            Texas Rangers Series…As I sit watching game three of the series on Sunday night, I think of how exciting these Yankees are. In the 6^th inning the Yankees have a 5 - 4 lead with only 5 hits…three of them being HRs from Martin, Cano and the Grandyman. Win or lose the team fights, hits and refuses to back down.  Sorry, I have to say it, but Mo, mowed the Rangers down. 7 for 7 on the year and solid as Secretariat down the strech at Belmont. Eric Chavez in for A-Rod did his impression of the All Star by hitting the game winning basehit in the Bottom of the 8th.

Before this Sunday night win however, Ivan Nova got hit hard again. It was Friday night and it's  now the third straight start he got knocked around, but it’s kind of okay. I know how that sounds, but it’s true. The Yankees pack a powerful punch at any time in the lineup and can change the score of the game quickly. The first game was odd in the fact that the Rangers only had four hits (all in the first 4 and a 1/3 innings and all off of Nova) and still managed to win the game 5 – 3. Even with a big missing piece like Josh Hamilton out on the DL, Texas can still hit. The weather was bad and so were their bats, but starting pitcher Harrison capped off his third win by going 8 innings and pitching his way out of trouble repeatedly.

            Saturday afternoon, the weather got worse, but the Yankees didn’t. Even Teixeira started hitting the ball again after a long drought. He blasted number five on the season helping his average raise before falling under .200 like he was about to. Freddy Garcia started his first game of the season and did exactly what I said he’d do in back when talks were fluttering around about whether to keep him or not. He pitched 6 solid innings of 2 hit baseball and Mo went 6 for 6 in his save opportunities on the year. This series was exactly what I thought it would be. Great baseball and well fought by two of the American League top teams.

          Player of the series: One word and it's in quotes..."MO"

*BAD NEWS:  A-Rod is hurt with tightness in his back. Phil Hughes on the DL with a “dead arm” yeah right. R. Soriano gave up two runs again raising the 8^th inning man’s ERA to 9.53 on the season. 35 million…ahhh, it’s too easy.

The Future (week three):

Projected Pitching Match-ups

*C.C will start one day, but with only 5 games for the week who knows when. I’m thinking he will take Nova’s spot in the rotation this week.

Game 17: Yankees @ Blue Jays on Tuesday April 18^th at 7:05pm 

                          (A.J. Burnett 3-0, 4.67) vs. (Kyle Drabek 1-0, 1.93)

            Game 18: Yankees @ Blue Jays on Wednesday April 19^th at 7:05pm 

                          (Bartolo Colon 0-1, 3.97) vs. (Brett Cecil 1-1, 6.19)

            Game 19: Yankees @ Orioles on Friday April 21^st at 7:05pm 

                         (Ivan Nova 1-1, 7.36) vs. ()

            Game 20: Yankees @ Orioles on Saturday April 22^nd at 7:05pm

                        (Freddy Garcia 1-0, 0.00) vs. ()

            Game 21: Yankees @ Orioles on Sunday April 23^rd at 1:05pm

                        (A.J. Burnett 3-0, 4.67) vs. ()

Game Seventeen & Eighteenth – Only a two game quickie in Toronto and with the rain delays last week and only five games in week three the pitching rotation is all sorts of confusing. The exciting youngster I’d like to see take on the bold hard hitting Yankee lineup is Toronto’s Kyle Drabek. He is a solid looking prospect at 1-0 with a 1.93ERA. He had some trouble with location in Seattle walking four batters and giving up a HR to Justin Smoak, but looks a lot like his father in his march to dominance. The Yankees would be a great test to see how he handles such a deep lineup. The Bombers will also face the hot & cold Brett Cecil who is 23-12 in his injury plagued three year service and 10-6 in Toronto’s dome. Toronto always hits the ball hard at home (45-33 at Home last year) so for some reason I expect the Yankees to split. With A-Rod questionable and the starting rotation TBA every next day I think Girardi needs to look ahead and get some formalities down pat. This will also be Bartolo Colon’s 1^st start of the season.

Game Nineteenth thru Twenty-One – Back to Camden Yard, where the great Cal Ripken set his consecutive game start record now too many years ago, making me older by the day. Baltimore fans have been through the ringer the past few years with 4^th inning protests and walk-outs and a bunch of hullabaloo. The fans want winners in the historic baseball city and Buck Showalter could have some positive intangibles going on down there. Matt Weiters is coming around, the bats can produce runs…it’s just the pitching (which is also very very young) that blows some questions down there. They have tons of promise like KC in the AL Central, but here in the East it’s going to be a bit tougher. Last week the series was won by the Yankees (2 – 0), with a PPD to be made up in the future, and a quick turnaround rematch will boast an intellectual message on which way these two teams are heading. Baltimore had their hands all over game two in the series, but had the lead too early and slowly gave all 5 runs back to the Bronx Bombers.

(A “weak” long prediction 4 - 1)

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Living in a Fantasy 1-2-3:

-          Who Killed It? – 1. Troy Tulowitzki came into Queens for a four game series earlier in the week and blasted a HR in each of the four games. He finished the first part of the week going 10 for 16 at the plate with 4 HRs and 8 RBI’s. 2. There is this guy who rests his gazillion dollar head soundly most nights in the wonderfully luxurious Trump Hotel right in Columbus Circle in New York City. When he shows up to the ballpark he is not the full focus of the media as he once was, maybe because the team as a whole is playing so well, or possibly because he’s finally dealing with the pressure so calmly there is no need to bother him. Alex Rodriguez is playing fantastic baseball. He is hitting for average, smiling and not having to deal with all the New York demands and weight of the team on his shoulders. If Cameron Diaz is his answer to happiness then that broad better stay in check and know her place, because this is the best start I’ve seen from him to date. He’s purely swinging smoothly. 3.  A day after Roy Halladay pitched a complete game against Washington giving up 2 runs and helping the Phillies win 3 – 2, Cliff Lee took the mound. Part two of the “fearsome four” in Philadelphia out did Doc Halladay going 9 innings himself. Lee was able to bounce back from a bad start last week and strikeout 12 Nationals killing them into submission in a 4 – 0 win.

-          Who Thrilled It? – 1. Dan Haren pitched a one-hitter against the Indians who were on an 8 game winning streak at the time. On Sunday he came back out on the mound in Chicago and pitched another beautiful game. 6.1 innings 2 ERs and no walks. Haren is now 4-0 on the season with a 1.16 ERA.  2. The Florida Marlins Josh Johnson also flirted with a no-hitter early in the week against a division rival on their home turf. The Braves lineup is not an easy day to pitch through, but Johnson went into the 8^th surrendering no hits until rookie Freddy Freeman smacked a base hit to left field. Now with only 109 pitches and 9 strikeouts the Marlins manager took Josh out which makes me livid, but they won the game anyway. Johnson’s actually been working on a new curveball for his already powerful repertoire which is amazing in itself; he signed a new contract last year for 35+ million and is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA on the season. Only problem…he’s stuck in Florida.  3. I’m doing it…three weeks in a row the Kansas City Royals have been in the “who thrilled it” piece and they will continue to stay here as long as they keep scoring, pitching and winning.

-          Who’s on Deck?  - 1. J.P. Arencibia continues to hit the ball and get on base regularly for the Blue Jays. It seems to be that he was no joke when he came up late last year. Doubles, HRs, RBI’s and consistency.  2. Tampa Bay Rays are going to have a tough season this year, losing Even Longoria for a while and most of their bullpen from last year, but they do have prospects in the mix polluting the farm system. They also have a rising star out in Left Field. Sam Fuld, basically a “nobody” has made remarkable defensive plays this year throwing his body around at will. He also is doing the same on the base paths nightly. In the first week he almost hit for the cycle against XXX, which turned a few heads. The little guy is hitting .347 with 7 stolen bases in the first two weeks of the 2011 season. I’m sure we’ll see this guy make his way to the “who thrilled it” section the night he goes 4 – 4 with 4 stolen bases in the near future.  3. I’m a bit of an underdog fan and the Royals have sparked my interest obviously. Now I know their pitching will falter and fail, but they do have prospects especially at that position. What they certainly needed were players like Alex Gordon to break out of his two year funk and so far 2011 is it. He has an 11 game hit streak and the team in 10-5. He is hitting for average at .365 1 HR and 11 RBI’s. I’ve had him on the bench in my three fantasy leagues and now I’ve built enough confidence to put him in the starting lineup in two of them. I’ve never been a “balls-to-the-wall” type of guy and I’m not starting with a Kansas City Royal to mess with my money.

Adam Hammer’s Loose Lips

- “The Mets played consecutive double headers this week, one on Thursday and one Saturday. The team was upset and complained to the league. The fans were also upset they had to watch garbage twice a day, twice this week.”

- “The Dodgers cancelled their half price beer night with the hope of reducing coma inducing beatings to people in the stands. Unfortunately, they can't control the comas suffered from watching the team play. Instead of half price beer night, they had "Bring Proof of Citizenship Night." The attendance was 12.”

- “Phil Hughes went on the disabled list due to a dead arm, or by its scientific name HPS: Horrible Pitching Syndrome.”

- “Joe Nathan pulled a Ke$ha and blew everything in sight this week, which cost him his closer job.”

Best Series You Missed – I can safely say that the best series of the week was what I thought it would be, Mets verses…oh wait, no…I mean the Yankees vs. Texas. It had pitching, hitting, drama, appearances by both closers and 1^st base coaches getting ejected. It was baseball at its best in April and a great indication of two teams you should see in October.

Best Series for you to Catch –

SERIES 1:  Brewers (7-8) @ Phillies (10-4) If the Brewers are going to start showing their stuff and making a bid in the up and down NL Central, let’s see how those bats of Milwaukee do against some of the best pitching in the National League. They will have to face Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee while the Philly bats will have to see throwers like Shawn Marcum and the newly renovated Chris Narveson who is 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA. Monday’s game will be on ESPN and Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon on MLB Network. So in essence, you don’t have to miss it.  

SERIES 2:  Talk about TV time, you won’t see any of these games on a national broadcast, but I’m here to say that maybe you should. Monday thru Thursday the AL Central battle for 1^st place begins. Indians (11-4) @ Royals (10-5) is no typo my friends. Both teams are playing great baseball and if you love the sport, try and catch a game of this four game series.

And now for your reading pleasure…

***

The Future; According to the Late-Great George Carlin

-          “Chickens will operate on gasoline and, surprisingly, many of them will get good mileage”

 

NEXT WEEK

Monday April 25^th

^{(Week Four April 25th – June 1st)}

^{“Never Say Die,}

^{Cause if you’re dead you can’t talk”}

Last Quip by Doctor KAS – “Taxes! Did you pay or receive? I surly received something from the government last week, but it certainly wasn’t in the form of cash.”