 Monday, May 19, 2008
Billy Wagner is either a hero or a fool
There were some signs of life this weekend in the Bronx, but not from the hapless Yankees, the signs of life were from the hapless Mets. After losing 3 out of 4 to the hopeless Nationals, Billy Wagner called his teammates out, the second public outburst this year by Wagner (who trumps Joba or any other relief pitcher in the league with a 0.00 ERA.) The Mets out hit, out pitched and out played their crosstown rivals at Yankee Stadium. They stole bases, they hit and ran, had 2-out RBIs, home runs and also dead on pitching. They were firing on all cylinders. They even touched the unhittable Joba for a run. More importantly, they looked like they were having fun. The look on Jose Reyes (two home runs in two games) face in the dugout was the Jose of old, the wise guy joker. Even Carlos Delgado looked like he was having fun. (Even after an obvious three run home run was called back.) We will see if this was a weekend sighting of the spunk that the Mets need or a real change. The Mets head to Atlanta to play a team that is not as good as them, but seems to be inside their heads. The NY Media was all over the Nats and Yankees series being "tests" for the Mets, a test that they get a collective B- on (D+ against the Nats, A+ against the Yankees, but the Yankees is weighted higher due to the pressure and national stage.) The real test begins at 1pm tomorrow against their old friend Tom Glavine. A pounding on Tom would just what the doctor ordered. Posted by Steve in Washington, DC
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Can Chien-Ming Wang win the big games?
Chien-Ming Wang has gotten a rap as someone who does not win the big games. While it is only late May, the Yankees have lost 4 out of the last 5 to bad teams (Mets included), and are 3 games under .500 and also falling further and further behind in the AL East. While it is not October, the Yankees are in a rut and it is also the final game in an abbreviated subway series with the crosstown rivals Mets. While it may "just be another game" the Mets already won the first game and will be going for the series win tonight on national TV. If ever the Yankees needed a big win (as the Mets did yesterday), the do tonight. The Mets had their stopper, ace Johan Santana pitch yesterday. He did what he was paid to do, going 7 2/3 innings and stopping the losing streak with a big win at the Stadium. Chien-Ming Wang is 6-1 this year. Can he do the same as Johan Santana and stop the Yankees' slide? Or will he still earn his big game rap. We'll know in an hour. Posted by Steve in New York
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Johan, Puedas Hablar con Esteban Y El Tanque (Johan, You Can Talk to Steve and The Tank)
Hola Johan,
Amigo, hermano Dominicano. Escucho que no quieres hablar con media ingles. No problema. Esteban Y El Tanque comprendemos Espanol.
Hi Johan,
Friend, Dominican brother. I've heard that you don't want to speak with the English speaking media. No problem. Steve and The Tank understand Spanish.
Question Uno: Piensas que Los Mets no se anotan mas carreras para ti? (Claro que no.)
Question One: Do you think that the Mets score enough runs for you? (Of course not.)
Question Dos: Que piensas de Guillermo Wagner criticando Perez? Quieres a gritar a Billy?
Question Two: What do you think of Billy Wagner criticizing Perez? Do you want to yell at Billy?
Question Tres: Te gusta los umpires?
Question Three: Do you like the umpires?
El Tanque escribe en Nueva York.
Written by The Tank in NY.
Rain, Rain, Go Away...
After Steve and I were rained out last Friday night at Shea, I didn't even bother going to the Stadium tonight for the Subway Series.
As blogged in 2006, the Yankees and Mets dropped the ball in NOT putting retractable roofs on the new stadiums opening next year.
Posted by The Tank building an Ark.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Time to Move Aaron Heilman to the Starting Rotation?
Aaron Heilman is not an effective 7th inning man. Nor is he happy being a reliever, he whines and complains almost daily that he is not a starter. The Mets need consistency in their rotation. Pedro is never going to return, I'm sorry to say. If his hamstring ever heals, he will go on to the DL sometime in August for his toe or something else. Orlando Hernandez's return is still a mystery but he will come back. When he does, he should fill Sosa's role in the bullpen. Let's face it el Duque is old, nobody know how old. He can't give you 150 innings any more. So put him in the pen and expect only 65 innings a year from him. This will extend his career and make him much more effective tossing less innings. Then you can swap his spot in the rotation with Heilman. If Heilman still does not perform, then you can trade him away. Posted by Steve in New York
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Signs of Life in Flushing
Forget the win last night over the Nationals. Forget the 14 hits and 6 runs and rock star performances from Ryan Church and John Maine. The signs of life are from the passion displayed. Monday night Nelson Figueroa got rocked by the Nationals. Yea, those thigns happen. But what was bad was the Nationals, led by Lastings Milledge, were in the dugout tormenting Figueroa. He said after the game: ”They were cheerleading in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls. I’m a professional, just like anybody else. I take huge offense to that. If that’s what a last-place team needs to do to fire themselves up, so be it. I think you need to show a little bit more class, a little bit more professionalism. They won tonight, but again, in the long run, they are who they are.” ex-Met Lastings Milledge said: “Well, what were we supposed to do? We’re not supposed to cater to anybody on the opposing team. We’re not going to cater to him or anybody else. We’ve been down the last couple of days and we wanted to get something going. And if he doesn’t like it, then he’s got to deal with it. Anybody don’t like it, they just have to deal with it.” On Tuesday night, John dealt with it. Maine hit Felipe Lopez with the first pitch of the game. Take that Lastings Milledge. The Mets then followed with a victory and Maine had another brilliant performance. This is what you have to do, hit the batter to set the tone, send a message. There are some signs of life in Flushing after all. Posted by Steve in New York
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A-Rod to Miss the Subway Series
A-Rod's right quad is still not 100% and he will not be off the DL before the weekend series at the Stadium vs the Mets. There has been a buzz about the Subway Series this year (well there is always a buzz) since it is the last year at both stadiums. I say, who cares? This is like the Sears and K-Mart merger. Both teams are no fun to watch anymore. they seems to give up, even against bad teams. The Mets can't beat the last place Reds and Nationals and the Yankees can't beat the hapless Rays. The Yankees will limp into the series maybe at .500 and the Mets will be no better. I was watching the game last night and at one point it was 3-3 and then the Nationals took the lead 6-3. Last year (pre-September) and definitely in 2006 I would have said "no problem, we'll get those 3 runs back, epically against a 0-3 pitcher." Not this year. The Mets seem to give up when they fall behind. The Yankees are even worse. I have been saying for weeks now that the Mets and Yanks have to beat up on bad teams. So now they can beat up on each other. Posted by Steve not excited by the Sears Series.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Was Mike D'Antoni the Best Choice for the Knicks New Coach?
The Knicks signed Mike D'Antoni to a four year, $24 million contract over the weekend. I know Steve and many other Knicks fans wanted former Knick and Saint John's star Mark Jackson. I understand that but the Knicks went with an experienced AND successful coach. D'Antoni is good enough to adjust his up-tempo style to the personnel that he has now. Expect a mix of up tempo and half court. This will make the Knicks a more watchable team over the next couple of seasons until Lebron James and/or Dwayne Wade becomes available.
That said, I think D'Antoni should have been given another year in Phoenix as should have Avery Johnson in Dallas. Shaq wasn't 100% fit when he came to the desert in the middle of the season. If D'Antoni didn't succeed after next season, then he should have been reevaluated and replaced if necessary. For that matter, D'Antoni's style would have worked better in Chicago as would Avery Johnson's style in Phoenix. That's water under the bridge and time to move on.
The Knicks will need to be creative in getting out of Salary Cap H*ll. They will then be able to go after Lebron James or Dwayne Wade. Expect the latter as Lebron is close to Jay Z. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised to see Lebron in a Brooklyn Nets jersey. Plus, the Nets hold the option in 2010-2011 for Vince Carter so expect his salary to be used to acquire Lebron. Dwayne Wade would be a great consolation prize for the Knicks.
Factors to Watch:
(1) Stephon Marbury is entering his contract year. (Thank God!) Mike D'Antoni has coached him in Phoenix before he got traded for Steve Nash. Stephon knows this is his last chance to stay with Knicks or audition for another team. The Knicks would be smart NOT to re-sign Stephon unless he were to win a championship next season.
(2) Who will the Knicks draft? Let's hope the ping-pong balls (with a possible assist from David Stern) go the Knicks way. Expect D'Antoni to draft and sign top level international players as he had in Phoenix and other stops in his career.
(3) Will D'Antoni have the confidence and support of Walsh and the Dolans? Will they cave into the players at the first sign of trouble? If they do, D'Antoni will hang in the wind and Knicks fans will continue to suffer. Walsh must back D'Antoni and get rid of any players who don't get with the program.
(4) Will the ghost of Isiah (in person or spirit) continue to haunt the Knicks? Will he hold secret meetings with players to plant dissention in their heads? Isiah is devious as a fox so the players must be on guard for this trap as everything Isiah touches turns to junk.
Bottom Line: Anyone is better than Isiah so D'Antoni was a good choice. If you think the Yankees rebuilding process on the fly is painful, the Knicks are going to be a total renovation down to final brick, pun intended per NYC Building Code regulations.
D'Antoni is good enough to get the Knicks from 23 to about 35+ wins in 2008-2009 with the current "talent" and some help from the draft. 35+ wins is enough to contend for an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Heck, Steve, myself, and all of our 23 month old to 16 year old nieces, nephews, and Godchildren could contend as Team SteveAndTheTank.com in the Eastern Conference. The challenge in D'Antoni's second through fourth seasons is to get the Knicks to get above .500 and go deep into the playoffs. Contending for a championship is a mathematical possibility but not likely for another four years or more. I have a better chance of winning the Lottery, touch wood. 
Posted by a cautiously optimistic Tank in NY.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Double Header Sums up the Mets Season
The Mets yesterday split a double header with the last place Reds that they should have won. In 1986 they would have won and in 2006 they would have won. After winning their last game on the road to salvage a .500 road trip and scoring 12 runs, the Mets looked like they came alive and showed some passion in the first game, giving Santana 12 runs to work with. That was all the Ace needed to get his first win at Shea. In the nightcap, the Mets stalled, getting only 4 hits off a struggling 8.00 ERA Bronson Arroyo. He embarrassed them and the Mets also made two sloppy errors as well in the field. Jeff Keppinger has more hits then the whole Mets team. This is the problem. Good teams grind out those nightcaps, don't go to asleep and give games away to last place teams and .800 ERA pitchers. Good teams knock out the .800 pitcher in the 5th inning with a few runs and attack the bullpen. If the team is struggling offensively (how can you say that when the Mets scored 24 runs in the previous two games?) then you foul off a ton of pitches, earn some walks, try to steal and force the pitchers to make mistakes and raise the pitch count. If the Mets can't win these kind of games, what makes you think they can win a critical Game 7 in October? (Or a critical game in September to clinch a spot in the playoffs.) This team is good, there is no doubt about, but it lacks the passion. When it finds that drive, that will to win, they will easily overtake their division and possibility go to the World Series. But they won't make the playoffs if they don't find it. Posted by Steve in New York (Still needing time to digest the Knicks move...)
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