213 Miles From Shea

The Mets stopped their slide with a shutout win over the Cardinals yesterday by the score of 3-0. The main headline of the day was Oliver Perez, who needed to perform in order to stay with the team, and he did that by pitching 2 scoreless innings allowing 2 hits while walking 0 and striking out 0. It was a big day for Perez, but it hasn't answered all of the question marks around him yet (there will be a more detailed post about that at Noon today). After Perez was another controversial pitcher for the Mets, Frankie Rodriguez. Krod was pretty good today. He allowed a hit, but also struck out a batter showing that he can throw the ball effectively. As you can imagine, going down the list, since the Mets staff pitched a shutout (8 pitchers today) it was a big day for everybody. Other participants in this was Capuano, Izzy, and Mejia. Out of that group, we already know that Capuano is most likely going to be with the team and Mejia is going to AAA, so the question mark is Izzy. He threw another good inning (on blight was a walk) as he continues to be a surprise contender for the Mets bullpen.

Some quick offense highlights:

Reyes 1-3
Tejada 1-1 (Now Batting .556 in Spring)
Wright 0-1, RBI, BB
Davis 2-2, 2B, RBI, BB (Big Day)
Murphy 1-3, RBI
Fmart 1-2, BB (Now Batting .600)
Thole 2-3

The only player who had a really bad day at the plate was Duda (0-4) but he really wasn't factoring too much into this 2011 squad anyway. It was just an all around good day for a number of players on the Mets, and it is hard to not get filled with optimism and hope seeing the Mets performing the way they are.

The Mets dropped another Spring Training Game yesterday, but that really doesn't matter. What does matter is that it was Dickey's first start of Spring, and he looked pretty good. He pitched 3 innings allowing 1 earned run over three hits while striking out 4. From various reports, he was keeping hitters off balance and it was just good to hear that Dickey was Dickey. If this feels like deju vu, it should as this was pretty much exactly what I was saying yesterday after Neise's start. We may only be one week into Spring Training games, but there seems to be a lot to be happy about in terms of starting pitchers.

Three Mets had double hits yesterday, and they are all people I'm happy to see produce. First would be Bay who went 2-3 at the plate and it is just nice to see him hit because if Bay is like Bay, that is a huge boost for this lineup. The second is the player everyone forgets who is trying to get on the bench, Nick Evans, who went 2-4 with a double. Finally there was Tejada who was playing SS going 2-3, with an RBI. As he continues to kill the ball, he really may be working himself back into the 2B conversation as he has the benefits of the glove, which Murphy and Emaus do not.

The Mets will play the Cardinals again today, and this time it will be on SNY, MLB.tv, etc.

The Mets dropped their second game in a row this Spring yesterday, 5-3, to the Washington Nationals (like it actually means something). There was god news for the Mets rotation once again yesterday as Jon Niese got the start, and he did a pretty good job. He pitched 3 innings allowing 2 hits, 2 BB, and 2 K's. So while his WHIP was over 1, he didn't allow any runs and he was effective. The rotation is going to be key for this team, and so far things aren't looking so bad yet. Parnell also had an average outing as he pitched two innings, allowed an earned run with 4 hits. Ideally he doesn't want to give up as many hits as he did yesterday, but it wasn't a bad day for him. Also having a good day yesterday was Beato who pitched a scorless inning where he allowed one hit. The only pitcher who struggled yesterday was Alvarez who allowed 4 ER in one inning of work.

Fernando Martinez continued his killing the ball yesterday going 2-3 with his first double of the Spring. He is now batting .625 this Spring, but he isn't going to go to Queens if he isn't going to start. Besides that there really wasn't much to write home about with the Mets bats. Emaus got to play and went 1-3, but, really not a lot to concentrate on yesterday.

It has been a good couple of years since MLB has done any major changes to the Opening Day logo. For the most part the logo really hasn't changed much at all in the last few years:

The 2010 Logo.

The 2009 Logo.

The 2008 Logo.

The 2007 Logo.

The 2006 Logo.

As you can imagine, the idea of having an opening day logo is a rather new one, when Baseball started to move closer to the idea of a spectacle in the late capitalist economy. The adding of a logo adds to the grander of the event, the cognitive dissonance of going to Opening Day, and the manufactured “fun” of day. At the heart of that previous really cynical statement, is the idea that Opening Day was fine before all of the added Hoop-Lah.

As you can see there is a fairly uniform theme in these logos, and they are big departure from the 2002 and the 2003 logos.

Finally we get to the 2011 logo. It still has the main theme of the 2006-2010 logos, but the new font is a departure from the old in a big way, so it's welcomed. You can probably tell from my wording previously that I am not too fond of the idea of this logo, but yet it exists so I share it with you.

Usually I don't count throwbacks as uniform changes, however the Dodgers will be wearing their throwbacks 6 times this year, so its almost like a half alternate uniform (where as usually throwbacks don't get worn more than 2 or 3 times in a season, if that). If you recall, or maybe not, the Dodgers have a online poll to decide which one of their throwbacks they would be wearing this season, and they finally named their winner.

Someone say Brooklyn? With no NOB (names on back)!

So these are pretty nice. When judging alternate or throwback uniforms, I judge them on a few characteristics. First off, they are very clean looking. There is good spacing, it doesn't feel crowded, etc. The No NOB really helps with this look. Second, it's unusual. They are baby blue / power blue satin -esque. So while the Royals have a similar look, there are enough differences that make this uniform unique. Good Job all the way around. Also – shout out to Uni Watch Blog where I first heard about this uniform change.

There has been one constant with this New York Team starting a few years back in 2007. This organization almost never seems to handle a situation correctly. There are some major examples that can be cited (Firing Randolph in the middle of the night, Minor League Coaches challenging players to fights, Beltran's surprise surgery, “Small” money scandals etc) and they all have a common theme. The Mets found themselves in a difficult situation, they then proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot, so everyone can concentrate on their bleeding feet and the bad situation, rather than just the bad situation.

Well finally something went right for this team, and there are a lot of people to thank.

One of the major questions coming into this season was where was Beltran and Pagan going to play. Beltran was fantastic CF, but with his knee problems, and the rise of Pagan, it seemed like it was time to change the guard over. Beltran graciously stepped over to Right yesterday on his own, giving himself and Pagan the most amount of possible time for the transition to take place.

Here we have a controversial issue, that was handled responsibly, with players taking the team into consideration and listening to outside sources before the switch (Beltran apparently called Delgado). It is almost like we are adults.

So my hat is off to you Mets. For once we can focus on the decision that was made, and not focus on the disaster which has been associated with the way the Mets make moves.

(First off, this is game 3*, earlier I was counting the exhibition against Michigan as a game, but now I decided not to. Big decision).

The Mets took their first loss in spring today as the Mets now fall to 1-1-1 for Grapefruit League. As you can imagine in a game where the score was 9-3, there were some highlights, and there were some lowlights. Big Pelf started the game and pitched three innings allowing 2 runs, one earned over 5 hits and one strikeout (no walks). To be honest, that one run shouldn't have been earned. Pagan got a little twisted in the OF and lost the ball as it came down. If this was closer to April, Angel has that ball and that run never happens. Anyway Mike wasn't lights out today, but he was good, which a promising sign. At this point, what is almost as important as the box score was that he acted like an ace up there, he seemed to have this aura of “yeah I'm the man” which is exactly what the Mets rotation needs.

Outside of Pelfrey, the only other positive pitching performance was Izzy, who pitched a scoreless/perfect inning of relief (so did O'Connor). Tankersley got off to a bad start this spring as he just allowed 3 ER in one inning of work and Carrasco wasn't much better with his 2 innings of work allowing 2 ER. Also, Igarashi also stumbled allowing 2 ER in this game. The only pitcher this really hurts is Tankersley, who is already a longshot to make the pen, but it doesn't hurt him too much, because it was only one game.

On the bats side, Murphy did great today. He made a couple of good defensive plays at third and also hit his second double of Spring, then scored a run. Angel Pagan also had a good day at the plate with his solo homer in the bottom of the first. Two Mets were able to get two hits today, and they both are some of our young guys. Fmart had a 2-3 day, now making him 3-5 in Spring. Tejada got his first two hits of Spring today going 2-2 with 2 RBI's. If he keeps hitting like that, you have to think he really does enter himself back into the conversation at second base. Valdespin and Castillo were the stumblers today. Valdespin went 0-3 and while he continues to impress on the field, it is slow coming this Spring at the plate. Castillo went 0-2 including a GDP, which with Murphy and Tejada's performance, makes it look even worse.

Yesterday was a big day for three Mets players in particular. There were three pitchers eying the rotation that got an opportunity to show their stuff. First up was Capuano, who got the home start against the University of Michigan yesterday. He tossed 3 innings, allowing one earned run over three hits while walking none and striking out 4. It was a very positive start for a player trying to prove his health and that he should be in the rotation.

Also trying to prove his health yesterday was Chris Young who threw a nasty two perfect innings against the Braves in the away game. The only thing Atlanta could do against him was strike out twice. He looked good, or at least the commentary on the radio made it sound like he looked good, and he had good command of not only his fastball, but was also showing off his 12-6 curve. So good job for him as well.

Finally, there was Oliver Perez. It was already going to be an uphill battle for Oliver, who if Young and Capuano succeed, then he really doesn't have a spot on this team. His first start didn't help his case so much. He had some bad defense behind him, but ultimately in the second inning, Perez did himself in. Oliver pitched two innings allowing 4 earned runs on 4 hits with 3 walks and 2 strikeouts. You may be able to forgive one run from his first inning, maybe, but the rest of his outing was trash. Oliver walked in a run, didn't throw strikes. When he did throw strikes, he was good, getting three strikeouts, but that is also typical Perez. He does good an bad in the same inning, and sadly, the bad is overwhelmingly taking over the good we see in terms of results. Things are looking pretty bleak for the Mets starter.

Another pitcher had a good day yesterday, looking to make some space for him. Pat Misch pitched three scoreless innings allowing only one hit and 2 K's. Hopefully we can find somewhere for him.

The offense wasn't bad in either game yesterday, but I didn't want to focus on that right now with so many pitching stories going on.

Imagine every positive, hyperbole laced adjective you heard about Stephen Strasburgh. Convert those statements from pitcher to hitter and you get Bryce Harper. The almost legendary prospect (dropping out of high school to go to junior college to be entered in the baseball draft a year early, record smashing homers, etc) will be taking his talents to the field in the Nationals first Spring Training game of the year against the Mets.

Harper isn't in the starting lineup, but he will be one of the first substitutions in the game playing either Right Field or Left Field.

There are probably a few of you out there that just read that statement with a, “What? I thought he was a catcher?” It looks the Nationals are trying him out in the OF because they think they can increase the longevity of his bat with a position move. The merits of that are something a little outside of what I'm comfortable discussing (I don't know enough about strength and conditioning, although I do know catcher is the most accident prone position).

Also, Jesus Flores, former Met organization catcher, will also be playing today – In an effort to remind us that the Nationals for a period of time was the home of a lexicon of Mets players. He is, of course, blocked in the organization by Wilson Ramos who will be starting today. We also will not be seeing Jason Werth, who is not in the starting lineup.

Looks like it should be an interesting one today. Game on SNY at 1.

I forgot to cover two, key pieces to yesterday's game. The first would be Terry Collins.

He was ecstatic when Willie Harris hit that two run shot to tie the game. It was a spring training game and he showed so much emotion. He would later talk after the game that even though it was a spring training game, and runs scored at the end of the game are really normal, he was happy about the fight the team showed. I can get really used to a manager showing his emotions on his sleeve, since we haven't had that since, maybe Valentine (I don't really recall/care about the Howe era). So yeah, Collins was something to watch yesterday.

More importantly (sarcastically), Gary, Keith and Ron were in midseason form yesterday. Keith talked about how he mispronounced Pedro Beato's name to Beato's face. Then Keith talked about how it gets chilly in Florida in the winter where you have to wear a light jacket, to which the rest of the crew called him soft in his old age. It was good to hear the crew back together to remember that summer is right around the corner.