213 Miles From Shea

The Mets start the second series of the crucial road trip against Philly tonight as they try to do what the they were only able to do once in Atlanta: win. Statistically speaking, the Mets would be able to compete for a playoff spot even if they do terrible tonight and for the rest of the series, but the Mets really cannot settle on that fate. They need to actually go out and win, not talk about effort (see any frustration starting to mount?). Anyway Niese is looking to rebound tonight vs Blanton.

Niese was not himself in his last start as he allowed 6 ER over 4.1 innings as he took the loss. With the exception of that start vs Dbacks, and his other start vs the Dbacks, Niese has been fantastic since coming off of the DL. The last time he faced Philly was before his injury and it was a great start as Niese allowed only 1 ER over 7 innings of work while striking out 7 in Philly. The Phillies have these numbers on Jon:

The Mets are in the middle of a critical road trip for this season, and tonight they start a series with the Phillies which can either resurrect this road trip or send it straight down the toilet.

Even with a losing series in Philly, it is fully possible for the Mets to make a comeback, there is basically a third of the season left, there is plenty of time to flip the standings around. The feeling though right now is crushing. A month of ago the Mets were less than a stone's throw away from first place but now it is slipping away.

I stand by a stance that I have had for a while that the problem is mainly two-fold. The first problem is something that the Mets have no control over which is their investments are not playing as well as they should, or as well as dictated by historical stats (aka Jason Bay) the second is that although Manuel can recieve some of the blame, the front office and ownership needs to cut their losses. It is time for Oliver Perez to go. It is time for Castillo, although a hero of late, to go. The team needs to start some internal promotions if the Mets are going to make a serious run.

There is, however, a flip side. If the Mets continue to slide, then they need to keep playing the veterans because a slide this year, compounded with last year means the Mets will need to move Oliver, Castillo, Beltran possibly Maine, etc. In order to move them, these players who are in a situation to play need more opportunities to raise their trade stock so the Mets can get something out of them this offseason.

Either way, I think we are starting to look at a mini-firesale this offseason. It's about time. We could use a clean slate. 

Here are my tips for making it through the 31st Annual National Sports Collectors Convention in one piece, and with a wallet still intact:

My friend Kim posted an all true statement about being a Mets fan on my facebook page the other day. It was written on a homemade postcard that she found on Post Secret (thanks Kim for the find!):

Isn't that the truth? Probably worth it. Probably. Yeah, I think so. Ok, yes, its worth it.

There are probably a large group of you right now that are scratching your heads going, “What's Post Secret”? Post Secret is a project by Frank Warren where people send in their secrets, anonymously, on a home made post card. These post card entries range from deep dark secrets all the way to warm fuzzy feelings. We will never know which one of us posted this on Post Secret, but its a feeling we have all probably had at least once in our lives (or more recently, 2006 Game 7 NLCS 2 Outs Bases Loaded Beltran at the plate 3-2 count, September 2007, September 2008, all of 2009…etc.)

Last night the 31st annual National Sports Collectors Convention started in Baltimore. This convention is unlike really any of its type as people fly in from across the world to attend this convention. As the website says “If you can't find what you're looking for at National, it probably doesn't exist!” I have read a few articles about National here and here, both from writers who I respect greatly and what I have learned from them is that first, don't expect to see many women (that's a shame), second be prepared to see all of the major people who collect as a drug, and third, be prepared to see anything, and try to keep moving to see everything.

Since I live outside of DC, and was raised outside of Baltimore, I'm planning to stop at National a few times over the weekend. It is probably a good opportunity to add to my eccentric collection, and take some photos for a few photo albums. I decided that since it seems to be extremely massive (the entire floor of the Baltimore Convention Center, which is huge), I decided to make a target list, to stay focused:

The Mets and Braves find themselves at the rubber game tonight with Mike Pelfrey vs Kris Medlen. The Mets lied down in the first game of series but last night they clawed and scratched the entire way and thanks to a few former Bravers, they were able to come out on top. This is an importnat game for Pelf, especially after his last start which was hampered by the smallest strikezone ever. On the season he is now 10-5 with a 4.10 ERA. Against the Braves this season he is 2-1 with a 3.24 ERA over 16.2 innings. The Braves have the following numbers on Big Pelf:

The Mets bats, which did better last night, but are still not swinging in true form, will get a chance to try to crack Medlen. He has had a good season so far with a 6-2 record and a 3.66 ERA. He has had a pretty terrible last two starts though allowing 8 ER over 11 innings but he enjoys pitching against the Mets as he has allowed only 2 ER in 8.1 innings of work this season. The Mets have these numbers on Kris:

Lets Go Mets!

Its August! That means two things!