213 Miles From Shea

Going on this theme from last week of love him or hate him, its time to spotlight the facial hair of one of the more polarizing figures in New York. At two points this season this manager was dangerously close to being fired and before the first series against the Yankees, this manager had people rooting for the Mets to lose so that Manuel would be shipped out. He also was the helm while the Mets went on an incredible run to put the Mets in a winning set of ways. All the time while doing this, he has just a list of quirky quotes. Anyway, Jerry Manuel:

(The 217.com)

Ah yes look at the beard. Is it gray because he manages a team that goes on losing streaks? Gray because the team stops hitting? Gray because K-rod is our closer and he doesn't make things 1-2-3? Gray because Keith Hernandez still hasn't given him Just For Men?

Only Jerry knows…..maybe.

The second half of the season kicks off tonight as the Mets kick off a long road trip in San Francisco against the Giants. The story of tonight though belongs to Carlos Beltran. In case you don't remember, Beltran, pretty much right before Spring Training, elected to have surgery. The original plan was that Beltran would be back with the Mets by the end of May. As the season started, it became more clear that the timeline for Beltran's return would 4-6 weeks after starting baseball activities. However, baseball activities kept getting pushed back. It then looked like the end of June. Finally, we were able to get a clear answer with Beltran returning to the lineup after the All-Star Break. Beltran gets to face a great pitcher on his way back as he will have to deal with Lincecum, but more on that later.

Dickey looks to continue where he left off as he starts tonight game. He was great in his last outing, except for the last two batters who hit back to back solo jacks as Dickey allowed 4 ER in 6.2 innings pitched. Dickey is 6-2 on the season with a 2.77 ERA. Dickey has never actually faced the Giants so because of that, there are very few Giants who have AB's against Dickey, and those who have had AB's have very few against him:

On the other side of the mound will be Tim Lincecum who has already faced the Mets once this season where he got a no decision in 6 innings of work while allowing 2 ER. Tim on the season is 9-4 with a 3.16 ERA and in his last three games he is 1-2 over 16.0 innings with a 5.06 ERA. The Mets have these career numbers on the Freak:

Lets Go Mets!

Before I get on a soap box and take a baseball bat to the idea of the ESPY's, my problems with the concept, and the set up of the majority of award shows in our (subliminally or not) corporate dominated public discourse, I wanted to start with a compliment. At least ESPN thought of something to show on the slowest day of American Sports (aka, the day after the All-Star game).

I had ESPN on last night as I was cooking dinner and thus had the ESPY Red Carpet show. That was painful, but probably for different reasons than one would think. There are two things that really get my blood boiled in sports, when it comes to debates. The first is large, corporate markets, and the shockwaves they create in the general public about opinions about best players, teams, etc. The second is comparing apples to oranges. Sadly, while a Sports Award show seems like a good idea, it has to be something that is done by the experts and only the experts, and very carefully.

Before I rip it apart, a good example of comparing “apples to oranges” in Sports is the Sportsman of the Year award from Sports Illustrated. On average, that award is very well thought out, has a fantastic arguement, and pages of support. It balances athleticism, achievement, public impact, and legacy.

The ESPY's can't do that because they attempt to do this too many times. How do you answer the question of who is coach of the year? That is such a loaded question and there are so many specific elements of differnet sports that need to be considered. Given enough time, I believe that the people at ESPN would be able to get an answer. However, when then allow the public to decide, well now we have the same problem with the All-Star game voting. The media markets push and publicize the more profitable teams, players etc, and I'm not saying that's wrong (despite what my opinion about it is, the raising of profitable icons in sports, at this point in American culture, is inevitable). The result is that winners on the whole are predictable. I guess what I am specifically thinking of here is Phil Jackson winning coach of the year over coach Geno of the UConn Women's Basketball Team.

I will admit, after I heard the coach of the year verdict, I turned off the award show, because I figured this would turn into me just being angry on a couch watching an award show that I wouldn't actually like, and I wouldn't be doing anything productive for society. I guess for me this just goes into a deeper disdain for the majority of award shows. The example I generally use with my friends and family is the Grammy's. When an artist wins best rapper, well that person isn't actually the best rapper. They are an above average, to good artist that was picked up by a major record label and deemed marketable. These people have a certain amount of talent, but there are other rappers out there that are more talented. That is the problem with the ESPY's. The talented and marketable win, but maybe the losers could be more talented in their respective sports, but then we get back to the apples and oranges arguement.

Or another way to look at this, I'll just be happy tonight when baseball is back on, and I don't need to think of things like this.

Some quick hits to go with your Thursday morning Burger King Crossian'wich:

Like an Ike Davis home run, there's no doubt about it that this season has been full of ups and downs and turning points. The Mets got off to a horrible start as they opened with a 2-6 to 4-8 record. They then played a classic, 20 inning game where one of the heroes of the season, Mike Pelfrey, picked up a save to cap off a nearly 8 hour game that had nearly 700 pitches. The Mets would then call up rookie Ike Davis and go on a great run at home that took the team to first place. Then the Mets started on a terrible slide again featuring a low light of 4 game sweep at the hands of the Marlins on the road. At this point of the season the Mets were so good at home, but so bad on the road. It looked like Jerry and crew were gonners but the Mets then put up a 5-1 homestand against the Yankees and Phillies including three consecutive shutout wins against the team from Philly. After another bad road trip, the Mets went on to put together another strong homestand (5-1) followed by a 7-2 road trip where the Mets then helped put themselves in contention for the division. Why they stuttered as of late, they will enter the second half of the season 4 games out of first place and 1 game out of the Wild Card.

In the second half of the season, the Mets have two things to look forward to. The first is the return of Carlos Beltran, who when healthy, is one of the best players, albeit quiet, in baseball. The second thing to look foward to will be second half of the season Johan Santana, who has recently returned to his former self.

Top 3 Surprises:

Disapointments:

Some quick hits to go with your Wednesday Morning Cheez-Its:

It finally happened. After 14 years, 13 losses, and the switch to making the game actually mean something, the National League has finally won the All-Star game. The last time the NL won was 1996 and now they got one in 2010. The hero of the night for the National league was McCann who hit a key 3-run double to put the National League up on the scoreboard and ahead of the American League. As All-Star games go, since so many players are used in the game, when one player makes a key play like that, they usually win the MVP award, therefore Brian McCann was your 2010 All-Star Game MVP.

The game was scoreless (shocker) until the fifth inning when Cano hit a sacrifice fly that put the American League up 1-0. From that point on it looked like the game was going to go the American League as no one else could string together some hits. That was true until the top of the seventh when McCann came up with the bases loaded and cranked out a three run double and for the first time in the game, the National League enjoyed a lead (3-1). That was it for scoring tonight.

David Wright in the All-Star Game:

David Wright was solid tonight in the Mid Summer Classic. Going into tonight's game, Wright was 4-11 with a HR in previous All-Star contests and tonight he was able to put up the batting line:

So, historically, Wright is a 6-13 batter in the All-Star game which is pretty fantastic when you realize that all 13 of those AB's were against All-Star pitching. Wright's first AB was the first hit for the National League as he reached first base with only one out. However he was followed by a quick, tailored made double play ball hit by Braun. In his second AB, Wright got another hit, this time as the leadoff batter. During Braun's AB, Wright was able to steal second base, but wasn't able to see the ball go into centerfield, and could not advance on the bad throw. He would get to third by a single, however was (rightfully) held there. Then Hart struck outand McCann flew out to the end the inning, leaving Wright at third base.

Other Notes:

Moments ago, during the All-Star game introduction talk by a Fox Announcer, the Announcer was highlighting the young pitchers that will be starting the All-Star game, including the young flame-thrower, David Wright.

What?

What he meant to say, of course, was David Price who is the youngest starter since Dwight Gooden to start an All-Star game. Price is not the same person as the 5-time All-Star thirdbasemen David Wright. Price does have one thing Wright does not. The Rays have just celebrated Price with their Price Price Baby t-shirts on the same night as a Vanilla Ice performance.

This whole thing has taught me one thing. Twitter is actually useful for something. I wasn't sure if I just heard the AL pitcher introduced as David Wright, so I typed Wright into twitter, and the quick tweets of many angry and confused people confirmed the misintroduction.

All the festivities over the last few days leads up to the big game tonight, the 2010 All-Star game. Going into the game, the Mets originally had two players that would represent the club, Jose Reyes and David Wright. Wright will be a starter while Reyes was originally placed on the roster as an injury replacement, but now he has an injury note as well, so Furcal will now replace Jose. Anyway the rosters are loaded. There are two story lines going into this game. The first is this game continues the rather recent tradition of the game meaning something as the winning league gets home field advantage for the World Series. As like anything that carries that importance in baseball, that decision is still controversial. The other story line would be the American League winning 13 out of the last 14 All-Star games (there was one tie in there). Could this finally be the year whent he National League wins one? I hope so. Lets take a look at the batting order. First the American League, with their starter David Price (the youngest All-Star starting pitcher since Dwight Gooden):

And your National League batting order with starter Ulbado Jimenez: