213 Miles From Shea

As long as there is a buyer, one can (theoretically) sell anything. That has really been the case with the dismantlement of Shea Stadium as bizarre pieces to our beloved home make their way to the market place. When Shea Stadium was first being stripped of things that can be sold, there were popular items like chairs and bricks. Items that any reasonable person would expect to be sold as memorabilia.

However, other pieces of Shea have been surfacing since 2008. Some are funny (like Ketchup/Mustard dispensers), some leave you questioning why would they break that item up (like individual lightbulb holders from the scoreboard) and others just make you wonder. That is what we are celebrating here today. This item was found on a site that is selling old items from Shea, and I just can't imagine who would actually buy this, but I'm sure people have and will:

That's right. It's a cup holder taken straight from the seat. Ladies and Gentlemen, your Monday Memorabilia.

Some quick hits to go with your Monday morning Vanilla Milkshake Poptarts:

The Mets took game one. The Yankees took game two. Now it will be the battle of the aces today in a rubber match to determine whether the Mets win three road series in a row, whether the Mets will win the total subway series for 2010 or if the Mets and Yankees will spilt the 2010 series. As stated several times over the last few days, this pitching match ups this series were identical to the first 2010 subway series, and one of the most anticipated pitching matchups will happen again this afternoon as Johan takes on CC.

Santana has been off as of late, but hopefully he will get back on the right track this afternoon as he takes on the Yankees. On the season Johan is 5-3 with a 3.13 ERA. In his last two starts he has pitched 13.2 innings while allowing 8 ER, however just before that he had an amazing stretch of games including a good start against the Yankees where he picked up the win after pitching 7.2 innings allowing only one ER. The Yankees have these numbers against Santana:

The Mets handled CC pretty well earlier this season, and they hope to repeat this afternoon. CC on the season is 7-3 with a 4.00 ERA. He is 3-0 over his last three starts as he pitched 17.0 innings with a 3.43 ERA. When he faced the Mets this season he picked up the loss as he allowed 6 runs, 5 earned over 5 innings of work. The Mets have these numbers on Sabatha:

Lets Go Mets!

Here's a debate that happens, well all the time. Who plays in the best division in baseball? Generally when you have these discussions people talk like but they have the two best teams in the majors! This of course brings people to say “but you are not including those low market teams! They have great talent!”. These arguments can sometimes be resolved (to some degree) with numbers.

After running a Spreadsheet including wins and losses for every team in every division I feel confident in this statement:

Through Friday, June 18, the NL EAST statistically by wins and losses is the best division in baseball. However not by much. They beat out the AL EAST by .002 points. It ended up being really close. Anyway here are the numbers in order from best to worst:

These numbers are not so surprising when you think through them. Once you establish that the NL has the leagues best division, then it is expected that league will also carry baseball's worst etc. What was surprising was how geographically (almost by markets) the list breaks down. The East is the Best, followed by the West and finally the Central. That pattern is well very interesting.

Food for thought I guess. Well now when you have this discussion you can bring up these numbers.

In a video that has been making its way around the video, Wally Backman as a manager had an absolute meltdown some time ago when one of his players was thrown out of the game.

Oh, he was wearing a microphone.

I first saw the video over at The Daily Stache, and ladies and gentleman, its an absolute perfect example of a manager meltdown. I would embed directly below but, similar to stache, I'm just going to link to it here. The video is not censored, so you hear Wally in all of his cursoring goodness.

My favorite quote from the video:

Also, I'm a fan of the other umpire just saying over and over “Wally” and when Backman told the catcher to get out of the way. Classic. Classic. Classic.

In a thrilling game last night, the Mets beat the Yankees by the score of 4-0 thanks to great pitching and some timely hitting. The Mets will try do the same again today as the Mets and Yankees have a rematch of a great game from May. In the second game of the Citi Field edition of the subway series, Mike Pelfrey and the Mets were able to hand Phil Hughes his first loss of the season. Since then Hughes has not lost and the two pitchers come into today's game with identical records of 9-1.

Pelfrey has been amazing for the amazin's this year as he brings his 9-1 record and 2.39 ERA into the Bronx. In the month of June Pelfrey is 2-0 while pitching over 23.0 innings and posting a 1.96 ERA. In May he picked up the win against the Yankees as he pitched 6 innings and allowed only one earned run. The Yankees have these numbers against Big Pelf:

The Mets batters will get to take a crack at Phil Hughes. The last time they faced Hughes, he was an unbeaten man. After the Mets last meeting with Hughes, he was a beaten man. Since then, back to being unbeaten. Overall on the season Hughes is 9-1 with a 3.11 ERA. In his last three starts he is 3-0 while pitching 18.2 innings with a 4.34 ERA. In his start against the Mets in May he picked up the loss in 5.2 innings of work as he allowed 4 ER and 8 hits to the Amazin's. The Mets have these numbers against Hughes:

Lets Go Mets!

Some quick hits to go with your Saturday morning Otees*:

*Breakfast Cereal in Africa. Wooooo World Cup. Boooooooo Refs.

Subway Series part 2 starts tonight as the Mets play a road game in the Bronx. The Mets come into this game winners of 11 of their last 12 games and the Yankees come into this game winners of 7 of their last 10. The Yankees find themselves tied right now for the division lead of the AL East while the Mets find themselves a half game out of first place in the NL East.

Takahashi will look to build off of his last start tonight as he faces the Yankees for the second time this season. Overall on the season Takahashi has a 3.48 ERA with a 5-2 record. He was on a struggling streak but last weekend in Baltimore he pitched 7 innings while only allowing one run on his way to a Mets win. His first major league start was against the Yankees (and also against the same starting pitcher for the Yankees) and he was brilliant in that game pitching 6 scoreless innings while striking out 5 and walking only one. The Yankees have these stats against Takahashi:

The Mets will get another crack at Javier Vazquez (6-5, 5.43 ERA). The last time they faced, Vazquez was really struggling on the season however he turned out a great performance against the Mets where he pitched 6, 1-hit, shutout innings. He is 3-0 over his last three outings pitching 21.0 innings with a 2.57 ERA. The Mets have these numbers on Javier:

Lets Go Mets!