213 Miles From Shea

Some quick hits to go with your Saturday morning Texas Toast:

The Mets return home to face the the first place Giants tonight in an interesting battle. The Giants are known for the pitching this year which has been spot on. The Mets on the other hand will be looking for a much better start out of Pelfrey who really struggled in his last start, uncharacteristic of his season so far. It will also be the first time that Molina plays in New York against the team that supposedly really wanted to sign him.

Pelfrey is 4-1 on the season with a 2.40 ERA. He has been amazing this season with the exception of his last start thanks to his nice mix of pitches and location abilities. Pelfrey faced the Giants twice last season and pitched 13.1 innings with an 0-1 record. During those two games he allowed only 4 runs, or had an ERA of 2.70. The Giants have these numbers against Big Pelf:

The Mets will have to contend with Sanchez who is 2-2 with a 2.48 this season. Last year, he didn't recieve any decisions in two games against the Mets where he allowed 6 ER over 12.2 innings with an ERA of 4.26. The Mets were able to put up these numbers against Sanchez over his career:

Lets Go Mets!

Great article today in Wall Street as a team of, well I'm not sure what title they hold, found statistical differences between Mets fans and Yankee fans. According their research, which as you have to remember with statistics, it shows correlation not causation, says that Mets fans are more likely to follow their teams more closely. This statement was based off of that Mets fans on average bet more on sports and listen to a substantial amount of talk radio.

The point the article drives home though is that Mets fans are more likely to drink beer than Yankees fans. I thought that was an interesting poing, and I am also wondering if any Yankee blogs out there that also read this article are going to say “Haha, thats because their team collapses!”

The Wall Street Journal offers a 13 question set to see if you are Yankee Fan or a Mets fan. I took and guess what, apparently I am a Yankee fan….why?

Factors that make me a Mets fan:

Obvisously I am not a Yankee fan, but this was still an interesting article to read.

Matt Cerrone at Metsblog posted a poll via ESPN where players (100 of them) voted in a series of categories including best player and most overated players. No Mets made in the best player list but check out the list of overated:

Cerrone pointed out an interesting observation. Notice how many of these players are in New York. Also Jeter and Arod made the best player list. But back to main point, look how many are in New York. I think there are some players out there sipping on haterade.

Look at that list, objectively, these players are all players you want on a team. Well maybe not Swisher. But Jeter, Arod, Wright? These guys are not overated. There is a lot of news on these guys, so there could be an overated perception. But do you think of these guys when you hear overated? I don't. I think of Brad Lidge, GMJ, Sheets, etc.

I really wanted to embed this video, but Maino has removed that. There's some harsh language (its an explicit song, so watch yourself).

Some quick hits to go with your Friday morning bowl of Cheerios:

Some quick hits to go with your Thursday morning hangover*:

* Happy Day After Cinco De Mayo.

The Mets wrap up their three game set with an early afternoon rubber game with the Reds. Yesterday the Mets snapped their losing streak in style as Rod Barajas hit a go ahead solo shot in the top of the ninth. In today's match up, the Mets will turn Niese to win while the Reds will turn to Cueto.

Niese (1-1, 3.10) has become a threat over the last several games. He is starting to mix his pitches, complinting his devestating curveball with a nice cutter. Niese in his short career has never faced the Reds and has never faced any Reds batters, so he will be a complete mystery to them.

Cueto has a 1-1 record and a 5.33 ERA on the season and in the last three games he has the same record and a 5.63 ERA. He faced the Mets once last year and he allowed 4 ER in 5 IP. The Mets have these numbers on him throughout his career:

Some quick hits to go with your Wednesday morning Corona*:

* Happy Cinco De Mayo

(Mets Merized Online)

The Mets stopped their three game slide tonight thanks to Rod Barajas. Well its thanks to more than just Barajas but going into the 8th inning the Mets had a two run lead, which was then given up by Nieve. When it seemed like the Reds were getting momentum back, spurred by two quick outs by the Mets in the top of the ninth, Barajas took the the Reds deep and gave the Mets the go ahead run. Here are some observations from the game: