Tag: New York Mets

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Odds and Ends (07.18.2006): They are all witnesses


We’re pretty sure this isn’t what Nike had in mind for the “We are all witnesses” campaign but in trying to get the records for their student ID card activity, DA Mike Nifong has said that every member of the Duke lacrosse team is a potential witness and he wants to confirm their whereabouts after the alleged rape incident. This story isn’t going anywhere soon as the case isn’t expected to come to trial until next Spring.

In other news…

[NY Daily News]: The Mets and David Wright apologize for the commercial promoting the “Salvation Miracles Revival Crusade”.

[SI]: Bruce Arena signs on to coach the Red Bulls

[NY Post]: So much for Jai Lewis’ career in the NFL

[Sportsline]: Russell Crowe decides he wants to coach the rugby team he owns

[The Golf Blog]: What happened to David Duval?

[USA Today]: T.O. tells HBO he’s misunderstood; wonders ‘Why me?’

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New York Mets

Crazy ass religions and sports shouldn’t mix

By now we’ve all gotten used to the prayer circles after the game and thanking God after every play, good or bad. But when David Wright is doing a commercial for a faith healer in the middle of the season, that’s going a little too far.

Hi, I’m David Wright. I invite you to the ‘Salvation Miracles Revival Crusade’ with Dr. Jaerock Lee, at Madison Square Garden, July 27, 28 and 29.

It’s hard to imagine athletes, who work hard in rehab to recover from injuries (and they’re usually the fastest healers on the planet) would believe in something as ridiculous as faith healing. We can’t gather any more information about the event because all the websites devoted to it are in Spanish and Korean. What we do know is that all three nights of the event have been sold out. Either there are a lot of foolish believers out there or David Wright is a hell of a pitch man.

Oh and if you’re a nutjob who believes in this stuff, save your hate emails. We have a mail filter for crazy.

Links:

[NY Post]: YA GOTTA BELIEVE

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New York Mets

Another stupid non-sports injury: Pedro Martinez



Hurt himself applying Soul-Glo?

Two of the stupidest injuries we’ve ever heard are Brian Griese tripping over his dog on the stairs and Jeff Kent hurting his wrist while “washing his truck”. Both are dubious, especially Jeff Kent’s, which was probably a motorcycle injury. (He had a non-motorcycle clause in his contract.)

Today, Pedro Martinez went on the 15-day-DL for a hip injury. However, ESPNews is reporting that Pedro hurt his hip in the bathroom trying to change his shirt. After “tripping over the dog” and “washing my truck”, we’re afraid to venture a guess as to what “changing my shirt in the bathroom” really means.

Links:
[NY Post]: HIP TRIPS UP AMAZIN’ ACE

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Dunn powers Reds



Photo from Cincypost

1. Well Dunn: Adam Dunn has been jacking homeruns left and right lately, but many have come in losses. He hit 4 homeruns over the course of the Reds’ 5-game losing streak, all solo shots. On Wednesday he finally hit a homer that mattered, a 11th-inning, 3-run shot that lifted the Reds over the Brewers. Dunn’s homer drove in the only runs for either side in this unexpected pitching duel. Now he has 23 blasts on the year, second in the majors. Unfortunately, Dunn’s usual problem, batting average, has plagued him once again. He is hitting just .239, down from even his pitiful career average of .247. If Dunn can mix some contact hitting with his superb power, we could be seeing a special player.

2. Coming out: Before the 2005 season, many expected Twins first baseman Justin Morneau to become a star. Nope. He hit just .239 with 22 homers and 79 RBIs. But this year, he is having a marvelous season, with 15 homers, 51 RBIs, and a .521 slugging average. He has delivered the punch that the usually powerless Twins need, leading the team in both power categories. Yesterday he helped the Twins to a 8-1 win over the Red Sox, with a grand slam. Morneau wasn’t the only Twin to continue a hot streak. Jason Kubel, who was called up from the minors just three weeks ago, followed up Tuesday’s game winning homer with a 2-run shot. Kubel has 4 homers and 14 RBIs now since being called up, and should be a part of the Twins’ lineup for the rest of the year if he continues this kind of performance. Minnesota has now won five of their past six games and is tied with Cleveland for third place.

3. The new class of the NL: Hand over the reigns, St. Louis Cardinals. The new best team in the National League, at least for now, is the New York Mets. The Mets have blown by opponents with their unbelievable lineup and better-than-expected pitching staff. They are on a 7-game winning streak, and after last night’s win over the Phillies are ahead by 8.5 in the NL East. This is by far the farthest lead any team has in their division a parity-filled year for baseball. Last night, the Beltran-Delgado-Wright middle of the order proved tough once again. They combined to go 6-12 with 6 RBIs and a homerun by Wright. Each player has been on fire lately, and each right now is a candidate for NL MVP. Who knows if they can hold this up, but with the Braves completely out of the picture, it chould be smooth sailing for the New York Mets.

4. It’s personal: Randy Johnson was in the middle of one of his best outings of the year when, well, he got thrown out of the game. After Yankees catcher Jorge Posada was plunked in the sixth inning, both benches were warned. But that didn’t stop Johnson from throwing inside to Eduardo Perez, narrowly missing his elbow. Johnson and manager Joe Torre were promptly ejected, but the Yankees crowd still chanted in approval. Johnson pitched six innings and allowed only 1 run, and the Yanks beat the Indians 6-1.

5. Interleague time!: Interleague play has been on hiatus since mid-May, but it returns this Friday. Unfortunately, the matchups aren’t all that exciting. There are only three series between teams with winning records. The Diamondbacks and the Rangers square off, the White Sox take on the Reds, and the Dodgers face the A’s. Otherwise, there’s not too much to get excited about unless an interesting team is coming to a ballpark near you (the Tigers go to Wrigley, the Red Sox travel to Atlanta, and the Yankees go to DC). The coming weeks will bring on better games, as the White Sox play the Cardinals, the Phillies go to Boston, and the Mets face the Blue Jays, among others.

Categories
MLB General

Full Count for Wed May 24 2006: Marathon

1. Time for extras: It was the longest game of the season when the Mets and the Phillies faced off at Shea Stadium. The game went to extras and then just kept going as it lasted 5:22. While the contest had been high-scoring in regulation as it was tied 8-8, no one could score in extras until the 16th inning. That was when Carlos Beltran hit a solo homer to finally win this game for the Mets. David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Cliff Floyd went yard earlier in the game for New York, who improved to 27-17 on the season. The Phillies, in a hugely disappointing loss, fell to four games back of the Mets. This was the longest major league game since the Houston-Atlanta 18 inning showdown in last year’s playoffs.

2. The Empire Strikes Back: Coming into Tuesday’s game at Fenway, the Yankees had lost four of five to the Red Sox on the season. But they weren’t going to let the Red Sox take a 4 game lead in the division, so the Yankees defeated their hated rival 7-5. New York won off of homers from Johnny Damon and Alex Rodriguez, as well as five scoreless innings from Jaret Wright. Though the Yanks were up 7-1 in after 7, Manny Ramirez did all he could to bring the Red Sox back, driving in four runs over a two-inning span. But it wasn’t enough, as Mariano Rivera decided not to pitch as terribly as he has been lately. The victory puts New York within two of the Sox as they look to win the division yet another time.

3. Everyone else is doing it: Apparently the homerun leaders in both leagues decided to distance themselves from the rest of the pack on Tuesday night. Almost every significant player homered, including league-leader Albert Pujols. Pujols hit his 23rd big fly of the season and continues to keep a record pace. In the AL, leader Jim Thome of the White Sox went yard for the 18th time this season. The hitting rubbed off on his teammates too, as Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye each hit their 12th homer. In the Nats victory over the Astros, both Alfonso Soriano (16) and Morgan Ensberg (15) hit shots. And Vladimir Guerrero rounded the bases, giving him 12 blasts of his own on the year. The homerun race in both leagues this season will definitely be a fun one.

4. Calling all Angels: Where have the LA Angels been so far this season? If you said last place in the MLB’s weakest division, then you’d be correct! For some unknown reason, the Angels have not been able to duplicate their success from the past few years despite no significant personnel changes. However, last night brought only good news to the Angels, as they defeated division leader Texas while Seattle and Oakland both lost. John Lackey pitched well to lower his ERA to a respectable 3.50, and struggling Felix Rodriguez picked up his 11th save of the season. The Angels are still five back of the Rangers in the West.

5. At least he didn’t get hurt: Kerry Wood has frustrated just about every baseball fan with his incredible talent marred by nearly constant injury problems. Last night, in his second start of the year, he was unable to defeat the pitiful Marlins. Wood allowed 3 runs in only 5 innings pitched, though he left the game with a 4-3 lead. It was Ryan Dempster who denied Wood’s quest for his first win in 10 months, as he blew a save chance in the 9th inning. The Cubs’ record against the Marlins has fallen to 2-3 on the season, which is rather pitiful considering the Fish are 13-31.

Categories
MLB General

Full Count for Mon May 22 2006: Recapping the Subway series

1. Playoff intensity in June: The Mets-Yankees was likely the most interesting series in this weekend of interleague play. While there were two other intercity rivalries, this was by far the most intense. The teams split the first two games of the series with two huge comebacks, but the third game was slightly less exciting. The Mets beat the Yankees to win the series, 4-3. The Yankees offense dominated during the first few innings, yet they were only able to put 2 runs up. The Mets quickly answered with 4th inning homeruns from Carlos Delgado and David Wright, both complete shots off Aaron Small. They produced 4 runs, which was all of the Mets needed to win this series. Tom Glavine, pitching in his 48th MLB season, went 6 innings and picked up his seventh win of the year. The Mets are up 3 in the East now, while the Yanks have fallen 1.5 back of the Red Sox. That could be resolved when the two teams square off each of the next 3 days.

2. King Albert: The Cardinals-Royals “rivalry” turned out to be just as one-sided as everyone thought. St. Louis disposed of the weakling Royals in a 3-game sweep, and Albert Pujols took advantage of KC’s weak pitching. Pujols homered in all three games to bring his season total to 22, which is on pace for 84. His 54 runs batted in also lead the majors. Why aren’t teams starting to give him the Bonds treatment? It’s beyond us. The Cardinals have now won 8 out of 10 to take a 4 game lead in the NL Central. Expect them to sweep through this division with ease unless the Astros can sign Roger Clemens.
 

3. Last place dominance: The Devil Rays may suck, but they can sure beat the other bad teams in the league. They swept the Royals earlier this season, and Sunday’s 3-0 win over the Marlins gave them another sweep. The pitching matchup was excellent for this highly unanticipated game. Dontrelle Willis and Scott Kazmir faced off, and Kazmir was able to add another win to his total. Kazmir struck out 11 and shutout the Marlins to improve to 7-2. Compare that to last year, when in 32 starts he went 10-9. He is quickly becoming the first ace the Devil Rays have ever had. Meanwhile, Willis’ struggles continued as he is now 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA. The Devil Rays now have a surprising 20 wins on the year.
 

4. Return of the King?: The White Sox’s Jose Contreras had been the king among major league pitchers this season until he was put on the DL. Yesterday he returned to pitch against the Cubs, but the results were only so-so. Contreras pitched 7+ innings and allowed 4 runs, and he got a no-decision on the day. It was the White Sox’s bullpen that blew the game, as they allowed 3 runs to the lowly Cubs. The Sox lost 7-4 to end chances of a sweep against the other Chicago team.
 

5. When will 715 come?: It took Barry Bonds over a week to hit no. 714, which he did on Saturday against the A’s in case you were in a coma. So how long will it take him to hit 715? The Giants play at home against St. Louis the next three days, then they play Colorado for three in San Fran. We are just guessing here, but it would more likely come against the Rockies based on their crappy pitching. Either then or the Giants’ June 27-29 series against the Rangers, if Bonds waits it out like last time.

Categories
New York Mets

Odds and Ends for Mon May 8 2006: Billy Wagner and Kobe need a hug

Just in time for this week’s three game series between the Mets and the Phillies, Billy Wagner told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he was not well liked in the Phillies clubhouse, that they wanted him to fail, and that Pat Burrell called him a rat. Poor Billy Boy. Like the Phillies wanted him to blow a crucial late season game against the Astros.

In other news…

[NBA.com]: Raja Bell’s mom talks trash to Kobe: “Need a hug, Kobe?” Ouch.

[ESPN]: Javon Walker called Favre a two-faced in an interview with Sportscenter. The gods reward him with a $40M contract.

[Balls Deep Sports]: ESPN covering Bonds too much? You don’t say

[Miami Herald]: Ahhh, good ole Miami, where athletes go to get robbed.

Categories
New York Mets

Keith Hernandez named NOW man of the year



Keith is old school

During Saturday’s telecast of the Mets-Padres game, Hernandez spotted massage therapist Kelly Calabrese in the Padres dugout and said “Who is the girl in the dugout?” When told that Calabrese was a member of the training staff, Hernandez said,


I won’t say women belong in the kitchen. But they don’t belong in the dugout.

Then he added that they’re better barefoot and pregnant. OK, we made up that last part. Hernandez quickly said he was just teasing about the kitchen comment but that he felt strongly that MLB “is a man’s game and I feel very strongly about it” It’s rare that we defend stupid athletes, but people need to lay off Keith Hernandez. While inappropriate, Hernandez’s comments aren’t something you get your panties in a bunch over. (Wait, perhaps that expression was poorly chosen.)

Hernandez was reprimanded by SportsNet New York and gave the standard athlete-non-apology on Sunday: “In my discussion I made a couple of inappropriate comments. If I have offended anybody I sincerely apologize.” Gotta love the ‘if I offended anybody (then f you)’ apology.

By the way, there’s a rumor going around that Keith didn’t actually say it and it was really Roger McDowell.

Links:
[NY Daily News]: Amid ‘kitchen’ heat, Keith sorry