Mentioning Luis Castillo and the All-Star Game in the same sentence sounds like another Bud Selig marketing ploy gone wrong:
This year, the league that loses the All-Star Game must have Luis Castillo on their All-Star team the following year!
But Mets.com, seizing on one of the Mets' few bright spots a little too eagerly, has decided that it is time to ramp up the All-Star vote for the Mets' number 8 hitter:
And now fans have a new opportunity to show their own support, by voting Castillo for the National League All-Star team at the 2009 Midsummer Classic on July 14 at Busch Stadium.
Sure, Castillo was hitting .400 going into tonight's game, but the season is only two weeks old! What if Daniel Murphy goes two weeks without an error - should we start touting him for a Gold Glove? Is it also time to start talking about Omar Minaya as Executive of the Year for his foresight in signing Castillo to a four-year deal?
Castillo's off to a nice start, especially compared to what was expected of him, but so far, all he has done is secure his place in the starting lineup with the possibility of moving up from the eighth spot to the two hole, at least when Murphy is on the bench.
And it's not as if Castillo is clearly having the best season so far by an NL second baseman. Going into tonight's game, here are Castillo's stats compared to perennial All-Star Chase Utley.
Castillo: BA .400, R 4, HR 0, RBI 6, SB 0
Utley: BA .372, R 12, HR 4, RBI 12, SB 2
Even with his fast start, Castillo doesn't come close to Utley. Castillo also lags well behind this NL second baseman:
BA .393, R 14, HR 2, RBI 8, SB 4
But mets.com wouldn't expect to you vote for that second baseman, since the Mets already voted against him in the offseason, when they had the chance to sign Orlando Hudson.
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After tonight's dreary game, Jerry Manuel did admit that it was not too soon for a big lineup change and that he plans to flip Carlos Beltran and David Wright in Thursday's game. Glad to see Jerry making a move to try to shake things up. So far, even Mets.com has not been touting him as Manager of the Year.
I am curious - and this refers to both the Mets and Yankees - but how many times in history has a baseball team moved into a new park and won any kind of championship? I can only think of 4: Fenway (1912), Yankee Stadium (1923) and Busch Stadium (2006). The Reds also won the NL in 1970 in their first year at Riverfront and the Yankees the AL in 1976 at the refurbished stadium. But this doesn't bode well for either NY team - the Yankees have a slight advantage as the dimensions of their new park are pretty much the same as the old - and they play in those same dimensions in the spring, although they're going to have to mount a couple of jet engires on the top of Legends Field to simulate that wind.........................
ReplyDeleteTo answer Jonmouk's question:
ReplyDeleteWinning the World Series in their first season in a new ballpark: The 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field, 1912 Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, and, of course, the 1923 New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium I.
Winning at least a Pennant in their first season in a new ballpark: The 1876 Chicago White Stockings (forerunners of the Cubs) at 23rd Street Park, the 1901 Chicago White Sox (the ChiSox we know today) at South Side Park, the 1911 New York Giants at the last version of the Polo Grounds, the 1970 Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium, and, as mentioned, the somewhat asterisked example of the 1976 Yankees at the renovated Yankee Stadium, thank you Chris Chambliss.
Winning at least a Division Title in their first season in a new ballpark: The 1970 Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium, the 1989 Toronto Blue Jays at the SkyDome (now called the Rogers Centre), the 1997 Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, and the 2000 San Francisco Giants at Pacific Bell (now AT&T) Park.
In 1962, the Los Angeles Dodgers opened Dodger Stadium and finished in a tie for the Pennant, but lost a Playoff to the Giants. In 1994, when the strike finished the season, the Texas Rangers were leading the AL West in their first year at The Ballpark at Arlington (or whatever they're calling it now, probably A-Rod Debt Memorial Field), and the Cleveland Indians were in position to be the AL Wild Card team in their first year at Jacobs (now Progressive) Field. And in 1995, the Colorado Rockies opened Coors Field and won the NL's Wild Card.
At any moment, I expect a certain Met fan to say, "The 1876 Cubbies? Ah, yes, Mike remembers it well." Yeah, it was the good old days, when there were no Mets.
hey grandpa, that party for the 23 yanks must have been a blast, eh?
ReplyDeletekm