Something's gotta give: The Yanks finally lose one

Yankee fan Jack Nicholson was front and center on camera at last night's game, joining the cuckoo's nest at Yankee Stadium.

But the team could have used a few good men to beat Seattle. The Yanks looked very flat last night, for whatever reason.

Maybe it was due to the rain delay for rain that never happened!

At any rate, CC Sabathia didn't have a game for the ages, Mark Teixeira made a crucial error, and the Yanks' hitting couldn't quite get the job done. I'm sure.I'm missing some stuff, but frankly, the game was a little dull, and it wasn't holding my interest.

But look on the bright side - at least the Yanks didn't have to contend with a swarm of bees!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

How the furries can inspire the Mets

It was only fitting that the Mets' beastly year would include sharing a hotel with a furry convention. As Metstradamus reports, Anthrocon 2009, a gathering for people who dress up as animals, was getting under way when the Mets checked into their Pittsburgh hotel for their makeup game with the Pirates.

Whether it was the presence of the furries or Tuesday's team meeting, the Mets' luck seems to be turning. They blew a five-run lead on their last trip to Pittsburgh; today it was the Pirates who blew a five-run lead. Johan Santana airmailed a throw on Tuesday; Andrew McCutchen airmailed a throw home today that resulted in Fernando Tatis scoring the winning run in the top of the tenth. Francisco Rodriguez blew the game in the ninth, but stuck around to preserve the win in the bottom of the tenth.

Still, the fact that the Mets almost blew the game today shows that there is more team-building to be done. Jerry Manuel has already held a meeting and organized a communal bus ride. Here are some other possibilities for Manuel to try, all inspired by titles of actual Anthrocon events.

The Battle of the Frogs and the Mice
The fight for supremacy in the unimposing NL East.

Marsupial Madness Meet and Greet
Instructions on how to start a kangaroo court.

Headless Lounge
Guest lecturer John Franco's leadership seminar.

Learn to Play RAGE
With guest lecturer Johan Santana.

Munchkin: Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Dungeons and Mooks
Jerry Manuel stops waiting for his injured stars to return and accepts the current team for what it is.

What's It Like To Be a Wolf?
Remedial class for Omar Minaya, who could have signed Randy Wolf for a lot less money than he gave Oliver Perez.

Tin Foil Hat Contest
Since the rally caps haven't been working.

Whose Lion Is It Anyway?
Pedro Martinez waits for a new team.

Giggles and Laughs
Highlight films of Met fielders and baserunners.

Fursuit Parade
With the Mets' luck, the grand marshal will be the Philly Phanatic.

Evolution of Underdog
The ongoing saga of the 2009 New York Mets.

Last chance to vote for Carlos Beltran - and Kevin Youkilis

Vote for Kevin Youkilis over Mark Teixeira for the All-Star Game. Let's give Squawker Lisa something to Twitter about.

Lisa, I am touched by your newfound concern for the well-being of David Wright, but the Mets don't need to get out the vote for him. Wright is comfortably ahead of second-place Larry Jones.

As for Carlos Beltran, even with his injury, he still has some of the best stats of any NL outfielder. He certainly deserves to get in over Alfonso Soriano, who is batting .230.

(Speaking of .230 hitters, Lisa, good luck with that "Vote Swisher" campaign you mentioned.)

Based on the stats, the third NL outfielder behind Ryan Braun and Raul Ibanez should be Justin Upton or Brad Hawpe, but Upton is 15th and Hawpe is not even in the top 15.

At least it looks like Manny won't be voted in.

Lisa, if you really wanted to annoy Met fans with your second-base choice, you should have voted for Orlando Hudson, who could have been the Mets' second baseman had they been willing to spend the free agent money.

You could also have suggested Jimmy Rollins, who is in second place behind Hanley Ramirez. Rollins was recently benched by his own team and deserves this year's All-Star spot about as much as the guy in fifth place, Jose Reyes.

It's too bad the Yankees are not mounting a campaign for Alex Rodriguez, currently a distant second behind Evan Longoria. I had a couple of slogans all ready to go:

Pad A-Rod's Voting Stats!
Artificially Inflate A-Rod's Vote!

At least the Mets and Yankees are not in the position of the A's and Indians, who are forced to promote players that have a good chance of leaving the team soon - Matt Holliday and Victor Martinez. Or are they promoting their All-Star chances to enhance their trade value?

Say, Lisa, maybe your plan to vote for Luis Castillo isn't such a bad idea after all.

Former Met captain John Franco is the new Met 'voice from the grave'

I had to laugh when I heard about John Franco decrying the current Mets' leadership. Because he wasn't exactly the leader for the ages himself.

The last Met captain spoke with SIRIUS XM hosts Kevin Kennedy and Jeff Joyce about his old team, saying "there’s no leadership there. Nobody wants to step forward and be a leader. Something is missing and it’s hard to put your finger on it."

That may well be true (actually, it most definitely is true!) but Franco isn't the one who should be saying it. Because I remember Franco's great leadership (ha!) as a Met. He and Al Leiter, who both had way too much pull in the front office, ran the team like it was their own country club.

Leiter's big achievement in leadership was griping when Scott Kazmir played Eminem instead of Bruce Springsteen in the spring training clubhouse.

And Franco? Well, I guess pushing to get rid of the hated Bobby Valentine could be considered leadership. But looking back at those 1999 and 2000 teams, it's a miracle that they got as far in the playoffs as they did. Maybe that manager, as flawed as he was, did have a little something to do with it.

But yeah, Franco did all sorts of cool stuff as captain. Like wearing that big letter C to remind everybody that he was the captain. Letter C? What, is this "Sesame Street?" C is for cookie, not captain!

Franco decried the Mets "not having fun," but as Squawker Jon notes, "it's hard to relax and have fun when you're coming off two late-season collapses, numerous bullpen collapses in 2008 and numerous late-inning collapses of a disturbing variety this year."

The former closer also talked about how he became captain of the Mets:

"Well, I was appointed captain of the Mets as a closer, so it was kind of weird that nobody wanted to do it. And I was a guy, even though I was a closer, if I thought there was a team meeting or something needed to be said, I had no problem getting in somebody's face or kicking them in the rear. And everybody knew where I was coming from because on some of the teams I played with, some of them were very bad and some of them were good, and sometimes some guys maybe weren't respecting the game enough or some guys weren't playing the game the right way or some guys weren't doing things that they should've done. And I would call a team meeting and call them out on it. And I didn't care if they liked me or not. I wanted to win just as bad as the next guy, but I think I got my point across. With the Mets, a guy like David Wright is a guy that I'm hoping - you know, I tried talking to him and tell him to come forward and be that guy, but I think David feels that being that he's such a young player and you have the [Carlos] Delgados and [Gary] Sheffields and veteran guys like that, he's afraid that they'll look at him like, 'Be quiet and sit down.'"

Both Wright and Jerry Manuel fought back against Franco's accusations. The Met manager said:

“I think when a guy [Alex Cora] plays with a torn ligament in his thumb, that’s leadership. When a guy [Wright] needs a day off and still wants to play, that’s leadership.”

And David Wright responded:

“With all due respect to Johnny, he doesn’t know what’s going on in this clubhouse,” Wright said. “I don’t feel the need to defend myself as a leader if the guys in here respect me and think of me as a leader. I don’t worry myself with outside people, saying what they’re going to say. It doesn’t matter to me.”

That's an awful lot of words to say for somebody who doesn't feel the need to defend himself, and for something that doesn't matter to him!

Now, I agree with Franco that the Mets make all sorts of "mental mistakes", but not the reasons why:

..."I think they have maybe too much individuality, where guys are worried about their own stats instead of worrying about getting the guy over, not stealing third base with two outs which is really meaningless."

Eh, the old stat-padding argument. It's like how some fans say that A-Rod doesn't do enough to win the games, as if getting hits and homers somehow only count when they're walkoffs.

Do I think Luis Castillo dropped the ball because he was thinking about his stats? No. He did it because it was so easy a play, he thought he could catch it with one hand instead of two. Or because he had a brain cramp. But I don't think any of it had to do with worrying about his stats.

At any rate, no matter how valid some his criticisms are, Franco should remember that he's just, as Mike Piazza once described Keith Hernandez' criticism of the team, a voice from the grave.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

A-Rod and the Yankees beat Seattle again, and cook up a storm

Yankee games are getting to be predictable - in a good way! Last night, the Yankees won their seventh win in a row, and A-Rod homered for the second night in a row to give the Yanks the lead.

While it looks like Alex Rodriguez's decade-long streak of being a starter at the All-Star Game is about to end - he's currently seventh in the balloting, and the Yanks are not leading a campaign to get him on the team - a case can be made that he is the Yankees' Most Valuable Player this year, for better or for worse.

He is - dare I say it? - the straw that stirs the drink for the Yanks!

Look at the numbers - this team just does not win many games when A-Rod is either injured or slumping. Remember, the Bombers were 13-15 without A-Rod this season. Their season didn't start to turn around until May 8, Alex's first game of the year. After Alex came back, the Yanks won nine in a row.

But when A-Rod started slumping after playing so many games in a row without a break - he went 39 games without a rest - the Yankees slumped as well. They lost 9 of 13 games (and would have lost 10 of 13 if it weren't for Luis Castillo dropping A-Rod's popup!) in a timeframe when Alex only got 4 hits.

Not long after getting a little time off in Miami, Alex started hitting again. In the past seven games, he has gone 10 for 23 with 4 homers and 13 RBI. He has also walked 10 times.

The Yanks, for better or for worse, are driven by A-Rod's hitting - or lack thereof. He is the biggest chef on the team. Let's hope he continues to serve up gourmet cuisine, instead of salmonella-ridden fare!

Oh, and that photo above? It's of A-Rod, Cody Ransom, and Brian Cashman serving as Chefs for a Day yesterday for kids at El Nuevo Caridad Restaurant in Washington Heights. Thanks to the Yanks for the pic.

* * *

A few other notes on last night's game:

• Eric Hinske is now a Yankee - his Pittsburgh flight finally arrived yesterday morning. My main memory of Hinske is in September 2007, when he knocked out Jorge Posada on a hard slide to home in a Yankees-Red Sox game. So that makes two current Yanks - him and Mark Teixeira - who have had home plate collisions with Posada!
• Good news that Andy Pettitte - for once - pitched a good game at home, only giving up two runs in seven innings. And he only gave up one homer - to Ken Griffey Jr.
• Did anybody get to meet Alfredo Aceves, Phil Hughes, or Joba Chamberlain when they greeted fans outside the Great Hall yesterday? If so, tell us about it!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Last chance to vote for Mark Teixeira over Kevin Youkilis on the All-Star Game ballot

Vote for Mark Teixeira over Kevin Youkilis for the All-Star Game. Let's give John Henry something to Twitter about. Let's help good defeat evil. Well, maybe Kevin Youkilis isn't evil - just terminally annoying - but I still don't want to see him start at first base at the All-Star Game!

Youk is leading Tex by 40,000 votes with just one day to go. This cannot happen. So go to MLB.com and vote on the mark. Send a Tex message to the All-Star Game! You can vote up to 25 times - the ballot saves your picks, so it's easy to keep on resubmitting your choices.

In addition to voting for Teixeira, this Squawker has a few other suggestions for the All-Star ballot:

The good folks at VoteSwisher.com wanted to remind Yankee fans to write in Nick Swisher for an outfield spot.

Dustin Pedroia is less than 7,000 votes behind Ian Kinsler for second base. Why should a Red Sox player who left the field when there were only two outs be rewarded with an All-Star spot? Hope this survey says no!

As I have done every time I've voted on an All-Star ballot since the 2006 NLCS, I voted for the Cardinals' Yadier Molina, just to tweak Squawker Jon. And this year, Jose Molina's brother is actually leading the NL All-Star ballot at catcher. Are there that many Met-haters out there?

I also used the NL ballot to vote for the best second baseman out there. The pop-up king! Yes, I went there - I voted 25 times for the Mets' Luis Castillo!

Speaking of the Mets, I just went to Mets.com to see who they were promoting on their site for the All-Star Game. Each team is promoting one or more players: the Yanks are pushing Teixeira, while the Red Sox are asking fans to vote for Youkilis and Pedroia. The Mets? Well, they're pushing somebody who won't be able to play in the All-Star Game - the injured Carlos Beltran! Granted, he did have an All-Star caliber year until getting hurt, but it's still funny that they're promoting him over their supposed franchise player, David Wright.

Voting for the All-Star Game ends at 11:59 tonight. Get your votes in!

Who are you voting for? Leave us a comment!

Can't spell 'meeting' without M-E-T

John Franco offered his two cents on the Mets:

It seems like, to me, they're not having fun, even when they were winning. Playing in New York, the pressure cooker here, I'm sure there's a lot of pressure on them, but they need to relax a little bit and look like they're having fun.

The Mets did look like they were having fun when they were winning in 2006 and throughout most of 2007. But it's hard to relax and have fun when you're coming off two late-season collapses, numerous bullpen collapses in 2008 and numerous late-inning collapses of a disturbing variety this year.

Remember early in the season when the game seemed won when the Mets got to the eighth inning? And in the ninth, K-Rod was automatic.

I don't know if Jerry Manuel's meeting resulted in the Mets having fun today, but it was no fun to watch. Even when K-Rod came in, he immediately gave up a hit and then a line drive that Alex Cora fortunately snared. No relaxing until this one was in the books.

What the Mets need more than meetings and players with "C" on their uniforms are winning performances like Mike Pelfrey's today and no more blooper reel specials.

Pelfrey, the man most responsible for the win, wasn't even at the meeting.

But thanks to him, sandwiched around a five-game losing streak, the Mets have now beaten two of the best pitchers in the National League - Chris Carpenter and Yovani Gallardo.

Gallardo had a similar outing to Pelfrey's last opponent, CC Sabathia, last Friday. Both Gallardo and Sabathia pitched seven innings and allowed one run. Gallardo allowed five hits and struck out twelve, while Sabathia allowed three hits and struck out eight.

Pelfrey pitched better tonight than last Friday, but the big difference between the two games was the Mets' three-error meltdown in the second inning, which resulted in four runs (two earned).

Pelfrey often lets such things get to him, but today, Pelfrey kept his cool, losing it momentarily after the balk, but quickly settling down.

By contrast, Johan Santana last night gave up a walk, bases-clearing double and committed an error after Fernando Martinez' drop, then capped it off by losing his temper in the dugout.

Jerry Manuel mentioned after the game that it was supposed to be raining in Pittsburgh, so Thursday's game could be in jeopardy. For the first time in a week, I hope it doesn't rain.

The Mets have fallen and they can't get up

There was a play in last night's game that summed up the Mets' sorry season for me. And the scary thing is, it wasn't Fernando Martinez falling flat on his face while chasing a fly ball. It wasn't even the most destructive part of the at bat in which it took place.

Ryan Braun had already doubled to clear the bases and put the Brewers ahead, 4-2. The third run scored when when Alex Cora's relay throw got past Omir Santos. But Johan Santana was perfectly positioned behind Santos. And when Santana got to the ball, Braun had taken too wide a turn at third. A good throw by Santana would get Braun out.

The Mets' $137 million arm, known for pinpoint control, reared back and threw the ball over David Wright's head. The throw was airmailed so badly that it even got by Cora, who was in shallow left backing up Wright. Cora ended up flat on the ground after diving for the ball and Braun trotted home.

The Mets are lacking in fundamentals, yet Santana was in the right place to back up the throw home. Cora was in the right place for the relay and his throw would have gotten the third runner out had Santos held on. When Braun took too wide a turn at third, Santana alertly threw there.

So the Mets pretty much had their fundamentals down on the play - and it didn't matter.

Instead, one of the few remaining stars of the team heaves the ball past the two unofficial co-captains, Wright and Cora. And Cora is left sprawled on the ground just as Martinez was a couple of plays earlier.

The Mets have fallen and they can't get up. After four losses in a row, they send their stopper to the mound and Santana blows the game. Giving up a bases-clearing extra-base hit to Braun, one of the best hitters in baseball, is not a sin. Walking J.J. Hardy to load the bases for Braun is worse. And walking the pitcher earlier in the inning - a pitcher who has barely been in the majors - that's a sin.

When you walk the pitcher for the sixth time this year, give up the game-winning extra-base hit and throw the ball wildly to allow another run to score, you are the main reason your team lost. This was not the time for Santana to glare at the 20-year-old Martinez for missing the fly or start yelling at his teammates.

***

When Squawker Lisa is not reveling in the collapse of the Mets, she is celebrating a rare misstep by the Red Sox. Lisa's piece discusses the Red Sox blowing a 10-1 lead and, while recounting how several Red Sox players left the field when there were only two outs, references Milton Bradley tossing the ball into the stands with less that two outs.

Blowing a 10-1 lead? Throwing the ball into the stands before the end of the inning? The season is less than half over. Plenty of time for the Mets to add these humiliations to their growing list.

Mariano Rivera is honored, while Joba may be becoming 'boring'

Is Mariano Rivera the player most beloved by his peers throughout baseball? It sure sounds like it, especially given all the accolades Rivera received after getting his 500th save.

Heck, Squawker Jon's favorite Yankee - or, more to the point, the only Yankee he actually likes - is Mariano. That's saying something right there.

It was a nice touch for the Yanks to honor him by having him throw out the first pitch at Tuesday's game. He also got to throw out the last pitch, too, of course, in getting the save in the win.

In other news about Yankee pitchers, Joba Chamberlain did another of his nibbling outings. Yankee beat writer Peter Abraham declared that the pitcher has become "boring," writing:

He’s just sort of there. Joba is averaging roughly 5.1 innings per start, far too little. He pitches with no rhythm, he seems disinterested in challenging hitters until he has to and then afterward says the same things, about how he’s learning and how good he feels.

I don't necessarily disagree with this assessment. Not that I want Joba to be a starter, but his games seem to take forever. He seems to be like Steve Trachsel in his game speed!

On the other hand, how about that Phil Hughes in the bullpen? He's pretty electrifying there. Joe Girardi should have continued letting him pitch, instead of bringing Brian Bruney in for the eighth. Good thing the Yanks had some late-inning magic, or it could have been a bad loss.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Epic Fail: Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox blow 10-1 lead and lose to Orioles

Lots going on in Yankeeland, but most fans are talking about the deliciousness of the Boston Red Sox's loss last night. It's not very often that you see a team up 10-1 in the seventh inning give up 11 runs in the next two innings. But that's exactly what happened with the Red Sox-Orioles game.

There is so much to enjoy about this epic defeat. Remember how Milton Bradley threw the ball into the stands a few weeks ago when there were only two outs? Last night, five Red Sox, including the obnoxious Kevin Youkilis and the annoying Dustin Pedroia, left the field in the sixth inning after just two outs. Way to focus on the fundamentals, guys!

Pedroia and Jonathan Papelbon both blamed the loss on the rain delay. Pedroia commented:

"It kind of happened real fast. Seemed like the first five innings before the rain delay, we beat up on them pretty good. When we came back they beat up on us pretty good.

Um, Dustin? Your math is a bit off. Just like how you and the rest of the Sox infield forgot there were only two outs before leaving the field, you forgot that Justin Masterson got six straight outs after the rain delay before imploding.

Papelbon - aka Cinco Dopo - opined:

“Just a tough night all around for us, for the bullpen from top to bottom, dealing with the weather and dealing with trying to pick each other up,’’ Papelbon said.

Boo-hoo. Both teams had to deal with the rain delay. Leave the "blame it on the rain" stuff to Milli Vanilli, dude.

While the Sox loss was due in no small part to a collective collapse of the bullpen (13 hits and 11 runs in two innings!), the most enjoyable failure, of course, was Papelbon's. He came in the game in the eighth inning, with Orioles on first and second and one out, and proceeded to give up a two-run double to Nick Markakis to blow the save.

Wonder what all the Red Sox fans who traveled down to Baltimore and waited out this game in the rain thought of last night's debacle. Too bad, so sad.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!