Joba Chamberlain's Mother Arrested for Selling Drugs

From AP:

The mother of New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain is jailed in Nebraska and facing a felony charge after being arrested on suspicion of selling methamphetamine to an undercover police officer in February.

Lincoln Police Capt. David Beggs said Monday that 44-year-old Jacqueline Standley was arrested at her apartment Saturday night.

Beggs said she allegedly sold 1 gram of a substance believed to be meth to an uncover officer for $110 on Feb. 11. The substance tested positive for meth in testing at the state laboratory.

She was charged Monday with delivery of an exceptionally hazardous drug. Her bail was set at $5,000, and she was assigned a public defender, whose name was not on her jail record.

Mets Friday Ramblings

At what point do the Mets remove the interim tag from Jerry Manuel?

Billy Wagner will come back, but as long as the Mets are winning with Ayala at closer, I say let the man get a little more time than he really needs. Mark Sep 20th on your calenders.

The talk of Carlos Delgado for MVP is great, and if there was a second half MVP he'd win by a mile. That said, he is about a top 10 guy right now and won't win it.

Delgado is 6th in home runs and RBIs in the NL.

Anyone else feel like Tatis, Beltran and Church should get the outfield starts from here on out with just occasional starts by the kids? I know they are a feel good story and all, but the vets give me a lot more day to day confidence.

Mike Pelfrey may not have Joba Chamberlain's "stuff", but he is going to have a better career. His body type and arm slot lend itself to success and physical health. Joba? Not so much.

Mike Pelfrey vs Jon Lester is a good discussion---they were born one week apart.

I still can't decide if my favorite Met is David Wright or Jose Reyes.

Carlos Beltran is hitting .306 in August, and though he's been fairly steady all year production-wise, he hasn't had that great month. I think September is gonna be that month.

Our schedule after this road trip is very, very favorable...memo to the Mets, time to put the pedal down hard against the Fish and Brewers.

We won't see CC Sabathia next week--advantage Mets.

We're 1 game up on the Phils and there is a real chance we extend that lead this weekend.

If you can't wait until tonight's game, feel all antsy and excited and lack "work focus", then you are enjoying this pennant race.

Aren't you glad you're a Mets fan and not a Yankees fan?

Are Mets fans more inclined to be Giants or Jets fans? I really don't care, but someone asked me. I'm a diehard Giants fan.

Random stat of the day: Carlos Delgado has been hit by a pitch the 13th most times in the history of baseball. I bet you didn't know that.

Enjoy your coffee!

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Pedro the Great made a magnificent return to the mound last night, throwing 6 innings to beat the San Francisco Giants on a blustery night.

He pitched well; he hit better; his energy and enthusiasm were on display for everyone, and his teammates responded.

What is it about Pedro that brings out the best in the Mets?

His teammates love him:

"Coming into this season, we were going to lean on Pedro," David Wright said yesterday afternoon, "so tonight, we get an opportunity to do that. It was good to see him work his butt off to get back here and I'm excited about it because Pedro is an integral part of our team. We need him because we need to solidify that No. 2 spot in the rotation."

"It was a big shock to all of us when he got hurt," Ryan Church said. "Now it's a big shot in the arm for us that he's back. Everything he does, he just makes it fun and keeps everybody loose."

"Just the day itself is big and it's something that we've been waiting for," Moises Alou said of Martinez's return. "We hope he throws a no-hitter. But just the fact that he's going out to pitch is huge. To get him back and to have Pedro pitch every five days is really a big positive for our team. We as players get as excited as the fans. It's a great feeling to have your horses rejoin the team. We're going to need every single one of our guys to fulfill out goal."

In a piece by Steve Popper, he tells how before the game Pedro was fully-dressed while teammates bustled about, already in uniform, Martinez watched quietly as the Yankees game played on the clubhouse televisions. Without a word he watched Joba Chamberlain struggle through an arduous first inning.

Finally, he called out to a few reporters and said, “When you want to ask me about velocity, look at him. He’s got all the velocity he needs.” What was left unsaid was that velocity wasn’t helping Chamberlain on this night as his location failed him and his pitch count rose.

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
N.Y. Mets «	1	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	0	9	10	2
San Francisco	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	6	9	3

W: P. Martinez (1-0) L: B. Zito (1-9) S: B. Wagner (12) HR: NYM - None SF - T. Denker (1)

Recap/Box · GameCenter

Pedro had really good stuff last night, touching 93 on the radar gun with decent control and plenty of movement on his pitches. He threw 109 pitches in all, and gave up 7 hits and 3 walks (one intentional), while striking out 3.

"I felt real good, just like I expected to feel," Martinez said. "I got my feet wet a little bit today."

He also added, "It's not over until the season's over, but I would say I feel really good, really confident now," Martinez said. "(The weather) was really uncomfortable, especially for my changeup, my feel pitches. I threw more fastballs than normal and I got away with it."

Pedro helped his own cause at the plate, going 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored."I told the guys I was going to get a hit, and I've always got to give them the 'double guns' and a little shake when I do that," he said, smiling.

The Mets hit well last night and erupted for an 8 run inning that sealed the deal early. Damian Easley was the hitting star, going 3 for 4 with a walk and 3 RBIs.

All told the Mets got 10 hits and 5 walks with a balanced attack. In fact, they managed those 9 RBIs with Easley as the only batter to have more than one hit.

Read more about Pedro in the NY Daily News here.

Here's a piece about Pedro's quality start.

In other Mets news....

There's some speculation going on that Castro and Schneider are now part of a platoon. I'm not buying it. What I am buying is the fact that Castro is a backup who is going to get 40 starts a year. He was hurt for a while and has a hot bat against lefty's, so he has some catching up to do (love the pun!).

More on the alleged platoon by Adam Rubin.

Here's a piece on the struggles of Ollie Perez and his arm slot.

OK Mets fans, enjoy your coffee and remember to Vote for Pedro!