VIDEO: David Wright Getting Beaned

Video is up for those that missed it:

First Cain Beans Wright, then He Acts Like a Punk

Matt Cain just pulled a punk move.

After Hitting David Wright in the head he settled in and pitched a very solid game.

Then in the 8th, he gave up a run on two hits, and Giants Manager Bruce Bochy pulled him from the game.

As the Citi Field faithful gave him a mild booing on his way out (for obvious reasons), Cain decided to tip his cap....a little "FU" to the fans.

I've always though highly of Matt Cain, but that was a punk move.

The Fox broadcasters, Thom Brennaman and Mark Grace, were incredulous and really gave it to Cain with both barrels.

Mark Grace said, "David Wright is in the hospital right now, and that tip of the cap just told everyone that you (Matt Cain) don't care one bit. Something tells me he is going to look back on that with a lot of regret."

Here is the video of David Wright getting hit:

David Wright Beaned in the Head by 94 mph Fastball

With Luis Castillo on first in a 0-0 game, David Wright strode to the plate not knowing this might be the worst at bat of his 2009 season.

Matt Cain wound up and threw an inside fastball that was supposed to be down--instead it flew high--too high.

With a sickening crack David Wright was hit and immediately fell.

The worst part is that he was hit in the head--squarely above the ear flap.

He lay prone for about two minutes before sitting up and mouthing, "I'm alright" to trainer Ray Ramirez.

Wright left the game for tests--we will continue to follow the story.

Here is the video:

DISCOUNT! Pitch in for a Good Cause with Gary, Keith and Ron

As many of you know, we are HUGE fans of Gary, Keith and Ron, which is part of the Pitch in For a Good Cause foundation.

You may have seen Lynn Cohen, who runs the foundation, being interviewed by Kevin Burkhardt during an SNY broadcast or on Mets Weekly, or know of them through their wonderfully creative t-shirts, which have gained huge popularity and can be seen throughout Citi Field at all home games.

I have several, including the coveted Ralph Kiner shirt, and folks always ask me where I bought it.

Well, luckily for us, today and tomorrow we all get a discount on those t-shirts and all of the great items they offer, and we also help a great cause--it's truly a win-win.

Today and tomorrow everything at Garykeithandron.com is 15% off for bloggers and their readers who use the coupon code, "blogger." I encourage you to go to the website and take advantage of this great offer---moreover, you could actually be standing on the warning track at Citi Field as part of one of their signature events!

Saturday October 3rd 2009 1:10pm Mets vs. Houston

All GKR guests wearing GKR gear are invited on the warning track to sing the anthem as a group! How cool is that?

Get your ticket here, and bring a glove--just in case the DL claims another player...

If you decide to come out to that event you'll meet us--the bloggers, we're all heading out for the event, and there is a great chance for you to meet with the SNY crew and a few other surprise guests--trust me that this event will be a wonderful time, and I'm greatly looking forward to seeing you there.

Come celebrate with GKR and our loyal supporters! Food, free GKR tee, stand on the Citi Field warning track during anthem, raffles and fun, fun fun! Get 15% off tickets and all GKR merchandise for blog readers only now through August 15th. Use coupon code "blogger".

Here is a video of last year's Grand Event!

Of Outs and Walks

I don't pretend to be Mr. Sabermetrician, though I love baseball statistics.

Like many of you, it started with the backs of baseball cards and newspaper box scores and went from there to Bill James, and thinking about metrics that matter.

Throughout the revolution in baseball statistics one thing is universally understood--outs are the most precious thing in the game (you only get 27), and letting the other guys get on base is bad.

Pretty simple, no?

That brings us to the Mets under Jerry Manuel.

We're only going to look at two statistics here today: Intentional Walks Allowed, and Sacrifice Hits (Bunts).

One stat puts the opposition on base, and the other takes away one of those precious 27 outs.

2009 Intentional Walks Allowed: The Mets have issued 43 Intentional Walks in 2009, 3rd most in the big leagues behind the Dodgers and Marlins. For comparison purposes the Cards, under Tony LaRussa, have issued 11. The Rangers, under the Nolan Ryan concept of pitching, have issued 7, the fewest in MLB. And because we hate them and no conversation would be complete without a mention, the Yanks have issued 20.

2009 Sacrifice Hits (Bunts): The Mets have Sac Bunted 59 times in 2009, again, 3rd most in the big leagues behind the Dodgers and Reds. For comparison purposes, Boston has 11 sac bunts. Of course the National League will sac bunt more, so keeping it in the NL, the bottom two are the Phillies and Brewers with 37 and 36, respectively.

Now again, I'm no sabermetrician, but I do know this--giving away outs and putting the opposition on base time and again doesn't really work--we've seen that with our own eyes. You can point to the injuries as the reason for these numbers, but that doesn't hold up as the Mets were among MLB leaders in both of these categories the first month of the season when everyone was healthy.

Just an FYI, in 2008 the Mets led MLB in Sacrifice Hits, and were 9th in Intentional Walks.

In 2002, Bobby Valentine's last year at the helm, the Mets were 6th in Sacrifice Hits and 5th in Intentional Walks.

In 2000, when the Mets won the NL Pennant, they were again 6th in Sacrifice Hits and 13th in Intentional Walks.

Bottom line for 2009: these strategies just don't work with the team constructed as it currently stands, and Jerry Manuel doesn't seem to understand this by refusing to deviate from his game plan to give away outs and allow baserunners.

It's time for a managerial change, and count me as one who hopes it's not Bobby Valentine.

Jerry Manuel Fails Baseball 101

I read with a chuckle how Jerry Manuel ripped his players after last night's disappointing loss. Jerry got on Angel Pagan for misplaying a Doug Davis line drive into a 2 run triple. He ripped Daniel Murphy for venturing too far off the bag on a potential double play ball. He also finally decided tonight to give David Wright his second day off of the year.

Jerry--look in the damn mirror. Who the hell intentionally walks the #8 hitter in the second inning of a game?

That incredibly bad decision set the tone for the entire game.

Augie Ojeda has a .328 slugging percentage on the season, yet you deemed him such a threat that he needed to be walked--in the second inning!

I'm all for this type of maneuvering later in a game where it could force the opposing manager to go to a pinch-hitter, but walking the #8 hitter in the second inning is just stupid.

You're telling your starter he can't get out Augie Ojeda.

Then, if that wasn't enough, you went back to the intentional walk again in the 5th inning.

At this point it was a 4-2 game, with one out and a man on second. Up comes Mark Reynolds--you know, the guy that has 151 strikeouts on the year.

Now is Reynolds an excellent power hitter? Yes, he certainly is. But again, it's a 2 run game in the 5th inning, and you have a strikeout king at the plate.

We now go to the seventh inning--it's 5-2 Diamondbacks, and who do you bring in to releieve?

38-year old journeyman Elmer Dessens.

Yes, in a 3 run tight game, in Arizona, you opt for Elmer Dessens to keep you in the game.

Never mind that your bullpen, with the exception of Frankie Rodriguez, had the day off on Sunday because of Johan.

Never mind that Pedro Feliciano has only pitched one third of an inning since August 4th.

No, let's go with Elmer freakin Dessens here.

Brilliant.

Moreover, when Oeltjen, a lefty, was announced as the pinch-hitter you could have automatically went to Feliciano, especially since Manny Parra, another lefty, was to follow.

So you could have had Feliciano face back to back lefty's. And oh by the way, after Parra was Reynolds, a righty, followed by Montero, another lefty.

So that was three out of four lefty's due up but you stuck with Dessens, who lefty's have hit for a .309 batting average in his career.

Brilliant.

After the 8th it was 7-2, and the Mets 9th inning comeback wasn't enough.

So sure Jerry, rip on the players for their effort....I'll rip on you for your brain's lack of effort.

Four Guys from Opening Day

Besides injured players and guys in our minor league system, there are four Mets from the 25-man Opening Day roster who are no longer with the team.

I thought it would be fun to update them all:

• Ramon Castro
  
• Ryan Church
  
• Marlon Anderson
• Darren O'Day
  

Let's start with Ramon--Shrek--the Man Mountain. A lot of folks were aghast at this move, proclaiming that we were letting the wrong guy go, and that keeping Santos on the big league roster was a mistake.

The jury may still be out for some, but it's hard to argue with production.

Castro has been abysmal as a White Sox. Yes, he did catch a Perfect Game, but his hitting has gone south in Chi-town. His non-Met stats:

6 for 44, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, .136 BA, .255 OBP, .273 Slg %

Omir Santos has been a solid player, albeit a limited one. He's never going to hit a ton, but he does pick his spots, especially in RBI situations. Santos has a .323 BA with RISP, and an OK .267 BA with 2 outs and RISP.

Ryan Church was a guy I hated to see go. That said, he really never fit in with this team. Had the team been healthy in 2009 I'm confident that Church would have put up a 15-20 HR, 80+ RBI season, with good peripherals.

Alas, it didn't happen, and the Mets sent him to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur.

Francoeur's been good with the Mets for the most part, and I'm part of the minority that wants to see him in rightfield next year. Though his OBP is still pitiful for a corner outfielder (.324), he is hitting a lot of linedrives and has 4 HRs and 19 RBIs in 25 games as a Met.

Church has battled elbow issues, but when he's been in there, he's produced nicely for the Braves, who are making a run at the Phillies. Church has 14 hits in 49 at-bats for the Braves with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs. He has drawn quite a few walks and has a .417 OBP and .449 Slg % for Atlanta.

Marlon Anderson has not played after being released by the Mets after only 4 games.

And that brings us to Darren O'Day. Who could have predicted the season he's having? Well, a few of us didn't want to see him go. The guy is 26 and has a lifetime 2.76 ERA in the minors....that wasn't an accident.

After appearing in 4 games for the Mets and surrendering zero runs, the Rangers picked him up and O'Day has not looked back.

He has appeared in 43 games for Texas and sports a sparkling 1.88 ERA with 36 Ks in 38.1 innings. Moreover he's holding righthanded hitters to a .170 batting average.

All in all not too bad. Church for Francoeur is a wash--letting Shrek go was the right thing to do, Marlon was gone before he started, and O'Day....well, good for him...he's a guy with a lot of talent that has made himself into a very valuable major league pitcher.

Top Five Things Left to Root For in 2009

Take heart fellow Mets fans, with almost seven weeks of baseball left, there are still a bunch things to root for besides a miracle playoff run.

1. David Wright to 40 doubles. He is currently at 30, and as I wrote here, with a 5th consecutive 40 double season, DW joins some rare company and inches his way toward the major league record of seven consecutive 40+ double seasons in a row.

2. 20 wins for Santana. He is currently at 13 wins and will make 10, and possibly 11, more starts in 2009. Go back through his game log, and it's clear he should have at least 16 wins right now. That said, 20 is within his reach, and his career splits show he is truly the best second half pitcher this side of Roy Oswalt.

3. A .300 season for Luis Castillo. He is currently at .297. Yes it's trivial in the grand scheme of things, but don't you feel a little compassion for Luis? He's had a wild ride during his tenure as a Met, and after the drop at Yankee stadium he could have crawled in a hole and went away mentally. Instead he came back with aplomb and has worked his tail off.

4. The Carlos Delgado farewell tour. I recently wrote that when Delgado gets back, Murphy should still play. I've had some time to re-think that statement and believe Delgado should play every day if able. Murphy has the following OBP numbers by month in 2009: .373, .278, .298, .323, .308. Those are brutal--actually, they downright suck. Moreover he has a .378 Slg % on the year--pathetic for a first baseman. Bottom line is it will be a heck of a lot more fun to watch Delgado for 6 weeks, and the fans deserve it.

5. The continuing improvement of Oliver Perez. About two weeks ago I wrote that Ollie was about to break out, and after his last outing it sure looks like he has done just that. In his last 6 outings he has given up 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 earned runs. Yes, there were some walk issues in a few of those starts, but the stuff is back. He will be a blast to watch in his remaining 10 starts. For an interesting look at Ollie's release point, please visit my friends over at Mets Today.

There are more areas of interest--the September call-ups, Beltran possibly coming back (I think we are all advising against this), the chance to play spoiler against the Phillies, etc.

The whole point is that though the potential for the playoffs is basically gone, we all still watch the games....it's what us Met fans do....I say let's have some fun with the remaining games.

VIDEO: David Wright Gets Brushed Back

Kudos to David Wright for not charging the mound after he was nearly hit in the face by a pitch thrown by Cards reliever Brad Thompson.

From AP: Cardinals reliever Brad Thompson threw a pitch near the head of Mets third baseman David Wright in the sixth inning today, prompting plate umpire Bill Miller to warn both dugouts. An inning earlier, Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa loaded the bases when he hit Cardinals star Albert Pujols near the right elbow.

"You understand it's part of the game but, you know, you do it the right way," Wright said after the Mets' 9-0 win. "You hit a guy in the butt, you hit a guy in the back."

Thompson maintained it wasn't intentional. "I certainly wasn't throwing at him, just trying to back him off the plate," he said.

The Mets took care of it by kicking the Cards' ass.

The video can be seen here.

I Coulda had Class. I Coulda Been a Contender.

Last night the Mets had a roller coaster of a game that ended in utter and total humiliation.

Insults were added to injury as Luis Castillo slipped on the dugout steps...we watched as he lay in agony on the dugout floor being treated by trainer Ray Ramirez. X-rays came back negative, but figure Castillo to sit for a few days---if his condition worsens, he could be headed for a short stint on the DL.

We saw Johan Santana get hit fairly hard, but leave with a lead, only to see it evaporate at the hands of Frankie Rodriguez and Sean Green.

"It's just one of those crazy seasons where things don't go the way you want it to," Johan Santana said after a 12-7 loss to the Cardinals in 10 innings at Citi Field.

Frankie, honest and forthright as always, took the blame. "It was a real poor outing that I did today," said Rodriguez, who blew his first save since July 2 in Pittsburgh. "It was real embarrassing out there. I never was able to make pitches when I needed to."

Jeff Francoeur has officially crashed back to Earth. He's gone hitless in his last two games and is 3 for his last 23. He has one walk in 89 at-bats as a Met, and that was intentional.

Francoeur's OBP in his last 8 games is---wait for it---you ready?---OK: .242

Last night, as my friend Andrew Vazzano of 'the Ropolitans said, was truly a microcosm of the season, and it reminded me of Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, with Johan in the Brando role:

Charlie: Look, kid, I - how much you weigh, son? When you weighed one hundred and sixty-eight pounds you were beautiful. You coulda been another Billy Conn, and that skunk we got you for a manager, he brought you along too fast.
Terry: It wasn't him, Charley, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.
Charlie: Oh I had some bets down for you. You saw some money.
Terry: You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.

Lose the Beards, Take the Cannoli

Bad news/good news--you decide.

• 57 games left
• 10 games out of first
• 8 games out of the wildcard
• 8 teams to leap to make the playoffs

Bad news first: It's over, officially and unequivocally over. No news here, but in my mind, last night's game was the end of playoff hope, but not the end of hope. I'll talk more about that later.

Like you I was holding out hope for a miracle run to October, but it's not happening.

After the recent 5-game winning streak it looked like the Mets were going to creep back into this thing. Get to September 3 or 4 games back and in the hunt.

But the horses are just not there.

That said, the Mets are going to get "pretty healthy" by the end of August, and they will more than likely play some very good baseball down the stretch.

It will leave us all wondering what could have been and hopeful for 2010, which is good news.

So my recommendations to the Mets are as follows--keep fighting, have fun, and as the doctors say, "do no harm."

Get Delgado back, but face the fact that he is gone, and don't give up playing time to Murphy for Delgado. Carlos will not like this--he's worked hard to get back, but Murphy is the player that will be here next year. Get him some starts and some pinch-hitting at-bats, but let Murphy play.

Give Beltran another week of this effort he has going to get back--then have him re-evaluated and make a CORRECT medical decision. If there's any chance he can hurt himself by going full speed, shut him down and let him continue exercising and focusing on next season.

Get Wagner back and throw the crap out of him. He is worth evaluating for the chance to come back next year, even if he's not likely to be a Met.

JJ Putz--see above--he might be a Met in 2010.

Jose Reyes, for all intents and purposes, should be shut down now. Send him to Switzerland or Japan or wherever the VERY best doctors are to figure this out.

Give David Wright some days off....not a lot, but a few....he's worked his tail off this year, and he's responded well to rest.

Go very easy on KRod and keep him strong for 2010.

Same with Johan.

Have Pelfrey and Ollie work on what they need to fix, even at the expense of wins...I want to see more fastballs from Pelfrey and more breaking pitches from Ollie.

Tell Jeff Francoeur that he is not allowed to swing at a first pitch for the rest of the year--I'm serious--tell him that for the next 50+ games, he will not swing at a first pitch--ever. He needs to have more discipline, and this is one way to learn to watch a pitch to the glove knowing he can't offer at it. Focus on spin, location, release point, etc....anything but swinging. I'd actually like to see Francoeur back next year with a one year deal plus club option.

Pitch Livan until his arm falls off--no more 80 pitch efforts and a pinch hitter in the 6th--just let the man complete every game he starts.

And last of all--have some damn fun!

Good Morning Mets Fans!

Raise your hand if you enjoyed the hell out of that game last night. Yup, me too. It was a long one at 3 hours and 11 minutes, and it was also quite dramatic and finished with a bang.

A bunch of folks are writing rather disparaging words about Ollie Perez today, but I thought his start was pretty decent. His overall line was 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB and 7 Ks. Not bad.

Yes it took him 112 pitches to get through those 5 innings, but his stuff was there and I thought the ump pinched him on a couple of really good pitches that went for balls.

Since his return Ollie has gone 1-1 in 5 starts and given up 2, 3, 4, 3, 2 earned runs in those outings to lower his ERA by nearly two full runs per game. Right now he has one undoing--walks. In those same 5 starts he has walked 7, 4, 6, 4, 5...terrible.

So with all that said, I truly believe Ollie is on the brink of a few 7+ inning games where he walks 2 or 3....the line is that fine with him right now.

I could write all day about last night's game--the brilliant at bat by Brian Schneider that resulted in a 400 foot double, the gutsy at-bats by Alex Cora, the continued streak of DW, another RBI from Jeff Francoeur, the brilliance of Pedro Feliciano, the wonderful pinch hitting of Omir Santos and Angel Berroa and of course, the 5 RBIs and Grand Slam of Angel Pagan.

It was that kind of game.

Instead, let's look at the Mets stars of this 8 game effort that's produced a 6-2 record.

David Wright:
12 for 27, 9 Runs, 4 Doubles, 2 HR, 6 RBIs

Jeff Francoeur:
7 for 29, 10 RBIs

Angel Pagan:
10 for 35, 6 Runs, 3 Doubles, 2 Triples, 7 RBIs

Daniel Murphy:
10 for 29, 6 Runs

Alex Cora:
9 for 26, 5 Runs

Corey Sullivan:
6 for 20

Luis Castillo:
7 for 25, 7 Runs, 6 Walks

Notice anything? Yup, you got it--no one is going crazy and carrying the team by themselves.

What we have here is a team that is getting hits together, creating runs together, picking each other up. Toss in the occassional longball and the wins keep piling up.

This is what we all said could happen when the stars went down--get enough runs for the pitching staff to do their thing.

The plan now is to keep winning games, get a few more pieces back, and get to September no worse than 3 games back in the wild card. If the Mets keep playing like this, it could even be closer than that.

So enjoy your coffee and root like hell for Big Pelf to keep this thing going....one game at a time.

Scoreboard
Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Arizona (45-59)	1	0	0	1	1	2	0	0	1	6	9	1
N.Y. Mets (50-53) «	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	4	x	9	12	0

PLAYER OF THE GAME
A. Pagan	AB	4
	R	1
	H	2
	HR	1
	RBI	5

New York Mets
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Angel Pagan, CF	4	1	2	5	0	1	0	.295
Luis Castillo, 2B	5	0	0	0	0	1	3	.294
David Wright, 3B	4	1	1	0	1	1	0	.325
Daniel Murphy, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	1	.247
Jeff Francoeur, RF	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	.257
Cory Sullivan, LF	2	1	1	1	1	0	0	.269
a- Fernando Tatis, PH-LF	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.242
Alex Cora, SS	3	1	2	1	1	0	0	.253
Brian Schneider, C	3	1	1	1	0	1	3	.212
b- Omir Santos, PH-C	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.263
Oliver Perez, P	2	0	1	0	0	0	2	.333
Bobby Parnell, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c- Jeremy Reed, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.259
Tim Redding, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.077
Pedro Feliciano, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
d- Angel Berroa, PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.146
Brian Stokes, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Francisco Rodriguez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	35	9	12	9	3	6
a-struck out for Sullivan in the 8th
b-singled for Schneider in the 8th
c-hit into fielder's choice for Parnell in the 6th
d-singled for Feliciano in the 8th
Batting
2B - Angel Pagan (7, Boyer), Alex Cora (10, Scherzer), Brian Schneider (8, Scherzer)
HR - Angel Pagan (1, Zavada)
SF - Angel Pagan (1)
RBI - Angel Pagan 5 (12), Jeff Francoeur (53), Cory Sullivan (4), Alex Cora (13), Brian Schneider (22)
SB - David Wright (23, 2nd base off Boyer/Snyder)
Team LOB - 6
Fielding
DP - Cora-Castillo-Murphy
PB - Brian Schneider (1)

New York Mets
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Oliver Perez	5	6	3	2	5	7	1	7.03
Bobby Parnell (BS,4)	1	2	2	2	1	1	0	4.20
Tim Redding	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.99
Pedro Feliciano (W,4-3)	1.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	2.51
Brian Stokes	0.2	1	1	1	1	1	1	3.50
Francisco Rodriguez (S,24)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.06
WP - Oliver Perez (1)
Pitches-Strikes - Oliver Perez 112-67, Bobby Parnell 21-14, Tim Redding 3-2, Pedro Feliciano 15-11, Brian Stokes 13-7, Francisco Rodriguez 3-1
Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Oliver Perez 3-4, Bobby Parnell 1-1, Tim Redding 1-0, Pedro Feliciano 2-2
Batters Faced - Oliver Perez 25, Bobby Parnell 6, Tim Redding 1, Pedro Feliciano 5, Brian Stokes 4, Francisco Rodriguez 1

Game Information

Attendance - 39574

Game Time - 3:11

Temperature - 77

Umpires - Home - Jim Reynolds, First Base - Field Culbreth, Second Base - Jim Wolf, Third Base - Gary Cederstrom