Mets

[Westheim]

16-6 base runners in a 3-2 loss? They really are amazin'!

[BMW]

I often look at terrible teams in the historical data and I wonder, wow, I wonder what it must have been like to live through that as a fan.

Then I remember I'm a Mets fan and I realize I know very well what it's like.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by BMW

I often look at terrible teams in the historical data and I wonder, wow, I wonder what it must have been like to live through that as a fan.

Then I remember I'm a Mets fan and I realize I know very well what it's like.

HAHAHAHA... but that's the odd thing this year, they don't necessarily look terrible when you look at the stats line(s). Other than, say, 24 LOB (individual) the other night but they'll probably end up somewhere around .500, right? It will only be the memories of all the games you ended up watching with your palm over your face that will remember.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Westheim

16-6 base runners in a 3-2 loss? They really are amazin'!

5 DP in one game is something, as is 24 (! individual) LOB! For once I'm glad to be blacked out of these games.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by BBGiovanni

5 DP in one game is something, as is 24 (! individual) LOB! For once I'm glad to be blacked out of these games.

I'm glad this is night games during the week.

5 DP in one game is not that special... or maybe my Raccoons have numbed me to that sort of futility...

[Amazin69]

Todd Zeile said that Rojas pulling Walker was the worst decision he'd seen all year.

(To remind you, Walker had only thrown 74 pitches and that pop fly that McNeil couldn't track down was only the second SF "hit" of the game.)

Even Gary "Orange and Blue" Cohen basically said that Rojas panicked. He saw Villar kick a ball and McNeil lose track of one, and somehow he decided that meant that Walker was done. As if he couldn't buckle down and get five outs when he was practically untouchable. (The Giants tried to give the game back to us in the 9th. They made Jake McGee get five outs. But Kapler trusted his man and Jake did his job.)

What good is to have a manager who panics in August? What does Rojas do to benefit the team?

Oh, yeah, he "keeps the clubhouse calm". Yeah, well so would a weekly shipment of Xanax™. And the Xanax™ would probably do a better job of managing.

I mean, you don't have to be a great tactician to win. Davey Johnson regularly got outmanaged by Whitey Herzog. (I forget if it was Whitey's own book or Tim McCarver's that pointed this out.) The whole reason the Buckner game went the way it did was because Davey had foolishly pulled Darryl Strawberry on a double-switch to keep Lee Mazzilli in the game. And then he didn't have Hojo bunt the runners to 2nd and 3rd, although there's no guarantee that Mazz would have hit the same fly ball in those circumstances.

But what Davey could do is motivate the team. This squad looks deader than the Gnats, ffs. What Davey did was get the best out of players, grow the talent to rise to the situation. (Yeah, Darryl wasn't around in the bottom of the 10th. But the pinch-hitter who stepped up in his place was Kevin Mitchell, who grew into the role because Davey challenged him by putting him at shortstop for half the season.)

Whom has Rojas gotten the best out of? Maybe Villar, although he had a better year in Milwaukee a while ago.

Meanwhile, the team's own telecast is putting up graphics showing that McNeil and Conforto and Dom are all 200 points below their established OPS levels. (And JD is having an off year, too. And while Pete and Nimmo are acceptable, they're not doing their best, either. And let's not even mention Frankie "the Toilet" Lindor…)

FIRE ROJAS NOW!!!!!!!

[Boomcoach]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

What good is to have a manager who panics in August? What does Rojas do to benefit the team?

I had that sort of feel when Dusty Baker managed the Reds.

Dusty was a step up from the "promote a minor league pitching coach the the head coach job" managers that the Reds had wandered through for a few years. The Reds were a young team and he did a good job handling the team during the season, but, fortheluvvagod he was a terrible in-game manager, which I think is reflected in his post-season record.

[Amazin69]

Mets 9, Giants 6.

Oh, wait, that's the hit totals. On runs it was SF 3, NY 2.

Winning run scored off Seth Lugo, who was tired from working yesterday and didn't have his stuff. Before the game-winning hit, Gary Cohen noted that Lugo was throwing 5 mph lower than usual.

So…how come the bullpen didn't notice this when Lugo was warming up? What are they doing out there? Blow? Blowjobs? I mean, those are "relief" of a sort…but there's a time and a place for everything. Honestly.

Ron Darling keeps praising the Giants' use of their 6-man bench. What, you mean you can effectively manage a pitching staff without 9 guys in the bullpen? Who knew??

[Westheim]

I feared the Mets would go 3-10 in this LAD/SF string.

They went 2-11.

Oh well. The Raccoons are still in first... La-lala-lala. Sunshine. Flowers. All is well.

[Amazin69]

"On a scale of 1-to-10? It sucked." —Xander Harris, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I swear, the only way this could be worse is if I also rooted for Arsenal. (Leicester City…Foxes Never Quit!)

Gary Cohen was frank; this feels like a concession speech. Almost completely shut down by Paolo Espino and other Gnat scraps, ffs.

If it weren't for Baez's solo shot, we'd have been shut out. Of course, if Frankie "$341,000,000 Down the Toilet" Lindor had bunted down the undefended 3B line (as Gary and Keith were almost begging him to do, leading off the 4th inning, as the Mets needed baserunners), Bae-Bae Baez's poke would have tied the game. And then what?

But if wishes were horses, there'd be a ton of horsesh*t on the ground, or however the saying goes.

Bottom of the 9th: Pete Alonso draws a leadoff walk. And why does Rojas not pinch-run for Pete, the tying run, with Kevin Pillar? (If we go to a 10th inning, Pillar goes into the OF, and Dom moves to 1B.) There's no point in saving Pillar for pinch-hitting; if we get down to the 9-hole, we've already won. (You might get to the 8th spot with the game in the balance, but bases loaded, 2 out, 1 in only gets you to 8th, not 9th.)

Maybe Pillar couldn't have made it safely to 2B ahead of Luis Garcia's rolled "throw" after Garcia knocked down Lindor's shot. But he'd have made it a LOT closer than Pete did. They don't call Pete "The Siberian Tiger" or "The Arctic Lynx", you know.

Mets now 6-18 in August. Appropriate that #36 is being retired tonight (for Koosman); this is as though Mickey Callaway never left. (Mickey's disasters were in June, but still.)

[Déjà Bru]

[Tonight, the Mets will] hold a pregame ceremony to retire the No. 36 uniform that Jerry Koosman wore for the Mets for 12 seasons.

. . .

And Koosman surely deserves the gesture.

In 1969, of course, he was the left-handed counterpart to the right-handed Seaver, the two of them pitching one complete-game victory after another down the homestretch of the regular season. It would never happen now, in this era of pitch-count limits, but it was kind of remarkable even back then.

In the World Series that year, against the Orioles, Koosman took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Game 2 and then pitched all nine innings in Game 5 as the Mets completed their stunning run to their first championship. Four years later, Seaver and Koosman were back in the Series again, although the Mets fell to the A’s in seven games.

. . .

[Koosman] now becomes just the third Mets player to have his number retired, joining Seaver’s No. 41 and Mike Piazza’s No. 31 (the team also has retired the numbers of managers Casey Stengel and Gil Hodges).

. . .

Seaver’s No. 41 is firmly in place at Citi Field, and now the No. 36 of Koosman, his old partner, will join him. Which is the way it should be.

It's nice that he's still around (age 78) to enjoy the honor.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Westheim

I feared the Mets would go 3-10 in this LAD/SF string.

They went 2-11.

Oh well. The Raccoons are still in first... La-lala-lala. Sunshine. Flowers. All is well.

They'll never catch your juggernaut, but the Mets could actually win a series! In August! Which would make a total of... [checks notes]... two. And would solidify their stranglehold on third place!

[Westheim]

Hey-hey! Baez with his bi-weekly moonshot!

That's worth the 5-for-40 with 26 K in between.

[Westheim]

Gary Cohen: "The Mets have scored in four different innings today. That's the second time they have scored in four different innings... in the month of August."

Well, that requires scoring four runs to begin with.

[Magus978]

This is the most unlikable Mets team ever. Baez, Lindor, and I think one other player celebrated today by booing the fans. Very soft. They can't handle playing here, and need to be exiled to someplace where their fans don't care one way or the other.

The rule in New York is simple. If you play like crap, you get booed. If you can't handle it, get out. If your answer is to hit back at fans, expect to get booed even more.

Hope they boo these douchebags the rest of the season. Boo them RELENTLESSLY.

Piss off, Baez.

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

Originally Posted by Doctor Warp

Players booing the fans is comedy.

And the Mets are tragedy.

Am I the only one thinking Baez would be ducking god knows what thrown on the field if he was a Phillie and did this?

I think Baez got spoiled by Cubs fans. Those masochists will put up with anything.

[Déjà Bru]

I came here knowing that you guys have this covered but I will still add my thoughts.

This is not cool. This is never, never to be done no matter how the fans have treated you. They have the right to express their dissatisfaction in bad times just as they express their elation in good times.

Someone should remind these bozos who ultimately pays for their bling, hair dye, and .224 batting average.

[Déjà Bru]

I like Sandy Alderson's response:

In a post-game press conference today, Javy Baez stated that his “thumbs down” gesture during the game was a message to fans who recently have booed him and other players for poor performance. These comments, and any gestures by him or other players with a similar intent, are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Mets fans are understandably frustrated over the team’s recent performance. The players and the organization are equally frustrated, but fans at Citi Field have every right to express their own disappointment. Booing is every fan’s right.

The Mets will not tolerate any player gesture that is unprofessional in its meaning or is directed in a negative way toward our fans. I will be meeting with our players and staff to convey this message directly.

Mets fans are loyal, passionate, knowledgeable and more than willing to express themselves. We love them for every one of these qualities.

[Westheim]

Find the clause in that $341m contract that says "player can't be an A-grade ****", and then tear up the whole thing. Problem solved.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by ThatSeventiesGuy

And the Mets are tragedy.

Am I the only one thinking Baez would be ducking god knows what thrown on the field if he was a Phillie and did this?

I think Baez got spoiled by Cubs fans. Those masochists will put up with anything.

We'll see soon enough, they lost 3 of 4 to the Fish last time they played. They won a grand total of 3 games in August that weren't against the Nats. Either they start winning immediately or they're going to have to hope the 20,000 empty seats they had for each game over the weekend multiply fast.