Salami’s, Early Showers, Shutouts, Pink Bike
By Mike Silva ~ July 8th, 2009. Filed under: Morning Digest.
- Carlos Gomez might not be hitting for Minnesota, but he did one of the best Torii Hunter impressions we have seen. Someone commented during the game that they will miss the home run catches from OF jumping over the “bag” when the Twins go to Target Field. I know A-Rod won’t. To see the catch click here.
- Some may criticize Manny Ramirez, but the strike zone last night was a joke. He was called out on a pitch about a foot outside. Earlier in the game John “defender of Marty Foster” Hirschbeck squeezed Mike Pelfrey during the three run third.
- Will the pink bike bring Aceves good luck for his Thursday start? He will be on a 65 pitch limit (which is about 2 innings for Joba), watch the difference between Joba and someone who knows how to pitch. If Joba was given this assignment would we be talking 5 innings or hoping to get to 3?
- The last time the Mets were shutout in back to back games Carlos Delgado was in Florida, the Braves were still relevant, and Star Wars Episode 3 was the hot movie at the box office.
- Mark Feinsand thinks everyone is dreaming about Halladay in pinstripes. He also made an excellent point: What will games in Minnesota look like at the new field next year during the months of April and October? We may see player’s dressed liked snowman flopping around the field. That might make for some interesting baseball. The umpires will have an excuse to miss calls because of their heavy clothing.
- Big Mets news coming out at NYBD later this morning. It’s an NYBD first since May of 2007.
- I asked NYBD’s MLB buddy, Doug Mienkiewicz about his thoughts on Citi Field. He said that “Russell Martin made it look small during BP, infield is huge, and that it when he got up in BP it started to pour!” Amazing how every visiting team doesn’t feel the park is Yellowstone, but we are past the half way mark and the Mets haven’t figured out their home ballpark. I thought the Pepsi Porch would be a haven for homers, but outside of Murphy’s controversial one, it hasn’t produced spit. Of course Blake Dewitt disagrees.
- Great interview with Kevin Burkhardt and Pelfrey’s old baseball coach (Gene Stephenson) at Wichita State. He said something very interesting how Mike was “feeling the need to be perfect because of the state the Mets were in”. There lies the problem with this club. Everyone is out there trying to hit a grand slam, throw a shutout, or be the hero of the game. This all goes back to Manuel’s remarks about the team being undermanned. I believe Jerry is savvier than that so I chalk it up to him sending a message to ownership. If that’s the case, another example of how Mets corporate politics burns them again.
- Kevin Millar is not a fan of the new Yankee Stadium.
- Robbie Cano broke out of his RISP slump. Meanwhile, it looks like Francisco Cervelli got a couple of “goodbye” hits as it appears he is headed back to the minors with Jose Molina’s return. I am sure we will see him again very soon.
- Mets fans were so numb from the recent struggles that they didn’t even boo during yesterday’s game. Just what Jeff Wilpon wanted during the inaugural season: a late summer into September ballpark turned into a morgue. It helped watching the O-Dog and Manny, two targets that would have made a huge difference for the Mets, punch the home team in the stomach. Enjoy the next 2 days at Citi Field.
- If you missed last night’s show we talked baseball with former AL MVP Fred Lynn. He gave us his take on the Marty Foster situation, why he hates the Designated Hitter, his appearance in the upcoming celebrity All Star Game in St. Louis, and the AL East race. We also asked him his thoughts about the concept in the “Joy of Sox” movie which examines the power of fan energy, both positive and negative, impacting the outcome of games. Producer Rick Leskowitz came on in the second half of the show to educate us on the concept. Check out the replay and listen for yourself!
July 9th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Mark Feinsand’s point is actually…pointless. If people like Mark bothered to actually look at the temps in Minnesota vs. temps in other places like Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland, etc. (instead of simply watching “Fargo” reruns on TBS), they’d realize there’s only a few degrees difference—certainly not enough to warrant a horrible retractable roof stadium that looks more like a gymnasium (e.g., Miller Park). To hear people gripe about the Dome for 27 years and then turn around and complain that the Twins aren’t building another dome is asinine — and maddening. Will there be cold days and rain? Yes. What WILL we do? My guess is put on another layer and, if it needs to be postponed, we’ll play two on some other date [GASP!] Target Field is shaping up beautifully and I can’t wait to see it in April.