So I am really sorry for not being around the last 5 days, and there is a lot to catch up on, so i'll try to see what notes i can hit from 26th until now.

The night of the 25th, I was watching the game that Gary Thorne said that Doug Mirabelle told him the the sock was fake. I really didnt believe it when i heard it and the next day, Gary Thorne started his apology with one of my new favorite lines, ever:

"I talked to Doug last night and he was wonderful"

My only game notes for the weekend is, wooooo John Maine.

I think a while ago i said if we needed to call up a replacement for a pitcher, dont let it be Park, Im hoping park is up because Sosa or Vargas are on rests...cause he selfdestructed, probably like how many thought he would

I do not like day games. After today, the Mets day record is 1-5.

I would like to see one more start from Mike Pelfry before I make any real opinions. I remeber that the Orioles last year were really struggling with D. Cabrera and after a while, they sent him down to the Minors for some time, he came back and was brilliant. If Pelfry's next start is similar to this one and the one against the Braves, then I really think he should go down to the Minors for 3-4 starts, and then see him again. Vargas would not be a bad move to hold for that period of time.

I am also not agaisnt Vargas going to the penn right now for Sele. There is something about Sele that I dont like, he has 6 ER on the year now, with 9 innings pitched. I guess the same goes for him that one or two more apperances are needed before making a decision whether he should go down for a bit of time.

Delgado is now below the Mendoza line. Our 4 and 5 spots need to wake up. (Delgado has produced though, in terms of RBI, with a .193 AVG...which is pretty amazing)

A bright spot from today is Joe Smith who is doing well. And Shawn Green really seems to produce when the Mets lose...wierd.

If you have not heard yet, Prior is out for the year now.

Thats is not suprising.

Pitching, Pitching, Pitching

With some hitting.

So the Mets had a lot of chances to win this early, but thanks to some GIDP, that was eliminated, same went for Colorado. However, El Duque, how good was he? That was an amazing start for him. Furthermore, how bout that bench. Pinchhitter Easily getting RBI 1, and then Endy getting the walkoff RBI at the end (not directly off the bench).

Its a good feeling. And Billy actually pitched today.

Some other notes from around the league, Tejada played in his 1000th straight game today. Bonds said he wants Arod to break his 73 HR in a year record. Phillip Hughes starts Thursday for the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees penn dropped another one today. The Cardinals are now 1-6 at home. And Griffy hit his first homer today.

From that headline, you can guess what the most amazing part of the game is. Delgado finally hit a homerun this season.

So next is Wright.

Delgado's blast was the second homer for the mets, the first was a 3-run blast by Valetine. Jose V is heating up now, so the offense is poppin again.

Maine tonight was amazing as always this season. Burgos is struggling though.

As of now, I have 30+ stats now in an excel file, I am working right now on expanding it, earlier this week, I showed you a few of them. 25-30 games in, I'll have more.

Remeber Petit? He was supposed to be the Mets next big thing in pitching. Then we traded him to Flordia for Delgado. He had an average year in Florida and now is in Arizona.

He started yesterday, did pretty well, (1 or 2 ER, so he did really well), but he became another pitcher to give up a homer to bonds.

A healthy Bonds this year is a huge asset to the Giants...he is really turing on pitches.

Buchloz, the pitcher for the Rockies tonight, faced the Mets last year, giving up 6 runs over 5. Maine has never faced the Rockies before. Valetine has hit a grand slam off this guy before.

Tonight we pick up the pieces and go for it, because we gotta keep pace with the Braves, and they get a stab at the Rockies at the end of the week.

UGHHHHHHH

Thats what it felt to lose todays game.

The Mets/Braves rivalry is starting fuel and now we can get a better picture of some of the players that are key in this rivalry.

Exhibit 1 would be Kelly Johnson, who now has 2 leadoff homers aganist the Mets. His power against the Mets could make him a "mets killer"

Now, TBS has said that Green is a "Braves Killer" this year, knocking in three homers against them. I for one have to disagree. Yes, all three of his homers have come against the Braves this year, but, all three have come in games that the Braves won (So when Green does really well, its a bad omen for the Mets...That makes no sense)

Smoltzy and Hudson...enough said.

Reyes...enough said.

And Victor Zambrano gave up more runs agaisnt the Orioles today, contining a subpar year for him

To his defense, he is playing really soon after Tommy John surgury, I will reserve my harsh judgment for next season.

In New York, you probably already heard this, but this is actually reported news in the Baltimore Sun this morning.

There was a fan at friday's Mets game who was arrested for interference in professional sports and reckless endagerment because he was shining a bright light in the Atlanta pitcher and shorttops eye.

Thats amazing that news made it down here. It reminds of that person who acted as press to get to meet Piazza. Nothing that exciting ever happens at Camden Yards (except for people who run the field, like last friday)

Well it feels good to flip flop the score from last night today. I really like how Castro has showed some strength, and how Reyes keeps hitting...a little disappointed in Wright though.

The good Perez showed up today.

We are 16 games into the season so far, and here is how things break down:

Win	Lose
Overall	11	5
Day	1	3
Night	10	2
NL East	8	5
NL Central	3	0
NL West	0	0
Game 1 of 3	4	1
Game 2 of 3	2	3
Game 3 of 3	2	1
Monday	1	0
Tuesday	2	0
Wedensday	2	1
Thursday	2	0
Friday	2	0
Saturday	1	2
Sunday	1	1

Yesterday was the first time the Mets lost an opening game of a 3 game set. Today was the first time the Mets won a day game and was the first time they won the second game of a three game set to an NL East team.

At least it wasn't a shut out, thats all I have to say. At least the margin was only 4. In that respect, number wise, it wasnt too bad of a loss.

Lets face it, out of any of the games this weekend, we knew this was going to be the one we would most likely lose because of Tim Hudson.

Now that this hitting streak is over, maybe Wright will delevope some power, he wont have so many distractions.

On to some other news. I was at the Orioles game tonight. The score is 4-4 in the bot of the ninth. The Jays go to the pen, and bring out...Victor Zambrano.

Who gave a lead off hit

Then a bunt (to move the runner over)

Then a walk

Then another walk (bases loaded, one out)

And then the winning single

(Needless to say, it was fun to watch, and to know that he is not on the Mets anymore).

Also, Corey Patterson had an over the wall catch that was about 2 feet or more above the wall and he made in stride in the air, meaning, unlike most of those catches that are moving back, he was leaning back but moving a lot to his side in the air, it was awesome.

Tommorow I really hope to have a stat update of the season so far.

Yankees and RedSox tonight?

No thanks, theres an amazing Braves and Mets matchup that I am much more interested in (but I wont see it live, I'll be at the Orioles game, student night man).

The tough task for the Mets tonight, Hudson. Hudson has been dominent so far this season. The formula to beat the Braves, by knocking the starter out early, will be tougher in tonights game. You can probably expect a 7 inning start, followed by some good bullpen work.

Advantage for the Mets, they have been hitting extremely well in the last two games, I really hope that it continues tonight.

Tonight's Braves lineup will also be tough for Pelfry tonight. Its a good challenge for him,

Lets Go Mets

Another Large margin win. Another win with offense all over the line up.

How bout Ramon Castro, he is a really good fill in for LoDuca. He hits well, he def. hit well tonight. Although he is not as good and as consistant as LoDuca, he is def. a big part of this team. (In my opinion, few teams have really good back up catchers).

There was a nice spread in the offense, some of the numbers, like Valtine and Green already having 7 RBI, are really surprising (in a good way) because they show the spread of the hitting.

And the Mets really have been racking up the SO from the pitching end. El Duque with 10, Burgos with 2, and Wagner with 3.

There are two things I am worried about. The first is that Delgado is striking out a lot this year. The second is a lack of power from Wright.

I do not worry about this being a long term problem though.

Binghamton actually played (and won) today. Finally, they play a game. As I am writing this, the Zephyrs are in the top of the 8th, Gomez has had no hits tonight, but did steal his 7th base of the season.

The Phillies actually won a game. The Braves actually lost a game. This means that the Mets are now a half game up going into tommorows three game Braves/Mets series. These two dominent teams will clash again as the Mets have to go 2 of 3 to keep the lead in the Division and to even the season head to head record up. This also means that they will have to attempt at winning 2 day games this year. They have not won a day game yet (and thus have a Saturday/Sunday record of 0-4).

Last night was a great all around game, no need to talk about specific stats, because you already know them by now, but man, I love the fact how the damage in the lineup is coming up and down. Thats how teams win, when pitchers have no where to pitch around.

And how bout that pitching...unbelievable...its just a great time to be a Mets fan.

And I really wish that a game at Binghamton could be played... Maybe tonight...or this weekend...I hope

I just went onto MLB.com and saw that voting has started for the All-Star game

Its April 18th...we are 12 games into the season (plus or minus some depending on your ball club), and the voting has started...which further proves this is a popularity contest (which i of course feed into by voting for the Mets)

Also...Mike Piazza isnt on it...so please, write him in for catcher (or first base) even though those will be won by either Oritiz/Giamabi or Varitek/Posada.

Tonight is Maine Vs Willis.

Maine, who struggled last time, has had eight days rest for this start. He has only one start agaisnt the Marlins, which he lost. Willis, on the other hand, is 11-2 agaisnt the Mets. He is also notorious for hitting a lot of homers agaisnt the Mets,

And that is also Maine's weakness

Julio Franco actually hits .316 off Willis. The Mets bats overall come into this game after a nice 8-1 win. Other stats include that the Mets are 8-1 when it comes to night games during the season. Overall, they are 5-4 in NL East.

I wonder sometimes how this season will progress. There are days where the Mets struggle to produce runs, and then there are days where they just launch homers, and hit everywhere. I assume this is just normal there.

That being said, Alou came alive, Well he was hitting very well already this season, in terms of homers as he launched two. And Wright continued his hitting streak. However, you know by now that I love stolen bases. Reyes had 2 tonight, and so did Beltran.

Glavine's pitching was awesome...and Smith did an excellent job again.

Tonight was just an all around good night

The Braves beat the Nats, and as I write this, the Marlins are losing 6-1 in the top of 8th (they lost last night)

In Minor News tonight, Milledge stole a base, Gomez had another hit, and had 2 RBI

More importantly, Vargas had another strong 6 inning outing. His ERA now is 1.50

Nice to know we have something a lot better than Jose Lima as a back up.

Binghamton was ppd again

They will never play ever again at this rate.

The important game of the night, Braves at Washington, resulted in a Washington win.

Has anyone noticed that recently, the Nationals have been bouncing back? Not that I am concerned, but one could say that their last 4 games have been played very well (including the 3-2 loss to the Mets).

They beat the Braves 5-1 tonight, really just shutting down the Braves to five hits. Meanwhile, they hit James for 3 and Yates for 2

Yates has seemed to be a weak link in the Braves Bullpen. You have to start wonder if the Braves will start to explore other options, maybe sending Yates down for a week or two to give him a wake up call.

At the time I am writing this, Florida is all tied up with Houston, bot 7th

There is a lot to report from tonights Zephyrs game. The first stop is Carlos Gomez, cause he is always exciting. He wint 3-3 tonight, with a run, a triple, and two walks. He is now batting .419

So I am really pumped about this kid.

Henrandez and Gotay may be batting 180 and 150 respectivly, but tonight they both showed some strength knocking in 2-run shots each. (Hernandez did strikeout 3 times though).

Andy Tracy knocked in HR number 5. He plays first and used to play third for the Expos.

The biggest story of this game has to be Humber who went 6 innings, one run, and had 4 SO

The overall score was 10-2, after losing the day before 3-10.

Here are some misc notes

Ray Knight does the pregame show for the Nationals. I am sorry to say, but he is really boring when it comes to this. If he would talk more about his playing days, he would be much better.

Cliff Floyd hit a homerun today

There are now three starters for the Yankees that are on the DL. Wang is still on there, Mussina is on there now, and Pavano (surpise surpise) is on there.

I guess this means the major league debut of Phillip Hughes must be soon. I dont like the yanks, but I def. want to see what this kid has.

BJ Ryan is now on the DL.

In the AL East, that is a serious blow. Hes got good stuff, and I dont know a lot about the Jays bullpen, but there are no replacements that can be as good as him.

Back to the Yankees, Matsui is on the DL.

Another Matsui, Kaz, is on the DL for back spasms.

Shame, ol Kaz was getting off to a roaring start this season too.

Bradly (Athletics) and Dunn (Reds) were both scratched from games yesterday as well.

Just thought this was cool. The BrewCrew is leading the majors now in Bobblehead promotions. They will have 18 this year.

That is a lot of bobbleheads

There is nothing like a rain or weather ppd. You get all excited about the game coming up. The possibility of winning, In this case, getting back into first. The possibility of seeing someone knock it out of the yard. Or seeing someone shout down the opponents lineup.

And then you get none of it.

Ok its just one day, and thats a bit of an over reaction.

I was watching the Orioles last night, and the fans got free ponchos from the new cable station that carries the orioles and the nationals (its two stations) MASN and MASN2. So far, these guys give us our games, they give us our scheduels, friday night, they gave us winter hats, and now they give us ponchos...they are the provider now in the Baltimore.

And the Oriole prediction came true again, so far, the Orioles have gone Loss, Win, Loss, Win, when the Mets lose. In three of those games, there have been grandslams.

In other news, Freddy Garcia will make his first start of the season tommorow agaisnt the Mets. This will be the Mets first two game series of the year (followed by another in Flordia).  Last year, in three starts, Maine was 3-0 agaisnt the Phillies, and had a 1.96 ERA. Thats a lot different than his last start vs Philly. Beltran has a .457 average (over 800 slugging) agaisnt Garcia.

And Atlanta is crushing Flordia right now, 8-1 in the bot of the 8th

Well that was a bust. A team cant lose all of its games, so, even though the Nationals won earlier this week, I guess it was time for them to win again.

The thing I really have to say to this game is...clutch hitting.

The Mets don't seem to have it anymore...they left 4 runners on third during this game. And for DWright, its not going to help his homerun slump being "robbed" on the wall like that. So all in all, this was just a frustrating game.

So in 11 games so far this season, these are some of the numbers:

The Mets are 0-3 during day games

They are 0-2 on Saturdays

They are 4-0 for the first game in a series

But they are 1-3 on the Second game of the series (0-3 for the second game if agaisnt a NL East team)

Overall, they are 4-4 on the NL East, 3-0 agaisnt others

Weird Numbers so far.

By now, you have probably seen the ESPN power rankings that have the Mets sitting on top (going from 4th to 1st) well i got two more power rankings for you.

The Baltimore Examiner has the Mets for the Second week in a row sitting on top saying "staying on top after an impressive opening week". Other notables from this ranking are the Braves jumping from 17 to 5 and the Phillies going from 10 to 26 with the quote "How long will Maunel's job last?"

The MLB.com fab 15 also came out today and they have the mets jumping from 8 to 1. The Braves from honorable mention to 10 and the Phillies from 5 to honorable mention.

Whoa....three power rankings...three number 1's

I dont know why I am thinking of this, but last night at the Orioles game, there was a big St Louis fan (drunk) and he was yelling a lot of profanities, "Hey, Hey, Hey all of you...I am St Louis fan so (insert language) you all, you Oriole fans"...and then he nearly fell into the Oriole Bird.