Finally in 1st!

Big win today for the Metropolitans. My two least favorite Mets, the two guys that I wanted gone two months ago won the game. First Ollie Perez struck out 12 in 7.2 innings, allowing only one run. Then, Carlos Delgado got the game-winning opposite field double in the 8th inning.

In case you didn't know, both of these guys have been playing very well lately, not just today. Since the July game against the Yankees in which Delgado drove in nine runs and hit two homers, his line going into today was: .368 / .467 / .736 with 8HRs and 24RBI. Basically, he's been a monster, hitting bombs and seemingly getting hits in 'clutch' situations. Meanwhile, Oliver seems to have benefitted by Dan Warthen's presence in the dugout. Including today, he hasn't allowed more than 2ER in each of his last five starts. He has also cranked up his K totals again, and seems much more confident out on the hill.

While it's now obvious that simply releasing these two players wasn't necessarily the answer, continuing to play them in May and June wasn't the answer either. Now they are winning games for the Mets, but to me they're just making up for all the games they lost earlier in the season. I mean, you can't just forget the fact that Perez' ERA on 6/24 was 5.29, leading to nine Met losses in his first 16 starts. You also can't forget that Delgado had bottomed out at .229 / .306 / .396 with 11HR and 35RBI halfway through the season. You can't forget all those runners he left on base, and all those rallies he killed.

I'm glad these two are performing. I don't want Delgado to suck. But I'm just a little skeptical about whether these two can continue playing well now. Especially Perez. We've seen Perez pitch well for a few starts, and then he has one of those games where he can't get out of the 2nd inning.

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Also, can all those braindead New York writers and stupid fans that hate on Billy Wagner give it up now? The guy is fucking good, one of the best closers in league history. The Mets play one game without him and the bullpen allows 16 runs in one 9th inning. All closers blow games (unless you were juiced out of your mind like Gagne).

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Gary Cohen, I know you're a dedicated reader of Mets-Thing. So, please drop the "past the diving (insert player here)...." line. That is Michael Kay's stupid line, made famous because of Derek Jeter's lack of range. The quality of the Mets announcers blows away the Yankees in every department, radio and television. So let's keep it that way Gary. You're so much better than Kay will ever be. I'm sure you're not doing it on purpose, but it's time to pay attention and not use that line again. Thanks. Your pal, Sven.

The Mets won 10 straight?

I left town and the Mets couldn't lose. For a minute I even had one of those ridiculous supersticious moments where I thought I should take a day trip or something to keep the streak going. It was only a moment though. Then the Mets won again after my return to make it 10 in a row.

The Mets seem to have been winning all kinds of games. High scoring games. Low scoring games. Shutouts. On the road. At home. One run games. Of course, that's what happens when you win. But they shutdown the Gigantes and the Rox, two teams that they SHOULD beat. And that's great because that's what they weren't doing earlier in the season, beating the lowsy teams.

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Ironically, just weeks after writing about Billy Beane's brilliance, I'm starting to wonder if he has slightly lost his course. He is trying to get as much as he can for his players before they become too expensive for his franchise. Fine, great. But, it almost seems like he has become obsessed with making trades and not necessarily improving. It bothers me because I feel like he gave up on this season when they are an over .500 ballclub that could contend in their division. And I picked them to win the division, I didn't pick them to play for next year.

However, he has gotten some young arms in his recent (2007-08) trades, again, who are piling up Ks in the minors. See Gio Gonzalez, Sean Gallagher, and Fauti de los Santos.

Mets-Thing goes on vacation