Don't stand pat. Look smart! Have the answer to any given problem. “Say, you know how our second baseman isn't quite up to snuff at the moment? I have the solution that isn't right in front of your nose!”
Thus the recurring theme of Bring Up Schmendrick! — or Keppinger or Bell or Wright or whoever the Norfolk flavor of the month is at any given moment. The backup quarterback is the prospective Man of the Year in every NFL city. Astronauts and war heroes of indeterminate ideology always make excellent candidates for president a month before the Iowa caucuses. Triple-A is a repository of the perfect alternative in much the same way. Vaguely known quantities are always preferable to the options at hand.
And when that doesn't work, there's always Binghamton.
I'm trying not to overreact to Victor Diaz going the other way since it is probably for his and our own good. The fact that they want him to go and get better as an outfielder is a positive sign that they won't fall in love with Floyd and Cameron into perpetuity based on what they're doing right now and extend their contracts to 2013. Victor Diaz will find a spot eventually. He could've been a big bat off the bench right now but maybe it's more important he be a big player all-around later. Just not much later I hope.
A second cousin of the Triple-A solution is the pitcher who's gonna come off the DL and steady the rotation. That's always the fantasy. Trachsel will be that down the road. Ishii will be that tonight. And Benson was finally that last night. Woo-hoo! His performance Monday was indicative of what he'll do the rest of the way. What he did before, like in Chicago last week? That wasn't the real Benson. It wasn't because we don't want it to be.
Gene, one of our generally insightful readers from Long Island, was particularly keen yesterday, keeping an eye on the Comments section of Faith and Fear and noticing an exchange in which I said, in response to a particularly sharp Robert Guillaume reference:
Good line on Benson, though I'd prefer something like 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K.
Benson's actual line was 7.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 8 K. Close enough to make it my default preference.
“So,” Gene asked afterwards, “how about posting something like 'I'd prefer that the Mets win something like 120 games this year and sweep the World Series.' Use your gifts for good, damn it.”
Gene, I appreciate the thought, but of course I don't have that kind of power. I just got lucky.
But I'd sure like to see a Met pitcher throw a no-hitter by the end of the week.
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