So today we go for the split. Which is to say, we go for the right to tread water at .500 again. With four more days off the calendar. Like I said a couple of days ago, a split here is like being on death row and the governor doesn't call: You're not dead, but you sure are closer to it. And, of course, Pedro might lose 1-0. So the choice today is between “we lost 3 of 4; time to sell off saleable pieces with an eye on 2006” and arguing about whether or not it's late enough that we should sell off saleable pieces and look to 2006. Oh boy!
Meanwhile, Philip Humber is getting a second opinion on his elbow. Met doctors say he needs surgery. I'm confident the second opinion will be “there's nothing wrong with this fine young man's elbow that a couple of Nuprin wouldn't fix — in fact, you should send him to the Show immediately!” Ha ha! (Last year the docs really would have said that, only to admit a few months later that they'd looked at the wrong elbow.) I think I just heard the sound of eight million dollars being flushed down the Tommy John. But wait, you say: Lots of young prospects have that procedure. Why, some of them even come back with extra oomph on their fastballs, or crazy movement they never had before. Yeah, but most of them don't. Most of them don't come back at all. Hope we read about you in 2007, Phil.
Getting back to the dismal present, could we please end the Danny Graves experiment? Or at least relocate it to Norfolk? Nothing against Mr. Graves, who seems a decent young man liked by his teammates and all that, but, well, um, he can't pitch. He finished May with an ERA of 7.36 and since then has managed to raise it to 7.85, which is hard to do. Surely there are things about Juan Padilla or a bullpen-bound Kaz Ishii that we could learn instead of amassing more evidence that Danny Graves is a dead roster spot.
My pal Pete and I hit upon the preposterous idea of walking to Keyspan Park today, so we're off on our Brooklyn sojourn. Where are the Mets trudging to, and how long will it take them to get there? I'm no longer willing to even hazard a guess.
Re Danny Graves: This was the wrong place by a lot for him to work out his problems. When a guy clearly has been beaten down by and is still sensitive to abuse, Shea Stadium is like the worst place for him. “Oh, I need some peace and quiet! I know, I'll move next door to a construction site!” Wish someone had been honest with him about what to expect here.
Re Victor Zambrano: Apology accepted.
Dude.
You're crazy.
Peggy says you're crazy too.
I don't remember Graves getting the business from the fans this year. To be sure, perhaps that's because mop-up work means the booable part of the game has already come and gone….
If you were a Danny Graves fan, you'd remember. But booing has now become the regular soundtrack to a Met game (walk someone, get booed… give up a hit, get booed… throw a BALL, get booed…), so you probably don't notice it anymore.
Oh, and yeah… you're nuts.