Be sure to join us over at our new blog.

http://www.nleastchatter.com/realdirtymets/ 

I can’t pretend to know if these statistics mean anything or not, so it’s hard for me to lie using them.  I’ll just give them to you and let you lie to yourselves.

As the Washington Nationals descend upon Citi Field, here are some away team statistics of theirs to consider beside some home team statistics for the Mets.

BATTING         BA   OBP   SLG    OPS

Mets home:  .287   .368   .432   .800

Nats away:   .286   .361   .462   .823

PITCHING     ERA    BAA    OBP    SLG    OPS

Mets home:   3.38   .247   .316   .373   .689

Nats home:   6.43   .315   .400   .492   .892

]]> http://realdirtymets.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/lies-damned-lies-and-statistics/feed/ 1 gravediggerhebner howtolie pac_man http://realdirtymets.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/if-your-reading-this-you-are-the-resistance/ http://realdirtymets.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/if-your-reading-this-you-are-the-resistance/#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 01:40:20 +0000 TheDirtySanchez http://realdirtymets.wordpress.com/?p=1016 ]]>

So i just tried to re-register on metsblog.com as it seems Matt reopened his comment section. It seems that i am able to review the posts that other bloggers made but i cannot comment on behalf of myself. Now i have tried on Firefox and Internet Explorer, only to find the same result. We started this site because we felt Matt was ignoring his bloggers that constantly give him traffic and makes his site the success that it is. How true to form i guess that Matt aparently has some of us blocked already. Its funny though, i joined Metsblog a 2 years ago and i attribue alot of my knowledge about the game to the debates and dialogue i had on that site. It just amazes me that for a simple request, Matt allowed this to go this far. I am interested to know if any of you have experianced the same thing. As far as this blogger…its safe to put me on the “ex-metsblog.com” blogger list…as im curious to know how the people outside his 50 “most trusted” bloggers feel about it. While i couldnt help myself with this quote above…it seems all too appropriate.

per adam rubin:

The Mets’ shortstops continue to fall. Jose Reyes did not try to run Sunday as Jerry Manuel expected, and the shortstop told the Daily News there’s “no chance” he’ll play Monday. Meanwhile, Manuel removed Ramon Martinez in the eighth inning with back discomfort, which nearly prevented him from starting. Manuel said he had two lineups on his desk pregame, the other with Fernando Tatis. Martinez said he’d try to start Monday at Citi Field.

Introducing the Mets new SS

This is getting out of control…it almost feels like we are going to have to call the whole AAA buffalo team to play at this point. The funniest part i believe is im sure we all thought going into the season the only person we were worried about injury wise was Castillo…boy would i trade that for this right now. Church is going to see doctors in NY and he can also be heading toward the DL. Ill tell you what, i still have faith we will make it…this will be one hellova story to tell the kids years from now when we win the whole damn thing. LGM

Mets Road Trip 5-5

So the Mets split their early season road trip 5-5 and now go home to face some good ole fashion division rivals for a bit. For me this road trip showed flashes of the type of team the Mets can be and i hope will be eventually by years end. With ALL the injuries that this team has underwent it is even amazing they took 2-3 in boston. Thats why it always bothered me that people would really try and make an arguement that the mets lack heart/grit. These guys played their hearts out and came back in a few games during this road trip vs Lincecum and Papelbon. I hope this at least opened the eyes of the naysayers that these guys do have that “edge” Omar is talking about and it is by no means over. These guys can fight and will fight. Sometimes you win and sometimes you dont. My favorite quote for baseball and life really is “You can fail 7 out of 10 times and still end up with a .300 avg”….think about that.

Cowboy Joe West, conspirator

The Red Sox avoided a sweep by beating the Mets 12-5 Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.  Tim Wakefield (6-2) got the win, the first time he’s beaten the Mets since 10/4/92.  Let the conspiracy theories begin:  Joe West was the third base umpire in both Wakefield victories.

The Sox got half of their runs on two bombs, one 3-run homer each by the ageless Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis.  Not pictured, Ramon Castro of the Mets also homered, a solo shot with two outs in the second.

The game was delayed for 36 minutes in the bottom of the second inning due to some of the largest rain drops ever recorded in human history.  Met fans wish the rain never stopped, as the Red Sox took advantage of 6 walks by slugging 6 doubles and 2 homers to put the game away.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Youkilis flied out to right field after hitting a long fly ball over the left field wall, near the ‘Fisk pole.’ The fly ball was ruled foul on the field, and after the second video review in two days the umpire’s call of foul stood.  After the game, Youkilis was asked about the call and expressed his displeasure.

Tim Redding, upset at being removed from the game with 2 runners on base, despite the Mets having the lead and being just one out away from qualifying for a potential victory, chose to take out his aggression in a more productive way, serving ice cream to needy children.

Ultimately, the wounded Mets finished their 10 game road trip with a 5-5 split.  Their next game is Monday night at Citi Field, when nature’s tonic the Washington Nationals visit New York.  John Lannan (2-3, 3.63) opposes John Maine (3-3, 4.53).  Box score courtesy Yahoo.com

                1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9    R  H  E
                -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -    -  -  -
Pirates         0  0  0   0  0  1   1  0  0    2  4  1
Mets            0  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  0    0  3  0

Pittsburgh Pirates           AB   R   H RBI   BB  SO    BA   OPS  Pit  Str   PO   A  Details
A Cole RF                     3   0   0   1    0   0  .255  .633   14    9    4   1   SF
J Bell SS                     4   0   0   0    0   0  .264  .709    9    7    3   3
  K Young 3B                  0   0   0   0    0   0  .571 1.238              0   0
A Van Slyke CF                4   0   1   0    0   1  .324  .886   13    9    2   0
  W Pennyfeather CF           0   0   0   0    0   0  .222  .444              0   0
B Bonds LF                    3   1   1   1    0   0  .311 1.080    9    6    1   0   HR
  A Martin LF                 0   0   0   0    0   0  .167  .487              0   0
J King 2B                     3   0   0   0    0   0  .231  .643   10    7    1   1
  C Garcia 2B-SS              0   0   0   0    0   0  .205  .426              3   1
O Merced 1B                   3   0   0   0    0   1  .247  .717   10    5   10   0
M LaValliere C                2   0   0   0    0   1  .256  .677    5    4    3   1
  T Prince C                  1   0   0   0    0   0  .091  .329    2    2    0   0
J Wehner 3B-2B                3   1   1   0    0   0  .179  .479   10    8    0   5
T Wakefield P                 1   0   0   0    0   0  .071  .175    1    1    0   1
  G Varsho PH                 1   0   1   0    0   0  .222  .636    1    1    0   0
  Z Smith P                   0   0   0   0    0   0  .122  .320              0   0
  C Espy PH                   1   0   0   0    0   1  .258  .650    3    3    0   0
  B Walk P                    0   0   0   0    0   0  .093  .209              0   0
  S Cooke P                   0   0   0   0    0   0  .333  .667              0   0
Totals                       29   2   4   0    0   4               87   62   27  13

New York Mets                AB   R   H RBI   BB  SO    BA   OPS  Pit  Str   PO   A  Details
P Howell CF                   3   0   0   0    0   1  .187  .418   10    6    5   0
  D Dozier LF                 1   0   0   0    0   0  .191  .498    2    2    0   0
W Randolph 2B                 3   0   0   0    1   1  .252  .670   15    8    0   1
  D Schofield PR              0   0   0   0    0   0  .206  .597              0   0
D Gallagher LF-RF             3   0   1   0    1   0  .240  .638   12    4    2   0
J McKnight 1B                 4   0   0   0    0   0  .271  .687   12    9   10   0
R Thompson RF-CF              2   0   0   0    1   0  .222  .662    9    2    4   0   CS,GDP
J Kent SS                     3   0   1   0    0   0  .239  .741    9    7    1   3
C Donnels 3B                  3   0   0   0    0   1  .174  .482   13    8    0   2
T Hundley C                   3   0   1   0    0   0  .209  .572   12    8    5   0
B Saberhagen P                2   0   0   0    0   0  .107  .245   10    7    0   3
  D Boston PH                 0   0   0   0    0   0  .249  .764              0   0
  C Walker PH                 1   0   0   0    0   0  .289  .742    2    1    0   0
  P Gibson P                  0   0   0   0    0   0  .000  .143              0   0
Totals                       28   0   3   0    3   3              106   62   27   9

Pittsburgh Pirates            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   BF  Pit-Str  Ct·Sw·Lk   GB·FB·LD· ?   GmSc  IR-IS   LevI    WPA
T Wakefield, W (8-1)           5     1   0   0    1   3   0   2.15   17   59-37   24· 5· 8    6· 7· 2· 0     67    -     0.88   0.26
Z Smith, H (1)                 2     0   0   0    1   0   0   3.06    6   19-10    7· 0· 3    3· 2· 1· 0          0-0    1.64   0.15
B Walk, H (1)                  0.2   2   0   0    0   0   0   3.07    3   10-6     4· 1· 1    3· 0· 0· 0          0-0    2.44   0.03
S Cooke, S (1)                 1.1   0   0   0    1   0   0   3.52    5   16-8     5· 0· 3    0· 4· 0· 0          1-0    1.97   0.12
Totals                         9     3   0   0    3   3   0          31  104-61   40· 6·15   12·13· 3· 0          1-0 

New York Mets                 IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   BF  Pit-Str  Ct·Sw·Lk   GB·FB·LD· ?   GmSc  IR-IS   LevI    WPA
B Saberhagen, L (3-5)          8     4   2   2    0   4   1   3.50   27   77-55   36· 6·13    8·15· 5· 0     70    -     0.91   0.05
P Gibson                       1     0   0   0    0   0   0   5.23    3   10-7     4· 2· 1    2· 1· 0· 0          0-0    0.27   0.01
Totals                         9     4   2   2    0   4   1          30   87-62   40· 8·14   10·16· 5· 0           -  

Game Time: 1:35pm

Record: 0-0 Era:3.00 K:4 BB:4 WHIP: 1.00

Mets Notes:

• The Mets (23-19) overcame a one-run, ninth-inning deficit for a 3-2 win on Saturday. The victory, though, appeared to be in doubt as Omir Santos’ drive off closer Jonathan Papelbon hit the top of the Green Monster and was ruled a double, preventing Gary Sheffield from scoring the tying run.
• The Mets, who are 5-4 during their trip, also took the series opener 5-3 to end a four-game slide. They’re now one-half game behind NL East-leading Philadelphia
• Francisco Rodriguez labeled himself “a lot better” and planned to test his back by tossing a baseball before Sunday’s series finale against the Red Sox, a day after spasms sent him to the hospital in an ambulance. K-Rod said he dramatically improved after receiving medication at the hospital. “As soon as the medicine started kicking in, I started feeling a lot better. And by this morning I was doing a lot of things that I wasn’t capable of last night,,” Rodriguez said. “… The pain went away and I’m feeling pretty good. Man, that was really painful. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I was a little struggling to walk yesterday, but I got some medicine in me and I feel pretty good now.” Manuel labeled it lower back spasms and suggested it was possible he could be available as soon as today, though he wasn’t yet sure.(per adam)
• Carlos Beltran is DHing again, but Manuel said he would return to center field on Monday when the Mets resume NL play against the Nationals. Ryan Church’s hamstring/hip isn’t doing as well, according to the manager.
• New York, though, could be without closer Francisco Rodriguez(this is soooo 2008) who was unavailable Saturday after being taken to the hospital for back spasms. The closer, who pitched a perfect ninth Friday, is 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA in 20 games, and has converted all 12 of his save chances.
• The right-hander allowed two runs and two hits with four strikeouts and four walks in six innings of a 3-2, 11-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers after being activated from the disabled list on Monday.
• He’s lost both of his career starts against the Red Sox on the road, surrendering 12 runs – eight earned – and 12 hits with seven walks over 5 2-3 innings(so buckle you seat belts kids). However, he hasn’t faced them since being chased after an inning of a loss with the New York Yankees on July 15, 2005.

LINEUP

Dan “The Man” Murphy, 1b
Angel “Flap Your Arms” Pagan, rf
Carlos “Da Tron” Beltran, dh
Gary “The Chef” Sheffield, lf
David “Never Wrong” Wright, 3b
Jeremy “P.F. Flyer” Reed, cf
Ramon “Shrek” Castro, c
Ramon “AAAA” Martinez, ss
Luis “Slappy” Castillo, 2b

Record: 5-2 Era: 3.59 K:30 BB:23 WHIP: 1.25

Red Sox Notes:

• New York will have to contend with 42-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, as he looks to continue his home success. The right-hander is 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his last six starts at Fenway.
• He kept that streak intact Tuesday, yielding only a solo home run and four singles in eight innings of a 2-1 win over AL East-leading Toronto.
• Wakefield hasn’t faced the Mets since a loss at Shea Stadium on July 12, 2001, and his last victory against them came with Pittsburgh on Oct. 4, 1992. Since then, he’s 0-3 with a 3.66 ERA in four games with three starts.

LINEUP:

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Jason Bay, LF
J.D. Drew, RF
Mike Lowell, 3B
George Kottaras, C
Nick Green, SS

Let the battle of the two 2nd place teams in the AL/NL east commence. Both of these clubs are only .5 games away from first in their division. The Mets are looking for a sweep that will take their club to 1st place in spite of the many injuries to their club while the Red Sox are looking to avoid a sweep and catch up to the red hot Blue Jays and reclaim their rightful place as the class of that division. Well, as one would say….

At the end of this day, one shall stand, one shall fall!

PLAY BALL!!

Per Fox Sports,

 The team’s prize offseason acquisition was in New York’s clubhouse on Sunday in Boston before the Mets‘ game against the Red Sox. He said “his legs locked up” after Saturday night’s game, giving him a scare and prompting medical personnel to take him to an ambulance on a stretcher.

His back was wrapped as he spoke and he said he was given medicine at the hospital.

He is 12 for 12 in save opportunities, including a perfect ninth on Friday night against Boston, and is 1-0 with a 0.87 ERA in 20 games.

Rodriguez came to the Mets for a three-year, $37 million free-agent contract over the offseason as the centerpiece of a bullpen overhaul.

This is obviously very good news but I think this is proof that as much of a gamer K-Rod is, he’s not Superman.  I didn’t think this was going to be serious but because of this scare, I think its obvious the Mets Closer role should be a tag team like the ‘86 team.  Putz would be happy and Rodriguez would be healthy.

In 1986, the Mets used Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco in the Closer role, saving 22 and 21 games respectively.  That bullpen was elite and we all know how that season finished.  I think this bullpen has what it takes to be better.

Ramon Martinez actually fielding a batted ball

Obviously and deservedly Omir Santos‘ 9th inning 2-run homer garnered most of the attention following last night’s dramatic come-from-behind Met win, but here’s a tiny salute to the defense.

The Mets played errorless ball and Ramon Martinez, David Wright and Luis Castillo made numerous excellent fielding plays and proper mental decisions to keep their team in the game.

Gentlemen, this is for you.