Opening day!

That went pretty much according to script. Except for Johan Santana struggling in the windy and cold conditions, and the offense collectively shitting itself in pressure situations, Omar Minaya could not have imagined things going better after his offseason revamp of the bullpen. Johan went 5.2, handed the ball off to Sean Green, who pitched 1.2 scoreless, followed by Putz and K Rod, closing out a tidy 2-1 win. Of course my favorite moment happened in the second inning when Ryan Church was on second with one out, popular scapegoat Luis Castillo was at the plate with the pitcher on deck. The announcers went out of their way to mention that manager Jerry Manuel approached Castillo before the season about this very situation and implored him to be more aggressive.

At least Johan put the fucking ball in play! And the shortstop made a diving stop to get that ground ball. Castillo hit a ball foul then promptly watched 4 pitches fly by without taking his bat off the shoulder. Dammit!

I think the Mets would do well in the WBC

Last night the US eliminated Puerto Rico and moved into the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic but that's not important. No team sent more players to the WBC than the Mets, and last night's game featured past and (hopefully) future All Stars Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, David Wright, and J.J. (it rhymes with PUTS) Putz. ALL would deliver on the night. Delgado crushed a home run to center field to tie the game at 3. Beltran leapt and took a home run away from Brian McCann to keep the game tied at 3. With Puerto Rico leading by a run in the 8th, Putz retired future hall of fame lock* Ivan Rodriguez, superstar Beltran, and future hall of fame lock* Delgado in order, the last two on strikeouts. I'm sure that'll be a fun conversation in the clubhouse when they all reunite after the classic is over. Anyway, after Phillie J.C. Romero loaded the bases with 1 out, Kevin Youkilis walked to bring David to the plate with the winning on second. With the count in his favor, Wright deliver a soft line drive to right field, much to Jerry Manuel's delight I'm sure, and the US mobbed Wright at second. Don't hurt him, don't hurt my David! I want him nice and strong for the celebration after the World Series when I tie him up in my basement with whips and chains and, wait, what?



* Lock pending steroids investigations

I'd say that was effective

When the Mets built their 2 game lead in early September this year, I mentioned that the bullpen was still in disarray. Let's be honest here, it was their Achilles heel all season and proved to be the portion that contributed the most to the second place finish. With all world closer Billy Wagner (the motherfucker) shelved for 2009 following Tommy John surgery, the Mets were desperate to address the problem this offseason. I'm going to go ahead and say they accomplished their goal. Scroll down to the AL pitching reserves from the 2007 All Star game. Notice anything about that lineup? I'll give you a hint, if you count up from the bottom, by the time you get to 5 you'll have counted the Mets ace, their new closer, and their new set up man. Fuck and yes! The team sigined record setting closer Frankie "K-Rod" Rodriguez, and traded middling prospects and 2 members of last year's failed bullpen for J.J. "It's pronounced like 'puts'" Putz. Barring injury, apathy, or a mysterious loss of effectiveness, the Mets could well have upgraded from one of the worst bullpens in baseball to one of the very best.