Considering the ridiculous amount of injuries that have befallen this team, I look at Beltran’s return to the lineup with some trepidation. With less than a month to go in a lost season, I’m not convinced his return is the wisest move, even though the bone bruise is improving. The way the chips have fallen for the Mets this year, my fear is that the bruise will get worse by playing, the team will wait the winter to see improvement and when they don’t, Beltran will have surgery that ruins the 2010 season as well. Let’s face it; the Mets’ medical staff’s track record is pretty tarnished right now. Getting another thing wrong would just be par for the course.
But with all of this being said, I definitely commend Beltran’s effort and desire to come back and play again in 2009 - even if only for a few weeks. It takes guts, heart and commitment to do this. Many players would have just shut it down and waited for 2010. Instead, Beltran stepped up, showed leadership and did the right thing. Perhaps Jose Reyes can learn something from all of this because the silence on his part is inexcusable. The fact that Aaron Boone returned to the Astros roster after open heart surgery before Jose could return from his hamstring injury is preposterous. It makes you wonder if this is the fault of the Mets medical staff with another misdiagnosis or just the case of Jose being Jose. Somehow, I think it’s a little of both.
Showing posts with label disabled list. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disabled list. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Beltran's Back, But Where's Jose?
After missing more than two months with a bone bruise, Carlos Beltran will supposedly make his return to Citi Field tonight in the opener of the Mets series against the Marlins. When Beltran went down in June, this marked the beginning of the downward spiral of the Mets’ 2009 season. At the time, the team was coping fairly well with the absence of Delgado and Reyes, but Beltran was on fire during April and May. With him in the lineup it almost looked as if the Mets could hang on without their regular shortstop and first baseman. Before Beltran went on the DL, the Mets had a 35 and 32 record. Since then, they have gone 27 and 42. Now granted, many other injuries have come into play since Beltran went down, but in my mind, losing the second Carlos was the straw that broke the camel’s back for this season.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
A moment of clarity in the midst of the fog
I live up the street from 3-way intersection in one of the busiest parts of New York City. The streets are often filled with young children and elderly arts patrons, but the street lights at the corner are so poorly timed that it's absolutely impossible for even the briskest walker to cross the street before the light turns red. I've witnessed countless near-misses, and brought the problem to the attention of the city and our local officials. One day, someone will be killed at this intersection. As is all too often the case, it will take a tragedy for the problem to be fixed.
David Wright was beaned last week. There may be no scarier moment in baseball than this, one that may end a season, a career, or a life. While his brains rattled around within his skull like a toddler on a trampoline, the crowd was silenced. Slowly assured by visible breathing, then again as he sat up, and finally as he was able to leave the field on his own two feet, greatest fears slowly melted away to the more superficial. "Is he alive?" became "Is he okay?" and then "when can he play?"
A few days later, from the safety of the disabled list, the Captain-apparent spoke volumes with just a few words: "I'm embarrassed to be on the DL."
These were words of ethos, and with them David Wright separated the men from the boys. It took a near-tragedy, but it brought a huge problem to light. The Mets are a small core of die-hard team players surrounded by others who might rather think of themselves simply as worker bees.
Many have speculated that Wright's comments were pointed at Jose Reyes, who has been neither fish nor fowl spending most of this season on the DL. Rehabbing an injury that doesn't respond, he also doesn't seem to want to get on with surgery so that healing may begin. Reyes has been on the DL for longer than anyone could have possibly expected, but one has to ask how fragile an injury this must be for him to be totally incapable of progress, and if so, why it isn't being addressed more aggressively. It's been said that if Reyes can't come back at 100% he won't come back at all. Who among us is at 100% each day, let alone a professional athlete who is expected to endure bumps and bruises every day, yet bounce back like the Energizer bunny? Expectations need to be realistic. 100% is not realistic.
Last season, Johan Santana pitched and won a complete game on an injured knee that required surgery. This season he has again showed the heart of a competitor, capped with his now-famous "I am a MAN!" Like Wright, one can surmise that Johan lives to be on the field. Other's don't seem quite as eager. Last season, Oliver Perez followed Johan's complete game with a disemboweling that sealed the team's second collapse in as many years. This year, he's conjured up injuries to mask his professional impotence, seeming to relish the opportunity to be the highest-paid regular addition to the minor leagues. Last night he "tweaked" his knee, but rather than dismiss it to the questioning reporters, said he'd have to see how he was doing, as though he was making a bed he was planning to lay in. He has pitched without any heart but plenty of excuses, and without an ounce of contrition. Failure appears to be an option for Ollie, and his mediocrity is greeted with enthusiasm. He does not live to be on the field, he lives to collect a paycheck a magician conjured up for him. His numbers do not adequately portray the ineffectiveness of his performances, but surely anyone who has ever heard of Bernie Madoff knows that numbers lie.
Alex Cora has been playing the brunt of the season admirably without real use of both thumbs. Could you even eat an order of french fries without your thumbs? Cora has relished his opportunity. He has stepped up. His season is now over and he has nothing to be embarrassed about.
Gary Sheffield will be inducted to the Hall of Fame one day. He is far from being a spring chicken, but he has fought for his position and puts everything into every at bat he has. At times he seems to be in need of a walker when he plays left field, but he gives his all every play, every game. He has nothing to be embarrassed about.
Carlos Beltran has appeared to want to come back to the team in the worst way. At this point, when they're talking about surgery still being a viable option, why not let him? What's the worst that's going to happen? He'll need surgery? He probably will anyway. Let him play, let the chips fall where they may. Carlos has nothing to be embarrassed about.
And then there's Mike Pelfrey. No injury, just demons. Mike Pelfrey is the red light on the corner waiting to be fixed. Either someone will fix him, or he's doomed to be a continual problem. Big Pelf has heart, but he needs help that may not be coming from within this organization.
Each player, each coach, each member of management needs to simply make their best attempt toward some form of success to wash away some of the embarrassment before this miserable season is finally put to bed. Whether aggressive options at this point in a doomed season should even be explored any longer is well beyond me. But what isn't lost is the cry for a solution that goes well beyond the stats, well beyond the rhetoric, well beyond everyday expectations. From a position of crisis, David Wright cried out for his team of professional athletes to push themselves toward performance. More importantly, management needs to pay attention and recognize that the Wrights of the team need to be surrounded by more of their own. Embarrassment comes from many sources. The most embarrassing for the team and its followers is a lack of willingness to go further to test themselves, to prove themselves. Each player need not get on the field prepared for a Kurt Schilling championship moment, but let's hope the lessons of this tragic season bring along some action that helps make it something that no one on the field or in the stands has to endure again.
Read more!
David Wright was beaned last week. There may be no scarier moment in baseball than this, one that may end a season, a career, or a life. While his brains rattled around within his skull like a toddler on a trampoline, the crowd was silenced. Slowly assured by visible breathing, then again as he sat up, and finally as he was able to leave the field on his own two feet, greatest fears slowly melted away to the more superficial. "Is he alive?" became "Is he okay?" and then "when can he play?"
A few days later, from the safety of the disabled list, the Captain-apparent spoke volumes with just a few words: "I'm embarrassed to be on the DL."
These were words of ethos, and with them David Wright separated the men from the boys. It took a near-tragedy, but it brought a huge problem to light. The Mets are a small core of die-hard team players surrounded by others who might rather think of themselves simply as worker bees.
Many have speculated that Wright's comments were pointed at Jose Reyes, who has been neither fish nor fowl spending most of this season on the DL. Rehabbing an injury that doesn't respond, he also doesn't seem to want to get on with surgery so that healing may begin. Reyes has been on the DL for longer than anyone could have possibly expected, but one has to ask how fragile an injury this must be for him to be totally incapable of progress, and if so, why it isn't being addressed more aggressively. It's been said that if Reyes can't come back at 100% he won't come back at all. Who among us is at 100% each day, let alone a professional athlete who is expected to endure bumps and bruises every day, yet bounce back like the Energizer bunny? Expectations need to be realistic. 100% is not realistic.
Last season, Johan Santana pitched and won a complete game on an injured knee that required surgery. This season he has again showed the heart of a competitor, capped with his now-famous "I am a MAN!" Like Wright, one can surmise that Johan lives to be on the field. Other's don't seem quite as eager. Last season, Oliver Perez followed Johan's complete game with a disemboweling that sealed the team's second collapse in as many years. This year, he's conjured up injuries to mask his professional impotence, seeming to relish the opportunity to be the highest-paid regular addition to the minor leagues. Last night he "tweaked" his knee, but rather than dismiss it to the questioning reporters, said he'd have to see how he was doing, as though he was making a bed he was planning to lay in. He has pitched without any heart but plenty of excuses, and without an ounce of contrition. Failure appears to be an option for Ollie, and his mediocrity is greeted with enthusiasm. He does not live to be on the field, he lives to collect a paycheck a magician conjured up for him. His numbers do not adequately portray the ineffectiveness of his performances, but surely anyone who has ever heard of Bernie Madoff knows that numbers lie.
Alex Cora has been playing the brunt of the season admirably without real use of both thumbs. Could you even eat an order of french fries without your thumbs? Cora has relished his opportunity. He has stepped up. His season is now over and he has nothing to be embarrassed about.
Gary Sheffield will be inducted to the Hall of Fame one day. He is far from being a spring chicken, but he has fought for his position and puts everything into every at bat he has. At times he seems to be in need of a walker when he plays left field, but he gives his all every play, every game. He has nothing to be embarrassed about.
Carlos Beltran has appeared to want to come back to the team in the worst way. At this point, when they're talking about surgery still being a viable option, why not let him? What's the worst that's going to happen? He'll need surgery? He probably will anyway. Let him play, let the chips fall where they may. Carlos has nothing to be embarrassed about.
And then there's Mike Pelfrey. No injury, just demons. Mike Pelfrey is the red light on the corner waiting to be fixed. Either someone will fix him, or he's doomed to be a continual problem. Big Pelf has heart, but he needs help that may not be coming from within this organization.
Each player, each coach, each member of management needs to simply make their best attempt toward some form of success to wash away some of the embarrassment before this miserable season is finally put to bed. Whether aggressive options at this point in a doomed season should even be explored any longer is well beyond me. But what isn't lost is the cry for a solution that goes well beyond the stats, well beyond the rhetoric, well beyond everyday expectations. From a position of crisis, David Wright cried out for his team of professional athletes to push themselves toward performance. More importantly, management needs to pay attention and recognize that the Wrights of the team need to be surrounded by more of their own. Embarrassment comes from many sources. The most embarrassing for the team and its followers is a lack of willingness to go further to test themselves, to prove themselves. Each player need not get on the field prepared for a Kurt Schilling championship moment, but let's hope the lessons of this tragic season bring along some action that helps make it something that no one on the field or in the stands has to endure again.
Read more!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Don't Count Them Out Yet
The Mets may have lost the weekend series against the Phillies, but I wouldn't write them off just yet. There are a few positive things to consider when thinking about the state of the Mets. With roughly half of the season left to play, they have more than enough time to catch up. We are near the halfway point in the season and many people are starting to have doubts about the Mets' playoff chances. While they have struggled, I don't think this is a time to worry. We must consider a couple of points before bidding the Mets a farewell. First, despite the record that is under .500, the Mets are only 4 games out of first place. Second, sure they have a lot of injuries, but a considerable portion of those players will return after the all star break. Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, John Maine, and Oliver Perez will be returning for duty. This will relieve the Mets of some of their struggles, particularly in the lineup and on the field. Simply having Reyes back will shake up the lineup severely because of his speed and Beltran can bring back some power. One of the problems they've experienced has come on defense, and these two players should help restore some consistency. In addition, it's too early to call it quits because they will also be getting most, if not all, of the remaining players on the DL back. This will happen by september, a crucial time during the season. These are all proven players who can help the Mets get back on a winning pace. Look for the Mets to make a push in the second half of the season and give the Phillies and Marlins a run for their money.
Read more!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Jerry’s Lemonade Stand
The trauma center known as the Citi Field claimed its latest victim early this week when Carlos Beltran was sidelined with an ongoing deep bone bruise of the knee. With 9 major components of the team on the DL, Jerry Manuel seems to have gotten a free pass for the season. How can you blame the manager for the play of a team that is a shell of what it should be?
A good manager never takes credit for the success of the team, and all the blame for its failures (well, unless it’s Omar’s fault, but that’s another story). In the process, a good manager should also be able to overcome adversity and create winning opportunities. So while the current pandemic in Queens may breed a safe cocoon, I’m thinking that more than ever this is the prime time to be scrutinizing the skipper’s ability to be functionally creative. Before the cavalry comes back to try and clean up whatever mess may happen in the coming weeks, let’s see how Jerry’s able to make lemonade out of lemons.
Fernando Tatis has been batting cleanup the past two days, an experiment Jerry has explained as giving the opportunity to see if he can reclaim some of his spectacular rejuvenation during last season. In the process, Tatis has single-handedly redefined the art of sparking double plays for the opposition. Both days his already scary proclivity for doing so would be even greater had David Wright reached base ahead of him a few more times. Placing a slumping player in a lineup position normally relegated to cartoonish behemoths with questionable hormone levels has to raise the eyebrow of anyone paying attention. Let him rejuvenate, just don't do it there. I don’t doubt Tatis’ heart or the possibility of rekindling the fire in his offense, but this is the major league, not a feel-good Disney movie, and cleanup isn’t the place for batting practice. Mix it up and get Reed or Church in there, with a displayed ability to get hits when they’re in a groove. If you’re going to give someone a chance at redemption, don’t you want them to start with the bigger bat?. If Tatis is going to find his groove, he can find it at 6 or 7 just as easily. Would Cora, Church, Santos and Wright be a less effective front 4 than what’s up now? If Jerry’s going to think out of the box, maybe he needs to think farther out.
There was no way the Mets were going to win against Pineiro yesterday, who had a masterful game. But with Livian Hernandez batting, Jerry called for a very rare hit and run. The questionability of this is overwhelming. That’s not creativity, or working with the tools you have. It’s grasping at straws, but the team that won the night before certainly didn’t look like it required desperate moves. The season still has a lot of time, but it’s past the time when you can afford to give up games carelessly. I realize these examples only spotlight two games worth, but these past 3 months have generated plenty of other possible inclusions.
As engaging and insightful as he can be when describing wins post-game, Jerry has a way of sounding awfully like Willie Randolph when the team loses. The standard lines of “tomorrow’s another day” and “we just have to put this one behind us” have gotten old even before halftime. I’m not about to drink the Kool-Aid that says Jerry can’t win with the team he has, he’s not to blame because of it, and we shouldn’t worry as long as the team that’s playing .333 ball is over .500.
I’m waiting for lemonade.
Read more!
A good manager never takes credit for the success of the team, and all the blame for its failures (well, unless it’s Omar’s fault, but that’s another story). In the process, a good manager should also be able to overcome adversity and create winning opportunities. So while the current pandemic in Queens may breed a safe cocoon, I’m thinking that more than ever this is the prime time to be scrutinizing the skipper’s ability to be functionally creative. Before the cavalry comes back to try and clean up whatever mess may happen in the coming weeks, let’s see how Jerry’s able to make lemonade out of lemons.
Fernando Tatis has been batting cleanup the past two days, an experiment Jerry has explained as giving the opportunity to see if he can reclaim some of his spectacular rejuvenation during last season. In the process, Tatis has single-handedly redefined the art of sparking double plays for the opposition. Both days his already scary proclivity for doing so would be even greater had David Wright reached base ahead of him a few more times. Placing a slumping player in a lineup position normally relegated to cartoonish behemoths with questionable hormone levels has to raise the eyebrow of anyone paying attention. Let him rejuvenate, just don't do it there. I don’t doubt Tatis’ heart or the possibility of rekindling the fire in his offense, but this is the major league, not a feel-good Disney movie, and cleanup isn’t the place for batting practice. Mix it up and get Reed or Church in there, with a displayed ability to get hits when they’re in a groove. If you’re going to give someone a chance at redemption, don’t you want them to start with the bigger bat?. If Tatis is going to find his groove, he can find it at 6 or 7 just as easily. Would Cora, Church, Santos and Wright be a less effective front 4 than what’s up now? If Jerry’s going to think out of the box, maybe he needs to think farther out.
There was no way the Mets were going to win against Pineiro yesterday, who had a masterful game. But with Livian Hernandez batting, Jerry called for a very rare hit and run. The questionability of this is overwhelming. That’s not creativity, or working with the tools you have. It’s grasping at straws, but the team that won the night before certainly didn’t look like it required desperate moves. The season still has a lot of time, but it’s past the time when you can afford to give up games carelessly. I realize these examples only spotlight two games worth, but these past 3 months have generated plenty of other possible inclusions.
As engaging and insightful as he can be when describing wins post-game, Jerry has a way of sounding awfully like Willie Randolph when the team loses. The standard lines of “tomorrow’s another day” and “we just have to put this one behind us” have gotten old even before halftime. I’m not about to drink the Kool-Aid that says Jerry can’t win with the team he has, he’s not to blame because of it, and we shouldn’t worry as long as the team that’s playing .333 ball is over .500.
I’m waiting for lemonade.
Read more!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)