In the comments section earlier, Justin mentioned Alfredo Griffin, which reminded me of one of my favorite baseball cards ever. Why does the 1987 Topps set obliterate every other year and brand? (Answer: Because I was six years old and getting into baseball for the first time, almost certainly.)
Troy writes for the Denver Post.
Luke O’Brien at Deadspin points out that a Wall Street Journal article claiming that Phillies fans no longer consider the Mets a rival used doctored photos of Phillies fans holding up innocuous signs.
First off, anyone who thinks that Phillies fans no longer hate the Mets should go to Citizen’s Bank Park dressed in Mets attire. You’re talking about deep-seeded and very likely Freudian animosity toward the whole city, not the type of fleeting distaste that’s going to pass after a couple years of the Phillies being good.
Second, I have uncovered the original undoctored* photo of the Phillies fan that the Journal Photoshopped. Here it is:
*- Obviously I didn’t really. In reality this man may not endorse vomiting on children. Also, I originally had the sign say “SOMETHING HOMOPHOBIC!” but I decided that there are unfortunately plenty of Mets fans that yell homophobic things at games and I probably should avoid vaguely accusing the entire city of Philadelphia of homophobia.
In what must be the best example yet of straight-up TedQuarters bait, artist Jeremy Scheuch creates a collection of 1986 Topps cards for notable baseball zombies. Via Craig Calcaterra.
Fresh on the heels of Patrick Flood’s list, the good fellows at Amazin’ Avenue reboot their unfinished version after a long hiatus. Our man Bob Ojeda comes in at No. 50 even though that was Sid Fernandez’s number. Alex Nelson provides a good and thorough writeup of Ojeda’s path to the Mets.
Fun fact, for what it’s worth: Ojeda started and got the win in the first baseball game I ever attended, Opening Day 1987. That means the first pitch I ever saw in a big-league game was thrown by a guy I now talk to with some regularity. And the first hitter I ever saw in a Major League game was Barry Bonds, to date the best hitter I’ve ever seen in a Major League game.
My Friday suspicions were confirmed Sunday evening: The Mets called up Jason Isringhausen and Ryota Igarashi, designating Blaine Boyer for assignment and optioning Lucas Duda to Triple-A.
The move came on the heels of a brutal extra-inning loss to the Nationals in which Boyer allowed four runs in the 11th, his second inning of work. Boyer got off to a pretty terrible start, reminding everyone of the value of Spring Training stats. To his credit, though, he pitched in more than half of the Mets’ games — rarely a good recipe.
Actually, D.J. Carrasco, Tim Byrdak, Taylor Buchholz and Boyer have all pitched in five games so far, which, probably more than Boyer’s ineffectiveness, prompted the roster shakeup. Isringhausen and Igarashi provide fresh arms when the team desperately needs them.
Isringhausen we expected, since he was in extended Spring Training waiting on just this occasion. Igarashi might come as a bit of surprise, but Manny Acosta can’t be recalled within 10 days of being designated for assignment, plus he hasn’t pitched in a week. I imagine, unless an injury arises or someone else pitches terribly, Igarashi will be the one to go whenever Jason Bay returns, if not sooner.
As for that: The Mets could use Bay right about now, with Brad Emaus and Angel Pagan struggling a bit and Willie Harris apparently returning to being Willie Harris. But it’s way, way, way too early to be concerned about Pagan, especially since he’s maintaining a .310 on-base percentage despite his .171 batting average.
Bay’s return would move Harris back to a more familiar bench role where the Mets could use him. Duda, Scott Hairston, Daniel Murphy, Chin-Lung Hu and Mike Nickeas have combined for a putrid .136/.212/.169 line in the team’s first nine games. That’s unlikely to continue, especially once Ronny Paulino replaces Nickeas.
Ah yes, a bad bench and a bad bullpen. It’s like 2008, except it’s still really early in the season and the Mets’ front office appears conscious of the team’s weaknesses.
One other thing: At least one person that is actually paid to analyze baseball criticized Terry Collins for pulling Chris Young after 108 pitches yesterday. That’s silly. I’m plenty skeptical about the value of strict pitch-count limits, but it’s April and Young is coming off three straight seasons shortened by injury. Yes, Young was pitching really well yesterday and perhaps would have continued doing so into the eighth inning and secured a win. But jeopardizing his health means risking wins down the road. You need to have a bullpen you can trust to hold the Nationals off for two innings. That’s the issue here, not the pitch count.
Awesome read from Slate on how the press treated the greatest baseball player of all time because of a 17 at-bat rough stretch.
The only thing I really want to remember from this afternoon’s game is Angel Pagan’s running over-the-shoulder catch way out in right center by the 415 mark and his turning, falling throw into the cutoff man to double up the unsuspecting baserunner. Carlos Beltran and David Wright hit doubles that were pretty cool too.
As for the rest of it: Meh.
R.A. Dickey split the nail on the index finger of his pitching hand in the first inning, right before he struck out Ryan Zimmerman. He filed it down between innings and managed to scrap through four more frames, but he lacked control of his knuckleball and walked five batters. The Mets hit a bunch of balls hard but right at defenders. They also struck out in some big spots.
Dickey said he’ll be fine by his next start, so the main concern from this one is the performance of the bullpen. For the fourth straight night, Terry Collins had to use at least three relievers. For the third straight night, some of them struggled. After the game, a reporter asked Collins if he was concerned about the amount of innings his bullpen has thrown recently.
“Yes,” he said. That’s all. There was a long pause before the next question.
It doesn’t seem typical of Collins to admit concern or be so curt, so it’s probably more than paying lip service to the reporter’s question.
Bobby Parnell struggled a bit tonight, but Blaine Boyer and Tim Byrdak have been the main culprits so far. Actually, the main culprit has probably been a starting staff unable to eat up innings. That’s hardly atypical this early in the season, granted, but not one of Mike Pelfrey, John Niese and Dickey managed to pitch into the sixth these past three games.
It seems knee-jerk to make roster moves so early in the season, but with Chris Young and Chris Capuano set to go tomorrow and Sunday, the Mets’ bullpen appears unlikely to enjoy a ton of rest anytime soon. Jason Isringhausen tweaked something in his back last weekend, but he is apparently OK — at least in that he ever can be. I wonder if we’ll be seeing him soon, if only to get the Mets a fresh arm in the ‘pen for a few weeks while the starting pitchers pull it together.
Ugh, whatever. A cold and underwhelming home opener at Citi. Tomorrow brings more baseball, though, and this evening brings me a sandwich.
Via Drew:
Apparently Man-Ram broke the drug policy again and retired rather than appeal and face another suspension.
Seems like a desperate move for a guy who has already tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. I’ll miss watching him play; for better or worse, he was always entertaining.
Here he is playing cricket:
Tedquarters 
