Well, that’s not going to save the bees

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Turns out they’ve figured what was killing the honeybees, incidentally, and it was a fungus-virus combination. (Also wreaks havoc on college freshmen.) For what it’s worth, I read not long ago that it’s entirely possible — and maybe even likely — that these types of temporary fluctuations in the populations of different species have happened before, we just weren’t around or didn’t have the technology to pay such close attention. Now some subset of bees resistent to the fungus or the virus survives and multiplies to fill the honeybee niche. 

Bah

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If you’re a Mets fan trying to squeeze some small, pathetic measure of solace out of Roy Halladay’s no-hitter, I offer you this: The Phillies’ win significantly increases the chances Halladay will pitch again this October, which increases the already-high likelihood he will surpass his career-high single-season innings total of 266, set back in his Cy Young season in 2003. And Halladay struggled with shoulder problems for a large portion of the 2004 season, and he was only 27 then.

But to so much as consider that right now would be tantamount to wishing misfortune, ineffectiveness or injury down the road on a great pitcher in the immediate wake of a historic accomplishment.

If you read this site with any frequency you know I love spectacle, and I like Halladay as a pitcher — laundry aside — because I appreciate excellence in all of its forms.

But I hate the Phillies so much that every part of my soul wanted Brandon Phillips to beat out that dribbler last night. I just couldn’t stand the thought of the Phillies fans I know getting even more to brag about, and spending a night out vomiting on children in celebration.

Still, we got to watch something special, and though it’s great for Halladay, it amounts to only one win for the Phillies. So here’s hoping Bronson Arroyo makes sweet music tomorrow night and Sunday the Reds’ hitters roll up on Cole Hamels like a bunch of werewolves on a sparkly vampire, or something.

Pardon me if that reference is heavy-handed; I don’t read the Twilight books, as Hamels does.

The return of Super Joe?

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I think there is one obvious manager candidate that no one seems to mention, Super Joe McEwing. McEwing was a Met fan favorite while with the team…. Baseball America named him one of their managers of the year the past two years (High A in the White Sox organization). And unlike Backman he does not come with the baggage and potential public relations nightmare….

But the real key is his relationship with LaRussa and Dave Duncan. Joe came to the majors with the Cards and was a favorite of LaRussa, who respected him so much he requested a pair of the Joe’s spikes when he was traded to the Mets (for Jesse Orosco). Why is this important, because Dave Duncan can have more of an immediate impact than any manager or GM the Mets can hire. The timing is perfect, he would have never left the Cards in years past, but now he is upset with the way the Cardinal organization, the local media, and fans handled the situation with his son.

– Reader Dan, via e-mail.

On the surface, Dan’s case is an interesting one. After all, if the Mets are serious about considering Wally Backman — currently a short-season A-ball manager — to helm their big-league club, why wouldn’t they be willing to hire a current High-A ball manager in Flushing? And Super Joe, like Backman, led his team to a lot of success in 2010, taking the Winston-Salem Dash to the Carolina League championship series, where they (it? Are we pluralizing Dash?) lost to the Potomac Nationals.

But I have a pretty strong feeling Joe McEwing, at 38 and with no managerial experience above A-ball, will not be the Mets’ next skipper. And if we’re going to campaign for such unlikely solutions, I might as well lobby for an WPA generator like some folks at Amazin’ Avenue keep advocating.

And maybe there’s a role for Super Joe on the Mets’ bench. Brooke from SNY’s Original Programming department just suggested they could hire him to be a roving bench coach, first-base coach, hitting coach and third-base coach all in one. I remember reading that he was a popular guy in his time with the team, and that David Wright especially was sad to see him go. But though we know the Mets love hiring ex-Mets, it does seem a bit random. Plus they keep saying all hires will be up to the new GM.

I will say that I was no fan of Super Joe during his time with the Mets. I recognize now that there’s some value in a guy willing and at least vaguely able to play absolutely anywhere on the field, but the combination of his inability to hit with the media’s tendency to fawn over him turned me off. But then that really has no bearing on his ability to manage or coach a team.

I should have thought that a pack of British boys would have been able to put up a better show than that

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After Anthony pulls his crock of roasted cherries from the oven, we let the fire die, just short of 36 hours after lighting it. This fire has been protean, and the big-mouthed oven, which by now seems more like a character in our drama than a prop, has been prodigious in its output. I raise a glass to offer a toast, first to our hosts, then, of course, to the goat and lastly to all the cooks at the table. It seems to me that one of the many, many things our fire produced is a sense of community, as cook fires have probably always done, but especially among those of us who worked to bring all this food to the table.

– Michael Pollan, N.Y. Times.

Pretty decent read from the Times about a 36-hour backyard wood-fire goat roast, with lots of tasty-sounding descriptions. But I gotta say: I’m a little disappointed that this “pyro-gastronomical experiment” never descended into savagery.

If I ever throw a fire-pit meat-fest in my backyard, there’s going to be a whole lot less pleasant conversation and fennel and a whole lot more ominous chanting, warpaint and pyrolatry. Lord of the Flies stuff. We might even get way out of hand and murder the quiet guy in massively symbolic fashion.