Murphy should play second

We talked about this on the podcast some but I wanted to hash it out here for those who don’t listen. And this post could be rendered useless as soon as this afternoon if the Mets determine that David Wright can play through his pinkie fracture. But if Wright needs a stint on the disabled list, Terry Collins should not move Daniel Murphy to third base in Wright’s absence, as he has suggested.

I write this realizing that Murphy has not looked good at second in most of the season’s first six games, and that keeping him there and using Ronny Cedeno or Justin Turner at third would mean playing two infielders at relatively unfamiliar positions when simply switching them would make both more comfortable and save the team runs in the short term.

And if the Mets were six games into a season in which they looked likely to compete for a division title or Wild Card berth, where they should be scrapping for wins every game, the move would make sense. But this is not that type of year, and if the team was content to open the season with Murphy at second, six games should not be enough evidence to change anyone’s mind.

Collins’ job is to make the most of the guys he has, so any inclination on his part to move Murphy to third makes sense. But since Wright’s injury does not seem to be (wood knocked, fingers crossed) a long-term thing, the Mets will need to find someplace to play Murphy when Wright returns. That most likely means a return to second base for Murph, only with a couple weeks away from the position and perhaps — for whatever it’s worth — some doubts about his team’s confidence in his ability to handle the position.

Even if it means sacrificing some runs in the short term, the Mets should make it clear to Murphy that he’s their second baseman no matter what happens. That means keeping him there while Wright’s out and using Turner or calling up Zach Lutz to play third, understanding that while it may not be the best thing for the Mets’ chances on April 13, it is almost certainly best for their chances in August, and in 2013.

 

Jeff Francoeur continues to support bacon, oppose walks

Jeff Francoeur, who’s utterly lovable now that he’s not playing right field for the Mets everyday, sent 20 pizzas and an autographed bat to some A’s fans that impressed him with a Bacon Tuesday outing last year.

The group in turn sent Francoeur a Bacon Tuesday t-shirt. Look at how happy he is!

Watch a video explanation of Francoeur’s role in Bacon Tuesday here. Yeah, Jeff Francoeur rules.

The Snackman cometh

Charles Sonder is being hailed a hero for stepping in between two scuffling straphangers — all while casually snacking on cheddar Pringles.

The noshing crusader shot to Internet fame after his exploits were captured in a cell phone video and posted on YouTube, garning more than a half million hits.

He even has a name: Snackman….

“I just got caught up in the moment,” said Sonder, who was also holding a bag of gummy bears during the incident.

Rich Schapiro, N.Y. Daily News.

Let’s go to the videotape!

Snackman is the strong, silent type of hero. Sometimes vague inaction speaks louder than… well, action. If more people just sort of ambled in the way of aggressive morons kicking and flailing — I’m not even kidding — this world would be a better place. Also, we all should eat more gummy bears.

And I’m not sure if Snackman is single, but he’s an architect, which everyone knows is the No. 1 all-time romantic-comedy guy profession*.

*- I should note that Mindy Kaling pointed this out in her book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, which made my wife laugh so hard that it was impossible to watch TV in our apartment while she read it. But it was something I had long noticed, since it really does seem to be the case in like every romantic comedy.

Shots fired, covered in cheese sauce

Over at the Classical, friend of the site and usually reasonable dude David Roth demonstrates the type of rigid thinking that hinders science and keeps potential Major League contributors languishing in Triple-A, trashing Citi Field’s new “pastrachos” mostly because they’re “basically a Reuben sandwich that has been dropped from a great height onto a pile of chips.”

The only problem I can find with that is we don’t get to see the impact, preferably in HD super-slow-mo.

The sole complaints I’ve heard from pastracho consumers thus far are that the line at the pastrami place takes forever and the ingredients can be unevenly distributed. The first seems typical of ballpark concessions, the latter typical of nacho-style products.

I offered to buy David pastrachos next time he’s at Citi, and he’s willing to give them a try. So look out for his humbled apology at the Classical, which you should be reading anyway.

Sandwiches of Citi Field: Carnitas quesadilla

El Verano Taqueria has quesadillas this year. From the tasting event, I thought they would only be available in beef, but then I got there and there were pork, chicken and veggie quesadillas available too. I panicked and picked the carnitas, because in times of doubt I always choose the option that provides the most pork.

(For the purposes of this pursuit, by the way, I’m calling a quesadilla a sandwich. I’m not sure it is one, but since the Sandwiches of Citi Field series is not aimed at reaching a definition of a sandwich but at reviewing as many ballpark food options as possible, I’m liberal with the term.)

It comes with a lime crema for dipping and looks like this:

It’s pretty good, though not spectacular. The cheese is smooth and melty, salty but not overwhelmingly sharp, and the pork is tender. Since it’s just melted cheese and pork inside a pressed tortilla, though, the thing is pretty greasy. The strongest flavor comes from the lime crema, which is tasty on its own but strong enough in its tartness that it’s not clear it really goes with the quesadilla.

Which is a little disappointing, because the regular carnitas tacos from El Verano Taqueria remain about my favorite thing available at Citi Field. It’s still a solid quesadilla, though.

File under: Things that sound gross even to me

Gothamist reports that someone’s opening up a mayonnaise store in my old neighborhood. TedQuarters aims to support small businesses and all, but the thought of so much mayonnaise in one spot turns my stomach a little. I’m just imagining gobs of mayo on shelves, and people behind a counter ladling mayo from giant tubs into jars, and a mayo slick on the floor that gets on the bottom of your shoe so you slide around all day. And I realize it’s probably not like that.

Since I have no particular distaste for mayonnaise as a condiment and since this place is making its own high-end, flavored mayos, I’m certainly open to trying it out. I think I’d just prefer it by mail-order or if someone gave some to me.