Tom Glavine on Johan Santana & the Mets

I hate Tom Glavine, and I want you to hate him too. Here's what he had to say about the Mets getting Johan Santana today per MLB.com:

"I don’t think this makes [the Mets] the class of the division. I think it puts them in a position where there rotation is much better and that was their biggest need. Within the division, I think you have three teams that can now not only win the division, but also the World Series.”

Actually what he should of said is "My leaving New York and their adding Johan Santana now makes their rotation much, much, much, much better."

Can anyone else wait for Tom Glavine to pitch at Shea and have Santana as the opposing pitcher?

Priceless.

New Year's Resolution for a Mets Lifer

At the beginning of a new year it is often a good time to reflect on what has happened over the last twelve months and how you can improve in the next twelve months. Here are some new year's resolutions for this Mets Lifer.

1. Stop being so surprise when Willie Randolph doesn't put on the squeeze play with Reyes or Chavez on third base with less than 2 outs.
2. Quit praying for Chipper Jones to be hit in the head every time he comes to the plate
3. Start praying for Chipper Jones to be hit in the back every time he comes to the plate
4. Start having faith in the Mets bullpen
5. Teach my eldest son to memorize the Mets starting lineup
6. Turn my Armando Benitez voodoo doll into a Jimmy Rollins voodoo doll
7. Learn to spell Schoenweis (sp?) without having to look it up
8. Suppress my anger when away games on SNY aren't in HD
9. Don't order my custom Mets Johan Santana jersey. . .yet
10. Never forget what Tom Glavine did as a Met

Here's to a successful 2008 Mets season.

Did anyone ask the Mets if our season has come. . .again?

An Early Christmas Present for Mets Lifers

According to the Associate Press, Tom Glavine has signed a one year deal with the Atlanta Braves.

You've always been a Brave, even with the Mets. Good riddance. See ya Tommy. Looking forward to facing you in September.

Glavine is Persona Non Grada

Omar Minaya is saying that he's still interested in having Tom Glavine return to the Mets in 2008.

Ok. Did he watch the last game of the season? Scratch that. Did he watch the last month that Glavine pitched in which the Mets won zero games from his starts?

I'm done with Glavine as I'm sure many Mets Lifers are. But Mets brass should be done with him too. If hiis lackluster performance in key games down the stretch isn't enough, his comments about losing "not being the end of the world" after the season should show you where his loyalties lie. Do you see him saying that in a Braves uniform?

Let him go back to Atlanta, play golf with his buddy Smoltzy and let the Mets focus on a big game pitcher with #1 starter quality. Focus on Santana, Oswalt, even Petite is a better option than Glavine at this point.

Let's close the book on this Atlanta experiment that never panned out so we can look forward to facing him in 2008.

P.S. Sign A-Rod too.

Glavine Turns Down Option

Tom Glavine made it official that he no longer wants to be a Met. He's salivating at the thought of returning to Atlanta and telling close friends that he has no idea what he has been doing the last 5 years.

He has been heard to say that it was a nasty case of amnesia and he woke up this morning with a bunch of stuff commemorating his 300th win, but he's not sure how he got since he wasn't pitching for the Braves.

In all seriousness, so long, farewell, Mr. Glavine. Can't wait for you to pitch at Shea next year.

Click here for details on Glavine's options.

Magic Eight Ball Look Into 2008

Let's give the Magic 8 Ball a shake and see what's ahead for the Mets in 2008.

Q: Will Paul Lo Duca return to the Mets?
A: Outcome not favorable.
As much as I love Paulie Walnuts and his flare, I don't see the Mets resigning a catcher who's entering the last years of his career. Look for the Mets to run at Posada, but have him stay with the Yankees. I salivate at the thought of Saltilimacchia, but probably won't happen.

Q: Will Tom Glavine finally retire?
A: Ask again later
Tom, Tom, Tom. I don't care if you retire you just have to get out of New York. You, Terry Pendleton, Mike Soscia, and Yadier Molina have ruined my recent Mets hopes and aspirations.

Q: Will Willie Randolph be fired?
A: Not likely
As much as I second guess Willie Randolph and absolutely abhor some of the moves he made this year, he wasn't the reason the Mets lost. Sure he needed to show some more urgency and perhaps a little more fire in his belly, but this team collapsed in spite of Randolph. Expect him to finish out his contract.

Q: Will Jose Reyes return to his normal self?
A: Outcome looks good
I'm betting we'll hear something in the coming weeks about Jose Reyes that will shed some light on what his problem was these last two months. I wonder if he's going through some trouble at home that's effecting his mindset and ability to focus. That's what his problem was. He lost focus. I expect him to rebound next year.

Q: Will the Mets make some major offseason moves?
A: Absolutely
Expect Omar Minaya to be a man on a mission this offseason. You'll hear rumors about Johann Santana, Jorge Posada, maybe even Mark Texiera. But expect Omar to go hard after pitching. He always says that's what's most important. Hmmm, than why didn't we get bullpen help at the trading deadline? Regardless, Minaya won't let this season become a ritual. Should be a very, very hot Hot Stove this winter.

Q: Will this feeling of disappointment in the Mets go away?
A: Ask again
It seems like this will go on forever, but we got over 1987, 1988, 1998, last year. Didn't we? Ok, maybe not. But that's why we're Mets Lifers. As much as it is a badge of honor, it can also be a life sentence.

This is Tom Glavine

Here's a quote from Tom Glavine after yesterday's game:

“I’m not devastated. I’m disappointed, but devastation is for much greater things in life. I’m disappointed, obviously, in the way I wanted to pitch. I can’t say there is much more I would have done differently.”

Breakout the pitchforks, I'm gathering a hunting party and we won't stop until we find Glavine.

Can you believe this? Even if this is what you think, you don't say that to the New York media after you single-handedly ruined the lives of every Mets fan on the planet.

Bryan and I have talked repeatedly about how Glavine was a guy you never truly accepted as a true Met. But this year he had me fooled. I started thinking this guy was coming around. Nope.

He wanted to go to Atlanta after last year, but they didn't want him. He came to the Mets for the money, but always wished he stayed with the Braves.

But guess what will be more memorable for Mets fans, Glavine winning his 300th game as a Met or what he did on Sunday? I don't even have to answer that.

Black Monday

This is Black Monday. Here's why. As Mets fans we have to go into work today and deal with the Yankees fans. Sure they made the playoffs and we committed the biggest choke job in sports history, but you'd think Yankees' fans would have some decency and let us wallow in our misery. But no.

Also every major sports outlet today is talking about the collapse. We'll here about what games they should have won, but didn't. Who need to go. What needs to be added. We won't be able to suffer in peace.

But the worst part is if your a Mets Lifer is that postseason baseball is on, and you won't be watching because you know our beloved Mets should be playing. I have to go on a business trip where people will want to go out and watch the games after meetings, but I don't think I want anything to do with postseason baseball this year.

You see I'm already thinking about 2008. It's sad, I know. But it's how I deal.

One thing that makes me happy is the fact that Tom Glavine might be pitching for the Braves next year. Oh baby. Can you say revenge?

Disgraceful

You let us down, Mr. Glavine. It wasn't all your fault, but mostly it was.

What if Glavine Was a Brave This Year?

Remember when Tom Glavine wanted to be a Brave again, but they basically gave him the cold shoulder? Oh yeah that was last December.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes an interesting article about how Glavine has changed the dynamic of the NL East by remaining with the Mets.

Now I still believe that the Mets would be a contender without Glavine because Omar would have went out and gotten another arm, but there's no doubt that Glavine's 23 quality starts have made a serious impact on the success of the Mets.

Don't you just love it when you get to stick it to the Braves?

Click here for the full article.

One More Year for Glavine?

I was surprised to read a story in the New York Post today by Kevin Kernan who writes about Tom Glavine returning for yet another season. He cites Glavine as saying he's having "too much fun" to retire right now.

Wow, what a difference a year makes. This is the same guy who was courting with the Braves after last season?

Hey, if Glavine continues to show that he can pitch well I wouldn't mind having him back for one more year although that might delay the return of Mike Pelfrey and the appearance of Philip Humber for another year. But that might not be a bad thing. Often young pitchers are brought up way too early and fail, so they're tossed aside. Giving Humber & Pelfrey another year of minor league experience with some time in the majors might be a good thing.

But then again Glavine might change his mind if the Mets win a certain few games towards the end of October.

Glavine's Gem

I honestly thought I was going to see the first no-hitter in Mets history on Saturday. Glavine looked stellar through 5 until his no-hit bid was broken up on a single.

The Mets ended up winning the game with Glavine coming out in the 8th, but I have been surprisingly impressed with Glavine since he got his 300th win. He's looked better and better at each start.

I think we didn't realize the weight of "300" and now that it is behind Glavine is back to just pitching. No pressure, just hitting his spots. He looks good enough right now that I'd consider even bringing him back next year for one more go-around.

With Maine struggling and Perez's up and downs it's great to see a veteran like Glavine picking up the slack and winning ball games. It's the first time in a long time that I feel like Glavine wants to be on this team.

If You Thought the Series Against the Phillies Was Big. . .

This series against Atlanta has just become huge. I thought the Phillies' series was going to be the turning point of the season. Well, I was wrong. It's now this Atlanta series.

The Mets have had a problem all year of long losing streaks. Just think of the months of June & July and you'll know what I'm talking about. The Mets need to stop the bleeding by winning game 1 tonight. By winning game 1 the Mets will be able to shake off the shadow of the Philadelphia series and focus on the games with Atlanta. Another loss would just continue their depression.

We've got John Maine, the 5th starter, and Tom Glavine pitching for us against Tim Hudson, John Smoltz, and some other guy who doesn't really matter. Not quite an even matchup, but that's what will make a win in Atlanta that much more precious.

Turner Field has forever been the Mount Doom of the Mets. If we really want to see what this team is made of, this series will prove it. Can this team come back from being thoroughly beaten by the Phillies? Can Wagner get his act together and still be a big game pitcher? Can this offense give our pitchers a lead to work with? Can Willie Randolph do anything to get this team back on track?

All of these questions will be answered in this series against the Braves. We'll have to wait and see whether or not we like the answers.

A Microcosm of Glavine's Career as a Met

Last night's game against the Phillies was a microcosm of Tom Glavine's career with the Mets. It's not symbollic of every start Glavine has made, but the majority of them were like last night.

Glavine pitched just the way the Mets needed him to. He threw 7 shutout innings while allowing 8 hits. Now what other Mets pitcher can give up 8 hits and not allow a run? Glavine had amazing control and was able to bounce back after giving up key hits.

Glavine exited with a 2-0 lead heading into the 8th and then what has happened throughout his stay in New York happened again. The Mets couldn't score any more runs and the bullpen blew the game.

Felician threw a meatball to Jimmy Rollins who crushed it over the left field fence. Then Heilman entered and gave up a walk and a throwing error by Lo Duca (although Reyes in my opinion should have had it) allowed the runner to advance from 1st to 3rd. Then the grounds keeping crew knocked in the tying run when a dribbler down the third base line refused to go foul.

No win for Glavine, again.

You know what happens next. Mota came in and gave up a 2-run homer to Ryan Howard who sent the ball onto I-95. Mota looked decent for the first inning he threw, but then got into trouble feeding Howard a fastball over the plate.

The only good news is that Delgado hit a home run and the Braves lost. The bad news is too many Mets batters are looking at 3rd strikes. Beltran & Wright have both been plagued by this and it is so unlike them. Swing fellas! You're more valuable swinging the bat than not.

The Mets need to win these next two. If they win the next two, all is forgiven and forgotten as the series will be a wash. But if they continue to lose, we'll have problems heading into Atlanta.