Jeremy Reed is the Kid Who Gets Picked Last for Kickball

The only thing Jeremy Reed has to worry about these days is splinters.

Jeremy Reed is a forgotten man on the Mets bench. He never gets to play and just when you think he's about to get his shot, a new kid walks onto the playground and Jeremy gets to find that warm spot in the Mets dugout.

I liked Jeremy Reed when the season started. I thought he would be a good 4th outfielder and potential 1B backup. With all the injuries the Mets have had, you'd think Reed would have gotten a shot at playing regularly, but every time there's been an opening he's passed over for someone else.

Think of all the people who've played left field more games this season than Jeremy Reed. There's Murphy, Tatis, Sheffield, Pagan, Evans, and now Sullivan. That's got to do wonders for your ego.

I feel for the guy, but I'm not sure if I'd place him ahead of any of the previous guys on the depth chart (except for Tatis). Reed would probably be a more vital part of another team, but he's taking over the space that Ryan Church once filled in Jerry Manuel's personnel file.

Poor Jeremy Reed will have to live through the next two months knowing that he's just waiting for the season to end. I'm hopeful there's one shining moment for Jeremy at some point this season, but the chances of that happening are pretty slim.

At least he's got the best seat in the house at a brand new ballpark. More than any of us can say.

An Unfamiliar Feeling for Mets Fans

This is odd. It's been some time since this happened and it feels kind of weird.The Mets lost a game last night and yet Mets fans everywhere aren't totally depressed.

I'm not hearing the Chicken Little-like attitude permeating through talk radio.There aren't apocalyptic posts being written on the blogosphere. Could it be that Mets fans are finally starting to enjoy baseball again?

Taking three out of four from the Wild Card leading Colorado Rockies was a huge surprise to this Mets Lifer. And the fact that the Mets won 5 straight games en route to this series win would have been considered a miracle if asked last week.

The doubleheader didn't help the Mets, but no excuses need to be made for last night's loss. It happens. What doesn't normally happen, at least in 2009, is that Mets fans aren't talking about injuries or offseason moves or the need to trade Jose Reyes after it.

Of course all that discourse will return on Monday if the Mets get swept by the Diamondbacks, but for now let's enjoy the hope of entertaining baseball returning to Queens.

Sure Way to Stop a Winning Streak: A Mets Doubleheader

I hate doubleheaders.

I haven't found this stat yet, but I'd venture that the Mets are one of the worst teams in baseball when playing a doubleheader. It seems like the best outcome is a split, and I can't remember the last time the Mets swept a doubleheader.

The good news is Johan Santana is on the mound for one game. The bad news is the single A Mets will be playing in the other game. Expect an Angel Berroa and Jeremy Reed sighting in that one.

The Mets are riding high coming off a 4 game win streak and I hate to see a doubleheader stand in the way. I honestly think that if the Mets played last night with Santana on the mound we would have a shot at sweeping the Rockies.

Now I'm not so confident, but I'm still hopeful.

Is this Mets Run for Real?

I'm enjoying baseball these days. Winning tends to have that effect on me, but the Mets Lifer in me is waiting for the other shoe to drop.

This recent Mets winning streak has me wondering when are they going to start losing again? Come on, the Mets can't keep up this type of run. Let's say they lose tonight and win tomorrow. When is the next series loss to the lowly Nationals or when will they lose 5 straight to erase everything good that has happened this week?

It has to happen eventually, right?

Now they're planting hopes and dreams in my head of Reyes, Beltran and Delgado potentially all coming back in August. Seriously? There's trade talk and rumors about the Mets being buyers. For real?

The Mets have become enjoyable to watch again. Francoeur is making Omar look like a genius. Castillo is making Bryan forget about Orlando Hudson. Pelfrey has folks saying "Who's Kazmir?"

What is going on? Has the world gone mad? These are the Mets. We are being setup for utter and total disappointment yet again.


Or are we? If, and that's a big "if," the Mets can get a HEALTHY Reyes, Delgado and Beltran back, and if (yes another big "if") the Mets can continue to get consistent starting pitching and if (yes, one more) the Mets can find themselves within 4 games of the Wild Card when this all happens, there's a chance.

That's all. A chance. Not a very good one either, but it's a chance. However, this cynic is still waiting for the bottom to fall out and be sent back to the disappointing baseball that was the Mets June.

However, a little thing called hope still resides.

The Fall of Omar

Nice knowing ya Omar, but your days are numbered.

I won't rehash the event that took place yesterday, but it should be the signal that the final act of Omar Minaya's Mets career is coming to a close.

Possibly the worst press conference speaker since George W. Bush, Omar Minaya, found a new low yesterday and has now lost all favor with the Mets faithful. This is a guy, who my fellow blogger, Bryan, once personally thanked for bringing the Mets back to relevancy. This is a guy, who was able to make magical trades that no one thought could be done. This was a guy that made us forget about Steve Phillips and Jim Duquette.

Now all we want to do is forget about Omar.

Brad Bortone over at Bugs and Cranks does a more eloquent and in depth job of taking Omar to task for yesterday's events so you should definitely check out his post.

Thankfully Fernando Tatis swooped in to save the day last night, otherwise a Mets loss would have only added gasoline to this already out of control fire.

We'll have to see if the now "lame duck" Omar Minaya is able to make some moves to help this team before the trading deadline. Although right now, I'm not sure anybody in baseball wants to associate with him.

Mr. Double Play Finds Redemption

Tell me you weren't thinking "oh no!" when you saw Fernando Tatis come in as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning with the bases loaded and one out.

The Rockies had just walked Jeff Francoeur intentionally for the very purpose of forcing a double play situation and up to the plate walks Mr. Double Play himself.

Down 0-2, Tatis reached down with his 9-iron and pushed on out to left field. Mets go up 7-3. Game over.

It was a fitting end to just a ridiculous day in the Mets organization. The Tony Bernazard drama had ended only to open up the second act of Omar Minaya vs Adam Rubin. While the front office can't get out of their own way, the Mets are making a way for themselves as they've now won 3 straight for the first time since May.

Tonight's affair was the most fun I've had watching a baseball game in what seems like months. It's always nice to see a guy who's struggling redeem himself in the biggest of spots.

But I guarantee tomorrow Tatis hits into a double play.

Mets Were a Mike Hampton Home Run Away from a Rare Road Sweep

Man, I hate Mike Hampton. Turns out that Hampton's home run was the only blemish in the Mets chances for an unheard of road sweep of a series. Oddly enough, the home run cam against Johan Santana who one would think would have been the only chane the Mets had for a win this weekend.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the Mets bats wakeup for the rookie Niese and then pull Livan Hernandez out of what could have been a blowout by the Astros.

At this point I'm think the Mets need to reconfigure Citi Field to match the dimensions of Minute Maid Park because we haven't seen this many runs since 2006.

By the way, does anyone else think of Carlos Beltran's basket catch running up the stupid hill in center field every time the Mets play there?

Now the Mets have gotten my attention when I was ready to slowly fade into fan oblivion. Frenchie Francoeur is looking like one of Omar's best trades. Omir Santos is coming alive again. Luis Castillo is on steroids. And Angel Pagan is a triples machine.

Oh and David Wright finally hit a home run.

With a four game series against the Rockies, the Mets could either make up some ground in the Wild Card or just demoralize the fan base once again.

Guess we'll wait and see.