Hawk's Eyeview Baseball Talk

So finally Randolph thinks he did something smart. He put the runners in motion, stayed out of the double play for one game. Mets fans have been screeeaming for that type of play since the breakdown of 2007.

If a team with the speed of the Mets, gets fourteen hits yet stumbles into five consecutive double plays, loses three in a row, wins one and returns to losing to a team you have no reason to lose to, then Randolph isn't the bright light in the basement of the Wilpon brain trust. Which is where the Mets will end up if the Wilpons and Minaya keep running with Randolph.

I've been screaming at my souless t.v., out of sheer frustration for two painful years. But being a Met fan means you must be predisposed to frustration and screaming!

Last year's fall apart was three and half months into the making. When you play like you belong in a different league, you get what you deserve. The question I have is how long will it take for the Wilpon-Minaya management to realize the error of it's way and say enough is ENOUGH!

Eleven teams interviewed Randolph prior to his joining the Mets Organization and all eleven teams rejected Mr. Randolph and his "I follow my gut" ways. Within the span of these past three years Randolph has proven his interviewers correct. Now the Wilpons must open their eyes to the obvious. Managers from opposing teams already know the Randolph handbook.

The Mets bullpen is as fragmented as the potholes in New York after a snow storm and now after what a has occured with Hielman who looked as if his gut have been ripped out, (but it was his own doing yet again) I ask, When will others see what I see, that this year is just a continuence of last year. Same old stink! S.O.S. please send help... Omar Minaya, the Wilpons, send help soon, because in a couple of weeks we will be in the basement. I wonder if Bobby Valentine would like a change of scenery?This is his type of team and it would be fun to see Bobby Cox squirm...

Balance     January 26, 2008

In order for baseball to regain some balance and go forward toward a better future, they needed to do one thing and that was to send Bud Selig packing! Instead he has another three years to continue to thwart baseball progress. Bud Selig is out of balance when it comes to achieving a more harmonious future.

The painful truth is that we’re never going to know the true number of players who used steroids and other enhancement drugs. The players who played clean will have to grow accustomed to hearing that they played during the steroid era. There will always be that question "Were you a cheat? Did you shoot yourself with that stuff?" (Stuff which is how NY Stankee Jason Giambi reffered to it during his half-ass apology) The other issue clean players will have to contend with is the fact that they had to participate in a game, playing to the best of their clean abilities next to unbalanced, dishonest, freaks creating an uneven game. The bottom line is that they will always feel cheated, wondering if they ever had a chance at breaking records or winning games against freaks that had a doped up advantage! The unfair truth is that they will never know.

Thanks to Bud Selig and Major League baseball for not addressing and solving the problem. This is one time some of the cheaters will actually get away with it. They have been awarded various accolades and cheered for it. Let’s see a small portion: Maguire standing Ovations, Barry Bonds the SF Giants love him. The Yankees not only buy every player they can get their grubby hands on BUT JUST LOOK AT THE 2000 World Series! A good part of the Yankee team was on doped mode from starter to closer! Just look at Clemens during that series and you can see his roid rage in full insanity mode. Oh let’s not forget Giambi wining the come back player of the year award. Hey Morons !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This jerk was detoxing from steroids. He’s body was giving up. Why do you think he was so apologetic? That stuff!!!!!!! This is just out of control. The more I see the more I just get sick to my stomach because I really loved this game and all I’m seeing is more and more abuse.

Clemens is making a circus out of the investigation against him. He taped a conversation with McNamee who was grilled by the Feds. The one very interesting thing I kept hearing was McNamee kept repeating "I had no choice! What do you want me to do? Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it".

Not only has McNamee lost his job, but his family and especially his son has been very affected by this disgrace, augmented by the fact that his son is very ill. All this vile bag of trash is trying to do is pump lies or who knows what? Clemens had no response when McNamee asked him "What do you want me to do?" If Clemens knew McNamee was lying then the correct response should of been Just say you didn’t inject me with steroids tell the truth! Tell the truth…should’ve been the correct response. An innocent person wants the truth to come out. There just doesn’t seem to be a spot of decency in Clemens. This trainer, McNamee looked up to Clemens he worshiped the ground he walked on. I pose this question. And it’s a simple one when McNamee asked "What do you want me to do"? Why didn’t Clemens answer Tell the feds the truth! It is as simple as that, one can’t possibly make it any clearer.

People sometimes make matters more complicated than they need to. Markam’s Razor tells us the simplest answer is the correct one. If a question is asked and there is nothing to hide then the simplest answers should be visible by all. In this case I see Clemens squirming like a bug because he got busted. The balance of justice will come out. At least I pray it does.

The Crime!!!!   December 19, 2007

The facts revealed these past weeks have made every synapse in my brain fire with questions.

The Mitchell report sites over 89 baseball players who have used steroids in one form or another to cheat at the game. Call it performance enhancing drugs, HDH, pixie dust, it’s all the same; an illegal substance purchased illegally for personal use. A drug whose side effects include but are not limited to anxious rage, violent outbursts and physical enhancements of muscles.

Let us address the fact that Roger Clemens on any type of steroids would be a danger to those he pitched to. Clemens steroid use would explain the behavior that he demonstrated while he was on the mound. He appeared like a caged animal ready to attack its prey. According to the Mitchell report Clemens was using steroids during the 2000 season.

As a fan of the game, I find it appalling that the pinpoint control and astounding velocity that Clemens encompasses, is being disregarded when it comes to the criminal aspects of steroid use. For example a boxer, a heavyweight champion, if he should strike his opponent outside of the ring he will be charged with assault, if he kills him the boxer will be charged with manslaughter. It is the professional boxer’s skills that classify him as a lethal weapon.

A pitcher irresponsible enough to take steroids (which carry the side effects of violent outbursts and roid rage) who then launches a rocket of a pitch at someone’s head, should be held accountable for his actions. Clemens knew exactly what he was doing when he took steroids. He knew what the side effects would be, and he was well aware of his own capabilities. All of these factors should be considered when implementing a criminal investigation. A pitcher with the capability of Roger Clemens knows that his pitches can cause brain trauma or be fatal.

Taking all of what I just said into consideration, let us remember the 2000 World Series. Roger Clemens picks up a large portion of a splintered bat and then hurls the bat in the direction of the runner Mike Piazza. When confronted by Piazza and the press, Clemens’ response was "I THOUGHT IT WAS THE BALL". The ball ? This imbecile said he thought the large long wooden remains of a major league bat were a ball ? Can anyone tell me when has a bat or even a portion of one has ever appeared to be a much smaller white colored ball?

Not only does using steroids make you crazy but apparently it can make you stupid as well. Or is that just Clemens being Clemens.

Post Script; Something to consider: During the 2000 World Series between the Mets and the Yankees, nine of the Yankee players were found to be using Steroids at the time. There were five games played, four of the Yankee starting pitchers were found to be on steroids, the Yankee closer Mike Stanton also found to be on steroids, the Yankees went on to win that World Series. Now that we know the role steroids played during the 2000 season and World Series do we invalidate that year?

The Chicago Black Sox scandal in the early twentieth century invalidated the series and prosecuted the players who had cheated. Will the Yankees gloss over the steroid era and write press release after press release to cover the fact that illegal drugs were used and contributed directly to the outcome of the series? Will Baseball and Congress turn a blind eye to all the crimes that have occurred?

Time will tell.

Winter Meetings December 07, 2007

With the winter meetings coming to a close. I believe that sometimes no news is good news. Keeping our stock, I think raises the Mets stock in 2008 and 2009. Sure it’s real simple to covet a pitcher like Yohan Santana, but just thinking about everything that the Mets would have to give up for him leaves me with a very uncomfortable feeling.

The Mets finally have in their farm system two very talented young outfielders. Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez are a cross between Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran. It’s very easy to see how any team would covet what the Mets have and sure knowing that there’s a pitcher of Santana’s ability out there peaks curiosity and makes it hard not to want to acquire him at whatever the cost. But, and this a big BUT if you empty your farm system, you debilitate the very future of a potentially exciting line up.

Carlos Gomez, who I got to see some of last year, definitely made me wonder why he wasn’t allowed to play in place of Shawn Green who was a nightmare defensively and offensively. True at the very end of the season Shawn Green was one of the more consistent batters on the team, but had Carlos Gomez not injured his left hand, it would have been nice to see him grow as a player in right field.

We already lost Lastings Milledge this year, and that I believe is a loss because he should have been playing everyday in right field. Randolph never gave him that chance. Instead he was platooned, sometimes yes sometimes no, which is the worse thing you can do to a rookie or any young player who’s just beginning to get his feet wet in the majors. He should’ve played everyday! How many other players are we going to say that about? Ramon Castro was also left in the bench so many times, instead of being utilized. I see a pattern beginning to surface. I’m not going to discuss that particular issue, because I already exhausted the topic of Randolph and my opinion of his managerial shortcomings. So I’ll just keep my focus on the positives.

The word is that Duaner Sanchez will be healthy for 2008. If that is the case, and Pedro Martinez is also healthy for the beginning of the season then the moves that perhaps seemed necessary two weeks ago are now less of a priority.

The fact that Tom Glavine is back with the Atlanta Braves, makes me happy or at least relieved that he isn’t a Met anymore. What we need to do is find someone young who can eat the innings, someone that by the third inning won’t be pitching batting practice. I wondered all last year how different the outcome would’ve been had we kept Chad Bradford and Darren Oliver.

In the next couple of weeks I just hope that Omar Minaya doesn’t feel he has to make a blockbuster deal for the sake of making the back page in NY there will be plenty of time for that in the spring.

For all you out there in the blogsphere, have a happy and safe holiday.

Happy Festivus! Hawk!

 ARE NY MET FANS CRAZY??? November 18, 2007

QUESTION…. Have New York Mets fans and the NY sports media gone completely crazy??? Just about all month long, all I’ve heard from the radio or the television networks SNY , YES ,ESPN etc. is why don’t the Mets trade Reyes????? What the #%$ are these people thinking? He’s not only a very gifted base stealer, future gold glove potential, serious speed and signed to a long term contract, He has his entire carrer ahead of him! Did I mention he’s gifted? Why is it that when the Mets finally find good players with talent someone is always trying to trade them away? Many times I really believe some fans that call into the media are jealous Yankee fans posing as a N.Y Mets fans. Yes I know what it sounds like, but I’ve been a Mets fan for a real long time. This is not the first time or the first player that this type of nonsense has been circulated about.

Reyes is learning while coming into his own. I don’t want to see a player that can be a genuine diamond on the diamond traded away. There has to be another way to obtain Yohan Santana. I know Reyes had a really bad finish but he’s still so young. This past season Reyes was able to steal over 70 bases and that is one of the reasons he had a bad ending to his season.

The Mets have to begin taking stock of what an asset it is to have Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran in the same clubhouse! You add a starting pitcher by the name of Pedro Martinez and this team has the making of something really special. I know that the end of 2007 season was monstrous, ugly, and crushing but I firmly believe these were growing pains. The Mets are still missing some crucial components but trading Jose Reyes is not the way to go. Just knowing that a healthy Pedro Martinez will be starting next season (God willing) makes the starting rotation really exciting. I believe that Carlos Delgado will also be in better condition next season. This past season Delgado’s wrists were not strong enough due to the surgery he had on both wrists. I know this is going to sound like a broken CD on my blog but the major wrenching problem is Willy Randolph. If this man does not change the way he AMERICAN LEAGUE MANAGES; THEN ALL BETS ARE OFF! No matter where I dissect this team, Mr Randolph is a problem. Randolph who was gift wrapped a 3 year contract before the 2007 season began didn’t feel he had to change a thing and we all know how badly that turned out. Apparently he didn’t learn anything from the 2006 season to make the necessary changes for 2007. Will Randolph bring the same stubborn mentality to the 2008 season? Just thinking he’s the 2008 manager has me reaching for the Imodium! Out of everything, all the contributing factors for the future of the New York Mets, the Randolph factor is the one thing that is the wrong answer for the future of this franchise.

Yes Met Fans, there will be a Spring 2008    October 04, 2007

My baseball gut is in mourning. I know Baseball is a game played by very rich, at times spoiled men, and yes, there are so many real world issues to be concerned with, so let’s put this past season in perspective.

The game of baseball is just that a game. The New York Mets aren’t there to put food on the table. Their job was to bring a bit of joy, to offer the vicarious thrill of watching guys play a game I love. The purpose being to enjoy, through the season the highs and lows of your favorite team taking the game to fantasy levels. The Mets were supposed to provide a diversion filled with a little fantasy to enhance life. In this objective the Mets gave us a thrilling mid season only to fail us miserably in September.

As if the collapse wasn’t enough to make you leap of a bridge, the quotes and weak excuses that followed drained the water so the Met fan could fall face down in the dirt. There was just no excuse for the quotes that came from certain NY Mets(Tom Glavine and Carlos Delgado). "We just expected to win; Sometimes we were bored cause we felt we had so much talent. We just were laid back sometimes cause we just sure we would win"

WTF?!!!! Bored? Expected to win? That turns my stomach. I never expected to win when I played AA ball. I was always aware that you were only as good as your last catch, your last hit, your last win. There is no excuse for such a terrible example for failure! Jeff Wilpon was absolutely correct when he went public and stated there was no excuse that would explain this season’s collapse. I completely agree with him on that point. There was no excuse for such an embarrassing array of complete and utter futility. Especially after John Maine pitched such a gem. His last start was a work of art. He painted a masterpiece and the shame was no one in the Mets dug out even came close to understanding what that young man had accomplished, except perhaps for Pedro Martinez who in his past had put together some masterpieces of his own. Maine wasn’t bored or expecting to win. He was pitching the game of a lifetime. A lousy blip in the infield turned his dream into a one hitter. Yet he gave all that he had. Carlos Beltran is another who gave 100 percent every day. He showed up played hurt, limping, and in the end, in need of surgery ( Beltran underwent surgery, debridement of the patella tendon in BOTH knees yesterday).

The painful question is how does one bounce back? Can this team bounce back from such a disgraceful fall from perfection? The good news is Yes! The best thing God gave us is tomorrow. At least I pray that there is a tomorrow for Met fans. I hope Omar Minaya (who better do some shopping in the off season) and Willie Randolph, (yes, we are stuck with him for another year) come together and sort this garbage of a finale. Turning it into fuel for next year where spoiled rich men don’t whine about being bored or brag about how much talent they have that others should just hand over the win.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and as a die hard Met fan, I hang on to hope as I live through the winter in a world full of grim realities and uncertainties. Waiting for that moment in the early spring of 2008, where my realities will divert into a little fantasy of baseball trophies and championships. Maybe even a masterpiece no hitter by John Maine. To quote John Lennon "You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one."

September 28, 2007 THE PAIN!

Three games! THREE GAMES! This is what? Crunch time! Number One: The most important game is Friday, September 28, 2007! Mets vs. Florida forget the rest! You have to forget the rest. You have to forget the past for it is too painful, and too late to cry about it! You’ll have enough time for that crap in December.

It is indescribable the pain NY Mets Fans are feeling right now. Leading the league in first place by seven games back on September 12^th, the Mets have imploded and drag the NY Met fans into an abyss of humilation and degradation! Unfortunately as I have stated in my past blogs, Randolph has managed us into implosion! Soooooo many games given back!!! Such a lack of small ball, forced squeeze plays, runners moving, there was not one aggressive national league squeeze play in 2007 or the 2006 season by the Mets. The amount of speed in our team was misused. Reyes’ stolen bases equaled to an exhausted Reyes and many men left on base. Sixteen times this year with at least a six to seven run lead, the Mets gave those games back to come up with losses. At the time Randolph kept chiming "we’re still in first place". I kept chiming until you’re not due to the lack of serious managerial direction.

All those lost games that were given away by Randolph’s mismanagement of the bullpen and their pitching, are sorely counted right now as the missing clinch to the NL East title. The Phillies did sneak up. Now the Phillies are not coming quietly but roaring, are in contention, tied with us for first place. I feel as if I have been gut punched, not sucker punched cause I saw it coming, too bad Randolph didn’t!

I strongly believe that Jeff Wilpon had every right to state his dissatisfaction with the team, Randolph, and GM Omar Minaya(who signed Randolph for another three years earlier this season). Jeff Wilpon is co-owner along with his father, but at least he has the stones to speak up when necessary! Even if the media said it was bad timing, I say, when was he supposed to speak up in the winter when it’s too late? When did Noah build the Arc? Before the storm!!! Before the storm is when you buckle down and prepare for what’s coming. That’s what the Mets need to do right now!!! Whip that Arc out and hit homeruns two by two!

One last painful statement about this debacle, for all the times I have heard the words from Randolph reminding everyone how he’s been there, he’s experienced, how he’s seen it all before! He forgets to realize he’s seen baseball as a player and a coach. NOT as a manager! Randolph is still a rookie with clay in his eyes, who refuses too clean himself and see that everyone has read the Randolph one dimensional playbook. And if you have any doubt or question, here’s a piece of toast for your stomach to prevent you from heaving; the Nationals are managed by a first year, first time ever manager, former NY Mets third base coach Manny Acta! How’s that for having your scorecard written up for you before the game is even pitched!

After the agony and misery, I think all of us could use one of these......