Morning post: it was just one game; just one game...

He's a work in progress.  But he does have phenomenal "stuff."

Too bad he might end up being our #1 starter for a while.

I'm trying to imagine the trainers / doctors talking about this in the clubhouse: "Well, Chris, we really don't know what's going on with your elbow, but we aren't going to do an MRI . . . we'll just wait and see what happens."

I dunno -- maybe its not that big of a deal, but it just seems weird to me.

Workin' pretty hard for those "significant" stats there, eh? Reminds me of a funny scene from an otherwise pretty bad Tom Selleck movie, "Mr. Baseball." He was trying to convince his manager not to bench him, and he said, "But I led the team in 8th inning home runs in the month of August!" or something to that effect. Good stuff. Cheesy movie.

Good luck in '07, and if the things you are so excited about really bother you as much as they seem to, you might consider seeking professional help.  

• Mets minor league system in 2006 was ranked #28 of 30 teams by Baseball America.  Lastings Milledge will never be a Top 50 player in this league, yet is considered to be the end-all-be-all for players in the minor league system.
• It's a baseball game, not a soccer match, so the 'Jose, Jose, Jose' chant should be mocked as often as possible and with fervor.  Mets fans gathered in Game 5 of the NLCS last year behind the Mets dugout and chanted it from innings 6 through 9, loud enough that it could be heard on the national broadcast.  This was in Busch Stadium.  I'm sure the Cardinals players were none to pleased.

+Beltran throwing home was indeed 'foolish'.  If he had not gotten Eckstein out, it would have allowed Preston to go to 2nd base, with the score 5-2 with the best hitter in baseball coming up and subsequently the heart of the order.  Up 4 runs, you keep the doubleplay intact, don't let more runners get into scoring position.

+To critique the Cardinals pitching staff as 'in shambles' when, as you said, your front two starters are 98 years old is a riot.  The Mets have no pitching in the minor leagues, and they have two ancient corner OF.  So, where are they going to come up with the money to go out and get 3 starting pitchers and two impact corner OF?  Not to mention a future 2B?  The Mets are a team built to win now and be sold off soon.  In 3 years, Beltran, Reyes and Wright will be almost all that is left of the 2006 team.

+As for the celebration, I believe the ring ceremony was not done on opening night because it was indeed a nationally televised game.

+The Mets closer makes Izzy look like a still lake on a cool summer evening.  Brad Lidge, I imagine goes through life thinking, "Wheew, I'm glad I'm not Billy Wagner".

+Finally, the Mets lost.  You can disparge the Cardinals all you want if it helps take away the sting, but frankly, the team you saw in the playoffs of the Mets is what they are should any of their ancient pitching go down.  They are literally putting a bandaid on their starting rotation hoping they can use the fountain of youth for the next 160 games.

So, I hope you feel better.  

One point I have to make.  I hope you're listening.  The Mets are an OLD TEAM as well.  Older than the Cards.  And the Mets broke down last year at the end and it cost them, while the Cards got healthy at the end of a brutal, injury marred season and proceeded to win the whole damn thing.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.  I would not be so sold on your team making it through the season without some major injuries.  O

Oh and you better do something about your starting pitching.  The Cardinals can't hit soft tossers.  But the rest of the league can.

Now let's go through your verbose display and find what's worth keeping and what's not.

• You are correct about winning a WS after a barely above-.500 season being impressive, very correct indeed. I would certainly agree that it is impressive, right everybody!?! It is also correct that is was an anomaly, as any knowledgeable Mets fan would know, considering the '73 Mets were an even worse team than our edition last year, yet they still made the playoffs. That year, they defeated a vastly superior Reds team (just like we did to you), but they just didn't play good enough to beat the Athletics (or, how did you put it, didn't take advantage of their opportunities).
  
• I knew well before your insightful commentary that the Cardinals were limited in minor league talent and were not a great team at the major league level like your Mets. But, you see, one of the major ways that franchises get "stocked with absolute studs" is that you have to receive one of the top picks in the draft. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, we've made the playoffs every year but one since 2000 (and missed it by a couple games that year), so we don't get the benefit of yearly handouts.
  
• The New York Mets are no longer a "rival" of the St. Louis Cardinals, haven't been for a long time. We already have plenty of rivals, teams that we care whether or not we beat them during a regular season series, because there are actual bragging rights on the line. The Mets - who gives a damn? Maybe the Mets are looking for a rival because they think that one down year from the Braves after 14 consecutive division titles (IOW, them kicking your butt) means they aren't worthy anymore. Be careful with accusations of misguided arrogance. (Wait, wait, the Mets do have a rival - the Yankees. That's worked out real well in the last 11 years, huh?)
  
• Seeing as the Mets haven't won a World Series in twenty years, who knows what manner of celebration they would impose on the team that lost in the League Championship series? Really - who knows? They could be just as gaudy as us. But we won't know that until they are actually good enough to win three series in October. Or, how did you put it again, take advantage of their opportunities.
  

As far as the article, he doesn't say anything that we haven't already heard; IE elbow is swollen, carp had bone chips previously so it could be worse than they're saying, we'll know more next week.

The BP guys are very set against signing pitchers to long-term contracts, so they go on to use this as an example of why it's not wise.

They've got Belliard, former Card Jack Wilson, Felipe Lopez, and Christian Guzman.

I feel bad for Belly. Poor guy took about an 80% pay cut and now has to watch Guzman, the $16 million man, play in front of him.

He was ranting and I remembered I had that AP photo saved of that sign during the World Series.

It's nice to see he called me an idiot as a parting shot.  Classy.

and it wasn't. for one thing, this is April. it's not the World Series. for another thing, it didn't feel that way. because it wasn't nearly as high-leverage of an AB. it was one game, which the Cards were probably going to lose no matter what Pujols did in that AB.

Valatan could've watched nothing but that single AB, and his statement would absolutely be correct.

Also in the article TLR promised that Izzy will pitch tonight come hell or high water...

Some weird stuff so far this season.  Game 3 and Miles is already getting starts to relieve our new 2b?  This is going to be a long season.