It was a collapse. A collapse that was only supposed to happen once. Only, it didn’t. It happened twice – and in back-to-back seasons. The New York Mets closed out the final season at Shea Stadium by blowing the lead in the National League East and falling in the final game ever at the stadium. But it wasn’t just a loss. It was a loss that meant the team would again miss the playoffs after once being in command of their division.

The entire season for the Mets seemed a little off. General Manager Omar Minaya fired Willie Randolph after a night game on the west coast. Randolph didn’t even have a chance to sleep off the loss to the Los Angeles Angels before he learned he was being let go. He in turn was celebrated as a New York Yankee great during the final game at Yankee Stadium.

After Randolph was fired, bench coach Jerry Manuel took over. Manuel had a shaky time with the club while guiding the team for the remainder of the season. After Johan Santana pitched a shutout on the second to the last game of the season, Manuel described Santana’s performance as “gangsta.” Not exactly the thought I had, but I might have to incorporate that word into my vocabulary more to describe great pitching performances.

But back to the subject of being the “other team” in New York. Was I the only one that thought Yankee Stadium got much more of a goodbye than Shea? ESPN sent their Sunday Night Baseball crew to the Bronx to cover all of the action at the House that Ruth built, but Shea was forced to be sent out on TBS? It doesn’t make sense to me.

Maybe ESPN knew something the rest of us didn’t… Maybe ESPN knew the Mets were going to tank. After all, that’s what the did last season too. But, it didn’t seem right that the Yankees sent their stadium out in a night game and all Shea got was the biggest game of the season and their fans could only see them blow it on TBS.

Next season, the Mets will ring a new era in Citi Field and you have to wonder if that means changes for the club. Will they keep Manuel? Will Carlos Delgado be a contributor again? There’s so many questions that have to be answered, but unfortunately for the Mets, it will have to wait until next year and in a new park.

Image: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

The other New York team

It was a an amazing play, which you can see here. However, I’m not sure the play is as good as the turquoise-color webbing on Ramirez’s glove. That’s something you have to check out if you aren’t interested in the play.

Post from: EveryJoe

Hanley Ramirez throws Carlos Delgado out from his butt – VIDEO

Top 10 Most Disappointing Major League Baseball Players of 2008

10. Roy Oswalt – Houston Astros – Oswalt has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the past few years, yet this season he has hit more speed bumps than anyone could have imagined. The Astros were counting on Oswalt’s consistency to help lead a pieced-together pitching staff, yet the Weir, Mississippi native is just 5-7 on the year with a 5.04 earned run average. Oswalt has also allowed 17 home runs this year.

9. Freddy Sanchez – Pittsburgh Pirates – Just two years ago, this former NAIA All-American won the National League batting crown with a .344 average. Now, however, Sanchez is hitting only .229 and has struck out 35 times. In 2006, when he won the batting title, Sanchez struck out only 52 times.

Sorry Ryan Howard, but you have to be on this list with that horrible batting average. Photo: Newscom

8. Ryan Howard – Philadelphia Phillies – I’m sure some of you are surprised that Howard’s name is on this list. Well, you shouldn’t be. How can I leave a guy that is hitting just .221 off this list? Yes, Howard has 19 home runs and 62 runs batted it, but he’s hitting only .221! Also, the former NL MVP has racked up 101 strikeouts in 272 at bats. In case you were wondering, that means Howard strikes out once every 2.7 at bats. UNBELIEVABLE!

7. Barry Zito – San Francisco Giants – Ah, yes. Barry Zito. I have no idea what has happened to Zito since he left Oakland, but he’s not the same. He’s not earning his $126 million contract. The former Cy Young winner is 2-10 with a 5.88 ERA this season for the Giants. He also has walked more hitters (44) than he has struck out (38).

6. Paul Konerko – Chicago White Sox – It’s hard to believe that Konerko could already be nearing the end of his career. But, that could be what is happening with his stats. Konerko is hitting just .215 for the White Sox. It’s not just the power that has dropped off for Konerko, it’s also the power numbers. He has only eight home runs and 30 RBI this season. His inability to help the White Sox, along with the slumping numbers of Jim Thome could mean Chicago misses the playoffs for the third straight season.

5. Carlos Delgado – New York Mets – Delgado, like Konerko, is showing signs of slowing down. Delgado hasn’t hit .300 in a season since he joined the Mets. This season, he is hitting only .238 and has power numbers similar to that of Konerko’s with nine homers and 32 RBI. Delgado didn’t have a stellar season in 2007 either, but his 2008 season has been especially disappointing.

4. Andruw Jones – Los Angeles Dodgers – To be fair, Jones had a horrible season with the Atlanta Braves last year. However, he is doing even worse in L.A. this year. Jones is batting well below the Mendoza Line at .165 in 133 at bats. He’s not hitting with power this year, since he has only two home runs and not driving in runs either (seven total RBI). I doubt Joe Torre ever thought before the year began that Jones shouldn’t be in the lineup instead of mulling over the whole Juan Pierre controversy. Either way, Jones’ stats are pathetic and he could easily be the biggest free agent signing bust of the year.

3. Khalil Greene – San Diego Padres – A couple of things Greene needs to finally figure out; he’s not at Clemson University anymore and he’s not using an aluminum bat. Greene flat out tore it up at the plate in college. But, he hasn’t figured it out at the professional level. This season, he’s hitting just . 226 and has a .271 on base percentage. Greene has also struck out 69 times and drawn only 16 bases on balls.

2. Bill Hall and Rickie Weeks – Milwaukee Brewers – I have to put both of these guys together at the number two slot. Both have had absolutely horrible starts to the 2008 season. Hall is hitting only .216 in 213 at bats this season. He owns a .285 OBP and has whiffed 60 times, while earning only 18 walks. Weeks is just as bad, batting just .210 this season.

1. Justin Verlander – Detroit Tigers – Coming into the 2008 season the Tigers were one of the top favorites to contend for the AL title. There’s no secret that Verlander was going to be the ace of the pitching staff and again be dominant. Except, he hasn’t been. Verlander is just 3-9 this season with a 4.55 ERA. He has scouts wondering why his arm slot has dropped causing his velocity to fall and his breaking ball to flatten out. He’s won at least 17 games in his last two seasons, yet this year, he could lose that many.

Just missing the list are Robinson Cano, Jason Isringhausen, Ian Snell, Brett Myers, Gary Matthews Jr., and Jim Thome.

Post from: EveryJoe

Thursday 10 – Most disappointing players of 2008

Is there any sport that doesn’t require instant replay? It seems to me that just about every sport has gone forward with instant replay and it has helped in many situations. Major League Baseball will probably be the next sport to travel down that path after hearing about this next story.

During the fourth inning of the New York Mets and New York Yankees game on Sunday, Carlos Delgado hit a home run off the left field foul pole that was later overturned by home plate umpire Bob Davidson. Delgado swung at the first pitch from Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang that looked to have hit the left field foul pole. Delgado circled the bases and as he was heading for home, all four umpires were jogging out to left field for a conference. It took less than one minute for Davidson to overturn the call.

After another pitch from Wang, Davidson yanked off his mask and began to engage in a heated verbal argument with the Mets’ dugout, which resulted in a coach being tossed.

After further review from ESPN’s camera replays, the ball looked to have hit off the very bottom of the foul pole before bouncing into the stands and hitting off the chest of Chris Rom, a Mets fan that was sitting next to the foul pole.

“No question, that was a home run,” Rom told the New York Daily News. “That was a bad call.”

After the game, Davidson reviewed the tape and admitted he was wrong. Davidson’s comments are comical because after watching the clip from the game, I can just imagine how animated he was responding to the New York press after blowing a call that would have blown the game wide open, even though it ended up lopsided anyway.

“I —-ed it up. I’m the one who thought it was a —- foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who —-ed it up so you can put that in your paper,” Davidson told reporters. “Bolts and nuts, I —-ed up. You’ve just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.”

Wow… Davidson and Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen should get together and reporters would have a field day.

Rom, a New York City sales manager, said, “That’s why they need to have instant replay, because these kind of things happen.”

Things like this do happen. It’s tough for umpires to make calls on plays that happen almost 200 feet away from them, much less 318 feet away. Time for instant replay to make its way into baseball. After all, why not have a game that is already 2-3 hours in length extended to the four-hour mark?

Photo: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Oops, my bad…Umpire wrong on Delgado homer