Mets-Nets Comparisons: Pitchers

Johan Santana and Deron Williams.

This is an easy comparison. Both of these players were taken away from teams in the middle of nowhere (Minnesota and Utah) and brought to the Big City. One difference is that Santana decided to come here (yes, someone actually wanted to come to the Mets) while DWill was traded here from Utah. He still has yet to make a decision about where he will play after this season, but I hope he will stay with the Nets when they move to Brooklyn. Both of these players were superstars on their old teams, but since coming to their new teams, they have been very injury prone. Everyone knows that they are still very good, but right now it is a question of how much they care about their teams and how much they want to win.

Johan Santana and Deron Williams

Jonathan Niese and Jordan Farmar.

Both of these guys are solid, professional players. Even though Niese is the number 2 starter for the Mets, he would be a pretty good 4 or 5 pitchers for a normal team. Farmar is the backup point guard for the Nets and he is always capable of making a big shot or coming up with a big play defensively. He is a very solid backup point guard. As a coach, you would want both of these players on your team (this can be said for very few Mets and Nets).

Jordan Farmar and Jonathan Niese

Francisco Rodriguez and Sasha Vujacic.

Both of these guys are crazy. They are way too emotional and it often causes them to play terribly in big situations. They both want to succeed too much and it causes them to make bad decisions in big moments. Sometimes, these players are good, though. Sasha has made some big shots in his Nets career and K-Rod has a pretty good save percentage since coming to the Mets. A similarity between them is that they both came from very good Los Angeles area teams (Angels and Lakers) and went to very bad New York area teams. One difference is that Sasha is in a lovely relationship with Maria Sharapova while K-Rod enjoys beating up the father of his girlfriend. I wonder if they every got married?

Francisco Rodriguez and Sasha Vujacic

Tim Byrdak and Dan Gadzuric.

These guys are both terrible. Tim Byrdak is one of the Mets’ “lefty specialists” which is always a bad thing. He pitched terribly last night allowing the winning run to score for the Phillies and he has been bad since joining the Mets this year. GadZoom is also a newcomer to the Nets. They acquired him from Golden State at the trade deadline and he has been absolute garbage since coming to Newark. One difference is that GadZoom has more authority than Byrdak. Byrdak has very little authority. I would not be afraid to beat him up in a bar.

Tim Byrdak and Dan Gadzuric

Mike O’Connor and Stephen Graham.

Ok, now we are getting to the really good ones. These guys are both the deadly term “specialists”. The Cracker is one of the Nets’ defensive specialists (along with Q) and brings absolutely nothing to the table offensively. Mike O’Connor is one of the Mets’ lefty specialists, even though he does not know how to get lefties out. Last night, he faced one batter, Chase Utley (a lefty), gave up a hit to him, blew the Mets’ lead, and got the loss. This is something that The Cracker would do as well. We have seen him countless times be guarding the player on the other team that scores in the last few minutes of the game. He is a defensive specialist that doesn’t know how to play defense. Also, his only block of the year came against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Below, you will see him being blocked by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Typical Cracker.

Mike O'Connor and Stephen Graham

Pedro Beato and Orien Greene.

Both of these players are really random. Pedro Beato is a guy that the Mets just stole out of the Caribbean and put him into the majors. Maybe that is why he always seems to blow leads for the Mets. Orien Greene was the only player that I could not find a picture of in a Mets/Nets uniform, so I had to use his D-League team picture from the Utah Flash. This proves how random he is. He only scored 3 points for the Nets in three games this year and one field goal-a dunk-against Philadelphia in a blowout loss (I was there, it was a great moment for Orien). He is probably rotting away in the D-League right now as we speak.

Pedro Beato and Orien Greene

Dillon Gee and Brandan Wright.

Both of these guys have some potential, but right now they pretty much suck. Dillon “Alonzo” Gee has had some nice starts from the Mets recently, but I definitely cannot rely on him to do it again. All of his starts seem out of nowhere. Brandan Wright had a ton of potential coming out of North Carolina, but since arriving in the NBA he has done absolutely nothing. He was acquired by the Nets in the Gad trade and got one start with the team this year. In the start he played the first 3 minutes of the game and then got pulled for not playing defense and never returned. This was very typical from him. Both of these guys may be good in the future, but right now, no.

Dillon Gee and Brandan Wright

Mets-Phillies Recap

Let's Go Mets!

This might have been my favorite Mets game of the year so far. One reason this is is because it felt like a real baseball game and not just Mets terribleness. First of all, the weather was good for the first time in a very long time. It was neither pouring rain, freezing cold, or snowing. Even Section 401 was somewhat full. Because of the weather, people actually showed up to this game. In fact, there were very few seats (unless you wanted to sit in the upper deck in left field, but more on that later). I would say that about 25% of the fans attending the game were Phillies fans. And why shouldn’t they come up to New York for a weekend series? It is a 2 hour trip by train and they get to see their team for cheaper than they would in Philadelphia. And their team has a better chance of winning because they are playing the Mets. The tickets for this game were very expensive on Stubhub because of all the fans, but luckily I chose this game as my free tickets for a rain out earlier in the year and these were our best seats at a baseball game in a while.

Now on to the actual game. The Phillies won 5-2 with Cole Hamels picking up the win to improve to 7-2, Mike O’Connor very deservedly getting the loss, and Ryan Madson securing the save. This game was a Mets bullpen catastrophe on every level after the starter, Mike Pelfrey pitched a beautiful game for the Mets. The disaster begun fairly unassumingly. After a pretty unwatchable and boring game, the Phillies had 2 outs in the 8th inning and nobody on base. Pelfrey was still on the mound and the Mets held a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately for Mike, he gave up a single to Jimmy Rollins and was pulled from the game. He received a huge standing ovation as he exited and this will probably cause him to pitch terribly in his next game because he will be overconfident. Anyway, enter Mike O’Connor. After allowing Rollins to steal second, Chase Utley hit a single to left. Keep in mind that the only reason O’Connor was brought into the game was to get a lefty, Utley, out, and he gave him a game-tying hit. He will probably be sent back down to the minors after this performance. Enter Jason Isringhausen. Utley attempts to steal second and Ronny Paulino’s throw sails into center field. Utley is now at third and there are still two outs. Issy (or should I say Sissy) then walks Placido Polanco and leaves the game without recording an out. Enter Tim Byrdak. He comes in as the lefty specialist to get Ryan Howard out and keep the game tied at 2. However, Howard doubles down the right field line and 2 runs score. In the 9th inning, Dale Thayer (who made his Mets debut) gave up 1 more run and the Mets were officially out of the game. They did absolutely nothing in the bottom of the 9th against Ryan Madson. One of the reasons that this was my favorite game so far this season is that this is such a typical Mets-Phillies game. This is exactly what I expected. I thought the Mets would take a lead, but of course disappoint the fans in the end like usual. They did the exact same thing yesterday as well. I don’t know how die-hard Mets fans are able to survive this. Even though I try to root for them, I can’t get myself to do it. They are just too terrible.

Dale Thayer. He is now apparently a reliever for the Mets.

Now on to the jokes from the game:

• As we arrived at Shea, we realized that Pepsi Max was unfortunately back, and they were back with a vengeance. There was tons of Pepsi Max stuff outside the stadium including an annoying DJ yelling at everyone. There were also huge bottles of Pepsi Max looming over everyone and girls with free samples of Pepsi Max. It was disgusting and horrifying. I refused the temptation to participate in the devilish activities before the game, but after the game I took a free can of Pepsi Max as I was leaving the stadium. I had about 4 sips of it before throwing it out in a subway garbage can. It was as bad as I thought it would be if not worse. However, it probably gave me the caffeine to be writing this article right now. As we were walking up the staircase to the subway, the stairs were littered with unopened and one-sip-taken-out-of Pepsi Max cans. It was terrifying. I should have knocked one of them over by accident and then the Pepsi Max would drip down the stairs grossing everyone out. It would have been quite funny. Also, after wearing my Mets throw-away shirt tonight to the game, I realized that I am a walking advertisement for Pepsi Max because it has an advertisement on the back. Maybe I should just cross it out with a black marker. Any better suggestions? See Pepsi Max Pictures below:

Pepsi Max Stand

Pepsi Max Bottle

• As we entered Citi Field, the Mets gave us free “Tote Bags”. It is really just a bag with a belt around it and it looks pretty feminine. It also has an advertisement for Harrah’s Casino. We took our bags into the stadium with us and used them in various ways. I will talk more about these Tote Bags later on. See pictures below:

Mets Tote Bags

Mets Tote Bags With Peanuts

Mets Tote Bag

Mets Tote Bag With Peanuts

Mets Tote Bags with Peanuts

Mets Logo On Mets Tote Bag

Mets Tote Bag Belt

Peanuts Inside Mets Tote Bag

• As we arrived we noticed the annoying foam finger guy. People actually bought stuff for him today. They could have spent that money on a lower level Nets ticket! Idiots…

Annoying Foam Finger Guy (people actually buy these things)

• As part of rewarding their season ticket holders, the Mets chose some season ticket holders to go on the field before the game. It was mostly just old people. Each person went to a position and when the Mets went onto the field they shook hands with the Met who played their position. It was kind of a joke. See pictures below:

Random Season Ticket Holders on Field

Random Season Ticket Holder on Field

• After arriving to our very good seats, we noticed the upper deck in left field. In every game we have went to so far this season, nobody has sat in those seats. They are always empty. The Mets just never sell those tickets. This was for the most part the same tonight except for one section. I assume that there must have been a birthday party or something like that in this one section because there were almost no people in the other sections. It is pretty hilarious. Also, during the 7th inning stretch, there was one guy sitting under the out-of-town scoreboard in the left field upper deck and he was standing up and dancing and wanting to get a shirt. Good luck, because you will need a miracle. See pictures of the left field upper deck below:

Shea Stadium Upper Deck Left Field

Shea Stadium Upper Deck Left Field

• After the 1st inning we decided to break out the peanuts. They were as disgusting as we remember them being (we haven’t been to Shea in a few weeks) but luckily there were less than there are at Yankee Stadium. There weren’t many perfume nuts, however I did get one that was pitch black after being burned in an oven for probably 5 days. It was super perfumy. After we opened the peanuts, I thought of a great idea. We will put all of our peanut shells in Raphi’s Tote Bag and then Raphi will have to decide what to do with all of them. We carefully positioned the bag under Petro/GadZoom’s dunking bucket (AKA cup holder) so that when we dunked or shot, the peanuts would go into the bag. I suggested dumping them all in one urinal in the Citi Field bathroom but Raphi was too scared. He still has yet to make a decision and still has possession of all of the peanuts. See peanut pictures below:

Peanut Shells in Tote Bag Close Up

Peanut Shells in Tote Bag Close Up With Peanut Bag

Peanut Shells in Tote Bag with Peanut Bag

Peanut Shell in Tote Bag

• In the 4th inning, Mike Pelfrey had a balk with runners on 1st and 2nd. Unfortunately neither runner scored which would have made this a lot funnier. Still, a balk is a balk, and it made this game a little more of a joke.
• In the 6th inning, a fan won 6 months of Tide laundry detergent courtesy of BJ’s. Congratulations. This was a terrible Mets giveaway and I am thankful that I did not win it. Have fun washing clothes for 6 months. Is that a reward or a punishment? Probably punishment.
• Raphi claims that he got bit by a Shea mosquito during the game. Mosquitos usually love my blood but I have not yet noticed any bites. I’m glad Citi Field mosquitos like Raphi more than me.
• After the 7th inning, I noted that the Mets defense had been surprisingly good tonight. That is, until the 7th inning. In the 8th inning it was disgustingly bad including Ronny Paulino’s awful throwing error.
• After 2 outs were recorded in the 8th inning, it took the Mets 4 pitchers to get out of the inning. The foursome are Mike Pelfrey, Mike O’Connor, Jason Isringhausen, and Tim Byrdak. All those terrible pitchers just to get one out.
• During the later innings of the game, Raphi and I moved up successfully 3 or 4 times. I was pretty impressed with it and was not expecting it. I guess the reason we were able to do this was because the Mets fans were so disgusted with their team after the top of the 8th inning. They just wanted to leave Shea immediately. That was good news for us, and I got some nice close-up shots at the end of the game. You will see the pictures from the game towards the end of this article.
• After the game was over and the Phillies won, we were one of the first ones to get to the Phillies dugout. We saw all the players leave and we did not get any balls. However, the pitching coach and the people from the bullpen had yet to leave. We waited for them and I believe the Phillies pitching coach threw a ball in our direction. I had no shot at it, but Raphi had a small chance. He reached out as far as he could and knocked the ball closer to him and made an impressive grab, stealing it away from some Phillies fans. I was impressed to say the least. I didn’t know he had it in him. After getting the ball, he then put it into his peanut bag to make it even more disgusting. It now smells like peanuts. Ew. See picture below:

Peanut Shells in Tote Bag with Baseball!

Here are some pictures from the actual game:

Jimmy Rollins

Placido Polanco Stretching

Placido Polanco

 

Justin Turner

 

Jose Reyes

Carlos Ruiz

Philly Fielders

 

Justin Turner

Raphi's Favorite Ben Francisco

 

Ryan Madson

Our next KHH event will be on Monday, Memorial Day, as the Mets host the Pirates at Shea. We received these tickets for free for sitting through Mets-Nationals a few weeks ago and we picked up our tickets for this game today. It is sure to be a great one, and we will probably go to at least one more Mets-Pirates game in the series. That is all for now, but look out for a video of the announcement of the Mets starting lineup coming soon. Also, Mets-Nets comparisons will finish up tomorrow!

Mets-Nationals Preview

As of now, the Mets game tonight has not been rained out and we are still planning on being in attendance. There are some changes to the teams that I wish to inform you of before the game. The biggest change is that because of the rainout yesterday, Dillon Gee has been bumped out of the rotation and replaced by the man who was supposed to start yesterday, Jon Niese. This will be our first Niese game. Luckily, Gorzy will still start for Washington. In other news, the Mets’ disabled list is growing. Here are the players now on the DL: Pedro Beato, Ike Davis, Angel Pagan, Bobby Parnell, Johan Santana, David Wright, Chris Young. The Mets’ lineup tonight is sure to be interesting. On Monday, Willie Harris started at third base. Oh boy. Because of all the injury problems, the Mets have recently called up Mike O’Connor. He is a former Montreal Expo draft pick and a former National. He played for the Nationals for 2 years before coming to the Mets this year. Those two years were 2006 and 2008. That means that he randomly took 2007 off, then skipped 3 more years, and then came to the Mets. He’s pitched for the Mets so far in 5 games this year, shockingly giving up 0 earned runs. However, his career ERA is 5.23. Hopefully we will see him tonight.

Mike O'Connor. Ew.