GadZOOKS!! ZEKE is Back!!

Isiah Thomas is back in the employ of the New York Knicks Front Office.  Huh?  Kind of anyway.  OK...we're not going to over react are we?  Maybe.  Let's see what we're working with here.

Many teams found their Path towards Displeasure with Stephan Marbury a rather short one.  Zeke traded to get him.  He brought him to Broadway and decided to build around him.  Zeke also hired Larry Brown to a five year deal to be coach of this Knick team.  The short version is Zeke allowed Marbury to circumvent every step of the chain of command starting with Brown.  Marbury went to Zeke direct.  There was no Brown for Stephon.  There was an Intern in the back of an Escalade though.  (DOH!).   Brown was powerless against Marbury's self-absorption and disregard for proper channels.  What drove Coach Brown more insane than anything was Marbury's reluctance to adhere to Brown's system.  Coach Larry Brown was fired after one year and the Knicks ate a lot off money on that contract.

Remember the Continental Basketball Association?  Zeke is widely regarded to be the one responsible for driving that League into the ground and having it end up in bankruptcy.

Does anyone even remember the Lenny Wilkens days at this point?  I thought so.

Remember when he stepped in as coach?  How he had more plays designed for Ms. Sanders than he could muster for the Knick with 7.3 seconds left in the game and no time-outs?  Let's face that fact too...he didn't have any set plays and he just wasn't a good coach at all.

The Sexual Harassment issue?  Hmmm.  He cost the owner $11 million Dolan Dollars to settle with Ms. Sanders.  But he also brought shame to a very proud and long standing stalwart of the NBA.

Continuing along his path of financial mushroom clouds, Zeke traded away any and all our expiring contracts and plunged us into Cap Hell Abyss.  There was a window when he had a chance to move the team away from that.  But Zeke slammed that window shut and really did a job on this franchise that had ramifications for years to come; as impactful and harmful as Ewing's contract set this organization back initially.  I'll cut him a break and not even dissect the Eddie Curry trade and other dubious moves he made, to include torpedoing our lottery pick(s).

There were rumors not to long ago that Donnie Walsh would retire and Zeke would be named the next GM of the Knicks.  Then again, I heard that same rumor about Allen Houston.  Donnie Walsh said he isn't going anywhere until his contract is up.

Can I, as a Knick fan, have Zeke as my GM, after everything that transpired with Zeke the first time around?

NO!  He wielded too much power around here, abused it and drove this franchise into chaos.  The Knicks were a moribund organization and a laughing stock under his stewardship.

Because of him I completely became unplugged.  I closed my eyes on the NBA.  I forgot and the who's who of basketball rosters changed and I found myself literally out of touch with the NBA..  I finally have my interest increasing with steady upticks in curiosity.  I'm always a KNICKS fan OK?  But I just had to ignore for my own mental sanity.

If he is meant to be a periphery entity behind the scenes at MSG; not seen nor heard ~ if he is here back in Dolan's inner circle to add input on talent evaluation for the draft and otherwise......(*sigh*)...If Dolan must do so...Zeke is good at it, so I guess it's fine because Dolan has this affinity for Zeke that boggles the mind of greater Metropolis.

So the guy drafted well.  (Another sigh)  Zeke found a lot of talent on the rear end of the first pound selections the Knicks were positioned with.  Somehow he drafted firecracker Nate Robinson, David Lee, Trevor Ariza and Channing Frey in slots where your not supposed to get that kind of talent.  He drafted other nice names and he's getting the respect for that here.

I just can't have him making that rumor come true by becoming the GM of the Knicks.  No.

Mike.BTB

http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/

MET YEAR 8 A.D. (After Doubleday)

Yes Met fans...

welcome to my continuing dissertation about

Met Year 8 A.D. ~ AFTER DOUBLEDAY.

This morning on Boomer and Carton (660WFAN) a caller reminded me of some pretty cutting words our former co-owner of the Mets made as parting shots against his soon to be former partner and about the Mets in general.  We need to go back to 2003.  The Mets were pretty bad.  Actually they were in chaos not much unlike today.

Nelson Doubleday sold his half of the New York Metropolitans in a very contentious deal to his co-partner Fred Wilpon.  On the way out, so to say, Mr. Doubleday shared a few thoughts with the Star-Ledger newspaper in New Jersey one day.

 A Google search instantly brought up the ESPN article chronicling Nelson Doubleday's loose lips.  He was always good for a crack line back then regardless.  I also remind everyone Doubleday wanted to renovate Shea Stadium.  Wilpon always insisted on his shrine to the Dodgers.  This bares out when you read the sarcasm when referring to John Franco. 

Background; Fred Wilpon is from Brooklyn, went to High School in my neighborhood of Bensonhurst and played with Sandy Koufax on that H.S. team.  Oh yea...and he was a big Brooklyn Dodger fan.

OK, the ESPN article:

On Jeff Wilpon who was beginning to have a burgeoning role within the organization:

“Mr. Jeff Wilpon has decided that he’s going to learn how to run a baseball team and take over at the end of the year… Run for the hills, boys. I think probably all those baseball people will bail… Jeff sits there by himself like he’s King Tut waiting for his camel.”


On the 2003 season ~ “I think it’s been awful out there,  - I don’t want to fire shells at somebody, but we’re 22 games out. It’s so close that it gets you nervous. We might fall into a minor league. We might not even make it into Triple-A.”

Nelson Doubleday said exactly what he was feeling this day and apparently had no want of holding back his feelings, and making them quite known.  

Doubleday doesn't even go to the games anymore because Jeff is there.  Doubleday really couldn't stand him.


About Jeff, Doubleday said, “Jeff sits there by himself like he’s King Tut waiting for his camel,” Doubleday told the paper. “Hump one. Hump two. They like that, two for the price of one.”

Doubleday also criticized the Mets for how they handled the Mike Piazza situation. The Mets want Piazza to learn to play first base to ease the physical workload of his catching duties.  “I like the skill and finesse with which they told Mike he is going to be a first baseman,” Doubleday told the paper. “That’s like an over sized truck trying to get through the Midtown Tunnel. ‘Here’s your hat. What’s your hurry?’ “  Is there anything today to campare and contrast with?  You Betcha!  How about the equally tactless manner they treated Todd Hundley.  Look what they did between Kaz Matsui and Reyes.  Look how they botched the Randolph firing.....ect.

This next comment was just oozing with sarcasm.  Because of Fred Wilpon I'm sure Nelson was up to his earlobes in old Brooklyn stories as told to by Fred.  Wilpon was so under Doubleday's skin...the most commonly word used to describe Nelson's feeling back then towards Wilpon was how "insufferable" he found him.   So on John Franco Doubleday offered this:

- On 42-year-old reliever John Franco, who recently returned from major elbow surgery: “There’s a great pitcher. The other night, it didn’t look like he could throw it through the hole in a life preserver. But he’s from Brooklyn! Watch out! He goes home to Ebbets Field every night. He takes a ride on the Cyclone.”

Please See the Complete ESPN article from JUNE 2003
as it was written

HERE

 as it is clear mine is a very poor redaction of ESPN's article. 

So please , check out theirs to see how it really reads out.

.

I've said so many times the owner with the better baseball acumen of this organization left

with Nelson Doubleday.  Welcome to MET Year 8 A.D. folks.

BTB

http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/

"Is the sun going to come up tomorrow?"

(Preface ~ Yeah folks...I'm just getting started. This stream of thought is going to last a little while).

Yes Fred; the sun will come up tomorrow. The sun shines on a dog's behind once a day too ya know.

While in Connecticut taking care of some SNY business, Mets principle owner Fred Wilpon was ambushed by the reporters on hand and was pressed into commenting on the status of his General Manager, Omar Minaya.

Is that a Wilponian forecast that 2011 will be just as sunny as the current 2010 solar flare registering .500 degrees on the Win Percentage thermometer?  Get yourself a good pair of really dark sunglasses folks. Not because Fred declared the future being really bright; because it will help dim the view of another seasonal flicker at the Citi Field flame out.

Is that harsh of me? The Wilpons seem to be telling us in not so many words, what you see today you will be seeing next April also.  Jerry Manuel might be the only one not returning for another sun tan in Wilpon's sun. But Ollie, Castillo, Beltran and maybe Frenchy too, are seemingly going to be here next Spring accompanied by their returning GM.

I don't know if we'll be in the unique situation we are in now, meaning a rebuilding is very viable and executable in our current condition. These next two seasons have evolved into a golden oppotunity to right this ship! 

Is this organization going to make the right decisions over the next two seasons? Or is the S.S. Wilpon just turning into the iceberg?

That's what you should be worried about Fred; the iceberg dead ahead. Stop looking up to the sun ~ you'll burn your eyeballs out.

Besides, weather forecasters are the only people I know who get to be wrong everyday, get paid for it and still keep their jobs while looking good doing it. Umpires are closing in but they're generally less attractive that them news teams. Yowzza!

"The sun will come out..." Pffff !

I'll take good decisions and a winner on a cloudy day anytime.
When the sun comes up tomorrow be sure to pet that dog for me, will ya Fred?

And do not blow this for us!

Mike.BTB
http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/

Omar is Safe ~ Wilpon is Dangerous

Omar and Fred Wilpon during Spring Training

Omar is Safe.  Fred Wilpon said so today (Thursday) from Connecticut.  Fred said Omar is the GM though 2011.  Let's face it, for those Met fans who want Omar fired, Fred Wilpon is not going to eat the remaining salary owed to him.  What I'm not going to get angry about here and now,  is why on Earth, when your team is sitting at exactly a .500 winning percentage would you give your GM a nice soft pillow to land on?  Wouldn't you play the moment as an owner and stretch that out till the off-season?

Omar is signed for two more years.  Besides that, the Wilpons don't have a clue as to who they would hire next.  I went on ad-nausea about how Omar was the last vestige of front office personnel brought into this organization through a long stream of in-house executive development.  Omar is the last top level executive familiar to the Wilpons and they to Omar.  That's the way the Wilpons operate.  They have never strayed outside the organization with respect to their front office.  Frank Cashen brought in numerous persons who worked their way through our front office.  Harazin, Joe McLvaine and Steve Phillips were all Frank Cashen students; and Jerry Hunsicker should be included in this list.  Steve Phillips brought Jim Duquette into the fold as he did with Omar Minaya.  You have to go back to the first appointment; the architect of the 80's; Frank Cashen himself as the only time this ownership, to include Nelson Doubleday then, has gone outside of the organization.  That is something self-inherently omitted because naturally, he was first.

All names I have mentioned have been used, exhausted and dismissed over time.  Omar is the last one whom the Wilpons have familiarity with.  Wilpon himself does not have a plan in place for possible life after Omar.  I'm convinced of that.  That! - is a prospect that I believe causes the Wilpons to lose sleep.  They know what I'm about to say is true.  The Wilpons lack Baseball acumen.  They just do.  They are overly reliant on others to run Baseball Operations but they interfere with operations that are in the best interest if the team.  There is just a very poor front office structure; meaning Omar and Jeff and the direct cross connect between the two.

Stop it with the total nonsense that John Ricco, Mets' Assistant GM, is a viable replacement, temporary or otherwise.  For that, I'll jump on Wilpon's sentiment and keep Omar.

Regardless of rants and any tangents I ever went on about the Mets, I am still cool with Omar.  Why?  That's no secret either.  I put this all on Jeff Wilpon, the team's COO.

He's the one calling the shots.  Make no mistake.

So lets get practical for a sec...   Let's be pragmatic about this situation.  Omar, it's clear will not be fired.  He will be the NYM GM in 2011.  He may very well still be the GM in 2012.  That's fine because I will repeat what I have said many times; The next GM hire scares the B'jeebers out of me.  It's a hire I think they'll (Mets) get all wrong.  But I am not anti-Omar because I think Jeff is pulling all the strings behind the scene.

The Wilpons have said one thing and have done things contrary to their word.  They aren't willing to tell their fans the truth about the financial stability our or local and favorite team.

Fans ultimately foot the bill for everything.!  So I have a certain demand that the Wilpons be more forthright about this team's financial viability in light of their and Sterling Equity's involvement in (victim of) the Madoff scandal, and the fleecing of a reported small fortune through ponzi schemes.  We just recently heard reported that monies Sterling Equities invested including employee 401K assets with said Madoff too were lost.  That's a fuzzy account I admit...but the report has been aired involving just that.

So back to Pragmatism ~  There is nothing I can do with the front office personnel in place.  So let's add one more then.

This team needs a Baseball Qualified Team President.  This organization needs a President that will keep the Wilpons at bay AND at ease knowing the business and the bottom line P and L are being tended to.  This team needs a Team President to separate and distance Omar Minaya from Jeff Wilpon so as to allow Omar to make moves necessary, and moves I trust he can negotiate, and act as a GM with full autonomy the way he needs to, but by being accountable to a President.  The President will provide Omar his autonomy and freedom from Wilpon's shackles while at the same time, keeping the Wilpon's bottom line at the heart and core of his efforts.

That's why I believe Team Presidents are important and play vital roles within organisations.  Some GM/Presidents are very good at handling the dual responsibility; or should I say handling the elimination of a position?  Some however are not as good at juggling both titles.

Omar should be working on getting this team in an optimal position for success through assembling a roster of players he thinks can work towards that end and by ensuring the farm system is capable of providing depth and high end prospects.  That can not happen nor can he function if Wilpon is constantly making Omar make decisions for reasons that ill affect the play on the field and have more to do with an uncertain foundation they might be crumbling upon as owners.  Yes there is speculation the Wilpons may very well have to sell this team; and sooner than later.

I strayed a little...But if the Mets are committed to giving themselves a  more effective business model and a more clearly defined chain of command ~ Hire a team President and let Omar do what he does best and that is evaluate players.  He's already proven he can lure and big name and seal a deal. 

We just need to get Jeff out of his hair.  That's why team Presidents are important.  The hybrid GM/Pres does not work in METropolis.

Jeff ~ hire a Team President to preside over all your Baseball Operations while he keeps your best interest in mind on the business end.  Do you understand this?

By the looks of things  I'd say No!

(This is the face of danger...to Met fans)

Other GM's around the League whether current or former, are on record as saying they wood not work for the Mets because they didn't like their Management/front office structure.  Do you really want a name?  Someone, among others who share that sentiment is none other that Pat Gillick.  You can look it up.

just sayin....

mike.BTB


http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/

A-ROD HITS #444 !!!

The Player Formally Known As Alex Rodriguez

has to the best of our interpretive abilities,

hit career Home Run number

!!!444!!!

Congratulations Alex

You've earned every one of those.
(we think)

Mike.BTB

Home Run Number 600

The player formally known as Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th career Home Run in this afternoon's game versus Toronto.  He becomes only the 7th player All Time to accomplish this feat.

Baseball deserves to be more excited about this marvelous achievement. I certainly am one who could be.

Congratulations Alex.

I hope you think the Loosey Goosey times of your naive and stupid youth were worth it.

You've achieved a very special number. Will the respect follow?  That's up to you...but only to a point.


Mike.BTB

Stop the Insanity

A public service message by....Me.

STOP!

You can't qualify everything.  Baseball is predicated on failure.  The law of averages rule the day.  It might be fun enough to try and predict something such as...oh, I dunno...a 600th Home Run by someone formerly known as Alex Rodriguez.  You can't predict when someone is going to get 3 hits during 10 at-bats. 

That's why the great moments are special and remain rare until they actually happen.

My ears aren't pointing up and my tail is kinda level right now.  It's awfully weird defending Alex right now.  Trust me.  He may be pressing.  He is being called a distraction, but only by the Media because they have nothing else to speak/write about, and....well, he hasn't hit #600 yet.

A very short time ago no one outside Yankee-Ville really cared about his count down towards 600.  Now it's all the talk because he hasn't gotten it done in what seems to be an eternity that has, to be fair, surpassed 45+ at-bats now (or something like that).

It irks me to hear someone who can't hit an MLB fastball,  ponder why an MLB player can not hit an MLB fastball when he's called upon to do so; as if the laws of statistics demand you to get a hit at that very moment.  C'mon!!  We all know baseball doesn't work that way.  Baseball giveth; Baseball taketh away.

He'll hit it when he hits it.  That's Baseball!  Baseball is not on Demand.  That's only good for HBO and shitte like that.

If a player gets 33 hits in 100 times at-bat he's doing something pretty spectacular by baseball standards.  Who the hell can say for certain when a player should get those hits?  Before you pull out your codex of Probability, think about keeping it in your pocket unless you care to take it home in a different part of your person.  I'm not interested in any excuse why he hasn't done it.

When Baseball decides to grant him number 600, we'll be the first to know.  I'm sure.  So just chill everyone.

Bewildered as I am for doing this,  leave ARod alone on this one.  It's not his fault he's part of something made for Earl Weaver who lived on starting pitching and the three run home run.  If the Yankees aren't hitting home runs, they struggle.  That's how they do.  That is nothing new, so stop trying to pin the phenomenon on ARod.  Blame it on the planned structure and brain child of Brian Cashman.  Don't mistake this for criticism.  The Yankee bench has always taken a back seat to the long ball.  That's what they do.  But it's that very trait, cheating the bench of competence, capable ability and scrappiness, that cause unfortunately early playoff eliminations (that get blamed on Joe Torre) in otherwise very successful seasons.

As a team...that's a hell of an expensive batting slump they got going.  We all know when they bust out it's overwhelming though.

Those Rays don't want to go away do they.?

Doh!

Mike.BTB

Benefits of Eating Fruit

I like rubber grapes!

"Brushing Up" in BROOKLYN

A post as/of June 24th

"I'm living in Brooklyn for twenty years now.  I love it here.  I originally lived in upper Manhattan and Bronx.  I lived in Queens for some time.  But this place is great.  It's just me and my box of paints; looking for work.  Brooklyn loves people who get up everyday and do their thing.  In Queens I'd get out there with my easel and no one gave a notice or a look.  I've loved art all my life.  I've been oil painting for 30 years.  I'm 55 years old now."

Those were RON NESBITT's words.  Who's he?  The answer is he's the reason why I had to slam on the brakes of the TROLLEY this morning.  He didn't jump in front of me and get hit or anything like that.  It's what he was doing on the sidewalk that got my attention and I had to stop.

Ron is an artist; a self-proclaimed Baseball Artist to be more exact.  On this fine morning I caught him working at his office "of the day".  His sidewalk studio was all set up on Vanderbuilt Avenue, only a few blocks from where construction on the new "Brooklyn" Nets arena is being built, when I pulled up.  There was no need to knock as his work area had that open feel to it and no door.  What stopped me in particular?  After all, an artist plying his/her trade on a NYC sidewalk is not uncommon or unusual here, especially in this part of town.  What stopped me cold were these:

(oil paint on window glass)

Please excuse my own reflection.  Ron uses glass as his canvas laid over a separate background so as to give his work a 3-D effect.  These are his representations of EBBETS FIELD and of old YANKEE STADIUM.

The Ebbets Field frame he said is for Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President.  Ron's hope is that this work will get placed in Borough Hall.  As an aside, money is really a secondary issue to him right now.  He is more interested in just getting his work shown around town; preferably for schools and things of that kind of city nature.  Ultimately he wants to present MLB offices here in NYC with a proposal for his works.  I wish you well with that Ron!  May all luck be with you.

I got more than I bargained for by meeting up with Ron this morning.  He had great little anecdotes about the old New York Giants and about his Father's love for them.  It was just the other day in my Adelman's post I was saying how the New York Giants don't get much talk around these parts like the Brooklyn Dodgers do.  Well, go figure.  It took Ron, if you remember, who said he was originally from upper Manhattan to shed some light on that for me.  That was Giants territory he speaks of.  And that's where his Pop rooted for the neighborhood team.  Ron said he is absolutely amazed by the love of the Brooklyn Dodgers here; still, after all these years.  Ron the 54 year old never did make it to the Polo Grounds or Ebbets Field although he said he does remember seeing the Polo Grounds on TV when the Mets played there.  His Pop went though.  He said his Father also told him the old New York Giants fans didn't gravitate towards the Mets right away like the Brooklyn Dodger fans did.  He said it took much longer for those old Giants fans to affiliate with a team again.  Most of them eventually became Met fans but some remained as no fan at all.  Sure some folks jumped to the Yankees.  But it's my understanding from everyone I speak with about those days the Yankee fan base just continued normally with no discernible influx of Dodger and Giant fans.

(oil paint on window glass)

Ron?  The shirt and hat he was wearing threw me off.  C'mon Ron...a Yankee cap and a Jeter shirt?  Ron told me he was a Mets fan.  Me and you have some discussing to do about your attire today my friend.  But all is forgiven.  He's a true Mets fan indeed.  Donn Clendenon is his favorite All-Time Met.  That's a damn good choice.  Big Donn was the muscle behind the Miracle Mets of 1969.  He like me, likes the way the Mets have been playing.  Before we continued on with our days he added, "When the Mets are in the World Series, it's a feeling in your gut!  The Yanks?  Eh - take it or leave it."

Yea!  That's my boy!

Ron specializes in Baseball Art, and today I learned there's a lot of passion for Baseball that goes into every brush stroke he takes to his glass canvass.  If you would like to commission Ron Nesbitt for a Baseball related work, he left his contact information.

Me?  I'm happy to have made a new friend.  As such a big fan of the history and nostalgia of Baseball I'm happy to have Ron Nesbitt's work here on my BlogPage.  We've agreed; I get to utilize his art works for my own love of baseball and my posting entertainment and in return I get him some exposure.  I think it's a great way for two Baseball fans to come together and share our love of the game in a way beneficial to each other.

But the bottom line here folks;  This is how We Do in Brooklyn.  Ron Nesbitt IS my neighbor like all the other friends we've ever visited on my (self-described Glorious) Trolley.

Ron, I look forward to seeing more of your work here, and hopefully getting you some exposure in the process.  If I can help by having you join us on the TrolleyBlogger, let it be done.

Get in contact with RON NESBITT:

phone ~ 718-230-0513

You can find him outside 601 Vanderbuilt Avenue...painting!
Prospect Heights Neighborhood, Brooklyn

He'll paint anything Baseball.

Good Luck my friend.

Mike.BTB

**************************************************

These pictures of Ron's work are from this morning August 3rd.
He and I have been talking since we first met.  Today was another very engaging conversation and time well spent talking about Baseball and the ol' neighborhood of
Prospect Heights.

Same as above.

(window glass/oil paint)

(window glass/oil paint)

An unfinished Joltin' Joe DiMaggio

Can't wait to see the completed piece.

(window glass/oil paint)

Satchel Paige

http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/

Mike.BTB

Five Years Later

Five seasons and four playing months ago, former Mets front office employee Omar Minaya was "begged" by the Wilpons to return and run their team.  Jim Duquette was actually the GM; but a lame-duck one at that.
The Mets, in Wilponian fashion, had two GM's as 2004 came to a close.  Jim Duquette was subsequently relieved of his post and the S.S. Wilpon set sail from that moment with Omar at the Helm.

The Wilpons ordered Omar Minaya to take the team out of the holding pattern they imposed upon Jim Duquette.  Two years later the Mets were a 96 win team and came within one strike or hit of making it to the World Series in 2006.

Two very frustrating seasons ended in defeat for the Mets on their last day of play.  Twice needing a victory to gain the playoffs; twice they failed to defeat the Florida Marlins when they need ONE GAME.

The 2009 season fell apart like wet toilet paper due to injury and compounded by very fundamentally poor play by whomever was on the field any given day.

Omar fired Art Howe to end the previous era he inherited.  Omar then totally botched, but none-the-less, still fired Willie Randolph on the West Coast under the cover of NYC night.  Today Jerry Manuel sits, and has for some time now, and will remain, on the hot seat.  Why?

Because after getting defeated tonight by the first place and newly rebuilt Atlanta Braves by a score of 4-1, which followed a drubbing at the hands of a woefull D-Backs club the night before, at home by the way, the club Omar Minaya appointed Jerry Manuel to guide is officially, as of August 2nd, a .500 team.

Five seasons and four playing months later...the Mets are a .500 team.

That's just the way it has played out folks.  I didn't really inject my opinions into that.  Did I?  How we got here and what happened along the way is a different conversation I've been having.....No?

(that was yesterday's post ~ tonight they are currently tied 1-1 with the Braves in the 5th inning.)

Mike.BTB

http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/

S.O.S ~ M.E.T.S

Ok...you (Media and Met Fans) wanted to use this road trip as the ultimate litmus test to see what kind of team they would be the rest of the way.  They lost 4-1 to the Braves and Tim Hudson tonight.  Shall we call tonight the first word in a sentence that will ultimately read ~ Any hopes for the playoffs and this season are over?  Shall we?  Hmmm?

Is that defeatist of me?  This is the question I always ask myself and work forward from there;
Are we equipped to make it through three rounds of playoffs?  That's it.  That's my gauge.  It's a simple yes or no question.

If I am the Mets, put everyone except our young-lings on waivers.  We just may get lucky and be able to exfoliate some of this dead skin and make em someone else's problem.  That includes Johan Santana!!

How serviceable do you think he will be to the Mets in 2012? ~ Because that's when this rebuilding effort should be most completed.  Think about that.  Remember...buy low - sell HIGH.  There is value in that arm of his and I don't mean when he's on the Citi Field mound.

Mike.BTB

http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/

J-E-T-S ~ Uh Oh!!

J ~ just   E ~ enjoy   T ~ the   S ~ show

J E T S ~ Just Enjoy The Signings

J E T S ~ Just Enough To Succeed?

J E T S ~ Just Execute The System

J E T S ~ Jokes End This Season?

J E T S ~ Just Enjoy The Season!

I'm a Big Blue Giants Fan but there's no doubt the "Roaring Jets" own the BUZZ right now. That's cool with me. No insecurities here. I've heard it said this is a Jets town now. Uh...no. They may own the day but this is still a Giants Town; no knock on the Jets. But they've taken major strides under Woody Johnson that were not taken under Leon Hess.

The Jets have earned the rights to the air waves right now.

But I was thinking the Giants' defensive front basically won us a Super Bowl with an average secondary and two "good"(?) linebackers. Shouldn't Revis Island get back on the mainland?

A lot of talk lately has Derrelle Revis' play as key to the schemes Team Rex likes to employ. That may be true, but the Giants proved the front line took the pressure of the secondary and not the other way around. That's not a blanket statement; it just worked out for the Giants. I don't blame Revis for his stance. Rex was a major contributor to this problem. But, defensively speaking, he's a corner back. There's a pecking order. I am in no way trying to minimize his great talent and skill. But c'mon...you're a corner-back. Get in camp. This was all spurned on by "foot-in-mouth" cheer leading on Rex's part. But still ~ M. Haynes and Hayse, the great corners of the Browns in the 80's, any great corner you can name, even our own Mark Collins (LOL) never were SB MVP's. So c'mon...get off the Island and into camp. Don't piss off the Jet fans. Not yet anyway!

I get that Rex's systems have historically been predicated on the ability of his corners to employ single coverage.  That allows maximum pressure on the quarterback by the front 6-7-or 8...hell sometimes even 9.
But c'mon.

If Mike Tannenbaum told Revis he was going to take care of him in good faith because he out-performed his contract, I'm sure he meant it.  But Al Davis went and gave that guy with an alphabet for a name all that money for a corner?  Jeez!  I'm sure Tannenbaum had every intention of upgrading Revis' contract but it seems Revis' representation smelled blood in the water and decided to take his client on the rough road through a wild romp through opportunism.



Nothing but love for them....just havin fun.



Tannenbaum needs to get a grip on what he created too because this team is all on him!  This is a one or two year team.  But a team worth building considering the chances he's taking regarding personalities.
 
Mike.BTB

Yankee Pankee ~ DeadLine Duds

This is just an opinion of mine; like eveything else in this blog.

The Yankee's dead-line deals are the same type of deals that make role players and players off the Yankee bench get lost in space.  These moves, prior moves and subsequent moves and many moves are precisely the kind of moves I think got the Yankees eliminated earlier than the Yanks would have liked, from 2002 through 2008.  Most of that blame was placed squarely on Joe Torre's shoulders.  He received most of the heat for that.  He may have had his fair share of blame.  But the lack of scrappy, gritty role players and hungry prepared players off the bench was something those teams lacked.

There is a place on championship teams for the Chicken Stanley, Brian Doyle,

Buddy Biancalana, Al Wiess, Mark Lemke, Juis Sojo and Jose Vizciano's   etc etc  in life,

and on World Series winners.

I know it sounds weak coming off last year's WS victory.  So what?

It's an opinion I have always maintained.

Oh by the way....A.J. Burnett was horrible again tonight.

and no home run number

600

for the player formally known as Alex Rodriguez tonight either.

Problem is still the fact no one really cares and the Media is loosing their interest also.

Guess Michael Kay will be screaming to himself when it does happen.

If you want to know what that call will sound like on the radio broadcast, tune in because on any given pop-up or shallow fly, John Sterling is liable to go High and Far in yet another figment of his imagination.

S'up?!

S.S. Trolley is Setting Sail

Bonn Voyage'!!!  <------(?)

I am a man of my word.  The trade deadline came and went.  I said if the Mets chose to remain inactive (which was a good idea in my grand scheme of things) during the trading deadline, the next day should be the first day to start calling up kids and shaking things up.

That day (trade deadline) came and went. The Mets smartly did nothing; smartly did nothing stupid that is.

I'm not going off on subjects I've been going off on since the winter.  But recently I let my sentiments about the Flushing developments be known.

On a full time basis I want Josh Thole at catcher.  I want Fernando Martinez in right field.  I'd like Ruben Tejada, Jon Malo, Reese Havens or Wilmer Flores at second base.  It's time to call up pitchers Dillon Gee or Dylan Owen, or both.  Lucas Duda has been having a fine season down below and maybe deserves a look during the September Call-Ups in the outfield also.  Henrry Mejia should be all stretched out by then and I'm interested to see what strides he's made.  And I'm always looking for steady improvement out of Bobby Parnell.

Carlos Beltran; Luis Castillo; Rod Barrajas; Jeff Francoeur; Oliver Perez...et al -  Can you feel the breeze?
Yep...that ship has sailed, mates.

Jerry Manuel may have the rest of the season.  I'd make him no promises about next year.

This however is my one major thought of the day:

You can't fire the owners and I need Jeff Wilpon out of Omar's ear and out of his way so he can get this mess straightened out and the rebuilding transitioned effectively.  Jeff and Fred Wilpon are clearly giving this team it's directive but for many of the wrong reasons.  That's because they are a reactive ownership and haven't been forthright with their fan base.

What I need is a good strong, Baseball Qualified, Team President.  I need separation between Omar and Jeff.  A good team President will ensure the owners priorities are met and kept and also ensure the GM has his directives free of interference and yet authority to act in the best interest of the club.

My ship has sailed.  The day is upon us Met Fans.  2011 and 2012 start NOW!  Or at least they should.

There is way too much talk that the Met season rests with this road trip they started in Atlanta tonight.  They just got the b'jeezers knocked out of them by the D-Backs at home where they are supposed to be playing well.

This road trip?  C'mon!  When are we just going to face reality instead of disingenuously drawing Momar Kadafy-like lines in the sand.  Do we really need to wait to see how this road trip will play out?  Do we?  Really?  That's been part of our problems as Met Fans and as an organization.  We are too quick to hold on to something that doesn't exists.  Too many, to include the Wilpons are clinging on to a phantom called the 2006 season.  Let Go Already!!


Tote that barge...lift that bail!!!  I'm setting sail. 

Will the S.S. Wilpon continue to take on water?  We'll see.

Mike.BTB

PIGSKIN

From Albany, N.Y.

GIANTS CAMP 2010

Yes! 

It's that time of year again.

Mike

http://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.blogspot.com/