Jason Bay

Back when the Mets signed Jason Bay, I wrote an article titled "Bay Brings More Than Bat." I wrote about his character, the "grit" that he has, the grinder that he is. I wrote about his professionalism, work ethic, how he goes about his business, the type of team mate that he is, and how that will rub off on his fellow Mets.

If you just look at his numbers this season you will be disappointed. If you are a fan who just looks for highlights and doesn't really appreciate the small things, you could be disappointed in even watching him.

The city of Chicago has seen its share of hard times. In 1871 they had a massive fire that lasted for days. It destroyed everything in it's wake. The city rebuilt though and once again became a prominent destination in the United States, both economically and competitively.

They have had sports teams struggle in mediocrity and succeed to the heights of their profession. Among their teams are the Bears, who have such a storied history in the NFL that it speaks for itself and the Bulls, who have won many NBA championships and were the sports dynasty of the 90's.

When looking at the Mets this year, fans can see there is one thing they truly lack: charisma.

Jerry Manuel is known for his laid back attitude and approach to the game. So far this has been terribly unsuccessful. He has a 147-152 record since taking over as Mets manager midway through the 2008 season. Mediocrity is not acceptable in New York.

The Mets need a charismatic manager who brings fire and passion to the game. The team needs to be energized. The perfect manager for the job is Bobby Valentine.

The worm is turning.  New York's most beloved franchise is in first place, one-half game ahead of the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies. 

There comes a point during a long baseball season that a particular game proves to be the turning point of a season. Last June that proved to be the case on the wrong side for the Mets when Luis Castillo stumbled and dropped a Alex Rodriguez pop up in a 9-8 loss to the Yankees.

Even though 2009 was lost, that one moment began a total spiral out of control that left the Mets as a franchise twisting in the wind.

Fast forward to 2010.

To say Jason Bay has had a fairly quiet start to his time as a Met would be an understatement. The prized offseason acquisition has been as good as invisible in the heart of Jerry Manuel's lineup, struggling to find his grove at the plate.

If Citi Field is the ballpark where home runs go to die, Jason Bay is the hitter who has killed innings that once start with so much promise. Well, him and Jeff "4-6-3" Francoeur.

In typical New York Mets fashion, the opposite of what was expected is now becoming a reality.

If someone were to tell you last February that Jason Bay and David Wright would be the problem during the early days of the 2010 season and not the pitching staff, you would have probably looked at them as if they had spent the last 12 months on the moon.

But as we should have expected, the opposite is once again ringing true with this ball club.

The proof is in the pudding.

The event occurred after my college career was over and I was several seasons into one of the various semi-pro leagues I played in during the summer. Make no mistake about the quality of "summer ball," as these were some of the most competitive seasons we ever played. A regular season was usually a 40-game schedule played over 60 days, then playoffs.

Yesterday at Busch Stadium will be a day that will go down in baseball history. It was truly remarkable that a game in this era of baseball goes a full 18 innings without a run crossing home. 

However, the story of last night's game was not dictated by the hitting, pitching, running, or fielding; it was the managing. And you better believe that there were a lot of questionable moves.

Whenever a game goes that long, there will be a lot of strategical moves that need to be made. Everything from substitutions to sacrifice bunts, to who is going to pitch.