NL East

Is it any surprise that the Toronto Blue Jays are the best defensive team in the majors this season?

This past Tuesday night, I was making my way along on my summer trip and was spending the day in New York City.  I spent the night at CitiField, watching the Mets take on the St. Louis Cardinals.  I was keeping close tabs on the scoreboard in left-centerfield so I knew how the Tigers were doing. 

I saw the Tigers take a late lead and then noticed that they had put Joel Zumaya into the game.  I said to my friend that I wouldn’t be surprised if Zumaya coughed up the lead, since he’s been struggling for most of the month. 

The following took place during the 2008 winter:

Once upon a time there lived a young boy. He wasn’t so young. In fact, he was 26. His name was Fernando Alexis Nieve, and he was a pitcher that had been buried in the Houston Astros’ organization for almost 10 seasons. He had glimpses of time in the big leagues, but nothing substantial.

Since being signed as an amateur free agent in 1999, Nieve had pitched just 25.1 innings at the big league level. His ERA was above six, and the future looked bleak.

But then something happened.

Will the Mets light up victory cigars in 2009?

As I write this, I have just witnessed the New York Mets get two-hit by the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of a four-game set at Citi Field to fall to 35-34 on the year, three losses back of the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.

BY MICHAEL GANCI

EDITOR

The Mets were beaten by Joel Pineiro and the Cardinals tonight by the score of 3-0. Livan Hernandez pitched well once again, allowing just three runs in seven innings, but Pineiro was just better. He pitched to contact, and his sinker was working with perfection. The Mets just simply had nothing to answer him with.

Yesterday, I spent a while sitting in the car while driving to the Mets game, and I listened to Mike Francesa talk about how the Mets’ season is effectively over. He said, “Rather than the Mets trying to tread water, they are just trying to tread.”

While this may be an accurate statement, I am not going to be so quick to just give up on the team. That won’t solve any of our problems.

Remember what Tug McGraw said, "Ya gotta believe!"

Time once again for an update on the National League all-star race.

As expected Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez have held on to the top spots for the second base and outfield positions. Utley did give up the overall lead for votes to St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols however.

In an exclusive series to How Bout Them Mets we will look back at some of the transactions made by the New York Mets in their 47 year history. I would like to focus on those acquisitions which on the surface sent Mets fans into a frenzy.

What could be a better starter then the man (actually one of the men) who was traded for “The Franchise”, Tom Seaver. When this trade became known to the public it was known in New York as the “Midnight Massacre.”