Luis Castillo: I Pity The Fool

Listen up, fools. This is Mr. T, filling in for your usual Studious Metsimus staff. Unlike Justin Bieber, I'm not going to waste your time, so I'll get right to the point. I pity the fool who says stupid things and right now, I pity Luis Castillo.

If you hadn't already heard, during the Mets' recent trip to Washington, the team visited the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where they met and talked to various wounded veterans.

I respect the Mets for visiting these American heroes who put their lives on the line protecting the freedoms we have in this country. However, there were three members who were absent from the team event.

One was Carlos Beltran, who was tending to business surrounding the construction of the high school/baseball academy that will bear his name in his native Puerto Rico. I respect a man who wants to give back to his community, especially in the education department. (Stay in school, don't do drugs.) Therefore, I'll give Beltran a pass for not visiting Walter Reed, especially after finding out that he had already visited a Veterans Hospital last November.

Another of the Three Missing Amigos was Oliver Perez. Although Ollie didn't give a clear excuse for his no-show, it can be assumed that he was doing one of three things:

a) Attending a special screening of "Machete".
2) Opening up his latest restaurant.
iii) Contemplating whether or not he should accept a minor league assignment (even though the minor league regular season is over).

I figure that with the all the free passes Ollie has given to opposing hitters over the years, it's about time someone gives him a free pass, so I won't pity him for skipping out on the team trip to Walter Reed. (But I better get VIP treatment at his restaurant!)

The fool I have a problem with is Luis Castillo. Did you hear the jibber jabber that came out of his mouth when he was asked why he didn't attend?

"I don't like to see people like that, so I never go there. Sometimes you see people with no legs, no arms. I don't like to see that."

So Luis Castillo gets a little squeamish when he sees people without legs or arms. Perhaps our resident Squeam Queen should be reminded that the Mets invite a different wounded member of the military to each home game at Citi Field as part of the "Welcome Back Veterans" program. Some of these veterans lost their limbs while trying to protect the foundations that this country was built on. In other words, those veterans are there to see Luis Castillo. But apparently, he can't spend a few moments with them?

Does Castillo need to be reminded that although he has two hands, he only knows how to use one of them on the field (and sometimes his working hand has been known to be defective)? Perhaps Luis should donate that appendage to one of the veterans who could put it to better use.

Get off your knees, fool! You can't apologize now! You already stuck your foot in your mouth with your insensitive comments. So you cringe at the prospect of seeing a veteran with only one hand. Now you know what Mets fans feel like when you go after a pop-up with that same one hand.

You could have come up with a better excuse, like the one given by Beltran or the multitude of possible excuses for Oliver Perez. I would have forgiven you if you had said you were playing in a "Battleship" tournament to honor the members of the military.


(Side note: Can you imagine Luis Castillo playing "Battleship"? It would sound something like this):

Luis Castillo: K-9.
Opponent: Miss.
Luis Castillo: Crap.
Opponent: E-4.
Luis Castillo: Hit. You sunk my battleship. How did you know it was there?
Opponent: I didn't.
Luis Castillo: Then why did you call out that number?
Opponent: I was thinking of you playing defense and E-4 just naturally popped into my head.


I expected better from you, Luis Castillo, but you had to be a punk by insulting American military personnel. But don't worry. I know where you work. I'm gonna bust you up. Remember my name, fool!

First name...Mr.
Middle name...Period.
Last name...T.

Those men and women fought for YOUR right to have the freedom to come to this country and make the millions of dollars you're making. The next time you have the opportunity to thank them, you better make sure you do, or else you'll have made the worst kind of error.

Are The Mets Worried About Empty Seats In September?

I have been a Mets mini-plan holder since 2002. When the Mets moved into Citi Field last year, I decided to purchase a second mini-plan. I will not be renewing my seats next year because my better half has a full season ticket package and we plan on splitting those tickets in 2011.

When I first became a mini-plan holder, I was thrilled to have tickets to so many games in the same seats. After the Mets moved from Shea Stadium to Citi Field, the demand for tickets was great. In fact, I had numerous parties inquiring if I had any extra tickets to sell. Then the Mets fell out of contention long before the last day of the season and the requests for my tickets subsided. When I tried to sell my tickets to games I couldn't attend on StubHub, there were times I could not find a buyer, even after I had marked down my tickets to as low as $4.86.

This year, the fans have stayed away from Citi Field in droves. In 2009, the Mets averaged 38,941 tickets sold per home game, ranking seventh in the major leagues in home attendance. This year, the average home attendance for Mets games has dropped to 33,335. They now rank 12th in the majors in home attendance.

Whereas the Mets sold 92.7% of their available seats in 2009, they have only sold 79.4% of Citi Field's seats this season. Small market teams like the Milwaukee Brewers are selling more tickets to their home games (on average, 34,655 Brewers tickets are sold per home game) than the Mets are.

Earlier this week, I received a phone call from the Mets ticket office. I was offered two free field level tickets to a future Mets game to be played this season. The representative explained that the Mets were offering these free tickets to their mini-plan holders as a measure of goodwill to thank us for supporting the team. I thought this was very kind of them, but there was one catch. The tickets would not be mailed to the recipient. They would be left at the will-call window at Citi Field, where they could be picked up on the day of the game.

I don't know about you, but at first glance, it appears as if the Mets are concerned that by giving fans their free tickets in advance of the game, those tickets would find their way on StubHub. Once there, they could either be sold cheaply to another party (although it would still represent a profit to the mini-plan holder), or they might remain unsold and the seats would remain empty.

By making the fans pick up their tickets at Citi Field on the day of the game, there's less of a chance that the tickets will be re-sold online or that the fans picking up the tickets will not use them, since they are already there.

The Mets know that their decrease in home attendance will only continue during September, with the Mets out of contention and games against other non-contenders such as Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Washington. They do not want fans to come to Citi Field dressed as empty seats. Of course, they're going to say the right thing, like "we want to thank you for your support", but any intelligent Mets fan can see right through it. The Mets want fannies in the seats in September and apparently, they're willing to give away field level tickets (i.e. the seats that TV cameras pan to regularly) to save face and to try to retain their mini-plan holders' business.

Let's just say that I didn't fall for it. There will be at least two field level seats that will remain unused for an upcoming home game. I guess I should expect the ticket office to call me again this winter when I don't renew my two mini-plans.

The 2006 Cardinals Cursed More Than Just The Mets

Do you see the scene to the left? Those are the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals just moments after winning Game 5 of the World Series, giving them their tenth World Series championship and first since 1982.

On their way to the championship, the Cardinals edged out the Astros to win the NL Central division title, the Padres in the NLDS, the Mets in the NLCS and the Tigers in the Fall Classic.

To Mets fans, their heartbreaking loss in Game 7 to St. Louis is all they remember from the 2006 postseason. It signified the beginning of the end of what was supposed to be an extended run of excellence for the Mets, after ending the Braves' streak of 14 consecutive division titles and cruising to the best regular season record in the National League.

After losing to the Cardinals in 2006, the Mets followed it up with two late-season collapses in 2007 and 2008. The opening of Citi Field in 2009 was the only highlight of an otherwise horrible season in which the Mets finished 70-92. The current 2010 season hasn't been much better, with the Mets virtually eliminated from playoff contention with a month of baseball still remaining.

But what about the other teams the Cardinals had to knock out on their way to the promised land? Mets fans might think they were the only team to be pooped on by the Redbirds in 2006, but they are not alone. In fact, every team the Cardinals eliminated that year has failed to return to the heights they once had since that fateful season.


The Cardinals finished the 2006 regular season with a mediocre 83-78 record. They edged out the second-place Houston Astros by a game and a half in the NL Central, eliminating them on the next-to-last day of the season. The previous year, the Astros had defeated the Cardinals in the NLCS to reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history.

Since the Cardinals knocked out the Astros in the 2006 division race, Houston hasn't sniffed the top of the NL Central, finishing 12 games behind the Cubs in 2007, 11 1/2 games behind the Cubs in 2008 and 17 games behind the Cardinals in 2009. This season, the Astros have a 64-72 record and stand 15 games behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals' division series opponent in 2006 was the San Diego Padres. After winning the NL West division title in 2005, the Padres repeated as division champions in 2006. However, the Cardinals took out the favored Padres in four games in the NLDS. What happened to the Padres after the 2006 NLDS should look familiar to the Mets and their fans.

The 2007 Padres were one strike away from winning the National League Wild Card berth, when on the next-to-last day of the season, Tony Gwynn, Jr. (son of Padres legend Tony Gwynn) hit an RBI triple to send the game into extra innings, a game the Padres eventually lost. The Padres lost the last game of the regular season as well, forcing a one-game playoff with the Colorado Rockies to decide the NL Wild Card winner. When Matt Holliday scored the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning, the Rockies went to the playoffs and the Padres were the victim of a late-season collapse.


After defeating the Padres in the NLDS, the Cardinals played the heavily favored Mets in the NLCS. Let's just skip over that series on move on to the World Series.

In the 2006 World Series, the Cardinals played the American League champion Detroit Tigers. The last time those two teams met each other in the Fall Classic was in 1968, when the Tigers defeated the Cardinals in seven games. This time around, the results were different, with the Cardinals splitting the first two games in Detroit, then taking all three games at Busch Stadium, winning the World Series in five games.

Since falling to the Cardinals in 2006, the Tigers have been one of the biggest disappointments in baseball. After winning 95 games in 2006, the Tigers dropped to 88 wins in 2007, finishing second in the NL Central to the Cleveland Indians. They also finished six games behind the New York Yankees for the American League Wild Card berth. The Tigers then felt they needed to upgrade their offense for the 2008 season, putting together a team that baseball experts predicted would score 1,000 runs. Even ESPN's Buster Olney chimed in, saying:

"Justin Verlander might win 20 games with the staggering run support he is likely to receive, because there are days when he may allow six runs in five innings and still win by a touchdown; the Tigers may be the latest team to take a run at scoring 1,000 runs."

Well, the Tigers began the 2008 season by losing their first seven games. After 13 starts, Justin Verlander was 2-9, with a 5.05 ERA. The Tigers' vaunted offense failed to come anywhere near 1,000 runs, scoring only 821 times. The end result was a 74-88 record, good enough for last place in the NL Central.

The 2009 Tigers appeared to be on the verge of ending the "curse" imposed on the teams that were defeated by the Cardinals in 2006. The Tigers had been in first place for 146 days of the 2009 season. But after holding a three-game division lead over the Minnesota Twins with four games to play, the Tigers became the first team to blow such a lead when they lost the tiebreaker game to Minnesota at the Metrodome. Just like the Padres had lost their one-game playoff to the Rockies in 2007 in the bottom of the 13th inning, the Tigers also lost in the unlucky 13th, when Alexi Casilla's game-winning hit brought home ex-Met Carlos Gomez.

The 2010 season may have yet another collapse. The San Diego Padres, who owned the best record in the National League for most of the season, have now lost 10 consecutive games. Their chokehold on the NL West has loosened and the Giants and Rockies are now closing in on them in the standings, with the Giants standing one game out of first and the Rockies looming 4 1/2 games out, waiting to make their latest September run at the postseason.

So Mets fans, you're not alone in going through collapses and disappointing seasons since the end of the 2006 season. Astros fans have had no September games to be interested in since losing the division title to the Cardinals in 2006. Padres fans suffered through a collapse in 2007 and might be about to experience a similar collapse in 2010. The Tigers underachieved like no other team in 2008 and followed that up with a monumental collapse in 2009.

Since the Cardinals won the World Series in 2006, they have remained one of the best teams in the National League. They are the defending NL Central champions and are in the hunt this year for a postseason spot. But those who fell to them in 2006 haven't had similar success. The Curious Conundrum that is the Curse of the Cardinals is alive and well. The Mets and their fans have been infected by the Red Plague for years, but at least they can take solace in the fact that they're not alone.

Gee Whiz! Dillon Gee To Get First Start On Tuesday

If I were a faster typist, this would truly be breaking news. In case you haven't heard it yet, SNY is reporting that Johan Santana will not make his scheduled start on Tuesday night against the Washington Nationals. In his stead will be Dillon Gee, promoted from AAA-Buffalo to make his first major league start.

In SNY's post-game show, Jerry Manuel stated that Johan Santana wants to pitch through his injury in the worst way, but will not be swayed to start his ace, as it is in the best interests of the organization for Santana to skip a start. 'Han the Man will continue to receive treatment and will be re-evaluated before the decision is made whether or not he will make his next scheduled start against Pittsburgh on Monday, September 13.

Manuel also stated that Dillon Gee will make the start for the Mets on Tuesday. In 28 starts for AAA-Buffalo, Gee finished with a 13-8 record, but his ERA was very high (4.96). One of the main reasons for his high ERA was the career-high 23 hone runs he allowed. Prior to the 2010 season, Gee had only allowed 13 HR in 45 starts and three relief appearances. On the bright side, Gee struck out 165 batters in 161.1 innings, while only walking 41 batters.

Dillon Gee has proven that he can throw strikes. He fans over one batter per inning, while maintaining a 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio. Unfortunately, some of his strikes are so good that opposing batters have yanked them out of the park.

In a season filled with successful rookie seasons (Ike Davis, Jonathon Niese) and other young players being given an extended look-see (Ruben Tejada, Josh Thole, Lucas Duda), Dillon Gee will try to become the latest Mets player to make the transition from the minor leagues to the big stage.

The future is now for the Mets. These will be the players who will replace the high-priced stars and overpaid busts in the coming years. For Dillon Gee, he will be getting his first shot to join these young players at the big league level on Tuesday night. Will it be a "Gee Whiz" moment for Dillon or a "Gee, I'm being overmatched" outing against the Nationals? Until then, we'll have to wait and Gee.

Mets Must Drop Machete On Omar Minaya

They call him Machete. And if you have run a baseball team into the ground with poor trades and a general lack of concern for what's best for your team and your fanbase, then Machete will come after you.

Omar Minaya wants to put up an electric fence to keep quality players out, while non-productive, injury-plagued players are kept in. So basically, this is another way of saying that the Mets are closing their borders to keep good players from crossing into Flushing.

Anyone who sees this as a good way to run a baseball team should have the machete dropped on him. Even Machete himself, who will defend mostly every Mexican, would be hard-pressed to show mercy on Omar Minaya for keeping his compadre, Oliver Perez, on the team.


It's one thing to not make any trades at the trade deadline. After all, the Mets don't want another Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano deal (not that Kazmir is doing much nowadays). But when you do nothing to remove cancers like the aforementioned Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo from the team, then get rid of Jeff Francoeur and get nothing but Joaquin Arias (a man who has never hit a home run and walked only ten times over parts of four seasons in the majors) in return, then perhaps it's time for Omar Minaya to give up his day job.

In his latest video installment of "Rosenthal's Full Count", Ken Rosenthal states that the Marlins are searching for a "more dynamic, fiery manager" to lead the team in 2011. One of the candidates suggested by Rosenthal would be current Brooklyn Cyclones manager and former Met sparkplug Wally Backman.

Should Dead Manuel Walking not return in 2011, Backman was considered to be a leading candidate for the Mets job. But with Omar Minaya as the club's GM, would be it surprise you if he acted slowly and let the Marlins take away the one man who has done nothing but lead his teams to championships? Take a look at Backman's record as a manager:

• 2002: Led AA-Birmingham (White Sox affiliate) to the Southern League title.
• 2004: Led High A-Lancaster (Diamondbacks affiliate) to the California League championship series.
• 2007: Led South Georgia Peanuts (independent) to the South Coast League title.
• 2010: Led Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets) to the NY-Penn League (McNamara) division title.

Backman's teams are scrappy and do whatever it takes to win, just like Wally did as a player for the New York Mets. He has been a winner everywhere he has managed. Of course, Omar Minaya will probably only notice this once Backman is wearing another team's jersey during his introductory press conference as that team's manager.

Is it time for the Mets to contact Machete to sever their ties to Omar Minaya? If they do, no amount of prayer would be enough to save Minaya. His career as Mets ' GM would in effect be up in smoke.

For everything the fans have had to go through since over the past few seasons, the Mets must allow the axe to fall on Omar Minaya. Only then can the team cross the border back to respectability.

Hello And Goodbye (Part 2): Duda Hustle!

When the Mets traded rightfielder Jeff Francoeur to the Texas Rangers for infielder Joaquin Arias earlier this week, it opened up a spot for Lucas Duda to play every day. Wait. Lucas Who-da?

Before this season, Lucas Duda wasn't considered one of the Mets' top prospects. In fact, in this year's Maple Street Press Mets Annual, Duda wasn't even listed as one of the top 25 prospects (for position players). When you look at his performance at AA-Binghamton in 2009, it's easy to see why he was overlooked. Last year, Duda played 110 games at Binghamton and managed a .281 batting average. His 9 HR and 53 RBI was a slight decline from his 2008 numbers at St. Lucie, when he produced 11 HR and 66 RBI. Neither year was spectacular.

However, one thing that few people noticed was his doubles production. It is said that with age, doubles turn into homers, and an increased amount of doubles usually leads to a power surge once a player gains valuable experience.

At Brooklyn in 2007, Duda hit 20 doubles. That number rose to 26 in 2008 at St. Lucie and 29 in 2009 at Binghamton. Then came his 2010 season.

Duda began the 2010 season again at Binghamton, where he started hitting double after double, picking up an amazing 17 doubles (along with 6 HR) in only 45 games. That earned him a promotion to AAA-Buffalo, where the doubles continued, but the homers finally arrived as well. In 70 games at Buffalo, Duda hit 23 more doubles, but also added 17 HR.

Between AA and AAA, Duda hit a combined .304, with 40 doubles, 23 HR and 87 RBI, numbers that are very similar to what David Wright has produced for the Mets in 2010 (.292, 32 doubles, 22 HR, 87 RBI entering today's game against the Cubs).

That earned Duda a promotion to the Mets, where he has played every day since being called up on Wednesday, the day after Jeff Francoeur's spot in the outfield opened up due to his trade to Texas.

What will the future hold for Duda? That remains to be seen. But should he do well, the headlines of the New York tabloids will be splashed with "DUDA HUSTLE" and "DUDA RIGHT THING". If he is seen in public wearing the outfits that the veterans force rookies to wear during their hazing, the headlines might say "DUDA, LOOKS LIKE A LADY" after the Aerosmith song with the similar title.

Speaking of music, his entrance song when he makes his first appearance at Citi Field might end up being "Lucas With The Lid Off" , the 1995 kinda-sorta hit by one-hit wonder Lucas.

One thing is for sure with new Mets outfielder Lucas Duda. He has improved from year to year, going from a non-prospect to a major leaguer virtually overnight. His progress in the minor leagues looks very similar to David Wright's year-to-year progress, especially in the extra-base hit department:

Lucas Duda:
2008: .263 average, 26 doubles, 11 HR, 66 RBI
2009: .281 average, 29 doubles, 9 HR, 53 RBI
2010: .304 average, 40 doubles, 23 HR, 87 RBI

David Wright:
2002: .266 average, 30 doubles, 11 HR, 93 RBI
2003: .270 average, 39 doubles, 15 HR, 75 RBI
2004: .320 average, 52 doubles, 32 HR, 97 RBI (combined between minors and majors)

The homegrown movement has begun for the Mets. With Lucas Duda joining Ike Davis, Josh Thole, Ruben Tejada and Jonathon Niese, the Mets have proven that they had a better farm system than most experts gave them credit for. Before this year, the farm system had only produced Jose Reyes, David Wright and Mike Pelfrey (Angel Pagan came up through the Mets' farm system, but made his major league debut for the Cubs before coming back to the Mets in 2008).

Once the Mets shed themselves of the cancers in the clubhouse (El Perez-idente, Frankie Knuckles) and the bad contracts given to gimpy players (Luis Cast-"E"-llo), their youth movement will shine.

Lucas Duda is just the latest in a string of young players who will do his best to carry this team back to respectability. The future will be bright at Citi Field, so long as "the Duda abides" and takes the rest of the young Mets stars with him.

For Part 1 of "Hello And Goodbye", please click here.

Hello And Goodbye (Part 1): Au Revoir, Monsieur Frenchy

Jeff Francoeur was traded to the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night. The man with the good attitude but poor on-base percentage was sent to the AL West leaders for Joaquin Arias. So who do you think got the best deal in this trade? Let's review, shall we?

Frenchy is going from a fourth-place team to a team that is close to wrapping up their division. In Texas, he will be surrounded by a formidable lineup and will only play against left-handed pitchers. As a Met, Francoeur hit .280 against lefties in 100 at-bats and was more patient, as his .351 on-base percentage suggests. Against righties, his averages were much lower (.223/.273).

What about the newcomer, Joaquin Arias? In parts of four seasons with the Rangers, Arias has come up to bat 242 times. He has yet to hit his first major league home run, or as I like to say it, he's one home run behind Johan Santana on the all-time career home run list. As far as on-base percentage goesm Arias has walked ten times. If that was his total for the season, that would be a poor number. Unfortunately, that's the number of times he's walked IN HIS CAREER!

If the photo to the right makes it look like Arias is a slugger, then you're thinking of the wrong Joaquin. There was another player in the major leagues back in the '70s and '80s who finished his career with 5 HR and 30 walks. That Joaquin has a last name of Andujar and he was a pitcher for the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals.

So let's see. The Mets traded a guy who was third on the team in home runs but had a relatively low on-base percentage. In return, they got a man who couldn't hit a single home run in one of the best hitters' ballparks in baseball and who has failed to take his medication for the past four years to combat his allergic reaction to walks.

Yup, sounds like a typical Mets trade to me.

Jeff Francoeur will now be playing October baseball while the Mets will be watching him play on TV. The photo to the left says all you have to know about the fans' reaction to this trade.

Au revoir, Monsieur Frenchy. Although Jeff could be frustrating at times in the batters' box, he was an outstanding defensive player who always gave his best effort and never made excuses for his shortcomings.

Joaquin Arias is now a Met. Hooray. He's the bat we've been missing since Jason Tyner was traded to Tampa for Bubba Trammell and Rick White. It's too bad Joaquin Andujar couldn't be coaxed out of retirement.