Private Matthews Is Finally Given His Discharge

The Gary Matthews, Jr. Experiment is no more. Earlier today, the Mets decided to designate Private Matthews for assignment. To replace Matthews on the roster, the Mets called up catcher Omir Santos from Double-A Binghamton.

The plea by Mets fans and fellow bloggers to DFA GMJ ASAP didn't happen PDQ, but at least it happened. The outfielder was being booed mercilessly and failed to produce much during his short stay in New York.

In 36 games, mostly as the Mets' DAO (designated automatic out), Private Matthews hit .190 and drove in one more run than the Studious Metsimus staff has this season. For as much as David K. Wright has struck out this year, Private Matthews had a far worse strikeout percentage, whiffing 24 times in 58 at-bats.

Although Omir Santos hit .260 last year for the Mets last year, with seven home runs and 40 RBI, the acquisitions of Thunder and Lightning (Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco) made Santos obsolete. He was sent to Triple-A Buffalo before the beginning of the season to serve as a mentor to catching prospect Josh Thole. The only problem was that Santos didn't hit a lick at Buffalo. His .194 average (7-for-37) and two RBI earned him a first-class ticket to Double-A Binghamton, where he fared even worse, batting .074 (2-for-27).

However, with Blanco hurting, the Mets felt the need to have some insurance behind the plate, necessitating the Santos call-up.

So the Mets discharged Private Matthews and his .190 average from their battalion and promoted Omir-acle Whip and his combined .143 minor league batting average.

All I have to say is that Rod Barajas better stay healthy and hitting. I'm sure the Mets and their fans would rather see their power hitting Batman at the plate than having to settle for his new sidekick.

Do The Hustle!

Some people say that as Jose Reyes goes, so do the Mets. Even SNY has gotten into the argument by constantly posting the Mets' record when Reyes scores at least one run as opposed to when he doesn't. (The Mets are 18-5 when he scores at least one run and 8-20 when he doesn't, for those keeping score at home.)

But why do the Mets have to depend on one catalyst to score runs? All nine players in the lineup should contribute towards victories (unless if you're the Phillies and you can only win games when Harry LeRoy Halladay starts).

That is why Studious Metsimus is going above and beyond to find a stat no one else is mentioning that is relevant to wins and losses.

Teams that score runs by advancing one base at a time need multiple hits to score their runs. Is it no wonder that these teams have difficulty winning games? Stealing bases puts runners in scoring position or advances runners to third base where they can score without needing a base hit.

The St. Louis Cardinals of the 1980s perfected the art of stealing bases and used it as a weapon. Their pilfering prowess allowed them to win three National League pennants (1982, 1985, 1987) and one World Series (1982).

So let's see what the Mets have done this year when they've felt frisky on the bases.


Over the first 51 games, the Mets have stolen bases in 34 of them. That leaves them with 17 games in which they did not steal a base. Their record is those 17 games is a disappointing 5-12. When they do steal at least one base, their record is 21-13. In games where they steal multiple bases, the Mets are 8-3.

To find the last time the Mets won a game in which they did not steal a base, you have to go back almost a full month to May 4, when the Mets defeated the Cincinnati Reds by the score of 5-4. Since then, the Mets have played seven games in which they failed to swipe a base and lost all of them.

So the moral of this story is quite simple, really. If the Mets are fleet on their feet, they stand a much better chance of winning ballgames. If they're stagnant on the bases, you'll see many more unhappy recaps.

Over the past few years, the Mets have not played particularly well in San Diego. If the Mets want to continue on their march towards first place, they have to remember to do the hustle once they're on the bases. Winning is contagious. Losing is as cool as Shane Victorino in a leisure suit. (Only he could turn Tony Manero into Tony Manure.)

To quote (and slightly alter) one-hit wonder Matthew Wilder's 1983 song, "Ain't nothin' gonna break their stride. Nobody's gonna slow them down. Oh no! They've got to keep on movin'!" Movin' on the bases, that is.

Baggy Pants And The Nitwits

In Mets history, the term Midnight Massacre refers to the events of June 15, 1977, when the Mets traded away Tom Seaver and Dave Kingman and got Jack Squat in return. 1977 was also the year a short-lived cartoon called "Baggy Pants and The Nitwits" premiered.

After watching the events unfolding at last night's Cubans-Bears game (I mean, Mets-Brewers game), I feel as if the cartoon made its return inside the Mets clubhouse and now it's the fans who want to do a little massacre of their own.

The Mets and Brewers played last night wearing throwback Negro League jerseys, with the Mets dressed in the uniforms of the New York Cubans. The baggy look of the jerseys might have looked cool, but what wasn't cool was the performance of the man who took the mound for the Mets, followed by his replacement's outing, making Jerry Manuel look like a nitwit.

Fernando Nieve might have had success last year in his first three appearances as a starter, but does anyone remember where he came back to earth last year after defeating the Yankees, Rays and Cardinals in succession? That's right, class. It was in Milwaukee against the same Brewers who wore Bears jerseys yesterday.

On June 29, 2009, head nitwit Jerry Manuel tried to use Fernando the Snowman's magic for one start too many and paid the price. The Brewers pounded 11 hits off Nieve in 3.1 innings and gave the Snowman his first loss as a starter for the Mets.

So when Dead Manuel Walking needed a spot starter for last night's game, who did he call upon? None other than the same Fernando Nieve (the reliever formerly known as Fernando Nieve-ryday) who gave up more hits (11) than recorded outs (10) in his last start in Milwaukee.

Nieve now has a career ERA of 7.53 against the Brew Crew and has allowed 22 hits in 14.1 innings. Of those 22 hits, six have been home runs, meaning the photo to the right is not a rare one.

The Head Nitwit had a chance to redeem himself when he removed Nieve from the game after two innings of so-called work. Despite Nieve's best efforts to gift-wrap the game to the Brewers, the Mets were still alive in the game, trailing Milwaukee 5-3. Instead of bringing in a dependable reliever to help shut down the Brewers and give the Mets their best chance to win, he brings in my friend and yours, Oliver Perez.

In true O.P. fashion, he pitched two innings, giving up three runs, three hits and walked two batters. Once he was removed from the game, the Brewers had already put up eight runs on the Mets in four innings.

Still, the Mets were only down 8-6 after four innings. Their offense was doing well against Milwaukee starter Manny Parra and reliever Marco Estrada. Then the men in baggy pants combined to become the greatest nitwits they could be by not hitting for the rest of the game.

The combined efforts of future Hall-of-Famers Todd Coffey, Carlos Villanueva and John Axford combined to retire the final 13 Mets and the Mets fell to the Brewers by that same 8-6 score.

With that loss, the Mets are guaranteed another series loss on the road and will still be searching for their first series win on the road when the calendar flips over to June. After winning five straight games against the defending World Champions and defending National League champions, the Mets went on the road to play the team with the worst home record in baseball. Instead of riding the momentum they had created for themselves, they provided the perfect remedy for the Brewers' home woes.

Corey Hart has proven himself to be larger than life against the Mets' pitching staff, driving in eight of the Brewers' ten runs over the first two games of the series. On a team that has real-life Bears in Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, it's Grizzly Adams that has hurt the Mets the most.

Actually, it's not Corey Hart that has hurt the Mets the most in this series. It's the decision-making of Dead Manuel Walking.

Friday night, Manuel brought in Ryota Igarashi to face Corey Hart after Igarashi had not done well since returing from the disabled list. Bang-zoom. Hart took him deep and the Mets lost the series opener. Then last night, when Fernando Nieve set fire to the Mets' chances of winning, he should never have brought in Oliver Perez to throw his gas upon the flames.

Jerry Manuel should know better than that. Just as the Mets should know better than to give Corey Hart and anyone who wore a Bears jersey for Milwaukee last night meaty pitches to feast upon. We all know Bears love fresh meat. Leave it to Baggy Pants and The Nitwits to provide them with a full picnic basket for them to chow down on.

Joey's Soapbox: Why I Hate Charlie Manuel More Than You Do

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel lost about 500 pounds, or half his weight, during the offseason. That weight loss will serve him well, as he'll need to be light on his feet to get away from me when I go after him for saying what he said two nights ago.

Hello, everyone. I'm Joey Beartran and this is my Soapbox.

As I was taking a cake break yesterday, I opened up the New York Post to read about the Mets' three-game sweep of the Phillies. It was the first time since the Miracle year of 1969 that the Mets had held an opponent scoreless for an entire three-game series.

After my fifth slice of cake, I came across an article by Fred Kerber that featured this quote by Charlie Manuel:

"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you."

Who's this person eating bears? Does PETA know about this? I was shocked that a major league manager not named Ozzie Guillen could say something so insensitive. I can't speak for all bears, but I know I contribute to his salary when I purchase tickets to games and when I buy chicken nachos.

Shame on Charlie Manuel for suggesting that on occasion, my fellow furry friends should be consumed by him or his cronies. As for the part where he said that sometimes the bear eats you, let's just say I would never eat Charlie Manuel. I'm not a big fan of indigestion.

If Charlie Manuel is having flashbacks to his heavier days, perhaps he should satisfy his hunger by opening his mouth and sticking his foot in it.

Speaking of sticking a foot in one's mouth, the master of said practice, Colbert Hamels, was caught doing it again in the same New York Post article. Towards the end of the article, Hamels talks about the Phillies recent slump by saying:

"It happens every year for us, almost around the same time...I have a job to do. I can't worry about the offense."

Really, Colbert? So this happens to you every year around the same time. Is that your excuse for the Phillies' Phutility at Citi Field this week? Let's look at the Phillies' records for the month of May since Hamels joined the team in 2006, shall we?

2010: 15-10, .600 win pct. (currently 27-20, .574 win pct.)
2009: 17-11, .607 win pct. (finished season 93-69, .574 win pct.)
2008: 17-12, .586 win pct. (finished season 92-70, .568 win pct.)
2007: 15-13, .536 win pct. (finished season 89-73, .549 win pct.)
2006: 17-11, .607 win pct. (finished season 85-77, .525 win pct.)

The Phillies have had winning records every May that Hamels has been on the team. In fact, in four of those five seasons, the team had a better winning percentage in May than they had over the entire season, meaning that May has generally been one of the best months for the Phillies over the past five seasons.

Colbert Hamels is also the same guy who said that he couldn't wait for the season to end after losing Game 3 of last year's World Series. So saying things that make absolutely no sense seems par for the course for him.

Okay, I've said everything I have to say about those blasted Phillies. To summarize, Charlie Manuel might have lost weight, but he still has a big mouth. And Colbert Hamels still doesn't have a clue and looks like a jackass every time he opens his mouth.

I'm Joey Beartran and I'm getting off my soapbox. I can't stay on it all night, you know. After all, it's cake o'clock.

America's Team? No...But Definitely Miss USA's Team

Earlier this month, the former Miss Michigan (Rima Fakih) became the first Lebanese-American to win the Miss USA pageant. How did she celebrate her victory? By making a trip to Citi Field today!

Miss Fakih (shown above with Jose Reyes) compared batting styles with the Mets shortstop before tonight's game with the Phillies and Reyes proceeded to bang out three hits, including the pivotal two-run double in the seventh inning to extend the Mets' lead to 3-0.

During her time at Citi Field, Miss Fakih (who graduated from St. John's Prep, which is just a hop, skip and a jump away from Citi Field) admitted that she saw her first Mets game at Shea Stadium during the strike year of 1994 and claimed that she has always been a Mets fan.

In the 1990s, the Atlanta Braves laid claim to the name "America's Team", after the Dallas Cowboys did the same in the NFL. The Mets might not be America's team yet, but at least they can say they're Miss USA's team.

Congratulations to Rima Fakih on her recent Miss USA victory and congratulations to the Mets for completing their three-game sweep of the Phillies at Citi Field. By completely dominating the series, both at bat and on the mound, the Mets let it be known that they're no longer going to be the first runners-up to the Phillies!

Takahashi Might Be Pitching Well, But...

Hisanori Takahashi stepped into the Mets rotation and has been spectacular in his two starts, shutting down two explosive offenses in the Yankees and Phillies. With six scoreless innings against the Yankees last Friday and six more against the Phillies on Wednesday, Takahashi lowered his ERA to 2.13, while upping his record to 4-1.

The Japanese southpaw has been a Lefty Luthor to the Supermen wearing the jerseys of last year's pennant winners. More importantly, he has made Jerry Manuel a believer in his ability to give the Mets quality starts, something that could not be said for the man he replaced in the rotation, Oliver Perez.

I have been quite impressed with Takahashi's recent performances and would like to think that his stretch of outstanding starts will continue past his last outing against the Phillies. However, before giving him the keys to the castle, let's remember that just last year, we were also singing the praises of a starter that was tearing it up in his first few starts. Just like Takahashi, this pitcher was moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation and was asked to shut down the powerful Yankee lineup. Then, he continued to face teams with potent offenses and pitched beyond expectations. Unfortunately, his streak of good fortune ended almost as quickly as started and now he's back in the Mets bullpen. Who am I talking about? Fernando Nieve.

After pitching two scoreless innings of relief against the Washington Nationals last year on June 6, Fernando Nieve was called upon to make an emergency start against the Yankees on June 13. The game was played less than 24 hours after Luis Castillo gift-wrapped a Yankee victory with his infamous dropped pop-up. With all the momentum shifting over to the Yankees, Nieve was given the ball and was asked to stop the bleeding He ended up pitching 6.2 innings, holding the Yankees to two runs on four hits. That was the only win picked up by the Mets against the Yankees all year.

Given another start against a high-quality team, this time the Tampa Bay Rays, Nieve followed up his victory against the Yankees with an even better performance against the Rays, giving up one run and three hits in a 5-3 Mets victory.

In his third start, he faced the National League Central division-leading St. Louis Cardinals and pitched six shutout innings, again allowing only three hits in an 11-0 blowout of the Cards. That gave Nieve three wins in three starts against upper-echelon teams. In those three games, his ERA was a microscopic 1.45 and he held opposing hitters to a .154 batting average.

For all intents and purposes, it appeared as if the Mets had found themselves a starting pitcher from out of nowhere that they could depend upon to pitch effectively and deep into ballgames. Even I was sold on Fernando Nieve, as I wrote a number of blogs for Mets Merized Online on The Three Fernandos (Nieve, Tatis and Martinez). Alas, Nieve could not continue his success past those three starts.

Over his next three starts, Nieve came crashing back down to Earth, losing to the Brewers, Phillies and Reds. In those games, Fernando's ERA was 5.40 and opposing batters hit an alarming .403 against him. Despite the fact that he was clearly not the same pitcher he was over his first three starts, Jerry Manuel gave him another start against the Atlanta Braves. That was the last time Nieve would pitch for the Mets in 2009, as he injured himself while running to first base in the second inning.

Do I expect Hisanori Takahashi to fade as quickly as Fernando Nieve did last year? I don't think he will. For one thing, Takahashi has an impeccable ability to throw strikes. In his starts against the Yankees and Phillies, Takahashi has pitched 12 innings and has only walked one batter. In those two games, he has thrown a total of 195 pitches, of which 138 were strikes. That's better than 70% of his pitches going for strikes.

In Nieve's first three starts last year, as great as they were, he still walked nine batters in 18.2 innings. Over those three starts, he threw 318 pitches, of which 188 were strikes. That's only 59% of his pitches going for strikes. Nieve was effective over those starts because he gave up few hits. Once he started giving up hits, combined with the walks, that led to his three-game losing streak.

Hisanori Takahashi has the potential to be an effective #3 starter in the Mets rotation. Since he's constantly throwing strikes, he stands less of a chance to suffer a meltdown such as the one Fernando Nieve went through last year after his third start. However, just because Takahashi has been shutting down potent offenses now doesn't guarantee long-term success. Be happy that he's giving us great pitching at a time when the Mets need it the most, but be wary because as wonderful as Takahashi has been, it can all come crashing down. Just ask Fernando Nieve.

Remember This Catch From 19 Years Ago? A Current Mets Coach Does

Nineteen years ago today, an outfielder for the Vancouver Canadians of the Pacific Coast League made this catch against the Portland Beavers to permanently etch his name onto the list of phenomenal baseball catches:



The outfielder was Rodney McCray, who later on played for the Mets, collecting one hit in his only at-bat dressed in the orange and blue during the 1992 season.

This catch was replayed ad nauseum on ESPN and other outlets, and deservedly so, as it is amazing that McCray held on to the ball after running through the poorly constructed (and non-padded) outfield wall.

However, have you ever wondered which Portland Beavers batter connected on the long drive that immortalized the hard-headed McCray?

It was none other than current Mets third base coach Chip Hale!

What, you didn't think the only connection this catch had to the Mets was that the player who caught it had one career at-bat for the Mets, did you? If you did, then you must not be a regular Studious Metsimus reader.

Walter William Hale (more commonly known as Chip) was an infielder for Minnesota's Triple-A team in Portland when he became the answer to a trivia question that people still can't answer.

It became the one thing he was known for before becoming the Mets third base coach this year, as he had an uneventful major league career (652 career at-bats, 7 HR, 78 RBI over seven years spent with the Twins and Dodgers).

So now when someone asks you about the Rodney McCray catch, you can shock that person with your baseball knowledge by telling him that the man currently waving in Luis Castillo to limp home from second base on a single is the same man who hit that famous ball in 1991.

You can shock him some more by mentioning that Rodney McCray's teammates on the Canadians included a little weakling named Sammy Sosa, former Mets Danny Heep and John Cangelosi, and current Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu.

Nineteen years have gone by since current Met Chip Hale sent former Met Rodney McCray through a wall. Now he's sending Mets players through opposing catchers. Good to see some things never change.