The Mets won last Thursday night 5-4 on a walk-off  bottom of the ninth Delgado single off the glove of elephan man who is now working for the Braves in the outfield. It was Chipper Jones’ and the Braves last day at Shea, and that has to be a good thing. We’ve seen enough of Chipper and his men. But what is weird, is…well, I kept playing that video clip of Elephane’s “error” over and over, and the ball never touches his glove, but seems to just change direction all my itself. I cannot get a freeze frame where the ball is actually near his glove. But its great watching him fall over as the Mets players go crazy running onto the field and hugging each other. And I’m not complaining about the victory that secured the Mets hold on first place, but what is going on out there?

Is it the ghost of recently departed Donn Clendenon moving the ball so Elephante can’t catch it? Or is it real angels out there trying to help our poor Met subs win some games?  (See the movie Angels in the Outfield with Tony Danza as the washed up rag arm starter and Danny Glover as a mixture of Johnny Bench and Frank Robinson, the hot tempered manager. Its always the bench players who get heavenly help) Just think, with all the injuries on the Mets and Yankees, if they both won their leagues  and played each other in October, we’d have to call it the Substitute Series, instead of the Subway Series.

Anyway, it does seem like there are angels in the outfield at Shea,

pretty aggressive ones, pushing Elephante over like that. Donn Clendenon,The Train, a great player for the 1969 Mets, passed away late in 2006. I happen to know that he was highly interested in metaphysics and other worldly stuff. Maybe he’s out there, trying to give Shea Stadium one more World Series. That would be quite a ghost story.

 August 22nd, 2008

The Mets have won 14 out of their last 18, yeah, the Cubs do stuff like that. What makes this 2008 team so amazing is HOW they won those games. It almost seems like a sniffy, tear jerker war movie, so many of the big guys injured, and the little guys are carrying the whole team on their backs. That’s why I say the Mets are doing it with “one hand tied behind their backs,” but in fact there are about nine guys whose hands have been tied, enough to form a whole team, and an expensive team with a higher salary than the Florida Marlins.

Here’s the numbers, and you won’t believe it.

Pedro Martinez $11,813,315   injured from 4/2 to 6/3

Billy Wagner, $10,500,000  crippled since August 6th

Moises Alou $7,500,000  played from 5/2 to 5/22, then injured since June 6th,

Orlando Hernandez $7,000,000  injured since March 29th.

 Luis Castillo $6,250,000 injured since July 3rd.

Ryan Church $2,000,000 injured since June 29th.

Ramon Castro $1,975,000 injured from 3/21 to 5/9.

Marlon Anderson $1,050,000 injured  5/24 to 6/10 and then from 8/2 onward.

Duaner Sanchez  $850,000  injured from March to June 

John Maine $450,000 on DL from 8/3 to 8/13

Also remember that Brian Scheider ($4,900,000) has been playing with a sore thumb and has had to miss alot of games. Also injured is former post season star Trot Nixon, Angel Pagan, Jason Vargas, and, oh a couple others. 

So who’s been winning all these games?
N/A salary guys like Nick Evans (one day in AAA)  Danny Murphy(no days in AAA), Argenis Reyes, and Eddie Kunz. Now we have Luis Ayala for a song, and he’s going great.

Take note, Steinbrenners, money can’t buy everything!

These expensively crippled Mets could form a lovely hospital courtyard team. I’d have Castro catching, Orlando Hernandez pitching, Anderson at short, Castillo at second,  Alou in right, Church in center, and Nixon in left. Maine would have to fill in at third and Martinez at first. Wagner and Sanchez would be the relievers. Talk about the high cost of hospital care… their total salaries add up to over $46,000,000!  Its an “amazing” team that can put $46M in talent on the bench–a whole team in fact– and still win 14 of 18. 

So the Mets have a great farm system after all. As Steve Somers might say, “Who knew?”

 Our new Mr. Met Team Mascot

Houston, August 22nd,  2008

In a very quiet way, the Mets are getting the kind of victories they were known for in 2006, but with alot more humility, and a smaller Runs Margin Average as well. What is interesting is that they have won 14 of the last 18 without venture capitalists Alou,  Church,  Billy Wagner, Marlon Anderson or Luis Castillo. Instead we are getting amazing clutch hitting from “over the hill” activist and boycott specialist Delgado, a character who calls himself “Easily” as if taken right out of the pages of a Damon Runyan story, the anonymous Irish “tater” basher Danny Murphy, and someone else named Reyes who doubles for Jose (or doubles after Jose in some cases). Add to that list Tatis, Ayala, and a whole farm collective of catchers and relievers and you have the leaderless terrorist cell known as the 2008 New York Mets, and lately they have been terrorising the NL East. When pitching czar Willie Randolphski left to spend more time with his exiled family, the Mets became an autonomous collective, all for one, one for all, and every man for himself. Like true comrades at arms, they seek equality in all things, even changing positions in the batting order so that no player is “higher” than another for long. Jose Reyes is no longer called the “leadoff hitter” in the clubhouse, but first among equals, and now bats first and second simultaneously while playing short and second at the same time. Even Beltran does not always play cleanup any more, he can dispatch his janitorial duties further down the pecking order. And it might be in poor taste to say it, but these young warriors were attacking the Braves of Georgia about the same time as Putin was, and doing a much better job of it, and in a kinder, gentler way.

Sanatana pitched 7 scoreless innings on Friday, with help from Heilman and Ayala and the Mets blanked out the Houston Astros 3-0 in a game that possessed the soul of brevity, something that Tolstoy never got the jist of. The same has been said about me.

(Leo pitched 339 innings in one year for the Baikal Shamans, and walked only 163.)

Too many words, Leo!

Finally! The moment my six fans have been waiting for!

There have been several announcements here and elsewhere over the last year about the release of a book, written by me, sometimes called Flushing Fever, or other titles. It has been a long, slow process, but we at Amazine are happy to announce (for real this time!) the release of The Boys of Shea; the Incredible Story of the 2006 Mets, which should be available by October 21st, 2008, on Amazon.com. Plenty of time for Christmas.  It is 250 big-size pages (8×10) paperback with a color cover. You can take a look at http:/www.createspace.com/3353411. I kept the internet price low, $12, just over margin. They will mail it to your home in a jiffy cause they’re good at that. You can also buy it as a disc. Here’s what the cover looks like.

If you want a signed copy of the paperback edition, please send $18.00 to

Evan Pritchard

PO Box 1028

Woodstock, NY 12498

make check out to Evan Pritchard

and indicate you want it signed and to whom.

 Glavine and Spahn Trade Off Stats as the Great Ghost Chase Comes to an End

Last year, in an Amazine article, I lamented for the lost Tommy Glavine, that he was only 17 strikeouts short of Warren Spahn’s lifetime strikeout total. When I heard Glavine had defected to the Confederates of Atlanta after throwing a torch bomb on the final day of the 2007 season to defeat his own Mets army yelling “Semper Tyrranis!” thereby avenging the capture of Jefferson Davis and the scourge of Sherman’s March through Atlanta in 64, I was not quite so sorry for him.

In any case, I wanted to follow up on that incomplete story, and update it now that both Glavine and Spahnny are out of baseball. Of course Glavine added 17 and more strikeouts this year without much trouble, but had such a bad year before claiming to be disabled veteran, that he lost his lifetime lead over Spahn in the ERA category.  We shall find time in our busy cheering schedules to lament for him after the Mets win the NL Eastern Division this year.

Here is the final statistical comparison of Glavine and Spahn. These stats should not change, unless Glavine returns to the majors or Spahn crawls from out of his grave and slouches off towards Turner Field to rise again, both scenarios somewhat unlikely.

Glavine pitched 22 years, Spahn 21.

Glavine had 2607 lifetime strikeouts, Spahn had 2583.

Glavine had 305 wins, Spahn had 363, but Glavine had only 203 losses to Spahn’s 245

Glavine gave up 1734 earned runs, Spahn gave up 1798

Glavine gave up only 4298 hits, Spahn gave up 4830

Glavine raised his lifetime ERA to 3.54 that final year, Spahn’s was 3.09.

Glavine gave up 1500 walks, Spahn gave up 1434

Glavine gave up only 356 homers lifetime, Spahn gave up 434.

Spahn was way ahead of Glavine in complete games (382 to 56) and shutouts (63 to 25), but that was a different era. Glavine pitched 4413.3 innings while Spahn pitched 5243.

Confidentially, (only to you and the thousand or so other who read this online) I am glad that Glavine found a way to pass Spahn  in lifetime strikeouts, but Glavine also blew out his lifetime ERA, and that is just as important. Quite a tradeoff, I’d say.

 
Note the amazing resemblance between Tom Glavine (upper left) and William Tecumseh Sherman (right).

Is it true that Tom Glavine is the reincarnation of General Sherman, doomed to bring revenge upon the Union in the form of the New York Mets in recompense for his dirty deeds while burning Atlanta at the end of the Civil War? Only your Elvis channeler and the ghost of Warren Spahn know for sure.

OTHER STRIKE OUT NEWS

Bulletin!  Earlier this season, down in Atlanta, Glavine passed  Jerry Koosman (2556) Bob Feller (2581) and Warren Spahn (2583) to earn spot number 24 on the all time strikeout list with 2607,  but fell only 3 strikeouts short of Chuck Finley (2610) who is number 23 on that same said list.

Pedro Martinez is having a good year in the strikeout category; he and Curt Schilling and John Smoltz, all members of the 3,000 K frequent fireball club are running in a pack at 14, 15, and 16^th on the all time list. Smoltz has 3,011 Ks,  while Pedro (3085) is 31^st on the list at Cooperstown behind Schilling (3116) who is himself one strikeout away from tying the great Bob Gibson in strikeouts. It is very possible that Pedro and Curt will pass Gibson by the end of the year, especially in a pennant race (and Smoltz the following year, which would be his 20^th if he stays healthy). 

Pedro Martinez’ lifetime ERA, by the way, was not much damaged last season when he pitched seldom but badly. His lifetime ERA is still a cool 2.86, same as Tom Seaver, and better than Bob Gibson (2.91). In the heat of a pennant race, will Pedro’s ERA dip down some more?  Could he best Sandy Koufax (2.76) or even touch the hem of Cy Young’s garment, whose lifetime ERA was 2.63?  Wait and see!