Great Night for the Kids

And it sure was.

We rented out the Montclair State (SoulSlam's Alma mater) University Softball Stadium for our program and it was a tremendous night. Scores aside, all 40 boys who came out had a great time playing on a "pro" field. Lights, music, an announcer for every at-bat. Great night!

Started with an intra-squad with our 8U team - the future ballplayers. Then my 10U team played a local rival. We lost but played a good game. Then our 11U team played a team that probably resides 50 miles away, and lost a tough one.

And that's pretty much it for travel baseball this season. Our 8U plays a game against a bordering town, but with a flash flood watch I think that will be NG. Team picnic on Saturday and that is that. Season over.

I'm already planning next year! Can't wait.

Omar and Me

Wow. Omar Minaya sent me an e-mail. Well, not personally, but more like a form e-mail to me and all the rest of the faithful. Here it is:

I wanted for you to hear directly from me today regarding an update on the investigation of Tony Bernazard, our Vice President of Player Development.

Prior to a series of articles published in the media, our Baseball Operations and Human Resources departments had begun looking into several matters involving Tony. Once those reports became public, we accelerated our investigation. We wanted it to be thorough and complete it as quickly as possible while still being fair to Tony. That process concluded over the weekend.

Yesterday, I met with Tony in person to have a frank conversation about what we had learned following interviews with numerous people. I also wanted for Tony to have the opportunity to give his side of the story.

After meeting with Tony, and giving a lot of thought to the facts, I came to a decision on Tony's status which I shared with Ownership last night. My recommendation was that we needed to part ways with Tony, as his behavior in his interaction with others was inconsistent with our organization's values. Ownership agreed with my assessment and accepted my recommendation.

I spoke with Tony this morning and informed him of my decision to terminate his employment with the Mets.

Personnel decisions are never easy. And one can't make them without giving it a lot of thought. It's even harder when you know someone as I do Tony. Tony and I go back a long time. He is a dedicated baseball man who loves the game, someone I like and respect, and someone who has contributed to the Mets. In the end, however, I just told him I couldn't leave him in his position after all that had transpired.

As General Manager of the Mets, I am fully accountable for our Baseball Operations department -- on and off the field -- and stand by this decision.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Mets.
Signed Omar Minaya.

So just like the Mets, they can't do much right. Apparently Omar has a press conference and goes after a writer. Which probably p***ed off the other writers.
It is never dull in Mets-ville.

Team's on a 3 game win streak though!

Tough Guys Behind Keyboards

I like these guys (and I guess gals as well) - typing away on forums, belittling and creating literal havoc. Funny though, where are these tough guys when they get called out?

Anybody can flex their muscles at the old qwerty, because the anonymity of it all allows them to be their inner Zito. You know, tough. But when faced with in-person confrontations, or the opportunity to contact one directly so a spirited, no, a very spirited 'conversation' can take place, they hide. Maybe change their screen name as well.

You make me laugh.

What Are We Doing?

By now, if you live in the greater metropolitan area of NY/NJ (best place to be!) - you have heard of all the turmoil surrounding my beloved NY Mets.

1. Injuries have decimated the team. -
Here's the current list:
Reyes; Beltran; Delgado; Maine; Putz, Wagner; Sheffield; Martinez,F.; Martinez, R.; Cora; Nieve. All that list needs is a third baseman and catcher and it's a pretty good line-up.

2. Anemic offense - see above. You can't expect role players and call-ups to do much. I feel sorry for David Wright.

3. Inability to make a trade - whether it is self-motivated or the fact that nobody wants what the Mets are giving.

4. Pitiful Minor League Teams (and talent) -
Which means we can't make a trade. As of this morning: Buffalo Bisons (AAA)35-59; Binghamton Mets (AA)38-59; St. Lucie Mets (High A)44-49; Savannah Sand Gnats (Low A)51-47; Brooklyn Cyclones (SS A)23-11; Kingsport Mets (Rookie)10-20. I left out the rest of the Rookie League teams because I'm getting depressed typing. Bottom line- if you ain't winning in AAA and AA, you probably are bereft of talent. Follow all the Mets woes in the Minors!

5. The absolute chaos of the front office and Mr. Tony Bernazard -
too numerous to mention, but check out the NY Daily News or NY Post to get some insight. Funny thing is, this guy may actually survive this whole mess. Great job, Wilpons!

A season of promise - I keep the faith but it's getting harder day by day. Out.

Bittersweet

So my 10U Travel Teams summer season is over, for the most part. Not exactly the summer to remember - we finished 2-10 after going 5-5 in spring. Rough.

Two things did us in:

Not enough hard-nosed play and hustle

And one bad inning nearly every game

Time to begin planning for next year. We'll be back - bet on it.

The Day Late, Dollar Short Post

Given my busy social calendar I'm sure you'll forgive my lax pontificating.

Today's Subject:
The 40th Anniversary of NOT GOING TO THE MOON!

That's right. I don't believe we got there. Sort of a real-life Capricorn One if you ask me.

Here's my reasoning. The Wright Bros. invent the airplane doohickey and take flight in 1903. By the 40's and 50's we barely had commercial air travel. But all of a sudden in 1969 (during a cold war we were desperate to win) we land a man on the moon. I don't believe it.

In all, the claim is 12 people have walked on the moon. Why didn't the Russians get there. Because we didn't actually go. Somewhere, deep in the southwestern desert we staged it all. Bet.

Now more to back up my wisdom. After the whole moon thing goes away, NASA designs the Space Shuttle. A ship that piggybacks on a rocket to take off. Why in the world would you design a ship that can't actually land anywhere. Unless the moon or nearby planets have a ready-made rocket factory we don't know about.

Summer Heat

Still haven't had that oppressive North Jersey heatwave yet. But it's coming, like a really angry grim reaper in madras shorts. Scary.

Mets are hanging on - not be a thread, but the prolonged injury woes are taking a toll. Here is one suggestion; everybody needs to climb off David Wright. Still our best Met, and he's anchoring a line-up that features Francoeur, Castillo and a bunch of utility players. Lay off.

Yankees keep winning, unless they play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or the Boston Red Sox. So since they will undoubtedly have tpo play one or the other if they make the post-season, they need to figure out a game plan here. And to all kool-aid drinking Yankee Fans; Melky and Kennedy are not going to get Halladay. Think Joba, Hughes, Austin Jackson and somebody else to get the conversation started.

Vince is on TV right now, pitching the Slap Chop. America's newest icon.

Travel baseball is soon over, and I already feel sad. Three (maybe a couple more) games for the 10U and a few for the 8U. For the 10U; win-wise we aren't where I thought we would be. But over the last four games we've played baseball the right way. We'll finish out the season and regroup for next year. Maybe some new blood. SoulSlam's kid has been clutch. He's a ballplayer. For 8U - young and new to travel. Good group of boys. We'll see what next year holds when they move up a year.

Watched the Ted Williams documentary on HBO the other night. Didn't know too much about the man. Great viewing.

Done for now.

Another Reason to Hate M'Soft

Sorry, long time, no post. Was going to type something or other last night but my PC wasn't cooperating, and I had no patience to fix. My guess is it has something to do with one of the countless updates that Microsoft forces on me almost every day. I had to switch to using Google's Chrome as a browser since IE would crash about every five minutes - with no answer from the wizards of Washington State. Great job fellas.

So with that - get Google Chrome.

A.S.G.

Live from St. Louis, the annual All-Star Game!

Back when I was a kid this was an all out must see, since you saw your local teams and maybe a game on Saturday on NBC. Now we see everything and everybody, so the luster is worn thin...but the kids still love it.

My prediction:

National 8, American 5

Going out on a limb.

How Do You Like Them Apples

Mets News- two homers in one inning at Citi Field today. Which means the apple makes an appearance, or not.


First, Brian Schneider hits one out, which is the first Met homer in 9 or 10 days, so I guess you could call this a bit of a dry spell. And the apple makes an appearance. Then Mr. Tatis cranks one out (break up the Mets!), and...

the apple does not work. Tired from the earlier appearance, no doubt.

JV if you ask me.

Swapping Right Fielders

The Mets e-mailed me to tell me the BIG NEWS! They traded Ryan Church to the Braves for Jeff Francoeur (had to look that one up spelling-wise!)

So when I received the missive, all it says was 'Mets Acquire Outfielder Jeff Francoeur' - OK good deal. Then we see he was traded for Church, which is essentially a swap of guys who play terrific D. There offensive stats are almost the same. Here's a look:

Church - 67 games, 232 AB, .280 BA, 2 HR, 22 RBI, .707 OPS, 36 K
Francoeur - 82 games, 304 AB, .250 BA, 5 HR, 35 RBI, .634 OPS, 46 K

I guess Frenchy is younger by a few, so he's got that going for him. Great defensive player (but Church wasn't bad either). I guess you have to do something to shake up the troops. I'm sure Jerry is very happy.

The Sipper

Do you know who this is? In the immortal words of Desi Arnaz - "let me'splain'.

Long ago I wrote this, and I guess you can call this the companion piece, the follow-up, the sequel. I'm talking about that very annoying coffee-drinking personality, who will be known as The Sipper. These troglodytespark their enormous (usually)keesters in the way of the working man so they can get that cup of joe just so. Puh-lease.

YOU ARE IN MY WAY! GET OUT OF MY WAY! I HAVE A LIFE I HAVE TO GET TO! I CANNOT HANG OUT IN A CONVENIENCE STORE WAITING FOR YOU TO PERFECT YOUR BREW! LOSER!!!

If you are The Sipper in your neck of the woods, you need to stop. Pour yourself a tall black, put in anything and tough it out, cowboy. Aversion Therapy works.

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I see we have a comment. We welcome comments, since SoulSlam is equal opportunity with his venom. But be forewarned, if you invite abuse, it is rude not to accept.

Day Off

My J-O-B usually gives us an extra day off for the 4th holiday, which is very sweet. Woke up this morning and had to log-in to make sure I didn't just dream it.

10U travel team has 4 games this week. Hopefully we can put 6 innings together (in a row) and come up with a win, for the boys sake.

Mets spit the bit in the friendly (NOT) confines of Citizens Bank Park. I guess Omar is watching the team through rose-colored glasses, because they need somebody, but apparently nobody is coming.

New Blood

In my town's and program's efforts to strengthen baseball participation, we have started an 8U summer travel team - no league affiliation, just setting up scrimmages, which is harder than it sounds. Today we played game one of the journey.

We lost, but the effort was definitely there, and the boys had a great game. It was amazing watching a new group of (younger)boys compete and play some baseball. Their enthusiasm is great to watch.

I had to ump since we couldn't get a guy on short notice. Gave me a different perspective than I get from the dugout and baselines. Threw a K on my kid twice too. Gotta swing at the strikes.

And so you don't say I'm heartless - I tell the boys there is no shame in striking out and have never yelled at a boy for swinging the bat and missing.

Mets are on. Maybe we can get a hit or two.

Happy 233, America!

The 4th of July is here. Beach weather here in Jersey (North)! Hitting the lake today early, then poolside in the backyard oasis for the remainder. Got some fireworks to go to as well, but I'm not the type to go gaga over some sparklers in the sky.

I was thinking last night as I watched a movie for the 100th time (or so it seems), what movies do I always stop at if they are on, no matter how many times I've seen them. Here's an incomplete list:

Hoosiers

The Final Season

The Natural

Jaws and Jaws 2

30 Days of Night (I have no explanation for this one)

Terminator

JFK

Platoon

The Seven-Ups

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (The Walter Matthau version)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Not everything, but a pretty good representation I guess.

In holiday weekend baseball news - Mets are in the City of Brotherly Love for a showdown with the hated Phils. Phils laid the lumber on 'em last night. Hopefully we get something going today.

Not Hiding

Just quiet here is the land of Slam.

Mets are exasperating, particularly the inability of the GM to get anything done.

My travel team is 0-3, and basically let's one inning get out of hand every game.

It's raining on an almost daily basis.

Check you out this weekend.