My Two Cents

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Told ya!

See, I told ya I wasn't going to blog more in 2009.

But while I'm here, if I may, let me chime in one one quick thing:

Joe Torre might be my new hero.

Granted, I have always liked the guy, and I think writing that book totally taints his legacy for telling tales out of school, but he blew up the Yankees! How can I hold that against a man?

Just 14 days until pitchers and catchers!

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Oh Man-NY (N)

(I swear, I have not resolved to blog more in 2009!!!!)

If you haven't seen Bill Price's "The Bitter Bill" blog on the New York Daily News Web site, it's really good, you should check it out.

Lately, Bill, who's a huge Mets fan and is not only a regular contributor to this blog as his Blogger alter-ego, but produces a high-quality personal blog of his own that many of you are fond of, has been blogging on The Bitter Bill about how the Mets need to sign Manny Ramirez.

Bill and I normally agree on most things -- at least those pertaining to the orange and blue -- but I think he's way off on the Manny issue, on several counts.

(note: I posted a version of this blog on the comments page on the Bitter Bill site under his post from Jan. 8, so if you come across it, no, you're not suffereing from extreme deja vu)

The talent and ability of Manny Ramirez is unquestioned. He is among the top 5 hitters in baseball over the past decade and change, and a force to be reckoned with in any lineup -- at least when he feels like it.

He is also a perfect fit for the Mets the way they're currently constituted: A right-handed hitting corner outfielder who hits for average and power. Plus, as a Latino, he would fit right into the culture Omar has built with this team.

But Manny's baggage and personality would be disastrous. He's proven it time and time again. The ONLY reason he performed so well for the Dodgers last season was that he wanted to both stick it to the Red Sox for them unceremoniously shipping his ass out of town, as well as trying to earn a big contract (we see how well that's worked out).

I for one have never booed a Mets player, unless I felt they weren't trying. I think it's counter-productive. Unfortunately, the majority of my fellow Mets fans don't agree.

You know what would happen in Flushing when Manny hits his first mini-slump and starts hearing the boos: He's going to shut down.

You think the reactions of Manny's fellow proud Latinos senors Delgado y senor Beltran were bad when they were booed? Wait till you see how baseball's biggest prima donna deals with New York's quick-triggered boo-birds.

And another thing, do you really want Manny's attitude affecting Jose Reyes? That kids already proven to be immature and impressionable. Remember how nervous everyone got when those rumors of Reyes' off-the-field activities were impacted so dramatically by the arrival of Luis Castillo and the departure of Jose Valentine?

Manny's a way more impressive role-model for a young man.

As for this need Mets fans seem to have of signing Manny just to compete with the Yankees' big signings this offseason, well, that's just insanity.

Nobody hates the Fourth Reich more than I do, but that is as a baseball fan, not as a Mets fan. The Yankees fortunes have zero effect on the Mets, save for a pair of three-game head-to-head series each summer.

Signing Manny just to get some of the attention back from their signing Sabathia, Burnett and Teixeira is simply ludicrous. Eff them. Let them sign every other free agent out there. They've already ruined baseball. Why stop now?

The bottom line is that the only way I would be comfortable with the Mets inking Manny is if they were to give him only one year guaranteed. This way, perhaps he'll remain motivated for an entire season, and if not, they can cut his whiney butt with minimal financial loss.

And you know there's no way he or his d-bag of an agent is going to go for that.

As for this comment on the Bitter Bill:

"Remember what happened to the Mets in the late 80s’? Kevin Mitchell - not exactly a solid citizen, but a future league MVP - was shipped out. Backman and Dykstra followed. Guys like Kevin McReynolds and Gregg Jefferies were brought it. It took the Mets almost 10 years to recover from moves like that."

Let's remember, the Mets won 100 games in 1988 with Jefferies and McReynolds, losing a 7-game series to the Dodgers in the NLCS, a team we beat 11-of-12 times during the regular season, and would have beaten again had David Cone not run his mouth in that newspaper column after Game 6. The Mets also were contenders in 1989 and 1990, missing out on playoff berths in the final week of each of those seasons.

Kevin Mitchel might have been a hood, a criminal and a cat murderer, but his attitude was never a problem, and his chemistry in the clubhouse was top-notch. Dykstra and Backman, sure, they were misanthropes who led lives of questionable morality. But they were not cancers in the clubhouse. They were team players who always played hard and always wanted to win.

The demise of the would-be dynasty wasn't really complete until '91-92 when the likes of Vince Coleman, Bobby Bonilla and Brett Saberhagen were brought in. All player with immense talent and crappy attitudes.

Just like Manny.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

When it rains it pours

I swear, I have not resolved to blog more often in 2009. The fact this is my second post in three days after a four-month layoff is purely coincidental, but this is one I had to share.

Apparently, the Palestinians have extended their Jihad to included not only the state of Israel, but all citric beverages.




As if OJ Simpson didn't have enough to worry about!

Monday, January 05, 2009

Back with a whimper

If one of my new year's resolutions for 2008 was not to blog for the better part of the final four months of the year, then for the first time in my life I might have actually stuck to a new year's resolution.

In fact, it would also mean it's the first time in my life I've ever MADE a new year's resolution.

But no, I cannot blame vows for my lack of blogging, anymore than a Catholic priest can blame vows for diddling 12-year-olds (Sorry, I haven't blogged in four months, I have a lot of pent-up offensive things to say).

The truth is, most of the truly blog-worthy things that have come up over the past four months have been too depressing for me to take the time to actually write about them. (Plus, I was the one person who hadn't blogged since the last time Joe Pendleton blogged, and I didn't want him to feel bad -- y'know, cause I'm such a sweetheart and I always concern myself with not hurting people's feelings).


Let's review.

When I last chimed in here, the Mets had yet to execute a second straight September collapse, and the Jets had not played over their heads and then come crashing back to Earth in a manner of ugliness only the Jets can do,


Sports-related heartbreak aside, there were some noteworthy things I COULD have blogged about had I not been so busy/lazy/worried about Joe P's feelings.


- Metallica's first good studio album in 18 years (kicks ass, but not in the way the old school stuff kicked ass)

- Guns n' Roses' first studio album of any kind in 17 years (I'm not in love with the record, nor am I willing to accept it as an actual Gn'R album, considering it's just Axl and a bunch of dumbasses)

- The presidential election (best damn thing to happen to this country in a long, long time).

- The end of Shea Stadium (That was a difficult day)

- The 60-something-year-old Russian limo driver named Igor Yakubov who rear-ended me two block from my hut -- while I was at a complete stop -- and the ensuing insurance-related and rental-car related nightmare that's ensued.

- Plexico Burress (WOW!)

- Sarah Palin (Wow, for many of the same reasons)


Those were all things I COULD have blogged about over the past four months. Things I SHOULD have blogged about over the past four months. But what's done is done, you can't change the past, and you can't live in regret.

In any case, this is not a vow to blog more often in 2009. Consider it an acknowledgment of slackitude (If that isn't a word, it is now).

So in 2009, I will do my best to chime in on both the important and unimportant, the noteworthy and the not-so-noteworthy.

For now, I leave you with this bit of advice:

If you're stopped at a railroad crossing and a black Cadillac with New York livery plates comes speeding up behind you, floor it. At least if you get hit by a train your car will be totaled and won't reek of paint thinner for two months when you get it back from the body shop.