Murphy’s Law – Any thing that can go wrong will go wrong. I certainly know it wasn’t Bob Murphy who said that, he was just way too positive a person. But the Mets are exemplifying the law Murphy had penned who knows when. The Seattle Mariners, the worst team in baseball who has scored the fewest runs in baseball defeated the Met 11-0.

There really is nothing to say. The highlight of the game was seeing Jerry Manuel getting thrown out of the game. Beltran soon followed. Mets fans should be ecstatic because their biggest complaint was that Willie never did that. At least the Braves and Marlins lost again too. For that matter the Yankees were shelled by Pittsburgh so if its pain to the other teams that floats your boat this season, the night was not a total loss.

I think sooner or later we must come to the conclusion that unless Omar Minaya pulls a fast one at the trade deadline, this season will not be one of the Mets bests. It won’t be one of the worst either. But as fans, we are going to have to come to terms with the notion that this team is not headed to the playoffs this year, Shea’s last.

Oliver Perez was simply awful tonight. In contrast to Santana’s struggles last evening, Perez wasn’t even on the same playing field. What’s most disturbing is that lately Perez’s velocity has been down. I wonder if there is a problem in that arm. You know his left arm would have to be falling off for Perez and his agent Scott Boris to admit there was a problem, not in his walk year.

More importantly the Mets offense took another night off. Just last night, Jerry Manuel in his post game chat with the media stressed how the Mets hitters need to work on knowing the strike zone. Obviously they have made no adjustments. Now the difference in Jerry and the previous manager is somewhat refreshing. Where Willie Randolph would have sugar coated and said the Mets have a good offensive club that are not hitting right now, Jerry flat out said tonight the Mets are a bad offensive club. There is no spinning with this guy and I for one appreciated it. He’s talking tough and that’s just what the Mets need. You can tell that his demeanor is not just for show.

During tonight’s post game press conference, Manuel openly admitted that changes to the lineup and the rotation will very well be necessary. Let’s give Manuel a chance. I think he has what it takes to right this ship but it will not happen overnight. It may take 30 to 40 games before we see major changes.  Let’s just hope the rest of the division continues to struggle while the Mets get their act together. And by the way, Manuel also praised Mets fans stating they deserve better. In his words he said “They are waiting, they’re waiting, they’re waiting, they’re waiting, they’re waiting, they are hoping we do well and it’s not fair to them”. Hey, he gets it. Manuel’s winning me over and change will come.

In retrospect, Omar made the right decision last week. No disrespect to Willie Randolph but the Mets are in better hands right now. At least after a tough loss like tonight, you get the feeling that the manager is just as frustrated as we are and intends to do something about it. Hopefully he will.

Carlos Beltran just said something very interesting in the club house. When asked about getting thrown out of the game, he made a remark that is somewhat telling about his, perhaps the teams, feeling towards Willie Randolph. He said “a manager coming out to protect his players is the way it should be”. Interesting…

College Worlds Series –

Fresno State is walloping the University of Georgia 15-6 in game two of the final round of the College World Series. If Fresno State holds on, the deciding game will be played tomorrow night on ESPN at 7:00PM.

What in the world is wrong with Johan Santana? Oh I know, he signed with the Mets. The Mets traded four of their top prospects and gave Johan Santana a 137 million dollar 7 year contract. He is now 7-6 after the Mets lost to the Mariners 5-2 last evening. This is certainly not what the Mets had in mind when they made the deal.

No question the second inning was a bit bizarre. After walking a batter and giving up a hit, with two outs David Wright made an error on a routine ground ball that should have ended the inning.  The next batter, the pitcher Felix Hernandez, on the first pitch he has seen all season hit an opposite field grand slam home run. How does this happen? Sorry, but Johan Santana has got to do a better job than that. This you would have expected from Oliver Perez, not Santana. He is supposed to be the Mets stopper. Since the Mets won on Sunday, you had to feel good that with Santana on the mound the Mets had a chance to end up on the right side of the .500 ledger.

So it’s a week later since Willie Randolph was let go. The Mets seem more relaxed and are playing a better quality of baseball. Yet the Mets went 3-3 since Omar brought in Jerry Manuel. When you see an inning like the second, maybe you just throw up your hands and think this is the best it’s going to get. I mean how can this team get on track and push to 10 games above .500?

For one, Johan Santana must start to pitch the way he is capable of pitching. Jerry Manuel pointed out in his post game conference that Johan’s line looked pretty good in that he only gave up 1 earned run. True but Santana was the one who gave up the walk, hit, and grand slam whether it was earned or not.

The other thing that needs to improve and was articulately pointed out by Manuel is the approach to hitting. Mets hitters do not work counts. They swing early and habitually chase balls out of the strike zone. It amazed me how quickly Mets hitters were getting themselves out in last night’s game while Mariner hitters made Santana throw a lot more pitchers. It’s one thing to be aggressive, its another to be smart and aggressive.

So once again the Mets find themselves a game under .500. To keep their streak of series wins intact will require wins tonight and tomorrow night. I keep thinking the Mets are going to turn the corner. I keep thinking that they will rattle off 5 or 6 wins in a row. But then it just doesn’t happen. For now the Mets remain the most expensive .500 team money can buy.

College World Series Update –

Eighth ranked University of Georgia scored 4 in the eighth and overtook Cinderella Fresno State in the first game of the College World Series finals. The best 2 of 3 final round continues this evening in Omaha Nebraska and can be seen on ESPN.

Citi Field Update -

Stadiumpage.com has some great new interior photos of Citi Field. The concrete is in place on the first base side of the lower seating bowl and many seats and railings have been in stalled on the upper level.

George 1937-2008