"Clutch" stats like RISP are worthless; they vary from year to year for individuals and teams. Do you know what team has one of the top RISP averages in the NL? The Pirates.

it's definitely an aberration for wright. he had consistently hit over .300 RISP from 2004-2007.

wright's situational hitting this season:

.313 bases empty
.287 runners on
.242 RISP
.247 RISP 2 outs
.235 bases loaded

who knows if dave hit .260 RISP this year, things would be different.

the pirates have a higher team BA RISP because they have less RISP opportunities than the mets. they don't get lots of baserunners eversince bay and nady were traded. in contrast, mets have been stranding men on base all-season. that and their inability to score runs late in the game ( -54 run differential 7-9 innings +).

6-6, top of the ninth! Come on guys! I've started a novena!

Mets win! Hope the Cubs can help us out this weekend. What a great (and lucky) slide by Church to tie it.

biggest win following the biggest loss. unreal.

ramon martinez and robinson cancel. big hits from unlikely guys.

unbelievable slide by ryan church. never seen anything like that. wow.

murphy looked horrible bunting. never bunt again, son. you're too good of a hitter.



http://web.sny.tv/media/player/mp_tpl.jsp?...id=cv&_mp=1

mets need to get a new 3rd base coach. aguayo has f**ked up the mets a couple of times this season. aguayo and murphy nearly f**ked the game up. obviously the bunt sign was off with 2 strikes but aguayo f**ked it up.

That was quite a game considering the Cubs benched most of their starters and didn't use their best two relievers, Marmol and Wood, not to mention the rain and wind.

The announcers were talking about it possibly being the last start by Pedro Martinez as a Met. Is he thinking of retiring or is it just that he'll want more money than the Mets are willing to pay him, considering his recent history?

most likely, it's pedro's last start as a met. i don't know if he's gonna retire, but it's a possibility. i honestly want him back on a one-year contract with incentives as the fifth starter.

Do we know that it was Aguayo and not Murphy who screwed up? Obviously Murphy can't bunt, but that is one of the few strategic situations where the overused sacrifice makes sense for a nonpitcher...

Manuel's postgame sessions with the media are actually funny and watchable (where Randolph was Yankee rather than human), but you gotta be stopped cold by a manager saying after Game 159 "I feel we're ready to take off."

I'm going to the official Shea Farewell on Sunday, but between the rain and the closeness of the race, I suspect it won't be the last game there.


A GREAT piece on Shea history by Paul Lukas (lots of photo links):

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/080926

mets didn't even show up tonight. division lead and WC lead both squandered.

it's gonna be a sad shea goodbye on sunday.

Santana is pitching tomorrow. It's on 3 days' rest after he threw 125 pitches, but it's the right move. Get the win the Mets need tomorrow and then worry about what to do on Sunday.

i'm 50/50 on santana starting. it's a desperation move for sure. a very risky one. the playoff hope is all but gone.



david, you had the WC destiny in your hand. and now, it's gone. maybe if you hit a SF the other night, instead of trying to hit a five-run homer, things will be a little bit different. win the next two games, AND PRAY.

mets still have a pulse. santana pitched the game of his life and got some help from the cubbies.

I have to admit Santana is a stud getting a complete game shutout on 3 days rest. I think had the Mets allowed him to go deeper in some games during the year, you might not have to be fighting for the wildcard.

I didn't see the game, but when I arrived at CBP for the Phils game the scoreboard showed the Mets up 2-0 in the 6th and (since our scoreboard lists the pitcher's number for the out-of-town games) Santana still in the game. Not long after that (after I made a restroom stop ) the board showed the game had already moved to the 8th inning.

Santana didn't end up pushing the Mets over the top in the NL East race, but he had a hell of a year. And he held up in September, which I speculated might be a problem based on his performance last year. I have to give him full credit.

the season is finally over. congratulations to the milwaukee brewers. they've averted a collapse.

mets couldn't do the job for two septembers. the offense has choked all-year. 5 runs in 3 games. you can't win.

murphy on 3rd, wright up 3-0 count in the 9th inning. darn, things could've been different.

Jesus effin Christ...I'm watching the ceremonies and they are introducing all the former Mets but the cameraman isn't showing any of the players! Seems appropriate they'd blow this as well!

But we got a perfect shot of the niece of the original groundskeeper!

Yeah they started showing them just in time for that, MunsonMan! Well now they are showing them so I didn't miss seeing one of my all time fav hotties Todd Zeile!

*cue JIP being an arrogant piece of crap Phillies fan*

todd zeile always makes my day. i still remember him with his hot goatee. damn.

good job by the fans staying after a devastating finish to the season.

at least, the final memory at shea is a happy one.

Cue MetsfanChi being a classless loser. You should follow the example of santana57 instead.

I turned it off after seeing the still unbearably sexy Robin Ventura.....is Ralph Kiner drunk yet?

goodbye, 2008 season.

goodbye, shea stadium.

that was a nice ceremony.

Agreed...I always wanted a Zeile/Ventura sandwich.

As for the Mets, where to start? Not that it had anything to do with the "collapse" but why would they give Minaya a 4 year extension? Though they obviously aren't as bad record-wise as the Knicks, this is starting to look like an Isiah Thomas situation. This isn't like he's the GM of the Royals or Pirates and got them nearer to the playoffs than they've been in years. He has been given all the resources to build a winner and failed yet again. I'm not saying he should be fired but why give him an extension? It's not like there is a bidding war for his services.

I was visiting my parents in CT and for better or worse I got to watch the last two games on TV. The game might have turned out differently if Evans hadn't made that junior high heave to third base and instead threw to the base that had a cutoff man in front of it. Then they wouldn't have walked that guy and perhaps Smith doesn't bring in a run and maybe Schoenweiss doesn't come in to start the next inning. One way or the other you figured they were gonna give it up though. It was fitting that the disappointing bullpen faltered again, but otherwise there were a lot of pleasant surprises this season- Tatis, Easley, Delgado, Pelfry, Murphy, Evans. It's pretty amazing they won as many games as they did with all the injuries and spare parts players they had in there. Maine and Wagner would likely have accounted for the two more victories they needed- it would have been nice to have Maine yesterday and Santana today. I listened to the ceremony on the FAN as I drove north and it was great to hear the way the fans showed the world they still loved their Mets!

Dude, I'm really not sure you watch the games. They were tied for second in the league in runs scored.

It was tough to leave Shea for the final time after 39 summers of seeing games there. The last moment with Seaver and Piazza got to me.

The game was a crusher, but was anyone surprised?

I have to say I am much more likely to attend 3-5 games at Citi Field next year than my usual 13-15 at Shea, even aside from the certain ticket-price increases. The "fan" behavior in the stands has grown increasingly abominable in the last few years -- eg, classlessly chanting "assh*le" at any fan wearing the visiting team's cap or t-shirt -- and I'm spared that watching at home on TV. Just another symptom of growing incivility in the general culture. Or is it just New York?

Question for the diehard Mets fans....which team do you hate the most? Is the the Yankees? The Phillies? Red Sox? Maybe rank them from most hated to less hated. Just curious to know.

Obviously the Yankees, especially the franchise's to-the-manor- born 'tude and their disproportionately stupid, obnoxious fans.

That said, I would be tempted to do with a Bosox-Phils WS what I did with Yanks-Atl in 2000: skip it.

I'd say the Braves- I might like ragging on other teams in the Northeast, but in the end, I'm not unhappy when they win.

yeah the braves. atlanta is still my most despised team. even when they're bad, they beat the mets (7-17 this season).

the mets-yanks is a NY thing and i don't really hate them. i hate the yanks for beating the mets (which was often), but other than that the rivalry is just for the fans. subway series has a playoff feel and fans are so into it.

i've never hated philadelphia. i mean, there was really no real rivalry to begin with. they do hate the mets a lot. i guess it's about being a NY team. mets-phils in 2007-2008 was awesome though. hope it continues.

#1 hatred above all things is the skanks. I can't f**king stand them or anything they stand for or believe in. The team is a scum-sucking cheating unethical piece of shit franchise. I hate the word yankee. I hate everything about them. They are truly the root of all f**king evil.

Hatred of others is cyclical. I used to despise the Cardinals in the late 80's as they were out rival. Then it was the Pirates in the early 90s for a few years. Then for the longest time it was the Braves. Now it's the Phillies. There are very few NL teams that I like or even want to win. I was kind of rooting for the Brewers once the Mets didn't make it. Cincy and Arizona dont' bother me all that much. Pretty much anybody else though in the NL isn't all that likeable.

Most AL teams though I'm OK with. I find most of the teams pretty likeable except maybe Detroit. For some reason, I've never liked them.

Josh

Thank you Mets for Scott Kazmir!!! Happy dance!

The history of the Phils and Mets has been that, until the last couple of years, they've never both been good at the same time. Either both teams were bad or one team was up while the other was down. So a real rivalry has never had a chance to develop until now.