When Jose Reyes initially got hurt, there was speculation that he was actually being benched because of a series of stupid baserunning mistakes. Now that Reyes is out indefinitely, remaining stars David Wright and Carlos Beltran are trying to pick up the slack – by making their own stupid baserunning mistakes.
Tonight, Wright was thrown out twice at third, while Beltran was also thrown out at third. Considering the Mets only had one run going into extra innings, losing three baserunners who would have been in scoring position is inexcusable.
Carlos Beltran has a historically high rate of success on steals. Now he makes questionable decisions on the basepaths seemingly on a regular basis.
Are Beltran and Wright trying to do too much as team leaders? Or are simply following a strategy always to try to take the extra base no matter what?
With their depleted lineup, the Mets can’t afford these types of mistakes, and Jerry Manuel said as much after the game. But Jerry, why then do they keep happening? Trying to make up for Reyes’ absence by being overly aggressive on the basepaths is not the logical thing to do.
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I’ve seen things this year I never expected to see. Gary Sheffield batting cleanup and the Mets missing his presence when he is out of the lineup. Alex Cora rushing back from the disabled list because the Mets desperately need him.
And Squawker Lisa, implacable foe of all things fanboy, writing separate posts on Star Trek and Spider-Man in one day.
As Lisa noted, the Binghamton Mets wore Star Trek-inspired jerseys at tonight’s game. Alas, the B-Mets fell, 7-4, to the Connecticut Klingons. At least I hope they were called the Klingons tonight instead of the Defenders.
The game featured the Double-A debut of Brad Holt, aka the only Met prospect potentially close to the big leagues. The B-Mets site reports that Holt pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, two hits, three walks and struck out three.
I want Holt to do well enough that he can make it up to the Mets this year, but not so well that Omar Minaya trades him away in a panic move.
Squawker Lisa also noted that Spider-Man got into a fight at Yankee Stadium with the Vulture. I don’t know if the comic reveals the identity of the Vulture, but I’m guessing it was Lonn Trost trying to prevent Spidey from watching batting practice from the good seats.
Squawker reader Uncle Mike has unearthed a 1977 Electric Company video that shows Spider-Man is a Met fan!
In the video, Spidey battles a villain called The Wall, who disguises himself as part of the outfield fence before running forward, upsetting the outfielder and causing a home run.
Kind of a cross between Jeffrey Maier and Bobby Abreu.
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