This Site Is Under Cool Construction

In my effort to breathe life into this blog and to make it a whole lot more fun (yes, it's possible) to visit - this site will be going under construction for a few weeks. We will soon have comical daily recaps, onion-related blog posts, REAL (shocker!) news bits, and something for everyone (even, gulp, Yankees fans).

Of course, Eli won't be the only one working (you call this work?) here, so be on the lookout for some fresh new talent (Disclaimer: They may be in their 40's) in the near future.

If you are interested, unemployed, and semi or even quarterly-funny, please e-mail me at EMAIL130@yahoo.com

Not everyone who emails me will get to work here, but the ones who make me smile & think - are instantly in the 2nd round of invisible rounds.

Good luck and Let's Go You-Know-Whos.

3 Reasons Why Jon Niese May Very Well Have A Poor Performance Tonight

1) The Mets tweeted today that "Jonathon Niese was named Mets Sharp Pitcher of the Month for June. He went 4-0 last month. He will be honored pre-game." Niese may very well be complacent knowing he has achieved a milestone; not that "Mets Sharp Pitcher of the Month" is something to brag about, but the fact he's honored pre-game + being a young pitcher = I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't as "Sharp" as he should or could be.

2) It's 100 degrees out there. Yes, Johan not only survived in the heat, but thrived in it, while Niese has gone 4-0 in a warm June, but being the same age as Niese and knowing the heat has gone to my head (heck, why else would I be writing this absurd post?) I can imagine it will go to his.

3) Dan Iassogna, the 2nd base umpire from Monday's Mets/Reds game who called Rolen's "hit-by-pitch," will be tonight's home plate umpire. Perhaps a smaller strike zone will help him leave an even great impression on the Citi faithful...?

...there ya have it... 3 far-fetched-but-slightly-possible reasons Niese may just have a poor performance tonight...

All-Star Showdown: Pelfrey vs Votto

Two players that supposedly got snubbed. Well, tonight told me one of them did.




Joey Votto:

Steal-y More-ti and B-ed Cold-man

Ever notice how Sweeny Murti is on WFAN a whole lot more than Ed Coleman these days? Now, I do know, or so it seems, that the Mets, as a topic, are discussed more on WFAN than the Yankees are, but it did strike me as odd that Murti is on with hosts more often, dishing out clips for 20/20's at night, while Coleman, who is getting older, is sort-of slowing down and, perhaps, not contributing as much as he should or could.

How's that for a run-on sentence?

Either way, it's a thought and now it's yours to keep.

Also, props to Murti for the work, but it still doesn't give him the right to use a tweet from a fan without giving credit.

Murti, who was on the Evan Roberts today, when discussing AJ Burnett, said, 'People should expect Good AJ and Bad AJ, but hope he's better more often.'

That's funny, because I vaguely remember this yesterday:

Using someone else's material without giving credit is becoming ever so popular these days.

...by the way, Murti is turning 40 in August, while Coleman was born in 1949...

Some Quick MLB Clips For Ya

The Nationals are having a wonderful season and with Stephen Strasburg on the way, it's only going to get better. But Saturday, although Washington beat the Reds 5-1, they took a little beating of their own.

Nationals reliever Miguel Batista was ejected after hitting Brandon Phillips, who was involved in an earlier play at the plate when he literally POUNDED Washington Catcher Wil Nieves.

Right before Phillips plated the Reds only run of the day, Washington's Manager, Jim Riggleman, was ejected for arguing a play at third base in the top of the eighth inning. The ump ruled that Nats SS, Ian Desmond, interefered with the runner, Brandon Phillips, and Phillips should be awarded the base. Here's the play, what do you think?

How great does Dontrelle Willis look in this clip? Willis shut out the Rockies over 6 innings in his Diamondbacks debut? D-Train's fastball looked nasty and he even had no problem sliding head-first into home plate.

...well, consider the last 5 minutes of your life useful... by the way, did you see where Jim Joyce was looking when he called Jason Donald safe to break up Lady Galarraga's perfect bid...

Where Do You Stand On Jim Joyce?

I'm not Mike Francesa. I'm not Michael Kay. I'm just a fan of the game; observing, watching... taking it all in.

So I don't know if there is what to harp on here, but I took a look at the 3 "perfect" games so far in 2009 and I did notice a difference between the first 2 games and yesterday's "28-out" Perfect Performance.

Something to take into account: Ironically, all 3 games ended (or should have ended) on plays to first base. (For the record, yesterday's Tigers game also ended on 1st base when Trevor Crowe grounded out to 3rd base and Brandon Inge threw over to first).

Here's a snapshot of the final play of the first 2 games:


Notice how each umpire, whether in the top shot during Halladay's game, or the bottom shot of Braden's, is standing 6-12 feet off the line.

Now, take a look at where Jim Joyce is standing:

Joyce is about 1 foot off the line.

I'm not an umpire and I don't know WHERE a first base umpire is supposed to stand, but wouldn't you think being in the best position to call the out would be the ideal spot for any umpire? If the case, how is it possible that these 3 umpires are all found to be in different positions at the most critical spot of the game? Which one has the best vantage point? Who has the worst?

It's hard to know whether or not Joyce's angle only allowed him to see one aspect (the fielder as opposed to the runner) of the play, but from the looks of this picture, check out where Joyce's eyes are as the ball comes into Galarraga's glove:


Clearly, they're on the glove and not exactly watching Donald's feet hit (or not hit) the bag.

Would have a better angle avoided all of this? Is there a set position first base umpires are supposed to be in such an instance? Who knows...

All I do know is... I've got questions.

Ollie's Final Pitch

So you think the folks at Mets Underground have been on vacation the past few weeks? Guess again.

The crew just got back from big-time work in China.

I kid... we were in Japan.

Oliver Perez, being the wealthy left-handed pitcher that he is, sent us to The Home of Sushi to scout out a certain right-handed ace that Hisanori Takahashi suggested Perez see. Ollie has recently been hanging out with Hisanori in hopes of learning Japanese.

Takahashi told Perez about a "pitching guru," from whom Oliver can learn from, while showing the city of New York, as Perez put it, 'that he is more than just a pile of worthless crap.'

Oliver took a look at the video we shot down (is Japan down?) in Southern Asia (is Japan in South Asia?) and by the looks of Ollie's reaction, we expect big things from the pile of worthless crap.

Here's our scoutage (not a real word):



Perez, attempting to implement this pitch into his 0-pitch arsenal, has since sprained his right wrist and fractured his left elbow. The team has asked he been sent to the DL, but Perez adamantly refused.

This will only get uglier.

Ike Can Do It!

Even though Ike Davis has cooled down here in the past few weeks, it's still safe to say...