Coming off of a very disappointing series against one of baseball’s most disappointing teams, it’s time for a little assessment. Larry Brooks of the New York Post had some hard reality for the New York Post yesterday:

“They are the residue of their historic collapse last September, a consequence of a flawed roster and a fragile rotation. They are a disappointment, no matter how much they wish to massage it, no matter how much they may detest their reflection in their own mirrors.”

Forget the fact that they mitigated the damage on Wednesday with an 8-2 win over the Mariners. It’s only a small consolation when you consider the all out drubbing they incurred the night before, losing 0-11.

Brooks says that this is the very definition of a mediocre team—to win a few, and then lose a few, as if they were ambling through life, without consideration of their actual performance.

The franchise would suggest that they’re taking their mediocrity very seriously, taking actions that demonstrate the repellent nature of said patchiness. I mean, why else did they fire Willie Randolph? Interim manager, Jerry Manuel suggested that it was time for tough decisions on Tuesday night after their embarrassing loss. What do you suppose he meant by that?

Time will tell. Let’s hope that those interested in buying Mets tickets in the coming months are able to stay patient.

Will the Mets have a new manager? That’s the latest question to be considered by New York sports fans and the Mets Ownership. Why is this a question? They’ve got a $140 million dollar payroll, and not even a .50 record to show for it.

In addition to a less than awesome season with the Mets, Willie Randolph is taking heat for some comments about race. He suggested several days ago that his skin color might be a factor in the way the public and the media perceives his ability to run the team.

Ian O’Connor from The Record says that Randolph has good reason for suggesting this:

“As the de facto offensive coordinator of Joe Torre’s dynastic Yanks, Randolph was rejected as a candidate for one managerial job after another, this while every white bullpen catcher and his brother got a gig.

“Does anyone really believe that a white man who was a two-time champion Yankee as a player and a four-time champion Yankee as a coach would’ve waited as long as Randolph did before a franchise finally called his number? Especially when that man was considered a stabilizing force in those crazy George-Billy-Reggie, Bronx-is-burning days?”

Maybe Randolph has a point. Maybe if he was white, the vultures wouldn’t be circling quite so soon. But he also has to take accountability for the fact that for the last 160 games the Mets have gone 78-82. This is not good for an expensive team trying to sell Mets tickets.

Last week I reported how Mets fans have never seen a no-hitter from their team in it’s entire history, even though Mike Pelfrey came close last week. But last night, the first no-hitter of the 2008 season occurred. And what’s truly remarkable, is the person who did it.

The Red Sox haven’t had a lefty no-hitter in 52 years. Red Sox pitcher, Jon Lester, got to be the person to break that streak. He threw 130 pitches against the Kansas City Royals, without a hit. He had nine strike outs and walked only two. And what’s more impressive is the fact that this 24-year-old is a cancer survivor.

Less than two years ago Lester was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He missed the final weeks of the 2006 season.

Manager Terry Francona admits to being a wreck in the dugout in the dugout during the 9th inning. As Lester was mobbed by teammates on the mound after the last strike, Francona joined the celebration, giving him a huge hug.

It was a special day for a team that has had its share of inspirational victories over the last few years. But even with two amazing World Series wins, this might stand aside as a special victory for a great team, and an equally great pitcher.

Here’s some good news for New York baseball fans. Yankees and Shea stadium are some of the cleanest in the nation. In other words, you can buy Mets tickets and a hot dog at the game with very little worry.

The report claims that Shea stadium had 58 health violations in 2007 which might not inspire confidence. But when you consider the fact that Angels stadium racked up 732, the Mets come off looking sparkling clean.

Of the Angels stadium, the Daily News reports:

“There was also a major vermin violation in April that forced the shutdown of a food stand.”

It further reports:

“The A’s McAfee Coliseum reported 493 violations, several of which came from food being exposed to “overhead leakage, dirt, insects, rodents and chemical contamination.”

The cleanest of all of the stadiums was the Colorado Rockies home, Coors Field, which only showed 16 violations.

So how is all of this supposed to make us feel? It’s like those reports that find that only .05% of our food is in fact rat feces, something that’s apparently supposed to reassure us. Yay!

I still don’t like the idea that there would ever be an incidence of violation of any health code in any organization distributing food. But it appears that both Shea and Yankees stadium are making great efforts to minimize the risks.

If there has ever been a silly controversy, it’s the recent uproar over Carlos Delgado not making a curtain call after a standing ovation for his performance against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.

They wanted him to return to the field and tip his hat to the fans. On one hand, it might have been a nice gesture given the fact that he’s been booed more times any recent Mets player. And two home runs aren’t anything to laugh at. He deserved the applause.

But he felt that it wasn’t one of those moments that deserved the curtain call. He said that if it had been a clinching game of a pennant race or the World Series, then yes, it would have certainly been a moment deserving of a grand gesture.

Maybe it was the right moment. Maybe it wasn’t. I guess it’s all a matter of what the fans think and expect, and clearly he didn’t judge their expectations correctly.

But there’s a part of me that’s got to side with Delgado. Everyone expects big moments all of the time. Have you noticed how pretty much every concert you go there’s going to be an encore? And if the performers are school aged children, you better believe there’s going to be a standing ovation.

Perhaps Delgado has a better bead on what’s appropriate than the general public does. Which is why I say this is a silly controversy. I hope that the ticket buying fans of the Mets will hand him another olive branch the next time he has a big moment. And hopefully he’ll be able to read their expectations better. But until then, it’s a silly issue.

One thing that’s great about having an ace pitcher is that you can count on losing streaks to come to a screeching halt every five games or so. Such was the case for the Mets with their superstar pitcher, Johan Santana, destroying the offense of the Washington Nationals. The New York Times reports:

“Santana allowed two runs and seven hits. He struck out four, retiring 9 of his final 10 hitters. As a bonus, he hit two doubles. See Santana hit. See Santana pitch. See Mets win.”

It truly was an outstanding performance by the Mets. There were no errors. They had four stolen bases. The pitching of course was outstanding by Santana, not to mention his two doubles. Talk about earning your paycheck.

The Mets also decided to mix up the batting order a little. Randolph dropped Delgado down to the sixth spot. This paid off with Beltran doubling in the second inning and scoring on an RBI groundout by Delgado.

The fact of the matter is that the Mets are a tough team to beat with Santana on the mound. Let’s hope that for those who buy Mets tickets on the other four nights, that there won’t be any more losing streaks for Santana to break.

The Shea stadium’s final opening game was not a victory for the home team. More embarrassing than that, the Mets lost to the Phillies again. Ouch!

Not only did the Mets hope for redemptions from last year’s total collapse at the Phillies hands. This marked the ninth straight loss to the Phillies for this franchise. Of this streak, David Wright is quoted in the Daily News as saying:

“It’s not significant whatsoever. We’re talking about a different team. We’re talking about a new year. It’s unfortunate what happened last year, but that’s past us. As far as I’m concerned, we’re 0-1 against the Phillies this year, we’re 0-2 against the Braves and we need to do a better job.”

The Mets do need to do a better job, as the final score of 5-2 denotes.

Perhaps the evening is epitomized by Carlos Delgado’s throw to second base in an attempt for a possible double play hit Chase Utley in the back, flying off into the outfield. This error allowed two runs to score for Phillies.

With the new stadium being built, one has to ask, “Is Shea Stadium doomed to relive past disappointments?” Maybe we need to just wait to buy tickets for the Mets when the new stadium is built.  Maybe then we can hope for a championship. The season is still young, but the talented but under performing Mets need to get with the program.

Last week’s most popular events were again dominated by the beginning of the Major League Baseball season. No surprise as this is the final scheduled season for both Yankee and Shea Stadiums in the New York area so fans are lining up to get their last glimpse of the home buildings they’ve all grown up with.

The top events were as follows:

New York Yankees Tickets vs Tampa Bay

New York Mets Tickets vs Philadelphia

Kenny Chesney Tickets

Steely Dan Tickets

Tickets to The Lion King on Broadway 

One times while managing a retail store I had a sales representative for our company come in and brag about how great he had been a few years previously in the same role. He went on and on about how he beat all of these sales records.

And then he failed to deliver. He turned out to be mediocre at best. Maybe he had broken all of those records in past years, but he certainly wasn’t at the top of his game anymore. More than anything, I realized how he had set our expectations at a level that would be very hard to achieve.

The same goes for Johan Santana. I have no doubt that compared with other paychecks in the League, he’s well deserving of his $137.5 million contract. But what that does is set an extremely high standard. It tells everyone in the franchise and everyone who’s buying Mets tickets that he’s going to be amazing in every game. Talk about pressure.

Speaking of the these expectations, Shaun Powell of Newsday.com says:

“Yes, they want shutouts, strikeouts, maybe a no-hitter if you please, and plenty of good stuff, all the luxuries you’d expect from a two-time Cy Young winner who has the impossible task of making that $137.5 million seem like a bargain. And they want it now, like today, in his second start . . . ”

When all was said and done, Santana asked for it by driving for the contract. I hope he earns it.

As I reported earlier this week, the fifth starting position has been waving in the wind the last few weeks. It seemed to be down to Orlando Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey. Hernandez is a star but he’s struggled with his health. Pelfrey has simply pitched poorly this spring.

But it seems that the wait is nearly over. The Mets plan on making Hernandez the fifth starter if he plays well today in the Grapefruit League start. This is impressive given the fact that he’s had to totally redesign his pitching style to accommodate a bunion on his foot. To even be considered for the position shows the level of trust the management puts in him. There is something to be said for an incredible work ethic and experience.

Pelfrey has shown a lot of anxiety over the decision, hoping for the contest to be decided and over with. He’d rather not be the starting pitcher than not know if he’s going to be. Not exactly the kind of tenacious attitude one would hope from a star pitcher.

Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post reports Hernandez’s response to the situation:

“Worry? I no worry. When the Cuban government suspended me from baseball for life, I worry a long time. This is just pitching.”

Maybe it’s that fierce but calm attitude that gives El Duque the upper hand in this contest. Make sure to get your Mets tickets now.