Stage 1 Complete

Well, I did not get my trifecta on Saturday. Oh, the Yanks and Mets lived up to their end of the bargain, but my Islanders decided to not score any goals, while Rick DiPietro decided to let in only 2 (bringing his GAA down to 4, hey Rick, that ain't gonna get it done son.)

What can I say about the Mets that hasn't already been said here or elsewhere. They were given little to no chance to win this series once El Duque went down. They did not listen to the experts though, and proceeded to sweep the Brooklyn Dodgers of Los Angeles. Little threw a lefty at them, no problem. We started John Maine in the opener, no problem. Trax pitched game 3 and the pen leaked a bit, no problem. Greg Maddux, a former torturer as a Braves was thrown at us, and he was hit. They got the job done.

Hats off to PLD and Shawn Green. They took out their frustrations of being traded by the Dodger, PLD having a very good series, and Green having a good game 3. Uncle Cliffy did well, until he tweaked his achilles again. If the last play for Cliffy as a Met is him motoring home for a run and hurting himself, that is a nice way to go out, giving your all for your team. David Wright went 4 for 12 with a few RBI. Jose Jose Jose warmed up in game 3 as well. Beltran did not hit much, but got a few key walks. Mota pitched 2 scoreless innings, and Heilman 1. Wags did the job in the last two games with nary a Tums needed.

So it is on to the NLCS. The Cardinals come to town on Wednesday. Interesting match up, as neither team has a great rotation. The Mets have the edge in the pen, but the Cardinals have Pujols. I have a good feeling about this.

Now, I'm not going to gloat over the Yanks (OK, maybe a little bit). They and their fans understimated the Tigers. Yes, they slumped in September, but so did the White Sox last year. The Tigers have an impressive pitching staff, a lot of youth and a lot of speed. They also have Kenny Rogers, who apparently made a deal with the Devil to allow him to beat the Yanks.

Typically, Yankee fans and the media and George are pointing fingers. They are all pointing at Joe Torre. Now, I personally think Joe is a tad overrated, but this is not his fault. He did not trade for the Big Eunuch. He did not sign Jaret Wright. He did not take away the ability to hit from ARod, Sheffield, Giambi et al. He is getting hit for plugging Sheffield in at first (who was supposed to play their, Craig Wilson?) and for taking Melky Cabrera out for Matsui. Now, call me crazy, but how do you not start those bats?

In my book, a lot of the fault lies with one man, who will never see a finger pointed at him, and that is Hitting Coach Don Mattingly. Now, I've ripped Rick Down here, as I feel the hitting coach needs to work with slumping guys. Don should have been working with ARod a lot this year. He shold have worked with Giambalco as well. That is the hitting coaches' job. When the Yanks were dominant, they waited pitchers out, and drew a lot of walks, or tired the starter and got to the pen. They do not do that as much any more. That is the problem.

Cashman and George get some blame as well. Cashman signed Wright. George singed Sheff. George wanted the Big Eunuch. Well, he got them, and they did nothing for the team. The players who have been there, Jeter, Rivera, Posada, were all drafted and groomed by the Yankees. Outside of Wang and Cabrera, who have they brought in in the last 5 - 7 years? No one. Time to groom again, and stop signing big name players. The Rangers tried this after they won the Cup in 1994, and it did not work. It is not working for the Yanks now.

I did not watch the Jets for more than 5 minutes yesterday. Apparently, all I missed was the defense getting shredded and Chad tossing 3 balls to the other team. A shutout? I would not want to be on the practice field this week.

That's all for today. See you tomorrow.

Let's Go Mets!