An Open Letter to Wally Matthews

Dear Wally,

Have you lost what's left of your mind?

Once again you waste resources with a crappy column bashing the Mets. This time, you decided to attack Jose Reyes, asking if he wants to be Derek Jeter or Rey Ordonez. You see Jeter as a "winner" and Ordonez as a "loser". Now, I (and most Mets fans) would agree with you on Rey-Rey, but as for Jeter, we got a problem.

Exactly what has Jeter won in the past 7 seasons? Nothing. No rings. No championships. He "led" his team to losses to the Diamondbacks and the Marlins in the World Series. He "led" them to the biggest choke in baseball history in 2004. He "led" them to a first round loss last season.

I don't want Reyes to be Jeter, someone who as Captain should have put aside his ego and not been an ass toward Alex Rodriguez, simply because Alex has significantly more talent than Jeter. Someone who as Captain bent over when Roger Clemens was signed, and then resigned, despite having been thrown at by Clemens in the past. Someone who as Captain has had teammates traded who he did not get along with.

The fact is that since other key cogs of the winning Yankee teams of the late 1990's left (O'Neill, Bernie, etc), Jeter has not been able to seal the deal. So tell me Wally, if Jeter gets so much credit for all the winning then, why does he not get the balme now for the losing? If he was such a great player, he would be able to lead the Yankees to victory every year, no?

Has Reyes struggled a tad at the start of this season, yes. As has pretty much every other hitter on the Mets. Reyes' April 2007 was fantastic, but no one in their right mind would expect him to be able to do that all the time. Oh wait, we are talking about you. For example, lets take the past two games in Chicago. David Wright failed to get a hit. Carlos Beltran was awful. So it is not all on Reyes. Even when he does get on base, the team is failing to drive him in.

You note the Mets record last April was 13-6. Right now they stand at 11-9. So tell me, what is the difference? Two games, when there are still a few games left in the month? Tell me, did Jeter share in the blame last season when the Yankees got off to a 9 - 14 April? That included a 7 game losing streak, where the Yanks lost 4 to the Red Sox. Doesn't the #2 hitter share blame, especially one who is the Captain, and is synonomous with "winning"?

You note stats for Reyes, yet an in-depth look, or at least a modicum of intelligence would show reasons behind his slow start. One is the presence of Luis Castillo in the #2 spot. Luis has been a black hole this year. Why would a pitcher want to challenge Reyes when they know they have a good shot at getting Castillo out on one of his patented 24 hop grounders to short? So they give him nothing to hit. Jose meanwhile, realizing he needs to get on base is swinging, and failing. It is little coincidence that he started to hit better when Castillo was dropped in the order and Ryan Church was moved to the #2 spot.

Perhaps Jose was pressing since you and your fellow writers spent the winter bashing him for his slump in September. And for "firing up" the Marlins on the next to last day of the season (which reminds me, if they were so annoyed, why did they not show more fight during THAT game?) The bashing of his "silly handshakes" caused him to bottle up his emotions. It is little coincidence that once Beltran told him to have fun that he started to play better. I like players who enjoy the game much more than guys who just seem to go through the motions. Show some energy, show some flair. I prefer my manager let my players be themselves and not make stupid rules like "No Candy" like Joe Girardi.

I do not deny that Reyes has gotten off to a slow start. At least you have the common sense to note that the season is young, as is Reyes. However, you once again show a lack of knowledge when you write an article trying to tie a Met to a Yankee. Let Jose be the best player he can be, without trying to compare him to some overrated egomaniac in the Bronx.

Eagerly awaiting your firing,

Ed in Westchester

This Week in Wally's World

Opening Day. A new season begins. A time to think good thoughts, to enjoy seeing Santana shut down the Marlins, Jose get on base, Wright clear the loaded bases with a double. To forget last year. Except, that is, if you are Wally Matthews.

Who better to piss on the parade the next morning after a resounding win? Who better to bring up the end of last season? Who else but Wally would try to compare Johan's win to Tom Glavine's win in the opener last year?

I know, I know, the collapse is going to be the story, at least in the early going. But why today? Why after seeing a truly dominant performance in all areas of the game does Wally feel the need to rehash all that happened at the end of last season? (Oh, and Wally, do us a favor and look at the Mets record. While they blew the lead at the end, they played 500 ball basically from June on forward, so the collapse was a long one).

"Don't Celebrate Yet, Mets Fans" was the headline. The funny thing is this, the second paragraph in the story

The Mets beat the Marlins, 7-2, yesterday behind a gem of an Opening Day outing by Santana, and you could almost see the headline writers trotting out the cliches in 130-point type, about PAYBACK and VENGEANCE, about "Wiping the Slate Clean" and "Evening the Score."

Meanwhile, I'm sure there were a number of Mets fans wondering what cliches Wally would spill out. He didn't disappoint, that's for sure.

And of course, Wally followed Vic Zeigel of the Daily News in pointing out a pointless miscue by Luis Castillo:

Yesterday, Santana came as advertised, but there were other signs that this club is not completely over the bugaboos that brought it down last year, notably a first-inning brain freeze by Luis Castillo, who somehow stopped running on a wind-blown, two-out pop fly by Carlos Beltran that dropped in. Castillo should have easily scored the first run of the game but was forced to hold at third.

Both conveniently forgot two things. One, that Castillo is still recovering from off-season knee surgery (which every media person in New York had written about ad-nauseum this spring). Two, that Castillo also bunted for a single and then stole second base. Did he make a mistake? Sure. But it is possible that he forgot how many outs there were, and it is also possible that Sandy Alomar had given him the stop sign. But why let other possibilities get in the way of stirring the pot? Why let that stop Wally from once again writing a Mets bashing article?

He then proceeded to talk about how winning the first game means nothing, and brought up a couple of teams that lost the first game and wound up winning the division. And of course, one team mentioned was the 1998 Yankees, because what would a column in Wally's World be without a mention of his favorite team? Of course, Wally forgot to mention another Mets team that won their opener, the 1986 World Champions.

Then again, why would I expect Wally to bring up something that would blow away his theory?

Introducing a New Feature - "This Week in Wally's World"

Since I've been posting, Wally Matthews at Newsday has been the target of some barbs, primarily due to his anti-Mets slant. It seems every wekk Wally gets his panties in a bunch over the Mets, and proceeds to write some drivel. Until now, I have only picked here and there to opine, and had even stopped posting about him because his writing is such repetative tripe (Mets suck, they do nothing right, the poor junkyard guys).

Starting today, and continuing for as long as Wally continues his attacks on my favorite Sports team, I will post a response to Wally's crap. The comments will be there for you to either agree, or tell me I'm as stupid as Wally (which, let's be serious here, is highly impossible).

Onto the fun.

In this weeks version of Wally's World, Wally has written a column mocking the Mets lack of a slogan this year, after last years admittedly asinine "Your Season Has Come" (seriously, it is a good thing there is no slogan, the team has had crap out there for years. There is no need for it, just play the fraking games).

He proceeds to list several suggestions:

"This Time We Mean It."
"One Year Older. One Year Wiser. One Win Better?"
"Missed It By That Much ... "

and so on. He even caps it with a Green Day title "Wake Me Up When September Ends."

So, in the spirit of Wally's column, I have come up with a few slogans for him to use on his columns.

"American Idiot"
"Same Shit, Different Week"

Feel free to add some more in the comments.

Now, Wally a few years ago did show some sack. Back when some asshat gossip writer at the Post "outed" Mike Piazza, Wally, who worked there at the time, wrote a column blasting the guy. The Post didn't run it, and Wally took his pen and went home. Good for him. Since then however, it seems Wally has written a column a week abusing the Mets. Oh, he will occassionaly bash the team in the Bronx, but it is rare, and usually innocuous.

The best is how Wally always manages to put in a little pro-yankee stuff in the column. This week it was

"It wasn't like the Yankees, who had to scrap and scramble to make the playoffs, only to come up empty in the first round."

I'm sorry, they had to scrap? They spent $200 million on payroll. They should have walked away with the AL and won the WS. I mean, he bashes the Mets for spending and coming up short. Should the Mets use the Yanks of the past 7 season (no WS wins, one HUGE CHOKE in the ALCS) as a model?

You see Wally, if you want to use the Yanks as the benchmark, at least be consistent. You cannot bash the Mets like this

So far, this incarnation of the Mets, this $145-million boondoggle, hasn't been nearly as good as it was supposed to be,

And yet use the Yankees as the benchmark, when they outspent EVERY OTHER TEAM.

Did the Mets underacheive last year? Sure. Do fans remember that? Sure. Did the team improve over the offseason? Damn right. They added Santana, added Wise to the pen, got rid of Mota. Oh, and Pedro is now 15 months removed from surgery and is looking for a new deal. There is one rule that Wally is forgetting:

Never Underestimate Pedro

The man is motivated. A motivated Pedro is damn good.

Jose Reyes is focused. David Wright is going to get better. Oh, and despite your writing that Carlos Beltran is among the aging portion of the roster at not yet 31 years old, he had a damn fine season last year. Perhaps you should look at more than batting average, and notice that he was among the best on the team in August and September. He is only starting to enter his prime.

So, as we wrap this week, a recap of Wally's column.

"The Mets stink. blah blah blah. Yankees are good. Blah blah blah. The Mets stink"

That's Wally's World.

Feel free to post some comments.

Wally Apparently Won't Be Happy Until The Mets are Remade in His Image

Hot on the heels of his leading role in running Lastings Milledge out of town, our generations Dick Young, Wally Matthews, has turned his sights on that other malcontent, Jose Reyes. Now, I try not to read Wally, since most of what he writes is simple ass-hatterey, but in this case, I made an exception. I should not have, as my blood boiled.

Now, I hate the Milledge trade. I think it was short-sighted. I think ITAM (as he was named on Metsgeek), is going to be a very special player. I am not going to rant about it for years, because frankly, nothing will change. I wish him luck in Washington, where Manny Acta knows he is getting a good ball player. For those who think "Well, Omar filled two holes" actually, he only needed to fill one big one, PITCHING. I was fine with Milledge in right next year. I was fine with Castro/Estrada behind the plate. Schneider may call a great game, and Church seems to be a nice player, though at 29, he has probably hit his ceiling. I will not boo either of these guys, they are Mets. I also don't think Milledge was going to be the final piece of the puzzle. Had he been dealt for pitching, no problem. But to get back a catcher who can't hit, and a RF with less upside, that bothers me. And we all know why Milledge is gone. The media reminded us of his "shortcomings" every chance they got.

We've all read of the problems he had in high school. We all know about the hi-5's, the missed bus, the note hung on his locker. The rap record (which was amplified by the whole Don Imus thing). But you know what, the guy came to play. He wanted to succeed. He wanted to show everyone that he could play. And he did well in limited time, thanks to injuries. Are we to expect every player to come up and hit 320 right away? If so, then we will never see another youngster stay a Met. David Wright did it, but he is a special player. Others take time. LIke Mike Piazza. Like Daryl Strawberry. Like Jose Reyes.

You remember when Jose came up. Many fans were up in arms that Willie had him hit leadoff. "He can't do it, his OBP is too low". He kept getting hurt. But the team showed patience, and he blossomed, having a fantastic 2006 season. Then came last year. And now comes the blame game, with Wally leading the charge.

Here is what Wally wrote yesterday:

Of all the assets Lastings Milledge brought to the Mets, none will be missed nearly as much as his speed. I refer not to his time in the 90-foot dash but to the amazing speed with which his status plummeted from Untouchable to Undesirable. In a little under seven months, L Millz went from the kind of precious property with whom the Mets would not have parted in exchange for Alex Rodriguez, Josh Beckett and a vial of Tom Seaver's DNA thrown in, to a guy they couldn't wait to ship off for the equivalent of a sack of baseballs, a smear of eyeblack and a pine-tar rag.Now that's some kind of hustle.

Wally of course forgets that he wrote numerous stories beating on this kid. He also leaves out the decent stats Milledge put up in his time as a Met.

He followed with this:

There's a lesson to be learned in the fate of Milledge and it has nothing to do with hip-hop lyrics, high-fiving fans or wearing a cross the size of St. Patrick's Cathedral to the plate in your first major-league at-bat.It has everything to do with misjudging assets, overplaying hands and waiting a little too long to pull triggers. And it has a lot to do with Jose Reyes.

Yeah, the lesson is that some members of the media will continue to beat on you no matter what you do on the field if you offend their tender sensibilities.

But Wally did say one nice thing about Milledge:

Now don't get me wrong, Milledge isn't a bad player or a bad kid. In fact, I found him to be invariably polite and cordial in the clubhouse

But had to get in the jab

unlike many of the teammates who openly despised him.

Aw, Wally liked the kid. Yet that didn't stop him from leading the charge against him.

Now, here is where he gets on Jose

Two years ago, Reyes seemed deserving of the franchise player tag. He embodied everything the Mets were looking for - youth, talent and enthusiasm. He brought a joy to his day's work that too many major-leaguers no longer seem able to conjure up. If ever there were a guy to build a team around, it was Reyes.

After last year, however, I'm not so sure. In the second half of last season, when the Mets needed Reyes' talent, he struggled. When they needed his speed, he loafed. When they needed his enthusiasm, he pouted. All of the attributes that had made him an Untouchable were canceled out by his immaturity.

See, I don't mind if Jose wasn't smiling. He was pissed they were losing. If he was smiling, people would be all over him for that. Now, Wally gets on him for not smiling.

David Wright had an awful April. Yet, I did not see anyone saying he should be traded.

Reyes had a poor couple of months, yet Wally and others are saying he should go.

Tell me something Wally, if Reyes goes, who plays Shortstop? Anderson Hernandez, aka IPOR (In Play Out Recorded)? Who leads off? Carlos Gomez, who barely hit last year, and who has no spot since Ryan Church is now in Right Field.

Johan Santana is a great pitcher, but, as his record last year shows, even great pitchers will struggle if they do not have a good team around them. Trading Reyes for him removes Gold Glove caliber defense at short, a leadoff hitter, and a guy who has the talent to win multiple MVP's.

Am I happy he slumped? Am I happy he didn't run out a couple of balls? Hell no. But if he were to be traded, I would stop being a Mets fan. You do not trade 24 year old STARS, and that is what he is, a STAR because they slumped. You do not trade a STAR when you do not have a replacement for him.

Heck, there are no guarantees David Wright can improve on his last season (one in which he should have finished a hell of a lot higher in the MVP vote for by the way), so should the Mets trade him?

Wally, a writer can be short sighted and come up with asinine trade proposals. Thankfully, GM's don't listen to all of them. If Minnesota likes Reyes so much, then maybe Omar is right to not trade him. Minnesota has done a great job grooming young talent. Take a look at their roster sometime. Sadly, the Mets don't have the patience of the Twins. And much of that is due to a press that likes to harp on bullshit.

Wally likes to beat on the Mets. He had a column on Thanksgiving talking about how he had the column with the most negative responses in 2006 until that other asshat Jim Bambauch bitching about Al Arbour coaching the Islanders. The guy gets off on pissing on the Mets.

Maybe I need to take Wally with a grain of salt. Maybe I should look at him like what he really is, comedy, and laugh at the crap he spews.