memories must be short my friends, how fickle you all must be...do you remember just how DOMINANT this young fellow was on his ML debut last summer?

and he stayed that way till the predictable time his body and arm reached the point they had not reached before in terms of innings pitched...

ah, but look who's ahead of him you'll say...2 grizzled veterans, a rejuvenated JJ, Hanson....

well, yes, now you look at it that way...

but, jeez, calling him a fifth starter is like calling Natalie Portman a dying swan.

PREDICTION...his year end numbers this time will not have four starters ahead of him.

i'm not concerned about stats/numbers/w.h.y. ...it doesn't really engage me which of these two fascinating young men win ROY though as a Braves fan there's an obvious preference...what really bothers me  after, what, 100 hours of watching post season baseball is the perception i cannot ignore of what let me call 'composure'...

who looks as though he belongs the more, who's 'cool', who makes the big plays, gets the big hits?  who fiddles with his gloves and chews gum like a 9 year old manic kid? who gives better interviews, has something interesting to say? who talks in cliches, mumbles, as tho his parents never went near the ivy league?

as i understand it JHey and Posey were exact contemporaries in GA high school ball, played against each other...but last night someone said Posey attended FSU so tell me please...it would be relevant to this question of composure...

all this matters because what i've seen these last few weeks of two exciting young baseball players is that one is significantly ahead of the other in terms of maturity, in performance, on the big October stage...two defensive plays come to mind...in one of our losses to SF Heyward had a clear shot at throwing out the runner at home on a sac fly attempt and missed. by a mile...two nights ago, also on a play at the plate, Posey made an incredible pick up and tag on the short hop with the runner all over him...just two plays i know but i use them to illustrate...

i want Jason to succeed so badly...his raw talent is obvious and infinitely exciting...i have never seen anyone run the bases, for example, quite like he does...but, as of today, i'm disappointed with his maturity level, his composure, his looking as tho he belongs in October baseball......

i didn't used to be...but then i saw Posey...

so tell me i'm wrong, please!

if circumstances conspired to force your hand ahead of next spring...

say, simplistically, another GM offered  some hotshot right hand power who could play third or the outfield...

even more simplistically he said i'll take either one in trade, i need a closer...

so do you of course but you were hoping not to have to make that decision till next spring...

but now you have to do it now, you lust after that right hand power...

me. i'll take Kimbrell...you?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/sports/baseball/09mets.html?scp=1&sq=Mets%20Walter%20Reed%20visit&st=cse

some of us thought Escobar an embarrassment for example, someone who 'let the club down' with  their behavior, their attitudes...well, check out what happened this week in Metland when they were in D.C, playing the Nationals...

there had been an established tradition that on one of those visits each year the players visited Walter Reed Hospital to say thank you, for obvious reasons...fine idea, noble, and good P.R. for them and for baseball if you want to be cynical - but who does for something like this..

their visit this week backfired big time...3 players, all in the doghouse already with two on the bench, did not show...Beltran(I went Last Year), Castillo(I'm too squeamish), Perez who had nothing to say...some of the other players were obviously angered - check out Dickey's statements for examples, good for him...how does all this make a Met fan feel today- a baseball fan for that matter?

Go Braves!  wash that taste away.

I didn't get to see all of the game...coming and going...sometimes I switched the sound off, then minimized the picture...other times i had to walk outside...but still certain things registered, tell me if I was wrong...

overall, we were unlucky - incredible defensive plays by Florida at crucial moments...

Troy Glaus - good to see him producing for the team..

McLouth...what has happened?  smashing the ball...terrible luck and still got a bunch of rbi's...is he throwing properly too?

Melky...disgraceful error at the end...unforgiveable

Freddie...way to go, congrats!

Minor...couldn't bear to watch when it started downhill - was he awful?  what was wrong?

Hinske...looks washed up

Gonzo...suddenly, he looks bedrock...the strong man of the team...the one who responds best to adversity i.e. a hardass SP who's mowing us down...

Jason...adore him but...his last two at bats were fucking rubbish (both against RHP's i think)  having been called out twice earlier in the game he had a real chance here to take over the game...first one(7th) he did his favorite trick of deciding ahead of time what pitches he was going to take...so 2 very hittable early he took, 3 not so he struck out on...then in the ninth, two on, ahead in the count i think, he lunges over the top or whatever you call it and pounds it into the ground en route to the first baseman...

all very much IMHO...i probably watched less than half the game...i couldn't take it...

no, not the Sinatra movie...

not nasties/needles and all that crap...

we are talking pure athletic excellence...an honorable tradition going back to the groves of Olympia where sinewy half naked men hurled javelins prodigous distances as young ladies swooned in admiration...

we have one such hero still in our midst today...one Hercules, one Achilles, donning his team colors each day ready to wreak havoc on the enemy...should they dare to advance...

and if they dare seek the ultimate prize, those sixteen inches we call Home, then, answering our plaintive call, he will hurl his greatest thunderbolt...

a true modern Olympian, a son of Zeus, he came through again last night and saved our lives...

MELKY WE LOVE YA.

we thought we knew best...

we thought you must not be overused...sat down...rested...pandered to...no back to back...etc etc...we blogged, we moaned, we bitched, said you must be 'protected'...

we were wrong...

last night, after your longest rest, proved it...

milque toast LEFT HANDED Dodger hitters getting walks/hits/RUNS off you!  the WINNING RUN!

it is all our fault...we will never do this again, promise...we will insist you pitch EVERY day regardless of the game situation, how your arm feels, etc etc...

you are not a 40 year old Japanese reliever existing on sushi and warm towels...

you are JONNY VENTERS - our shining light who throws terror into the hearts of all who must face him...

you are our excellence...we are sorry...it won't happen again.

it is hurtful, literally, to watch this...

we should not have this imposed on us and neither should he...

if he was a french horse he would be put down, and eaten...if he was a texas steer, ditto...

in neither case would they have to run to first base ...

the man is pure class, he should be treated as such...there is a rule that applies to help people like him...send him off to the Betty Ford Knee clinic or wherever from whence he can return a couple of weeks later with his awesome bat...

and in the meantime young Freddie can show us what he's made of...

TROY GLAUS IS CLASS - treat him like it.

*Messiah for those heathens!  with editing...

despite a distinguished career

and a May we all rose to cheer

Mr Glaus is dead tired

and should now be retired

to the bench for a chaw and a beer.

dear me!  was it four weak dribblers?  five?  from this mighty oak of a man?  he's exhausted - give him a break, literally...it was painful to watch last night, not just the futility, the fatigue...and God knows what his legs are like at the moment...he's been a classy part of our team this campaign, Bobby owes him that, there was a real loss of dignity on view last night...

yeah Jason three doubles will do!
last night you sure carried the crew
when you threw wide to third
i had gave you the bird
last at bat tho', dazzled anew!

  they know now...they have their own idol, their own LH slugger and last night we saw the best of both...how classy of Votto to still call our bullpen the best in baseball after that first JV pitch sailed over the wall - and that great catch off  Brooks!  but Jason was magnificent in the clutch at the end - having been blown away and made to look bad the at bat before by AR he showed great judgment against Cordero, didn't flap at a full count, got the huge hit...

3 LF doubles - they'll pitch him inside the next two days!

Tommy's disguising his change
and ever improving the range
'tween that and his heater
but told his girl Rita
my slider is acting real strange.

this is good news to hear Tommy's working so hard on his change and building up that speed differential with his fastball...but obviously we must share Rita's concern regarding the slider - what exactly does he mean by 'strange'? there's been speculation he and JV have been working together on this but unfortunately mirrors have to be employed to get everyone throwing out of the same hand...

Tommy's disguising his change
and ever improving the range
'tween that and his heater
but told his girl Rita
my slider is acting real strange.


the girls all love Brian McCann
they post and they say he's the man
but on plays at the plate
do we have to blame fate?
remember the ball, that's the plan.


with Derek it sinks and stays low(e)
if not there's a long way to go
so a ground ball for two
or a dinger to view
you wonder sometimes does he know.


all star named Omar Infante
caught in delicto flagrante
first appealed to the ump
said that was no hump
told me to lay down a bante.


is Helen the spouse of dear Troy?
if so there are tricks to employ
she's a face that launched ships
he's got bats that he grips
glaus it over you can't, enjoy.

an outfielder known as Nate/ at hitting was not very great/ and nor could he throw/ but made buckets of dough/ just sitting and not tempting fate...

a salute to wondrous Marteen / as heroic as any have been/  the line drive, the dinger/  he's surely no ringer/  with all those big bombs in between.

the sinker from old Johnny V/ is likely to cause some to pee/ whatever the weather/  they're wondering whether/  to bail when it hits ninety three.

surely Medlen now fits the bill?/  yes in time he probably will/  but he must keep his change/  somewhat out of the range/  of Uggla and others that kill.

so why aren't we talking 'bout this?  likely to be major ramifications, now and later...minors and majors...whaddy'a think?  did the guys in the minors know this was coming, does testing really start overnight?  when we go from urine to blood testing things are getting real...i applaud MLB for being the first to grasp this nettle and perhaps now it's not totally naiveto think that kids fighting their way through the minors will be judged on merit alone...also, some veterans in the majors probably didn't sleep too well last night!