We contacted several Baseball Experts and asked them to explain to us how the Mets might cope with the loss of Pedro Martinez. Like most Mets fans, Jason and I watch the Mets just about every inning, but we're not Baseball Experts and neither are you. Thus, we should rely on Baseball Experts to tell us what might happen with the Mets next even though the Baseball Experts didn't necessarily pay much attention to the Mets all season. They are, after all, Baseball Experts. Here is their report.
LINEUP: Pedro Martinez will not be pitching for the Mets, so no amount of runs generated by the Mets' offense in any of their games will mean anything.
DEFENSE: Without Pedro Martinez striking out every batter the Mets face, Mets' fielders will likely be overworked and overtaxed.
BENCH: Pinch-hitters and late-inning replacements will be too overwhelmed by the absence of Pedro Martinez to perform effectively…as if it matters.
STARTING PITCHING: Pedro Martinez was going to pitch Games 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The Mets now have five gaping holes in their rotation.
BULLPEN: Counting on being well-rested due to the 11 shutouts Pedro Martinez was sure to throw in the postseason, Met relievers are now far too tired to fire a single strike.
MANAGER: The loss of Pedro Martinez will drive Willie Randolph to distraction. Willie had been counting on his ace pitcher to twirl the first no-hitter in Mets history and hit a couple of grand slams in Game 1 of the NLDS and repeat the feat continually, peppering in perfect games and cycles along the way. Perhaps Joe Girardi could make something of this mess, but Randolph is clearly up against it.
INTANGIBLES: Don't be fooled by the presence of others on the roster. The Mets were a one-man team in 2006. Pedro Martinez electrified their attack by leading off, tripling, stealing bases and scoring at will. Pedro Martinez elicited chants of “MVP!” for his team-record slugging and awesome centerfield play. Pedro Martinez grew into one of the best two-strike hitters in the game. Pedro Martinez was a rock behind the plate and surprisingly solid in the No. 2 hole. Pedro Martinez filled the gap in the cleanup spot beautifully. Pedro Martinez was an ideal fourth outfielder. Pedro Martinez came out of nowhere to take over second base. Pedro Martinez provided wise counsel based on his nearly 30 years in the game. Pedro Martinez led the team in saves. Pedro Martinez set up the closer. Pedro Martinez took the starts of pitchers who couldn't start. Pedro Martinez negotiated one great personnel acquisition after another. Pedro Martinez scouted the opposition and provided foolproof intelligence. Pedro Martinez uncannily waved every runner home safely. Pedro Martinez affixed a gigantic baseball to his head and entertained the fans between innings. Pedro Martinez sold delicious sushi on the field level. Pedro Martinez showed you to your seat. Pedro Martinez sang six different national anthems without missing a note. Pedro Martinez built the new stadium all by himself and provided plenty of parking during construction.
CONCLUSION: No need to provide one. The Mets are already out of it. We know. We're the Baseball Experts.
Of course you don't need to be an expert to wear a Faith and Fear in Flushing t-shirt. Join the best blog-readers in baseball and order several or just one today!
It's not just us, if that's any consolation. Our resident television critic who does a sports-on-the-air column on Saturdays is Levittown's own Alan Pergament. (Not sure if he's related to the hardware emperors.) Here's his expert analysis of experts, mostly in the football realm, but it's the same shite, different sport:
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060930/1044844.asp
Greg–
You don't mind if I use the Experts on this one, do you? I'll just call it “one American League executive” or “one Mets official”. Should be fine. Fox Sports doesn't actually have anyone fact-checking my columns anyway.
-Ken Rosenthal
best.
post.
EVER
It seems everyone is taking either the “Mets are dead without him” or “It will make no difference whatsoever” stance. The reality is somewhere in the middle.
He obviously would not have been the be-all and end-all, but a healthy Pedro would have provided some relief to those of us who are not quite comfortable with the state of our rotation going into the postseason. It's not like it's all been going so swimmingly lately that a reasonably healthy Pedro wouldn't make a difference. Not “make or break,” just “a difference.” Which slots in nicely and realistically between “THE difference” and “NO difference,” neither of which is accurate.
He didn't ask for it all to be overblown like this. :-( It probably embarrasses him to death.
Klapisch is picking the Dodgers in 2 next week…
Well, we'll have a chance to test all theories regarding what a long-term Pedro absence portends for the Mets because SNY is reporting (and ESPN is repeating) that our Man will undergo rotator cuff surgery in the coming week. Estimated recovery time: 8 months. That's spring training, April and May projected as Pedroless. I also wouldn't count on a lot of that toy bat action on the bench either.
Get well, Pedro. Get really well.
I may very well throw up. I thought I already missed him as much as I could (and as much as I'd have to). Well, there you go.
God does have a sick sense of humor.
I once read a baseball analysis book that was discussing the greatest pitchers of our age; it had a very prescient insight. It said that, while Pedro's delicate body is prone to injury, when he is reasonably healthy, there is virtually no one you'd rather have starting an important game.
That may be an insight, but it's something that should be obvious to us by now after two years of Pedro. We're better off with one of the greatest pitchers of all time on our team. Duh. No matter of incidental stats can change that bold truth. But that doesn't mean that we're suddenly lost without him. Through a winning combination of luck and over-achievement, we've managed to do just fine with Pedro gone. We've also severely underperformed when he needed us to pick him up. Well, we're the Mets. And when he came here he reminded us that we're a damn good baseball team. All we've got to do is act like it.
Not that Pedro isn't entirely capable of performing all of said activities, if he put his mind to it. I'm still waiting for Reyes to turn that un-assisted triple-play on the way to pitching (and catching?) the Mets' first no-hitter.
earlier today, writing to someone about baseball and without knowing about this dreadful news about pedro, i mentioned how, with the skanks' run in the late 90's, we had learned that “god could be a twisted old bastard with a dark, bitter humor.”
this is not the image i wish to carry into temple tomorrow night, but there is absolutely no call for putting pedro through this kind of treatment. i guess i'll hope the sermon touches on the theme when bad things happen to good pitchers.
he won't even be in the dugout, at least not next week.
take care of yourself, pedro. a lot of folks care about you.
Baseball expert Michael Kay said that it meant the Mets had a “better than even” chance of being *eliminated in the first round*.
Right before – I shit you not – he compared *himself* (as an exactly equivalent baseball announcer) to…
…Gary Cohen.