There are lots of baseball games like tonight's — taut little affairs that are closer than the final score indicates, not a lot of scoring, good pitching performances but not anything that leaps up and demands to be counted as brilliant, a long ball to admire, a managerial decision (of the non-fatal variety) to scratch [...]

I hold no brief for Art Howe. Art Howe was the worst thing to happen to the Mets' manager's office since Jeff Torborg ordered new carpeting. Art Howe dimmed a room. Art Howe looked lost and did nothing in his actions to dispel that impression.

But I've always admired Art Howe for one thing:

He didn't intentionally [...]

I hope Barry Bonds hits six more home runs after the Mets leave San Francisco and none before then. I hope he hits 715. I hope he compiles more than George Herman Ruth. Then I hope he slinks off to wherever a Barry Bonds slinks off.

No need to pile on. He's a large, large worm. [...]

WW, of course, being scorecard shorthand for “wasn't watching.”

Last night went down as a rare WW on multiple fronts. I did catch an inning or two during dinner at 2 Toms, the justifiably legendary old-school Italian place in Gowanus, seeing enough on their old black-and-white set to grasp that we were tenuously ahead and the [...]

Pedro Martinez and Mike Piazza will each be voted into in the Hall of Fame as soon as they're eligible. They have been great for a very long time. They may not have inhabited greatness in tandem when given the chance as early Dodgers and recent Mets, but they are two of the defining players [...]

…that if I weren't so tired, and hadn't imagined like three innings ago that the Care Bears were skipping around the room laughing at me, and hadn't been yelling “SAVE US!” at each new Met batter in a voice more than a bit tinged with hysteria, and hadn't been hiding under the covers during random [...]

What a strange game.

Every West Coast game is strange, from our perspective over here on the other side of the continent. Right about the time body and mind are getting ready to shut down for the night, there's three hours of baseball to be dissected and fretted over. Now throw in Steve Trachsel, who can [...]

As a service to our readers who adhere to more traditional work schedules, this blog provides a series of snappy in-the-know water cooler comebacks to prove that you are fan enough to handle the West Coast start times even if you really aren't.

Faith and Fear in Flushing: We stay up and watch the Mets win [...]

Gary Cohen is a sharp guy. When the Mets visited Phoenix in 2000, Todd Pratt came to bat in front of Diamondbacks fans for the first time since October 9, 1999. Reaction was muted, to say the least. How, Gary asked Ed Coleman, can these fans not be booing the man who put them out [...]