Last-place Mets take two out of three from powerhouse Nationals.

Lupica and his "conversation." As if an individual can't pay attention to two whole teams at the same time. As if Yankee fans are cowering in fear as their first-place team loses Mike Lupica to the last-place Mets:

"Then here came Daniel Murphy again, ripping a double, a screamer, into the rightfield corner for two more runs, moving his batting average for the season to .315. He had done a bit more on this night than get the game to David Wright. He had provided a little hope. He had made the Mets, for this one night, the Yankees still scuffling to score runs against the powerhouse Chicago White Sox, the best baseball game in town to watch."

The Yankee game in question was actually pretty good. It included great performances by Buehrle, Colon, and Mariano. A baseball fan would appreciate that.

Do you think Lupica is even a baseball fan?

His entire premise is that the 5-13 Mets were not worth watching. Not worth writing about. Not worth being part of the NY baseball conversation.

Millions of Mets fans follow their team dutifully through thick and thin, and they're not even paid to do it.

You'd think an award-winning New-York-based sportswriter could muster up a bit more enthusiasm.

I believe if the Mets had beaten the Cardinals in the 2006 NLCS, then they would have beaten the Tigers in the 2006 World Series.

Mike Lupica outdoes himself, making predictions of past events that never happened:

"It doesn't matter how they got here, the terrible history that has been written since the night in October of 2006 when Carlos Beltran took a called third strike from with the pennant on the bases and the Cardinals went to the World Series, which they won, and not the Mets."

Okay, it doesn't matter how they got here. It doesn't matter how they got here. It doesn't matter.

The only reason Lupica would even suggest it doesn't matter is because an honest analysis would require a takedown of Randolph and Minaya.


"The chain reaction, at least on the field, started then. If the Mets had won that 2006 Series from the Tigers - which I believe they would have, the Tigers took all that time off after they won the American League pennant and never recovered against the Cardinals - then maybe they don't collapse in September of 2007."

Unbelievable.


If the Mets had beaten the Cardinals (which they didn't) ...

Then the Mets would have beaten the Tigers (which they didn't) ...

And if the Mets had beaten the Tigers (which they didn't) ...

Then the Mets wouldn't have collapsed in 2007.


Using this reasoning, I say anything would have happened.


"If they don't collapse that September maybe it doesn't happen again the next September."

We can extend this endlessly and you end up the Mets winning five World Series in a row.


"But it did."

Yeah.

It did.

Join the rest of the world in discussing what actually happened rather than discussing what maybe would not have happened.


"Terrible relief pitching. No Santana to start the season, no Bay, Beltran still looking like a shell of what he once was. Pedro Martinez long gone. It is the short list of Omar Minaya's All-Stars."

Beltran is playing well. Not a shell of what he once was. .286, 3 HRs, just for the record.


"I thought he was the best guy at the time to run the Mets, a good man and a great story out of the neighborhood in Flushing. Only now he is gone and the Mets are where they are."

That's almost Lupica admitting he was wrong about Minaya.


"And please understand that Minaya didn't act alone. Fred and Jeff Wilpon stood right there and watched him make the deals he did and spend their money the way he did and never stoped [sic] him."

No, Minaya acted alone. The owners stood right there and watched. That's the same thing as doing nothing. Which means Minaya acted alone.


"Maybe this doesn't seem nearly as hopeless if some of the relievers had gotten some big outs, and if stars like David Wright had over-performed instead of under-performed so far. There was the one series against the Rockies when the Mets had two-run leads in all four games and lost them all. There are all those teams who came into Thursday with 9-9 records in the National League Central. Give the Mets just a few more wins this season and they look like one more mediocre team trying to make its way through the first month of the baseball season."

Right.

Give the Mets a few more losses and they're the worst team in baseball history.

Lupica, you're going to be great on the radio.

What award die he win? Probably a Pulitzer for his in-depth appraisal of Tony Womack.

• A face made for radio.
• If you put the buildings far enough in the background, it will make me look taller.
• Lupica is gangsta.
  

Archives.

This article is dated April 18, 2011:

"As an ardent Yankee rooter, I am used to watching some stellar set-up pitching, such as the likes of Jeff Nelson, Ramiro Mendoza and Mike Stanton, as New York tries to make the jump from the starter to Mariano Rivera. So far, Soriano has not lived up to his billing."

Nelson, Mendoza, and Stanton.

We've got some good insight from an ardent Yankee rooter who hasn't watched a game since 1997.

Only.

"This season, with Brett Gardner off to a dreadful (.150) start and Eduardo Nunez on the bench as a utility infielder, All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano is the only everyday position player developed by the Yankees’ farm system."

Correct.

Except for Brett Gardner, Jorge Posada, and Derek Jeter.

Filip Bondy criticizes Phil Hughes for pitching poorly, but can't blame Hughes for spelling Phil with a "ph" instead of an "f."

"There is legitimate concern that Hughes, 24, hasn't really thrown at peak efficiency since the middle of the 2010 season. He was 5-0 out of the box last year with a 1.38 ERA his first six starts. He was 8-1 and 2.71, then was named to the All-Star team. From Aug. 25 on, however, he posted a 5.45 ERA. After a shutout stint against the Twins in the playoffs, he was blasted in two starts by the Texas Rangers, yielding 11 runs in 8-2/3 innings during two losses.

...

Then start No. 3 was a disaster again for Hughes. No Torre to blame for this one."

Right.

That's probably why Cashman isn't blaming Torre for Hughes's pitching.

Having said that, it's quite clear that Torre overused Proctor, Sturtze, Karsay, Quantrill, etc. So that has nothing to do with Phil Hughes. So thanks for nothing.


The only good thing to come out of this whole episode is that Joe Torre said "no comment" for the first time ever. I thought for sure Torre would effortlessly weave in a tale about Bigelow's green tea or the pitching exploits of Bob Gibson.

Somebody should ask him about the 1996 World Series.

The Yankees were down 2 games to 0 to the heavily-favored Braves. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner expressed his displeasure. In response, Torre calmly predicted that the Yankees would sweep 3 games in Atlanta and then win the World Series in 6 games.

That's what happened!

It's a good story.

Pass the beer nuts.

Judge Lupica.

Read this:

"It is a question asked repeatedly across America: why, in the aftermath of a financial mess that generated hundreds of billions in losses, have no high-profile participants in the disaster been prosecuted?"


Then read this:

"Does any living person actually think that Martha Stewart should have done time? Stewart avoided a loss of $45,000 by selling about 4,000 shares of stock in something known as ImClone Systems after receiving 'nonpublic' information. The government indicted Stewart on nine counts. Obstruction one of them. She was convicted of conspiracy, and obstruction of an agency proceeding."

Yes, I absolutely think Martha Stewart should have done time.


After mis-representing and mis-diagnosing Bonds / steroids / MLB in general, Lupica still believes he has the authority to write about Clemens's upcoming trial.

I think I can state with near certainty that Mike Lupica's columns are not the place to go for expertise on U.S. jurisprudence.

Red Sox probably losing on purpose.

Eric Ortiz is the guy who predicted the 2011 Red Sox would challenge the 1927 Yankees for the title of best team ever.

Melky Cabrera eats something off his bat.

At least Bill Madden is asking the question.

Yes, I'm still obsessing about an April loss. Too bad the $200 million players are not:

"But what was most bewildering about Girardi's explanation about using Soriano when he did was the fact that, obviously, he didn't consider Robertson an eighth-inning man in a non-save situation, and yet, he said, he'd planned to bring in Robertson to close the game out in the ninth had Soriano gotten through the eighth unscathed. All of this, of course, came about because Girardi was hoping to get Rivera a night off - which didn't happen anyway once the Twins tied it up in the eighth and the Yankee manager was in need of a true closer in the ninth.

'There are times you're gonna bring (Soriano) in (in non-save situations)' Girardi said. 'Four-run leads don't seem like a lot in the American League.' "

Four-runs leads don't seem like a lot in the American League.

That's.

Why.

You.

Keep.

Sabathia.

In.

The.

Game.

Yankees rained out.

At least Mariano is rested for the game of cribbage he's playing with Gustavo Molina.

Extended Spring Training.

Sabathia had retired 17 batters in a row. He had pitched 7 shutout innings. He had thrown only 100 pitches.

Mariano got 3 outs, but Girardi wouldn't let him get 4 outs.

"It's a long season" is Girardi's excuse for tanking a game in April.


While the manager certainly has to balance long-term goals with short-term goals, it's quite clear that Sabathia can pitch one more inning (or even two more innings) at minuscule risk.

If Rivera is available for 3 outs, he's available for 4 outs, if that's the difference between winning and losing.

The real reason Girardi and the Yankees tanked this game is because it's April, it's the Twins, it's mid-week, it's a half-empty stadium.

That's not being careful, that's being unprofessional.


Uber-Hack Wallace Matthews focuses on what Rafael Soriano did after the game. Who cares what Soriano did after the game?

I find it continually amazing that sportswriters spend so much time attacking the characters of players who don't talk to them.

Soriano has nothing to say -- he did all of his talking on the field.