Gone Fishin' with Orlando

Marlin: (n.) Any of several large game fishes of the genera Makaira and Tetrapturus of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, having an elongated, spearlike upper jaw.

Florida Marlins: A second tier major league baseball team that occasionally wins a World Series, but is mainly an excellent trading partner. Can be counted on to make that late inning error that revives your lackluster team.


What a game! Mainstays not running out balls, offensive anemia, this one had it all! There is really only one thing to say about the Mets starting pitching: Orlando Hernandez is Magic! The offense, well it was offensive for most of the game. But thankfully for the Mets, the game got Uggla, Dan Uggla. Poopeyface lets us down again, but without Buntran's adventures in the outfield, maybe it wouldn't a been so bad. And with the Br*ves playing a team that was not the Mets, you know we had a chance to gain a game in the standings with the slightest effort. With John Franco, er, Billy Wagner getting his work in in the ninth, we kept our eyes glued to the game.


Gomez gets the Green light
It looks like we'll be seeing some more of Carlos Gomez. And some better outfield defense because Shawn Green broke his foot last night when he pounded a ball off of it in the fifth innning. I can't help but think of tag team wrestling team "The Elders" with Old Man Moises just coming over the ropes, as Green slaps his hand and drags his sorry ass out of the ring. Ollie Perez's luck should hold up with the Gomez, Buntran, Endy outfield, but David Newhan as fourth outfielder is as alluring an idea as Taco Bell's "fourthmeal." Will Gomez be able to step up and provide the bat Green has? Since Green has reinvented himself as a spray hitter, I say...perhaps. Perhaps the crack in Green's foot will be like playingtime crack for Gomez. We heart Gomez in any event. That dude is fast.

Indeed the grandpa's are all starting to get healthy, as Jose Valentin reportedly somehow nears readiness. With Valentine's return the Mets will certainly shore up their interior defense while improving their bench by sending the Easlinator back there. You have to like that.

Pedro is Roger Clemens' Daddy
According to Steve Popper, Pedro Martinez has not forgotten how great he is. Apparently, Petey was watching Clemens minor league start on ESPN, instead of his own team's game, and has reason to feel smug.

"Without a doubt I can do that and probably even better, at this point. I can probably throw as hard, maybe harder. I feel like I'm in better condition."

Try not to swoon when you read Pedro's following comments:

"If you ask me, I don't have any doubts. I will be [throwing] in the mid-90s again, without a doubt. I can tell you if I continue to feel the way I have ... I only felt that back in those days -- '96, '97, '98. Those are the only days that I felt that. That's when I could shoot a ball. Pick it up and just shoot it, without any hesitation, without anything to think about. That's how good I feel now."

A healthy Pedro in August would be like a rainbow when it ain't even raining. Or something.

Trivial Met-ters
Who not only hit 34 homeruns for the Mets in their first season, but also got hit by pitches twice in one inning?