MLB's Mid-Summer Mess Not Wright

Wright Backs In (Update at 2:25 PM): So David Wright made the All-Star Game afterall, sneaking in the back door. The AP is reporting that NL manager Clint Hurdle has selected Wright to replace the injured Alfonso Soriano. Click Here for the Full Story.

Wright's last-second fortune only highlights the flawed selection process. Had a roster spot not been vacated, Wright and his 70 RBI would have been forced to stay home.

Fans Prefer Shaved: The "Support the Stache" campaign produced the same results as Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential bid. So, no, Jason Giambi did not make the All-Star Game. At least Giambi is one step ahead of where Al Gore was when he incurred electoral defeat in 2000; it took months for Gore to grow that fine post-election facial hair arrangement. ... With the minor league "Support the Stache" marketing ploys and water cooler showers, The Bronx Zoo is considering a new location at 161st Street.

2008 Major League All-Star Rosters (By League)

2008 Final Vote Fiasco

David Wright Reaction on MLB.com

David Wright won't complain. If he does, it would be the first time during his five-year major league career.

Whether he admits it or not, Wright has every right to groan after falling victim to Major League Baseball's latest gimmick -- The All-Star Game. With a player selection process that is about as efficient and fair as an Iranian election, the All-Star Game no longer showcases the league's top performers, and, therefore, strays from its underlying purpose.

One of five NL finalists in the All-Star Final Fan Vote (another selection gimmick that allows fans to fill the last of the team's 32 roster spots), Wright ran second to Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart.

So Hart must be the one with the NL's third-highest RBI total (70) and a .386 on-base percentage?

No, those are Wright's numbers. Hart, you ask?

Well, Hart has 57 RBI and a stellar .332 OBP.

Can't argue that selection. It gets better.

Wright shouldn't have even been a part of the Final Vote gimmick in the first place since he should have been selected earlier as the second team third baseman behind only the ageless Chipper Jones (at least he got in, I mean he is only batting .375). Instead, the NL took Aramis Ramirez.

Now, Wright has taken criticism from this site in the past for his periodically shoddy play at third and his sometimes streakiness at the plate. We also know that Ramirez is a fine player. I've seen first-hand how powerful his bat is, witnessing him blast a Tommie Agee-like home run down left-field line at Shea last season, but the numbers this season don't lie.

Wright: .288, 17 homers, 70 RBI

Ramirez: .288, 16 homers, 63 RBI

Maybe baseball somehow benefits from the selection of a less-deserving player. Maybe that player doesn't drive in as many runs as his counterpart, but his presence will drive in more revenue due to the indvidual's marketability. Although I reject that line of thinking as it diminishes the purity of the Mid-summer Classic, I can understand it.

But Hart? Talk about not making sense, or cents for that matter.

Wright is a pop culture icon in the very same city where the All-Star Game will be played this year. His GQ image and heart-throb reputation make him one of the more marketable players in the entire league.

Baseball could have ensured that Wright was on the team because of those marketable, revenue-generating attributes, and admirably they didn't. I still can't say they did the Wright thing though.

----------

Tampa Bay is a nice surprise story and Evan Longoria (16 HR, .281 average)is one of the reasons for its success, but the "Final Voters" didn't look very closely at the AL numbers either. The White Sox are also somehow a first-place team as we approach the break and have undoubtedly been helped by the contributions of Jermaine Dye (20 HR, .301 average).

Getting Squirrely with Hobbie (Volume I)

"Getting Squirrely" just isn't about music. It's about good music. It's about finding the right toppling arrangement of dominos to give you that feeling you can't quite explain - outside of gourmet food - that will keep you coming back for more, pressing play over and over again like an Al Davis Oakland Raiders' walk-through in the '70s. That's it. That's all I have to say and that's all I deserve to say. Great music was never based on bullshit. And shit was never exclusive to the bull.


"Led Zeppelin never made tunes that everyone liked ... they left that to the BeeGees." - Wayne's World, 1992.


Australia - the big brother bully of our favorite little kid brother, New Zealand, brings us this interesting "trio", an intriguing jam band permeating out of Perth (the fourth-largest Australian city and its fastest-growing hub) centered around lead and namesake John Butler, a green-friendly environmentalist as well as noteworthy musical axe-craftsman. In this cut from their 2004 album, "Sunrise Over Sea", Butler masters the quintessential jam-band hypnotic dance of just a few chords into a listening gem of ear-bending audible narcotic. Few lyrics, much feel and aura is the story of this track, that will sure to keep the music junkie's fancy should they explore the depth into this seemingly simple piece of structure.





The Pixies. An oft-overlooked band from Boston (easily overshadowed by groups with the same origin in the form of Aerosmith, the Dropkick Murphy's, its own namesake "Boston", and even Guster) this classic alternative rock outfit which saw its genesis with the help of punk and surf rock inspiration went on to influence such immortal musical forces like that of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana who often spoke of the debt he and his music owed to the New England songwriters. In this classic cut, the Pixies demonstrate the creative funk and clear force in their music that lead to such respect and recognition in the steepest of modern rock circles. It's near-neurotic, it's cool yet psychotic - you can see in this song how the Beantown foursome made a simple bassline and some skinematic, satanical caresses biblical lyrics into a song that you just might not be able to play only once.

p.s. My girlfriend got me squirrely about this song. She hates it how I love it.

One Pel of a Possibility

Imagine if El Duque were healthy on Opening Day. Imagine if the Minnesota Twins demanded they receive a 6'7" hard-throwing righty in return for Johan Santana. Imagine if Victor Zambrano were on the trading block.

Mike Pelfrey would have been somewhere, just not here. Pelfrey's maturation process would have been unfolding in another place whether it be AAA Ball or the Twin Cities.

Seeing Tim Lincecum on the losing side of a 7-0 decision is rare these days, but what is happening to Pelfrey in a Mets' uniform is even more of a rarity. Pelfrey has only produced a small sample to date, but even this glimmer of what could be is something completely foreign to me as a Mets' fan.

I'm too young to remember 1984 and a 19-year-old Doc Gooden. I don't remember the emergence of "Doctor K," but I certainly will never forget "Generation K" and the fasle sense of hope (no, I'm not referring to someone's presidential campaign) that surrounded Izzy, Wilson, and Pulse.

For years, I have wondered what it was like to witness the emergence and maturation of a homegrown pitching phenom. Basically, I wanted to know what it felt like to be an Oakland A's fans during the past decade.

Thanks to the New York Mets' willingness to part ways with a 19-year-old southpaw who sports a 98-mph fastball, fans of the expansion Tampa Bay Rays have had the luxury of enjoying Scott Kazmir's evolution from prospect into an All-Star.

Fortunately, the Mets weren't willing to part ways with a tall, goofy right-hander from Wichita, and they easily could have.

Pelfrey's rookie season started to the tune of an 0-7 record, a far cry from the 17-9 record and 278 strikeouts that Gooden posted in 1984. His maddening inability to locate his pitches and properly utilize his mid-90s fastball could have finally pushed the Mets to move in a different direction. Even in trading for Johan Santana, statistically baseball's best pitcher over the past three season, the Mets felt a need and found a way to keep Pelfrey put.

Now, Pelfrey's emergence does not nearly warrant the same excitement and mystique as Doc Gooden's direct jump from A Ball to MLB dominance. Gooden went 24-4 and won the Cy Young award during his sophomore campaign. Pelfrey's 7-6 mark at the midway point of his second season may seem modest, but those who have seen his past five starts can't help but think the Mets have something special.

Pelfrey has not lost in nine starts since May 26. He has been the winning pitcher in each of his previous five outings, and it would have been six had Billy Wagner not flushed his eight-inning gem against the Diamondbacks on June 11.

Pelfrey's sophomore surge includes road wins over the Yankees, Cardinals, and AL West leading Angels.

Last night at Shea, he went toe-to-toe with the latest Sports Illustrated coverboy and it wasn't even close. Pelfrey and the Mets cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Giants and ace Tim Lincecum who entered with a 10-1 record and 2.49 ERA. The Mets' newfound stud walked no one through seven innings of three-hit ball, while Lincecum surrendered more runs in the first inning than Pelfrey has in his previous 14 frames.

I don't know if Pelfrey will continue along his path of progression or ever reach stardom, but I do know it is possible. A possibility of the sort is what this Mets' fan had been anxiously awaiting for as long as he can remember.

----------

The only thing that may excite you more than Mike Pelfrey's most recent outing is the debut of Getting Squirrely with Hobbie. On Thursday morning, Salvatore Speaks will unveil the first of six weekly, summer installments (that's all we could afford to pay him for) of a music blogspot that is sure to send a Chris Matthews' type tingle up your leg.

No Need for Another Circus Act; Bullpen Clowns Around, But Bottom Line Remains Intact

With Moises Alou as sturdy as a three-legged dog these days and Ryan Church's status in doubt, the Mets are in dire need of a proven, everyday corner outfielder with some pop. But Barry Bonds? Are they serious?

Bonds is more radioactive than Three-Mile Island. Not only does his baggage outweight any possible return his 43-year-old body is still capable of producing, but he isn't even the right fit.

The Mets need someone who can play adequate defense and, at the very least, is a right-handed bat capable of balancing their lefty-heavy lineup. A stationary peach basket in left field may catch more than they left-handed hitting Bonds can these days.

Recent reports (Click Here for the story) have suggested that acquiring the beleagured BALCO posterboy Barry Bonds is an option that Mets' GM Omar Minaya has yet to dismiss. Now, to be fair, the Bonds-Mets story could be a by-product of high-caliber sensationalism on behalf of a saavy media corps, but still what is wrong with Omar? Why didn't Minaya automatically, and loudly, reject any idea of Bonds joining the Mets?

I guess Minaya wholeheartedly believes in the old notion that "no publicity is bad publicity." They already invited the circus to town with the way they dismissed Willie Randolph. In the aftermath of that debacle, even flirting with the idea of bringing Bonds in is baffling.

Omar Minaya needs to get on the phones if he hasn't done so already. The Mets need a temporary bailout in the outfield, but Bonds won't cut it.

----------

Known for some of radio's randiest hits, Madonna surprisingly doesn't kiss on the first date. C-Rod's lawyer is not accusing A-Rod and the material girl of any adulturous sexual activity, but is simply claiming that the relationship between the Bronx Bomber and 49-year-old vixen is an example of A-Rod's emotional abandonment. Read more courtesy of The New York Post.

----------

The New York Mets won the final three games of their four-game set with the first-place Phillies in Philadelphia capped by a 10-9, nearly-disastrous slugfest on Monday night. Although Mel Rojas and Armando Benitez no longer where the Orange and Blue, this Mets' fan couldn't help but think of the days when they caused more heartburn than a Jimmy Buff's Italian hot dog.

A night after Joe Smith turned in one of the team's top relief efforts in recent memory, the Mets' bullpen nearly did something that could only be fathomable with the aforementioned dynamic duo present. After 5.1 innings of two-run ball from Pedro Martinez, a tandem of Mets' relievers, the very mortal Billy Wagner included, surrendered seven runs and nearly produced the biggest buzzkill since Yadier Molina.

But the Mets survived. With the tying run on second base after Carlos Beltran exercised judgement that makes Rudy Guiliani's Florida Primary strategy look logical, Wagner averted disaster by getting Jayson Werth to fly out into the glove of Endy Chavez.

It has been ugly and tumultuous. Not just last night's game, but the entire season has taken more dips than the DOW Jones. Still, at 45-44, the Mets are above the .500 mark for the first time since June 5 and sit only 2.5 games back of their turnpike rivals.

The Mets are in the black, but is it a bull market ahead?

Fading Star, Not All-Star Saves Mets While Rising Star Conquers Wimbledon

Billy Wagner is headed to the All-Star game thanks to his ability to save games, but Fernando Tatis, not Wagner, earned the biggest save of the season for the New York Mets last night.

Mets’ starter Oliver Perez was phenomenal rather than fickle for the second consecutive outing, baffling a potent Phillies’ lineup a week after stifling the vaunted Bronx Bombers. Perez allowed Carlos Beltran’s third-inning solo shot to hold up through seven innings of four-hit ball.

Then, after nearly three hours of rain, Pedro Feliciano and Aaron Heilman teamed up (yes, I said Aaron Heilman, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you) to dance out of an eighth-inning jam.

Wait, it gets even more remarkable. The Mets tacked on an insurance run off Phillies’ closer Brad Lidge, who is fresh off a three-year contract extension, in the top half of the ninth inning and handed a 2-0 lead to Wagner.

Enter Sandman aka Wagner who we are suggesting should change his nickname to Billy Buzzkill. With two out and one on, centerfielder Jayson Werth, who would be lucky to draw a comparison to Aaron Rowand rather than Hank Aaron, deposited a Wagner slider into the outfield seats.

The complexion of this game went from sound, encouraging victory to devastating, back-breaking loss quicker than any Mets’ fan can say Armando Benitez.

Although Wagner killed the buzz, the Mets weren’t dead yet. They made it to the 12th inning with the score tied at 2-2 and Tatis delivered. The only major leaguer ever to hit two grand slams in the same inning back in 1999 is the same man who did not even make the Mets’ big league club out of Spring Training. Yet no Met has come up with a bigger, more clutch hit than this faded star did yesterday.

Tatis’ two-run home run saved the Mets from a devastating defeat. He saved them from losing precious ground on Philadelphia in the N.L. East standings. This faded star, who best years are behind him, picked up the Mets’ lone All-Star and saved him from another back-page “BILLY GOAT” headline. If this series triggers a season-altering winning streak of sorts, then Tatis also may have saved the season.

----------

Not to be overshadowed by Wagner’s ineptness and Tatis’ brilliance is Joe Smith. The man who shares his name with thousands of Americans was no ordinary Joe on Sunday. Smith came on to throw 2.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief to earn the victory yesterday.

----------

I’m not going to go as far as hugging a sweaty, rain-soaked man, but I must admit the Wimbledon Final was simply remarkable. The five-set epic left a new, first-time Wimbledon champion and possible new World No. 1 in Rafael Nadal.

The longest final ever at the historic, tradition-rich tournament, four hours and 48 minutes of play sandwiched around rain delays, ended when Federer sent a forehand into the net during Nadal’s fourth match point.

Federer’s costly errors and failure to covert 12-of-13 break point chances may raise some questions as to whether the Swiss star’s era of dominance is officially ending, but the only question that those excited over yesterday’s match should ask is “What channel will the U.S. Open be on?” If half as much brilliance is on display at Flushing Meadows, then it will be well-worth it to check your local TV listings.

And for those of you ready to crown Rafa the New King, I suggest you wait until September. The World’s Greatest Clay Court Player and the 2008 Wimbledon champ has one more beast to conquer. Nadal has never advanced through to the semifinal round at Flushing Meadows and has only contested one quarterfinal in four U.S. Open appearances.

Federer has won the last four titles there.

Nadal is on his way to becoming the face of men’s tennis, but he has a long way to go to catch Federer.

One Down, One Up, Two to Go

It has been a familiar feeling for these New York Mets, as it usually is for teams that win as many games as they lose aka .500 ball clubs. After two games at first-place Philadelphia, Jerry Manuel's Mets must feel like they just kissed their sister.

The Mets headed into this weekend's turnpike tussle with Philadelphia in need of a splash. Not yet emerging from the mediocrity that has defined its disappointing season thus far, New York had an opportunity to proclaim loud and clear that it was a contender in the National League East. Instead, the Mets' caravan has remained in neutral.

They endured a Manuel-mismanaged, 3-2 defeat on Independence Day before bouncing back with a late-inning surge during Saturday's 9-4 triumph.

The end result: the Mets remain 4.5 games behind the first-place Phillies, the exact position they held entering the series.

But two games still remain in this four-game set. Two opportunities for the Mets to explain why the baseball world shouldn't write them off as a disappointment. Two chances to go into the All-Star break as more than just a .500 club against their divisional nemesis.

Salvatore Speaks will be keeping an eye on today's contest which pits lefty Oliver Perez (6-5, 4.98 ERA) against righty Kyle Kendrick (8-3, 4.58 ERA ). MLB NYM Game Preview

Salvatore's Sunday Focus on:

New York Mets (43-44) at Philadelphia Phillies (48-40), CW11, 1:35 PM EST

The Major League will announce the 2008 All-Star teams today at 2:00 pm EST on TBS.

Roger Federer attempts to silence the critics and Raffy Nadal in the Wimbledon Final, NBC, 9:00 AM EST