I Had To Turn It Off When

What used to be few and far between has become all too common in the game of baseball today. We do not have the benefit of the information that the manager has, so to question a manager's decision during a game usually must be done with the idea that HE knows more than WE do. Usually we will find out why a manager did what he did after the game, and then -- and only then -- can we pass judgment on said manager's moves. However, the same can not be said for a player who does something crazy or flat-out stupid on the field to which there is NO explanation. To that end, I bring you Friday night's game between the Mets and the Diamondbacks.

With the scored tied at 2 in the eighth inning, Arizona's Gerardo Parra led off the inning with a base hit off Mets reliever, Pedro Feliciano. Exit Feliciano for fellow reliever, Sean Green. Green's second pitch to Justin Upton hit him. So now we have runners on first and second and no one out. Green continues to have trouble as he walks -- on four pitches, mind you -- slugging third baseman Mark Reynolds.

Next up for Arizona is catcher Miguel Montero, who did homer earlier in the game, and, apparently, was "feeling his oats" as he gave us a move that we see all too often in today's "brand" of baseball. The bases were now loaded for Montero, who took ball one from Green. So let's recap, shall we? Green entered the game and:

- hit Upton on his second pitch

- threw four straight balls to Reynolds to load the bases

- threw ball one to Montero

That's a hit batsman followed by 5 straight balls!!!!!!

What would you do if you were in this situation? What would any fairly smart ballplayer do in that same situation? A pitcher in trouble who can't find the strike zone with the bases loaded? Yep, no doubt you would take a strike, wouldn't you? Well, not Mr. Montero. Nope, still feeling the euphoria of his home run earlier in the game, Montero SWINGS at Green's second pitch and chops it to first where the Mets Daniel Murphy starts a 3-2-3 double play. Incredible!

Green, who couldn't find the plate that night with a guide dog, could not take advantage of the break as his VERY NEXT PITCH was a wild pitch. That made Montero's swing even that much more incredible -- and incredibly stupid! The winning run scored from third on the pitch in a 3-2 Diamondbacks victory.

This is how a team gets -- and stays -- 19 or so games out of first.

One of the dumbest moves I've ever seen. No doubt, I'll see it again.

Item # 1 - When the Mets were pounding out 14 hits against Todd Wellemeyer and the Cardinals on Monday night en route to their 6-4 victory, Mets analyst Ron Darling mentioned that perhaps this is the type of game that the team could use as a "springboard" to bigger and better things. Shouldn't we know by now that there is no such thing as momentum or a "springboard" to anything in baseball? Naturally, the Mets were 2-hit the next game by pitcher Joel Pineiro in a 2-0 loss.

Item # 2 - In the sixth inning of Wednesday's 11-0 rout of the Cardinals by the Mets, catcher Brian Schneider checked his swing on a pitch that was called a ball by the third base umpire. SNY cameras gave us ONE view of the play from the center field camera. That was it! Both Mets analysts, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling, were quick to point out that Schneider DID NOT swing at the pitch even though we never saw a camera angle from overhead or third base which would have given us a better perspective of whether or not it was a swing. The boys made their emphatic call just from this one - and bad - camera angle. Schneider would go on to double home a couple of runs which suited the boys in the booth just fine.

In the ninth inning of Thursday's game against the Mets, St. Louis had runners on second and third with two outs trailing the Mets 3-2. Catcher Yadier Molina checked his swing on the first pitch he saw from Francisco Rodriguez. Naturally, Darling thought first base umpire Dale Scott missed the call even before he saw the replay. An overhead camera angle confirmed that Darling's initial belief that Molina swung was correct. Hmmm. Darling needed - and got - an overhead view by SNY of the swing by Molina to confirm the fact that, yes, he did go around but we got NO such camera angle from SNY on the Schneider checked swing? All we got were assurances from Darling and Hernandez. Now, I'm not a conspiracy theorist but ...

Item # 3 - Recently, in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Mets Ryan Church hit an 0-2 fastball right down the middle from Rays reliever J.P. Howell for a base hit and an RBI extending a Mets' lead to 5-3. Naturally, we were told by Mets analyst, Keith Hernandez, that it was "a good piece of hitting" by Church, and NOT a bad pitch by Howell. That's right ladies and gentlemen, all 0-2 base hits, no matter how bad the pitch, will always lead to credit being given to the hometown hitter. No blame will ever go to the opposing team's pitcher. Ain't gonna happen.