Mets give strange gift to Jones, play vs. Braves tonight

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Back in April, Craig Carton and some other people thought it would be a terrible idea for the Mets to honor Chipper Jones at Citi Field during the legendary third baseman’s last major league season.

Well, today, the supposed apocalyptic event passed without much fanfare. There was a nice little press conference before the game and Chipper graciously accepted a strange 3-D piece of art that the Mets gave him.

Seriously, it’s a pretty weird piece of art.

https://twitter.com/AmazinAvenue/status/244179034030878720

I’m guessing it will go into his son’s bedroom. According to the SNY broadcast, Chipper’s son Shea has an orange and blue bedroom that is decorated with actual Shea Stadium seats. He really went all the way with the “Shea” thing, which is pretty sweet considering there are plenty of devoted Mets fans who don’t have their kids grow up in bedrooms adjourned with old stadium chairs.

Chipper Jones is a class act and an important part of Mets history, so I’m glad the team bestowed this small measure of gratitude upon him. Good job by the Mets.

Anyway, as I type this, the Mets and Braves are tied at 0-0 in the third inning, so here’s a couple of news bits I heard before the game:

First, Matt Harvey will only make two more starts this season. He’s got 157.1 innings under his belt already (majors plus minors), and they’re aiming to get him to 170.

Second, Rueben Tejada is not making a start tonight because he’s apparently too tired/fatigued. He’s 22 years old, so I’m taking that to mean he had a REALLY good time last night. I’d more upset if the Mets were in a pennant race.

Oh, one more thing. Andres Torres left the game with an injury and now Jordanny Valdespin (and not Scott Hairston, who also started) is playing center field. Yikes. Enjoy the game, everybody.

Posted in Major League Baseball, New York Mets | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Knicks to look hot in new uniforms this fall

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

The Knicks have decided to rip off the Mets and take the black out of their uniforms starting this season. The new look also features a crew neck (instead of a v-neck) and a colorful waistband on both the home and road jerseys.

I’m not a fan of the adjustment to the “New York” font, but overall the uni looks pretty fly. Here it is being modeled by forward Amar’e Stoudemire as well as Kelly Rippa and her new co-host Michael Strahan (courtesy of KnickSwag.com):

It’s kind of strange how the shoulder/neck stripes stop abruptly at chest level, but it’s not a huge problem.

Continue reading →

Posted in National Basketball Association, New York Knicks | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

More Ogletree please! Cowboys sock Giants 24-17

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

The name “Kevin Ogletree” has taken root in my consciousness and won’t let me go. I keep seeing the Cowboys’ third wide receiver bolting past Corey Webster on a double move and catching Tony Romo’s perfectly thrown ball for a touchdown to put Dallas up 14-3.

Then it’s 3rd and 11 and the Giants just need this one stop to get the ball back to Eli Manning and the offense. But there’s Ogletree again, catching a slant between Justin Tryon and Antrel Rolle. If they could have delayed Ogletree just a split second, Jacquian Williams could have drilled Romo into the ground for a sack.

Unfortunately for the Giants and me, Kevin Ogletree was not to be denied last night, and the Cowboys beat the Giants 24-17 in the first regular season game of the 2012 NFL season. What a bummer. Justin Tryon should not have even been on the field, but the Giants’ fourth option at cornerback, the peerless Michael Coe, left the game with a hamstring injury shortly after denying Kevin Ogletree a third touchdown pass.

Seriously, if Coe’s hamstring gave way one play eariler, we very well could be talking about Kevin Ogletree’s three-touchdown night. Instead, the Virginia Cavalier had to settle for “only” eight receptions and 114 yards with a pair of scores.

Despite all the Ogletree, it seemed like the Giants were a play here and a play there from actually pulling of the victory. Maybe if the refs saw Orlando Scandrick yanking Victor Cruz’s jersey the Giants get an extra four points after Michael Boley’s long interception return. Maybe if Victor Cruz could have caught the freaking ball on the plays he didn’t get held, there’s an extra opportunity to score. Maybe if Michael Coe didn’t get hurt he could have knocked down the pass that fell into Miles Austin’s hands for a 34-yard touchdown catch and run.

All of those things could have been different, but weren’t. You can say the same about any football game. If you look at the stats, though, it becomes clear that Dallas kicked all kinds of booty in this game, and the Giants were outplayed.

Continue reading →

Posted in New York Giants, NFC East | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Penn State lost to Ohio 24-14, world not ending

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Yeah, of course it was disappointing to watch the Penn State football team lose to Ohio 24-14 in the first game of the 2012 season and the first game of Bill O’Brien’s Penn State coaching career. However, it wasn’t because Ohio is a lousy team or because Ohio is a part of the MAC conference. Most of my disappointment comes from the fact that Penn State was leading 14-3 at halftime and seemed to be in complete control of the game.

The only reason the score was even that close was because of two costly Penn State fumbles (and subsequent Ohio fumble recoveries). The first, by Bill Belton, came on Penn State’s opening drive as the team was threatening to score. The second game deep in Penn State’s own territory on a punt that was muffed by linebacker Gerald Hodges. I’m still not sure what O’Brien saw in Hodges as a punt returner, but I haven’t reviewed the press conference transcripts yet.

Anyway, you have to figure if Penn State manages to recover just one of those fumbles, they have at the very least three more points on the Bobcats than they actually did at halftime. As it turned out, that wouldn’t have mattered, as Ohio stormed back to outscore Penn State 21-0 in the second half en route to a huge win.

Although Penn State by no means played well in the second half, Ohio caught a huge break on the first drive of the half when quarterback Tyler Tettleton’s errant third down heave bounced off the hands of PSU Safety Stephen Obyeng-Agyapong. Instead of being caught for an interception or at least knocked down to force a punt, the ball fluttered into the hands of Ohio’s Landon Smith, who ran for the touchdown to make the score 14-10.

Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ten Football, Penn State, Penn State Football | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carson called up for Mets vs. Rockies tonight

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Jeremy Hefner is having a baby! Well, his wife is at least, and the Mets will use the situation to temporarily bolster their bullpen. Robert Carson, the lefty from Mississippi, is the lucky Bison getting called up. The move makes sense considering the heavy workload that Josh Edgin has had to suffer through lately. Look for Carson to get some use tonight if the Mets need to get a lefty out.

Carson was briefly with the Mets earlier this season. He allowed two runs in three innings while walking two and striking out none. He’s almost certain to do better this time around, but you never know.

Regarding Johan Santana, the Mets are now uncertain if he’ll even start this Thursday. Late last night, the team announced that Santana was going to have an MRI on his back and now he might not be able to go on Thursday. In his stead, either Collin McHugh or Jenrry Mejia could get the start.

I’m also thinking that McHugh should be the guy if Santana can’t go. He’s been a lot more effective than Mejia’s been at triple-A this season. A lot of people think he’s even a better option than Hefner in the majors.

Continue reading →

Posted in Major League Baseball, New York Mets | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mets spoil good Dickey start, lose to Rockies 3-1

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

The Mets fell eight games below .500 and are now tied for fourth place with the Philadelphia Phillies after losing 3-1 to the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. R.A. Dickey pitched seven solid innings and left with the game tied 1-1, but the Mets couldn’t score after the first inning and the Rockies broke through against the New York bullpen.

Yuck, what a bad way to lose. There is some sentiment on the internet that this is the low point of the season for the Mets, but really, the team has been out of playoff contention for a while now. We’ve known for a few weeks now that it would require a miracle for the Mets to make the playoffs. This loss to an admittedly bad Rockies team doesn’t change that.

Still, it would be nice to see Dickey become the first Met since Frank Viola to reach 20 wins. The silver lining is that Dickey did help his Cy Young bid by striking out six batters and walking only two in his seven innings. The only tally Dickey allowed was a solo home run in the fifth inning off the bat of Tyler Colvin. Dickey’s 0-2 knuckleball was sinking out of the strikezone, but Colvin drove it off the facing of the Pepsi Porch.

“It wasn’t a terrible knuckleball (on the homer), it went right into his swing plane.”

Asked about his Cy Young aspirations, Dickey said, “I just want to get to 16 wins. Getting ready to pitch against Houston on Saturday is my only concern. It doesn’t go beyond that.”

After Dickey was pinch-hit for in the seventh inning, the Rockies pounced on reliever Josh Edgin in the eighth. Shortstop Jonathan Herrera led off by pushing a punt down the first base line. Edgin attempted to flip the ball to first with his glove, but the toss sailed wide and Herrera chugged on over to second. From there, all it took was a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch to get Herrera across with the go-ahead run.

Continue reading →

Posted in Major League Baseball, New York Mets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mets begin four-game series with Rockies tonight

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

So Cablevision and whomever owns WPIX got in a big dispute last week and Cablevision ended up pulling the plug on WPIX and replaced it with some “Style” network on channel 11. Bottom line is, I didn’t get to watch the Mets last weekend. Cablevision just got NFL Network (finally!) though, so I can’t hate them too much. The amazing NFL Network outweighs missing the Mets almost win a series in Washington.

Tonight, the Amazins are back in Queens to start a four-game series with the terrible Colorado Rockies. Today, Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson had a meeting and decided to continue pitching Johan Santana this season.

Santana is scheduled to start on Thursday and will be strictly prohibited from throwing over 100 pitches. Good thing the bullpen hasn’t been too awful lately.

Also today, I posted a few paragraphs explaing how surprisingly awesome Ronny Cedeño has been this season. Here’s an excerpt:

Although Cedeño is 29 years old and probably due to regress from this season’s highs, his 2012 hasn’t been incredibly fluky. His .348 BABIP is up there, but it’s not otherworldly. More importantly, Cedeño has bumped his walk rate up to 10.7%. His previous MLB high was 7.6% in 2008. That kind of jump makes you wonder if Cedeño has really improved his approach at the plate after bouncing between the major and minor leagues for the past six years.

I hope the Mets can bring him back next season, but it looks like Cedeño may have played himself into another team’s starting lineup. He’s certainly having a better season than a lot of the other middle infielders who will be free agents this winter.

Continue reading →

Posted in Major League Baseball, New York Mets | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mets win 6-5 after another bullpen disaster

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

I’m really, really glad that I watched the Olympic closing ceremonies last night. Even though they weren’t live and even though NBC made a bunch of cuts without telling me, it still meant that I didn’t have to suffer through a Mets bullpen meltdown.

Well, I sort of suffered thanks to my phone, but it would have been worse if I was actually watching.

The near-complete bullpen meltdown at the end of the game took some of the attention away from Jon Niese, who pitched a wonderful game. In fact, with only 106 pitches thrown in eight innings, I’m rather curious as to why Niese wasn’t allowed to go the distance. Niese allowed just one run while striking out six and walking two, but he was pinch hit for in a 6-1 game in the bottom of the eighth.

Josh Edgin, who has been a pleasant surprise thus far, walked the bases loaded while recording two outs. Frank Francisco came in for what should have been an easy save, but he walked Juan Francisco and Michael Bourn and then allowed Martin Prado to double in a pair of runs. Now with the score 6-5 and with Prado representing the go-ahead run on second base, Terry Collins brought in Jon Rauch to pitch to Jason Heyward.

Even though Rauch doesn’t miss a lot of bats and even though he’s not left-handed, Rauch managed strike out Heyward and save the Mets from catastrophe. Or did he? Strike three got away from catcher Rob Johnson and his throw to first was just a split second ahead of Heyward and nearly hit the runner in the leg. Ike Davis made a nice snag to finally end the game. What a terrifying ninth inning that was.

Continue reading →

Posted in Major League Baseball, New York Mets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mets vs. Braves Sunday night finale lineups

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

It’s almost game time! Before you switch on the Olympic closing ceremony, check out the lineups that the Mets and Braves are using tonight ON NATIONAL TELEVISION. Remember, Jon Niese will be pitching for the Mets, and he’s coming off a rough start against the Marlins. Still, Niese has been very good this season, and the Braves are vulnerable to lefties. Of course, that didn’t stop them from teeing off on Santana last night, but that kind of thing can’t happen two nights in a row, right? Hopefully right.

The Braves are starting Ben Sheets, who has been completely awesome since the Braves brought him back from the abyss last month. His 6.47 strikeouts per nine innings this season is very low for him, but he’s only walking 1.97 batters per nine, which has helped him maintain a 1.41 ERA.

Posted in Major League Baseball, New York Mets | Tagged , | Leave a comment

David Wilson stands out in Giants’ 32-31 loss to Jags

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Aaron Yorke

Ah, the first preseason game. It means nothing, and yet, it means everything. Everything for the second string defensive backs and nothing for the first string players that matter. We don’t really care that Eli Manning went 4-for-8 with 60 yards. We don’t really care that Ahmad Bradshaw rushed four times for 12 yards. We also don’t really care that Victor Cruz caught one pass on three targets for 28 yards.

However, rookie David Wilson gaining 43 yards on just seven carries is something that is inherently awesome. KID IS OFF THE HOOK. I had heard all about Wilson’s blazing speed, but I was impressed with his ability to bounce off tacklers. Of course, I’m not crazy impressed. Wilson was a first round pick and with that comes the expectation that he’ll eventually start in the NFL. Pretty much all starting NFL halfbacks can bounce off of tacklers to some degree. Here’s what coach Tom Couglin had to say:

He certainly did run the ball well. He ran the kickoff return back well. He did a nice job on our punt return team of getting downfield rapidly and helping to block the first defender down the field. He didn’t perform as well as you’d like in the pass game. He should’ve got out of bounds with one of his plays there towards the end of the game. He’s young and we’ve got to eliminate the mental errors.

Bad news: Jerrel Jernigan and Jayron Hosley each muffed a punt return as the Giants’ search for a punt returner has hit a snag. There are so many fast guys on a given football team that you’d figure it wouldn’t be that hard to find someone who could properly receiver punts, but the Giants continue to struggle in that regard.

Defensively, it was nice to see 2010 sixth round pick Adrian Tracy get a sack and a forced fumble after bouncing around the practice squad all of last season. Coughlin was encouraged by the performance.

When Adrian played, you can see the power. You can see the things that he can do well. You can see also there are things that are happening out there; he’s not in as good of control of himself as he would like to be. The bull rush, the power rush, he’s good at that. The edge, he’s good at that. He made some nice plays in the run. He made some nice plays from behind.

Not all was well on defense, though. The first Jaguars possession went for 89 yards and a touchdown and featured 2011 first round pick Prince Amukamara getting torched a couple of times. However, on the next Jacksonville drive, Amukamara forced a fumble that gave New York the ball back. It’s good to see corners make plays even when they’re not in coverage, but Amukamara needs to improve against the pass if the Giants are going to get better on defense this season.

Continue reading →

Posted in National Football League, New York Giants, NFC East | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment