Hello everybody:
I decided to parody an old Mel Allen greeting (although I'm not old enough to have heard him) in honor of this past weekend's Mets-Yankees Subway Series.
With this latest edition over, here are just a few observations.
1) For what it's worth, Jose Reyes is the most dynamic player in the game. Alex Rodriguez is simply the best player in baseball.
But when it comes to the big game, I'll put my money on Derek Jeter any day of the week. Jeter simply continues to amaze with his play when it comes to the Yanks' games against Boston or the Mets.
2) Of all the New York starters in both the Bronx and Queens, Oliver Perez might have the best stuff around. Once again, for my money, I'll take Chien-Ming Wang anytime. While Wang might not be as flashy as Perez, he consistently pitches great games with great stuff.
I heard a New York beat writer saying the Yankees don't have an ace. He might want to re-think that because Wang is on the verge of becoming something special. And these days he certainly stands above future Hall of Famers Roger Clemens and Tom Glavine, as well as perennial big-time pitchers Andy Pettitte and Orlando Hernandez.
3) Speaking of Clemens and Glavine, is it just me or do you all get the feeling -- down the stretch -- the Rocket at 44, 45-years-old will give the Yankees more than Glavine at 40, 41 will give to the Mets. Maybe his last two starts against two of the toughest lineups in baseball -- the Yankees and Tigers -- are an aberration, but Glavine looks shot.
4) Speaking of looking shot, can anybody look worse at the plate right now than Carlos Delgado? When he was a Blue Jay, and even last year as a Met, Delgado struck fear in the hearts of many Yankee fans -- myself included. But he looks completely lost at the plate.
5) I get a kick out of over-the-top "expert" fans for both teams that call into talk radio. Just listening to the Mike & the Mad Dog today, you would think the Mets were as far out of first place as the Yankees were when they were going bad.
News flash to Mets' fans. Your team is still the class of a very weak National League. Does Mets GM Omar Minaya have some holes to fill? Absolutely. But before you guys talk about trading Delgado or Carlos Beltran or your entire minor league roster to get Mark Buehrle, take a step back.
You'll be playing October baseball.
News flash to Yankee fans. While we can feel a lot better about our team with this great run, we still have to keep in the back of our minds that all the Yankees have done is put themselves in position to where they don't have to worry about winning 9, 10, 11 straight games. Concentrate on winning series.
6) And speaking of trades, why is it that I keep hearing on television and radio that the Yanks need to go out and get a first baseman. Anybody notice this great run started after Jason Giambi got injured? I like Giambi, but Miguel Cairo and Josh Phelps can man the position just fine until Doug Mientkiewicz gets back. I'm not looking for home runs from that position, just catch the ball.
The Yanks don't need to give up their entire farm system to go after the Rangers' Mark Teixiera, who's not a tremendous upgrade over Giambi at first.
7) Finally, speaking of trades, I do have a Yankee-Met trade. If I'm Yankee GM Brain Cashman, I'd see if I could acquire SNY's Julie Donaldson as the Yanks' dugout reporter for Kim Jones. I like Jones, but Donaldson is very attractive.
Sorry, folks, I'm a guy. I tend to notice these things.
Take care and God bless.