But I don’t think it matters either way. Even if the Mets get swept, there is a good chance that no other team from the NL East will make the playoffs other than the division winner. With the way the West is shaking out, I’d have to bet on that division for the WC. Bottom line is that the reason teh Mets are in first place, and have been most of the year, is not because they beat the braves more times than the braves meat them – it is because they beat the rest of baseball more time than the braves did.
Outside of the Braves, only two teams have winning records against the Mets, Dodgers and Padres, by only one game, each with another series to play. So it is very conceivable that at the end of the season, there will be only one team with a winning record against the Mets.. and I don’t care who it is if they are playing golf during the playoffs.
This question will only have merit if the Braves win the WC. And with 6 teams vying for the spot within 1.5 games of one another… it’ll be an interesting stretch.
Dan Gurney
In 1988 the Mets beat the Dodgers 11 out of 12 times. After a great 9th inning rally against Cy Young winner Orel Hersheier, they overcame David Cone’s meltdown in game 2 to win game 3 by having cheater Jay Howell ejected. The Mets lost 3 out of the next 4 to lose the series.
Momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher.
Steve C.
The Braves have been our bane since the mid to late 90’s.
Its frustrating.
dave
Willie said it last night. Most of the guys on the team do not have a history with ATL so it doesn’t really matter.
There isn’t enough room in the Mets’ heads for the Braves—most of these guys seem too self-absorbed. Maybe it’s just that they were fighting hangovers last night.
But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the Mets are in the Braves’ heads and the Braves ARE focused.
JR
No. This “in their heads” bs is a product of frustrated fans and media looking for a story line.
1. This is not the same team of Mike Piazza and Al Leiter and Johnny Franco. Maybe you could make a case for those teams, but these guys don’t know the history. They weren’t around.
2. A lot of these guys joined the Mets for the first time last year. The Mets played great against the Braves last year, taking the series and sweeping them one weekend in Atlanta. For people like Delgado and LoDuca, last year was their first foray into the rivalry. Why would that be in their heads?
3. In both series this year the Mets lost a game because the bullpen blew it. If Heilman and Schoenweis didn’t suck in two games, they would be winning this year’s series and this wouldn’t even be a discussion.
I think the fans are more frustrated by this Braves thing than the team is.
Steve C.
JR- baseball has always been about stupidstition.
the team doesnt have to play against them to be affected. remember there are at least 5 players still on the braves that have always played the mets thats enough.
And please last night reminded me of the 6 run inning Leiter gave up. I was there and i wanted to kill Valentine for keeping him in . sigh
oh well. lose 1 win 2.
Lets Go Mets Go.
GTC
Mets have no friggin’ heart….that’s what it comes down to. Larry & Co. do and the Mets do not….it’s damn frustrating, but so be it!
Jimmy122
YES !!
Steve C.
I think you are wrong. The Mets have heart. The issue is, that some players get better treatment than others. and sometimes they arent taken out of the game when its necessary. and other players are taken out too soon. But then again , not a manager, just a die hard and want to see some consistency in players and management.
JK
Yes, they are in the Mets heads a little. But no, it doesn’t necessarily matter. The Braves were the Mets’ daddies in 2000 as well, but it was the Mets who ended up in the WS. That’s all that matters.
Pete B
No. The fact is that the Braves are just bringing their A-game. While we continue to look mediocre every time we have played them this season. The reality is that the Braves bats will come back to earth and will not be able to overcome their bad pitching in the 3-4-5 slots in the rotation. We will win this division. Although, i would not like our chances against the braves in the playoffs. They have enough pitching(if Smoltz’ arm holds out) to win in the playoffs.
Steve
Ask me again after Thursday’s game. If the Mets get swept, then obviously the answer is yes. And it only matters if the Mets fall behind the Braves in the division.
Steve C.
Amen.
JR
I actually think that it’s the other way around…the Mets are in the Braves heads. And rather than that being a negative for them they raise their game when they play the Mets. The Mets don’t do that.
mr.bmc
The Braves have some of the best advance scouting in baseball. They also have Bobby Cox.
Steve C.
they also have the wife beater. Chipper Jones.
Mike C.
The Mets are in their own heads right now, the Braves don’t even factor into it.
When you overfocus your roster on worn-out dinged-up fading veterans, you’re going to have a team built around complacency.
What you saw last night was what happens EVERY time the Mets go behind large early because a starter implodes… all the old wounded players go into “energy saver” mode to protect their bodies for the next day and…
The offense shuts down with them.
Alou, Castillo, Beltran, Green, Delgado, LoDuca… they go up to the plate looking like they’re just going through the motion, saving their effort for a game they “can” win.
Not necessarily because they’re “selfish” or “bad” players… more often out of sheer necessity because they’re all really too banged up to be everyday players right now or they’ve just overall run out of talent.
They have to covetously hoarde what steam they have remaining and… they do use it in a close game.
But when you’re down by a lot early, you’re kinda screwed.
I think if you really want to be able to come back when your starter stumbles, you have to have the young spark of hitters trying to prove themselves, whether they’re up by ten or down by ten.
Though Willie is too stubborn than to do these things to win…
I think you have to put Milledge in the line-up every day, no matter who is healthy, centre while Beltran’s down, one of the corners when he’s up.
I think you have to give Gotay all the starts against righties and against the lesser lefties too, using Castillo as a starter only against good lefties… otherwise using him as the valuable bench piece he would be if used stingily.
And I think you need to use Castro more often than Willie has previously cared to. Instead of once a weekend on a day after a night, I think you wanna start him twice a week and get Paul as much rest as possible without creating a platoon situation.
There’s just too many guys in the line-up holding back for the next day when the going gets too tough.
CJ
Bobby cox beats Willie. the end of the story.
When Mets lost the series to Braves because he misused BP,Willie was saying he was using the first 1/3 of the season to find out who could do the jobs . He called the Press to spewed out his BS.
Mets are hempered by Willie.
If Mets doesn’t make it to PS, Willie should be fired.
Mike F
It is very clear that Alou cannot hit right handers, he should be platooned with Anderson in left field.
Pete B
Alou is arguably one of the most professional consistent hitters in the game. Taking his bat out of the lineup would only serve to hurt this team. Just look at our June offensive numbers if you want to see a world without Alou.
No offense Mike F, but that comment is just way off base as Alou has a lifetime .292 average against righties. While Marlon is only batting a lifetime .266. Just because the guy has a bad week against righties while coming off the DL does not mean you give up on a player. We need Alou in the lineup every day possible if we are going to win the NL East. This guy plays with heart and I would rather have him batting with the game on the line against righty of lefty than a lot of other players on this team. He had a bad night in a long career..give th guy a break.
Steve C.
I watched alou play last night. I think He’s still injured.
Taylor
No, the Mets aren’t losing to the Braves because they are ‘in their head’ or anything like that. They 3-7 against the Braves. That is only 10 games. Its not so terribly unlikely to 3-7 in a small number of games against a team that is relatively evenly matched so as to require an explanation other than that baseball games are not predictable.
Pete B
Steve,
Alou will probably play the rest of his career with injuries. I still think he is better than any other option we have on the bench.
I don’t know if the Braves are in the Mets’ heads… it just looks like the Braves want it more.
In the late 90s/early 2000s the Mets would give 110% and beat their heads against a wall trying to beat the Braves, and they couldn’t do it. This Mets team almost looks disinterested when they play the Braves.
It’s weird, because lately the Mets have turned in some fine efforts against some very good teams. But against the Braves it’s as if they don’t want to acknowledge that they’re in a pennant race.
CJ
Wright who talks alot can’t hit against Braves. Not having Beltran who ’s been the Braves killer is huge.
JK
Pete B, Alou has the worst batting average with RISP on the entire team (with the exception of scrubs/pitchers). He’s hitting .167 in those situations. And he’s been this bad all year. He’s done. He’s 41 years old. He’s a double play machine now.
CJ
I thought Wright was the worst with RISP .
JK
Alou is the worst in BA with RISP. Wright is in the middle and not bad, though not great. Here are some numbers:
Great, but the top 4 there are either pinch-hitters or replacements. For everyday players, Wright is 2nd…but Alou is still last I guess. But if you’re gonna complain about that, then just bench Alou completely. Why not start Marlon Anderson for the rest of the season, he’s an extraordinarily average player; that would be wonderful!
Alou is old and injured but not done, and there’s no way that I’d want a professional pinch-hitter to take over his spot in left field for the remainder of the season. As for Castillo v. Gotay, there’s no way in hell Gotay should be starting every day over Luis.
30 Comments
I don’t know the answer to that question.
But I don’t think it matters either way. Even if the Mets get swept, there is a good chance that no other team from the NL East will make the playoffs other than the division winner. With the way the West is shaking out, I’d have to bet on that division for the WC. Bottom line is that the reason teh Mets are in first place, and have been most of the year, is not because they beat the braves more times than the braves meat them – it is because they beat the rest of baseball more time than the braves did.
Outside of the Braves, only two teams have winning records against the Mets, Dodgers and Padres, by only one game, each with another series to play. So it is very conceivable that at the end of the season, there will be only one team with a winning record against the Mets.. and I don’t care who it is if they are playing golf during the playoffs.
This question will only have merit if the Braves win the WC. And with 6 teams vying for the spot within 1.5 games of one another… it’ll be an interesting stretch.
In 1988 the Mets beat the Dodgers 11 out of 12 times. After a great 9th inning rally against Cy Young winner Orel Hersheier, they overcame David Cone’s meltdown in game 2 to win game 3 by having cheater Jay Howell ejected. The Mets lost 3 out of the next 4 to lose the series.
Momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher.
The Braves have been our bane since the mid to late 90’s.
Its frustrating.
Willie said it last night. Most of the guys on the team do not have a history with ATL so it doesn’t really matter.
There isn’t enough room in the Mets’ heads for the Braves—most of these guys seem too self-absorbed. Maybe it’s just that they were fighting hangovers last night.
But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the Mets are in the Braves’ heads and the Braves ARE focused.
No. This “in their heads” bs is a product of frustrated fans and media looking for a story line.
1. This is not the same team of Mike Piazza and Al Leiter and Johnny Franco. Maybe you could make a case for those teams, but these guys don’t know the history. They weren’t around.
2. A lot of these guys joined the Mets for the first time last year. The Mets played great against the Braves last year, taking the series and sweeping them one weekend in Atlanta. For people like Delgado and LoDuca, last year was their first foray into the rivalry. Why would that be in their heads?
3. In both series this year the Mets lost a game because the bullpen blew it. If Heilman and Schoenweis didn’t suck in two games, they would be winning this year’s series and this wouldn’t even be a discussion.
I think the fans are more frustrated by this Braves thing than the team is.
JR- baseball has always been about stupidstition.
the team doesnt have to play against them to be affected. remember there are at least 5 players still on the braves that have always played the mets thats enough.
And please last night reminded me of the 6 run inning Leiter gave up. I was there and i wanted to kill Valentine for keeping him in .
sigh
oh well. lose 1 win 2.
Lets Go Mets Go.
Mets have no friggin’ heart….that’s what it comes down to. Larry & Co. do and the Mets do not….it’s damn frustrating, but so be it!
YES !!
I think you are wrong. The Mets have heart. The issue is, that some players get better treatment than others. and sometimes they arent taken out of the game when its necessary. and other players are taken out too soon. But then again , not a manager, just a die hard and want to see some consistency in players and management.
Yes, they are in the Mets heads a little. But no, it doesn’t necessarily matter. The Braves were the Mets’ daddies in 2000 as well, but it was the Mets who ended up in the WS. That’s all that matters.
No. The fact is that the Braves are just bringing their A-game. While we continue to look mediocre every time we have played them this season. The reality is that the Braves bats will come back to earth and will not be able to overcome their bad pitching in the 3-4-5 slots in the rotation. We will win this division. Although, i would not like our chances against the braves in the playoffs. They have enough pitching(if Smoltz’ arm holds out) to win in the playoffs.
Ask me again after Thursday’s game. If the Mets get swept, then obviously the answer is yes. And it only matters if the Mets fall behind the Braves in the division.
Amen.
I actually think that it’s the other way around…the Mets are in the Braves heads. And rather than that being a negative for them they raise their game when they play the Mets. The Mets don’t do that.
The Braves have some of the best advance scouting in baseball. They also have Bobby Cox.
they also have the wife beater. Chipper Jones.
The Mets are in their own heads right now, the Braves don’t even factor into it.
When you overfocus your roster on worn-out dinged-up fading veterans, you’re going to have a team built around complacency.
What you saw last night was what happens EVERY time the Mets go behind large early because a starter implodes… all the old wounded players go into “energy saver” mode to protect their bodies for the next day and…
The offense shuts down with them.
Alou, Castillo, Beltran, Green, Delgado, LoDuca… they go up to the plate looking like they’re just going through the motion, saving their effort for a game they “can” win.
Not necessarily because they’re “selfish” or “bad” players… more often out of sheer necessity because they’re all really too banged up to be everyday players right now or they’ve just overall run out of talent.
They have to covetously hoarde what steam they have remaining and… they do use it in a close game.
But when you’re down by a lot early, you’re kinda screwed.
I think if you really want to be able to come back when your starter stumbles, you have to have the young spark of hitters trying to prove themselves, whether they’re up by ten or down by ten.
Though Willie is too stubborn than to do these things to win…
I think you have to put Milledge in the line-up every day, no matter who is healthy, centre while Beltran’s down, one of the corners when he’s up.
I think you have to give Gotay all the starts against righties and against the lesser lefties too, using Castillo as a starter only against good lefties… otherwise using him as the valuable bench piece he would be if used stingily.
And I think you need to use Castro more often than Willie has previously cared to. Instead of once a weekend on a day after a night, I think you wanna start him twice a week and get Paul as much rest as possible without creating a platoon situation.
There’s just too many guys in the line-up holding back for the next day when the going gets too tough.
Bobby cox beats Willie. the end of the story.
When Mets lost the series to Braves because he misused BP,Willie was saying he was using the first 1/3 of the season to find out who could do the jobs . He called the Press to spewed out his BS.
Mets are hempered by Willie.
If Mets doesn’t make it to PS, Willie should be fired.
It is very clear that Alou cannot hit right handers, he should be platooned with Anderson in left field.
Alou is arguably one of the most professional consistent hitters in the game. Taking his bat out of the lineup would only serve to hurt this team. Just look at our June offensive numbers if you want to see a world without Alou.
No offense Mike F, but that comment is just way off base as Alou has a lifetime .292 average against righties. While Marlon is only batting a lifetime .266. Just because the guy has a bad week against righties while coming off the DL does not mean you give up on a player. We need Alou in the lineup every day possible if we are going to win the NL East. This guy plays with heart and I would rather have him batting with the game on the line against righty of lefty than a lot of other players on this team. He had a bad night in a long career..give th guy a break.
I watched alou play last night. I think He’s still injured.
No, the Mets aren’t losing to the Braves because they are ‘in their head’ or anything like that. They 3-7 against the Braves. That is only 10 games. Its not so terribly unlikely to 3-7 in a small number of games against a team that is relatively evenly matched so as to require an explanation other than that baseball games are not predictable.
Steve,
Alou will probably play the rest of his career with injuries. I still think he is better than any other option we have on the bench.
I don’t know if the Braves are in the Mets’ heads… it just looks like the Braves want it more.
In the late 90s/early 2000s the Mets would give 110% and beat their heads against a wall trying to beat the Braves, and they couldn’t do it. This Mets team almost looks disinterested when they play the Braves.
It’s weird, because lately the Mets have turned in some fine efforts against some very good teams. But against the Braves it’s as if they don’t want to acknowledge that they’re in a pennant race.
Wright who talks alot can’t hit against Braves. Not having Beltran who ’s been the Braves killer is huge.
Pete B, Alou has the worst batting average with RISP on the entire team (with the exception of scrubs/pitchers). He’s hitting .167 in those situations. And he’s been this bad all year. He’s done. He’s 41 years old. He’s a double play machine now.
I thought Wright was the worst with RISP .
Alou is the worst in BA with RISP. Wright is in the middle and not bad, though not great. Here are some numbers:
Gotay .424
Marlon .375
Miledge .360
Easley .341
Reyes .307
Wright .284
Green .271
Castro .268
Beltran .242
Delgado .237
Newhan .235
Valentin .227
Lo Duca .220
Alou .167
Glavine by the way is hitting .250 with RISP.
Great, but the top 4 there are either pinch-hitters or replacements. For everyday players, Wright is 2nd…but Alou is still last I guess. But if you’re gonna complain about that, then just bench Alou completely. Why not start Marlon Anderson for the rest of the season, he’s an extraordinarily average player; that would be wonderful!
Alou is old and injured but not done, and there’s no way that I’d want a professional pinch-hitter to take over his spot in left field for the remainder of the season. As for Castillo v. Gotay, there’s no way in hell Gotay should be starting every day over Luis.