The Mets, sans Piazza, have been beating up on the Marlins and Expos, the only two teams they've played thus far. It's about time they meet up with some good teams -- San Francisco and San Diego will be coming to town after yet another series against Montreal. It's poetic justice that things be this way. The Expos and Marlins played the Mets tough last year and were the two teams most responsible for keeping the New Yorkers from reaching the playoffs.
The Mets are quickly developing a great comraderie -- winning will do that -- and the bench is filled with lots of smiling faces. It is obvious that veterans like Henderson, Ventura, Olerud and Piazza think they can take this team all the way.
The Met bullpen has become one of the very best in baseball. In most games, the starters have been going six, with Cook or Wendell coming on in the 7th, strongman Armando Benitez blowing away hitters in the 8th (the best strikeout pitcher the Mets have owned in a long, long time), and John Franco, God save us, pitching the 9th.
Hershiser looked better in his second start, getting his first win as a Met. The Mets will feel the loss of Rick Reed for the next two weeks, asking Allen Watson to take Reed's turn in the rotation this Sunday. Bobby Jones has clearly been the Mets best starting pitcher in this young season, looking like he did in 1997 when he was the Mets ace.
Let me again repeat the merits of the Mets infield. They will greatly enhance the efforts of the Mets pitching staff this season. Tom Seaver commented that pitching coach Bob Apodoca is making sure that everyone on the staff has a good sinking pitch to take advantage of this obvious strength. Ventura hit a dinger tonight and has hit safely in every game as a Met. He's quickly becoming a fan favorite, especially because of his Brooks Robinson style defensive play at third base.
OK -- I'm getting tired of playing the Expos and Marlin already. Bring on some challenging teams and let's see how good these '99 Mets really are!
To reach this level is not to be taken lightly. We have seen many closers (Goose Gossage, Al "the Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky, Tug McGraw, Trevor Hoffman, and Bruce Sutter come immediately to mind) who have had dominating seasons, shutting down games in dramatic fashion. John Franco has done this year in and year out, and pretty or not, his efforts have clinched a great many victories over the years. Lee Smith is bound for the Hall of Fame... from my view Franco is worthy of consideration.
Bash brother Jose "Can-U-C-It-Go" Canseco is another story. His numbers are fine, and he may hit 500 homers in his career, but he doesn't quite seem like a Hall of Famer. Doc's comparison to Dave Kingman is not too far off base, though Jose's tools dwarf Kingman's. Jose falls somewhere between Darryl Strawberry and Reggie Jackson, and leaning more towards the Straw. If his head was in the game, he coulda been Reggie. When all is said and done, I sure like to watch him hit...
