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KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

bmfc1 Jul 22 2012 08:43 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 23 2012 05:02 AM

The 1st place Washington Nationals (55-39, 3 ½ in front of Atlanta) come to Citi Field for 3 games against the under .500 (47-48) New York Mets. The Mets are 8 ½ games behind Washington and are now in 7th place in the Wild Card standings, 5 games out of the 2d Wild Card spot. In other words, a lot of Mets will be looking over their shoulders waiting to see if they are traded before the July 30th deadline. The Mets are only 3-6 against the Nationals this season. The Nationals are missing Ian Desmond who went on the DL on Sunday. That means that Danny Espinosa moves to SS and Steve Lombardozzi plays 2B. While the Mets were playing 3 horrible games against the Dodgers, the Nationals split four games against the Braves. On Friday, the Nationals lead the Braves 9-0 but blew the lead and lost 11-10. The Nationals TV announcers are horrible. Bob Carpenter might be the worst TV play-by-play guy in baseball and that includes Ken Harrelson. The color guy is F.P. (“Mitchell Report”) Santangelo who is the worst kind of color announcer: he knows little about the game and cheers incessantly for the home team. Fortunately for the locals, the radio team is excellent. New Yorkers know Charlie Slowes from his Fordham days and Mets fans were aware of him from his time with Tidewater. Here’s a good article on them (make sure you read the part about his time with Tampa): [url]http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/for-washington-nationals-radio-team-dave-jageler-and-charlie-slowes-baseballs-in-the-air/2012/07/05/gJQAB9FYPW_story.html Let’s look at the match-ups for the series: Monday, 7:10: Jordan Zimmermann (RHP, 7-6, 2.35, 1.09) v. Chris Young (RHP, 2-4, 4.11, 1.37). Zimmermann has 17 quality starts in 19 outings this season, including nine in a row. He hasn't allowed a run in his last two starts (I didn’t write the last two sentences but can’t remember where I stole them from). This was the same match-up as last Wednesday (Zimmermann, 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 H; Young, 6 IP, 2 ER). That was the game blown by Terry “Short McBunty” Collins who left ex-Met Miguel Batista in the game to face Lombardozzi when Edgin was warming up in the bullpen. Lombardozzi is a switch-hitter but his numbers show that he’s much better against RHPs so the obvious move was to bring in the LHP... obvious to everyone but Collins. Batista gave up a 2-run double and the Mets lost by a run. I will miss this game as I am co-hosting comedy night at Fire Station No. 1 in downtown Silver Spring, MD. Showtime is 7:30 and it’s free. Stop by if you’re in the area. Tuesday, 7:10: Gio Gonzalez (LHP, 12-5, 3.32, 1.14) v. R.A. Dickey (RHP, 13-1, 2.84). This was supposed to be a great pitching duel last Thursday but Gonzalez was rocked for 6 ER in only 3 ? with Wright and Ike homering off the All-Star. Dickey hung around for 7 ? because he was concerned that the bullpen would blow the easy win. “I’d rather throw 150 pitches then leave it up to those guys”, said Dickey who quickly added “no disrespect intended.” Wednesday, 12:10: Stephen Strasburg, (RHP, 10-4, 2.85, 1.15) v. Jeremy Hefner (RHP, 1-3, 5.85, 1.36). Oy. What are the Mets chances in this one? Strasburg didn’t pitch very well on Saturday, going 5 ? , 4 ER, 8 H. Hefner started against WSH on June 6 and pitched a respectable 6 IP, giving up 3 ER. Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell said during that game that Hefner threw “slop” (this was tweeted by a Mets reporter). Boswell should know about slop as he lost his fastball 20 years ago. The writer who gave us the phrase “time begins on opening day” now writes from his knees about his beloved Nationals. He has become an embarrassment. Here's more slop from Bowell, from today: Perhaps no quality is more valuable in baseball’s long season than the ability to take a punch. The only way to learn to endure injuries, slumps and losses (such as Friday’s) that defy belief is actually to experience, then surmount them. Individually, players learn patience and develop a deep belief that, given time, their talent will speak and their critics will fall silent. As a team, the habit of defiant resiliency, which is much of what athletic “character” really is, gets born. I could have picked almost any other paragraph in this column as an example of over-writing but I will spare you. http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/na ... story.html A certainty for Wednesday are comments from the hard-working beat writers about the early start. The poor babies will have to be at the ballpark by 9 and then have to fly to Arizona after the game. I hope they survive the ordeal.

G-Fafif Jul 23 2012 04:37 AM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

This is good knowin', though the best knowin' would be knowin' the Nats are leavin' New York with a three-game losin' streak. (It's a fact: Politicians who wish to be elected to federal office often drop their g's.)

MFS62 Jul 23 2012 10:19 AM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

I guess it's better than dropping a few G's in a casino. Later

Frayed Knot Jul 23 2012 02:00 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

So, inspired by bmfc's (now standard) rant about Nationals' broadcaster Bob Carpenter -- "Bob Carpenter might be the worst TV play-by-play guy in baseball and that includes Ken Harrelson." -- I did some looking about him just to see what else he had done prior to landing in Washington. And what I discovered was that in both Wikipedia and on the Nats 'MASN' page, it mentions that, among his various other jobs, he worked for the Mets sometime in the 1980s or '90s. I have no memory of this (not that I'm the best measure of these things) but neither apparently does UMDB. Anybody else care to weigh in?

G-Fafif Jul 23 2012 03:12 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

For a couple of years in the early '90s, after Steve Zabriskie left, the Mets shuttled announcers in and out of the Channel 9 booth on weekends to accommodate Tim McCarver's network schedule, as if conducting a series of rotating auditions. Ray Knight was one of those voices partnering with Ralph Kiner. Bob Carpenter was another. Now they're both with the Nats. Carpenter didn't do enough to quite inspire the enmity he has in certain segments of the DC market but he had definitely had that generic announcer feel to him -- like a stiffer Dave O'Brien -- and he wasn't missed when he moved on. (Though to be fair, I was kind of happy he wasn't Fran Healy...not being Fran Healy was a big plus for a long time.) It was during this period that Frank Cashen sat in with Ralph from time to time, most notably on a Mets Classic that gets rebroadcast often, the David Cone 19-K finale from Philly, 10/6/1991...when Cashen knew more than he was letting on about what might have been distracting David that morning.

bmfc1 Jul 23 2012 04:05 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

Frayed Knot wrote: So, inspired by bmfc's (now standard) rant about Nationals' broadcaster Bob Carpenter Excuse me FK? I don't recall "ranting" about Carpenter in any other KTEs (definitely in IGTs and via Twitter). But let's say I did... I didn't ask to do this KTE. I was all but ordered to do it ("Just write about the Nats, man.") and so I did, being a good team player. You want a rant, here's a rant: Who died and made you arbiter of the KTEs? Given that I: a) didn't want to do it and b) knocked it out in 45 minutes, I thought it was DAMN good.

Frayed Knot Jul 23 2012 04:59 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

1) You've been complaining about Carpenter for years around here. I didn't say there was anything wrong with that but let's not pretend it hasn't been the case. 2) That his name was brought up today (by you) merely made me wonder what & where he had worked before seeing as how the Nats have only been in existence for a few years and he seemed like the type who's been around a while. That made me notice the NYM reference. 3) If you don't want to do KTEs then DON'T DO THEM! Nothing around here is mandatory. 4) I'm not the arbiter of KTEs, I just am keeping the chart based on what folks said they wanted to do at the beginning of the year.

bmfc1 Jul 23 2012 08:27 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

FK: If you don't have something nice to say about people herein, don't say it. Save your vitriol for the Wilpons, the MFYs, etc. And if you don't like my comments, don't read them. However, I'm flattered that you remembered what I've written in the past. The point is that you could have made the interesting observation about Carpenter without giving me a shot.

Frayed Knot Jul 23 2012 08:49 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

WTF did I say that's "not nice"? That you've bashed Bob Carpenter a bunch of times in the past? ... BFD! Shit, it's like saying that BagsMags has an anti-Willie Randolph streak that's approaching Ripken's record, but I bet if I brought that up to him he'd wear that title loud and proud. And I'll say it again since you seemed to have skipped over it the first time: I didn't have any problem with what you said, I merely noted that your reference to Carpenter, which you do at least once during virtually every Met/Wash series, served as a trigger for my curiosity to look up where he had been before. Honestly, you're looking at two harmless words in a parenthetical thought and are getting all bent out of shape over them and I have no freakin' idea why. And if you're simply pissed off that you "had to" do a KTE when you didn't want to then don't volunteer to do three Washington KTEs and then act like you're being brow-beat into them when they come around. I merely said that since you and Edgy were splitting the six Nats series and him taking your turn last time that I didn't know who wanted to do this one so you two should "work it out on your own". So if you felt somehow bullied into doing it then take it up with him. And if you changed your mind and don't want to do them anymore then simply say so. We concocted these things for shits and giggles not because we actually think we're going to lose the series without them.

bmfc1 Jul 23 2012 08:51 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

I checked with Elias and couldn't find any previous reference to Carpenter in a KTE. Thanks for the comments. I appreciate your reading my stuff. Have a good night.

Edgy MD Jul 23 2012 09:05 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

Carpenter in the archives: [list:ybe47lfx][*:ybe47lfx]KTE from 9/12-15/2011: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16861 [/*:m:ybe47lfx] [*:ybe47lfx]GKR in GQ: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/1430 ... 4302.shtml [/*:m:ybe47lfx] [*:ybe47lfx]IGT from 4/9/2010: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/1350 ... 3568.shtml [/*:m:ybe47lfx] [*:ybe47lfx]IGT from 4/26/2009: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/1140 ... 1452.shtml [/*:m:ybe47lfx] [*:ybe47lfx]IGT from 4/24/2009: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/1140 ... 1438.shtml [/*:m:ybe47lfx] [*:ybe47lfx]IGT from 5/12/2008: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/8900/f14_t8963.shtml [/*:m:ybe47lfx] [*:ybe47lfx]IGT from 4/17/2008: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/8700/f14_t8722.shtml [/*:m:ybe47lfx] [*:ybe47lfx]IGT from 8/19/2007: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/7100/f14_t7161.shtml [/*:m:ybe47lfx] [*:ybe47lfx]IGT from 4/29/2007: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/6200/f14_t6222.shtml[/*:m:ybe47lfx][/list:u:ybe47lfx] Not of all of those are initiated by bfmc. But really, I'd be flattered someone's paying attention when I'm returning to a point. It's not like he's disputing the failures of Carpenter.

bmfc1 Jul 23 2012 09:08 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

So never before in a KTE that I started. And that was my point. Thanks for looking it up Edgy! And it's BobMurphyFC, not bfmc.

Frayed Knot Jul 23 2012 09:58 PM Re: KTE, Nationals @ Mets, July 23 to 25, 2012

I didn't realize that past references to Carpenter rants (see what I did there ... carpenter [r]ants?!?) only counted when they came via KTEs. In fact I didn't mention KTEs at all until you brought them up. But, you know what, I'm willing to drop this all right now. So I'll state out loud that I profusely apologize for ever inferring that were are an anti-Carpenter-ite ... and not just Bob either, we're talking also about pitcher Chris, the late singer Karen, plus Jesus of Nazareth since he was trained as a carpenter. I realize now that it's quite possible some of your best friends are Carpenters and that there's nothing worse than labeling someone a Carpenter bigot so I vow never to do so again. At this very moment Penn State is contemplating the removal of my statue from their campus over this issue and I can't say as how I blame them. And, furthermore, I resolve never to reference anything you say ever again as I see now that such actions are merely "vitriol" in disguise and "a shot" at someone's character.