Mets Minor League Blog (Major League Edition) 9-26-08
Toby Hyde
- Thursday was Good Fun
- Carlos Voltron
- Micah Hoffpauir
1. Good Fun
Wednesday night I wrote: “I’ll be watching the next four games of course, and dreading the last four innings. I don’t think it’s going to be great fun.” I was wrong. Thursday was great fun, at least when Jose Reyes scored the winning run. That’s a great kind of natural high.
During the eighth inning, in an email to friends about Jerry Manuel letting Ramon Martinez bat, I wrote that Manuel, “CANNOT let him bat here.” I was wrong again and I’m thrilled about it.
If you had Ramon Martinez and Robinson Cancel saving the Mets season with back-to-back singles on September 25, in your preseason pool, you must be divine or completely nuts. And that’s very cool.
How was Ryan Church’s escape from Koyie Hill and flop into home not the top play on SportsCenter? #5? Really?
I thought it was interesting that Carlos Beltran, after his slam against Florida nearly a month ago, said that he had learned from the way 2006 ended, on a called third strike from Adam Wainwright. That’s a pretty good lesson to learn. I was impressed that an MLB star admitted to learning that kind of lesson. And it seems the lesson continues to pay dividends. One of the interesting themes of the 2008 season has been Mets’ fans belated appreciation of Beltran. Perhaps it’s accompanied by Beltran’s own appreciation for big moments.
2. Carlos Voltron
The Onion Headline read, “Struggling Mets Combine To Form Carlos Voltron,” and the article that follows is a classic.
Here’s the opening paragraph:
Facing the Cubs in the midst of a three-game losing streak, the desperate Mets sprinted out to the field Tuesday, launched themselves high into the air above Shea Stadium, and combined their bodies to form a 400-foot tall fielding robot called Carlos Voltron.
And another brilliant paragraph:
While Cubs batters had taken early advantage of the Mets pitchers on Monday, the towering spectacle of Carlos Voltron proved to be an imposing presence on the mound, as the force of his foot slamming into the ground after the windup of his first pitch knocked the batter and umpire into the third row of the stands. In addition, the seismic energy unleashed by Carlos Voltron's follow-through created several deep cracks in the foundation of Shea Stadium, and accompanying atmospheric disturbances caused a 747 in a holding pattern over nearby La Guardia airport to plunge from the sky.
3. Micah Hoffpauir
Micah Hoffpauir is one of the guys I root for, so with a Mets win safely tucked away, now I can pause and be happy for Micah. I worked for the Iowa Cubs in 2007, when Hoffpauir was one of the team’s best hitters. Through the first 82 games of the ’07 season, he had hit .319/.365/.552 with 24 doubles and 16 jacks. However, somewhere between second and third on July 2nd in Albuquerque, Hoffpauir tore up his knee without contact with another player. It could not have come at a worse time. It denied him a nearly sure big league call up in the summer of 2007 and the payday which would follow. Instead, he was to be a six year minor league free agent after ’07 while recovering from major knee surgery. His wife was pregnant. So, he rebounded in 2008 to rake AAA pitching to a .362/.393/.752 tune in 2008 on his way to Cubs’ Minor League Player of the Year honors, and his well deserved big league debut. I was happy for him after his first homer, but after his second off Ricardo Rincon, I was pissed. My thoughts went something like “Ok, Micah, I know you can hit, but if the Mets miss the playoffs because of you, I can’t be so psyched for your first big league bombs.”
I’ll hit my blog www.metsminorleagueblog.com with some more minors related content during the day Friday.
Toby Hyde has written about the Mets organization since 2004. Please pass this along to friends, family, co-workers, and Mets fans of all stripes. To sign up for the email newsletter, click here. Even better, please visit my site at http://www.metsminorleagueblog.com.