15
2009
Ump In Yanks Pocket, Stadium On Steroids, Keith On Tex
An article by 
What a weekend…
The New Yankee Stadium is a complete joke, and I can’t believe they didn’t know ahead of time that the place was going to be a launching pad. Every deep flyball was either over the wall for a homer, or caught at or near the wall. You have to hold your breath on anything lifted in the air. It’s laughable that the Yankees are on pace to smash the all time single season mark for homeruns, and I think we may have to break out the asterisks again after the season. The Yankees have gone from having a roster full of players on steroids to having a stadium on steroids. It doesn’t even feel like real baseball in that place… terrible… absolutely terrible…
Umpire Jim Wolf who called the balls and strikes in yesterdays game for the Mets pitchers, and just the strikes for the Yankees’ A.J. Burnett, should be investigated for betting on baseball. Only someone who had money on the Yankees would have given Burnett those strike calls. The first and third base coaches must have been in on the fix too, as the checked swing strikes weren’t even close. I almost wanted to throw up when I read the morning papers that have Burnett throwing a gem. When the Mets had the bases loaded and nobody out in the third inning and Cora at the plate, he got screwed by Wolf and it should have been a walk to drive in a run and it would have changed the entire complexion of the game. We had Burnett on the ropes but the home plate ump decided to give Wolf a helping hand with a dozen blown calls. It was one of the most egregious displays of calling balls and strikes I’ve seen in a long time.
I wish Keith Hernandez would have stopped the endless gloating over Mark Teixeira for the entire series. Oh my God it was so nauseating and he wouldn’t stop. And please stop with the hustling when Castillo dropped that popup from hell, it was a 3-2 pitch and Girardi had everybody running on the pitch. Teixeira wasn’t hustling he was already rounding second as soon as that baseball dropped! Hernandez even went as far as saying the following as yesterday’s game came to an end: “That’s a first baseman the Mets should have had in the clubhouse.” Gee… thanks for overstating the obvious, but your the last person I wanted to hear that from and your timing couldn’t have been worse. I felt like he was throwing gas on the fire that was raging inside my chest.
As for Johan Santana… That deserves an entire post of it’s own so check back later…
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
Went to my first Mets game, a Mayors Trophy game at Shea, in '73. We beat the Yankees 8-4 and I was hooked. I marched in two Banner Day parades, and before the Grand Slam single, there was the "Hendu Can Do" grand slam - I was there. I've collected Mets memorabilia all my life and started Mets Merized Online to feed my addiction.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationals | 26 | 18 | .591 | - |
| Braves | 26 | 19 | .578 | 0.5 |
| Mets | 24 | 20 | .545 | 2.0 |
| Marlins | 24 | 20 | .545 | 2.0 |
| Phillies | 22 | 23 | .489 | 4.5 |
Last updated: 05/24/2012
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That’s a nasty thought and one I wouldnt pursue. I saw the game on TV; they were questionable calls, but not outlandish. They might have led to 1 Mets run; don’t forget Martinez struck out and Beltran lined out into what would have been a DP with typical Mets base-running.
Pops
Every questionable call went the Yankees way for the entire series. Some of the missed calls were so vile that the Mets should file a complaint with MLB. The park is an abomination to the game of baseball, but lets face it, isn’t that the Yankee way?
Stankee Stadium sucks and the umps sucks, too.
I can’t remember ground balls hit by the Yankees in the series. It looks like they were trying to hit balls in the air on purpose. Even Johnny Damon said in one of the post-game shows on Saturday that perhaps he should hit more fly balls to get out of his slump. I think I’m taking your cue and calling it Yankee Stadium* (with the asterisk) from now on.
Jim Wolf should know he was messing up on balls and strikes when David Wright went all No More Mr. Nice Guy on him. No way David goes off like that if Wolf was being consistent with his calls. The only thing consistent with yesterday’s umpiring was its inconsistency.
Keith slurping on Mark Teixeira made me wonder if he was in the mood for a little Tex-Mex after the game. Would he be saying all that if Carlos Delgado had been playing all year?
Great post, Joe. You said everything that was bugging me about this weekend’s series. I’m sure you weren’t the only one feeling this way. I hope the Mets can take out their frustrations on the Orioles now.
“Ump in Yankee’s pocket”???? When the Yankee pitcher walked the bases loaded early in the game was the ump “in the Yankee’s pocket” then?
The Mets had the bases loaded nobody out and the next 3 hitters literally could not get the ball out of the infield! Wait no! It’s worse than that; then that they couldn’t even hit the ball! Joey Cora, FMart and Carlos Beltran struck out! What magical spell did this evil umpire put on Fernando Martinez to make him swing like a girl at Burnett’s 2 strike slider?
Don’t make excuses. We got destroyed today by a much better baseball team.
We need to tread water for the next 45-50 games. If we are out of 1st place by 5 games the first week of August I’ll be ecstatic! In order to do that the Mets need to work every count, get on base, be aggressive, play sound defense and NOT strike out 3 times in a row with the bases loaded!
God this home plate umpire! He’s got some voo-doo magic on him or something cause he also some how forced FMart to make 2 horrible outfield throws in one inng which GAVE Yankee base runners 3 bases. WOW! Keep that umpire away from me! Hey Ryan Church a question for you; Just what part of the Mets game-plan of working counts do you not understand?! Hmm.. you think maybe just maybe its little things like Church not following instructions to take pitches that gets up Manuel’s ire?(I have no idea if I am using the word “ire” correctly here, never actually used the word before”
One last thing I noticed the past 2 games. Louie Castillo is moving faster??? running out ground balls for infield hits, getting to ground balls he just quite couldn’t reach 3 days ago and generally seems to actually give a crap about his performance. Friggin pisses me off! Why does it take the embarrassment of a caeer to make the guy play hard???
Unbelievable! Man! Am I steamed!
The umpiring all season long has been bad. Not only in Met games, but through out the league. How many times on ESPN do we see guys getting tossed because the umps have “rabbit ears”. MLB needs to review the umpiring situation in its totality.
The umpires were a joke. I can’t believe that pitch that david was called out on. Good job Jerry. The catcher DROPPED THE BALL! It was inches off the ground.
I also agree about the size of the park. Citi field is too big and Yankee stadium as WAY to small. It’s worse the Citizen’s Bank park. What a joke.
Did you see the Kevin Burkhardt feature on Yankee Stadium’s* “The Great Hall”? That thing is so huge and wide that had they cut it down to half its size, they would have enough room left over to actually make the field larger. They appear to have sacrificed the playing field down to High School dimensions in order to have a humongous Great Hall.
All very ridiculous at a billion and a half price tag.
You give all bloggers a bad name with this garbage. Have sour grapes, yes, but have evidence to back up your claims.
Hopefully, you have a DVR and can replay the game to hear Keith’s comments.
Hopefully you can watch the game and see the worlds largest strike zone when the Yankees were up and world’s smallest strike zone when the Mets were up.
Hopefully, you can look at the stats and know that Yankee Stadium is going to break a record for homeruns in a season which was only repeated a thousand times over the weekend.
Evidence? You asked the the blogger for evidence? How about watching the game you moron! How about actually listening to the game you stupid idiot!
Get a life PJ and stop throwing your lame comments around this site.
Get back to your Yankee blog and stay clear of our hallowed grounds.
I cant tell if you’re serious. but what evidence are you looking for aside from what hopefully was processed in between your ears after watching that game? Seriously dude, if you’re going to go through the process of leaving a comment, the least you could do is say something outside of trashing someone and then asking for evidence that was evidently clear to everyone except you. I don’t think I could ever be a blogger. I gotta give the writers on this site a lot of credit, because I could never handle these nut jobs you have to deal with from time to time.
Joe: When you get crushed 15-0 it’s hard to gripe about the umpires. Granted, check swing on Cora was awful, but Santana’s slump is real cause for concern. He’s our last line of defense from the Nats.
Yesterday, the Mets needed more than a few calls. You could look at the weekend two ways: The Mets were an eyelash from coping 2-3 on the road, or they lost 2-3, with their best pitcher getting pasted, but averted a sweep.
Not many positives here. The future does not look rosy for this team.
Agreed, Yankee Stadium is a joke. And Citi Field has too many nooks and crannies. How can you have 18 foot walls for god’s sake?
The calls made against the Mets were outrageous.. HOWEVER, the team has no excuse for hitting a few homers over that joke of a right field..
I understand that Mex went further than any Met fan would go, but Teixeira did something that I haven’t seen a Met do this year- RUN THE BASES PROPERLY!!!
Joe D, you said that what he did wasn’t hustle and I agree that term gets overused alot by the media. But what it was was fundamental base running with two outs. Think about it: Ryan Church forgot that you have to touch third base before you can score, Castillo looks like a drunken semi-pro ball player trying to catch a pop up, Jose Reyes with fake hustle trying to get a triple, OR Jose Reyes not running to first base because he’s SO SURE that pop fly is going foul into the stands, David Wright seemingly ALWAYS getting picked off in a big spot and even Fernando Martinez doing the same thing as Reyes. Nobody steals a base feet first and GOD FORBID somebody other than Fernando Nieve throwing inside on the big hitters in somebody’s lineup!
Mex saw a good play by a New York player and was surprised to find out that it didn’t happen after he made a blunder or mistake, or a game after the media needles him. Then again, maybe being inept starts from the top. “Nah, we don’t need to have a plaque or statue to The Franchise, let’s build one to JACKIE ROBINSON (and I’m black!)”. “We can’t have any of these old Mets reminding the current ones what they’ll never be, let’s minimize any rememberance of them”. I’m already waiting for the Wilpons to send Omar on a road trip and fire him over the phone at his hotel.
LET’S GO (REAL) METS!!! (Kranepool, Le Grande Orange, Mookie, Jesse, Daaaaaaryl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, etc, etc, etc)