A reminder: Opening day at Shea is three weeks from Monday. The Mets are 5-10 and looking a bit anemic at the plate. However, there is still plenty of meaningless March baseball to play and plenty of time for the boys to get into form.
Of greater concern: cowbell man's conditioning. How does he prepare for the gruelling 81 home game campaign? Does he bang pots & pans all winter to stay in shape? Do the Mets allow him into Shea in the off-season to walk each level and work on new beats?
As cowbell man is not a welcome presence in Loge 13, a little intelligence on his training regimen would be handy. Our section's occupants may need to work on some off-season heckling so we are prepared come April 9, when the clankorous cowbeller plots down the aisle, spreading mindless misery for real fans and vacuous joy for the tourists.
If you have any insights on cowbell man's current whereabouts and training habits, please share. My guess is he is somewhere in Yankee camp.
The Alay Soler era ended quietly yesterday.
The Mets released the Cuban defector and one-time candidate for the 5th spot in the starting rotation. Soler had been ineffective this spring, with an 8.22 ERA.
Soler had a great debut last May, winning his first start after being promoted up from Double A to help an injured staff. His second start was also the debut of Lastings Milledge...and the start of Soler's slide into mediocrity.
After a few more poor starts, Soler was demoted and never got back on track.
Clearly, the Mets are feeling good about Pelfrey's chances to make the rotation this year. And Humber finally provided a strong outing in yesterday's 6-5 win over the Indians. That should boostHumber's confidence, if not his chances for an opening day spot.
I heard he was offering Alay Soler condolences and appreciated that the media respected their wishes for some privacy.