Mack Attack: June 23, 2008

By John Mackin Ade
Posted Monday, June 23, 2008

It has been reported that OF Angel Pagan may require surgery on the shoulder he injured at Dodger Stadium. If that is true, we have seen the last of him this year, not to be confused with the last of Jose Valentin, the last of Orlando Hernandez, the probable last of Mosies Alou, etc. etc.

While all this infighting is going on in the Mets front office, maybe somebody could bring up the subject of signing aging veterans to fill a whole roster spot with half the output. Are teams like the Marlins and Rays doing that bad with young guys in these roles.

Look, even when you strike gold a la Pagan, older ballplayers will break down faster than kids. In life. On the field. Period. The lastest, Trot Nixon, looks like a decent pickup, but you wait. The odds of him around by the end of August are slight.

But that’s just me.

C Brian Schneider left the game early on Saturday night and went and had X-rays on the pinkie finger of his left hand. He took a foul ball off the finger in the first inning.

Rotoworld added: “Brian Schneider is day-to-day after taking a foul ball off his left hand during Saturday's game against the Rockies. Schneider was hit in the first, but he stayed in until the eighth. X-rays taken after the game were negative.”

2B Luis Castillo has a quad injury and has to sit until it heals. Remember when Beltran had this 2 years ago? An injury like this takes time… you simply can’t push off when you hit…

The Real Race:

Marlins: 35 losses
Phils: 35
Mets: 37
Braves: 39
Nats: 47

Draft News:

Braunstein on:

#3 Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF Santa Monica, CA Highland Ranch, CO Azusa Pacific U (Junior) - Why the Mets took him in the 3rd round is a mystery. He wasn’t even in the top 150 prospect list in California so what was imperative for taking him now? Played for a NAIA school. Wore #24 in college. HIGH SCHOOL: 3x all-district, 2x all-state. Led team to 51-14 overall mark and 2 Metro titles. As Sr led team to a regional championship game. Selected by the Rockies to participate in their Senior Top 40 all-star game at Coors Field. As Sr hit .500 2-21 in 21 games and ranked 2nd in CO w/1.03 ERA 5-0 w/46 Ks in 34 IP. Also played 3 years Football & 1 year Basketball. COLLEGE - in 2008 was team’s CF and was BA’s 2008 NAIA pre-season POTY. 2007 in the summer in Alaskan BL earned MVP honors.

Zephyrs:

Dusty Hughes held the New Orleans Zephyrs scoreless on two hits over six innings, and the Omaha Royals won their fifth consecutive game at Zephyr Field on Sunday, 3-0. Hughes held the Zephyrs hitless until the fifth inning, when Raul Casanova led off with a double off the left field wall. But Hughes escaped the inning unscathed on two ground outs and a line out. Meanwhile, Figueroa held the Royals hitless into the sixth inning. Mike Stodolka broke up the no-hit bid with a one-out single, but Figueroa appeared to get out of the inning after a strikeout and a broken bat grounder to second. But first baseman Valentino Pascucci dropped the throw from Argenis Reyes, and the Shane Costa capitalized with an RBI single to right to break the scoreless tie. A fielding error by Figueroa contributed to another Omaha run in the seventh, and the Royals tacked on a run in the ninth off reliever Tim McNab for the final margin. Hughes (1-0) got the win in his Triple-A debut, holding the Zephyrs scoreless for six frames. Figueroa (3-2) took the loss after allowing two runs - one earned - on four hits in seven innings.

B-Mets:

Mike Carp was back in LF on Sunday…

Ambiorix Concepcion hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth, helping the Binghamton Mets to a 7-3 win over the Trenton Thunder at Waterfront Park Sunday. Binghamton, which took two of three in the series, moves to within three games of first-place Trenton. The B-Mets (41-33) went ahead in the second when Josh Petersen singled off Alfredo Aceves, stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on Emmanuel Garcia’s base hit to center. However, Trenton (44-30) countered with three in the bottom of the inning off Jonathon Niese. Carlos Mendoza hit a game-tying RBI single before Ramiro Peña’s two-run triple gave the Thunder a 3-1 advantage. Binghamton got a run closer in the fourth, thanks to Petersen’s solo homer off Aceves. Nick Evans led off the eighth against Oneli Perez (0-1) with a double, moved to third on Mike Carp’s groundout and scored, thanks to Caleb Stewart’s single to left, tying the game 3-3. Concepcion followed with a longball to left that put Binghamton ahead 5-3. The B-Mets put two more on the board in the ninth on solo homers by Mike Nickeas and Evans.

Gnats:

The Rome Braves defeated the Savannah Sand Gnats 7-3 Sunday afternoon at State Mutual Stadium in front of 2,608 fans. Rome got on the board in the first inning when Benji Johnson walked, advanced to third on a Jason Heyward single. Freddie Freeman singled, advanced Heyward to second driving in Johnson making the score 1-0. Heyward and Freeman advanced as Michael Fisher grounded out and both later scored on a Cody Johnson double, allowing Rome to take the lead 3-0. In the second, Richard Pena walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Sean McCraw, Nicholas Giarraputo, and Carlos Guzman also walked, allowing Pena to score and make the 3 -1 score. During the third the Sand Gnats scored another run when Juan Lagares hit his first homerun for the 3-2 score. In the seventh Rome added to their lead when Stephen Shults hit his third home run of the season for the 4-2 score. In Savannah’s half of the eighth, Joaquin Rodriguez reached on a bunt single and advanced on a throwing error by Samuel Sime. McCraw singled to right field scoring Rodriguez to make score 4-3. The eighth inning was highlighted by Freddie Freeman (10) and Cody Johnson (10) homeruns. Johnson’s homerun also drove home Michael Fisher resulting in the 7-3 final. Tommy Palica (4-2) gets the win for the Braves while Elvin Ramirez (5-6) is tagged with the loss for the Sand Gnats.

Clones:

Brooklyn won 4-3, against Aberdeen, in 10 innings... here's something unique.. a mets minor league catcher going 4-5 (Ralph Henriquez, .444)... excellent 6.0 IP by Pedro P. Martinez (no relation), 0 ER 0.65...
K-Port:

Big night in Kingsport... banged out 16 hits in a 13-4 victory over Johnson City... some of the so-called prospect kids are shining early... 2B Ignacio Medrano 2-4 .368... SS Wilmer Flores 2-5 .345... and OF Gabriel Zavala 3-4 .313... but the big news is P John Holdzkom started and finally showed why he was drafted so high last year... 5 IP 0 ER 8 Ks... lots of smiled in the clubhouse.....

btw... projectpprospect revies their top 125 propsects list and said at the send that they almost added Flores as an honorable mention... already!!!

GCL Mets:

GCL lost to the GCL Nats, 5-4... but more good signs from our so-called prospects... 3B Jefry Marte went 3-4/.364 ... OF Fernando Martinez (rehabbing) went 1-3... draftee P Kyle Allen debuted with 2 scoreless innings and 3 Ks

Minor League Bios:

Darren Clark OF L L 6-0 188 7-21-84 Southern University

Clark was a teammate of RP Emery Frederick, and had an impressive 4 year career at Southern University. In 2005, he hit .339/.435/.669 in 121 Abs, with a league-leading (and amazing) 1104 OPS.

Like Frederick and fellow Met farmhand IF Joaquin Rodriquez , Clark was named to the 2006 1st team All-Black College team, sponsored by ‘Black College Baseball’.

Clark signed with the Mets as an unrestricted free agent and was assigned to the 2007 Kingsport Mets (rookie), where he has hit .277/.356/.469 in 130 at bats. He was promoted to Savannah on August 3rd when OF Brahiam Maldonado went down with a broken finger and finished strong (.304/.354/.413 in 92 at bats).

Ex-Mets:

Chan Ho Park gave up one run on 3 hits while striking out 9 in 5 innings for Los Angeles.

This Day in Mets History:

1963 - Much to the dismay of Phillies' pitcher Dallas Green and commissioner Ford Frick, Mets' outfielder Jimmie Piersall runs around the bases backward to celebrate his 100th career home run.

1995 - 'Marvelous' Mark Throneberry, known best by his antics as a Met, dies from cancer at age 60.

2006 - Defeating Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre, 6-1, the Mets set a club record winning their ninth straight decision on the road. The team had won their eight decisions on an 10-game road trip including stops in Los Angeles, Arizona, and Philadelphia.

And lastly:

Newsday’s incomparable media reporter Neil Best comes through with the stunning news that WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog program may not live to see September. Best cites industry insiders who suggest that the duo’s newly rekindled personal feud may have the show’s existence in serious jeopardy. The pair reportedly hated each other when the show started in the early nineties, but had become close friends over time and seemed poised to breeze past their 19th anniversary on September 5th. However, with both seemingly obtaining more national exposure of late, they are each in a position where they could move on to a gig with a similar prestige factor to the ones they held at WFAN.

"Most ball games are lost, not won." – Casey Stengel