The Mike Attack: Sept. 5, 2008

By Mike McGann
Posted Friday, September 5, 2008

Ah, politics. You can’t even avoid it in baseball. It seems N.Y.’s senior U.S. Senator, Chuck Schumer, claims he spoke with Jeff Wilpon recently and Wilpon told him that there was a 90 percent chance of the Mets’ AAA team ending up in either Syracuse or Buffalo.

That basically agrees with what I’ve been told — although the it’s been described as all but a done deal with Syracuse, with only the post-Sept. 18 details to be worked out. The Chiefs make the most sense for the Mets — both in terms of geography and in building their upstate fan base and audience for SNY — and oddly, the Mets make the most sense for the Chiefs, who should be able to get a nice boost in attendance.

Both the team and local government seem ready to do whatever it takes to get the deal done. Grass replaced turf at Alliance Bank Stadium — and now the county legislature is looking at borrowing $1.28 million to build a new, state-of-the-art scoreboard for the 12-year-old facility.

Schumer probably shouldn’t run his mouth — but since he suggested the same things a few months back, Wilpon had to know that mentioning it to the senator was not much short of holding a press conference to announce it. Mets to Syracuse? As Howie Rose like to say: put it in the books.

Losses:

Cubs 55
Brewers 60
Mets 61
Phillies 64
Cardinals 65

Meanwhile back at the Pennant race: based on the weather forecasts, the Mets should be able to get in tonight’s matchup against the Phillies, but will likely get rained out Saturday. Look for a day-night doubleheader to be scheduled at Shea, with a 1:10 start for the makeup game, followed by the 8:05 start for ESPN Sunday night. Other than potentially taxing the pen — less of an issue with so many extra pitchers around on September callup — the postponement probably won’t impact the Mets, who find themselves with three off days out of nine in September, a weird quirk of the schedule.

More on the Billy Wagner situation: first he was going to pitch in rehab for Brooklyn, Sunday. Then he was going to pitch a simulated game at Shea. Well, now he’s going to pitch in rehab for Brooklyn, Sunday — weather permitting — as the Cyclones battle for the final spot in the New York-Penn League playoffs. No, I don’t think the two are connected, as the Mets have finally run Brooklyn like just another farm club, in terms of personnel. But, it can’t hurt, I suspect — although it seems unlikely that it would boost attendance, as the game is already likely a sell-out.

Clones
The Cyclones won their second game in as many days against Hudson Valley on Thursday, this time by a 5-3 score. Brooklyn (45-29) has a half-game lead over Jamestown (44-29) for the NYPL wildcard with two games to play. Staten Island (48-26) clinched the McNamara Division on Thursday with a 4-2 win over Aberdeen.

After the Renegades put up a run in the first, Brooklyn jumped on the board with two runs of their own with RBI singles by LF Eric Campbell and C Jordan Abruzzo. Abruzzo later added his seventh home run of the year on a two-run shot to left field in the fifth inning, his second of three hits on the night. RF Kirk Nieuwenhuis went 2-for-4 including an RBI double, 1B Ike Davis had a 2-for-3 effort, and 2B Josh Satin doubled to lead off the fourth inning.

In six quality innings, RHP Chris Schwinden allowed two runs on six hits while striking out six batters. It marked the fifth time this season Schwinden (pictured, by George Napolitano) has struck out at least six batters in a game, including eight in his last start against Hudson Valley. Fellow Golden State Athletic Conference pitcher LHP Jimmy Johnson then entered in the seventh inning, tossing 2.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits with two strikeouts. And LHP Roy Merritt notched his fourth save of the season for Brooklyn, inducing a soft liner to second base to end the game.

The Cyclones wrap up the regular season with two games against the Aberdeen IronBirds beginning on Friday, September 5th at 7 pm. Friday will also be your last opportunity to see fireworks this season, so get your tickets now!