Article from The Bitter Bill, NYDN Blogs
May 11, 2009
Sympathy for Santana & Dell’Abate
Bill Price, The Bitter Bill, NYDN
I know it sounds ridiculous to feel bad for a guy making $18 million a year, but Johan Santana has my sympathy.
This guy is having an incredible season on the mound, yet he’s 4-2 with a 0.78 ERA after his Met teammates once again let him down in Monday’s loss to the Braves.
For the seventh time in seven starts, Santana got minimal run support, and for the second time he was done in by some lousy fielding. His first loss came on Easter when Daniel Murphy dropped a ball in left field in Florida. Monday night, a David Wright throwing error in the first and a Jose Reyes fielding error in the seventh sunk Santana.
There were other culprits:
• The hittting was lousy again. I know Derek Lowe - maybe we should’ve signed him - was pitching, but after scoring 33 runs in their previous four games, the Mets did nothing Monday night. Maybe they feel they don’t have to score when Johan pitches, something. This has to stop, as they are now 4-3 in games Santana starts. They should be 7-0.
• Jerry Manuel made some questionable calls in the seventh inning. I know Santana’s pitch count was at 108, but he’s the ace and should finish the inning. He’s better than anyone in the bullpen. Still, after the pitching change, and after the Reyes error, Manuel cannot let Pedro Feliciano face Matt Diaz. Brian Stokes should’ve been in. Of course Diaz singled to pretty much end the game. I think Manuel overmanaged and then mismanaged that inning. Then, after the Braves put up four in the seventh, the Mets come right back and score a run, as if to tease Santana.
We all know the winning streak was going to end, but you have to win when Santana is on the hill, no matter who the opposing pitcher is. Making matters worse are rumblings that Carlos Delgado may be headed to the DL. The Mets need to win the next two against the Braves and get through this 10-game road trip with at the very least a 4-6 record. That would put them - worse case scenario - at 23-20 at the end of May with their toughest road trip behind them.
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Monday’s loss spoiled what had been a great day for me. On Monday morning the King of All Media Howard Stern actually read from The Bitter Bill blog on his Sirius radio show.
He was quoting my claim that Gary (Baba Booey) Dell’Abate’s first pitch Saturday at Citi Field was “the most embarrassing ceremonial first pitch in baseball history.” I stand by that claim since it’s likely Chris Rock and the Mayor of Cincinnati didn’t practice for weeks before their throw like Dell’Abate (above) did. If you haven’t seen the video, Dell’Abate missed home plate by about 15 feet. Ramon Castro never had a chance.
Still, I do feel bad for Dell’Abate, since he was unmercifully hammered all morning by Stern, Met hater Artie Lange and the rest of the Stern crew over the awful throw.
You see Dell’Abate is a huge Mets’ fan, and pretty much had his sports fantasy turn into a nightmare. Actually, most Met fans probably know how he feels since we’ve all had the Mets turn potential great moments into nightmares.
Ironically, Dell’Abate’s failure might be a good thing, since he was at Citi Field to raise Awareness for Autism. So if all this attention helps do that, it’s a positive. Also, judging from the hammering he took Monday, in no way did he do it on purpose.
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Not sure if you saw this story or video Monday, but some guy in Orlando is demanding an apology from Big Baby Davis for bumping his son after hitting the game-winning shot Sunday night.
To me, Davis doesn’t have to apologize for anything, but I wonder what would’ve happened had Davis actually run over the kid, which he easily could’ve. Of what if the kid was an adult and shoved Davis back?
How does the NBA allow fans to practically stand on the court during a game? It’s a recipe for disaster, especially in the closing seconds of an emotional playoff game. You would’ve thought the NBA learned its lesson after that melee in Detroit a few years ago. Clearly, it didn’t.
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