The Mets are going to win the World Series this year. How do I know? A world-class psychic told me so. Er, well, actually: we were at a hypnosis show last night and the subjects were told by the hypnotist they were world-class psychics, and the audience were invited to shout out questions. I asked about the 2005 World Series, and that's the answer I got. Okay, I'm not exactly rushing to Vegas to bet the house on this one, but if it does turn out to be the case, you heard it here first...
After yesterday's insect-affected game - somewhere in avian heaven, the bird killed by the Big Unit during spring training a few years back is sniggering into its wing - there's not much to report. Gonzalez had a homer and a triple in his two at-bats, while Tracy also went 2-for-2. Halsey had another tolerable outing: five innings, one run, but he allowed seven more hits and two walks, which is setting little neon signs off inside my head. That seems to me to be teetering precariously close the thin line between a good performance and a bad one.
To his credit, Halsey was tougher on his own performance than Melvin: "In the first and second innings I was not commanding anything. I felt better about the third, fourth and fifth as far as commanding my pitches. I felt pretty lucky today with some of the balls the way they were hit. I felt just a little bit jittery out there early and then I felt like I settled in and started commanding my pitches better. I just need to figure out a way where I can get to that point earlier in the ballgame so it's not as risky in the first couple of innings." He seems to have his head screwed on at least.
Quentin, Green (Andy, not Shawn!), Acevedo, Jimenez, Ansman and Nance were all reassigned over the past couple of days: sorry to see Nance go, he's performed very well this spring (5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER). Acevedo and Jimenez, on the other hand, sucked, and were no shock. All these departures leave me keen to update...
Zeroes and Heroes
Hitting (min 30 AB)
Cruz, 17-for-42,
Glaus, 14-for-35, 16 RBI
Kata, 14-for-38
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Gonzalez, 8-for-33
Clark, 7-for-30
Green, 7-for-39
Pitching (min 6 IP)
Lyon, 8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER
Halsey, 18 IP, 19 H, 5 ER
Bruney, 7 IP, 7 H, 2 ER
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Webb, 20 IP, 24 H, 15 ER
Ortiz, 10.2 IP, 16 H, 8 ER
Villarreal, 8.2 IP, 15 H, 13 ER
I finally got the chance to work on the draft list for my fantasy team, which was something of a relief, since D-day looms round about Monday. Basically, this involved crossing off injured players and the ones I hate, plus moving those I think are heading for a fall down the list. In previous years, I've spent hours engrossed in the various books, but have come to the conclusion my hunches (such as picking Santana off the waiver wire in June last year) are as good as anyone else's. We shall see next week though!