Oliver Perez threw four innings today. He allowed zero hits. During a brief Ollie moment, he walked two in the third, then he got out of the inning.
Four innings, zero hits, two walks, and zero runs. 14 batters faced in 4 innings.
In other words, he looked excellent. His fastball was consistently clocked at 92-93, he looked thin and in shape, and he appeared to be very focused.
Baseball today is like all other areas of our society—infected with lazy, dishonest major media folks who take every opportunity to file stories criticizing easy targets like the Mets, which are guaranteed to garner responses.
The corollary is the blogosphere, with millions of experts, many of whom are now capable of determining from one early March outing that Nelson Figueroa should be a starter and that Perez will never produce again, and some even state that Ollie should be demoted or released. Never mind how bad Figgy has been everywhere for a decade, and forget that Ollie is much younger, throws harder, has infinitely better stuff, and in 2004, 2007 and 2008 put up numbers which Figgy might not even attain in his dreams.
Some of us remember how spring training was back 20-some years ago, when reporters like Olney, Heyman, Rosenthal, et al were the exceptions and not the rule. ESPN in the days of Tom Mees and George Grande was not part of a ratings-hungry corporate Goliath. We watched spring training and enjoyed baseball after its 4-plus month hibernation. Today, the first outing of March is greeted with the self-appointed experts calling for Ollie’s head. Do these folks think Ollie should be moved ahead of Johan in the rotation after today’s outing?
Can we enjoy spring games from sunny Florida like we used to, or do we have to listen to and read fellow “fans†prepare the gallows for Ollie, Pelf and Murph at a time when we used to simply enjoy the return of baseball before the “real†games start?
Ollie’s fine performance today most definitely did not clinch his having a successful season any more than his poor first outing deserved the storm of whiny complaints it unleashed from Met “fansâ€, but today’s results certainly will quiet the anti-Ollie faction of the Nattering Nabobs of Negativity for a few days, and that may indeed be almost as satisfying.
10 comments
metsfan4decades
3/13/2010-7:03pm at 7:03 pm (UTC -4)
Nice game today – Ollie looked good as did Takahashi. Unfortunately, I missed Mejia’s performance as just when he took the mound, I lost power here for the next 2 1/2 hours due to the storm…
I got to see the 4 HRs in the 7th though – woo-hoo.
As hard as some of the beat writers and analysts have been on the Mets this spring, Francesa is by far the worst of the media. He just keeps going on and on – and on about the ineptitude of the Met organization and the bold hints of the Reyes and HGH connection. I don’t think he was anywhere near as bad with ARod and he even admitted his using banned substances.
I wish WFAN would just put him out to pasture…..
gonzowill
3/13/2010-7:04pm at 7:04 pm (UTC -4)
I am impressed with Oliver’s pitching performance this afternoon. Besides that one hiccup, which I thought he would definitly lose it, he rebounded and came back to pitch another inning. I like what I saw.
metsfan4decades
3/13/2010-7:13pm at 7:13 pm (UTC -4)
And I’ll be realistic….as good as Ollie looked today, I think it took Barajas and a trip to the mound by Warthen and Wright to get him on focus again after the back to back walks. But hey, just the fact that he was able to bear down, concentrate and get that last out after the walks was encouraging. If that’s what it will take to keep him on track – and maybe the idea of the veteran catcher has merit – then fine. As long as someone can keep his head in the game, we might get his contract’s worth from him.
The good Ollie/bad Ollie, as inconsistent as he was, won 15 games in 2007, and 10 in ’08. If he can remain somewhat consistent, no reason he can’t have a winning season. He’ll probably never be the picture of consistency but doesn’t mean he can’t have a good season.
njstuckintx
3/13/2010-8:01pm at 8:01 pm (UTC -4)
Maybe this shows just how much value Barajas does bring to the table. Or even Molina, had he been signed (that’s based on speculation). Schneider, Darth Castro, and Santos… I’m not going to miss you. Hopefully the Vets rub off something fierce on Thole.
ceetar
3/13/2010-9:59pm at 9:59 pm (UTC -4)
The biggest thing to me was that he got a lot of outs on contact. well, all of them. throwing out his injury season last year, Perez has been one of the top three K/9 pitchers over the last half decade or so, so we know he can strike out guys. If he can make pitches that cause outs in other ways consistently? that’s 20 game stuff.
gategem
3/13/2010-10:54pm at 10:54 pm (UTC -4)
Why stop at 20? If Denny McLain can win 31 games why not Ollie?
ceetar
3/14/2010-12:29am at 12:29 am (UTC -4)
you obviously missed my tweet earlier:
Ceetar: That’s also his win total for 2010. RT @SurfingTheMets: Johan Santana turns 31 today.
metsfan4decades
3/13/2010-10:58pm at 10:58 pm (UTC -4)
I like your thinking….
Meant to tell you – I read your post a week or so ago on reasons why we shouldn’t want the Wilpons to sell the team. Well thought out post – certainly made me think on the other side of that coin.
prismo
3/14/2010-2:35am at 2:35 am (UTC -4)
“Ollie’s fine performance today most definitely did not clinch his having a successful season any more than his poor first outing deserved the storm of whiny complaints it unleashed from Met “fans”
Exactly! If his bad performance meant nothing, then neither does this good one!
stickguy
3/14/2010-9:20am at 9:20 am (UTC -4)
Like I said earlier, in ST, especially this early, you are looking mostly for health and condition. And so far, they are doing good there (the SP t least!)