? Did anybody catch Jae Seo's pitching line from Saturday's game? Seo has been pitching for AAA Norfolk, and has been outstanding. That is, until Saturday:
IP H R ER BB SO HR 4.2 15 13 13 0 3 3Goo!
? Can we take any solace in the fact that the Mets split their four-game series with the Braves? Obviously you can't gain any ground if you win as many games as you lose, but you also can't lose any ground. The Mets usually lose series to the Braves, and in fact all of the games were close except for the Pedro blowout on Sunday. The Mets could very easily have won three of these games if they could have mustered a bit more offense or come through in clutch situations on Friday against John Smoltz or on Saturday against Tim Hudson. Glavine and Zambrano both pitched well enough to win a lot of games, but the Mets didn't get it done on offense.
? I can't believe Al Leiter pitched so well last night against the Red Sox. He allowed only one run and three hits while striking out 8 in 6.1 innings. He walked three and threw over 100 pitches, but he looked sharp. Memo to Yankee fans: don't get used to it. More often than not Leiter will walk as many as he strikes out and will be out of the game long before the seventh inning. I remember Leiter for the competitor he was as a member of the Mets and for that incredible 5-0 shutout in game 163 in 1999. Not signing him was one of the best moves Omar Minaya made this offseason, however.
? Dontrelle Willis got lit up again last night, yet he is still ahead of Pedro in ESPN.com's Cy Young Predcictor. This table does not rank the pitchers by their overall ability, and it does not portend to identify who the "best" pitcher has been, but is designed to predict who would win the Cy Young award if voting took place today. Cy Young voters tend to overvalue wins and losses and undervalue strikeouts, walks, and other peripheral stats. Thus in the American League you have Jon Garland at #2 and Mark Buehrle at #3 despite Buehrle having the superior season in all measures besides wins. Another example of wins being overvalued is Roger Clemens at #8. He is leading the league in ERA by almost a full run, but has only managed to pick up seven wins, mostly due to poor run support.
? According to this article, J. K. Rowling earned ?24 million from sales of the new Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in the first 24 hours of its availability. According to the Universal Currency Converter, that's $42,048,327.65 USD. In one day. She is a big hero of mine. Her and Oprah. I would marry either of them in a heartbeat and my girlfriend wouldn't blame me one bit.
Amazin' Avenue Daily Web links
- MetsGeek.com: Interview: Matt Lauber (Matt Gelb)
- Daily News: Sweet 16
- Star Ledger: Reyes Draws Manager's Ire
- MetsDaily.com: Game Highlights (07.14.2005)
- MetsDaily.com: Game Highlights (07.17.2005)