Giving Up On The Mets & Yankees

Now that I host my own daily sports show in the afternoon I don’t really need this segment to rant and rave but today might be a good time to close the door on the 2008 baseball season. I’m not talking about the high school season which brought championships to Toms River North, Toms River South, Central and Barnegat but rather the Major League Season for the two New York teams.

I know summer hasn’t even arrived yet but I’m starting to get the feeling that the Yankees and Mets may not be much better than .500 teams and what we’re seeing from them now is about what we can expect all summer long. The Mets are really a mess and there is no indication that things will improve any time soon. Their manager will be under fire all season and their lineup is filled with aging and underperforming players who are not clicking on the field or in the clubhouse. Simply put they are a roster of square pegs trying to fit in round holes and it’s not working.

The Yankees have shown some signs of breaking out of the win a couple, lose a couple mode they’ve been in most of the first 65 games. There biggest problem has been consistency…when they pitch well they don’t hit and vice versa but they have enough weapons to still be a factor and should remain at least in the wild card picture over the summer.

This is the final season for both teams to play in their current ballparks and in April there was reason to believe a Subway Series would be a perfect ending for Yankee & Shea Stadiums. However that’s a real long-shot right now and it seems more likely if you want to watch a World Series game locally you’ll have to travel to Citizens Bank Park…the home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Now that’s a fun team to watch…unless of course you’re a Mets fan!

On an unrelated note the Jersey Shore team won its first game in the prestigious Carpenter Cup Baseball Classic at the University of Pennsylvania. Toms River South’s Tyler Gebler threw three shutout innings and Andrew Nowell of Wall belted a two-run homer in a 6-3 victory over Delaware South. Next up for Jersey Shore is a quarterfinal date with Lehigh South on Friday morning.

A little of this and a little of that:

With New Jersey moving its Presidential primary to February yesterday’s June elections lacked the punch that might have come if Presidential candidates were on the ballot. As a matter of fact if we were casting ballots
for President yesterday it might have put New Jersey on the national stage…at least as far as Democrats were concerned. The most interesting result was how close the Republican race was for three Ocean County positions held by incumbents who faced a stronger than expected challenge.
Freeholder Joe Vicari, Clerk Carl Block and Surrogate Jeff Moran did prevail and will be strong favorites in November.
For those who forgot Hillary Clinton and John McCain won the New Jersey Presidential Primary four months ago.

An interesting baseball day for New York fans Tuesday. Joba Chamberlain’s much-anticipated debut as a starter for the Yankees lasted just 2 1/3 innings as by then he had already thrown 62 pitches, allowed a run on one hit and three walks. The Yanks lost to Toronto 9-3. Meanwhile in San Francisco Pedro Martinez made his first start since early April and went six solid innings in the Mets’ 9-3 win over the Giants.

Closer to home, Toms River North’s baseball season ended with a 5-1 lost to Hunterdon Central in the Group 4 Semifinals. The Mariners finish with a 23-5 record which included the Class A South title and just the second state sectional championship in school history.

Toms River South will try and capture its second championship of the season tonight when they face Rumson in the Shore Conference Tournament Finals at Toms River East. The Indians won the Ocean County Tournament last month.

The Shore Conference Softball Tournament Championship game is scheduled for this afternoon at Wall High School matching top two seeds….Red Bank Catholic and Toms River East. The Caseys beat the Raiders in a regular-season meeting in May.

Monday Random Thoughts

A little of this and a little of that to start your Monday morning:

I felt cheated by the lack of drama surrounding the final round of the Master’s Sunday at Augusta National as Trevor Immelman became the second golfer from South Africa to wear the famed “Green Jacket.” He seems like a nice guy and is a worthy champion, having led pretty much from start to finish. However what I really wanted was to see Tiger Woods
right in the thick of things on the back nine but for the second straight year
the “greatest golfer of all time” had to settle for a second place finish. Tiger knows he let this one get away and for this year grand slam talk is over.

What’s wrong with Major League Baseball’s schedule maker? After playing three games at Fenway Park this weekend the Yankees and Red Sox play Wednesday and Thursday in the Bronx and then don’t meet again until early July. At least then they won’t have to deal with bitter weather….sorry I didn’t mean to use that word Senator Obama.

I wish more people would discover and get turned on to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Last night’s Devils-Rangers overtime thriller at the Garden was exhausting to watch and New Jersey is back in the series which I still think will go 7 games.

This has been a rough year for prime time TV because of the strike that disrupted the shows, some of which are just returning after what seems like months. I have discovered a new show which is among my favorites and that’s “Eli Stone” which airs Thursdays on ABC. British actor Jonny Lee Miller plays the role of a cut throat attorney who turns good guy in large part because of a brain aneurysm that allows him to see the future. I only wish New York Mets manager Willie Randolph had the same gift when it comes to selecting relief pitchers.

The Toms River Student Loan Fund will honor former First Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Terrence Farley, Toms River Elks Lodge #1875 and 18 teachers from the Toms River School District during its 6th Annual Recognition Cocktail Reception. The fundraiser will be held on Friday, May 2nd at the Holiday Inn of Toms River starting at 6pm. For ticket information you can call (732) 240-3366.