Three balks in one game by the same pitcher last occurred in 1994, when future Met standout Al Leiter did it while playing for the Blue Jays (after that game, Al acquired his famously ineffective, safety-first move to first, namely, an awkward, herky-jerky motion that involved standing on one leg like a flamingo).Alas, this latest mental miscue by a Mets player is somewhat symptomatic of a general tendency for embarrassing ineptitude, which I've blogged about before, leaving the team ever-vulnerable to meltdowns of all sorts. Make no mistake, folks, the Phillies will not be bested if this persists.
Much has been made lately about Omar Minaya's recent comments regarding the Mets' supposed lack of edge. The results that followed were undeniably gaudy: 11-3 in a stretch that included six road games. However, the question is whether this was the baseball equivalent of a bear-market rally, as the boys from Queens -- much like the financial markets -- still aren't quite operating in a fundamentally sound fashion. Add poor baserunning (Reyes has already been lost on the basepaths six (!) times -- and that's not counting getting caught stealing) to the growing litany of substandard areas of play and you've got a lot for Jerry Manuel & Co. to work on.
With a key member of the lineup like Carlos Delgado on the DL, doing the little things right becomes even more paramount. Avoiding careless, costly mistakes, too, makes a huge difference in the long run. In other words, Mr. Minaya, it's time to call into question your players' concentration level and ability to make correct decisions in pressure situations.
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