Take a bow, Carlos

I don't understand ballplayers sometimes. I can more easily understand the fans who boo - although I would never boo a Met unless he'd disgraced himself (e.g. Mota) - than I can understand why someone like Carlos Delgado (& Beltran before him) doesn't appreciate that the booing fan is simply letting off his frustration. No one at Shea really wants to see Carlos fail, but we're frustrated seeing him struggle at the plate and in the field. We're afraid that he's not going to be anywhere near the player he was. And, mostly, we're angry that the whole team seems to be misfiring (fans are much more tolerant of a slumping slugger if the team is still winning).

Deglado should have come out yesterday and acknowledged the cheers. They were sincere. Yes, I can understand how players might think fans are fickle, but that's life. We are fickle. And it's not like Delgado has played his whole career in New York or that he didn't once choose Miami over New York? Let's fact it, both sides - player and fans - should cut the other some slack, but things don't work that way.

There isn't really a lot of scope for a nuanced conversation between the player and the fans. So, booing can mean all sorts of things (such as I'm sure Met fans were booing Randolph on Opening Day & not Santana {— OK, not Opening Day, but his first start @ Shea}). Fans have three choices when a player comes to bat: cheer, boo, ignore (sit quietly). Surely the last is the worst. The first two both mean we care and want you to succeed.

Anyway, solid win. I actually missed the last two innings due to family things. Figeuroa is really starting to convince me that he can be a solid 5th starter. Every outing is similar. I wonder if he could be a long man out of the pen? Regardless, he's been pretty good so far.

I saw Church's catch on mlb.com. Great grab. He's been everything the Mets fan could have hoped for when the Milledge trade was made. (Kudos to Omar on that one.)