Shocker: Luigi Squeegee's Book Has Inside Scoop on Yankees' Habits

After last night's Yankees' loss, instead of trying to figure out why CC Sabathia can't beat the Red Sox, I was Googling to find out more information about a new book about the Yankees. Clubhouse Confidential: A Yankee Bat Boy's Insider Tale of Wild Nights, Gambling, and Good Times with Modern Baseball's Greatest Team is written by Luis Castillo, aka Luigi Squeegee, a former Yankee batboy and clubbie who worked for the team from 1998 to 2005. Reportedly now all people now who work around the team have to sign confidentiality agreements, but he was the last of the era that didn't have to.

Anyhow, Google Books has some pages online from the book. One of the more interesting tidbits I read last night from the excerpt was that not only was Roger Clemens (who comes off fairly well in it) extremely upset with himself for hitting Mike Piazza, but that he sent Brian McNamee over to the Mets' clubhhouse to get word to him that he was sorry!  Heh.

The excerpt I read also talked about how Clemens filmed the 2003 rookie hazing costume event which featured Hideki Matsui bopping around the clubhouse in that infamous pimp costume. Heck, the Rocket ought to put that on DVD to finance his defense costs!

Anyhow, this morning's New York Post has an exclusive excerpt of tidbits from the book, and it looks to be pretty entertaining. Here are the most interesting things in the article:

Longtime Squawker readers know how I complained for years about Joe Torre snoozing in the dugout, and not paying attention to what was going on in the game. There may be a reason behind that -- according to "Clubhouse Confidential," he was more concerned about his bets on horse races than he was on the game! During a late-season game, Torre once asked Castillo to do him a favor.

"Go down to my office," he said. "I want you to check the score on the Off-Track Betting channel and see who won." I was stunned. It was during a game! I had never before been asked to leave my post.


"Make sure you find out the exact track and horse," he added.

Castillo continues:

I ran down into the clubhouse and found the attendant, Joe Lee.


"Joe, Mr. T just asked me to find out something about which horses won," I said. "What's he talking about?"


Lee was chewing gum and looked unimpressed about the whole thing. "Yeah," he said. "Don't you know why he's got that TV in his office? It's usually just tuned to one channel."


"What's that, the YES Network?"


"No, the OTB station."

Yikes! Lee helped Castillo figure out the results of the race and write them down.

I jogged up to the dugout and gave them to Torre, who grabbed the paper and studied it like his life depended on it. When he had discovered the information he wanted, he turned to Don Zimmer and showed it to him. The older man's eyes lit up, and before I left they were talking excitedly not about the next batter but the OTB results!

Are you kidding me? Hey, where's the MLB investigation on Torre paying attention to gambling on horses during a ballgame?

This anecdote was at the bottom of the five-page online article, but I thought it was the most devastating. Torre was the highest-paid manager in MLB history. It's not too much to expect him to pay attention to the game, instead of his horse racing bets, when he's doing his job.

Torre's love for the ponies is well-known. Heck, he has owned several horses that run in races. But that's okay by MLB standards, but A-Rod playing poker in the offseason with Hollywood A-listers is the crime of the century. Can you say double standard?

Castillo clearly likes Derek Jeter, if the excerpt is any indication. It was Jeter who came up with the Luigi Squeegee nickname for him. And every day, he would greet the 14-and-15 year old bat boys with this: "How're you doin', biatches?" Classy!

(Let me note my usual point on these things. If A-Rod had been the one to call minor boys "biatches," the street slang for "bitches," how many wailing columns would we get about A-Rod treating the children poorly? Just saying.)

And when Bill Clinton once came into the clubhouse after leaving office, most players, according to the article, were formal and polite with him. Jeter, on the other hand, before heading into a game, greeted him by saying, "Hey, Mr. President, you staying out of trouble?"

The excerpt continues:

Jeter didn't even stop to have a chat, he continued out to the field. The confused expression on Clinton's face said it all: Here was a man so shot up with confidence that even running into the president didn't make him miss a beat.

I'm sorry, but if you talk that way to a president, you're kind of a jerk. And any other player would be chastised by the media for doing such a thing. But Teflon Jeter does it, and it just shows that he's 'shot up with confidence." Sorry, the word isn't "confidence," it's "arrogance."

In another part of the excerpt, Castillo talks about how what he perceived as A-Rod trying to outdo his teammates at something:

I had to chuckle at how he aped the captain. For example, Jeter and some of the other guys were terrific tippers. Roger Clemens gave me $3,000 at the end of the year. Posada gave me $7,000. A-Rod might come in with $1,400. Sure, it's still a sizable amount, but when he found out that other players were tipping higher, he had to imitate them, and he bumped his tips up. In fact, he had to make sure he was the best tipper in the league. He even tipped me $100 a week to make sure there was a creatine shake waiting for him after each home game.

Anyhow, I dunno if I buy the whole aping the captain thing. Rodriguez was the highest-paid player in MLB baseball history, and after finding out what others tipped, he wanted to make sure he was the best tipper. That sounds like a positive character trait to me.

Although he did tip well, Rodriguez seems pretty high-maintenance -- Castillo had to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush for him and lay out his uniform just so. (It remind me a little of when the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy had that guy Fonzworth Bentley carry his umbrella for him!) And Rodriguez sounded more than a little full of himself, as with the bragging in the dugout about his home runs.

There's also stuff in the excerpt about how Jeter would get his personal trainer to approach women for him, and Rodriguez being out with two blondes.

Anyhow, I will definitely check out this book -- it's coming out next week.


What do you think? Tell us about it!

The Ghost of Luis Castillo

Tuesday night was not the first time that Squawker Lisa and I attended a Met game in which an error by the Met second baseman turned a one-run lead into a one-run loss. It wasn't the Subway Series and it wasn't the over-the-hill, payroll-clogging Luis Castillo, but it was excruciating all the same.

I've bought into trading Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez. I'm content for this year to root for the Mets to finish over .500 and finish ahead of the Marlins and Nationals.

But what I'm not content with is losing four in a row to the Marlins and Nationals.

Sure, the Mets were a better team with Beltran and K-Rod. But they're not making the playoffs with an infield that seems to make a critical error each night. They may be fourth in the league in runs scored, but their offense seems to alternate between powerhouse and puny. Last week, the Mets scored 38 runs while winning five in a row. They've followed up with scoring eight runs in a four-game losing streak. Sometimes the Mets look great, sometimes they look awful. It averages out to mediocre.

Perhaps the quintessential 2011 Met is Daniel Murphy. He's fifth in the NL in batting at .319. And yet, on a team with few consistent hitters, Murphy's defensive woes make him far from a lock for the lineup down the road.

Justin Turner is no Castillo. He's a promising rookie who made a rookie mistake. But as with Murphy, it's unclear whether he is part of the future or the bridge to that future.

I know the Mets are a ways from being a contender. I just don't like to be reminded of it in the way I was Tuesday night.

By the way, according to Mets Merized Online:

The last time the Mets lost three consecutive games in their last at-bat was June 10-12, 2009 (two extra-inning losses vs. Philadelphia and a loss at Yankee Stadium).

Yes, the last time the Mets lost their third straight game in their last at-bat was the Castillo game. I've got to stop going to Met games with Squawker Lisa!

Subway Series and the End of the World

Apparently, the world will end just before the second game of the Subway Series. This would mark the second straight Saturday night Yankee game preceded by an apocalyptic event, following last week's Posada Adventure.

As Squawker Lisa never fails to remind me, the Mets experienced their own form of doomsday during the Subway Series two years ago courtesy of Luis Castillo. That dismal year also included Francisco Rodriguez walking Mariano Rivera with the bases loaded. Unfortunately for me, Lisa and I were at both of those games.

Last year, we were lucky enough to get to sit in Legends seats for a Subway Series game at Yankee Stadium. Here's how long ago that game seems - Mike Pelfrey and Phil Hughes were both 9-1. Pelfrey's loss that day sent him into a weeks-long tailspin. Hughes went into a tailspin in the second half and still hasn't come out of it. And now he's on the DL.

At least Jose Reyes hit two homers that day. But it'll really be doomsday if Reyes is hitting homers next year at Yankee Stadium in a Yankee uniform.

This will be the first Subway Series in years without Castillo and Oliver Perez on the roster. Castillo's time with the Mets wasn't all bad, but in 365 games, his overall OPS was just .691. It's hard to win with that kind of OPS in your lineup.

But Lisa, the Yankees sure seem willing to try, with Derek Jeter (2011 OPS .636) and Jorge Posada (2011 OPS .672) holding down two lineup spots.

And Jeter and Posada are making a total of $28 million this season, which is a lot more than the $18 million the Mets are paying Castillo and Perez for 2011.

Prediction: Mets take one of three. Bleacher Creatures do roll call for potential future Yankees Carlos Beltran and Reyes. Mets GM Sandy Alderson tries to lead them in a chant for K-Rod. Beltran homers and John Sterling has a home run call ready to go: "A belt for Beltran!"

Sorry, Brian Cashman, Mets Don't Always Do the Wrong Thing

Nobody knows better than Met fans that the team has been guilty of a string of ridiculous moves in recent years. But even a stopped clock is right twice a day. And sometimes, especially now that there's a new regime, when a Pedro Feliciano is not re-signed or a Luis Castillo is cut, there's a good reason.

As Squawker Lisa wrote yesterday, Cashman apparently failed to grasp that Feliciano led the majors in appearances the last three seasons, which was why the Mets and most other teams did not want to give him a two-year deal.

For Cashman to accuse the Mets of "abusing" Feliciano would be as if Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro Jr., after signing Castillo, blamed the Mets after discovering that Castillo was over the hill.

The perception of the Mets' incompetence appears to extend beyond that of rival GMs. When Castillo was released, ESPN's Buster Olney wrote:

Luis Castillo may have lost his support among New York Mets fans by the time he was placed on waivers Friday, but he has long-standing connections around baseball, established through his past success. Which is why he will almost certainly have a new job within 24 hours after he clears waivers today at 1 p.m.

Olney implied that Castillo was cut primarily to appease the fans (a theory Sandy Alderson was guilty of encouraging by admitting the fan factor). He went on to list the Phillies, Rockies, Cubs and Marlins as potential suitors for Castillo's services. Olney concluded:

None of that personal history will matter, of course, if Castillo struggles in his next job. But in baseball -- as in a lot of industries -- it's about who you know, and Castillo, a respected veteran with 15 years, a .290 lifetime average and 370 career steals, will be employed again very shortly.

Olney was right - Castillo quickly landed with the Phillies. But is this the way the rest of baseball really views Castillo - a "respected veteran" with "370 career steals"? Was it only disgruntled Met fans who saw a broken-down player who often had trouble walking without a limp, let alone running?

But the Phillies bought into that "respected veteran" tag, and doubtless also saw a way to stick it to the Mets, by signing Castillo. After all, another Met castoff, Wilson Valdez, filled in ably for Jimmy Rollins last year and now will be filling in for Chase Utley.

Ultimately, the Phillies spent a few days in spring training to discover what the Mets already knew - Castillo wasn't worth it. So they let him go. But some news outlets such as the Sports Network continued to spin the notion that Castillo was worthy of a roster spot:

As expected, the Philadelphia Phillies have placed second baseman Chase Utley and reliever Brad Lidge on the disabled list to start the season.

In related but unexpected news Wednesday, the club released veteran second baseman Luis Castillo.

Unexpected? Is Castillo now the Cliff Lee of spring free agents? How many more times must Castillo fail before people concede that it was a smart baseball decision for the Mets to let Castillo go?

At least even the Mets' detractors haven't been able to find a way to criticize the release of Oliver Perez.

Spring Cleaning Continues: Goodbye and Good Riddance, Oliver Perez

Saying goodbye to Luis Castillo was great, but Oliver Perez calls for the real celebration. Castillo at least made an effort and was a legitimate part of the competition for 2B (though that says more about the Mets' lack of good options). Ollie was just plain useless. Most importantly, the Mets were finally willing to eat an eight-figure salary.

Squawker Lisa has graciously offered to help me celebrate Castillo's departure by providing links of various calls of his dropped popup against the Yankees, a game we had the misfortune of attending. I have declined all of Lisa's generous offers. I don't need to see that play again - it's seared in my memory along with Lisa's laugh and the long walk out of Yankee Stadium and into the crowded subway surrounded by gleeful Yankee fans.

But Ollie's departure does bring back memories of games we attended that I am more willing to revisit. One was the first time I went to Citi Field. It was the second exhibition game against the Red Sox. Lisa and I were excited to try the new food options, and with Shake Shack already packed, we started with Blue Smoke. It had a long line as well, and by the time we got our ribs, the game was underway. We didn't mind because it was an exhibition, and we didn't think we'd miss much anyway. But by the time we got our food, the Mets were losing, 6-0, and it was still the top of the first.

Of course, the pitcher was Ollie, who did his part to inaugurate the new ballpark by giving up a grand slam to Jed Lowrie. Ollie was just starting his three-year deal and was already getting boos following his shaky spring, when he was accused of not staying in shape when he was participating in the World Baseball Classic.

(By the way, is it worth noting that Ollie was at least a serviceable pitcher before appearing in the WBC, but has been a disaster ever since?)

Last August, Lisa and I went to see Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Frank Cashen and Davey Johnson inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame. The ceremony was great - the game, not so much. By the eighth inning, the Mets trailed the Diamondbacks, 10-1. It was Ollie time. He gave up a run in the eighth, earning another inning.

As the ninth inning started, Lisa and I, not sure why were were still there, realized that it would be a good time to visit the Mets Hall of Fame. So we were taking pictures of the new plaques while Ollie was giving up three more runs to make the final score 14-1. A perfect day to celebrate a time when the Mets were actually a great team.

Looking over the box score, I now see that when Ollie entered the game, so did Castillo. Talk about garbage time!

I didn't make it to another game after that, so that was the last time I saw Castillo and Perez in Met uniforms. (And, perhaps, major league uniforms.) On Mets Hall of Fame Day, Lisa and I got to say farewell to proud members of the Mets Hall of Shame.

Mets to Blame for Hatred of Luis Castillo

The main component of most Met fans' dislike for Luis Castillo was not his contract, his incompetence, the dropped popup against the Yankees, and certainly not racism, as one sportswriter suggests. It was the fact that the Mets refused to release him until now.

The Mets have had many lousy performances and lousy decisions over the last couple of years. On Opening Day a year ago, Mike Jacobs and Gary Matthews Jr. were both in the starting lineup. Jacobs even batted cleanup. Jacobs started six of the first 12 games before getting released. Matthews also started six of the first 12.

Imagine if the Mets had decided to keep Jacobs and Matthews around, especially if it meant that Ike Davis would remain in the minors and Angel Pagan would be sent to the bench, which was the case in some games in early April last year. Jacobs and Matthews would be blamed for standing in the way of better players, of preventing the Mets from building toward a better future. They would be getting the same vilification that Castillo and Perez have received. Instead, they are largely forgotten, because the Mets got rid of before they could become symbols of front-office ineptitude.

As it was, the Mets kept Frank Catalanotto around until May and Matthews until June, even when it was clear that they were just taking up roster space. Jacobs, Matthews and Catalanotto have not played in the majors since being cut by the Mets. Catalanotto recently retired.

Keeping players who are unable to find jobs with other teams on your roster tells the fans that you are unconcerned about fielding the best possible team. Except for Davis, it's not as if replacements such as Jesus Feliciano or Chris Carter substantially improved the Mets. But they gave the team and the fans hope, if only briefly, that at least someone was trying to make things better.

Worst of all is when these players are kept around because of a lack of understanding of the concept of sunk costs. The Angels were willing to eat $21 million of Matthews' salary, a good move as it turned out since he now isn't worth anything. Yet Omar Minaya was willing to take on Matthews in the misguided belief that he still had value, just as Minaya signed Gary Sheffield the year before after the Tigers ate $14 million of Sheffield's salary.

Finally, the Mets are the kind of team that gets rid of these players rather than take them on. At least they are today. Let's hope they continue to be that kind of team when it's time to deal with Oliver Perez.

The Five Stages of Luis Castillo Remaining on the Mets

Stage 1 - Denial: There's no way a new regime that wants to make a fresh start can bring back Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez.

Stage 2 - Anger: If these symbols of Met ineptitude are still on the team, I'm not going to buy any tickets to games.

Stage 3 - Bargaining: If you cut Castillo today, I'll buy tickets to three games. If you cut both Castillo and Perez, I'll buy a five-game plan.

Stage 4 - Depression: Who am I kidding - I'm going to go to some games whomever is on the team. And the ballpark will be a ghost town, except for the huge line which will somehow still be there at Shake Shack.

Stage 5 - Acceptance: The Mets have made a good-faith effort to find alternatives, auditioning four other players. Maybe Castillo really is the best choice at second base in this group.

But once I get to stage 5, I remember that Castillo has played under 90 games two of the last three seasons, so the odds are good that the Mets will need another second baseman at some point during 2011. And the person they pick will be someone who was beaten out in spring training by Luis Castillo.

Now, as far as Castillo is concerned, I'm back to stage 4.

As for Perez, I'm still at Stage 2.

Rays give away 20,000 tickets while Mets offer empty 'Thank you'

When I first saw the ad on SNY in which the Mets collectively say, "Thank you, fans," I thought it was a promo for Fan Appreciation Day. When I saw the logo from the TV ad on mets.com, I clicked on it, wondering what gifts were in store for the few hardy souls still heading out to Citi Field as another disappointing season comes to a close. But the link only led to an opportunity to buy full-price tickets for the remaining games. Not much of a thank-you considering that tickets are available on StubHub for as little as two dollars and field level seats in a section behind the dugout can be had for $40.

Just as Rays management felt the need to do something above and beyond, Mets management should have explored ways to actually get some fannies in the seats for the final game. How about a pregame ceremony featuring some parting gifts for those we hope will soon be departing:

• For Jerry Manuel: A personalized MRI machine in honor of his eagerness to keep players in the lineup regardless of their physical condition. Jon Niese should have been shut down before the exhausted rookie could collapse down the stretch. Carlos Beltran has played just about every game since his return and now he needs to be shut down with inflammation in the knee, just to name the two most recent victims.
• For Omar Minaya: Season tickets for the Newark Bears and the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, so Omar can scout for the next Gary Matthews Jr., Mike Jacobs and Frank Catalanotto.
• For Luis Castillo: A deluxe DVD edition of "Inception," since Castillo must be living in a dream world if he thinks he is going to get a starting job anywhere else in MLB.

As for Oliver Perez, he should get to start the final game. But as he takes the mound, the public address announcer will inform the crowd that as soon as Ollie gives up a run, he will be released on the spot.

Finally, a meaningful game in October, as Perez pitches for his Met career. If he pitches a shutout, he can stick around. Maybe his problems really are all in his head, and he can still pitch like the guy who got that huge contract. Imagine the suspense if Ollie shuts down the Nationals into the late innings. Can he pull it off? Will the MLB network air the ninth inning live?

Oh, who are we kidding - Ollie won't make it through the first inning without giving up a run. Maybe the first batter. And then he'll be gone for good.

Now that's the way to say, "Thank you, fans."

Is Oliver Perez trying to get himself released?

Last year, the big story with the Mets was how many of them ended up in the hospital. Now the big story is which Mets failed to go to the Walter Reed Hospital to visit with injured vets. Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo at least offered explanations as to why they didn't go.

"I don't know who is creating this issue," Beltran said. "I had my own things to do, and I couldn't make it."

Beltran explained that he had a meeting involving his own charity and that he had previously visited a veterans hospital with Fred Wilpon.

Whether or not you accept Beltran's explanation probably depends on what one thinks of him in the first place. If you take him at his word, his heart is in the right place, but he didn't realize how his actions would look to management, fans and the media.

Or maybe he doesn't care. Beltran has reason to be fed up with Mets management after how they initially dealt with his injuries. And he has probably lost many of the fans for good. In the final year of Beltran's contract, expect him to be highly motivated to do well so that he can get a big new contract somewhere else.

Luis Castillo said that he missed the trip to Walter Reed because he was "squeamish." Now he knows how Met fans feel when they see his name in the lineup. If that is the real reason Castillo didn't go, then he certainly is clueless, but not necessarily someone who is not a team guy.

But if Castillo is fed up with the Mets, then he is even more clueless. Castillo probably wouldn't be on a big league roster were it not for his contract. If he has become a malcontent who thinks he should be starting, that is even more reason to get rid of him as soon as possible.

And then there's Oliver Perez. The days of Good Ollie and Bad Ollie are long gone - now there's only Bad Ollie, who didn't even try to come up with an excuse:

"I don't answer," Perez said, "anything about outside the stadium."

It's as if Perez' agent, Scott Boras, has been telling him what to say and do so that the Mets cut him loose. Knowing Boras, he thinks he can somehow parlay Perez' freedom into even more undeserved money.

Ultimately, this story comes down to the same old story for the Mets - they need to eat the contracts of Perez and Castillo. Beltran is more complicated, since he actually has a chance of regaining at least some of his skills.

But the first objective of the offseason must be to make sure that we don't have endure any more such stories about Perez and Castillo, because they will finally be gone.

Check out Squawker Lisa's take on the Mets' visit to Walter Reed in The Faster Times.

Mets now 15-5 when Ruben Tejada starts at second base

Ruben Tejada returned to the Mets' starting lineup Saturday night and made several nice plays at second base to help the Mets beat the Phillies, 1-0. The Mets are now 55-55. When Tejada starts at second, they are 15-5. When Luis Castillo or former Met Alex Cora started at second, the Mets are 40-50.

It's not that the Mets only win with Tejada in the lineup. He has also started thirteen games at short, and the Mets are just 6-7 in those games. But when Tejada plays short, he's replacing an All-Star-caliber player. When Tejada plays second, he's replacing Castillo.

Castillo is a better hitter than Tejada, who only hit .108 in July, going just 4 for 37, before being sent down. Castillo has even perked up at the plate so far in August, going 5-for-12, a .417 batting average. But Castillo overall is hitting just .246 with a .628 OPS.

Castillo is a liability both in the field and at the plate. At least Tejada is a good fielder. And if this Met team is going to win, they are going to need to do it with pitching and defense.

Time will tell if Fernando Martinez deserves his promotion, but platooning Jeff Francoeur is long overdue. Before tonight's game, Francoeur was hitting .317 against lefties with an .819 OPS as opposed to .218 and .626 vs. righties.

But Francoeur remains an important part of the team, with his second game-winning homer on the road trip as well as a key shot against the Cardinals last week. Francoeur's three homers have come off of three top pitchers - Adam Wainwright, Billy Wagner and Cole Hamels.

The Mets beat the Phillies, Johan Santana pitched a gem and Francisco Rodriguez came through with a five-out save to make sure Santana got his well-deserved win. And off the field, the Mets made some smart moves. Putting Castillo on the bench could also be the first step toward eating his contract. A great night all around.

Mets honor '86 greats, then get started on 2010 Hall of Shame

When Davey Johnson was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame this afternoon, he told the crowd, "if you don't win, you don't really like us a lot." Johnson went on to say that the fans inspired the 1986 Mets. Unfortunately, the celebration of the Mets' last championship did nothing to inspire the current team, which put on a dismal display that left the booing crowd not really liking them a lot.

I'm glad that Squawker Lisa and I were there for the ceremonies. The actual game, not so much. At least, unlike the last game at Shea Stadium, the festivities were held before the awful game, when fans were still in a good mood.

By the end of the game, I was hoping for another ceremony - inductions into the 2010 Mets Hall of Shame, along with the following acceptance speeches:

GM Omar Minaya: Frank Cashen spoke of how his Met teams set attendance records. As I look around at the empty seats, I wonder if we, too, are closing in on a record - biggest attendance decline in the second year of a new ballpark.

But I couldn't have done it alone. I work for a team that doesn't want to spend more money, but claims that it does, which makes me look like the one who just couldn't get a deal done at the trade deadline.

Then again, if my hands weren't tied, I probably would have done something like trade Angel Pagan for Jake Westbrook.

At least I was able to stack this year's roster with retreads like Mike Jacobs, Gary Matthews Jr. and Frank Catalanotto.

Manager Jerry Manuel: Omar, you may have provided the pieces, but I was the one who batted Mike Jacobs cleanup on Opening Day and started Gary Matthews Jr. over Angel Pagan at the beginning of the year. I made John Maine my number two starter coming out of spring training. And I'm the one who pitched Fernando Nieve every day until he lost his effectiveness.

Jose Reyes, your uniform says 7, but you'll always be a number 3 hitter to me. And then there's my bullpen strategy - if you can call it that. (laughs)

Second baseman Luis Castillo: I would not be here were it not for the people on this stage. Jerry, thanks for batting me second so many times this year. And Omar, I want to thank you and ownership most of all for not eating my contract. Instead of my poor performance getting me quietly designated for assignment, your insistence on keeping me around has turned me into the Mets' version of Eddy Curry. (quickly looks down the stage) Oh, I'm sorry, Ollie - didn't mean to step on your toes.

(At the mention of Ollie's name, the fans start booing.)

Finally, I want to say that there is no greater thrill than winning a ring in New York. And I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to do just that - when the Florida Marlins clinched the 2003 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Pitcher Oliver Perez: Dwight Gooden said that the fans' rhythmic clapping inspired him to get that third strike. I am also fortunate enough to get a strong fan response every time I take the mound.

(The crowd boos.)

When I hear that sound, it's as if you are saying Ooooooooooooh! So that's what a $36 million pitcher looks like!

(The boos get louder.)

Look, I know I've gotten a lot of grief for not wanting to pitch in the minors, but I don't see how people can criticize me for not wanting to pitch in the minors when I'm willing to pitch for the Mets!

(The booing gets so loud that Mr. Met covers his ears.)

Okay, maybe that came out wrong. But do you really want to trade me for Carlos Zambrano? His contract is a lot bigger and he's even crazier than I am! And, well, this franchise hasn't exactly had good luck with Zambranos in the past.

(The crowd starts chanting "We want Zambrano!" Security drags Ollie off the stage.)

Howie Rose: Our final induction into the 2010 Hall of Shame, is...

Met fans.

Management responded to the calls for the team's history to be honored, but when the biggest names of 1986 finally got their long-overdue induction into the Mets Hall of Fame, there were too many empty seats.

Photo by Jon Lewin.

When the light at the end of the tunnel is Luis Castillo

Apparently, a two-run lead isn't enough for Francisco Rodriguez these days.

All three of K-Rod's July saves have come in games in which he entered with a lead of at least three runs. In two of them, K-Rod had leads of four runs - he came into the game with men on base. And in one of those, K-Rod gave up a couple of hits to score two runs and cut the lead in half.

The Mets won Sunday in extra innings despite K-Rod's latest meltdown, but any discussion of the Mets fighting for the postseason must include the question, do you trust K-Rod in a big spot? Neither do I.

So I'm still hoping the Mets don't mortgage their future for a shot in the dark at the playoffs. With Cliff Lee off the market, no difference maker is likely to be available. Roy Oswalt was the next-best pitcher who could be traded, but he left today's game with an injury.

With Carlos Beltran back, the Mets' next acquisition looks to be none other than Luis Castillo. Ruben Tejada has done the impossible - he's made Castillo's return to the lineup look like an upgrade. Tejada is now 4 for his last 38, which is a batting average of .108.

Actually, Tejada has done two impossible things - as long as he's in the lineup, Rod Barajas is not in the deepest slump, despite going 4 for his last 33, which puts him all the way up to .121.

Send Tejada to the minors, let him play every day, and don't trade him for a rental. Tejada isn't untouchable, but at age 20, he certainly has enough upside to eventually replace Omar Minaya's questionable contracts for Castillo and Alex Cora.

Also send Josh Thole down so he can play every day. Despite Barajas' slump (he's been useless at the plate since May), it's refreshing to see the Mets put defense first for a change.

At least K-Rod hasn't done as much damage as he might have - the Mets have come back to win three of his blown saves.