On "Knuckleball!" and our evening at the Tribeca Film Festival

Thanks to the folks involved with the movie Knuckleball! for getting one of our readers into the VIP section of the premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, and getting Squawker Jon and myself in as well. We all also received autographed copies of the movie poster Saturday night. Oh, and I got to meet not just renowned chef David Burke -- I was just at his Bloomingdale's eatery the night before -- but I got to meet Mr. Met, too!  How cool is that?

Anyhow, Jon has given his review of the Knuckleball! I thought the movie was really good, and that you couldn't help but feel empathy for R.A. Dickey, and (gulp) Tim Wakefield! (Wake seems like a decent guy, as he did with the Sox -- he always seemed to make No. 1 on the "Boston player I can tolerate" list!) There was footage after the Aaron Boone home run of him slumped in his chair in his locker room, and teammates comforting him. It's funny, though -- giving up that homer hasn't really stuck with him as far as his reputation, because Grady Little, not Wakefield, is the one who gets the blame for that loss. (There isn't any talk about the Red Sox's horrendous 2011 collapse, though. Too bad!)

I covered my eyes during the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox stuff, and booed Joe Torre when he was seen in a clip being interviewed for the movie. (What else would you expect from me? Torre's gotta be the bride at every wedding, and the corpse at every funeral. Enough!)

It was cool sitting with John of the Mighty Quinn Media Machine, as well as Ed from Studious Metsimus and Taryn from A Gal for All Seasons. Nice to see our blogging friends in the flesh!

The movie was fun, and the evening was a great one. Thanks, everyone!

Dickey, Wakefield shine in "Knuckleball!"

Last night, Squawker Lisa and I went to the Tribeca Film Festival for the premiere of the baseball documentary "Knuckleball!" The movie celebrates the tiny fraternity of MLB knuckleballers, with the main focus on the only two knuckleballers active in 2011 - the Mets' R.A. Dickey and the Red Sox' Tim Wakefield (who retired after the season).

There probably wouldn't have been a film without Dickey's great personality and Wakefield's dignity. While this film figures to appeal more to Mets and Red Sox fans, Squawker Lisa was able to enjoy it as well (particularly since they showed a clip of Wakefield surrendering Aaron Boone's pennant-clinching homer in 2003).

With great personal stories such as Dickey's and Phil Niekro's (whose coal miner father, when presented with a $250 offer for his son to sign with the Braves organization, said he wasn't sure if he could come up with the money), it's no wonder the film focused more on the personal than the baseball, but I would have liked to have seen a little more about the knuckleball itself and why more pitchers don't give it a shot.  

While at the screening, we saw fellow bloggers Ed Leyro (Studious Metsimus), Taryn Cooper (A Gal for All Seasons) and John Quinn (Mighty Quinn Media Machine).

It was such a fun night for fans of the Mets and Red Sox that I was able to avoid dwelling on the fact that the Yankees rallied from 9-0 down to beat Boston 15-9 in what is already being called the Bobby Valentine's Day Massacre until I got home and saw the highlights, along with those from ex-Met Philip Humber's perfect game. As I wrote earlier, at least the Met didn't make this day a complete baseball nightmare by losing the Luis Castillo Sequel game.

Speaking of the Mets, they announced the attendance on the broadcast - 33,000. Didn't think they were doing that too often this year with the struggling attendance. But Lisa and I had the same thought - since it was Bark in the Park Day, were the Mets counting only human patrons, or dogs as well?

Win an autographed poster and VIP tickets to "Knuckleball!"

The baseball documentary Knuckleball! will be premiering for free on Saturday, April 21st as a part of the Tribeca Drive-in at the Tribeca Film Festival.  Here's your chance to win a chance to sit in the VIP section, and get a movie poster autographed by four famous knuckleballers, including R.A. Dickey, Tim Wakefield, Jim Bouton and Charlie Hough.
Simply tell us what your favorite sports movie is -- you can email us at subwaysquawkers@gmail.com -- and you could be on your way to winning!

Here are some details on the film:

This classic sports story recounts the 2011 journey of the last professional knuckleball pitchers: Tim Wakefield, a 17-year Red Sox veteran, and Mets up-and-comer R.A. Dickey. Together with just four other living knuckleballers, they shine a light on their remarkable brotherhood and the shared pursuit of honor and craftsmanship.

The Tribeca Drive-in will open at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, April 21st, and include live music, giveaways, baseball trivia contests and pitching clinics with pro knuckleballers R.A. Dickey; Tim Wakefield, formerly of the Boston Red Sox; Charlie Hough, formerly of the Dodgers and Rangers; and former New York Yankee Jim Bouton. The world premiere of Knuckleball! will follow at 8:15 p.m.

LOCATION:
Tribeca Drive-In® At the World Financial Center Plaza (West Street between Vesey & Liberty Streets)



For more info about the film, visit www.knuckleballmovie.com


Simply tell us what your favorite sports movie is -- you can email us at subwaysquawkers@gmail.com -- and you could be on your way to winning VIP admission, as well as an autographed movie poster signed by Dickey, Wakefield, Hough, and Bouton!! Please send in your entry by Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. Thanks!

Subway Series: Mets Give Yankees a Knuckle Sandwich

Boo hoo, Squawker Lisa. The Yankees had to face a knuckleballer last night - that's not fair! Some Yankee excuses from last night's game:

"It's tough to hit whenever you go up against a knuckleballer." - Russell Martin

"There's just no rhyme or reason to it." - Curtis Granderson

"No one knows where it's going so it's kind of hard to have an approach against him" - Derek Jeter

Actually, this year it's kind of hard for Jeter to have an approach against most pitchers, but I digress. The Yankees can make all the excuses they want, but R.A. Dickey had a 5.08 ERA going into last night's Subway Series opener. In his last start, he gave up six runs and 11 hits to the weak-hitting Astros. Even most Met fans didn't think Dickey had a chance to pitch well in the Bronx.

But for one night at least, Dickey looked like the pitcher the cheap new front office was willing to give a two-year contract. It's great to see Dickey come through and Mets pitching continue to be on a roll. The Yankees got just four hits Friday after scoring 13 runs Thursday night. In the Mets' previous two games, they shut out the Nationals, who then scored 17 runs last night. It doesn't matter if half the Mets' lineup is from Triple A if the pitching is this good.

And by the way, for all the Yankees' complaining, Dickey only pitched six innings. While the Mets rotation still looks shaky, the bullpen could be the best the Mets have had since 2006.

Look on the bright side, Squawker Lisa. Maybe the world will end tonight before the Yankees have to think of excuses about why they struggled against Chris Capuano.

Carlos Beltran, R.A. Dickey and thinking positively

You'd never know it from the way many people write about them, but the Mets have had a few bright spots this season. R.A. Dickey is one of the most amazing stories in years on the Mets or any other team. ESPN's Mark Simon even invented a new "metric," STAR (Story Above Replacement), to pay tribute to the Mets' knuckleballer.

Sometimes I wonder if good news on the Mets is so hard to come by because there is a fear of admitting that Omar Minaya ever did anything right. Such an admission could help upper management rationalize that Minaya is not doing such a bad job after all, so he deserves to remain as GM.

So I am inventing my own new metric, GMAR (General Manager Above Replacement), and making sure that, even with credit for Dickey, Omar's GMAR is too low for him to keep his job.

But while Omar needs to go, it's important to give him credit where credit is due. New management should build on what the Mets already have, not blow it all up and start over. Which brings us to Carlos Beltran, whose performance this weekend in Philadelphia suggests that it's time to rethink wondering how much salary the Mets would have to eat to get him off the team.

In Sunday's game, Beltran hit two homers, one from each side of the plate, and made a sensational diving catch to help assure that the Phillies would not clinch the division in front of the Mets. But Beltran's most important contribution may have come Saturday, when he slid in hard at second base, trying to take out Chase Utley in retaliation for Utley's hard slide Friday night.

Perhaps it's a sign of the negativity surrounding the Mets that on Sunday's pregame, Kevin Burkhardt compared Beltran to Shawn Estes, who infamously threw behind Roger Clemens rather than hitting him in retaliation for Clemens' broken bat insanity in the 2000 World Series. Burkhardt was not the only person to note that Beltran missed both Utley and shortstop Wilson Valdez, meaning that once again the Mets' response failed to match the original offense.

But unlike Estes, Beltran did all he could to "hit somebody," as Beltran later said he wanted to do. Utley's ability to jump out of the way should not detract from Beltran's effort, especially considering that Beltran went in with two bad knees.

Beltran might be one of the last players most fans would expect to be the one to step up and defend his teammate. Unfortunately, except for the injured Johan Santana, I'm not sure which player I would most expect to step up.

As Met announcers frequently noted, Utley's slide wasn't really dirty, but indicative of how hard the Phillies always play. Why don't the Mets always play that way? Which brings us to Jerry Manuel's MAR (Manager Above Replacement) which has certainly marred the Mets.

The Mets need some new players along with new management, but at least some of the current players are offering reason to hope* that next year will be better.

*(I was thinking about a Hope Above Replacement metric, but I didn't want Squawker Lisa to point out that the acronym would be HAR.)

Thanks to no K-Rod, Jerry Manuel couldn't ruin R.A. Dickey's complete-game shutout again

On June 23, the Mets led the Tigers, 5-0, after eight innings. Starting pitcher R.A. Dickey had thrown only 97 pitches, allowing four hits, two walks, and retiring the last 13 batters he had faced. Dickey tried to talk manager Jerry Manuel into letting him finish the game, but as Dickey said afterwards, "I was unsuccessful."

That day, Dickey lost a chance for the second complete-game shutout of his career because closer Francisco Rodriguez had not pitched in five days and Manuel wanted to give him some work. K-Rod pitched a scoreless ninth and the Mets beat the Tigers.

Tonight, Dickey had thrown 99 pitches when he took his shutout into the ninth. He had only allowed one hit, but it was a much tighter game - 1-0. And the Mets were playing their division rival Philadelphia. With 9-1-2 due up, the Phillies' top of the order would be coming up.

If K-Rod had been available tonight instead of serving the second game of his two-game suspension, there's a good chance Manuel would have brought him in. Manuel manages save situations by the book. Ninth inning, 1-0, facing Philly - that's book.

Manuel also seems too slow to trust players without a track record. Gary Matthews Jr. started over Angel Pagan on Opening Day. Even when Pagan put together an All-Star caliber first half, he was initially relegated to a platoon with Jeff Francoeur when Carlos Beltran returned.

Also, K-Rod needs to finish a certain number of games over this season and next for his 2012 option to vest, which could have something to do with the manager trying to placate his closer by using him whether or not he is needed.

So despite Dickey's success this season, K-Rod might well have been called on to close if not for recent events. And who knows, K-Rod might have closed it out - he had been on a hot streak lately.

But in K-Rod's absence, Manuel was forced to give Dickey the chance to show that he could complete a one-hit shutout. And now the Mets have a starter who had done that much more to solidify his place in the rotation next year.

Maybe it was the curse of denying Dickey his complete game on June 23, but that win over the Tigers, the Mets' second straight over Detroit, was the last time the Mets won two in a row before tonight.