hi johan

victorino pushes manuel into argument with ump

Shane Victorino was called safe at second base on Thursday night against the Mets. While he was caught in a rundown between first and second base, Victorino seemed to run into Jose Reyes, who was chasing him down. The umpire, Bill Welke, saw the incident in Victorino's favor and called him safe because of obstruction. Jerry Manuel saw the play differently, as did the cameras. Manuel proceeded to argue with Welke, and "according to Welke, Manuel brushed his cap with the bill of his own cap as he screamed at the umpire." Manuel will most likely be suspended for what is believed to be minor incidental contact with the umpire. Victorino has been a nemesis of the Mets since he came to prominence with the Phillies. Now it seems he is trying to single handedly push the Mets out of the division race.

Matt Cerrone of MetsBlog writes:

…i know the Mets won the game, and they’re 3–1 against the Phillies this season… but, how long are the Mets going to let Victorino make fools of them… he taunts them on the field, he consistently clips infielders when sliding in to second, last year he actually stood flat foot and tall on home plate after scoring a run and did the double point in to their dugout, and then last night he shoves Reyes out of the way like George Costanza during a fire… not to mention, Clay Condrey nearly took David Wright’s head off with a fastball behind his batting helmet…

Erik Grissom of Philiesflow.com writes:

The Phillies don’t look ready to give it away. You can see it when a Condrey pitch sends David Wright looking for cover and Shane Victorino throws elbows at Mets’ infielders on the bases. Not sure I would have cared for either of those plays were I not a Phillies fan. A long time ago, I wrote that I was getting a little tired of seeing the Phils look like a bunch of swell guys who went down with a lot of character. I was ready to watch them take somebody’s lunch money. A lot has changed since then.

Josh Alper of NBC News writes:

There's a long history of ill will between Victorino and the Mets, and now he'd elbowed one of Manuel's players out of the way in a rundown. When two teams with bad blood play, the umpires will sometimes issue a warning after a close but otherwise innocuous pitch to head off a beanball war. They take history into account in those situations, and they should take history into account when making their determination on Manuel as well.

Of course the Mets did take both games from the Phillies in an abbreviated series at Citi Field. Now the Mets stand tied with the slumping Marlins only half a game back of the "fighting" Phils. And thanks to Victorino they are now literally the fighting Phils.

citi field panorama

citi field: san diego padres 6, new york mets 5

As I walked into Citi Field for the first time, the first thing that came to my mind was "history." I thought of my personal history and the histories of Jackie Robinson, the Mets, and the game itself.

The Jackie Robinson Rotunda is the first gate fans see when they exit the 7 train on their way to Citi Field. The Ebbets Field inspired architecture is apparent, which leads fans' attention to a beautiful rotunda, the fantastic tribute to a great man. A friend recently said to me, "Its just luck that Jackie Robinson was the first black major leaguer, but he earned respect by being the man who endured being the first black major leaguer." This is so true. Robinson was one of many great Negro League ballplayers of the time, but he was the one man who crossed the barrier and faced the hatred and prejudice that resulted from his historic signing.

The Mets history is engrained in Citi Field because it is a new generation for the team. Citi Field is a beautiful new ballpark, which represents a higher class of baseball and the players can only benefit from its grandeur.

Citi Field represents baseball history for two reasons. First, because of its homage to Jackie Robinson. Second, for its architectural tribute to a revered ballpark of the past. Ebbets Field was the historic home of the Brooklyn Dodgers and was where Robinson broke into the big leagues. The loss of Ebbets Field was the inspiration for Frank Sinatra's song, "There Used To Be a Ballpark."

Lastly, my history is there, because this is my baseball stadium. I was at Citi Field's opening series versus the San Diego Padres April 13th-16th. It will forever hold a special place in my memory for that reason. It also represents a change for the Mets. Many Mets fans hope it is a change of fortune as the last two seasons have ended in disaster for the franchise. Citi Field is now a part of my history and hopefully later this season, so will a New York Mets' World Series championship.