New York Mets
Both starting pitchers were sharp. Tim Redding retired the first 10 hitters he faced before giving up a seeing eye single up the middle to Elijah Dukes. He gave up his only run in the fifth inning after Josh Willingham bounced a single into the hole and Josh Bard walked. They moved up a base on Ian Desmond’s excuse me swing down the first base line and Willingham scored on an Alberto Gonzalez fly out to deep left field. Redding went six innings giving up only that one run before being removed for a pinch hitter in the seventh.
Nick Evans has started only three games since an Aug. 25 promotion, but the down time hasn’t been a complete waste. Evans has been working with coach Sandy Alomar Jr. on learning to catch as a way of increasing his versatility, although he wouldn’t appear behind the plate in anything but an emergency situation
Bobby Parnell has decided not to pitch in winter ball, citing “mental and physical fatigue” from a long season. The Mets hoped Parnell would work during the offseason as a starting pitcher in Venezuela in order to better gauge whether he might be able to contribute in the rotation rather than in the bullpen in 2010. Parnell went 1-5 with a 7.93 ERA in eight starts this season after Jon Niese suffered a torn upper hamstring tendon.
After entering the rotation on Aug. 22 when Livan Hernandez was released, Tim Redding went 2-2 with a 2.98 ERA in eight startsRead more:
Mark Cohoon and Brandon Moore were the aces of the staff. Cohoon and Moore ranked sixth and fifth respectively in the league in ERA. Cohoon posted a 2.15 ERA over 92 innings, while Moore had a team-best 2.09 ERA. Cohoon’s nine wins was the best in the New York-Penn League, and tied the club record.
In August, Moore made Cyclones history by throwing the club’s first-ever no hitter, against Aberdeen.
Righty Collin McHugh and lefty Jim Fuller also had strong seasons for the Cyclones. McHugh had an 8-2 record while posting an impressive 2.76 ERA over 75 innings. Fuller was the victim of bad luck, going only 3-6 with a 2.86 ERA.
Cohoon and Fuller were two of six Cyclones invited to State College, Pennsylvania to take part in the New York-Penn League All-Star Game on August 18. The other All-Stars from Brooklyn were relief pitcher Mike Powers, outfielder Luis Rivera, first baseman Sam Honeck and catch Dock Doyle.
They held the World Cup in Europe with hopes of increasing interest in baseball, but the attendance figures do not bear this out. In the first round Germany saw 38,000 attend six games, which was a great start. Attendance at the other venues was also positive. When the games moved to Italy and Netherlands for the second and third rounds, the attendance was not good when the national team did not play. In the Netherlands the attendance was 31,000 for 28 games. You take away the attendance for the games when Netherlands played and the attendance was just over 500 spectators per game. In Italy, the stadiums were smaller but over 17,000 attended the games for an average of 635 per game. There was some poor weather and poor play by Italy which could have contributed to the apathy.
Mets Alumni:
The Nationals, currently being managed on an interim basis by Jim Riggleman, are believed to have at least mild interest in Bobby Valentine, who spent the past six years managing Japan's Chiba Lotte Marines. Asked whether he would be willing to step into a rebuilding situation, such as that of the Nationals, who have lost 100-plus games in back-to-back seasons, Valentine said he was more interested in a team's future direction than its past mistakes. -- Washington Post
Rays RHP Chad Bradford's season may be over due to some slight elbow discomfort, and his career may be, too. "I'm leaning toward probably shutting it down," Bradford said, "but I'm definitely leaving the door open to see what happens. "It's all going to depend on how I feel, how the back, elbow and body in general feels. When you feel good physically you want to be out there, but when you're hurting, obviously it's frustrating." Bradford, making $3.5 million in the final year of his contract, said a decision on retiring won't be made for a few months: "I'm going to go home and relax, hang out with the family and kids and see what I'm thinking in January. -- St. Petersburg Times
Calling 2009 "very frustrating," Nationals catcher Jesus Flores said he was devastated by the news of his torn right labrum, the last and most serious injury from a year in which he played just 29 games. Flores underwent labrum surgery, performed by orthopedist James Andrews, on Sept. 16. The Nationals expect Flores to miss six months, putting him on target to return for spring training in mid-March. Flores said he was uncertain if he'd been playing with a milder labrum injury during the season. The latest injury ruined his plans to play winter ball this offseason in Venezuela. Instead, the 24-year-old will remain in Washington for the winter, rehabbing with strength coach John Philbin and physical therapist Liz Wheeler. -- Washington Post
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