Notes From Shea Stadium

    I just got back from the Mets-Dodgers game a little while ago and I thought I’d share some observations from the game.
    Parking is up to the absurd level of $13; and there was a ridiculous traffic snarl due to the US Open Men’s Final that was about to start at the National Tennis Center adjacent to Shea Stadium. If parking is $13 now, what is it going to cost when they open the new ballpark? I know it’s a subject that has been touched on before; but how are normal people who don’t make a ton of money supposed to afford a nice afternoon at the old ballpark with those kinds of prices?
    With the tickets I bought online, I received two passes into the Shea Stadium Diamond Club. There are two separate restaurants. One is a grill room with a bar that sells pub food like sandwiches and burgers; the other is supposedly nicer with a buffet and you have to make reservations. There is also a view of the field from the restaurant. My fiancee and I ate in the grill room and the prices were surprisingly reasonable; about what you’d expect to pay if you went to eat in a New York bar and grill. And the food was pretty good. There were also the Mets Hall of Famers bust statues encased in the center of the lobby of the Diamond Club; Keith Hernandez’s appears the most thoughtful.
    On the way down the ramp to our seats, I looked at a neatly dressed gentleman walking up the ramp and realized that it was Mets general manager Omar Minaya. I exclaimed, "Omar! You’re doing a great job." He smiled and nodded. He seemed humble and somewhat shy. I suppose it’s a good thing I didn’t ask him if he ever got the letter I sent him at the end of last season detailing Willie Randolph’s egregious rookie managerial mistakes and entreating him to replace Randolph with Lou Piniella. It turns out it’s a good thing he didn’t listen (if he saw the letter at all, that is).
     The game began and was scoreless until the third inning when Steve (14-7) Trachsel imploded. Trachsel was so rancid that it is becoming a serious question as to whom is going to be the fourth starter in the post-season. Randolph has never made any overt attempts to mask his indifference with Trachsel and I don’t think he’d show unnecessary loyalty to him if he doesn’t feel starting him is the best way to go.
    To be blunt, as well as the Dodgers have played since their flurry of deadline deals, they don’t look like a team that is going to go very far in the playoffs (if they make it). They’re overly right-handed other than the streaky and oft-injured J.D. Drew; and their defense appears a bit porous in spots. Their bullpen is also a question mark despite the emergence of Takashi Saito as their closer.
    In my view, the Mets have done a great job in boosting  (and I saw him live for the first time today), a mediocre talent in Brian Bannister. His mechanics are terrible; he throws with only his arm and lands on a stiff front leg; his stuff appears to be the kind that will work one time through the league as he wriggles in and out of trouble due to his poor control. Once the rest of the league gets a bead on him, he’s going to get shelled.
     The Mets took the opportunity of a 9-1 blowout to have a look at Shawn Green at first base (just in case) and at Julio Franco at third base (which would mean that half the team had gotten hurt). But that’s the good thing about having a 16 game lead in the division and knowing you’re going to the playoffs; you can try different things as though it is spring training and make sure all the pieces are in place for the playoffs. And the way Trachsel pitched and with Bannister looking as shaky as he does, the future of the Mets is becoming clearer and clearer every day.