We must remember the less fortunate

While we here at SoxandPhils are giddily dreaming of October, it would be irresponsible if we didn't take a moment to remember the poor Mets fans today.

I'm sure they have long accepted that their team is going nowhere, but now that Willie Randolph has been fired in the dead of the night, how are they going to spend the rest of the season? I guess they can always speculate on whom the permanent manager will be.

Speaking of which, the Phillies are trying to get fans to vote Chase Utley and Pat Burrell into the All-Star game. Utley doesn't need the help; Burrell does. But now that Randolph is gone, the organization and fans should start putting pressure on Clint Hurdle to name Charlie Manuel to replace him as a coach.

And Willie's classless firing - did they at least pay for his return trip from California? - didn't surprise those who made preseason predictions on this site, except the Mets fan.

All right, back to teams that matter. See you at the park tonight.

Mets now accepting has-beens, cast-offs

Trot Nixon, a long-time Red Sox fan favorite, is now a Met. That's how bad things are going for the second team in New York, where Willie Randolph is on what seems to be the 12th death watch of the season.

I'll always root for Trot. I wasn't happy when he won a game for the Indians in last year's ALCS, but I didn't hold it against him personally. I hope he can rejuvanate his career as the Mets finish in last.

We're trotting all over the state. We're going to see one of the newest Red Sox fans, then up north into Yankee territory. So we may not update tonight.

Sox-Phils interleague history, 2006: The Sox took two of three in Philly in May - splitting the two games we attended. We didn't go to the opener in which Matt Clement beat Jon Lieber 5-3, keyed by Mike Lowell and David Ortiz homers. In the Saturday game, we saw Josh Beckett for the first time. Sloppy defense on both sides ruined his duel with Brett Myers. Beckett gave up four runs (three earned) in 7 innnigs; Myers gave up six runs (two earned) in 6.1. Sox won 8-4. Beckett also hit a homer and an RBI single.

Before the game, we were stopped by a couple of girls who wanted to take our picture because they were on a scavanger hunt and needed a picture of a couple wearing competing jerseys. We obliged. Our picture is probably on some weirdo Web site like ours.

The finale was a Phillies blowout. Brian and Liza invited us to join them in their section in right field, so I sold the tickets we had bought to a colleague (Red Sox fan). Cory Lidle, who we seemed to see more than any other Phillies pitcher at the time, was pitted against Lenny DiNardo, who combined with Abe Alvarez to give up eight runs in five innings. Future enemy Bobby Abreu was a double away from the cycle. Phils won 10-5.

There was a strange off-field incident: David Wells accused David Dellucci of using steroids.

The teams hooked up again a month later in Boston, and the Phillies faced some serious PR problems for starting Myers in a nationally televised game after reports that he hit his wife. Charges were dropped, and Myers seems to have matured since the incident.

On the field, the Red Sox swept. We didn't go to any games, but I have lots of memories of the series. During the first game, I was sanding and spackling a room we were planning to paint. Josh Beckett beat the Phils 10-2, but I'll remember Scott Mathieson pitching well for 4.2 innings after starter Ryan Madson got shelled. We listened to the middle game (the Myers debacle) while driving to North Jersey for a wedding. David Ortiz had a walk-off homer against Tom Gordon in the 10th. Jonathan Papelbon won it. I don't remember the Sunday finale; we were probably driving home from the wedding. Sox won 8-7 in 12, Craig Hansen over Clay Condrey.

Revenge

So far, the big rivalry between the Blue Jays and Phillies (cue up Joe Carter on ESPN Classic) has been about players getting revenge on their former teams. On Friday, it was Jayson Werth hitting three home runs against his former team. Tonight, Rod Barajas' had vengeance with two homers and five RBIs to beat the Phils and Adam (how much longer till Kris Benson's ready?) Eaton.

Look for Scott Rolen to have a big day tomorrow.

Fielding woes: Ryan Howard's little hitting streak ended tonight. He also made his fourth error of the year (seems like there have been more) in the 9th inning, which helped the Jays blow it open as the Phils seemed primed for a last-minute comeback win. I've seen some bad fielding first basemen, but I've never seen one have so much trouble just catching routine throws from infielders, like tonight's error. Christine has noted for years that he seems to prefers low throws. I think they should just put some "stick 'em" in his glove.

In the second game of the Brewers-Red Sox double header, usually slick-fielding Alex Cora and Mike Lowell made errors to cough up the lead in the 7th, which was quickly regained in the bottom half of the inning. Hopefully, they can hold on and return to first place.

The first game was a pleasant surprise. Staff ace (until Josh Beckett turns around his season) Daisuke Matsuzaka had one of his better performances, pitching into the 7th with two walks - and only 103 pitches. He's now 7-0 with a 2.15 ERA. Is it too soon to think the manager and starting pitcher in the last All-Star game at Yankee Stadium will be Red Sox?

Speaking of which, Willie Randolph, who could be fired any day, and Joe Girardi, who owns a .480 career winning percentage, have been named coaches to the All-Star game. Yes, I know it's a New York thing. Yes, I know Terry Francona had some say in it. But it's still a crock.

They're losing their minds

Things aren't starting out too well for last year's uncrowned NL East champs. You would figure signing Johan would do something to overcome the fact that they crumbled last year, couldn't even beat the Marlins on the last day of the season to force a tie for the division and were basically whiny little bitches as the Phils took care of business.

Now, the Mets can't even beat a college team. And they can't even do that without Billy Wagner threatening a kid who tried to bunt off him. Apparently, you don't make B-Wags field during the first spring training game - especially if you play for the University of Michigan.

Wagner, clearly annoyed, shook his head a number of times, and Cislo wisely swung away, grounding out. Wagner said he couldn't believe that Cislo, a junior, bunted.

"If he got that bunt down, I would have drilled the next guy," Wagner said. "Play to win against Villanova."

Even Willie Randolph - one of the few Yankees who doesn't sicken me - didn't have a problem with his ace reliever's threat.

Asked about Wagner's reaction, manager Willie Randolph laughed.

"He couldn't bring himself to drill the kid," Randolph said. "Nolan Ryan might have. Nolan or Roger [Clemens] may have done it, kid or not."

But then again, maybe Willie also remains shell-shocked from last year:

While the Mets viewed the game as their preseason tuneup, Michigan was fired up, and Randolph mentioned that all the Wolverines' chatter "-- me off a little bit."

The Mets are clearly a wounded, demoralized animal, the wrong mix when people are already predicting a Phillies-Mets brawl. Ironically, when that talk was going good, Wagner was complaining about a young Phillie taking him on, but he has no problems threatening to put a fastball in some young kid's gut.

"I have all the respect in the world for those guys," Billy Wagner said [of the Phillies]. "I don't have any ill will against them. But if they want to come out and fight, then bring it on. That's their prerogative -- fine. I'm too old to be worrying about fighting somebody. I'm having enough trouble getting somebody out as it is.

"If one of their little 25-year-olds wants to come out and whip my ass, they can brag that they whipped a 37-year-old man's ass. Well, good for them. It's always good to play that underdog role.

"If they come out there, though, there's two things that could happen. I'm pretty sure they're going to whip my ass. But what if I get a shot in? What if? Then you just got your ass whipped on national TV by the littlest guy in baseball, so think of that 'What if?'"