Day 1,588, Quasi-Quarantine: Lack Of Flow, Unifying Throughline Sink Promising "Great Expectations"

“I wanted to be real in a way that history wasn’t, and realized, listening to the new president, that I didn’t yet know how, couldn’t fathom where to begin.”

Dramatically and narratively unfocused, "Great Expectations" is a coming-of-age story about a young man's relationship with identity, hope, and responsibility. 

“‘You work all year to earn your summer on the Vineyard,’ she told me, smiling, after I’d marveled at the place while getting the tour. Marveling was a skill I’d recently picked up.”

Based on the author's experiences working on the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, the book veers between intensely personal musings of the narrator and attempts to ascribe the national zeitgeist in the heady days of Obama's arrival.

“He cocked his head and cocked his palms skyward. We two were feeling the same thing, he seemed to be saying, and whatever it was couldn’t be – didn’t need to be – forced through any process of language.”

Vinson Cunningham weaves commentary on religion, sex, and parenthood into the political undercurrent of time and place, ascribing intense "the political is the personal" vibes to "Great Expectations." 

“ … Ethnicity was very much like grace, and very much unlike most other American things: it existed apart from the notion, the mere appearance, of merit. You could belong without a fee.”

The author falls in love with clauses and em dashes, lending an interruptive feel to the reading, and some of the musings tend toward the vacuous. Basically, I wanted to like this one more than I actually did, which is usually the fault of the reader rather than the writer.

Blink and you could miss the denouement, but the book has a prose and pace that distinctly belong to Cunningham, making it an important addition to the literary observations of the Obama Era.

“The people I knew were and weren’t real, in the sense of authenticity. They did what they shouldn’t do without jettisoning the orthodoxies that should’ve made them ashamed.”

Limerick Friday #623: When You Have To Form A Team To Ask What Your Culture Is -- Day 1,585

Myopic and weak
Ineptitude at its peak
Gaslighting the norm
In hypocrite form
So the outlook's pretty bleak

It's gone off the rails
With managerial fails
Stop making me say, "Newman!"
And just be a fucking human
This is how marketing fails

A much-needed break
A deep breath to take
It's All-Star week
And time to take a peek
At whether the Mets are real or fake

Frauds and posers
Barnacles and hosers
Take care of your shit
Stop being a nitwit
Buncha fucking losers

The bullshit piling
So much fake smiling
The beach beckons
Not soon enough, I reckons
So TPS reports I'll keep filing

Last time ...

Quasi-Quarantine, Day 1,581: "Our Share Of Night" Haunts With Sprawling Vision Of Dark Magic And Spirit World

“One night, while the ship swayed gently, she told him that certain beings were content with wine and flowers, but real gods demanded blood.”

A sprawling epic that traverses Latin American politics, black magic, class struggles, sexual identity, and other themes, "Our Share of Night" is a kaleidoscope of imagery and intensity. 

“He had dreamed of damp hallways and handprints on walls, of the dark light that could wound and bite.”

“The Darkness was a bone collector. You didn’t talk to it. You didn’t negotiate.”

Mariana Enriquez balances drama and terror, though the book's translations can seem sketchy or incomplete. The story captivates, with cryptic passages set against the backdrop of beautiful artwork.

“I hope he dies, he thought. I hope Dad dies once and for all and puts an end to all this and I can live with my uncle or with Vicky or alone in the house and I don’t ever have to think again about locked rooms, voices in my head, dreams of hallways and dead people, ghost families, boxes full of eyelids, blood on the floor, where he goes when he leaves, where he’s coming from when he returns, I wish I could stop loving him, forget him, I wish he’d die.”

This novel is at times vivid, gruesome, and heart-breaking, making it both engrossing and difficult to read. Enriquez has built entrancing worlds, seen and unseen, real and imaginary, welcoming and threatening.

“Or maybe they were going to be two solitary men sharing a secret in that still house, year after year, who would run into each other in the early-morning hours, unable to sleep, incapable of forgetting how the hanged man swaying in the wind had no shadow.”

Day 1,575, Quasi-Quarantine: Unlikeable Narrator Causes Dystopian "World Made By Hand" To Miss The Mark

 

“‘It’s not all bad now,’ I said.
‘We’ve lost our world.’
‘Only the part that the machines lived in.’”

Imagining a world devastated by environmental scarcity and the breakdown of social systems as a result, "World Made by Hand" is a work of speculative dystopian fiction that struggles against its own constraints. James Howard Kunstler's prose is a little flat, which allows tone to be lost in the dialogue.

The first-person narrator, Robert, is a challenging prism to view this new world through. He can be submissive, selfish, blameworthy, irrational, and even aimless as he navigates his community. His complex relationship with the mysterious Brother Jobe permeates most of the story, but few answers are revealed as to the religious mysticism that adheres to Jobe's group.

“It was hard with Brother Jobe to tell where metaphor left off and something uncomfortably like hyperreality began.”

The book presents more as a MAGA apocalypse fantasy than the dystopian tale it aspires to be -- which perhaps leads to the overarching disjointed feel of the work.

“She assisted me insider her, and I felt as though I was crossing a frontier into a dangerous wilderness where the animals would never learn to speak and might not be so friendly.”

Perhaps the three sequels lend more nuance and context to the many questions that "World Made by Hand" pose. However, as a standlone book, it works as a poignant look at coming challenges, but fails to cohere as a narrative.

“And that is the end of the story of that particular summer when we had so much trouble and so much good fortune in the world we were making by hand.”

Limerick Friday #622: Don't Look Now, But Here Come The Metsies -- Day 1,564

With every error and trip

Away did the season seem to slip

'Til the Mets found their juice

And cut it all loose

I take it all back, Skip

A College World Series caravan

We believed and knew we can

Heartbreaking finishes

In no way diminishes

What a time it's been for every Pack fan

The situation is dire

But we still can't hire

So you can't build a team

Promotions are a pipe dream

So continue working with your hair on fire

Memorable Citi Field scenes

About what it all means

To sweep the Yanks

With back-to-back spanks

Hope you enjoyed Queens

At ennui do you stare

It's harder to care

Looking for distraction

Or a semblance of action

At least there's the return of "The Bear"

Last time ...

Limerick Friday #621: Juggling All The Things As Summer Beckons -- Day 1,557

These kids are gonna rad

Even when I think they're bad

One wins in an academic way

One nailed their tryout day

These are great days for a dad

Don't look now

Or even have a cow

But on their way across the pond

The Mets, of which I am fond

Won three straight -- I don't know how

Every day comes with a whammy

'Til I just don't give a dammy

So get fucked with your games

Stop saying my team's names

And quit making work a shit sammie

Old as time, his story

As he vied for golf glory

Seems like a good bloke

But all he does is choke

Your heart hurts a bit for Rory

Work is a bummer

Politics couldn't be dumber

But school is done

So let's find the fun

Because here comes the summer

Last time ...

Day 1,553, Quasi-Quarantine: Pinehurst No. 2 Wins Again

 

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend single rounds of the 2005 and 2014 U.S. Opens that were held in Pinehurst, N.C. 

My buddy Norm and I went in '05, seeing even-par Michael Campbell fend off the people's choice, Tiger Woods, and the Scooter's choice, Tim Clark (go Pack!). In 2014, Martin Kaymer led wire to wire, winning by an absurd eight strokes.

Pinehurst No. 2 is diabolical, with turtle-shell-shaped greens, sand and weeds everywhere, and blistering heat. So for Rory McIlroy to play so well all week only to give a win away based on missing a pair of three-foot putts in the final few holes was devastating.

Unfortunately, it's also part of McIlroy's legacy. Perhaps the most talented golfer of his generation, he's become known for an inability to put away majors. This time, Bryson DeChambeau took his lead back when it counted most for his second major (McIlroy has four and zero in the last decade).

I was rooting for Rory, but certainly not surprised that he found a way to hand the trophy back. But it was fun as always to watch the final round on Father's Day, with a cold beer, memories of Norm ... and recollections of past days in Pinehurst.

Day 1,550, Quasi-Quarantine: Well-Meaning "Last Best Hope" Meanders Into (Understandable) Silence

“Our bridges are buckling, another factory has closed up, badly ventilated schools are failing to educate another generation of children, hospital beds are overflowing again, local shops are posting out-of-business signs while Amazon delivery trucks fill the streets, our thought leaders sound like carnival barkers, our citizenry seems to be suffering through early-stage National Cognitive Decline, and the common skeleton is unknitting and likely to fall apart in a heap of bones for future archaeologists to study with furrowed expressions of puzzled sadness.”

Terse and direct, "Last Best Hope" is both insightful and simplistic, as George Packer strives to deliver sane explanations to contemporary America and the events of 2020. 

“It achieved its ultimate expression on the last day of 2020, in all those yellow Gadsden flags waving around the Capitol – a mob of freedom-loving Americans taking back their constitutional rights by shitting on the floors of Congress and hunting down elected representatives to kidnap and kill. That was their freedom in its pure and reduced form.”

Packer notes the myriad of similarities between Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, differentiated primarily by the style of delivery only. The author also documents how the standards for someone holding higher office have all but disappeared.

“He offered his supporters a deal: they would give him unprecedented powers, even the power to decide for them what was true; in exchange, he would drag the elites down and elevate his supporters as ‘the people.’ He would give them equality in servitude to him.”

“Sexting with a staffer does more harm to a politician than profiteering in a national crisis.”

“A character in Jonathan Franzen’s 2010 novel Freedom puts it this way: ‘If you don’t have money, you cling to your freedoms all the more angrily. Even if smoking kills you, even if you can’t afford to feed your kids, even if your kids are getting shot down by maniacs with assault rifles. You may be poor, but the one thing nobody can take away from you is the freedom to fuck up your life.’”

His thoughts on the identity as the core issue in the country -- and the four national segments he has defined -- are fascinating, but the book struggles when too many binary conclusions are drawn.

Attempting to ascribe reason to an unreasonable state of existence is an unenviable task for any writer. Packer brings meticulous research and a flurry of citations, but "Last Best Hope" ultimately offers no solutions -- are there any? -- and reinforces the hopelessness of the current climate.

“When I began this book, millions of voters were standing in long lines and there was not yet a vaccine. As I finish it, Trump is gone and people are lining up for shots. He left us less free, less equal, more divided, more delusional, more alone, deeper in debt, swampier, dirtier, meaner, sicker, and deader. But he’s gone, and we’re still here.”

“Democracy depends on belief in democracy – on an extraordinary leap of faith by ordinary people that their rulers will abide by the rules, that their votes will count, that their compatriots won’t tear the country apart, that lies won’t become truth. When the checks and balances have all given way, the last barrier to an authoritarian regime is public opinion. Even that might not be enough.”

Day 1,547, Quasi-Quarantine: There Goes That School Again

 

I don't know exactly what the hell's happening in Raleigh right now, but it's pretty goddam cool. After Alex Sosa and Eli Serrano hit 1,000 feet of homer yesterday -- drilling a couple of Georgia fratties along the way -- State is headed to Omaha for the College World Series. Needless to say, the Pack will be looking to avenge the brutal NCAA hosing that took place there three years ago.

All that to say, things are pretty, pretty, pretty fun for the Wolfpack at the minute.

Is it ... is it too early to say that NC State Shit™ is dead for now? Talk amongst yourselves.

And LFGP.

Day 1,542, Quasi-Quarantine: "The Last Song" Serves As Moving Tribute to Vulnerable, Insightful Music

 

“It might be that Frightened Rabbit are a band for old souls, those who saw before their time something magnificent or terrible flashing in the headlights. If you’ve heard a wall of guitars, a voice croon of woah-oh-oh-oh-ohhhh, a drumroll like a wrestle, maybe you’ve felt the same.”

The Scottish band Frightened Rabbit, led by the late Scott Hutchison, has long been known for the deep emotional connection its music makes with avid listeners. Edited by Aaron Kent and Maria Sledmere, "The Last Song: Words for Frightened Rabbit" compile poems that serve as tributes to and corollaries of cherished band lyrics.

The book captures the indelible impact that Hutchison's lyrics have had, displaying the resonance through art inspired by Frightened Rabbit songs. Among the highlights were Emma Whitelaw's "It's got lots to do with magnets and the pull of the moon"; M McCorquodale's "Glasgae Blessin'"; Geraint Ellis's "Odd socks"; Carl Burkitt's "10/05/18"; and Charlie Rose Evans's "Home Videos."

“may red sandstone tenements

bear the weight of yae

in yer time o’need

an offer o’ a Glasgae kiss

but no the kind you mean

it might no leave you bleedin’

but gie it a try

this time wae feelin’."

~M McCorquodale, “Glasgae Blessin’”

This collection is a tribute to the vulnerability and acknowledgment that this powerful band inspires ... and carries on in Hutchison's absence.

“Our last suppers aren’t laid to prove that we’re holy

or that laughing yourself to death isn’t a choice to console me,

only that odd socks rolled together seem a little less lonely.”

~Geraint Ellis, “Odd socks”

Day 1,540, Quasi-Quarantine: Bleeding, Weeping, Writing, And Drinking

 

"Writing is easy. You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins, and bleed." 

~Red Smith

While in Dublin last summer, we noticed this offering behind the hotel bar and had to seek it out for sale in the city.

The last couple of weeks of work have brought the message home while making me want to reach for it several times during the course of a workday. I do try to remind myself that I actively chose this life.

Slainte, friends.

Day 1,539, Quasi-Quarantine: Carlos Mendoza Is The Manager The Mets Deserve ... But Probably Not The One They Need

Listen, Carlos Mendoza seems like a nice dude and a baseball lifer. Unfortunately, he chose to manage the Mets -- and everything that comes along with that.

As NY has disintegrated in the early part of the campaign, here are a few of the many areas where he has struggled through the first third of the season:

• Bullpen mismanagement. Listen, losing Edwin Diaz, Brooks Raley, and Drew Smith really hurt the back end. However, too often he has made pitching changes for no apparent reason, even after a guy breezes through an inning in less than 10 pitches. The closer-by-committee approach has been an unmitigated disaster, and New York would be better off more clearly defining roles in the 'pen.
• Not having players' backs. It started with Mendoza not supporting his player during Jeff McNeill's run-in with Rhys Hoskins super early in the season (and awful first impression for a manager), and it hasn't let up. Sure, reliever Jorge Lopez could have handled his recent on-field outburst better, but Mendoza ended up scapegoating a dude showing some actual, you know, fire.
• Culture of being OK with losing. Last year, Tommy Pham pointed out that the Mets had the least-hard-working group of position players he'd ever been part of. From Francisco Lindor treating every on-field engagement like meeting your best friend at the club to embarrassing dugout games in the midst of 3-7 home stands, something is very broken about team accountability. Right or wrong, Mendoza is the face of that.
• Accountability for consistently awful performances. Obviously this is a follow-on to the above, but New York has entirely too many players who simply are uncompetitive at the plate or in the field. Sure, finally releasing Omar Narvaez is a step in the right direction, but what took so long? It's clear his contract was never going to be a reason to keep him, so you'd think 50+ games of hitting below .150 after a terrible 2023 would have prioritized this move sooner.
• Unclear expectations of young players. Mark Vientos never should have been sent down to Triple-A this season. Period. Joey Wendle was a disastrous signing, and the way that New York has flip-flopped on the Vientos-Brett Baty conversation at third base is flat-out embarrassing. Trying to cater to both created a situation where the Mets literally did not have a backup middle infielder for weeks. The best franchises have a vision for both player development and roster management. The Mets -- and Mendoza --appear to have neither.
• Lineup juggling. I put this one pretty far down the list because I can sort of understand what Mendoza is trying to accomplish at times. And piecing together a viable lineup has to be near-impossible based on the collective batting slump this team has endured. But Francisco Lindor leading off as a sub-.200 hitter for most of the season? Brandon Nimmo in a cleanup/power spot when he's always been an on-base guy? Pete Alonso batting second? I don't know, man. The rationale behind some of these placements is baffling at best.
• Setting the tone. Perhaps never has there been a team more in need of a managerial tirade than New York. Mendoza opted out of participation in a team meeting? Fine. But he's also bypassed several golden opportunities to get tossed from games while blistering an umpire. That may not be his natural demeanor, but c'mon man. Nothing else is working.

Look, I acknowledge that Mendoza hasn't even managed 60 games for the Mets yet, so advocating for his dismissal is over the top. But it's not inconceivable to suggest that there are awful matches between managers and teams, and that this may be one. 

As long as players see that having the highest payroll and the worst team in baseball is condoned at the upper levels, they are not incentivized to strive for improvement or adjust their approach. There's plenty of blame to go around this franchise, but fair or not, manager is usually the easiest -- and most convenient -- place to effect immediate change.

Limerick Friday #620: Summer's Over Way Too Early For The Metsies -- Day 1,536

Found their scapegoat

Threw him off the boat

Jorge Lopez pitched a fit

But at least gave a shit

Another Mets embarrassment, he wrote

Of laughs he was rife

And wit like a knife

A gentle big man

We'll never see again

Bill Walton, what a freaking life

College baseball postseason time

Throw up that Wolfie sign

The regionals are here

So grab me a beer

And root on that ol' Pack 9

No one made whole

Can't fire a soul

Demotions ignored

"Do more" implored

Can I also abdicate my role?

When they pitch, they can't hit

When they hit, they can't throw it

Plus errors for fun

Do they have anyone

Who is even worth a shit?

Last time ...

Day 1,535, Quasi-Quarantine: Ireland Backdrops Hidden Identities, Stagnant Lives, Looming Regrets, and Misunderstood Loves In "The Bee Sting"

“They were racing above the town, away from their own stories, away from everyone who wanted to remember them; they were no one, they were together, and they were alive alive alive alive.”

A dizzying collection of storylines and perspectives (and punctuation), "The Bee Sting" coalesces into an intense, emotional commentary on moments missed, decisions made, and roads taken. Ireland is a central, unifying character in the work.

“Drive out to the edge of town and beyond it into the country the yellow hills sloping up to meet the blue sky Oak trees on the crest At the crossroads a shuttered pub a blackened sign Guinness Time the country gazes back at you like a mirror with nothing in it”

Paul Murray balances sly hilarity with terror, covering ground ranging from sexuality to physical and mental abuse to environmentalism.

“If poems were true they’d just be about walking through a giant graveyard or a garbage dump … Even the sensitive people are fucking liars, you say.”

“How can a drought cause a flood? PJ whispers. How can everything that happens just make something worse happen?”

The denouement will be controversial to many, as the convergence is a bit convenient and the lack of clarifying closure can be frustrating. However, hints at the various possibilities of the ending abound throughout the book.

“But he was very clever and very complicated and you can’t be clever and complicated and have everyone like you That is just now how it works”

Few novels are capable of the moving magnetism of "The Bee Sting," a worthy feat considering its length and the difficulty of the subject matter. Murray's characters and world are sure to stay with you for a long time.

“Put his hands on your hands on your belly and tell him again This is the world now It will be how we make it”

Day 1,528, Quasi-Quarantine: Gripping "Zone One" Brings Poignancy To The Challenging Zombie-Apocalypse Genre

“Fuck it, he thought. You have to learn how to swim sometime. He opened the door and walked into the sea of the dead.”

One of world's most accomplished novelists took a swing at the zombie-apocalypse genre, and the result is an intense, emotional, and thoughtful look at who we are and who we become when it matters most. "Zone One" shows Colson Whitehead having legitimate fun in putting his trademark twists on a well-worn genre.

“The new buildings in wave upon wave drew themselves out of rubble, shaking off the past like immigrants. The addresses remained the same and so did the flawed philosophies. It wasn't anyplace else. It was New York City.”

“The city as ghost ship on the last ocean at the rim of the world. It was a gorgeous and intricate delusion, Manhattan, and from crooked angles on overcast days you saw it disintegrate, were forced to consider this tenuous creature in its true nature.”

The novel moves at a dizzying pace, with the resulting jumps in chronology being difficult to follow. However, this feels intentional, as Whitehead may be trying to represent the manic rhythms of life in a new reality through these jumps.

“He stopped hooking up with other people once he realized the first thing he did was calculate whether or not he could outrun them.”

“Everything was either a weapon or a wall, to be quantified and sorted in its utility as such.”

The author certainly likes complicated words -- and he has clearly earned the right to use them, whether he is referencing Raleigh (!) or portraying Mim in (for this reader) bittersweet and nostalgic ways. Overall, I felt the novel shared some similarities with Richard Matheson's iconic "I Am Legend."

“Affront was a luxury, like shampoo and affection.”

“The faint residue of humanity stuck to the sides of the world.”

“This is what he had learned: If you weren’t concentrating on how to survive the next five minutes, you wouldn’t survive them.”

While "Zone One" is not likely to rank among Whitehead's most important works, his ability to ascribe meaning and deep insights in the midst of an apocalypse serves to reinforce and prove his far-reaching talents.

“Best to let the broken glass be broken glass, let it splinter into smaller pieces and dust and scatter. Let the cracks between things widen until they are no longer cracks but the new places for things. That was where they were now. The world wasn’t ending: it had ended and now they were in the new place. They could not recognize it because they had never seen it before.”

Day 1,525, Quasi-Quarantine:"Handle Hard Better" Is A Lesson No One Seems To Want To Hear Anymore

I'm not normally someone who derives much inspiration or many meaningful concepts from motivational speeches, just by virtue of being, well, me.

So imagine my own surprise at myself when I allowed myself to be immersed fully into Duke coach Kara Lawson's address to her team a couple of weeks ago. There aren't a ton of days that go by when I don't think of her message.

[old-man thought to follow]:

Much of it is earned and a lot of it is understandable, but there's a lot of fragility out there -- and I'm not sure we're doing anyone any good by trying to make things easier for them.

Thanks, Coach. Good on ya.

Limerick Friday #619: What Does Leadership Mean? And Other Existential Questions -- Day 1,522

Value should be the goal

And not a black hole

How do you hire for that?

And not stand pat

In filling a haunted role

They walk everyone

And allow steals -- a ton

But hits are rare

And runs? Not on a dare

Just hoping the Mets aren't done

Time goes on

The thrill is gone

Years loom

Hope there's room

To come to terms with a con

Denver was cool

Now I feel like a fool

Things have crumbled since

You can't convince

Me things won't continue to unspool

Work is crushin'

My foot ain't hushin'

Soreness astounds

Idiocy abounds

Just give me a goddam White Russian

Last time ...

Day 1,521, Quasi-Quarantine: "Arrowsmith" Documents The Clash Of Greed And Scientific Rigor In The Roaring 'Twenties

 

"He reflected (it was an international debate in which he was joined by a few and damned by many) that half a dozen generations nearly free from epidemics would produce a race so low in natural immunity that when a great plague, suddenly springing from almost-zero to a world-smothering cloud, appeared again, it might wipe out the world entire, so that the measures to save lives to which he lent his genius might in the end be the destruction of all human life."

"Arrowsmith" succeeds despite the relative unlikeability of its protagonist and namesake, Martin Arrowsmith. Sinclair Lewis follows Martin as he fumbles his way through medical school and attempts to find his place in a society obsessed with upward mobility and finding the measure of a man through his bank account.

" … He could never understand that esoteric phenomenon, the dinner-party – the painful entertainment of people whom one neither likes nor finds interesting."

Written in 1925 and earning the Pulitzer Price (Lewis declined the award), the novel is occasionally weighed down by problematic language and a dearth of action, but the character-sketching is top notch. "Arrowsmith" works best as a condemnation of publicity and a celebration of the value of hard work, and is capable of balancing pedantic, scientific language with the ability to evoke real, earned emotion.

"He meditated that if science and public hygiene did remove tuberculosis and the other major plagues, the world was grimly certain to become so overcrowded, to become such a universal slave-packed shambles, that all beauty and ease and wisdom would disappear in a famine-driven scamper for existence."

"Years after, in a tropic noon, he remembered the freshness of her wind-cooled cheeks."

A meandering end features a clever recap element, and we are left to wonder whether Martin will be capable of living up to his lofty ideals of research or whether the lure of his family -- and fame -- will ultimately win out in the end.

" ... Wandering on improbable trains between impossible towns."

" ... He saw no one clear path to Truth but a thousand paths to a thousand truths far-off and doubtful."

Day 1,520, Quasi-Quarantine: Mark Vientos Has A Role To Play In Salvaging Mets Offense -- But What Is It?

Seemingly every other day, the Mets are being no-hit for extended stretches. Without slugging catcher Francisco Alvarez, the lineup is way too top-heavy -- even with the top of the order hitting really poorly. Francisco Lindor (.205), Pete Alonso (.226), and Brandon Nimmo (.221) are also struggling mightily, but at least showing signs of life lately.

There are simply not enough viable offensive threats, especially in the bottom half of the lineup. In particular, third baseman Brett Baty, second baseman Jeff McNeill, and center fielder Harrison Bader have combined for 17 extra-base hits between them in 379 at-bats. The trio is hitting a collective .243 with 27 RBIs.

Compounding the problem, pinch-hitting for Baty as often as New York does puts utility guy Joey Wendle on the field entirely too often. He's hitting .222 with a single RBI on the campaign, and he's been surprisingly shaky in the field too boot.

While Tyrone Taylor (.272, 13 RBIs) has shown more than Bader with the bat, both he and Bader are fourth outfielders. Unfortunately, one has to play every day at this point for New York.

It says here that the Mets simply cannot progress through the season with half the infield comprising Baty at third and McNeill at second. It's high time that New York explores alternative options for how to handle third base and second base -- and potentially center field.

OPTION 1: Package infield prospect Mark Vientos and either Taylor or Bader to a team in need of outfield help due to injury (thinking the Giants here), and hope to get a viable second baseman or outfielder in return. New York could explore Thairo Estrada and a low-level prospect in this scenario.

Pros: The Mets would be dealing from a position of strength and depth. Right now, New York has four highly regarded prospects (Vientos, Baty, Ronnie Mauricio, and Luisangel Acuna) for two available positions -- and that doesn't include Jett Williams, a tremendous prospect who primarily plays shortstop.

Cons: While this would help clean up the infield logjam, does New York's value on Vientos match other teams' value for him? Would the Mets feel comfortable for what they might get in return? 

OPTION 2: Promote Vientos and have him platoon with Baty at third and spell Alonso at first on occasion.

Pros: This plays to the strengths of each player and creates a quasi-competition to see if either might be the franchise's third baseman of the future.

Cons: Platooning likely stymies the development of both Vientos and Baty at the same time. Also, how do the Mets feel about Vientos defensively at third?

OPTION 3: Promote Vientos and have him play the rest of the season at third.

Pros: It's arguably past time to give the 24-year-old Vientos a full-time role and 400 at-bats to determine exactly what he can do on the big-league level. 

Cons: What do you do with Baty in this scenario? You can send him back to AAA, but this would seemingly be viewed as the end of his status as a big-time prospect for the organization.

OPTION 4: Move McNeill back to left field, shift Nimmo back to center, and promote a minor-leaguer -- yes, probably Acuna -- to handle second base full time.

Pros: There is value in seeing what Acuna can do in the bigs. He brings speed and potential in bunches, and the team could use a dose of both.

Cons: This is likely the riskiest approach, as most indications are that Acuna's simply not ready. He's hitting .233 with a .287 OBP so far this year at AAA Syracuse. Also, can he play second well enough? He has spending some time playing center field in the minors.

OPTION 5: Trade cheaply for another utility player to replace Wendle and potentially platoon with McNeill. Wilmer Flores, anyone?

Pros: In limited action, Wendle has made a number of mistakes both in the field and at the plate -- and he's literally on the roster as a guy who doesn't do that. Bringing in another versatile player with a stronger bat feels cost-effective and doable.

Cons: I don't see many cons with this approach, though I guess the main one would have to be the limited impact this would have on the Mets' biggest problem -- production at the plate.

The bottom line is that New York is wasting shockingly good pitching game after game. Despite injuries to a number of top pitchers -- Kodai Senga, Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, Tylor Megill, David Peterson -- the staff has delivered consistently.

It's time for the Mets to do something to complement the outstanding mound performances and show they're invested in turning this season into something real.

Day 1,519, Quasi-Quarantine: Take Me Out To The Rockies

 

On a recent visit to Denver, Colorado, I was thrilled to find out that my hotel was just a few blocks from Coors Field. Having never been to the area, I had to swing by early one morning to take a few pics.

Later that day, a few colleagues let me know that they were planning on attending the Rockies-Giants game that night. For $16, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to check out another MLB stadium.

After a rather bizarre and convoluted ticket-purchasing process, we found our way to the upper deck, where we were afforded a beautiful view of the field, with the Rockies in the distance.

Colorado (8-26 at game time) and San Francisco (15-21) are last and next to last in the National League West standings, so the baseball itself was ... challenging. Featuring former Metsies Michael Conforto and Wilmer Flores, the Giants won easily, 5-0.

After a horrid hot dog and a large Coors (what else would they serve?), we somehow made it through seven innings. At that point, the temperature was 42 degrees and the wind was kicking in big, so we elected to call it an evening.

A beautiful park in a beautiful setting in a friendly city. I hope they eventually get the team they deserve.

Day 1,518, Quasi-Quarantine: Day 2 Of The Draft Brings Another Potentially Problematic Project Prospect

Perhaps as a result of coming on the heels of a perceived reach in Chop Robinson in the first round, the selection of offensive tackle Patrick Paul seemed to generate the most angst and frustration within Dolphin Nation.

The 6-7, 331-pounder out of Houston was selected in the second round with the 55th overall pick, which for many didn't jibe with his status as a "project" by many. However, analyst Dane Brugler rated him the No. 59 overall player in the draft and a second- or third-rounder, lending credence to the idea that this was an appropriate selection.

The pluses: Well, Paul certainly has the size (he "looks the part" in scouting lingo) and prototype size and length (36-inch arms and 86-inch wingspan). He's described as aggressive and difficult to disengage with, featuring good lateral mobility. Scouts credit him with recognizing stunts quickly, and as a two-time captain, he has strong leadership qualities.

Paul also has the strength (30 reps in the bench press) and durability (44 starts at left tackle, including 39 straight) needed to give him the best chance of developing relatively quickly.

The minuses: The glaring issue seems to be an overall struggle with leverage and technique that allows him to be beaten inside (due to a wide kick-slide) and by bull rushers (due to poor hand usage and placement). 

In the run game, his tendency to get out of balance and rhythm make it difficult to sustain blocks. Paul has a reputation as someone who plays too high and holds too often, which is likely to make him a target of officials on the next level.

The bottom line: Brugler had Paul rated as the No. 8 offensive tackle in the draft, but there are few analysts I trust more on Dolphins-related issues than Simon Clancy, and his assessment of Paul was troubling to read. 

Clancy wrote that Paul's technique is "all over the place, and he'll need significant coaching before you could let him on an island in the NFL." If you're considering the rookie to be an eventual replacement for aging veteran Terron Armstead, Clancy's next comment is even more problematic.

"There is a tool-box, and he has some things you can't teach -- he's tough, smart, and nasty -- but I wouldn't touch him until the fourth round, and I wouldn't expect him to see the field for a year or two in any sort of starting capacity."

Even this scenario assumes competent position coaching, which has been a massive weakness of the 'Fins for decades. While Butch Barry had a promising start in the job last year, viewing Paul as a potential two-year project is daunting for a coach of any capacity.

Also, while the value of this pick may be in line according to some rankings, you have to keep in mind who else was available at this spot. A number of highly regarded cornerbacks were still on the board at this spot, and one wonders whether taking one of those or trading back was ever in the conversation for Miami.

In many quarters, the view is that the Dolphins took developmental prospects with each of its first two selections, which is out of kilter with what many perceive to be a rapidly closing window of contention for the franchise. Paul could be under significant pressure to escalate that timeline and mature more quickly, which may be unfair in the kindest interpretation -- and damaging in the harshest.

Limerick Friday #618: Blue Bears, Fake Fedoras, & Demos In The Desert -- Day 1,515

The air was thin

The vibe was chillin'

The Rockies loomed

The scooters zoomed

I would hit Denver again

Posturing on display

These are the games they play

Importance feigned

Teamwork deigned

What more's there to say?

The Mets laid another turd

Bordering on the absurd

At .500 they sit

And even though they won't quit

Mediocre's definitely the word

Favoritism abounded

Alarms were sounded

To be expected, sadly

Departure came gladly

Concerns were well-founded

So much hidden

You gotta be shittin'

Politics at every turn

When will we learn

This is what leads to quittin'

Last time ...

Limerick Friday #617: Clone Force 99 Fades Like A Shooting Star -- Day 1,508

They always had a plan to hatch

And special skills to match

An approach for every defense

A family in every sense

Boy, will I miss the "Bad Batch"

In the pocket he stood tall

Of defenders he took on each and all

Roman Gabriel led the Pack

And put the Rams on his back

It's past time to put him in the Hall

Most days are a blast

So many memories have passed

Loss and blessing

The love isn't lessening

15 years go so fast

The bats are still cold

The injuries continue to unfold

But they're treading water

And staying out of the gutter

This Mets team has a story to be told

"Will I know where to go?"

And every other travel woe

Planes, cabs, and trains

To go with foot pains

Remind me to go with the flow

Last time ...

Day 1,507, Quasi-Quarantine: Shed A Happy Tear For The Much-Deserved Retirement Of "The Bad Batch"

I knew the series finale of "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" was going to be super emotional, but I perhaps wasn't prepared for the 20-ish-year flashforward at the end.

Omega, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo have been mainstays for us since the Covid days. Clone Force 99 has overcome losses (Tech's absence permeates the entire final season, though it a beautiful touch to show his goggles in the last moments), setbacks, and defeats -- all without sacrificing their commitment to no brother left behind.

We've learned more than a few things over the past three seasons, including:

• Definitions can be fluid.
• Families have no blueprint.
• Different can be better.
• Broken can defeat whole.

And perhaps most importantly:

• Outcasts can be cast as heroes.

All hail Dave Filoni. And all hail the Batch.