Maine is Money Man

It is pleasant to see John Maine back in the rotation.  Last year, even when he was pitching, I could see something glaringly wrong with him.   He seemed to grimace after every pitch.  He had a dumbfounded "this used to work all the time" look on his face until he was ultimately put on the battered list for the rest of the season.  Even when he was almost able to return, you could just see that something had him pinned and he would need the entire off-season and maybe then some to get back to right.

Two solo home runs was not the fondest welcome back to the bigs he could have received, I grant.  But I did re-learn something I always said about Maine.  He can get the job done under any circumstances.  Another guy who settled down.  Trusted, his offense would make it up and he held the Marlins in check for 5 innings.  He threw a few too many pitches.  For a guy that always seems to get ahead to an 0 & 2  or 1 & 2 count, he still seems to have that tendency to allow batters back into at bats.  We never did get a close look at that curveball he was developing in the spring.  But after one start where he took a no-decision and gave the team a chance to win, I would say that it was a good start to his return.

Backstop Going to Say Something Profound Enough to Sound Silly Alert:  Lets review the past 4 seasons.  We have only had Santana for one.  Pedro (more on him in another post) was more of a team relevance declaration than it was a baseball move.  I would contend, or at least open the discussion, by saying that John Maine has been the Mets best big game pitcher since Al Leiter.  I know I can't just say something like that and not explain myself.

In 2006, after a regular season that was better than expected, Maine was given the ball in the Mets first playoff game since 2000.  Pedro was out, the supposedly unbeatable in the playoffs  - El-Duque was a last minute scratch because of a soar something or other, Perez was unproven and on short rest, etc, etc.

All John Maine did that day was take the ball, face and beat the much more experienced Derek Lowe, and give the team its first playoff win in 6 years.  Until last year's injury, he really has not looked back since then.  O6's Game 7's painful end overshadowed the gem Maine threw in Game 6.  With the rotation, baseball's equivalent of a M.A.S.H. unit, without John Maine I do not think we make the second round.

2007 & 2008 happened...I am sorry to bring that up...we must move on.  I am only bringing it up because another game lost in the archives behind last game collapses is the game he threw on the second to last game of the season.  He took a no-hitter into the 8th and struck out the entire ballpark.  The fact is that we would not have a chance to collapse on the final day if Maine did not put up with all of the money on the table on that Saturday.

Last year he was injured and tried to pitch through it and eventually could not go on.  Well now he's back.  I am brimming with optimism at the possibility that the John Maine we had a few years ago is back.  We shall see.

    

Interesting Point:  Both John Maine and Oliver Perez were traded to the Mets as throw-ins in deals that involved other players that proved to be duds.  Maine was a throw-in in the deal that brought us the long forgotten Jorge Julio for the bullpen (and export Mr. & Mrs. Benson).

Rumor has it that the Orioles gave Omar a choice of five different pitchers as the additions to that deal.  He chose Maine.  Apparently the Orioles still do not want to make any deals with the Mets because we chose the successful John Maine.  This from the same people who took Melvin Mora, who is still one of the biggest parts of their franchise in exchange for Mike Bordick (who showed up for exactly one at bat and was MIA to and through the World Series).  Sorry...we chose John Maine.  The Perez deal was mainly built around Xavier Nady and Roberto Hernandez.  The essential need in that deal was the return of Roberto Hernandez after the now infamous Duaner Sanchez cab ride downin Miami.

Next:  The backstop wants to talk about the offense.