Big Apple Sports: All New York Sports. All The Time.

Watching your every move.  A little Hall and Oates for you as we track the results of ex-Mets on Opening Day:

• Center fielder Lastings Milledge, whose off-season trade was widely panned by fans of the team, debuted on Sunday night with an 0-4 at the plate in the Washington National’s thrilling victory over Tim Hudson and the Atlanta Braves (Once a Met, always a Met—surprised that he couldn’t hit Altanta pitching?).  But Milledge came back with a vengeance today against the Philadelphia Phillies, whom the Nationals defeated, 11-6 after a five run outburst in the top of the ninth inning.  In the top of the sixth, he crushed a two run home run to left field, to give the Nationals a 6-3 lead, and finished the game going 2-4 with three runs scored from the two hole in the line up.  Although the jury is out on Milledge long-term, there is no denying his talent.  He is exciting enough that Mets fans will be watching Brian Schneider and Ryan Church, the two players acquired from the Nationals for him, closely all year long. 
• Meanwhile catcher Paul LoDuca had a fairly inauspicious beginning against the Braves, going 0-3 and allowing a wild pitch behind the dish to allow the Braves to score the tying run in the 9th inning on Sunday night.  Although he would go 1-4 against the Phillies today, that one hit came in the ninth inning helping to pace the Nats five run attack on route to their victory. And just imagine what he might have done on steroids? 
• Left-hander Tom Glavine, donning a Braves uniform again after five years with the Mets, made his season debut tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitched well-enough to get the win.  He gave up two runs, one earned, over five innings of work, striking out three in the process.  Problem is, it took Glavine 97 pitches to get through five, and the Braves bullpen appears to be a big question mark.  One night after giving up a home run to Ryan Zimmerman to lose on Opening night, six Braves relievers have combined to give up 10 runs.  If there is a serious achilles heel to all the pundits selecting the Braves to win the NL East this year, it will be their bullpen.  On behalf of Mets nation, here’s hoping Glavine saves his worst for last—like he did for us–and the bullpen continues to implode.   
• Speaking of which, ex-Met Xavier Nady, battling Glavine and the Braves, has had a banner day—he homered in the eighth inning off Manny Acosta (who?), and hit a three run homer in the 12th to give the Pirates the victory.  All in all, he scored four times, got four hits (2 dingers) and four rbis. Rumors that the affectionally named X-Man would return to New York were alive all spring, but nothing has yet to come to fruition.  Perhaps, the X-Man has finally arrived.  The only consolation in his loss is the acquisition of Oliver Perez. 
• Guillermo Mota, hated reliever for the New York Mets, had a solid debut for the Milwaukee Brewers, pitching a scoreless inning and striking out two Cubs in the process.  Mota was essentially traded for a player who is not on the team anymore, in a less than latent attempt at dumping his salary.  Few, if any, will be particularly surprised if Mota self-destructs on the mound in the near future, but for now, he looks like a solid pick up for the Brew Crew in the seventh-eighth inning role.  Frankly, I have never forgiven him since he threw that changeup to Scott Spezio resulting in the Cardinals tying Game 2 of the NLCS in 2006. If Mota shuts the door down there, the Mets are likely up 2-0 and looking at a World Series appearance in six games.  Instead, we get Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright… 
• Kaz Matsui, the Mets former Japanese star turned punching bag, who was an important component in the rise of the Colorado Rockies last year, will begin the season on the disabled list for the Houston Astros.  The reason?  According to Yahoo! Sports, and this is not a misprint, (anus).  Actually, his condition is anal fissures, but Yahoo! only lists the body part that is ailing–i.e. his anus. I can’t make this stuff up people. 
• Center fielder Carlos Gomez, the much maligned center piece to the Johan Santana deal, went out of his way to make sure that Minnesota Twins fans would begin to embrace him.  Gomez went 2-3, with two stolen bases and two runs scored at the top of the Twinkies line up, leading them to a 3-2 victory over the West favored Anaheim Angels.  If Gomez, who is considered faster than Jose Reyes, keeps this up, the Twins will have found themselves some gem for the future.  On a side note, Livan Hernandez, whom some Mets fans wanted to sign during the offseason, started for the Twins on Opening Day and looked very sharp—he gave up seven hits over seven innings, striking out only one in giving up two runs in the win.  He outpitched young stud Jered Weaver in the Metrodome—not bad for an old man with a lot of innings on his arm.  We can only hope Orlando pitches as well as his brother did, when he returns from the disabled list.
• Former Met leftfielder Cornelius Clifford Floyd, now the DH for the Tampa Bay Rays, made his debut today, going 1-4 with a run scored.  Floyd batting fifth in the Rays line-up behind BJ Upton should benefit greatly from this role.  After years of achilles tendon, heel, and knee problems, Floyd will lkely be able to give these body parts a rest making only four trips to the plate a game—but then again, knowing Floyd—he will find a way to get hurt again.  Here’s hoping Floyd, one of the genuine good guys in baseball, thrives in Tampa…He could seriously go down as one of the most hard luck players in the game. 
• Ruben Gotay, recently cut by the Mets to make room for a right handed bat—Fernando Tatis or Brady Clark depending on who you ask—made his debut for the Braves, who picked him up 48 hours ago.  In a pinch hit appearance, Gotay walked and scored on a Chipper Jones single in the ninth inning.  A real travesty that he was a) cut and b) picked up by the Braves.  That hurts–always liked Gotay and though he can’t field, he can hit—well.  The Braves will benefit from his presence.   

Other News and Notes:

• Barry Zito, whom many pundits believed would sign with the Mets in the 2006 offseason, opened for the San Francisco Giants today and picked up where he left off last year–poorly.  Zito gave up four runs over five innings—conceding eight hits to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 5-0 loss.  Zito, who was expected to benefit from National League lineups, has watched his ERA jump over half a point, and has watched his strike outs decline precipitously since joining the Giants.  On behalf of all Mets fans I say: Whew! and thank you to Omar Minaya for holding your stance on five year contracts.  Zito will be known for being particularly uppity after signing with the Giants, sending out many veiled references to the lack of disrespect the Mets showed him by not offering him “ace” money.  It is quite clear that the Mets were right on this—and for that decision, we likely have Santana, a true ace, today. We dodged a big fat bullet on that one. 
•  Reliever and former Met Octavio Dotel, who was rumored to be courted by the Mets this offseason, but instead signed with the Chicago White Sox, has not looked good this spring, sporting a 10.80 ERA.  Well, his opening day debut did not go any better—Dotel gave up three runs on three hits in the bottom of the eighth inning, taking the loss in Cleveland’s 10-8 victory over the Sox. 
• Finally, shortstop and utility man Jeff Keppinger of the Cincinnati Reds, a former Mets prospect traded to Kansas City for Ruben Gotay, went 0-4 on Opening Day against Brandon Webb and the Arizona Diamondbacks.  After being cut by the Royals last year, Keppinger joined the Reds and hit .332 in 67 games, hitting five home runs and 32 rbis in the process.  Some Mets fans had quietly hoped that Keppinger would become the Mets future second baseman four years ago.  Questions abound whether he is the real deal or just a flash in the pan. Never understood the Keppinger hype–personally, I think Luis Castillo will have a big year for the Mets. 
• For anyone who still cares, scrappy third baseman Ty Wiggington is set to start at 3rd base for the Houston Astros. Love Ty and wish him well. If there were justice in the world, Wiggington would have gotten a second base job years ago and be left to his devices.  His stats at the position would have placed him in to the top five there.