Just because you can't get enough Delgado
I'm here to give you even more words on everyone's new favorite player. Admit it. You had been using that black No. 21 jersey for a dog blanket back when Delgado was hitting .210. Maybe you already had ripped it into rags for polishing your car. Now, you're clicking on Mets.com and trying to decide on the home white, road gray or ever-popular pinstripes. Heck, get all three.
Forget Raymond. Everybody loves Delgado now. And why not? Yesterday's two-run double in the eighth inning -- with two outs and two strikes BTW -- launched the Mets into sole possession of first place in the National League East. And for all those wondering why Delgado is such a human wrecking ball at the plate over the past month, check out my column in this morning's Newsday.
Mechanics? Video? I think not. Hitting coach Howard Johnson pretty much tells you all you need to know about what flicked the switch in Delgado. (I'll give you a hint -- it happened while you were sleeping on June 17). Along those same lines, here's a not-so-subtle reference Delgado made to Randolph that Johnette Howard included in her column today:
[The resurgence of Perez and Delgado has dovetailed almost perfectly with the firing of Mets manager Willie Randolph and pitching coach Rick Peterson. That's a fact that Delgado didn't miss an unsolicited chance to rub in yesterday when told his on-base percentage for the month of July is .489.
"I guess I'm getting my uniform dirty now," Delgado said and winked, mocking a criticism that Randolph leveled at him back when Delgado was struggling badly.]
And here's another anecdote I found interesting about Delgado. Remember that treasured hitting diary he keeps on all of his at-bats? Back in February, when he left his home in Puerto Rico for spring training, Delgado forgot the notebook on a kitchen table and thought he had lost the valuable resource. It wasn’t until his wife, Betzaida, returned to the island in June that she discovered the diary.
“We had everything ready to go – baby stuff, suitcases,” Delgado said, “and I guess I didn’t put it in my carryon bag.”
Delgado got it back during the Subway Series at Shea and he’s been dutifully logging entries ever since. “I’m up to May,” he said. Delgado was batting around .215 at that time, so at least he can feel like the worst is finally behind him.
Maybe that's true for the Mets, too. Now that Ollie Perez is unhittable, as Johnette Howard explains in this column, anything seems possible. Don't look for the Phillies to disappear, however. This week was just the latest round in what is becoming a steel cage match between these two teams, who apparently don't like each other very much.
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Comments (3)
It looks like Delgado is back and that can only be good news but let us remember that we can apply his 16 mil salary toward a much younger 1B next year. I'm a fan who has learned that this is a business and I hope Omar doesn't let a WS victory ( Hopefully) cloud his thinking. Meanwhile, thanks Carlos for turning it around, we need you this year.
That's the question. You have to buy him out at 16 million, so the cost of retaining him is $12 million. If you can get Texieria do it, but if, as expected, he passes on the Mets (which is a shame because he'd be an almost perfect fit as a player), then I would think the Mets might seriously entertain bringing him back and then take the draft pick for 2010.
The problem with the theory that Willie Randolph's exit somehow led to Delgado's offensive turnaround is that between June 17-June 30, Delgado hit .240 with 5 HRs. That's pretty much what he had been hitting all season.
It wasn't until July when Delgado really hit his stride. And the funny thing is, that there IS a correlation between July 1 and Delgado's turnaround...
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmearly0702,0,7415005.story