April 2009
Amazingly Bad
The New York Mets might have accomplished something in Buffalo in 14 games which the Cleveland Indians could not do in 14 years. Get themselves run out of Buffalo. The Cleveland Indians left Buffalo after 14 seasons, 9 of which were playoff years, 3 of which were championships. The Bisons never wanted the Tribe to leave, but everyone understood the move was not because the Indians were unhappy with Buffalo, but because more money could be made with a farm club in Columbus so games could be shown in Sports Time Ohio. This new ownership of the Indians is more about the money then the product on the field. But no hard feelings where held by either the Indians or the Bisons.
So after much speculation about who the new parent club would be, Toronto, Pittsburgh or someone else, the Bisons signed with he New York Mets. The love fest started, the uniforms changed to Mets colors, the logo was changed to something similar to the Mets logo. NY was put everywhere around the ballpark, everything looked good except for one thing, the team. As this team stands now, they might be able to compete in rookie ball. This is by no means a good Triple A or, Double A or High A team. Never before has Buffalo seen such a bad offense. The Bisons have been shut out in 3 of their first 14 games. The best hitter in pitcher Brandon Knight, whose double to the warning track is about all the power the Bisons have seen this season. Mets prospect 1B/LF Nick Evans, who was supposed to start the season in New York before Gary Sheffield was signed has people wondering why is he here? He should be playing for the Brooklyn Cyclones when the season starts. He is no where near ready for Triple A. He has five hits on the seaons (four off a pitchers, one off of a catcher). And the sad things is his .096 batting average is not far behind the rest of the team. No one on the team is batting over .300. Jason Cooper who has only 11 at bats leads the team with a .273 average.
The Mets seem somewhere intrested in signing some players, as Willey Mo Pena is expected to make an appearance in Bisons orange and blue soon. Bisons fans realize that when the major league team is struggling as the Mets are, putting a winning team on the field is Triple A is not the major concern, but this team is so bad it has fans upset, and they are not the only one. It seems the Bisons have voiced their displeaser already, and have even made it public they have talked to the Mets about how bad this team is. If things don’t change around here soon, I would expect the Mets will be shipping their players out west again in 2011 as the Bisons get yet another new parent club.
What did he expect?
Josh Beckett got suspended six games, and said he did not expect it. What did he think just because he was one of the best pitchers in baseball that MLB was going to ignore that he threw at a batters head and then moved towards the plate when Abreu did not charge the mound. Beckett is just lucky MLB did not nail him for ten games or so. He should have gotten tossed from the game the second that pitch flew over the batters head. No doubt he meant to do that, and you miss a bit and you hit a batter and things could be really bad.
The Bisons played another afternoon game, and lost again. Today the Bisons managed three runs, which is about the max you can expect from this team. So the Bisons record now falls to 1-6, which is worst in the IL. They are already 6 games out of first. So by the end of hte week I am guessing the playoffs will be out of the question. It is a very sad season when it is over before the team plays a road game.
Not a Great Start
I don’t think this is the way the New York Mets or Buffalo Bisons envisioned the season starting for the Mets top farm club. A lot of Bison fans were a bit worried about the Mets becoming the new parent club after seeing a lot of bad teams in Norfolk. But the Mets put a veteran club out on the field, with a few prospects mixed in, so there was some hope. But six games into the season this could be the worst baseball team I have ever seen. This team has no offense. Nick Evans, who was the “last man cut in New York” looks overmatch in triple a. I don’t think this is a guy who is pouting, but more of a guy who is not ready for this level. But he is not far behind the rest of the hitters, because no one is hitting. Yet Jason Cooper is not on the roster yet. If he could hit .250 he could be leading the team. I know that triple a is to develop players, but you would think the Mets would not mind winning a game too. I strongly believe if players get used to playing for a losing team, it is a attutude brought to the majors.
Top pitching prospect Jonathon Niese has been awful in both his starts. This is a guy who could have won the Mets fifth spot? He is getting hammered in the minors. It looks more like the guy is out there throwing batting pratice then pitching. The only bright spot on the team has been the defense. Last year Morgan Ensberg, Josh Barfield and company could not field a ball to save their life. So there was really no where to go but up.
But the Bisons do look good in their snazzy new duds, so that is a positive.
I’m Back!
I have not written in this blog in a long time, but it is time to start it back up. So with the relaunch of the blog, things have changed a bit around here. While the Jays are still my favorite team, this blog is about the Buffalo Bisons, which is why the Mets layout.
So it about that special day. Thursday is opening day for the Bisons at newly renamed Coke-Cola Field, formerly Dunn Tire Park, North Americare Park, The Ballpark in Downtown Buffalo, and Pilot Field. The name change of the ballpark is not the only new thing this year. Of course the biggest is the Cleveland Indians left for Columbus leaving the Bisons to find a new parent club. In come the New York Mets, who after getting booted out of Norfolk three years ago were exiled to New Orleans. To go with the new parent club, the Bisons got new uniforms, a new logo, and colors. Royal blue, orange and black to go with the new parent club. The Bisons have went all out with the New York Mets thing. Orange foul poles and home run lines, new “NY style” foods at the ballpark. The Bisons always had their own thing going, never really using the parent club Indians as a promotion. But this year it is all about the Mets. If this thing fails, the Bisons will have a lot of things to change. But I would expect the teams to sign an extension soon so the deal is up to four years.
Tonight I will be heading down to Pettibones, for the Phillies vs. Braves opening night party the Bisons put on every year. Can’t wait for Thursday, which early weather reports are 49 and sunny.
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