Jason Isringhausen

This weekend, the Oakland Athletics will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the organization’s 1972 World Series championship, as part of their three-game series hosting the Cleveland Indians.

In the early going to the 2011 season Terry Collins has had trouble managing the Mets bullpen because of the ineffectiveness of just about every pitcher in it. The problems started from the get go with a blown save in the second game of the year by closer Francisco Rodriguez and seems to have had a trickle down affect on everyone else.

There is one word to describe the New York Mets bullpen this year: Ugly. Even when they have gotten through innings without giving up a run, they have frequently walked batters, gotten behind in most counts and have thrown more balls than strikes.

It's been more than two decades since the New York Mets drafted a young right-hander by the name of Jason Isringhausen. Since that time, "Izzy" has almost 1,000 innings under his belt, with just under 300 saves. In 2011, Isringhausen, now 38, is back in Mets camp.

Panic!

John Smoltz is hurt. Chris Carpenter has lost his “A” game. Ryan Franklin has morphed into a bad Brad Lidge slash Jason Isringhausen clone. Kyle Lohse is complacent after signing a big contract. The defense is poor. The hitting is worse. It’s time to stop the season right now and put this team out of it’s misery. We can’t let them perform any longer. We simply do not want the youth of America exposed to such blatant acts of cruelty. The kids, why doesn’t anybody ever think about the kids!

Easy, people. Easy.