Fan News

Phillip Joseph Hughes, better known simply as Phil Hughes, has had a very tumultuous career thus far and has hurdled many challenges on his way to his postseason starting debut tonight in the Bronx.

In high school, Hughes was a first team All-American pitcher, while posting a combined 21-1 record between his junior and senior years, including a perfect game.

As baseball fans know the Omar Minaya era has came to an end in New York after six years.  Though the Mets had one of the highest payrolls when Minaya was in office the team never really established themselves other than in 2006. 

As a Mets fan, I must say Omar did bring us some good times but he definitely brought us some bad times.  Minaya brought in the likes of Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran but on the other end he also brought in the likes of Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez. 

One day, hopefully sooner than later, Mets fans will look at October 4th, 2010 as a great date in Mets history. As of today, it is a very sad date. Many fans have been clamoring for the day when the Wilpons would stand at Citi Field’s podium and announce the firing of Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel.

I have to admit I was one of those fans. The key word here is “was”.

The Mets are currently in a changing phase.  Many new faces are going to be brought into Queens, and others will leave. 

One of the players whose name is coming up to leave is Jose Reyes.  The talks have recently dimmed down, but just the thought of that made me sick.  The Mets without Jose Reyes.  That just doesn't sound right at all. 

Conventional wisdom heading into last night's game seemed to suggest that Roy Halladay's historic Game 1 masterpiece might have provided a devastating psychological edge in the Phillies-Reds NLDS series. 

The thinking was that the Reds might be demoralized to the point of believing they had no chance in the series, especially as they were staring at the back two-thirds of "The Big Three." And, conversely, the Phillies would be brimming with the necessary confidence and energy to overwhelm their rivals.

The Minnesota Twins did not expect to find themselves in this situation again.

Rick Ankiel was never supposed to be an outfielder.

Troy Glaus was not supposed to be a third baseman.

Brian Wilson was not supposed to be human.

The National League Division Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves is not supposed to be tied—but it is.

In a completely anti-Game 1 sort of way, the Philadelphia Phillies pulled off an unprecedented win against the Cincinnati Reds Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. 

In a way, the Reds revealed a Phillies-like resilience about them.

In what could have been a culture shock for fans transitioning from Game 1 to Game 2, the team turned into the same old Phillies that they've come to know in the last four years.

The latest edition of the Brewer Nation Podcast (recorded on October 5th despite the label in the file name) is available for downloading and listening.

Click the link to launch the file or download the file first to save a copy!

Brewer Nation Podcast - 10/5/2010

In my Atlanta Braves-San Francisco Giants NLDS preview, I thought the Giants bullpen would be the difference in this series. For the Giants, their bullpen was the difference in Game 2 of this series, but not in a good way.