(Kaz Matsui has been marked down, perhaps because he so closely resembles a cross between David Justice and Yul Brynner).

Glorious weather and a Flushing vibe that wouldn’t have disturbed a souffle made for mixed results on Sunday ; CSTB’s crew handled the Mets’ humilation at the fins of the Fish with good humor and class. At least the people sitting near me. I have no idea what was going on over in Jeff Johnson’s part of Section 5 — presumably he’s not been banned from Shea.


(I hate to contradict the manager, but that really isn’t a lot of meat. Still, Shea could be the only stadium in the US in which the opening of a Subway represents a major improvement in ballpark fare).

And on a similar tip, our apologies to frequent CSTB contributor David Roth, who was scheduled to throw out the game’s first pitch, but at the last minute, Mets brass decided to let Victor Zambrano do it instead.

If only that was the end of the day’s indignities. As you can see above, the Mets marketing department chose not to acknowledge our presence with the organzation’s full name, nor were we deemed worthy of the full scoreboard presentation, unlike the outfit below. If you ask me, there’s something unseemly about naming a blog “Bronx Special Olympics”, as those courageous kids deserve our encouragement, not mockery. But I guess in this Farelly-Brothers-modern-age, humor cannot be too cruel, and neither can the New York Mets.

Sincere thanks to everyone who attended. And an additional nod of gratitude to the entire Mets batting order, whom mindful of our dinner appointments, kept the things moving at a rapid pace, allowing Dontrelle Willis to finish some of the late innings in what seemed to be seconds rather than minutes.

On a more serious tip, it would be interesting to see if the next time the Mets are completely dominated by an opposing pitcher if anyone, say, the speeedy shortstop for instance, might try bunting their way on.

Mike Lowell, who doubled off Mets reliever Aaron Heilman in the 9th, had one of the worst at bats I’ve seen from any major leaguer not named Al Leiter this past Friday against Braden Looper. Along with Sammy Sosa, Todd Helton, Mike Piazza and Brett Boone, Lowell is another former offensive powerhouse who seems to overmatched more often than not. Interesting that all of the above stars have been the subject of drug rumors as well.

Boone, by the way, was designated for assignment by Seattle on Sunday.

As long as the foolishness of the All-Star Game determining home field advantage in the World Series continues, perhaps it is time to do away with the rule that each club must have at least one representative in the contest. Does anyone honestly believe that Mike Sweeney or Danys Baez are more deserving of an invite than Chicago’s Scott Posednik?