In The Star Ledger, Don Burke explores the special relationship between Pedro Martinez and Mets bullpen coach Guy Conti, who Pedro refers to as his “white daddy”

“I'll never let him down,” Martinez said.
“He's my true white daddy and I treat him with
that respect.

“If I was to retire today, make a decision like
that. He would be the one person I'd call and say,
'What do you think?' I respect Rick Peterson. I
respect Willie Randolph. I respect every coach in here. But
when it comes to a personal decision, the first guy I would
run to is Guy Conti.”

Conti has known Pedro since he was just 15 years old, and has been there for Pedro throughout his major league career. When Pedro was just a minor leaguer, Guy took Pedro under his wing and Guy's wife, Jan Conti, help Pedro improve his english by teaching him a word a day.

Russell Zanca, Ethan Kwassman, and DJDef1 are the three winners of Dana Brand's “Mets Fan” book.

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks for contributing your opinions to Hot Foot!

In today's Bergan Record, Bob Klapisch talks about a Mike Pelfrey that we have all been waiting for.

The real story, though, was Pelfrey, who threw so hard and so
convincingly, it was hard to believe this was the same underachieving
kid who'd pitched himself out of the rotation in May. Had it not been for that base hit, it's possible Pelfrey would've had a
brush with history.

Pelfrey's slider was the key to his success, as he was finally able to harness it and used it to fool the Braves all day. The Braves gave Pelfrey the best kind of endorsement, befuddlement.

“I don't know if he was well-rested or what, but the ball came out
of his hand really well,” said Teixeira, the Braves' first baseman. “He
got it up to 97 mph, he was sitting at 95. And the way his ball moves,
he really didn't give us much to hit over the plate.”

“His ball just bores in on you,” said Bobby Cox. “When he throws that breaking ball, it's hard to lay off.”

Pelfrey describes how he stopped thinking about making pitches and regained his velocity while in the minors.

If Pelfrey can keep this up, he might finally be realizing the potential that the Mets had been waiting for him to live up to.

     Well, it's finally here!  Saint Pedro Day returns this Monday against the Cincinati Reds.  Irronically, Pedro pitched his first game as a Met against the Reds.  We all remembered what happened after he left, but never mind that.  This is like a rebirth for Pedro and the Mets.  The true leader of the pitching staff has returned.  The fire.  The drive.  The, I'm going to knock you out, spirit is returning to the Mets via Pedro Martinez.  So what does Pedro have to do in order to give the Mets a boost?  

    For me, five soild innings.  Not every game, but just this first one.  We, as Mets fans, need to be realistic here.  This is Pedro's first real start against major leage hitters in about a year.  Although I don't expect him to be very rusty, I do not expect a shut out either.  Why only 5 innings?  Because at most, Pedro will only be allowed to throw 75 pitches.  Given that, I think 5 innings or about 15 pitches per inning would be an excellent goal to reach.  So stay calm and controled as you celebrate your Labor Day tomorrow.  Get a beer or a non alcoholic beverage of your choice (water for me, thanks) and just enjoy seeing Pedro Martinez back on the mound for the New York Mets.

Joe Benigno:   Talkings about calm and cool.   Joe Benigno showed on Friday exactly why I think he is a complete disgrace as a Mets fan and a radio announcer.   God forbid, the Mets went on a brief losing streak.  Biggest game of the year?  Excuse me?  The biggest game of the year won't be until October.  This is a man, the same man, who has continously attacked Carlos Beltran for not catching for every ball in the outfield.  This is the same man that has constantly attacked Billy Wagner, who has been one of the best closers in the National League if not all of baseball this and last season.   This is the same man who with every lose, freaks out.   Message to Joe Benigno.  Please stop saying you are a Mets fan.  Just stop.  You aren't.  You have no idea what it means as You Got To Believe.   Gutless?   Excuss me, but only a fool throws a fast ball at some one's head.  Only a coward would want to do that.  Only, I don't know, Roger Clemens would throw at someone's head. 

      Joe Benigno doesn't like Willie Randolph.   Let's see.  Out of the past three years, the Mets have been in first place for how many days straight?  THREE HUNDRED STRAIGHT DAYS.   Can anyone tell me the last New York Mets manager that had this team in first place for THREE HUNDRED STRAIGHT DAYS.  Anyone?  Let me put it this way, we haven't seen that in TWENTY YEARS.  Did Joe Benigno know that?  Carlos Delgado?  Yes, he's had a rough season, however Delgado still is on pace for close to 30 homeruns and close to 100 RBI.   Jose Reyes isn't having a good season?  I don't know, 74 stolen bases and a .370 OBP isn't exactly horrible and that's with a bad slump.  

     Perhaps I am just too positive.  Perhaps I see too much silver lining.  Then again, maybe I'm right.  Maybe I realize that this is a long season and that teams are going to have down times.  Perhaps Mr. Benigno should simply shut up. 

A quick peek around baseball.

The Yankees beat the Rays 9-6 a day after losing 9-1. The bigger story is that Joe Torre questioned the bat of Ray Iwamura, asking umps if his model was street legal, resulting in it being confiscated and sent to Bud Selig's underground lab for testing. The Devil Rays Joe Madden then questioned umps on if A-Rods bat was corked, so that it too was confiscated. A-Rod finished 3 for 4 with a double and a HR.

The Cards have lost Juan Encarnacion for the rest of the season. He fractured his eye socket by getting hit with a foul ball last night. In the same game, the Cinderella story continues, as Rick Ankiel hit a grand slam.

JD Durbin was pulled in the first in the Phils/Marlins game. He gave up seven runs on five hits, hit a batter, and walked one, all before scoring an out, giving him an infinite ERA for the day. The Marlins are currently up 9-4 after six. Lino Urdanetta would like to buy you a drink JD

Boston's Clay Bucholtz has a no hitter currently running through six over Baltimore, just a day after the Twins Johan Santana Scott Baker took a no hitter into the 9th. Gary Cohen is en route to the game to jinx it.

Update: He pulled it off, tossing a no hitter in his 2nd career start. Unlike Gary, I think I'm good luck. So just in case: Tom Glavine currently has a no hitter into the pre-pre-pregame against the Braves.

I'm looking for a web developer, particularly someone who knows a bit about RSS and parsing feeds.

Please contact me at antderosa@gmail.com if you have the skill set.

According to the pregame show on Fox, the Mets have accused the Phillies of stealing signs during the series at CBP, via cameras in the OF.

No word yet on any of this, but lets face it, nothings going to come of it. The Mets will come off sounding like theyre just bitching because they got swept. And if they suspected early in the series their signs were being stolen, they probably should have changed them. Like I wouldn't be surprised if it was true, Philly is dirty. They boo Santa Clause. They hate children. They're evil. Getting your signs stolen in Philly should be expected. Also, your car and wallet.

thanks to Rob over at Amazing Mets for the tip

Pelfrey gets his first win of the year, and he deserved it. He struck out seven, walked three, and limited the Braves to one hit and one run.  He pitched himself into trouble, but got out of it. He looked good. He was the Pelf we've been waiting for. Mota looked good, giving up a leadoff hit and then settling down while pitching one inning. Feleciano gets the save, coming in for two full, striking out five.

Great day overall for the Mets pitching staff. Enough said.

The Mets bats weren't too shabby either. Three Met homeruns, solo shots from Delgado, Milledge and Beltran.  Though had Paulie not tried to stretch a single to a double, Blastings would have been worth two. Beltran finished 3 for 4, with a triple and a hr, and scored all three times. He scored early on a Delgado GIDP, and off his triple on a Delgado sac fly.

The Braves were sharp on teh pickoff, catching Gotay and Reyes in pickoffs at second.  Reyes stole third later, despite having just been hit in the foot by a pitch. Pelf hit Francouer earlier in the game, and looked ready to rumble.

Not much to add…the Mets hit for power after having an outage in hitter friendly CBP. Pelf was outstanding, seems to have learned control is better than power. Mota and Felic were solid. Yes, they were a little overly agressive on the bases, which cost them 3 outs (Paulie, Reyes, Gotay), but they're fighting, and won, so I won't complain. Now much like the Cobra Kai dojo, lets sweep the Braves legs!

The Mets took one at the Ted, behind a non Ollie pitcher, can they do it again?

A top the energizing news that Pedro starts, the first sept call ups, and amid the other craziness: The Pelf will take the ball.  He's 0-7, 5.92 and gave up four runs in five innings vs Atlanta back in April. He's showing sings of improvement, he lasted six his last two starts and getting five strikeouts both times, and limited the Nats to just 3 runs. He'll face Chuck James in his first post DL start. He's 9-9 with a 4.22 ERA.  He lost his last start the Mets, leaving after 4 and 2/3rds having given up 2 earned runs and 3 walks, to bring him to 1-3 with a 6.33 ERA lifetime against NY.  For the most part, he looks very Pelf like as far as how far into the game he makes it and how many runs he gives up. So, don't be shocked if its 9-7 today.

the lineup:

SS Reyes
2B Castillo
3B Wright
CF Beltran
LF Alou
1B Delgado
C Lo Duca
RF The General
P Pelf

Lastings is back in the lineup, but is just hitting .154 against the Braves. Two for four yesterday, both for extra bases, Delgado has a .308 career average against James, including one double and one homerun.  While no extra bats have yet been called, Pelfrey is joined by Willie Collazo and Phil Humber.  Humber threw one inning, striking out one, last season against Atlanta. Collazo has yet to make his debut. You can do it!

Game time is 4, and is on Fox. And unlike yesterday, I do in fact know what channel the game is on. (it was Joe's fault). Listen to it live on WFAN, with the sweet sweet tones of Howie and Tom.  And as always, stop on by the Hot Foot Bleachers to discuss the game, Mets baseball, and the excitement in the air of the upcoming return of the one…the only…the leader in the clubhouse…Dave Newhan.