Omar Minaya told Mike Francesa on his WFAN radio show recently that he will not base his decision to renew Jerry Manuel’s contract as manager of the Mets on if the Mets make the playoffs or not.

As was reported earlier this week, the Mets are close to giving Omar Minaya a four-year extension.

I’m not opposed to bringing Minaya and Manuel back, but the timing of these announcements are bad. The pressure should be put on Minaya and Manuel to get the Mets into the playoffs, regardless of the Mets intentions.

An anonymous clubhouse insider told the Seattle Times that Mariners teammates were so annoyed with Ichiro Suzuki earlier this season that they considered beating him up.

“I just can’t believe the number of guys who really dislike him,” said the insider. “It got to a point early on when I thought they were going to get together and go after him.” The coaching staff and then-manager John McLaren intervened when one player was overheard talking about wanting to “knock him out.

In Onion Sports today, the Mets, in an attempt to find some way to reverse their recent struggles, form a 400-foot tall robot named Carlos Voltron.

According to eyewitnesses, before the Mets players completed the complicated procedure, in which they fused their physical selves and combined their talents to form the 20,000-ton robot, manager Jerry Manuel called the team to the dugout, where he commanded them to prepare their interlock systems for activation, connect the appropriate dyna-therms, charge up the infra-cells to full capacity, engage the mega-thrusters, and give it their best out there.

Being the Mets, even the tremendous advantage of being a 20,000 ton robot was not enough to overcome the inevitable Aaron Heilman meltdown.

Meanwhile, defending a comfortable 600-0 lead in the top of ninth, the Mets decided to rest up Carlos Voltron by moving him to the outfield and replacing him with reliever Aaron Heilman, who lost the lead and eventually the game after giving up 618 runs to close the inning.

Hat tip to Mack Williams for the link.

I’ve received a lot of hate mail from Phillies fans and I really don’t understand what the big deal is. The magic number is just a number, there is no magical qualities despite what the name may imply. There is no hex or jinx being created by having it grace the pages of Hot Foot. I recently received this email from a reader named “HanginFromTheLidge”

SO U PUT UP THE STUPID @#$%& MAGIC NUMBER AGEIN AND WHAT HAPPENS. THE MUTZ HAVE YET 2 LOOSE A GAME SINCE U PUT THAT STOOPID THING UP AND LASST NITE THE PHILLES GET EMBERRESED BY THE FISH AN YORE STUPID MUTTS ARE BAC IN FURST PLACE, YOU PEACE OF @#$%& YOU ARE A COMPLETE @#$%&!!! TAKE THE MAGIK NUMBUR DOWN!! TAKE YOUR @#$%& WEBSITE AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR @#$%&.

Listen folks, its just a game. Lets not take things so seriously. I hope when this is all said and done we can sit down at Genos or Pats (your choice) and have a nice little lunch together. Cool?

Lets go Mutts!

Baseball is supposed to be fun.

I’m not supposed to turn on my television set every night waiting for the other shoe to drop. Much like last September, I feel like I am watching a car wreck happen in slow motion, as if I already know the outcome. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be in that clubhouse, going through the same pressure cooker with the added expectations and weight of having to overcome the failure of last year and this year both at the same time.

I’ve realized it is time to exhale and let it all go. Its a game and I am going to enjoy it regardless of what the outcome may be. I’m going to try my best to not get so wrapped up in the collapse of last season happening all over again. If thats what this team is destined for so be it. They could just as easily right the ship and find their way over the next 12 games.

Worry and panic does nothing but give me added stress when ultimately I am sitting here watching a kids game played by millionaires. Millionaires who will go home and tuck their kids in and quite frankly move on with their lives regardless of the outcome of the next two weeks.

I’m going to learn to stop worrying and enjoy the ride for what its worth.

Unless of course they blow this thing, in which case I will then spend all winter sulking over.

Hey, Lets go Mets, right!

Buffalo is expected to hold a press conference next Monday to announce it has become the Mets new Triple-A affiliate, reports the New York Daily News.

The Mets Triple-A affiliate had been the New Orleans Zephyrs for the past two seasons.

This is sad news for me, I really enjoyed catching the Zephyrs on my frequent trips to the Big Easy. I will continue to do so, but it was always sweeter knowing I was checking out some future Mets talent.

The folks who run the Zephyrs are great people and I wish them well with their new endeavors.

Closing out ball games, proving they are not the same team who could not finish last season, the Mets are a team in search of a happy ending.

How it will play out is likely to depend on one of three factors. How far ahead their offense can put them ahead in the final two weeks of games left in this season, how far into the game their starters can carry them, or by some miracle, how successful their bullpen is able to close out ball games. The last wish seems to be the most unlikely and most painful to deal with, therefore the other two must be relied upon in order for the Mets to move beyond the ghosts of 2007.

As a fan, I can tell you that after all we went through last year, I nearly find myself trying to prepare for being let down again, to ease the pain of how it might end. However, there is plenty of baseball left to be played, and while the Mets bullpen has all of us ready to toss our televisions out our window, all we can do is hang on, hope and try to enjoy the ride.

Magic numbers, jinxes, and past failures have no control over what happens over the next two weeks except for the nine players left on the field in the bottom of the ninth to simply take care of business.

via The Ropolitans.

In a booze filled doubleheader, fans found new ways to stay entertained. Here we submit for your enjoyment, one of the many activities taking place, as a drunk, sleeping fan is used as a human Jenga. Some of you may elicit fond memories of college.

Hat tip to Martin Bell for the video.