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August 31, 2007
Done and Onward
The Soon to be Announced Project is done. At least I have delivered the manuscript today, the day it is due. I wrote more than 50% over the word count requested but we’ll see how that plays out. One of these days we’ll talk about it. I really, really, want to chat now that it’s done but I can’t without annoying my publisher.
So, now it’s time to take stock and see what irons are in the fire.
Awaiting Publication
Predator: Flesh & Blood - Cowritten with Michael Jan Friedman, has a release date of September 12.
Marvel Spotlight - Walter Simonson interview, scheduled for late September release.
You Said What? - Handful of essays, scheduled for release December 10.
With the Editor/Publisher
Smart Pop: Wonder Woman - Awaiting copy edited manuscript and release date.
The Phantom - Story for unscheduled second volume of the Moonstone prose anthology.
Media Tie-In comic book script -- Awaiting licensee to actually read the revision for one year now.
Media Tie-In short story -- Nearing its second anniversary with the editor.
To Be Written
Back Issue guest editorial -- Bob reminisces about the Suicide Squad - due September 31.
Tales of Zorro -- short story for December 2007 collection from Moonstone. Outline with licensee.
The Avenger -- short story for collection from Moonstone. Outline approved.
Captain Midnight -- short story for collection from Moonstone. Drafted, needs a polish.
Star Trek: Slings & Arrows Book 5: A Weary Life -- Outline approved, due October 1.
Christina Aguilera -- Due October 31.
Actionopolis project -- being written, awaiting revised contract.
Proposals
Things that Aren’t sequel – Cowritten with Michael A. Burstein and in the hands of my esteemed collaborator.
Media Tie-In Anthology -- two pitches to editor, he’s delayed in responding.
Media Tie-In Novel -- one-page pitch to editor.
Media Tie-In non-fiction project -- just when I was giving up on it, the publisher told me today they’re still interested in seeing this long moribund proposal.
Original Fantasy -- I keep hoping to find the time to finish the outline.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 03:10 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 28, 2007
Home Stretch for the Demo Delay
Last night I felt like the President.
Not Bush. Andrew Shepherd.
For the first time, the RTM took up the latest draft of the Demolition Delay ordinance and one member of the public noted it was severely watered down from previous versions. Much like the president’s crime bill, this was beginning to be legislation without teeth and I have to say, she had a point.
The meeting itself went fairly well, zipping through agenda items 2-11 without much comment or problem. Then, around 8:45 we got to item 12 and the ordinance. The comment from the Body was interesting as people from across both sides of the aisle talked about what good any delay will do and why 60 days? Does the town really need preserving and is 100 year old homes really the right benchmark.
An amendment was proposed, adding in a sunset clause, forcing the body to see if this was working or not in three years. I vigorously endorsed it since that gave the town time to update its Historic Survey of homes in town and we could switch from 100 year old homes to those homes list on the survey, minimizing the impact. In a bipartisan vote, it went down 19-23.
When it was the public’s turn, all the usual people from our committee meetings spoke. The realtors were against it. The preservationists for it since we had to start somewhere. No member of the public added their opinion.
Per our Rules to Regulate, the ordinance stands over to next month where we should vote on it and then the long process may come to an end one way or another. Now, do I think it will pass? I told the Connecticut Post before last night I saw it as 50-50 odds. After the meeting, I’m thinking 60-40 against but we’ll see what happens as people talk to one another and have a chance to mull over what they heard.
Unlike Andrew Shepherd I’m not so busy trying to keep my job that I forgot to do my job. Instead, I’ve chaired a committee that has tried to do its best. As for the election, we’ll see what my district thinks in November.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:11 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 27, 2007
A Thought about Iraq
Let me get this straight.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki lashed out at American senators for calling him to step down but he doesn’t have the balls to lash out at his own ineffective government where elected officials feel they don’t have to represent their people and boycott sessions?
Al-Maliki really needs to learn how to govern his own people before showing how thin skinned he can be. He should also have looked around his own region and taken a lesson from Hamas. Yes, the terrorist Palestinian organization. They won the election last year because they earned the respect of the people by doing the simple acts citizens expect from their government. They picked up the trash. They were out and about, helping people rebuild.
The Prime Minister had a chance to help guide how America spent $37 billion in US-provided reconstruction money and the country still can’t rely on electricity or clean water 24/7. Now, the Pentagon will tell you much of that $37 billion got diverted from actual construction to security for the construction and recent reports show much of the construction was crap. Still, where was the Prime Minister?
In fact, al-Maliki seems to have stayed in his office and done nothing to win the favor of his fellow elected officials or done anything to help the people of Iraq. That’s not how you govern and it is how you get people calling for your resignation.
If al-Maliki didn’t want to learn lessons from Hamas, what about FDR? He created one organization after enough to put people to work, to rebuild the country and deal with a crisis. What if the Prime Minister actually set up public works organizations, or had his artists paint murals, or sent people rakes to help clear the streets? If people retook the streets, had something to do with a purpose, chances are, a lot of the sectarian violence would have been prevented. Just as local areas are forcing the insurgents to go elsewhere and leave them alone, imagine the people reclaiming their towns one street at a time?
The Prime Minister needs to get the elected representatives back into their parliamentary chairs and present to them tangible, nondenominational measures that would benefit everyone. Once you did that, there’s a better chance the bigger issues could be handled.
Yesterday’s announcement that five Iraqis managed to agree to the US benchmarks is an encouraging sign. Now they need to set their own internal benchmarks and show the people there really is a government to be supported, a government that will put their welfare ahead of the religious/ethnic divisions that seem hell-bent on plunging Iraq into civil war, even if the water flows freely.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:19 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 23, 2007
The Writer's Twin Lives
Writers write when they’re moved to create something. Writers also write to pay the bills.
I find it interesting the material the latter will find acceptable whereas, given a choice, the former might be more selective. I was reminded of that today as I accepted my first Rosen Book assignment in over a year. This time I’ll be penning a young adult biography of singer Christina Aguilera. It’s a short assignment, which is good since I can jump in and out. The pay is low since Rosen cut their rates just about in half, since I last wrote for them,.
Still, those bills aren’t going to wait for the muse to strike.
On the other hand, I was also invited today to pitch to a number of anthologies from editor Danielle Ackley-McPhail and since it’s all original material, that certainly speaks to the creative writer in me.
And in both cases, it’s terrific just being asked.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
August 21, 2007
Report from the Troll's Lair
Kate is back to writing on her delightful and witty blog and in summing up her summer, mentioned, “My father, along with his noble publication, is seeking other means of occupying his time, all of which involve lurking in the basement like some sort of pale, pretzel-and-coffee-consuming troll.”
Well, I admit to being pale but that is a constant state for me since I avoid the outdoors whenever possible.
And yes, while working from home, I tend to drink little else but coffee and have been known to binge on pretzels in lieu of lunch or as a late afternoon snack. It’s the troll part I’m having issues with.
I work in the basement because that’s where the office is. I’d dearly prefer someplace with windows and natural light, with places for pictures and more shelving for books and knickknacks but I’m dealing and have worked from here since we had the space fashioned nearly fifteen years ago.
While down here, this time around, I’ve been working steadily. Part of the time is job hunting but the majority has been spent on polishing the Soon to be Named Project which is due on the 31st.
Additionally, I have completed an interview with Walt Simonson for Marvel Spotlight magazine and revised the Zorro outline for Moonstone. I’ve got a media tie-in novel proposal that suddenly came together thanks to the enthusiasm of a collaborator. An original project I haven’t thought about in a year or so is slowly waking from the dead, largely in part to one of the two other partners involved.
I’m busy, no question about that. In the process, I don’t think I’ve devolved into a troll’s shape – at least I hope not. If it’s happened, everyone’s being awfully polite around me.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 12:20 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
August 20, 2007
The Weekend
Is it really Monday?
The weekend felt endless as we were constantly on the go. The car loading on Friday went far better than I had anticipated, even if it unexpectedly started to rain as we picked up the rental. The Siena is a terrific minivan, comfortable and a great ride – highly recommended.
To our collective delight, we fit in more than we expected so Kate got everything she needed plus a bookcase. We then feasted on a rib dinner Robbie prepared and then we crashed for a bit. By bedtime, we were still cleaning through odds and ends in her room and I had to drag Deb to our room.
At 5:55 the following morning, Kate comes knocking wondering if we were still leaving in five minutes. Yep, the adults overslept the alarm, which I clearly forgot to set. We left the house only thirty minutes late which wasn’t too bad. The two car caravan to Washington encountered little traffic and we arrived in D.C. about 12:20 p.m. Kate’s pals Ben and Taylor were awaiting us so the unloaded could promptly begin. Fortunately, the apartment building has a garage so we could get off the street and park, unloading in one shot. Thanks to all hands, we were totally unloaded in under an hour.
The apartment, which she shares with a friend, Disha, is a nice one- bedroom with good space. Its only serious downside is the tiny kitchen and lack of counter space. Her stuff was fitting just fine, which bode well. As we moved things, Kate heard a frightening sound. Robbie had hidden her recently uncovered Furbie somewhere in with the clothes and books and it woke up. We refused to let her find it and send it back to Connecticut.
We took the hired help to lunch and then freed them from servitude. While Deb fussed in the apartment, Kate, Robbie and I headed into Georgetown to pick up a bed Kate was buying from someone off Craig’s List. That went without a hitch and we were soon back at the apartment. Kate didn’t want to face unpacking so we took advantage of the break to check into our hotel then strolled through part of Georgetown. The weather was warm and comfortable, the sun shining and all was right with the world. Except that I was out of gas. I sort of slept walked through our break.
We met up again with Ben and Taylor for dinner which was at Berttucci’s. On the first trip to D.C., three years ago (already?) we had our move-in dinner there. Some things really do come full circle. After dinner, we went back to the apartment where Robbie surprised Kate with a pan of brownies, topped with a white chocolate mousse – he had gotten the recipe from our friends Chuck and Rebecca and had been planning this for a week. It was pretty delicious and she was touched.
Kate chose to crash with us at the hotel rather than deal with unpacking or even making the bed, which was fine by us. And an early crash it was.
On Sunday, once we got everyone up and dressed, it was back to Georgetown for breakfast then somewhere past Chevy Chase to collect a recliner. The $20 chair was in pretty good shape and a bargain. It fit nicely in the back of the minivan with Robbie seated on it. He used two seatbelts tied in a knot to secure himself then decided it was his captain’s chair with me playing helmsman, Deb playing navigator and Kate relegated to first officer. He was delighted.
Our final stop was at Safeway to load her up with groceries. Let’s just say she won’t need to do much food shopping over the next 3-4 weeks and we saved her a ton of money by stocking up with everything she needed. Rob pointed out the racks carried copies of the final issue of Weekly World News which gave me pause.
With everything back in the apartment, it was time to go. Kate first locked the doors and stood in front of it, demanding we leave with the Furbie. Instead, we gave her a clue as to its location, kissed her, hugged her and left.
The ride home was horrible. Our record for worst trip from D.C. to Fairfield was about eight hours and this beat that by about 20 minutes. We crawled through Maryland then through much of New Jersey and it was nothing but volume. The constant rain did not really factor in to the equation, it was just too damn many cars and I was heard to be muttering about decreasing the surplus population. We got home around 8:15 and pretty much just crashed.
Today, the rain has caught up to us so it’s a dreary day, a little emptier without Kate around. We’ll be moving her furniture whenever Robbie is awake and ready. Deb is out looking for fabric to make window treatments and the conversion from daughter’ bedroom to home office is about to begin.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 17, 2007
Transitioning
As I’ve been toiling away in the home office, Kate has been working feverishly in her bedroom. Tomorrow we take her to Washington, D.C. where she will move into an off-campus apartment for the Senior Year.
Unlike her first trip to Washington or last year’s sojourn to Cairo, this is a milestone step. Essentially, when we drive away tomorrow, Kate stops living at the house and will only return as a visitor.
This entire year is transitional for her, as she establishes herself as a full-time Washington resident, completes her coursework and starts looking for a permanent job. Being a Boren Scholar will help open certain doors and her one-year obligation to the federal government certain should help the hunt, but that does not change the fact that she still needs to hunt.
Kate has had her heart in Washington pretty much since she began her college life and she seems very happy there. It wasn’t a great summer for her after the thrill of Cairo. Too many of her friends were elsewhere, ironically many in D.C. She worked, she studied, and she put off cleaning the room.
With each passing week we spent time with her on beginning adult life issues like renter’s insurance, negotiating a lease, figuring out what to keep here and what to take. We’ve rarely spoken of the fact that this is a major milestone for her as an individual and for us as the parents with one really leaving the nest.
This week we’ve all gotten caught up in the arrangements, the loads of books and clothes for Good Will, the bags and bags of garbage that none of us have really paused to reflect – that’ll probably come this weekend as we settle her in. We’ve had meals together, watched some television together but largely it’s been the grind of preparation.
I’m both looking forward to seeing her blossom on her own and dread the notion that our work with her is largely done.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 01:54 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
August 14, 2007
A Freelancer's Lament
The life of a freelance writer has its ups and downs, with unexpected surprises, both good and bad.
Late last week, Leah Wilson at BenBella Books told me that despite a few passes, an essay of mine would not be included in their 2008 collection devoted to examining Batman.
Yesterday, I heard Random House canceled a contract for a Weekly World News-related book. I had written quite a few pieces for it last summer and filled gaps with five more pieces over the last few days. It makes perfect sense RH would choose to abandon the project given how American Media abandoned the newspaper.
When we write, we want our work to be read and enjoyed by others. When we write for pay, we want our work to be read in addition to being paid for our efforts. In both cases above, at least there has been compensation.
I’m disappointed by both developments but remain hopeful that something things in the offing will come through.
Meantime, I am devoting much of this month to polishing the Soon to be Named Project in addition to some shorter works. Fortunately, there’s enough to keep me occupied as the job search continues.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:47 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 11, 2007
Great Big Sea
The family has gravitated to preferring a genre of music that you never read about in Rolling Stone, Spin or even Entertainment Weekly. It’s an odd blend of Celtic, folk, sea shanties, pub songs and the like. You can hear the music at Renaissance Faires and even some of the bigger multimedia conventions such as the forthcoming Dragon Con. At the faires you can sample the varying troubadours and if you like what you hear, you can buy their cds since, after all, you’re not likely to find them at most music etailers. On the con circuit, the best known of those groups as probably Emerald Rose and the Brobdinagian Bards.
Another way to try them out, for free, is to try the various podcasts that showcase these groups. At the iTunes store this morning, I saw 5-6 different podcasts and I heartily recommend Marc Gunn’s Renaissance Festival Podcast, which usually spotlights performers at that week’s ren faires around the country.
The one band that has risen to a greater degree of critical and commercial success is Great Big Sea. They’re a self-described folk-rock band from Newfoundland, best known for their blend of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, in addition to original material. Kate discovered them while at college and some time later, I found them when WUMB, a terrific folk station out of Massachusetts.
We bought and shared and enjoyed several of their albums but Kate always said we had to see them live. The opportunity finally presented itself on Wednesday when we went to see them at the Ridgefield Playhouse.
It was a great venue to see them, with a stage large enough for them to move and the seating small enough that everyone had a great view. Once they took the stage, I could easily see why they won the Entertainer of the Year award at the East Coast Music Awards for every year between 1996 and 2000, only to take themselves out of competition to be fair.
They’re energetic and very funny, terrific musicians and delightful showmen. The quintet play a wide variety of instruments and take turns on the vocals, providing a rich and varied sound to each song. We were on our feet for much of the night, clapping, singing along and highly entertained. Much of the material came from albums we knew and they sampled a song or two that were likely to be on their 2008 release. They chatted up their experience of being in Ridgefield for the first time, gently mocking its upscale environs and lauding a local sushi restaurant. It was evident they were having a good time on stage and enjoyed performing.
All told, they played just over 90 minutes and no one was ready for them to leave.
We were also pleasantly surprised at the quality of the opening act, Steve Kellogg and the Sixers. We were told they were from Massachusetts and it turns out they’ve been together for something like six years and have five cds to their credit. The band was tight and playful and engaging. Robbie rushed out and bought several of their works and met the band since they were hanging out at the sales table until the night ended. (They’ll be playing in Fairfield on October 25 for those interested.)
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:48 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
August 08, 2007
Report from the Home Office
Being a creature of habit has its advantages.
I slipped right back into the routine that got me through last year’s layoff and have managed a reasonable output. I’ve managed to complete the first draft of the Soon to be Named Project and am now on the second draft since it’s due in, oh, 23 days.
Additionally I have managed some outline work for existing projects, got a glimmer of hope from one contact about a book, and wrote up my Special Committee’s final report. Meantime, I’ve been networking and chatting with people about something more fulltime and we’ll see where all that goes.
As a homeowner, I’ve also managed errands including an overdue trip to the dump. And I’ve been making dinner the last few nights which helps, since Deb has been in the city all week.
Heck, I’ve managed to carve time for the gym, my morning newspapers and a book. At night, we’ve been catching up on our summer television. We sampled Mad Men which Deb found a little too in your face with its sexist attitudes. I’m less certain and may try another episode or two. We’re also two episodes into Damages, which looks promising. It’s slick and well-acted but sheesh, can it get any more manipulative? About the only one who has no agenda is the fiancée and he wound up dead. I like the idea that all thirteen episodes are devoted to the single case so we can really explore how things develop. I also have to admit to watching Army Wives with Deb and Kate. It’s a guilty pleasure. I tried it on the strength of my enjoyment of Kim Delaney’s previous work but it’s addictive and I like how it shows difference points of view on the core issues of the military and what’s going on in Iraq.
Three days in, I can say, so far so good.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 01:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 05, 2007
More Whimper than Bang
It all began with a cavity and never seemed to get much better.
Friday morning started with a routine visit to the dentist who found a cavity, the first one in memory. Then I headed into Manhattan for the final day at the office. By 10:30 I signed off on the final two page proofs and issue 35 was closed. We also received printed copies of issue 34 so we had a chance to reminisce for a moment.
Jeff Rovin took the team to lunch which was a lovely gesture. We swapped stories and ate some fine food.
Then it was back to clean out the desk. After 13 months I hadn’t accumulated too much since after all, it was a cube. It didn’t take too long then I had to surrender the AMI stuff like the ID card. From there, I made a quick round of farewells and then walked out the door…
…and the skies opened up. We had a sudden, heavy rain shower and had I just packed away for shipping my office umbrella.
I’m going to miss Weekly World News. We had a blast putting it together and getting it out the door every week. The office team really got into a nice rhythm and we had such plans and dreams for the future. The outpouring of commentary from websites, newspapers and television stations around the country, heck, around the world, was amazing.
We had to turn down requests for on air interviews at AMI’s insistence but it would have been fun for me or Paul Kupperberg to have honored some of those requests. Ah, well.
This weekend has been tidying stuff up on my desk and getting stuff organized so I can turn the page and begin the hunt in earnest for the next career step. Thankfully, the freelance I carry on my To Do list will fill the next 5-6 weeks full time so that’s something.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:39 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 03, 2007
Rock Will Never Die
Deep Purple was formed in 1968 and was considered one of the founders of Heavy Metal music. Edgar Winter began recording on his own in 1970. Blue Öyster Cult’s first album was released in January 1972.
Last night, all three bands performed at a concert in Connecticut and it just goes to show that rock will never die.
I knew Deep Purple from their FM-rock staples and Edgar Winter for his handful of hits but had never seen either live. Regular readers here know that BÖC’s Eric Bloom is my uncle so I’ve seen them repeatedly through the years.
Robbie and I went to see the concert last night and had a great time. Before the show, I took Robbie backstage (a first for him and he was grinning the whole time) and we visited with Eric for a bit. He introduced us to the band (only one of whom, Donald Roeser I had met previously and even then, the last time I saw him was 20+ years back). We talked about family stuff, my impending job hunt and the like. Their green room was fairly Spartan, everyone lounging, Donald warming with an acoustic guitar. A bag of chips and a package of cookies remained unwanted. He asked if we’d seen Edgar perform before and highly recommended it so we went back to our seats and watched.
Edgar Winter was playing with new guys but they were tight and clearly having fun. In fact, all night long, I realized all three bands were playing many of the same songs they first played over 35 years before and still made it look fresh. Rob was amazed by how much he recognized from Winter without realizing it was him. The highlight for me, though, was watching “Frankenstein” live. It’s a great instrumental but to see Edgar go from keyboards to sax to drums and back again, without skipping a beat, was pretty awesome.
Between sets, I ran into my cousin Rebecca, her husband Paul, and their 11-year old son Zach, attending his first concert. We played catch up and it was great being around family once more.
The BÖC was second billed and limited to a 45-minute set but their seven songs rocked the house. The band was loose, clearly having some fun as they mixed the obvious (“Don’t Fear the Reaper,” “Godzilla,” and “Burning for You”) with other material from their deep catalogue. At one point Eric talked about traffic on I-95 and then surveyed the packed house about their baseball allegiances. While there was a smattering of applause for the Mets, it was clearly a Boston house. He didn’t care, he said, he was a Mets fan and they were still in first place. Overall, they filled the time pretty well and got everyone to their feet more than once. Donald (Buck Dharma) remains one of the most amazing and underrated guitarists I’ve ever seen.
The family all went backstage to see Eric before he skipped out to go home. He said it was a good show although it was tough to rev things up and then wind up in a mere 45 minutes. He was getting ready to go home so we made our farewells. Rebecca took the others home so Robbie and I settled in for Deep Purple.
While people loved seeing the opening acts, they were clearly there in large numbers for this legendary group. Like the BÖC, only two original members remain, singer Ian Gillan and drummer Ian Paice. Unlike the first two acts, they cranked up the volume and did a poor sound mix job so Gillan was incomprehensible. The lighting was superior, though. About half an hour into their set, Robbie decided he’d had enough, a decision I reached in half that time. It was too loud, we couldn’t get into the music and I found Gillan hard to watch. There was something about the way he handled himself on stage that made him look like an old guy trying to be young again and failing at being convincing. I heard one of their hits, I had seen enough. The audience, though, was eating it up and I was feeling old myself for walking out.
Still, I can now count having seen two more groups that were huge in my youth and these days, that’s pretty darn good.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 11:44 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 02, 2007
Done
And we adjourned.
Last night, the Special Committee met with everyone determined this would be the final meeting. All we had to do was discuss the Demolition Delay ordinance and call it a committee.
Not only were a larger-than-usual number of people in attendance, but so was the Connecticut Post’s Fairfield beat reporter, Andy Brophy, a first. We straggled in and got right to work.
By this point, we knew the main issues, and what we had hoped to accomplish. It came down to a matter of which of two drafts and approaches we wanted to forward to the RTM. It was spirited, and polite, as we explored nuance, language and intent, but took nearly twice as long as anticipated.
We wound up approving one version but it wasn’t unanimous and we were going to live with that. Since we were in Public Executive Session, the citizens could not comment and I could tell several were bursting to say something. No doubt we’ll hear from them at the RTM meeting at month’s end.
When we adjourned, most of us lingered to chat with the attendees and make certain Mr. Brophy got what he needed for his story. Then, the committee repaired to our assistant town attorney’s home for a celebratory cookout. We chatted, ate, chatted some more as the evening wore on.
It was exactly what we need after what totaled a year a day since we first convened. I have no idea how this version will be received by the RTM but do know we gave it our best effort. I will admit, I am glad to have discharged this particular duty and can concentrate on other matters.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:34 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 01, 2007
Time for the Mets to Wake Up
You have to feel Tom Glavine’s pain. He struggled mightily to win game 299 and finally accomplished that last week. He was facing a competitive Milwaukee Brewers last night and no doubt had adrenaline pumping from the moment he entered the game.
He pitched brilliantly, giving up a mere two hits and one run in six plus innings.
He got a no decision as both the offense and defense failed him. The power outage is emblematic of the problems the team has endured all season. On the night after the trading deadline passed, the modestly revamped Mets looked just as anemic as usual while the retooled Atlanta Braves handily won without their biggest addition, Mark Texeira, playing any significant role. Bases loaded with one out and they couldn't plate a single run? Pathetic.
Luis Castillo is a solid addition to the defense at second base and a good number two man in the line up. The team probably still needs one more big stick considering the power outage from both Carloses (Beltran and Delgado). Sure, I wouldn’t want to see them give up promising pitcher Phil Humber or star-in-the-making Carlos Gomez to get a really Big Stick but they need something and something soon.
The same with the bullpen. Guillermo Mota has been terrible since joining the team at the end of May and Pedro Feliciano has been a tad overused, especially after Joe Smith flamed out. This is where I am surprised GM Omar Minaya did nothing. There were guys to be had as witnessed by additions to other bullpens.
It could be that he’s waiting for rosters to go through the waiver process, seeing which names have passed all other teams making trades possible. August could wind up being a busier month than the last week as been and he said just about that over the last day.
The problem is, the gap between the Mets and the Phillies and the Braves isn’t wide enough to wait for too long. The Philies may fade thanks to injuries to guys like Chase Utley, but the Braves could prove very tough in the games yet to be played.
My beloved team has remained in first despite their inability to make clutch hits or for the bullpen to hold leads. That has to end, the sooner the better, so they can dominate the division, then the league. These guys gave the makings of a World Championship team once more but they have to play like they want to be there.
Once more they can take lessons from their cross-town rivals, the Yankees, who were given up for dead a month ago but have roared back to life and even eight games out, are playing like contenders. My guys need to show that same fire and passion.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:13 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack