Ollie Follies and the Maine Drain

Until about a month ago, Mookie and Noce Dog had John Maine and Oliver Perez pegged as the new millenium Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. Listening to them gush about these guys was sickening. I shan't be bothered with such malarkey anymore.

John Maine has all of 2 quality starts in his last 9. Over the same stretch, he has given up 6 or more runs four times. He is now sporting a 4.04 ERA in a pitcher's park, in a bad league without the DH. There is nothing wrong with; the world needs 5th starters.

Oliver Perez's 3.43 ERA looks a lot better, but that is only because he leads the league in unearned runs. The last time I checked unearned runs are worth just as much as earned runs. Players make great plays and players make errors. When a guy makes an error a good pitcher picks him up. Oliver Perez melts like fried ice cream. His RA is nearly 4.50 and trending way downward. He has walked 30 men in his last 40 innings. Oh, and this is the first time he has had an ERA under 5.85 since 2004. It looks an awful lot like the first half of this season was an anomaly

Watch a Maine or Perez start and you are sure to hear a Mets announcer comment that they suddenly lose their focus. This is completely excusable...if you're eight years old, severely retarded, or have been dosed with peyote. Seriously, how is this possible? They pitch every five days. When it's their turn, they spend less than an hour of real time on the mound and they get a break every 5 or 10 minutes to decompress.

I can sympathy with a lack of focus. My life is a train wreck, because my lack of focus. I am in therapy and on medication for ADD. I'm 28 and have accomplished next to nothing with my life. However, I have been playing baseball (in mediocre fashion) since I was in second grade. I can not recall a time when I lost focus on the field. How could you possibly make it to the Majors with such an extreme handicap.