On Opening Day if someone had offered you a bet that after 41 games the Mets would have a better record than the Yankees, would you have taken it? I think you would. I would have taken it in a heartbeat. But after the Yankees' loss to Cincinnati yesterday in a dreary 5-2 game, and the Mets 6-5 victory over Toronto, the Amazins' are 22-19 to the Yankees' 21-20.

I don't think either record really reflects the relative strength of the two teams. The Yankees have now lost Michael Pineda and three key relievers to freak injuries, and Mark Teixiera is out perhaps indefinitely with a mysterious illness. The Mets are probably playing several games above their heads. At any rate, it's fairly easy to pinpoint the main reason that the Mets are 3 games over .500: David Wright, after going 2 for 4 yesterday, is batting .412.

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www.beinglatino.us

If, like me, you're going through a severe case of Mariano withdrawal, take a little time off and go to YouTube. Or trust my own selection of The Best of Mo. This is how I spent my Thursday night, pulling up my favorite Rivera videos so you didn't have to. But if you think you have some as good or better, by all means post them below.

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Wikipedia

Tex is off to an awful start.

We all know about Mark Teixiera's reputation for slow starts, but this is ridiculous. The injuries notwithstanding, the primary reason the Yankees are not in first place right now is because Teixiera has been so awful. And yet, if I had made you a bet that, say, 35 games into the season Teixiera would be not only better but have 5 times as many home runs as Albert Pujols, would you have taken it? I would, if you'd offered it to me - I'd have jumped on it.

After 36 games, Teixiera is outhitting Pujols by 20 points (.232 to .212), has hit 5 home runs to Pujols' one, driving in 19 runs to Pujols' 14. Additionally, he has an OBP of .285 and a slugging of .399 against Albert's .278 and .288.

So if you're looking for a quick answer as to how bad Albert Pujols' season has been up to now, think of it this way: Mark Teixiera has been horrible, absolutely dreadful, and is whipping Pujols in every major batting stat.

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You could tell that it was a special day at Yankee Stadium when the Bleacher Creatures broke from tradition and started a chant for Andy Pettitte which got most of the 41,000-plus to chime in. I don't recall the Creatures ever chanting the starting pitcher's name when they do the first inning lineup call out.

So how did Andy do? Was he the Pettitte of old? I'm afraid it was closer to old Pettitte. He wasn't terrible -- 6 1/3 innings, 7 hits, and 4 runs. But at a time of diminished bullpen strength for the Yankees, he's going to have to do a whole lot better to make a difference. Particularly telling was the fact that he walked three batters and only struck out two. More telling, perhaps, was that the two home runs he gave up both came with men on base. God knows Pettitte made a lot of starts in which he gave up two home runs, but most with bases empty. This time when he got behind in the count even relatively weak hitters were waiting on the fast ball.

And here's the worst news of all: the Seattle Mariners who hit the home runs off him, Casper Wells and Justin Smoak, were batting .207 and .195, respectively.

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Trying to find a hook on the Mets this year is as hard as getting a straight answer about the team's finances. Right now, as they get ready to play at Miami tonight, they are 18-13, in third place, but just one game behind the first place Nationals and a half-game behind the Braves,. They are, incredibly, 4 ½ games ahead of the last place Phillies, whom they just swept in their home park for the first time since 2006.

You'd think Mets fans would be dizzy with excitement, but most of the ones I know seem to be more like dizzy with ... well, just plain dizzy. What is going on? Is this for real? Can it last?

Almost no one is talking about the games per se, they're asking "How are they doing it?" I have an answer for that: I don't know, and if anyone else does, I wish they'd tell me.

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And so it ends with a bang and a whimper. No Yankee great's departure has ever caused anything like the shock to the system New York fans are now experiencing.

I'm hearing from some, "Well, what about Thurman Munson's death?" A shock, yes, but let's be honest, Munson wasn't loved. Certainly his loss was more tragic in human terms, but in pure baseball terms what can compare to this?

On top of the loss for the season of Michael Pineda, the Yankees are now, realistically, playing for nothing more than to stay in the top half of their division. Yes, Dave Robertson can replace Mariano Rivera, but who, then, is going to replace Dave Robertson as the set-up man?

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How does yesterday rank with the worst days in Yankee history?

Well, yesterday the Yankees learned that, realistically for all intents and purposes, their hopes for the 2012 World Series were over. They also got a pretty good idea that the rest of this decade doesn't look too good either.

Mark Feinsand said it best, I think, in this morning's Daily News: "The tear in Michael Pineda's shoulder might be the only thing keeping Phil Hughes in the rotation." But after yet another miserable performance last night by Hughes - 2 1/3 innings, 4 earned runs, and a 7.88 ERA for the season - it doesn't look like anything is going to keep Hughes in the rotation, or maybe even in a Yankees uniform much longer.

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www.nj.com

A few nights ago at the Ballpark in Arlington, ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, covering the retirement ceremony for Pudge Rodriguez, tweeted "His stats warrant first ballot Hall of Famer, ninth best C ever for me."

No problem with the first statement, but what exactly is the second based on? I think most baseball historians would pretty much agree that the two greatest catchers ever were Yogi Berra and Johnny Bench. I would rate Berra ahead of Bench, Many others would not, but that's an argument for another time. Roy Campanella presents a problem in that he did not get from the Negro Leagues to the major leagues until he was 26 years old, a couple years past his physical prime. I don't think there's much argument that at his best Campy was one of the best catchers ever.

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www.thesportshole.com

I guess I wasn't making myself clear enough in my earlier post regarding Fox Sports and the final pitch of Philip Humber's perfect game -- at least not clear enough for Craig Calcaterra on HardballTalk, NBCSports.com, anyway.

First, let me reiterate what I did NOT say. I did NOT say that Humber didn't pitch a great game. I did NOT say that a checked swing isn't a judgment call. OF COURSE, it's a judgment call. EVERY pitch is a judgment call.

The standard that is supposed to be applied to a checked swing is whether the barrel of the bat breaks the plane of the plate. Common sense says if it goes past the plane of the plate it's a swing, and, therefore a strike. Conversely, if it doesn't, then it's not a strike.

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www.thesportshole.com

You got a guy who is 29 years old and making a comeback from Tommy John surgery - and, to top it off, hasn't won a game this year. He throws a perfect game and nobody - and I mean nobody, including me - wants to put a damper on it. (Did I mention that his wife is nine months pregnant?)

All I want to know is: was the last pitch Philip Humber threw to Brendan Ryan actually a strike?

I'm not asking whether the ball was outside the strike zone -- anyone could see that it was. I'm not asking if the batter is supposed to be guarding the strike zone a little more carefully in those situations, on a full count with two outs - clearly he is. I won't even ask the question as to whether umpire Brian Runge should have been giving Humber the benefit of the doubt with a perfect game on the line. (The answer to that question is an emphatic No! The umpire is supposed to treat all pitches the same under all circumstances.)

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