Johan Santana gets 'trashed' at practice

The New York Mets season hasn't even started and the team's ace, Johan Santana, may already be preparing fans for the dumps.

Santana joked around with photographers yesterday by putting a big gray garbage can over his head during an idle moment at practice.

Call it garbage time in Port St. Lucie.

Maybe the left-hander should have been wearing one of those blue recycling bags since Santana— who missed all of last season while recovering from shoulder surgery— faced hitters Thursday for the first time since tossing four innings in an Instructional League game on Sept. 30

"I felt pretty good," Santana said after the outing. "I was able to throw for the first time having batters standing up at the plate and swing the bat.  It was pretty good."

Santana threw 43 pitched during two stints Thursday, resting in between. 

He is expected to throw a light bullpen session today and have a long-toss before starting s split-squad game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

If Santana's arm doesn't gain full strength by the season opener, expect to see a lot of Mets fans sporting garbage cans over their heads this season.

Meet the Meh'ts?

Giants Still Can't Find Cruz Control

Last week, New York Giants Victor Cruz "gave himself up" in a crucial play which led to a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the Arizona Cardinals.  Yesterday, the wide-out gave the ball up during a last minute play-- which led to a Seattle Seahawks pick-six score in a crushing 36-25 loss in the Meadowlands.

The unheralded Cruz ultimately controlled the outcome of yesterday's game by making spectacular tipped catches and then knocking a ball into the hands of the opponents as well.

It was Victor Cruz Bobble-Hands Day at MetLife Stadium yesterday.

The undrafted Cruz seems to have a real knack for making the big play.

The Giants trailed, 29-25, when  Giants QB Eli Manning connected on two consecutive passes of 41 and 19 yards to Cruz which set up a first-and-goal from the Seattle five-yard line with 1:27 left.  A false start by Will Beatty pushed the Giants back to the 10.

On the next play, Manning threw the ball to Cruz, who was in the vicinity of four-- count 'em-- Seattle defenders.  Cruz fell down and tipped the ball off the hands of strong-safety Kam Chancelor who bounced it into the waiting arms of cornerback Brandon Browner who raced 94 yards to put the game out of reach.

Manning's ill-advised throw broke up what could have been the third straight fourth-quarter come-back for the Giants.

Cruz had an All-Pro day after catching six passes in last week's win in Arizona.  The Paterson, N.J. native finished up yesterday's game with eight catches for a career-high 161  yards including an incredible 68-yard bobble-and-twist TD catch in double coverage.

Manning threw for a career high 420 yards and three TD's and kept the Giants in the game but also committed four turnovers.  It looked like the Eli of old when the Giants got into the red-zone.

Head coach Tom Coughlin pinned the blame on himself but also sat Manning in the corner.

"The sloppiness of the game, the turnovers... you're not going to win football games when you're handing people the ball," said Coughlin.

About Manning's poor decisions in the red zone, the coach was more direct.

"You can't throw an interception right there," he said  "You just can't do it."

Granted, two of Manning's INT's were deflected by his receivers into the hands of Seahawks players.  A constant rally-killer that seems to have been the bane of Manning's last couple of seasons.

Cruz is playing beyond any one's expectations this season and, when combined with Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham, gives the Giants a real 1-2-3 punch.  If only Cruz could control the ball more deftly.  For every acrobatic play, there seems to be a dangerous bobble or a fumble.

"As soon as I went to grip it [the ball], I got hit.  It bobbled up in the air," said Cruz of the last minute pick-six.  "I knew it was all downhill from there, because there were two guys there and I knew one of them was going to pick it off."

Browner's game-buster has to take a lot of the wind out of the Giants sails.

With the Philadelphia Eagles losing and the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins idle, the G-Men had a chance to take over sole possession of first place in the NFC East and put some distance between them and their rivals.  Too bad they couldn't pull another fourth quarter Houdini act.

The Giants finally found out what it's like to be on the losing end of a come-from-behind win and doing it in grand style has to sting a little more.

Seattle came into the game averaging a measly 254 yards per game but shredded the Giants defense for 424 yards-- half of them with their second-string QB Charlie Whitehurst at the controls.

Ironically, it's that same Giants defense which kept them in the game.  They registered six sacks and three interceptions.

Maybe the Giants modest win streak was a desert mirage.  The defense hasn't really played overly well during the past three weeks and the offense doesn't seem to catch fire until the fourth quarter.

Overcoming the St. Louis Rams, the Arizona Cardinals and a suspect Eagles team in the fourth quarter is exciting but not awe-inspiring.  The anemic Seahawks were supposed to be lumped in with that downtrodden bunch during the softest stretch of the Giants schedule but made the Giants look sloppy on their home turf.

Next week, the Giants host the confident Buffalo Bills, who are beginning to look like the real thing and got four Michael Vick picks of their own.

Manning, who last week said he wanted to get off to fast starts and avoid any last-minute heroics, will probably be spending a lot of time this week adjusting his Cruz control.

Phillie Phanatic Goes Ape Over Dugout

After clinching the NL East this weekend,  Phillies fans had a lot to cheer about but why, why in the name of Mr. Met, would the Phillie Phanatic get up on the dugout and do the monkey with half-a-dozen people in chimpanzee costumes?

The bizarre scene took place last night during a game at Citizens Bank Park against the St. Louis Cardinals when the furry green mascot was joined over the Philles' dugout by the phoney primates.

Not being a big fan of mascots-- I did find this kind of funny.  You really can't go wrong with monkeys on TV anytime.

The big-headed apes didn't push any environmental issues like the Stanford Tree, a monkey movie and they aren't as scary--or peculiar--  as the 2012 London Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville.  Are those things remote controls or what?

Last night's dance line didn't do anything to help the Phillies though.  They were blanked by the Cards, 5-0.

The New York Mets mascot can only pine for the day when he is joined in a conga line within his lonely stadium.

Maybe Mr. Met can do the Dougie with the packs of wild dogs which reportedly roam outside CitiField.

Could Phil Hughes' "Dead Arm" Be Rick Ankiel Syndrome?

The "slight positive" news for the New York Yankees is that pitcher Phil Hughes' test results for thoracic outlet syndrome came back negative after being examined in St. Louis by Dr. Robert William Thompson on Monday.  The bad news is that doctors still say the righthander's arm problems are a mystery to them.

Doctors have now ruled out TOS, which causes circulatory problems.  This leaves everybody wondering just what is wrong with the 24 year-old pitcher and his "dead arm?"

If it's not a physical problem causing Hughes to lose the velocity on his fastball, it might be psychological and that draws comparisons to another young hot-shot pitcher who suddenly lost his mojo--Rick Ankiel.

Ankiel was the St. Louis Cardinals 20 year-old lefthander with a blazing 97 mph fastball who, after a wonderful rookie season in 2000, turned into the real life Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn from "Major League."



It's hard not to see some similarities between the immensely talented Hughes and Ankiel after their first full seasons as major league starters.

Hughes was shuttled between the bull-pen and starting rotation for three years before landing a permanent spot in the rotation last season.  He made the most of it for the first half of the season before fading a bit down the stretch.  He finished with an impressive 18-8 record, 4.18 ERA and 146 strikeouts for the Yankees.

Hughes' name was always tossed around in trade-talks,  but the Yankees managed to keep him from being sent packing ala Ian Kennedy.  The team held on to this prized pitcher, who they considered one of the best young arms in the American League.

Ankiel started for the Cardinals in 2000 and was considered by some to be one of the best young pitchers in the National League.  He finished the season with an 11-7 record, a 3.50 ERA and 194 strikeouts and was runner-up Rookie of the Year.

Those are the good similarities.

Ankiel's arm suddenly went south in the 2000 NLDS against the Atlanta Braves.  In the first game, Ankiel inexplicably threw five wild pitches in one inning.  He followed that with a few more in his next playoff game.  He threw 12 wild pitches during the whole 2000 regular season.

Hughes followed a similar path last year.  After being chosen for the All-Star Game as a starter, Hughes suddenly started losing velocity on his fastball, slumped down the stretch run and got rocked in two games against the Texas Rangers in the ALCS.

The similar frustrations for these players don't end there.

In his second season, Ankiel threw 5 wild pitches and walked 25 batters in 24.1 innings before being sent down to the minors for evaluation.

This year, Hughes second as the No.3 starter, his stat-line reads like this: 0-1 record with a 13.94 ERA and only three strikeouts in three starts.

Both players faced a lot of pressure at an early age.  Ankiel, because of his personal relationship with his father and Hughes because of all the position juggling and trade talk.  Both had a lot of media hype to live up to in big baseball towns.

Ankiel and Hughes were both brought up carefully by their respective clubs.  There were frustrating  pitch-total counts and micro-coaching.  The two pitchers must have felt great disappointment after letting their teams down in two playoff games.

Even ten years ago, hospitals didn't have as many sophisticated injury-probes which Hughes has been enduring the past few weeks.

In Ankiel's case, it was finally determined that his problems stemmed from a physical and psychological breakdown.  He just didn't trust his success and there was too much pressure was the diagnosis.  

The verdict is still out on Hughes' "dead arm."  The Yankee flamethrower, who has seen his once vital fastball drop from 94 mph to 89, was put on the 15-DL on April 15.

He has seen specialists in New York and St. Louis who are still puzzled.  Doctors now want to put him on "reset," which means, "Rest him, send him away from the team and give his arm two weeks of nothing to see if there is a change."

Dr. Thompson did not have a reason for Hughes' arm woes and did not lay out any plans for the disappointed player's rehabilitation.

"We are going to try and keep him going and strengthen [the arm]," said Yankee manager Joe Girardi after the positive diagnosis.  "It makes me feel better."

Ankiel ended up returning as the Cardinals rightfielder in 2007 and became a real threat with his bat and rifle of an arm for a couple of seasons.

The next step for Hughes and his fatigued arm is vague.  Today, he will be returning to New York and not rejoining the team on their road trip.  Hughes will be visiting Dr. Chris Ahmad, the team doctor on Wed. for another evaluation and rehab program.

"I'm sure he will figure [the program] with Dr. Ahmad," said Girardi.