John Maine | The New York Observer

The Return of the Real John Maine?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:05:42 -0400

The John Maine the Mets need in order to maximize their potential over the season’s final 61 games returned last night, throwing seven strong innings in New York’s 6-3 victory over Philadelphia.

That Maine was missing in his previous four starts. After pitching at least six innings in 12 of his first 16 outings, Maine had failed to do so in each of his last four.

The difference between Maine’s outing Wednesday and his previous failures...

Can the Mets Keep It Up?

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:07:42 -0400

The Mets did a lot of heavy lifting on their recent road trip, amassing a 5-3 record against the National League East-leading Phillies and the wild-card-leading Cardinals.

The success of the road trip, punctuated by three straight wins in Philadelphia, catapulted New York into the thick of the National League playoff race. The Mets further solidified these gains with a pair of shutout victories Tuesday and Wednesday against the Giants, and they now stand...

Maybe What the Mets Starters Need Is a Rest

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:53:44 -0400

With Pedro Martinez eyeing a late-April return, the Mets would appear set to move forward with their planned five-man rotation intact. But if New York wants to make the decision best for the team now, later in the season and even for 2009, they ought to consider a wacky idea: expanding to a six-man rotation as soon as Martinez or Orlando Hernandez is healthy enough to take the mound.

While the starting rotation has been...

Who Needs Pedro Anyway? Giddy Mets Roll On

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400

David Wright and Carlos Delgado entered the old Jets locker room under the Shea stands, and the roomful of reporters stopped. Delgado was wearing a blue undershirt and Wright was still in his home Mets jersey, covered in dirt. The two men, who had slugged for five of the Mets’ six runs in a playoff-opening win against the Dodgers, were, after all, bona fide stars. “I mean, you definitely have the butterflies,” said Wright,...

Letters

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Senator Clinton Is No Role Model

To the Editor: One of the most interesting aspects of Senator Hillary Clinton to be gleaned from the Steve Kornacki piece, “Forget John Spencer: Hillary’s Win Means Iowa Caucus Next” [Sept. 18], is that she is completely evasive and lacking in candor. Doing a nuanced tap dance while waiting for her handlers to sweep her away from reporters is a very dubious characteristic for a Presidential...

Letters

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 20:00:00 -0400

Senator Clinton Is No Role Model To the Editor: One of the most interesting aspects of Senator Hillary Clinton to be gleaned from the Steve Kornacki piece, “Forget John Spencer: Hillary’s Win Means Iowa Caucus Next” [Sept. 18], is that she is completely evasive and lacking in candor. Doing a nuanced tap dance while waiting for her handlers to sweep her away from reporters is a very dubious characteristic for a Presidential aspirant. What...

John Maine, Baseball Hero

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 20:00:00 -0400

John Maine, the young pitcher for the New York Mets, lives in a Ramada Inn off Grand Central Parkway. He makes no distinction, based on his limited sense of adventure, between New York and his hometown of Fredericksburg, Va. “It’s all the same to me,” he said after a recent start. When he walks around the locker room at Shea Stadium, he has about as much presence as the guy who picks up the...