Then the first game is played and, depending on the result, people begin jumping on or off the bandwagon. It’s just the way fans are. Some people are kind of fickle. Others are so passionate that it’s difficult to look at the big picture. So it will be interesting to see how fans of New York’s baseball teams react to their teams’ beginnings.

Starting with the good news: the Mets’ new bullpen successfully shut the door. After Sean Green pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, the highly touted offseason pickups did their jobs in the last two innings. J.J. Putz took care of the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez got the save, giving Johan Santana and the Mets a 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the Yankees’ expensive new acquisitions weren’t nearly as good. CC Sabathia’s line: 4.1 innings, 8 hits, 6 earned runs, 5 walks, no strikeouts, 2 wild pitches in the Yanks’ 10-5 loss to the Orioles. Mark Teixeira went 0 for 4 with a walk and left 5 men on base, and was jeered all day by the Baltimore crowd. (Can’t imagine why, just because the hometown boy spurned the O’s to take the Yankees’ money.)

Remember, it’s always a mistake to make snap judgments about a season based on just one game. Case in point: the last Mets’ free-agent closer, Billy Wagner. He picked up the save in his first Mets game…and served up a game-tying homer in his second.

Share on Facebook

Based on his facial features this was pre-steroids.

With the recession continuing to ravage the nation, there’s been a lot of discussion about last week’s interview of CNBC’s Jim “Mad Money” Cramer by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Stewart effectively picked apart Cramer’s reputation as a financial expert (at least from some reports — I didn’t watch it myself so I can’t comment personally). Putting aside how pathetic it is that a show on Comedy Central is doing a better job of journalism than any of the so-called “news” networks, now one of Cramer’s proteges — a former pro athlete — is also under attack.

Kevin Coughlin, a former photo editor for a magazine founded by former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Lenny Dykstra, has written an article, “You Think Your Job Sucks? Try Working for Lenny Dykstra,” for the April issue of GQ magazine. It’s not a flattering picture, to say the least. It depicts seeming financial mismanagement, not to mention racist, sexist and homophobic comments, by Dykstra.

Dykstra managed to parlay his baseball career into a chain of car washes, and then turned his attention to the stock market, eventually becoming a columnist for TheStreet.com, a site co-founded by Cramer. He then started a magazine called The Players Club, distributed exclusively to professional athletes, with plans to expand it into a full-service company providing financial advice, luxury concierge services, etc. to those very same athletes.

In the GQ article, Coughlin says that Dykstra’s company is in terrible financial shape and the magazine is unlikely to publish another issue. He says there are multiple lawsuits pending against Dykstra and TPC because of bounced checks, nonpayment of bills for services rendered and loans not repaid. He alleges Dykstra, ostensibly a wealthy man, used Coughlin’s credit cards to rent private jets, sometimes without Coughlin’s permission, and refused to pay Coughlin’s final paycheck unless Coughlin signed a confidentiality agreement (Coughlin refused and hasn’t been paid).

Coughlin also paints an ugly portrait of Dykstra as a person:

At one meeting, Lenny goes off on how a particular layout looks “faggy”-despite the presence of a gay page designer in the room. (Later, Lenny says to me: “Did you see the look on that fag’s face?”) On another occasion, I field a call from Lenny about potential cover subjects while I’m at home; Lenny’s on speaker when he proudly states, for both my wife and me, that “nobody can call me a racist-I put three darkies and a bitch on my first four covers.”

The first four Players Club covers featured Derek Jeter, Chris Paul, Tiger Woods, and Danica Patrick.

“What was that, Lenny?” I ask.

“I said I put three spearchuckers on the cover!” he replies.

Dykstra told the Philadelphia Inquirer that “everything in there is a lie.” And perhaps it is. The article was written by a disgruntled former employee. On the other hand, Dykstra denied using steroids during his playing days, always joking that he took “real good vitamins” when his body suddenly turned larger, but he was named as one of baseball’s steroid users by the Mitchell Report in 2007, which cited clubhouse employee/steroid distributor Kirk Radomski and other sources.

Share on Facebook

In the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins finished off a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox at the Metrodome in thrilling fashion. The Twins clawed their way back from a 4th-inning 6-1 deficit, tying the game with 2 runs in the 8th inning, and won in the 10th on a walk-off RBI single by Alexi Casilla.

The Twins now lead the AL Central by a half-game over the Sox. With the AL Wild Card already going to either Tampa Bay or Boston, the loser of the AL Central is headed to the golf course. The Twins close out the season with 3 home games against Kansas City this weekend, while the White Sox have 3 at home against Cleveland and, if it’s needed, a single game against Detroit on Monday, a makeup for a rainout two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the National League has three teams fighting for two playoff spots. (I’m not counting Houston, who will be eliminated with one more Astros loss or a win by either of the other Wild Card contenders.) The New York Mets, wrapping up their final season at Shea Stadium, were trailing the Chicago Cubs 6-3 despite the Cubs resting most of their starting players. The Mets scored a run in the 7th, then strung together 4 straight hits with 2 outs in the 8th. A sensational slide by the Mets’ Ryan Church to avoid a tag at the plate resulted in the tying run, and the Mets won in the 9th on a walk-off RBI hit by Carlos Beltran.

The Milwaukee Brewers have faded so badly that they fired their manager despite still being tied for the NL Wild Card lead at the time. The managerial change didn’t help at first, but the Brewers are beginning to regain some of their earlier mojo. Tonight a 10th-inning grand slam — yes, another walk-off — by Ryan Braun gave the Brewers a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh at Miller Park.

The Mets and Brewers remain tied for the NL Wild Card, while the Mets are just one game behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East.  The Brewers finish up with 3 games at home against the Cubs, the Mets are at home for 3 against Florida, and the Phils are at home for 3 against Washington. Rain may be a complicating factor as a nor’easter is making its way up the East Coast. The Mets-Cubs game tonight finished in a steady rain, and postponements Friday or Saturday could lead to a doubleheader or two on the final day of the season.

Share on Facebook

Despite the Astros’ being the “home” team the crowd of 23,441 (not bad for a game scheduled on a day’s notice) was mostly comprised of Cubs fans, with Milwaukee being much closer to Chicago than Houston.

And then there are the playoff races. On Wednesday, I posted a message on the discussion board that included this brilliant bit: “Except for the AL Central, in every playoff race the leader is ahead by 3 or more games in the loss column. Could this mean much less drama in the final week?” What was I thinking? Besides the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies are all within 2 games in the loss column in their respective divisions, and 1 game (or 1.5 in the Twins’ case) overall. The NL Wild Card race has also tightened.

After losing 2 games at Fenway Park to AL East leader Tampa Bay in dramatic fashion, Boston regained ground by cooling off the red-hot-but-way-too-late Blue Jays while the Rays lost 2 of 3 to the Yankees, who have nothing left to play for but the closing week of their stadium. The loser of the AL East race will likely be the AL Wild Card representative, though. There is no such certainty in the NL.

The Milwaukee Brewers had a 4-game lead going into the first of a four-game series in Philadelphia. They leave town tied with the Phillies for the Wild Card after being swept, and the Astros are within two games despite being no-hit by Zambrano.

The Brewers had the option of pitching CC Sabathia Sunday against the Phillies on three days’ rest. They decided against it, preferring to have Sabathia pitch the first of a three-game set in Chicago. After Friday’s game was rained out, the Brewers’ players had to give their approval to the game being rescheduled for Monday, when both the Phils and Brewers had an off-day (since the labor agreement bars teams from being scheduled to play on more than 20 consecutive days). That would’ve allowed Sabathia to pitch that day on 4 days’ rest. The players voted against giving up their off-day.

Sabathia will start on Tuesday against a Cubs team now up by 7.5 in the NL Central, while in the rescheduled game Sunday night Jeff Suppan allowed 6 runs, 8 hits and 4 walks in 3 2/3 innings in losing to Brett Myers — who was the second Phils starter (after Jamie Moyer, who got the win on Thursday) to pitch and win on 3 days’ rest in the crucial series. If the Brewers’ collapse is complete 14 days from now and they miss the playoffs entirely, the decision to hold Sabathia back should go down as a major blunder.

Speaking of collapses…as if the Phils weren’t happy enough with moving into a tie with the Brewers, the New York Mets’ bullpen woes continue to haunt them. Mets relievers coughed up two more late leads this weekend, losing 2 of 3 to the Atlanta Braves. This allowed the Phils’ 4-game sweep of the Brewers to cut their NL East deficit from 3 1/2 games to just 1. This New York Post back page headline from Friday might be just a bit premature.

Share on Facebook

Share on Facebook