Miguel Batista – PaulHadsall.com

Washington Nationals "Inside Pitch" program baseball cards

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Paul

From 2009-2014, the Washington Nationals included a pair of baseball cards as an insert in each issue of their “Inside Pitch” gameday program.

Here’s a look at the two from a 2010 program that my friend Bart brought back for me as a souvenir from his trip to Nationals Park.

Clyde’s Stale Cards is trying to document the full run of the team-issued baseball cards. If you’ve got any Nationals programs lying around, why not head over there and see if you can fill in a few of the gaps on those checklists.

Autographs, Uncategorized

Spring training autographs: Collin McHugh and Miguel Batista

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Paul

I got a couple more signed cards back in the mail on Saturday.

Signed Collin McHugh 2012 Topps Heritage Minor League card from my collection

Collin McHugh made his major league debut for the Mets last season, and he ended up with a very ugly line of 0-4 with a 7.59 ERA for his rookie season. He really wasn’t that bad every time out – he threw a two-hit shutout over seven inning against the Colorado Rockies on August 23rd. I’m not sure how good of a chance McHugh has to make the 2013 Opening Day roster, but I’m sure he’ll make the most of it.

Signed Miguel Batista 2012 Topps Update baseball card from my collection

I liked Miguel Batista when he pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. (I liked everybody that played for the Diamondbacks in 2001.) I liked Miguel Batista when he was pitching a shutout on the last day of the 2011 season after Jose Reyes pulled his “bunt & bolt” stunt. I didn’t really like Miguel Batista last year – especially when I was watching him get rocked on Edgardo Alfonzo bobblehead day last July when I was hoping to see Matt Harvey instead.

This year, Batista is spring training with the Colorado Rockies as a non-roster invitee. I hope he makes it, if only because there aren’t many active major league ballplayers left who are older than me.

Baseball, Uncategorized

Mets win, finally

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Paul

RA-Dickey-2011 — Autographed 2011 Topps Heritage R.A. Dickey card from my collection

The Mets finally won a game, how about that?
The mega-deal between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers is complete, as long as Emperor for Life Bud Selig blesses it. It seems like both teams think they “won” the trade… I guess we’ll find out who’s right as time goes one.
Miguel Batista, last seen failing miserably in a Mets’ uniform, is back in the major leagues with the Atlanta Braves. Go figure. I wonder if he’s going to proclaim them the best team in baseball…
And in more serious non-baseball news, Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died today. RIP.

Baseball, Uncategorized

Freefalling back to .500 (photos from Saturday afternoon’s Mets game)

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Paul

Fun things about Saturday afternoon’s Mets game:

Reminiscing about Edgardo Alfonzo and getting a cool bobblehead
Seeing the crowd reaction as they realized R.A. Dickey was coming in to pitch the ninth inning. There was a small amount of applause when he stepped on to the mound, a larger reaction as “The Imperial March” began to play and an even bigger round of applause when he was actually announced.

Not fun things about Saturday afternoon’s Mets game:

Watching Miguel Batista struggle through the first three innings, using 81 pitches while allowing four runs on five hits and three walks
Watching Jeremy Hefner struggle through the next two innings, using 47 pitches while allowing two runs on two hits and two walks
Watching Juan Uribe spoil R.A. Dickey’s relief appearance by hitting a two-run homer that killed any hope of a ninth inning Mets’ comeback
Realizing that Chris Capuano could still be a Met if Sandy Alderson had a bigger budget to work with this winter and was willing to have competition for starting rotation spots this spring.
Seeing the Mets lose (again) to fall back to the .500 mark on the season
Discovering that Batista is still delusional (and was still on the roster) when I got back home
Sunburn

Here are some photos:

Coach Tim Teufel watches batting practice

Roberto Alomar and Kazuo Matsui were at the game (in spirit, anyway)

A photographer shows reliever Josh Edgin how he wants him to pose

Tim Teufel signs autographs for Mets fans

It disturbs me that Miguel Batista has a baseball card for the Topps starting lineup display

A grounds crew member paints the logo on the back of the pitcher’s mound

Catcher Mike Nickeas, pitcher Miguel Batista and pitching coach Dan Warthen walk in from the bullpen

Ruben Tejada (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

David Wright (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

Bench coach Bob Geren and manager Terry Collins

Kirk Nieuwenhuis won’t be watching so many games from the bench in 2013 (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

Jeremy Hefner (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall) — Jeremy Hefner, seen here pitching for the New York Mets in 2012, will undergo surgery tomorrow to address a damaged ligament in his right elbow. (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

R.A. Dickey (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)

Uncategorized

“Best team in baseball” loses another one

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Paul

The Mets lost another game to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, 4-3. They have dropped six in a row, are 3-9 in July and have fallen to just one game above the .500 mark.

But never fear: Miguel Batista says the Mets are the best team in baseball.

REALLY strong words from Miguel Batista: "I believe we are the best team in baseball." #mets

— Mike Kerwick (@mikekerwick) July 19, 2012

I just couldn’t make this stuff up.

Chris Young pitched well twice through the lineup, but again ran into trouble on his third go-around. Batista came out of the bullpen to give up some tack-on runs which turned out to be important later.

The hitters, except for David Wright and (bizarrely) Jason Bay, did little. (I guess I should give Lucas Duda and Andres Torres credit for putting the Mets’ first run on the board too, but Torres loses points for over-aggressive baserunning worthy of Angel Pagan.)

R.A. Dickey starts against Gio Gonzalez in a matchup of 12-game winners tomorrow afternoon. Normally, I’d DVR the game to see those two pitch… the way the Mets have been playing lately, I probably won’t bother. Thanks to previously-made plans to see some minor league games, I’ll be taking a bit of a break from the Mets. (Though I’m overjoyed that I will get to see Batista’s 248th career start on Saturday.)

Hopefully, the Mets will start a new winning streak while I’m not paying so much attention to them.