Soler Leaves Castro Behind...Only To Throw To Castro!!!

Irony, thy name is Mets...Alay Soler travelled so far, over so many years, with a too-long trip to the Dominican in-between, to escape baseball fan/dictator Fidel Castro, finally to arrive in America, and to the major leagues with the Mets, only to throw to his first catcher, also named Castro...although, thankfully, his first name is Ramon! Only in New York, only in America, only with the Mets!!!

Soler was noticably (and justifiably) nervous beginning yesterday's eventual victory over the Phils, and settled down considerably after a bad first inning. After the inning was complete, 2 major things happened for Soler- first, and most imporantly, Willie Randolph came over to Soler and put his arm around him, obviously offering him the encouragement that he needed to come back and pitch the way we hoped he would, and second, the most important signing of Omar's (brief) tenure, Mr. Pedro Martinez, was right there, next to Soler, also offering him words of encouragement. It's really something special to see the closeness of this team, and the leader, Pedro, rubs off on everyone. The addition of someone like El Duque, coupled with the addition of clubhouse leader (and amazing performer) Carlos Delgado, gives us not only more leadership but proven pennant-contending players who know how to turn it on and turn it up when it counts. Let's hope Soler puts the rookie jitters behind him quickly and becomes the pitcher we all feel that he can...it's so nice to root for a team made up of interesting, fun characters, instead of fire-cracker throwing, over-priced headcases who either don't want to be here or don't play like they are appreciative of their God-given talents...now let's take 3 of 3 from the Phils!!!