Adam Rubin of the Daily News today writes that 23-year-old infielder Dan Murphy is en route to Houston in time for tonight's game. Although Rubin hasn't said who Murphy will replace, we can hope, I mean, speculate, that it's gimpy struggling Marlon Anderson, who's just having a terrible season and like Murphy (reportedly), bats left and plays poorly in several positions.

Murphy is one of the "Big 5" youngsters mentioned by Omar Minaya in press comments this week explaining why the Mets chose not to particpate in what was probably the most spectacular trade deadline season in recent memory, despite contending for a division title with obvious holes in the outfield and the bench, and serious questions surrounding the rotation and bullpen.

Just speculating here but with Murphy a potential solution to left-handed bench strength, the other four may fill holes in the outfield (Fernando Martinez), bullpen (Bingo closer Eddie Kunz) and rotation (Jon Niese, who's also being condsidered for Aug. 11 start, Rubin says; and Bobby Parnell, who might also help in the bullpen). That solution may call for a lot of speculation and wishful thinking, but it's more help than we got at the deadline so let's see. In a matter of taste, sure beats hoping that Jeff Conine will help.

We'll update you on Murphy's number when we get it and in the meantime direct your attention to the new poll on the left column, reviving the discussion we had earlier this season on what number Fernando Martinez (I prefer "Fartinez" to "F-Mart," don't you?) alights in if/when he gets the call.

No they didn't make it to 11 straight wins but as first pointed out in the comments section below the Mets on Friday ran out an all-odd starting lineup for what we believe to be the first time in their 46-year history.

7 Reyes SS

9 Anderson LF

5 Wright 3B

15 Beltran CF

3 Easley 2B

21 Delgado 1B

17 Tatis RF

23 Schneider C

33 Maine P

They'd been toying with this accomplishment frequently this season, particularly with Alou unavailable, and were heretofore held back mainly by the presence of Endy Chavez in the starting 9 (or starts by Pelfrey or Perez).
Fittingly, this milestone -- rarer even than an extra-base hit by Brian Schneider -- was achieved only after replacing even manager Willie Randolph with an odd successor in Jerry Manuel.

And with that taken care of, we can focus on regaining first place.

Sure to be buried in discussion of their second straight shutout, destined to get less attention than two ridiculousy unnecessary and counterproductive sacrifice bunts, and with the Yankees all the way to third place, tough to crack the papers at all, so thought it'd be worth pointing out the fact that tonight's starting Mets lineup was 8/9ths odd:

7 Jose Reyes, SS
10 Endy Chavez, RF
5 David Wright, 3B
15 Carlos Beltran, CF
3 Damian Easley, 2B
21 Carlos Delgado, 1B
17 Fernando Tatis, LF
11 Ramon Castro, C
57 Johan Santana, P

That's the oddest lineup I'd come across since we last raised the subject and found an 8-men odd lineup from May 20, 2004:

57 Eric Valent, LF
25 Kaz Matsui, SS
31 Mike Piazza, 1B
43 Shane Spencer, CF
20 Karim Garcia, RF
23 Jason Phillips, C
27 Todd Zeile, 3B
9 Ty Wigginton, 2B
29 Steve Trachsel, P

Oddly enough (get it?!) the right fielder in both lineups provides the only even number.  It's entirely possible I overlooked an odder starting nine at some point this year -- the current personnel leave almost no chance for an even starting squad, but as always if you happen find occurrances such as this -- also, all-ascending or all-descending lineups, so rare I've found none in 46 years -- you know where to send it. Gary Cohen may be aware of the two-sixes controversy, but it's not like Big Media is on this story yet.

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Roster move: Tony Armas to the disabled list, Carlos Muniz back up again.

After a solid half-season rehabbing his career in AAA, the Mets rewarded Tony Armas with his first big-league appearance of the year. Tonight's start in St. Louis (off to a shaky start as I write) is designed to provide a bit of rest for a stretched-out rotation, after which it is expected Armas will stay with the club filling the long-relief role previously filled by Claudio Vargas, Nelson Figueroa and Jorge Sosa. Armas appears tonight in No. 44 -- the same jersey he wore this spring that was later issued to Brady Clark when Clark when the trip north and Armas did not.

Leave it Greg Prince of Faith & Fear in Flushing to point out the last time No. 44 appeared on the back of a Mets pitcher it was the Mercury Mets and Jason Isringhausen -- who made his last appearance for the Mets wearing that jersey in July of 1999. That and a lot more.

Meantime, MBTN reader Paul C., aka King Of All Screen Capturers, delivers the above image of Isringhausen's unique Mercury Mets look -- condensed fonts don't exist in the future, doncha know.

To make room for Armas the Mets designated infielder Andy Phillips for assignment -- easy come, easy go -- and are gambling a short bench won't bite them in the butt before Moises Alou makes a return. Yes, they're counting on that again. Yes, the Met offense is collapsing under the anticipation of his return once again.

Talkin' baseball: Join me in Flushing this coming Monday, July 7, as I appear along with Greg Spira, co-editor of Meet the Mets, in a discussion about the Mets, baseball, books and anything else. We will have books for sale and/or signature (including Matt Silverman's Mets Essential and 100 Things), and afterward, I'll be happy to join you for a beer to watch the Mets-Phillies game.

Details: 6 p.m., Monday July 7 at the Queens Library -- Flushing , 41-17 Main Street, (718) 661-1200.

While so many of his colleagues spent the past week hysterically fermenting fake outrage and making a martyr of deposed manager Willie Randolph, beat writer Adam Rubin of the Daily News gets the real story on the complicated unraveling of the Willie Randolph Era, revealing not only Willie's wild paranoia and churlishness, but the politicking that could make Tony Bernazard the new king of Metland before long. As always, the real story is considerably more nuanced than a 144-point headline would indicate.

As I've said before, I felt bad for Willie right up until the end but I have begun to think that the Mets very much did him a favor by firing him as "controversially" as they did, since it detracts from the very strong argument for having done it in the first place. Three games in and I'm thrilled with the Jerry Manuel Era.

Manuel is the 19th manager in Mets history, and the first to wear No. 53: Following is a list of all Met managers and their uni numbers:

By the way, I'll be away from a computer for about a week, feel free to hit up the comments or contacts and we'll be back soon!

"In a row?"

Trot Nixon, 37th No. 6 in Mets history, and fourth this year, tying its own record from 2004 for the most times issued in a single season and extending 6's dominance as the most frequently issued Mets jersey.

But based on pure velocity of the turnover, 2008 has been the sixiest season in Mets history. Consider that in 2004, 6 hadn't been issed for the third time by time Nixon slipped on his new outfit. Chris Aguila was optioned back to AAA to make room for Nixon, illustrating the missed opportunity of handing him 6 as well.

I'd like to wish all you fathers out there a happy birthday. The Mets gave me a double header to accompany installation of a new bathroom vanity. This could be a very long day.

The Mets tonight welcome a healthy Pedro Martinez back to the team, hopefully to stay awhile but you never know. To make room they optioned newly activated reliever Carlos Muniz. Claudio Vargas in the meantime got a sudden introduction to his new role as a long man, mopping up for irritating lefty Oliver Perez after the Giants bashed Perez for six momentum-eviserating runs in one-third of an inning Monday.

The arrangement saves a starting assignment for Mike Pelfrey, who, for all of his struggles has turned in more quality starts with a lot less hype than, say, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy combined. Oliver Perez too for that matter.

Pelfrey may not ever be the guy the Mets hoped he'd be when they called his name in Omar Minaya's first draft as head honcho three years ago this week, but finding that out is the right thing to do.

Speaking of anniversaries, it was 10 years ago this Sunday that while playing ultimate frisbee in Yonkers, I collapsed to the turf with what would later be diagnosed as a ruptured Achilles tendon. Aside from effectively ending a maniacal pursuit to become the world's most famous frisbee player, the coming months off my feet for surgery and subsequent rehab would lead to the even stupider quest to chronicle every uniform number in Mets history.

We should have known!

Meet Nick Evans: Hitting .750, slugging 1.500, wearing No. 6. Evans is the 35th occupant of No. 6, which is still the all-time leader, and the second No. 6 this season. Catcher Gustavo Molina wore No. 6 earlier this season.

You said it, Willie.

Not about racism (for the record, the intimation Willie "played the race card" is a joke -- he just raised the issue, as is his right to do), but about the fact that something stinks around here.

The Randolph Era is beginning to look like another mangerial tenure destined to end unhappily and soon, and that's a shame: While I've never been a great Willie fan I feel terrible about how the fans (and players... and some journalists) have been treating him. I admire his iconoclasm and desire to be dignified: It's just that this team isn't lending itself to either end. We don't need tortured interpretations of pinch-running tendencies and pretend outrage based on willfull misinterpretation of since retratcted quotes (complete with the "I-can't-believe-I-used-to-idolize-this-guy" piling on). The team is at sea, and it doesn't appear that Randolph is capable of rallying them to greater success anymore.
If he's lost the team, that's when he goes, and no sooner.

That job won't be easier now that Moises Alou is out injured again. The Mets on Thursday recalled Raul Casanova from AAA New Orleans to take his spot on the roster.

Interesting factoid about Mike Piazza: He was assigned No. 31 in Los Angeles when it became available following Roger McDowell's switch from 31 to 17. McDowell, the former Met, switched to 17so as to honor his ex-Met teammate Keith Hernandez. Hernandez, of course, wore 17 in New York because 37 -- his number in St. Louis -- had been retired for Casey Stengel (and 7, 27 and 47 were already issued).

That means that 17 and 31 -- the numbers considered most likely for potential retirementfor the Mets -- can be directly traced to the first number the team retired.

So I did guest spot on a radio show the other day.

As part as the publicity around the MBTN book, I’ve done a few of these in recent months, and while I still blurt out way too many “umms” and “yaknows” it feels like I’ve actually gotten better as I’ve gone along. My gameplan for these interviews has generally been to go up there with the idea of simply putting it in play: I might drive the right question to the gap and maybe leg out the extra base, but I’m mainly up there trying not to whiff.

At the risk of taking this tortured analogy any further, it was a rough first inning in Houston. I ably handled an introduction glitch before Richard Justice of KGOW 1560 The Game (and the Houston Chronicle) surprised me with a first-pitch curve.

“What’s wrong with the Mets?” he asked.

If you listen in I mumbled something about an inconsistent offense and pitching issues that staffs typically encounter in April, but I’m not sure that’s it at all, necessarily. I mean, not all of it. The fact is this has been a remarkably average team over the last year (68-68 since last May 30, says this guy) and I’d argue that stretch of averageness actually proceeds it, goes back to September of 2006 and foretold the lethargic offense that more than anything else cost the Mets a chance to play in another World Series that year. And that resembles 2005, results-wise at least, when the Mets rested at .500 at more points than in any other year in team history but somehow looked better doing so.

So maybe that’s it. Being an OK team in a pretty good era is pretty much what they are under Willie and Omar. And while they’re capable of more the record shows early 2006 was the exception and not the rule. Their particular problems haven’t been quite the same every year, much less every night, beyond injuries and age.

When Justice got to the part about whether Randolph should be fired I pleaded pateience. Until Memorial Day, at least.

Anyway, in the interest of being better prepared next time, I put it to you readers: Tell me how you'd answer: What’s wrong with the Mets? Use the comments below.

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Thanks to David Moore and Crooked Number for still more help with the web page, which continues to be a masterpiece in the making. You might notice that names on the player pages now read in in proper order. Mookie Wilson > Wilson, Mookie, don't you think?

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Moises Alou is rumored to rejoin the team in time for tonight’s opener in Phoenix but until I see 18 in left field I’m not holding my breath. Not clear at this point whether Brian Schneider gets DL’ed or whatever. Not that I'm interested in starting a reputation for the guy or anything but Schneider's had three separate injuries already and his next extra-base hit will be his first. Fitting right in.

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Cool new book review published by Baseball America (pictured above) and featured, quiz-style, in the latest issue of Mets Inside Pitch.