Johan Santana Get The Big New York Welcome (No, That’s Not a Middle Finger)

New York seems to be getting all the cool toys lately. First, the Giants take the Super Bowl trophy ’round town, and now the Mets are showing off their new prized possession–Johan Santana. He was introduced today at Shea Stadium where throngs of people got to check out the Mets’ savior. Or at least the guy who won’t completely fail down the stretch like the Met’s rotation did last season.

Santana’s numbers slipped last season. He finished 15-13 and lost seven of his final 11 decisions as his ERA rose from 2.60 to 3.33, his highest since 2001. He allowed a career-high 33 homers — most in the AL.

Um, oops. But hey, why listen to that noise when you can listen to Carlos Santana! Get it? Because they’re introducing Johan Santana. Ha… ha? Why did this seem like a much better idea last week?

The Mets spent big money on their new ace last week and then choreographed a lavish introduction Wednesday at Shea Stadium’s Diamond Club, set to some familiar guitar riffs by rock star Carlos Santana.

Every minute or so, the string of strikeouts was interrupted by a famous New Yorker welcoming Santana to the Big Apple. There was Chris Rock, Alec Baldwin, Jerry Seinfeld.

Yeah, how about the real people who are happy to have him in New York–the 1-8 hitters who now know that they don’t have to score six runs a game to win every time. Just four out of five games, unless the Mets also got a machine in the deal to resurrect the arm of Pedro Martinez.
Santana gets lavish introduction at Shea [Yahoo]
Image [AP]