Always look on the bright side of life

Hey, things could be worse.

At least the Mets don't have a Hanley Ramirez situation on their hands.

Can you imagine if that same situation happened in New York with Jose Reyes? And if Reyes buried his manager in the press the way Ramirez did? Media armageddon. The WFAN hosts' heads would collectively explode with righteous indignation.

If you recall, Jerry Manuel and Jose Reyes did have a bit of a tete-a-tete in Jerry's first game as manager, but it was over nothing nearly as glaring as Ramirez jogging after a kicked ball while two runs scored. Maybe the two were able to get past it so quickly because Jerry actually played the game.

It will be interesting to see how Fredi Gonzalez and Ramirez move on from this. Ramirez -- who said other Marlins have dogged it -- has been criticized by teammate Wes Helms and others (even in other sports), but said he refuses to issue any kind of an apology. This is the same player who led the NL in hitting last season, earning as a gift a diamond-encrusted medallion in the shape of ".342" -- his batting average -- from owner Jeff Loria.

Ramirez must think Loria will take his side and not the manager's, and from what we know of Loria, that's probably right.

Although the Mets' 3-2 loss to the Braves was disheartening, it was not nearly as awful as the Yankees' one-run loss at home to the Red Sox. The Yanks gift-wrapped the win thanks to a throwing error by A-Rod (nice to know David Wright has some company), a dropped fly ball by Marcus Thames (the big hero from the night before), an eighth-inning meltdown by Joba Chamberlain, and a blown save by Mariano Rivera.

I thought those two were unbeatable. Now, Joba is getting booed at home. Boo-hoo.

Oh, by the way, Mark Texeira is batting .219 and should strike out 120-plus times. Is ANYONE talking about this?

Remember how badly the Dodgers looked when they were at Citi Field? Well, guess what? They have now won nine in a row.

It's a long season and a lot can change in a couple of weeks. Injuries, winning streaks, losing streaks, star players throwing their manager under the bus. To take a team's temperature after every game is crazy.

And if there's anyone out there who is certain they can do a better job than Omar Minaya, former Mets GM Steve Phillips has something to say to you. (Hat tip to ESPN's Rob Neyer).