Seems there are some things we're not accustomed to.
Dae-Sung Koo is not accustomed to hitters swinging 3-0 — “In Korea and Japan, most players don't swing at 3-0. I wasn't expecting a swing on that.” That, of course, was the lifeless, string-straight fastball he threw to Carlos Delgado in much the same way a zookeeper throws a hunk of meat to a lion. I half-expected the guy who caught it to hold up a bunch of thread and a scrap of burning horsehide. To quote Bernard Gilkey from a few years back, a grown man hit that ball.
Kaz Matsui isn't accustomed to playing day games at Dolphins Stadium, which is why he lost a pop-up in the sun. Granted, he did manage to get the force, in a play that was tailor-made for reminding fans when the infield-fly rule is called and when it isn't. Marvelously fair game, this baseball thing.
We, of course, are accustomed to Matsui muffing pop-ups, not to mention grounders, humpbacked liners, bunts, pivots and other hazards of the infielder life. We are growing more and more accustomed to being pleased to see Miguel Cairo, his late Yankeeness notwithstanding. And from the chatter, Omar Minaya is increasingly accustomed to calling other GMs who think they need a middle infielder. Something tells me that one or another, the Kaz Matsui Era is nearing its close.
We're also accustomed to other things, like Tom Glavine quietly semi-blaming his teammates, manager and everyone else who wears the same uniform. (From the above New York Times article: He was “close” to empty before the 8th, could “certainly” have gone back out there, but also said he understood “if you guys want to send someone out there fresh”. Glavine also noted how he would have pitched Delgado differently, though he wasn't trying to second-guess Koo. Of course not. Hey Tommy — if you're so friggin' smart and not out of gas, why not insist that you want the ball for another inning?)
Oh, and we're accustomed to Mike DeJean being sucky. Too accustomed, I'd say.
Let's hope we don't get accustomed to Victor Diaz and David Wright grounding into double plays, or to Heath Bell getting grounders in exactly the wrong places. Tough “L” for Heath.
Yes, we took three of four from the Marlins, and I could get accustomed to that. But I could have tried on the four-game sweep for size, too.
By the way, how is it that neither the Mets nor the Yankees play a game on Memorial Day? What am I supposed to do, have a cookout and watch Braves-Nationals? How on earth does something like this happen?
Until TMB decides to stop going all binary with his “complete games per season” on the Mets, he really should just shut up about everything that takes place in games he doesn't finish. I never thought I could hate someone more in a Mets uni than a Braves' one – he's stretching the bounds of some serious universal laws, and something is going to give.
Never one to mock or otherwise minimize cultural differences (course), I'd like to ask Koo which games he has been watching for two months. We're 50 games into the season, and Beltran swings at at least half his 3-0 counts. I really don't know how to take his comment, other than with good humor, because I can't imagine it being delivered in any other way. Meanwhile, I wonder which surprised him more- the swing on 3-0 or the 7 foot pitcher…
When Wright and Reyes start resembling Brooks Robinson and Ozzie Smith out there, it'll be fair to continually single out Kaz. Right now it's starting to remind me of the Todd Zeile/Roger Cedeno witch-hunts of recent years, where neither of those guys was any worse than anyone else, but for some reason they were blamed and booed more than anyone else. Why Met fans feel the need to find one whipping boy every year, and mercilessly abuse him until he's run out of town, I'll never know. It's vicious, cruel and ultimately counter-productive. And a bit psychotic. As all bloodthirst is.
As for TMB, I never wanted his snooty a** here to begin with, and I see no reason to change my opinion.