Life never begins on Opening Day for Royce Clayton. It just keeps repeating itself in ways he must not care for.
The play of the game in the Mets’ first game, the Mets’ first win of 2006, unfolded with Mets up by one: Ryan Zimmerman’s eighth-inning double down the left field line, Alfonso Soriano on first and running all the way. Floyd gets to the ball. Good throw to Reyes. Reyes turns and fires to Lo Duca. Great relay. Lo Duca blocks the plate. Soriano slides. Maybe he gets a hand in there. Maybe Lo Duca tags him. Lo Duca doesn’t hold on but Soriano doesn’t reach back. Either way, he’s out, and either way, Soriano would have had an easier time of it had the on-deck batter cleared Zimmerman’s bat from the basepath.
The on-deck batter was Royce Clayton. The same Royce Clayton who ten years and two days ago on the same occasion, Opening Day, in the same weather, gray and chilly and damp, ran from first to home for the Cardinals with the Cardinals trying to expand a 6-3 lead by one with two out. Ray Lankford doubled. The left fielder — Bernard Gilkey, not Cliff Floyd — handled it and fired it to the shortstop — Rey Ordoñez, not Jose Reyes — who delivered it in a zip to the catcher — Todd Hundley, not Paul Lo Duca. Clayton was out. Then the Mets came up in the bottom of the seventh and completed a historic comeback, from 0-6 to 7-6.
Ordoñez’s 1996 bullet (launched from his knees, it must be recalled; we were there) was the star of that show, meaning, in a way, that Clayton’s role hasn’t changed in a decade. He’s still an unwitting and ineffectual bystander in Met Opening Day heroics at Shea Stadium.
It was a day of renewal and revival and all that “re-” stuff for our guys, the 3-2 winners. Tom Glavine turned 276. Savior Nady leads the world in batting (first Met with four hits in his first game since Richie Hebner, but never mind that, never mind that, never mind that, never mind that). David Wright earned another five magazine covers with another four bases. Aaron Heilman overcame his reluctance and relieved to no ill effect despite throwing like a demoted starter. Anderson Hernandez picked one clean. Carlos Beltran nailed Jose Vidro at second for the final out. Billy Wagner closed out all thoughts of Braden Whatshisname. And SNY, despite having to make an emergency trip to Home Depot for a surge protector (their telecast disappeared for an inning or two, though they were kind enough to entertain us once more with Dave Magadan’s youthful exploits), got through nine.
But I can’t get over Royce Clayton being again where Royce Clayton was ten years and two days ago: home plate, Shea Stadium, emptyhanded, his side’s futility expertly announced for all our enjoyment by Howie Rose (then in his first SportsChannel gig, now in his first official assignment alongside the inoffensive Tom McCarthy).
I didn’t even realize Royce Clayton was on the Nationals. Royce Clayton’s been one of everything: Giant, Cardinal, Ranger, White Sock, Brewer, Rockie, D’Back, now this. He was playing for Arizona when the Mets were scoring 14 and 18 runs on consecutive nights last August and I was surprised to find he was a Snake. He was struck out by Jim Morris in The Rookie. He bounces from one wan outfit to the next with no apparent hope of ever getting close to a World Series. He’s a Major League Baseball player, which is pretty damn cool, but at 36 and on his eighth team and in his sixteenth season, this must be getting old for him.
Life begins on Opening Day, though for some, it just continues.
I was at that game in '96 – still the greatest play I have ever seen live in-person. My buddy and I proclaimed Ordonez 'El Rey: King of New York'. His reign was short and sad, no?
Great start today, Mets. Here's to 90+ more!
Fantastic blog, btw. The best baseball blog out there in my humble opinion. Keep up the great work.
You have two bloggers here who'd probably agree with you on best defensive play witnessed live and in person(s).
Thanks for the blog ranking. Hope we have lots of wins to keep this thing of ours interesting.
While I love a win, especially an opening-day win, as much as the next Mets fan, there were a few worrisome things in it that I hope won't prove to be trends.
Two involved Mets pitching. In the top of the second, at one point Glavine went about 12 pitches without eliciting a swing — a 4-pitch walk, a 5-pitch walk and then some. It looked almost like stubbornness — as if he (or Lo Duca) were thinking, “the guy didn't bite the last three times, but if I show him the same bad pitch again, he's sure to swing this time.” It's one thing if you're freezing guys for called strikes, but Glavine was missing again and again and again, and had the baserunners to prove it.
Then, though Heilman started his outing with plenty of warning, since Glavine was lifted for a pinch hitter, he still looked unprepared, giving up singles to the first three batters he faced. Little harm done, ultimately, but it wasn't pretty.
The other thing that annoyed me was, with men on first and third and one out, seeing Beltran and Delgado produce back-to-back popups. These are the money guys, the ones who are supposed to be made to order for exactly this situation. Popups with men on third just won't do.
Even so, a win is a win is a win. Let's do it again on Thursday.
Good thing their teammates came through to pick them up. There'll be days when Beltran and Delgado take care of business.
I won' t bother rehashing the whole game, y'all saw it. Here's my report from the field (or field box, I should say).
As I understand it, people who arrived after noonish couldn't get into the parking lots. If there isn't enough parking available for sellouts now, what're they going to do when they start building our new house in the main lot? For starters, police need to dissuade people of the notion that if they arrive early enough they can take up 5 additional spots for their barbecues and beach chairs.
Pursuant to pregame rituals: can we declare an age cutoff beyond which you do not play catch in the parking lot? While it was good entertainment watching the mid-40ish guy who threw like a girl in my aisle just behind the scoreboard, he and his friend were utterly inept at both catching and throwing, and I was relieved no one was injured by their errant hardball. Guys: when you're middle-aged (like me), sit on your tailgate and drink.
Met “fans” gotta get off this kick of booing the home team. Zambrano got booed during the pregame announcements! What the hell is wrong with people?! And let's hold off hammering Beltran until, say, week 2.
Conversely, the good-natured ribbing of Matt, the portly batboy, is OK in my book. Because I think he has replaced Barry Foote as fattest individual to wear a Met uniform, and besides, he looks a little too old to be a “boy”. Guess they can't call him Batman.
Is that really Jesse Orosco? Why does he look younger than he did in '86?
Gosh, it's great to be in a sold-out Shea with none of the enemy fans present. Last couple of sellouts I attended, the place was half-full of stinkin' Yankee fans. And Cub fans.
LoDuca is making the absence of #31 a little more bearable. It was still weird without Mike there, and I'm thrilled he jacked one in SD. Hope he hits 39 more.
Speaking of HRs, if DelGado had hit that big fly a little straighter, people would have soiled themselves. Wow, is he strong.
Best new concession: the pre-made heat-and-eat Cuban sandwiches. The same ones you buy at CostCo. Yummy.
In related concession news, anyone else think its a bad idea to sell beers in those heavy aluminum bottles? You can't fling an empty plastic bottle with any kind of force, but someone is going to get brained by one of these new things at some point this year; hope it's not a Met fan (or Met).
The crowd chanting “MVP!” after Wright made that play in the 9th was hilarious.
Boy oh Boy can Billy Wagner bring it. According to the radar he was only in the low 90s, but that ball was just hissing right up there. We were cheering his warmup throws like called third strikes. We're really going to enjoy having him here.
Overall, a great day. Second-best opener I've ever attended, trailing only Gary Carter's first Met game.
And then as a nice little coda on my Met day, Dave Kingman gets a mention on the Sopranos as I watch the rerun!