…Steve Trachsel was bad.
…Gavin Floyd didn't get a rainout.
…Pat Burrell was around to kill us.
…Sal Fasano had short hair and no 70s porn-king 'stache.
…Steve Trachsel was worse.
…Paul Lo Duca couldn't field a one-hop throw to the plate.
…David Bell was tolling for thee, me and everyone else in orange and blue.
…Julio Franco was running bases like a rookie.
(Heck, it feels like Julio Franco was a rookie when this thing began.)
…Jose Reyes was a slugger.
…the Braves were taking batting practice somewhere out west.
…Ryan Madson had given up imagining the next time he'd get to throw 100 pitches in a night.
…Billy Wagner hadn't faced his old team.
…Carlos Beltran let himself come off a bag.
…Jose Reyes wasn't quite slugger enough.
…I could see straight.
…Darren Oliver thought he might get to start Thursday.
…it was still Tuesday.
…Lo Duca and Fasano could feel their legs.
…the Braves were still playing somewhere out west.
…the Phils were three games back.
…Madson still had Pitch #522 in his hand.
Hey! Alay! Welcome to the Show! You're going nine!
Also once upon a time,
… The longest game I had attended (innings-wise) ended in a Grand Slam Single.
… Carlos the 1st wasn't clutch.
… Our section was 60% full (Upper Resrved, Section 7; it was just us 10 by the 16th).
… Kaz couldn't play 2nd base.
… We thought Willie was crazy for pinch-hitting for Bradford after only throwing 8 pitches.
… We thought Oliver would surely give up a run this inning (actually, this was thrice upon a time).
… We thought _________ would send us home with a home run (actually, you get the idea).
… I never had to pencil in new boxes in a scorecard.
… Post-game “Let's Go Mets!” chants in the tunnels were never this intense in May.
In other news, what a crazy 16 innings. I believe you actually get a better sense of game flow watching on TV as opposed to attending, but here's some things we were talking about on the way out, in between high-fiving strangers on the ramps towards Exit C: 16 innings, no ground ball double plays. 16 innings, no Mets errors. 16 innings, 11of them by the bullpen, allowing two runs. As good as 8 shutout in my book. (Hello again, Phillies!) 5th walkoff win in May (Majewski, Delgado, Wright, Wright, Beltran). Bottom line: 10 over, 4 game lead, more baseball tonight. Wow.