Having won the first round of the basically meaningless Battle for New York, it was time to resume pursuit of the real prize — the National League East — and the foe that seems to have returned after a one-year sabbatical. So how'd it go against the Atlanta Braves?
Not so good. It was obvious pretty early that this would be one of those thorough ass-kickings, the kind of game that you keep watching because seeing your team play lousy, dispiriting baseball is a sliver better than not watching your team play baseball. What picture would you like to remember from this one? Jorge Sosa looking too amped up against the team that put him on waivers, overthrowing sliders so they flatten out and demonstrating no command of the strike zone? Carlos Delgado looking utterly lost at the plate? Beltran and Reyes slumping, the few line drives flying into gloves, opposing pitchers hitting balls over the center-field fence? Our one rally was short-circuited by Mark Carlson's ruling that Kelly Johnson had dropped a ball on the transfer instead of before a force out was recorded. Honestly, I thought it was the right call; even if it wasn't, well, when you're going horseshit they fuck you. I think Confucius said that. Or maybe it was Buddha. Regardless, it was somebody wise.
There are few things more aggravating than watching your baseball team play flat while the other guys are enjoying a laugher — while smothering in that kind of misery it's hard to believe you'll ever see a big inning again, let alone win a game. It's not true, of course — a team that looks dead and buried one night can blast the ball all over the park the next night. Or so I seem to remember. Let's hope so, at least.
Because this was such a good game, you should go to the Countdown With Keith Olbermann site, scroll down to the Oddball section, click on “Running of the Urinals,” sit through the commercial, get to the :50 mark and you will see…
THE KITTEN!
The one that popped out of the batting practice mat on Sunday night.
Better than looking at Kyle Davies.
The Braves are back to torment us. .
I thought I already hated Kyle F'ing Davies as much as I possibly could, but there you go.
And I told all you guys not too get cocky about the Braves just yet… did you really think things would change that much? Tsk, tsk.
this is not good.
the mets have now had three performances in a row where they just couldn't motivate themselves enough. (or does anyone think of the saturday game against the skanks as anything but a 3-error gift?)
set aside sosa — please! — could some met other than lo duca show he remembers the whole “timely hitting” thing?
the quicker we flush this one down the memory hole — this one with its homerun hitting pitcher, a reviving andruw jones, even an efficient larry jones — the better. my fear is there are two more of these in the pipeline, unless the mets shake things up.
ME!
I think of it as the game where David Wright almost single-handedly made the Yankees look like amateurs…
2-5 against the Braves.
26-11 against the world.
11 games left against the Braves.
107 games left against the world.
Forgive me if I don't panic.
Gotta part company with you here, Jason. The Yankee series was not some annoying, essentially meaningless preamble to the main business at hand, i.e. the Braves and National League East supremacy.
I was into winning the East last year and meeting you guys at the clincher, vanquishing the Braves, etc. It was nice to win a division title apres the Reagan Administration.
But after 2006 I'm over window dressing–winning the division, best record in the league, home field throughout the playoffs, etc. etc.
All meaningless. Compile enough wins, regardless of the opponent, to reach the post season.
Then pursue the real prize.
On Mike and Mike this morning John Smoltz said he was not surprised by last year's dip, in fact, he expected it two or three seasons earlier because Atlanta was going through a rebuilding phase. Combined with injuries, he knew 2006 would be more an off year than a preminition of the team's demise.
Wishful thinking on our part that the jinx is over but even if it isn't, what we have going for us is Atlanta usually being eliminated in the division series which means we won't have to face them in the league championship.
I was struck by something last night (well, a couple of things, like how crappy we can look at times, how I think I might be a better hitter than DelG right now, how Chipper is still annoying). Davies, an abysmal hiting pitcher, absolutely jacks one to the deepest part of the park to put an exclamation point on a laugher against the most hated rival. And the Braves respond to it like someone moved a runner over to second on a groundout. Unsmiling low-fives all around! If one of our guys did that, there'd be elaborate dance moves, and laughing, and general tomfoolery. You could say the Braves were just being professional and not showing up their opponent. Or you could say they're corporate automatons, Bronx South.
The Braves might be very similar to the Yankees.
Except, you know, for the fact that they're not a shitty team.
Without the odd 3-error gift, you don't win nuffin', no matter how talented you are.
And I doubt they “don't remember” how to hit. Every team slumps. We just don't watch other teams every day so it's not as obvious.
Oh, and P.S. – the last five World Series had at least one Wild Card pennant winner. So winning the division, while nice for either team, guarantees approximately squat for either team as far as capturing the flag is concerned. Given that this is so, I think the regular season should be shorter, but I don't get a vote.
Every game is 1/162nd of the main business at hand. We can work out new fractions should the need arise in early October.