What's so funny about a ballplayer sitting on the bench with someone else's bubble gum, fully tumescent, affixed to button of his cap? I'm not arguing that it's not funny (because, viscerally, it's hilarious), but why, when we've all seen it a hundred times, does it not fail to delight?
Luis Castillo, who's been sitting and hopefully healing rather than playing, was the victim of the time-tested childhood prank his fellow well-compensated adults pulled on him yesterday. Ramon Castro allegedly did the chewing and the blowing and the sticking…twice. Every Met looked satisfied with the result, except for Castillo, who appeared oblivious. Keith Hernandez and Kevin Burkhardt were certainly delighted. And it's pretty much the only thing I remember from Wednesday's exhibition game — and I watched chunks of it twice.
Perez finally pitched the kind of game that won him big bucks in Ollietration and Angel Pagan smacked his 75th homer of the spring while not being traded for Coco Crisp and J!4 tripled and Fernando Martinez did not dim his prospects. But by this weekend, I won't remember much of their exploits because none of them count. I will, however, remember the bubble that materialized over Luis Castillo's head. Given his state of awareness, one senses it wasn't a thought balloon.
Mets By The Numbers continues its hiatus from matters of significance with Part 2 [1] of its bizarre conception of what constitutes a Met-Lovin' Big Shot