Three-and-oh? You take. Of course you take. You always take on three-and-oh. Maybe not always always, but when you’re tied in the bottom of the ninth, there’s one out, and what you need more than anything else is a baserunner, you stand and you take.
Francisco Alvarez? You take. You’re like two-for-your-last-eighty (actually 12-for-72 entering Monday night). You reach and chase and pull the trigger far too quickly and anxiously pretty much all the time. Francisco, young man of 22 in whom we’ve invested so much hope and trust, please stand and take when the count is three-and-oh. Just reach base so a pinch-runner can take your place and a run can be methodically built.
Seranthony Dominguez? The Phillie refugee suddenly clad in orange and black with a smiling bird on his cap, comes up in the zone with a fastball on three-and-oh. Obviously you have to let that one go by, because it’s in a spot where swinging at it isn’t going to…
Francisco swings.
Oh.
But he hit it.
Uh…
It’s flying!
OH?
And…
YEAH?
It’s outta here!
WHOA!!!!
So sometimes you do swing on three-and-oh, even if you’ve been in a slump for more than a month, even if all you think you need is a baserunner, even if your batting eye is not as well-honed as one would like. Sometimes you do because you’re Francisco Alvarez and you understand a few things about pitches coming your way, given that you’ve usually got a mitt on one of your hands rather than a bat in both of them. Plus, as much as we lean on orthodoxy, such as you NEVER do this or that in that or this situation, exceptions — like a runner on first with one out in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game is valuable, but not as valuable as a runner rounding first on his way home to end the game — occasionally rule.
King Korn, 1962.
Francisco Alvarez did, too, Monday night, swinging, hitting, homering, OMG’ing and winning the game for the Mets over the Orioles in walkoff fashion, 4-3. Until that split-second decision paid off, the best part of what we’d watched was provided by Kingston Nahm-Korn, this year’s SNY Kidcaster for a half-inning. Kingston is all of nine, yet apparently grew up listening to baseball religiously during radio’s golden age, for he had the cadences of play-by-play down cold like somebody who went to sleep with his ears glued to Lindsey Nelson coming through the transistor under his pillow. Treated as a true peer by Gary, Keith and Ron, the youngster already has a better feel for the booth than (fill in the blank with whichever professional announcer it makes you feel good to put down). Whether he and his parents know it or not, Kingston is practically the namesake of a Mets sponsor from the franchise’s beginnings: King Korn trading stamps. Calling this club’s games may be his destiny.
King Korn, 2024.
The Kidcaster came on in the fourth. The kid catcher came through in the ninth. No kidding — that was fun.
Wow. That was awesome!
First, the kid in the booth. What a pro. I could just see ol’ Murph looking down and grinning. Young Kingston can do as many happy recaps as he wants, far as I’m concerned.
As for the other kid, well, there are no words, but I’ll try. Three-and-oh, even the announcers were saying Alvarez is taking all the way. He caught everyone by surprise. His immediate reaction to the walkoff was purely Asdrubal-esque. And the greeting he received at the plate evoked, dare I say, the holy Dom Smith game itself. Pure joy and jubilation.
More like this, please.
OK, I’ll play. Yes, Kingston was 110% better than Steve Gelbs. Maybe there is hope for the future.
The Alvarez walk-off topped the Severino complete game.
The complete antithesis of McNeil being told to bunt with two men on and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth.
Trust your players to carry the team to the playoffs.
Yup. That was good, especially Alvarez’ reaction. Kidcaster was very good. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen the sort of back-and-forth as we had last night between the ump and Oriole dugout without someone getting tossed. Fun times.
And Peterson is getting good. We may not have an ace but him, Severino & Manaea are all turning into solid #2 starters.
Wheeler…Lugo…let’s hold on to this one. Butto, too. I’m tired of homegrown, much-needed starting pitchers developing laboriously on the Mets time and dime only to blossom at the top of the rotation for someone else.
Losing Wheeler was the Wilpons’ parting gift to Mets fans. Score extra pain points for him going to the Phillies, a divisional rival, and becoming their ace. The worst-case scenario happened.
Wheeler was acquired for Carlos Beltran, one of the greatest outfielders the Mets ever had. The pain of losing a home-groomed started like Wheeler is exacerbated by GKR, who gush over Wheeler’s performance, apparently forgetting that he was once a Met and we shouldn’t have lost him. But hey Gary, he’s given the Phillies “everything they asked for, and more.” Isn’t that great, Gary? Woo-hoo for Zack Wheeler!
“Kingston is all of nine, yet apparently grew up listening to baseball religiously during radio’s golden age, for he had the cadences of play-by-play down cold like somebody who went to sleep with his ears glued to Lindsey Nelson coming through the transistor under his pillow.”
Old school–young Kingston came ready to work with that hair cut and suit and tie. They interacted with Kingston like they were testing him, and he adjusted smoothly to call an action-filled inning. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kingston has grown up sponging up baseball from radio’s golden age thanks to Youtube and other accessible digital resources. I compare it to being surprised by the sophistication of a high-school production of Phantom of the Opera and then realizing it reminds me heavily of the great 25th anniversary production of Phantom that’s all over Youtube with a deep trove of other top-level performances.
As far as Alvarez not taking 3-0, after the 9th inning debacle on Sunday, the Orioles bullpen dominating this game, and their RISP LOB problem overall, swinging from their heels on 3-0 with no one on seems like a better chance of scoring than runners on with no one out.
I don’t mind Alvarez pimping his shot, but in the future, I’d prefer that he keep running while celebrating off the bat. The wind was blowing in, and it would have been bad if the ball had dived, hit the top of the wall, and stayed in, and he only got as far as first.
Alvarez has been streaky this year, more cold than hot, which I’ll attribute to his injuries, and more to the point, a very young catcher learning to play with MLB catcher wear and tear over the grind of a full season. His game winner last night was a reminder that he has the superstar talent and demeanor to be MLB’s next great catcher.
Kingston, besides getting to call a well-hit Pete Alonso double into the gap in his first professional inning, has a name that also evokes that of another famous character. In keeping with the theme of a royal and ending in -korn, and to salute our fearless blogger, not to mention bring up another Broadway show, I offer you Prince Chulalongkorn from The King and I. But this kid is real, and he’s really good. He makes it sound easy, even at nine years old.
That Kidcaster was pretty good, and his voice sounded very much like Raad and McCarthy, only deeper.
Not sure where he came from, but he and Gary Cohen ought to switch places immediately.
I was all for Alvarez swinging at 3-0. Most of those pitches are right over the heart of the plate.
had to leave the game for a few minutes. left at 3-1, returned at 3-3, and ready to default to disgusted.
that 3-0 blast was a nice jolt, but to eric’s point, the ball didn’t land in the upper deck. a long single there could have been *it* for a team that’s been looking snakebitten enough of late.
i expect francisco to start acting like he’s been there next time he hits one out.
…and good to see peterson continue to be solid, yes a keeper!
I don’t mind the WWE-style celebrating for a game winner. Just keep those feet moving down the line, just in case. I didn’t mention the possibility of Alvarez being thrown out at 2nd because he didn’t run out of the box, so I don’t think he would have reached the point of even trying for 2nd.