From the Better Late Than Never Department:
The best thing about Wednesday night’s tilt with the Nationals, from my admittedly parochial perspective? It was getting to talk baseball with my blog partner, something we hadn’t done since the Daniel Murphy Game last October and hadn’t really done then, since at the time we were too busy being anxious and then inconsolable.
Games in May are better for that, even if they’re against your division rivals. Games that resolve themselves as pretty clearly not going your way might even be best. So what if you’re at the ballpark and getting blown out — you’re still at the ballpark, and while the baseball unfolding before you may not be what you requested, the conversation will take you off to better games and better times, as well as equally bad games and times now made less painful by being long ago.
We talked the oddities of baseball cards, the misfortunes of Steve Chilcott, the pros and cons of various baseball-seat physiologies, middle relievers and their maddening unpredictability, guys who wore 29 and why Rick Reed was superstitious about that number, replay and its discontents, when Citi Field existed only as a theme-parkesque “experience” within Shea, the twists and turns of Met prehistory, club strategies for escaping the sight of unoccupied expensive seats on TV, and a whole lot more.
Wednesday night had other pleasures as well:
- the fairly amazing seats granted us by a kind host. They even came with shelter from the less-than-kind elements.
- the bolt struck by Yoenis Cespedes that was obviously a home run before it passed over Danny Espinosa‘s head.
- the long Daniel Murphy drive that looked exceedingly perilous off the bat but wound up in the glove of Juan Lagares, facing the outfield wall as if Murphy were his personal Vic Wertz.
- the Mets’ new Coca-Cola sign. I don’t mean because it trumpets the virtues of Coke products — that’s a matter of one’s personal tastes — but because it’s programmed to turn into an American flag, become an orange and blue lava lamp, display fireworks and do other hey-lookit-that stuff. Whether we like it or not, modern ballparks are crammed with high-tech stuff and marketing; it’s nice to see that pairing done well.
So what wasn’t so good about Wednesday night?
- watching Mets’ pitchers walk the ballpark, adding in a few hit batsmen for good measure. No, that wasn’t good at all. If you put Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper on nine times in 10 plate appearances, you’re lucky if the final score’s only 7-1.
- The Mets scoring just one run and David Wright looking worryingly ineffectual.
- Citi Field’s new car race, featuring a taxi cab, cop car, black car and ambulance. I may have gotten those slightly wrong, but who cares. This one’s too pathetic to even mock.
In other words, everything else. But that happens sometimes in baseball — which is why we have memories and conversations to sustain us until a better game.
“We talked the oddities of baseball cards, the misfortunes of Steve Chilcott, the pros and cons of various baseball-seat physiologies, middle relievers and their maddening unpredictability, guys who wore 29 and why Rick Reed was superstitious about that number, replay and its discontents, when Citi Field existed only as a theme-parkesque “experience” within Shea, the twists and turns of Met prehistory, club strategies for escaping the sight of unoccupied expensive seats on TV, and a whole lot more.”
Details. That paragraph, alone, has the makings of a whole post or two.
Tough to win when you walk the ballpark and your #3 hitter can’t make contact.
Knew it was going to be a tough series, but Duda (not playing because he can’t hit lefties) and Wright are just killing the team with their ineffectiveness. It may be time for Collins and Alderson to have the talk with Wright.
Though it’s tough to watch, a bit of karma is going Harvey’s direction. Maybe it will humble him.
They stunk it up last night.
I have a friend who is adamantly anti-baseball. His quote: “Watchin’ Baseball is like watchin’ wallpaper”. I kept thinking of him last night. If I were not in the Family TV room with a clock in the room I would have guessed the game lasted, oh, 9 hours and 42 minutes. Sheesh.
To Howard’s point above, is it too reactionary for me to hope the Mets shut Harvey down until they find out what’s really wrong? One more dose of karma might just kill him.
Whatever Harvey’s problems are, they cannot be sorted out on the mound in a game against your closest rivals. Maybe he needs time away from the game entirely, or at least some time in the minors sorting it out. However I for one would not be booing him as he needs support from fans not abuse. Surely if you a fan you support your own and boo the opposition. I had hoped he would turn it around in this game but it was a blow out and now The Mets must have some sort of contingency plan to cover Harvey. Here’s hoping for a better time of against the Brewers.
This Harvey thing is deeply disconcerting. He looks flat out terrible so far this year. This was extremely unexpected and combined with Jacob’s struggles it really has me on edge. I refuse to believe that last year’s playoff push somehow ruined Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom, I just cannot accept that they suddenly somehow lost it during the off-season. Maybe we’ll be laughing about this in July or August but I don’t know, something’s going horribly awry here. I honestly don’t have any idea as to what they should do or not do either. Send him to AAA ball? Really? Skip some turns? Is that really advisable?
In his first World Series start, there was a sequence of about 20 pitches where Harvey did not break 91 MPH. I noted it in this very same comment section and nobody else on TV or in the media mentioned it. He came back to pitch great in game 5, so it kind of blew over. Now he is down 2 MPH from last year. Let’s hope for the best.
He’s certainly having an off-year. I believe the theory that he’s got a post-TJS hangover, and that he may have pitched too much last year. He looks tired and something is off. Perhaps he should skip a start. No matter what happens, the Mets should keep him on a pitch limit for the rest of the season or at least until he snaps out of this. We know the skill is still there. His swings-and-misses are good and we’ve seen flashes of the old brilliance. But I would baby him right now because he appears to be at half-strength.
He had that blood clot just before Opening Day, his first game was a national game on the road against the team that beat them in the WS, then they had all those off days in April, then the weather stayed cold, and two weeks ago he got IV fluids before the Braves game (we don’t know the reason, but SOMETHING was up). He has been awful, but even then it has been one inning that has been his undoing, and they have played poor defense behind him.
For all the doomsayers, YES — it is possible he will be on Dr. Andrews table again in two weeks. But there is enough goofy crap here that I’m going to write it off to a guy just not being able to get into a groove early in the season.
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