… is Joshua, after having two Dashes wrecked by rain and one hijacked by ESPN, finally got to run the bases. Emily and I walked around the warning track with him, marveling at how big Shea is from a player's-eye view. Joshua chugged around the bases (My! Kid! Is! Running! The! Bases! At! Shea!) and low-fived Mr. Met at second base. It would have been pretty amazing if I hadn't been suicidal.
Which brings us to the bad news, which includes everything else. Luis Ayala coming up empty, which you knew had to be coming after a good streak, so we'll let him pass. Pedro Feliciano being allowed near a pitcher's mound when he's demonstrated repeatedly that there should be a restraining order against such behavior. The sublime uselessness of Luis Castillo. The baffling absence of Damion Easley in a do-or-die situation where someone able to hit the ball more than 100 feet was required. Learning that Easley was missing because he heard a pop in his quad yesterday and went for an MRI. The Phillies catching up to the Brewers and then passing them. Whatever the Phillies will do tonight. The whole heavy-bellied, head-dragging horror of the slow-motion disaster.
We're playing baseball tomorrow night. Hooray.
Not again… not AGAIN…
After today's absolute disaster, I feel very confident in saying I AM NEVER SITTING IN THE MEZZANINE AT SHEA STADIUM AGAIN!!!
Really, I mean it.
This team insists on reminding people that the pitching is not (with a few exceptions) not very good..
I think its gonna be rough down the stretch..So hold on.
Need a big effort from Pedro tonight.
Rich
the full measure of horror will become clearer this week. but i have to say, aside from the outcome, that was a pretty terrific day at the ballpark.
my son and i enjoyed our shea tins, and got a ball thrown our way by pedro feliciano as he left the bullpen. (ok, so maybe he should have saved something for the mound.) asher did one last dynamets dash around the infield — his only other time? mo vaughn day — and we both dug walking on the warning track and alongside the field. (asher kept scooping up dirt and blades of grass. handy having the tin right there.)
still, that's a pretty big aside: if the mets don't win this division, yesterday will probably loom as the swing game. i mean, TWO wright home runs and the terrific perez outing, wasted. and the other touches of excellence — like reyes's stolen base, and beltran's centerfielding — wasted too. and if the bullpen had MERELY held the braves to 3 runs in the ninth, instead of the 5 they slathered on, then the mets, with two leadoff singles in the bottom of the ninth, might have stood something like a chance.
the team reminds us that nothing is ever guaranteed. i just didn't think we needed the reminder.
How many times — HOW MANY TIMES — have we seen this team load the bases in the eighth inning and then fail to push anybody across?
(I call that the Curse of Sweet Caroline, since it always seem to happen on days when the PA guys jilt her in favor of “I'm a Believer”)
How many times — HOW MANY TIMES — have we seen this team get a promising rally going in the bottom of the ninth, only to see it fizzle away on called third strikes, pop-ups and weak grounders?
How many times — HOW MANY TIMES — with a narrow lead in the ninth, has the entire Mets bullpen gone into BP mode?
And finally,
How many times will September 2007 repeat itself?
“The sublime uselessness of Luis Castillo…”
Castillo is like the Ferrari a millionaire takes out every other weekend. It's not very efficient or reliable. It'll probably break down and leave you stranded. But you're making the payments on it either way, so you might as well use it, right?
If Castillo's a Ferrari, he's the not-particularly-in-demand limited-edition model that only goes 25 MPH.
I'd call Castillo a rusted-out Pinto that Omar paid Ferrari money for and so now wants us to polish and tell our friends about. Thanks Omar, but what we really want is to see it out by the curb with a NO REASONABLE OFFER REFUSED sign.
Of course, our other cars that could be used instead of the Ferrari are a rusting Acura that's currently missing a tire and a peppy Yugo that makes us smile but doesn't actually run any better.
I think I've run this metaphor into the ground, so I'll go back to quietly sobbing now….
How come nobody is even mentioning that Omar is flying under the radar here? Have you heard a word from him? Well, neither have I……Jerry can only use the players that were given to him….and even he can't do a magic trick with this bunch of losers in our bullpen( or should I say pigpen?)