Once again, it’s sand in the hourglass time — the last few grains, the regret about what could have been, the wanting it to just be over, and the reminding yourself that as soon as it is you’ll want a little more. The Mets have become the old joke about the food being terrible and coming in such small portions, which would be funnier if every meal didn’t last three and a half hours, so that by the two-thirds mark everyone’s talked out and just slumped in their seats waiting to be told they can go.
The Mets lost to the Red Sox, who defeated both their opponents and the yellow and blue alt-uniforms that made them look oddly like their own vendors. It was a very 2021 Mets game: an impressive start, a record-scratch moment in which they remembered who they were, and not much of note after that. Marcus Stroman looked good early, with both his joy for the game and his swagger on display as he escaped a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam. The Mets then loaded the bases with nobody out themselves, as Eduardo Rodriguez lost the strike zone. J.D. Davis walked to force in a run and Michael Conforto smacked a single through the infield to bring in Javier Baez and set up a big inning.
Except Gary DiSarcina turned it into the incredible shrinking inning when he inexplicably waved Pete Alonso home. The distance between Alonso and home when Kiké Hernandez’s throw arrived in Christian Vazquez‘s mitt? Let’s just say the Mets are closer to a playoff spot than Pete was to scoring. Alonso was out, the rest of the inning fizzled, and the Red Sox stomped on Stroman, scoring six unanswered runs.
The rest was unimportant: Alonso hit a solo homer, old friend Hansel Robles came in and did not do Roblesian things, and there were a lot of shots of the 7 Line Army looking morose.
So it goes as the grains of sand slip away — a momentary wondering what’s gone wrong for Brad Hand, a sigh at Conforto’s continued woes, a brief flush of rage at the idea that Hugh Quattlebaum has anything to smile about. All evanescent stuff, no sooner experienced than gone again. The games are the same, a depressing smear, and we won’t miss them when they’re gone, except for the fact that of course we will.
And Alonso’s ridiculously ungraceful landing at home plate on that play looked like a recipe for another injury.
Well, it would have been a fun season if it ended after 100 games. These guys just don’t have the gas to go 162.
well, huh, pete muttered something about these being
critical games. a tortured mets fan in denial himself i suppose.
yea pete’s slide remindd me of that wilmer dead-duck slide that ended his season.
i for one am ready for this one to be over and to watch some teams that can actually play before there’s no more baseball to watch.
shd pillar misplayed that ball…
sorry for late nite typos
*shame* pillar misplayed that ball
In fairness, Pete knew he had to try to score, otherwise he’d just end up stranded on the bases. At least he went down trying.
Gary DiSarcina is a worse as a third base coach than Angel Hernandez is as an umpire. So many boneheaded calls in the last three years.
I think Teufel was worse — his default seemed to be to always send the runner. Remember Tim? The guy basically ignored in “Once Upon a Time in Queens?” Mr. Bat Boy #86 (who’s in every 1986 photo for some reason) got more air time.
Bad Mets baseball is always better than no Mets baseball. With no playoffs coming, the remaining games are precious.
Randazzo was unusually critical of the Mets last night. At this point, it’s not frustrating. I’m just resigned the Mets have settled as a bad team.
Tragic number is getting close.
I just want them all to go away. Quattlebush. DiSarcina. Rojas. The analytics kids. The trainers and conditioning coaches who can’t keep their players off the IL. The Acting GM who can’t keep off the juice when he’s behind the wheel. And yes, even everyone’s favorite, Jeremy Hefner, who doesn’t look half as smart now as he did earlier in the season, and may be responsible for destroying the career of our best pitcher of the last 20 years. And the aging team president who was ultimately responsible for this whole mess. Did I leave anyone out? Fire them too. Do I sound bitter? You bet.
i’m with you OTG.
watching this team is like watching a car wreck that happens night after night…and still i mostly watch.
and yes, as much as i blame the guys on the field (many of whom too should be fired) it is the team behind the team that has help turn a talented – and yes, flawed – team into a complete disgrace.
and yes let’s hope jake is not this team’s next santana.
the vagueness of his “injury” for weeks, then clumsily described as ‘a tear, sprain, now resolved’ would be worthy of any sleazy politician’s (oxymoron i know) spin machine. and so much for anyone-but-wilpon. newby or not, hard to imagine *anything* in metsland happens without his tacit support.
post-season ball can’t come soon enough.
this team has become an insult to the sport; their season can’t end quickly enough for me.
i’d just as soon *not* see jake and noah put out there to prove their health.
please, no stunt for this wreckless front office!
Regarding deGrom, it’s not just injury — singular — he had a variety of injuries apart from his elbow that weren’t satisfactorily explained. Never mind that a UCL tear resolving itself with a few weeks of rest is strange.
Meanwhile ex-Mets Wheeler, Matz, and even Flexen have been durable this season.