Moments Historic, Teachable and Risible

“Why is Howie talking about LBJ? I wonder if that means … oh.”

It was quite a way to find out about the latest election-year earthquake, with the news delivered via MLB Audio a second after we tuned in while scooting around midcoast Maine with friends on the final day of this year’s summer residency. Discovering and then discussing the particulars squeezed out close attention to the game for a while, but a lifetime of listening to baseball has made me pretty good at assembling a narrative from little bits and pieces, so I registered that a Luis Torrens sacrifice fly had given the Mets a 1-0 lead after a couple of hits and some crummy Marlins defense.

Half an inning later, the narrative twist introduced by Jazz Chisholm Jr. was all too clear: a Christian Scott slider redirected into the stands for a 3-1 Marlin lead. After the game, there was some interesting discussion about Scott being undone by a couple of pitches a game, that his full-count slider to Chisholm wasn’t a hanger but a well-located pitch that would usually have resulted in an out, and that maybe Scott’s aggressive approach to hitters had needed a little modification in what Carlos Mendoza called “a teachable moment.”

Like I said, interesting — all those yes buts and on the other hands make for a good lively baseball debate, and it’s certainly been a year to note the significance of debates. But it would be nicer to discuss Scott having recorded an actual win than to speculate on all the wins we’re assured are in his future. In the present, though the Mets were only down by two, so far in the second half a two-run lead has seemed like it’s lugging a zero along behind it.

J.D. Martinez got the Mets within one in the fifth but Jake Burger restored the deficit in the seventh, and you could feel the air coming out of the balloon. Or judging from the sound, maybe it was a whoopee cushion — the late innings of this one were not exactly a showcase for the majesty of baseball. Balks, throws back to the pitcher gone awry, a cringe-worthy steal attempt and rundown, and the suspicion that replay review back in New York was being conducted while doing Whip-Its. In the ninth the Mets went down on a pair of Ks sandwiched around a flyout, and they have one more to play at New Soilmaster than any sane Mets fan would want to find on the schedule.

Will that game feature Howie Rose once again pressed into the role of town crier to announce world-shaking events? I suppose we’ll know tomorrow night. Will the Mets remember how to hit and/or the Marlins discover how to field? Same advice applies.