You get a shiver in the dark

It's been raining in the park, but meantime…

Know why I'm particularly happy that it was Chris Woodward who walked us off into victory Tuesday night? Because every time he comes to bat, Shea's P.A. plays a few notes from a Dire Straits song, usually 1979's “Sultans of Swing”. I'm […]

I hope Alex gets a game that good — well, OK, it would be nice to have one not quite as long, and one played on a night not quite as much like an armpit or a stagnant aquarium in the sun. (New York City is really no place to be right now.) Weather aside, […]

Hi Alex,

My name is Greg. My wife Stephanie and I are looking forward to meeting you on Sunday. We've heard a lot about you. It's hard to believe you're about to turn eight and this will be the first time we'll be seeing you. Perhaps you've heard grown-ups use the expression “time flies.” Well, it's […]

It's a long way from Brooklyn Heights to Keyspan Park. It's even longer when you decide that in order for the journey to count, you should really start from the “Welcome to Manhattan” sign 2/3 of the way across the Brooklyn Bridge. And it's longer still when you decide that, what the hey, it'd be […]

There are worse things than being a .500 ballclub. For one thing, when you continually find yourself one below, you are continually given chances to climb back to .500 and then can continually hold out hope that you will inch one above .500. It gives you something to shoot for and allows you to have […]

So today we go for the split. Which is to say, we go for the right to tread water at .500 again. With four more days off the calendar. Like I said a couple of days ago, a split here is like being on death row and the governor doesn't call: You're not dead, but […]

The less said about Saturday night, the better, with the exception being another round of pat-on-the-back, don't-hang-your-head, go-get-'em-next-time kudos for Victor Zambrano. He's only gotten to live up to his name four times all year despite pitching like a victor (not to mention a new man) for the last two months. Hey Mets lineup, are […]

Can't add much to the “good defeat” concept except that there's no such thing even though I get what you mean.

There's nothing to overreact to from Friday. I came reasonably close to calling Glavine “Tom” for the first time when he escaped one jam or another. Despite that unlikely flirt with familiarity, I wouldn't overreact […]

Ya gotta be careful with the idea that there's such a thing as a good defeat, because the next morning you're looking at what that meant in the standings and in time off the calendar, and suddenly it's awfully hard to see the good. But still, I shut off the TV a few minutes after […]

Know The Score. Literally. If a game is over and you are wearing the sacred NY on your person, be prepared to inform the inquiring passerby. There's no better feeling than being able to answer, “Mets won 6-3. Benson got the win. Wright hit a homer. Beltran got three hits.” If the result is not […]