He is the very model of a modern big-game pitching ace

Ignore info about his age and all those lines upon his face

Thrown inning after inning shutting every darn opponent out

From Spiezio to Yadier while making Albert Pujols pout

Very well acquainted, too, with hurling at this time of year

The only arm we have right now that […]

Watching the middle of this Championship Series has been slightly odder for me than it would be if it were taking place anywhere else in the National League. The ridiculously retentive reader will recall that my midsummer jaunt in 2006 was to the very same Busch Stadium we focus on now. I was in that […]

Tonight, as promised, I watched two episodes of “The Wire” on TiVo.

People in St. Louis watched it rain. We checked in various places to verify that that’s what it was doing.

Tom Glavine had his usual fourth day of rest. So did Jeff Weaver. The Cardinals’ bullpen took it easy too.

Willie Randolph offered crumbs of platitudes […]

Rain, rain wouldn’t go away. Game postponed. They play tomorrow night. Glavine, better rested versus a better rested Weaver or, for all we know, a three-day Carpenter. Maybe La Russa, that genius, will pitch Spiezio.

Got a presser on SNY right now. St. Louis writers say “we” a lot and refer to Cardinal players by first […]

Whew!

The series is even, and no matter what happens, the Mets are coming back to New York alive.

You saw it. We all saw it. Really, this rebound began last night, when Darren Oliver saved the bullpen from having to put in overtime. It continued tonight, with the other Oliver (young Mr. Perez) pitching bravely and […]

Thank goodness for Steve Trachsel. By removing suspense early, he kept most of the bullpen fresh.

If there is any Met good to derive from Game Three of the 2006 National League Championship Series — and nothing tangible leaps to mind — it is that those of us who have bothered to attempt to fashion a […]

A royal blue t-shirt that says Amazins. A navy blue sweatshirt that says NEW YORK METS MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. A bright orange hoodie that says NEW YORK. A blue satin jacket that says Mets. A dark green parka just in case.

And that was above the waist.

I was ready for the worst. They said it would […]

So Taguchi? Ya gotta be kidding me, Billy!

Like every other wearer of blue and orange, I was huddled in worry about Big Bad Albert, who’d shown signs of getting his pilot light relit in his seventh-inning battle against Mota. Worried about Albert. Worried about Billy Wagner pitching in a non-save situation. Worried about So Taguchi? […]