It all comes to this

The Mets pounded the Marlins 13-0 yesterday afternoon, and Washington held off the Phillies, 4-2. So the Mets and Phils are again tied for first place with one game left to play. Best case scenario, that we win and they lose, feels almost too much to hope for right now, and both M and I have a strong feeling that we'll be playing the tie-breaker in Philly tomorrow.

We'll all be there to see it happen today-- my dad, my sister, M and me. If you want excitement, this is the position to be in. Fingers crossed.

You can do it, Ollie

"If there's on guy we're sure can go deep for us," David Wright said, "it's Ollie. He's strong, he's been on his game and we need him to throw a good game."

--also via MLB.com, but a different article.

Willie Randolph agrees with M

it seems Willie is approaching this the way M did last night, as a three game season.

"Now we start over. It's a new season. We start from scratch." Later, the Mets skipper walked through the clubhouse and said this aloud to no one in particular: "We're gonna win this. We are gonna win this."

--Marty Noble, via MLB.com

no, I haven't

while on the phone seeking solace from my father after tonight's loss, he posed this question: "Have you considered that the Phillies are just the better team?"

of course I haven't. no matter who wins the NL East this year, I'm a Mets fan (and repulsed by Phillies fans, which puts me in a category with most baseball fans outside of Pennsylvania). I'll never believe they were a better team, even if they win the league. They may have had better management, better luck with injuries, and the luck to get blazing hot at exactly the right time-- but there will never come a time when I say this years Phil's are better than this year's Mets.

Irony, Part 3

I got the e-mail notification that I was selected in the lottery to buy tickets for the National League Championship less than six hours before the Mets lost sole ownership of first place in their division since May 16th. the buying window opens on Monday, but we'll know the previous afternoon whether there will be a buying window for NLCS games that the Mets are playing in at all.

so true, Bart. so true.

Baseball will break your heart. It's designed to.

--A. Bartlett Giamatti, Commissioner of Baseball , 1989.

a three game season

the Mets are tied with the Phillies for first place in the NL East. After 135 days alone at the top of the division, we've lost it, literally and figuratively. The offense has done everything it can for two weeks, and the bullpen has consistently lost it for the team. That's got to take a toll after a while, got to kill the spirit of the offense, because it seems like no matter how big the lead lead, you can't win. Period.

it all feels a little unreal to me right now, just like it felt unreal when the season was over in Game 7 of the League Series last year. it took a couple of days to realize that I wasn't going to see the Mets play again for five months, and it took seeing that other teams were still playing when the Mets were not to make it sink in. it's something like that right now, except without the reality check of other teams continuing to play while the Mets were no longer. I know this is a spectacular flame-out and perhaps the biggest story in baseball this week, but I must be protecting myself by being emotionally distant from the fact that I may not get to use my post-season tickets. and for some unnameable reason, I am still optimistic that the Mets will make the playoffs-- which is probably another facet of the denial I'm clearly engaging in.

this hurts, but it's not over yet.

one game. one FREAKING game.

there's so much talk-- on the radio, in the papers, on the internet, in my living room-- about what's going wrong with the Mets here at the end of the season, having just been swept by the Nationals and with their lead in the NL East down to one game with four left to play. the theme I hear most is that Willie Randolph isn't passionate enough, but I think that's bullshit. it's not attitude-- it's the actual management that's been the problem. the bullpen is obviously overworked, Mota is obviously not so talented without the steroids, and Jose Reyes is obviously bone tired, was needed a day off three months ago to avert the slump he's been in (Tuesday nights two homers notwithstanding-- the guy isn't on the team to hit home runs. he's there to get on base).

the bad management is showing. and it's excruciating.

Spared, sort of

I was teaching, and so not able to watch live, the sweep in Philly. I was in Seattle, and so not able to watch live, the Phillies sweep at Shea two weeks later. Particularly with the Yankees surging, it was good to be spared the New York press last weekend, but I can't pretend that I didn't check in on the score repeatedly while the Mets were playing the whole time we were gone-- starting from the minute we landed, when I turned on my phone to find that the Phillies had won the first of the weekend. Never the less, its significantly less emotional to keep up with a game on a Treo than it is to watch it live, and so I was spared a good lot of the gut-wrenching that most fans suffered over those three days I spent on the west coast.

Between the travel, the holidays and the teaching, I haven't been able to see many games in the last 10 days. Never the less, the minuscule lead the Mets have carried this week (increased today to 2.5 games, and more importantly to 3 in the loss column) has been nail-biting. Its hard not to be pessimistic, what with the seven-game losing streak against Philadelphia and the mostly lackluster performance in Washington, but I'm managing. I'm buoyed by something Gary Cohen said on a broadcast this weekend-- this team, for all its foibles, has consistently done what needs to be done to keep the lead in the division. I've noticed that too.

There are seven games left in the season, and I plan to attend at least two, possibly more of them, and we bought tickets to the second and third game of the NLDS in the lottery. I'm confident we'll be able to use them.

1.5 (2 in the loss column)

I've got a lot to say about the slide that has left the Mets with just a 1.5 game lead (two in the loss column) as the game starts in Washington tonight, but right now I'm too wound up to say it coherently. I'll be able to write after the game tonight, whatever the outcome both in D.C. and in St. Louis, where the Phillies are playing the Cardinals in about half an hour.

so for now, I'll just say this: I'd still rather be the Mets than the Phillies right now.

NLDS Tickets and a game far away

LHJ and I were both selected in the random online lottery to buy NLDS tickets! I'm pretty sure this means we'll be able to buy tickets for two different games, but even if not, I'm pretty excited. The ticket buying window opens on Monday at 9 a.m., just a few hours after we return from Seattle.

speaking of Seattle, we're going to the Mariners game at Safeco Park on Saturday night. It's been a long time since I went to a ballgame anywhere but Shea-- there's been a Mets-Yanks game at the stadium in the Bronx since I moved back to NYC, but before that it was Dodger Stadium and whatever the name of the stadium that the Angels play in. We're sitting in the outfield-- a vantage point from which you cannot watch a game at Shea. I'm particularly excited that I have good reason to root for the Mariners-- it's they who are trailing the Yankees in the AL Wild Card race, and I'd love them to take it!

so that's pretty frustrating for you, Smoltzie?

"I've run out of things to say. We're not as good as them. They've won every game against us they had to win. That's why they're where they are. We have to find a way to win these close games, and I am talking about next year as well as the next couple of weeks."

—John Smoltz, September 12, 2007, after losing to the Mets.

...of course, I won't be sad when the Braves don't find a way to win those close games, whether in the next couple of weeks or next year.

Shana Tovah, indeed

Game 145: Braves 3, Mets 4
83-62 for the season
1st Place in the NL East, 7 games ahead of Philadelphia

Shawn Green, who will not play next Saturday in observance of Yom Kippur, had arguably the best night of his season last night, on erev Rosh Hashanah. After Mota once again gave up a lead (allowing a two-run homer from Jeff Francouer in the top of the 8th to tie the game), Carlos Beltran singled to start the bottom of the inning, then stole second and, effectively, third. Green came up, and as he has so often since being relegated to a bench-ish role with Alou's return, hit the important single, sending the Mets ahead just in time to hand the ball off to Billy Wagner.

it was a great end to a good game, one in which the young John Maine outpitched the great John Smoltz, and a perfect way to start the new year-- for Shawn Green, and for me.

missing it

Pedro Martinez, who threw well in Cinci in his first MLB outing of the year last week, is pitching at Shea for the first time in a year tomorrow. I've never seen Pedro pitch in person (or if I did, I don't remember it and can't reference my scorecards now because they're packed up in my half-painted apartment).

I have to teach tomorrow. I can't go to the game.

I'm almost embarrassed by how sad I am about this, but I'm going to do my best to rectify the situation and see Pedro pitch once before the end of the season-- and in the meantime, I'll just keep my fingers crossed and my hopes high for his success on the mound tomorrow.

Paulie Wins

because my living room was being painted as the Mets beat the Astros this afternoon, I watched the game at my mother-in-law's apartment. because I'd inhaled much more dust than my poor immune system can handle in preparation for the painting, I took some benadryl before the game began, and passed out for most of Glavine's command performance.

I was awake for the last inning, though, and for the post-game interviews on SNY. Paul LoDuca had a nice conversation with Kevin Burkhardt about catching Glavine and his RBI-double, and when they were done Burkhardt asked Paul if he had anything else to add.



Paulie turned to the camera and with this face said "Rock on, New York!!" he won a bet in the clubhouse for doing that, and I'd kill to know what the terms of the wager were. Sadly, my mother-in-law doesn't have DVR, so I couldn't rewind and catch the whole moment, but it was hilarious.

...when you're having fun.

our apartment is being painted this weekend, the preparation for which included a lot of cleaning, boxing, and disposing of our stuff. in my winter jacket, I found this crumpled ticket.


this was the third game of the year, which I went to with SJG two days after I turned 30. time sure flies...

an annoying sign and another gorgeous baby

this billboard is on the Grand Central Parkway, past LaGuardia, heading for the Tri-Boro bridge. (important note to my parents and husband: traffic was not moving when I took this shot, and I threw the car into park to take it.) note that this is in Queens, less than five miles from Shea Stadium, and then check out the uniform of the guy in the middle, the focal point and biggest figure on the billboard.


That's right, it's the other New York short stop. His team wasn't even winning the wild card when this sign went up, while the Mets have been in first place in their division since May! I suppose I ought to be happy that they deigned to put David Wright up there at all, but why is he the same size as David Ortiz?! Seems to me they're saying that in NYC, Ortiz is as big a star as Wright, which is a joke. At least Smoltz is smaller than the rest of the guys on the sign.



when I finally made it to the city, I had the pleasure of meeting our other new cousin. we all enjoyed meeting E and seeing his parents and grandparents, and SJG was not surprised as she was holding him to see that he was very interested in the Mets game on the television. His dad and grandpa saw Gooden and Strawberry when they were in Single-A ball in Lynchburg in the 80's, which I find indescribably cool.

what a difference a week makes

the Mets left Philadelphia in a sorry state, having been swept by the Phils, their lead cut to only two. they came back to New York last night having had a 5-5 road trip, having swept the Braves at the Ted, having seen Pedro Martinez get an win in his first major league trip to the mound in almost a year, and with their lead back to five.

I like having the lead back, but I also like the fact that this is a pennant race. I hope we're able to bring the momentum back home to Shea (and that it wasn't all lost in that last game in Cincinnati, either), I hope we're able to embarrass the Phillies when they come back to New York next week, and I hope that Carlos Delgado's hip gets better very, very quickly. But I also hope that it's a little while before the Mets clinch the division-- just to keep it fun.

Daddy's Home

Pedro Martinez is starting against the Reds on Monday. He’s restricted to 75 pitches (about 5 innings) and 35 pitches per inning, but he’s starting a game sooner than any previous pitcher who’s undergone rotator-cuff surgery. Whether or not he pitches on Monday like the Pedro of yore is almost inconsequential—it’ll be his first outing against major league hitting in almost a year, and in many ways it’s a rehab start in and of itself—but beyond his pitching prowess, Pedro brings other important gifts to the team. His contribution to the feeling of camaraderie in the clubhouse, to the education of the younger pitchers, and to the fight of the team as a whole cannot be overlooked. I’m sure I’m just echoing the feelings of his teammates when I say that I’m really glad Pedro is back.

Martinez has been in the dugout for three games this year—once in Florida early in the season, and for the two just played in Atlanta. The Mets have won all three games. I don’t expect that there’s some magic there, but I also don’t think it’s a coincidence.

another kind of 300

Sunday, September 2^nd is the Mets 300^th game in first place in the NL East, since the beginning of last season. It’s their 120^th game in first place this year. Considering all the injuries and the inconsistent play of the five months played so far, this seems not bad at all.

swept away in Philadelphia

I think it’s lucky for me that I was teaching through all four of the games the Mets lost in Philly, because it was so hard to hear about even after the fact. I might have been crushed by actually seeing it. The Phillies completed their sweep just as I was finishing class on Thursday night, and while walking to the car and after talking to LHJ (who was enjoying the Staten Island Yankees game far, far away), I called M.

When he answered, I asked, “Are you worried yet?”

“I was just thinking about you and the same question,” he replied.

“I’m in Farmingdale [20 minutes away from M’s house]. How about I come up there, have some pork* and we discuss?”

“Good idea. I’ll put the pork in the oven. See you soon.”

So while V and JRG slept and I ate my dinner, M and I discussed the creeping fear we were both feeling about the team not playing up to their potential, and the anxiety associated with going to play in Atlanta. Though the Braves are in third place (there to stay, I reckon), the Mets have lost all four of the series the teams had played at the start of this one, and seemed unable to win at the Ted for years and years, particularly in September. We comforted each other with the certainty that we’d make it into the playoffs regardless of whether we lost first place for a few games, and with the idea that Pedro’s return would do everyone good.

We also talked about how the team has to some extent been coasting this year, it having been so easy for them last year, they seemed to be playing like a playoff berth was their right. They needed a kick in the ass. One would have hoped that two sub-.500 months in a row would have done it, but it hadn’t. Only two games ahead of the Phillies now and heading to Atlanta, M and I discussed the possible outcomes if we went 1 for 3 in Atlanta (as we had in every other series with the Braves this year). We didn’t dare to consider what the standings might look like if the Mets actually won the upcoming series.

My dad called me while I was on my way into the city on Wednesday, a couple of hours before the Mets lost their third game in Philly. “Don’t worry,” he said. “This is why you build up a six-game lead. And the pitching match-ups favor us in tonight’s and tomorrow’s games.” While his optimism about what would happen at Citizens Bank Park didn’t pan out, he was right about what leads are for. The Mets were two games ahead of Philadelphia when they got on the plane to Atlanta, even after dropping four games in a row to their division rivals for first place.

I don’t think my dad, M, or I thought the first two games in Atlanta would turn out as they did.

*LHJ and I keep a kosher home, but not kosher bodies. One of my favorite foods is pulled pork, and I bought some that I then couldn’t bring home to my own kitchen. Happily, M and V didn’t mind storing it for me in their freezer.