coming from behind to win...

Game 37: Cubs 4, Mets 5
24-13 for the season

... is a thrilling thing to witness, particularly when it happens in the bottom of the 9th at home.

of course, it's not good that the Cubs were able to take and hold the lead for most of the game, but it was sweet to watch Chicago punished for insulting Carlos Delgado by choosing to pitch to him over Carlos Beltran. Delgado didn't do it with power or hitting-- he did it with a great at-bat, making Cubs reliever Michael Weurtz throw 10 pitches, get tired, and walk home the winning run.

this is a locus at which some ball fans part ways with other ball fans. there are those fans who feel at least a little let down by Delgado's failure to hit a heroic walk-off grand slam homer when presented with the opportunity. then there are the other kind of fan, who sees the talent inherent in working a pitcher the way Carlos did at the end of the 9th and recognizes that talent as equally impressive/important as one's ability to hit homers. it was a truly professional at-bat and it did the job just as well as a walk-off homer would have done-- but even a little better, because if he'd hit a homer, Chicago could chalk it up to his bat finally warming up. instead, he worked Weurtz over, and made the opposing pitcher walk in the winning run for the home team.

I was in the car driving home from teaching as the bottom of the 8th ended, and though my practice is to go into the firehouse to say hi to the others there when I pick LHJ up after work, I called when I got there and said I was outside but not leaving the radio-- the game was tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 9th, two on, two out, Beltran at the plate. he was in the car quickly then, putting the car in gear to drive home just as the Cubs decided to finish Beltran's at-bat by intentionally walking him and taking their chances with Deglado. we drove home through Delgado's at-bat, parking just as the 8th pitch of the at-bat was coming across the plate. "Make them pay, Carlos," I muttered under my breath. "Make them pay for that insult."

he did. it was beautiful, made better by Howie Rose calling it.

here's an interesting question-- if you're Lou Piniella, and your bullpen has been giving you pretty consistent trouble, why do you go to your bullpen in the 6th inning against a lineup like the ones the Mets send up when you're ahead in the game, but only by 2 runs? my dad told me that Piniella said something I really agree with about the way pitching has changed in major league baseball in the last 10 years or so-- "it seems like you're just looking for the guy who will lose it for you." this makes me even more confused by the call in this game, but not sorry-- after all, I'm sure their going to the bullpen early aided in the win.

a little embarassing... for them.

Game 14: Mets 11, Marlins 3
10-4 for the season

one almost feels bad for the Marlins after this short series-- they were outscored 20-5 in just two games. I'm glad for the Mets that being in the warm weather worked out so well for them, and almost feel badly that they have to come back to 60-70 degree weather in NY over the next three days.

El Duque had 10 strikeouts in 7 innings pitched, and allowed only 2 hits in that time, both in the first innings. I've said it before, and will say it again as many times as events allow-- watching good pitching is one of the true pleasures in life. Thank goodness for DVR!

I listened to a lot of tonight's game on the radio (don't ask), and remembered how much I enjoy that-- you get so much better color from the radio than you ever do from TV, because the radio can't do re-plays and can't let the pictures speak for them. If you watch a game on DVR after having listened to a lot of it on the radio (not that you'd have any reason to do that... only crazy people do that, of course), you might really notice how much more the radio announcers discuss random stuff than the TV commentators do. For instance, the guys on FAN tonight discussed Jose Valentin's winter league team in Puerto Rico-- the one he owns and plays for a good lot of the time. You get some color on TV, and good color at that-- after all, it's Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez and I love them in a way that is adolescent in it's fervor. But you just hear more about everything on the radio than you do on TV.

I'm really looking forward to the series with Atlanta over the weekend, particularly the 70 degree and sunny weather we're going to have at the ballpark on Saturday!