Chicks Dig The Egg Whites

Old men dig egg whites too.

And if they make you do things at age 47 that you never thought possible, then shouldn't you love them too?

I mean, if 14 to 15 egg whites a day would have allowed me to hit a home run in Petco Park at 27, let alone forty-seven, then I would have had mom cook me more egg whites and less meat loaf.

Julio Franco turned the tide on a game that was going quickly down the tubes by hitting a pinch homer in what became a six run eighth inning as the Mets stomped off to a 7-2 victory over the Pods.

This game was headed towards Sure Loss Rd. as for the second night in a row, a stud pitcher waited until the schedule said "New York" to pitch like a stud pitcher. Jake Peavy had the Mets on his leash at Petco, going seven innings and giving up one run (which I'll get to later). But the San Diego bullpen is not what it once was, and the Mets went off. Ironically, it was the former Padre known as "X" which started matters in the eighth with a double. After Kaz Matsui failed to get the runner over, it was up to Jack Bauer and his egg whites. Franco cluck clucked all the way to the jury box in right field to be come the oldest geezer to hit a dinger in major league history off of Scott Linebrink. When Franco tells the story to his great great grandchildren, he isn't going to mention the fact that it was hit to the inlet about 322 feet away. All he'll tell them is "home run...right field...Petco Park baby!"

Franco plans to tell his great great grandchildren this story tomorrow.

After the home run, the Mets continued their assault, and San Diego got Alan Embree up in the bullpen. At this point, I licked my chops. Now if I'm licking my chops, imagine what Carlos Delgado was thinking. Delgado proceeded to put it away with a screamer to right center.

And this is what the Mets lineup is capable of. A good pitcher, as evidenced by messrs Hudson and Peavy, can tame this lineup...especially without Carlos Beltran who left tonight's game midway through with another nagging injury. But you throw a subpar bullpen at this lineup? Oh man, that's when it gets dangerous.

The Mets bullpen however, is not subpar. It's very par. It might be birdie (stop the golf references Mr. Soothsayer!) But their bullpen absolutely got the Mets out of trouble tonight, as Pedro Feliciano was faced with bases loaded and nobody out after Steve Trachsel was chased after a hit and a walk, and Chad Bradford gave up a cheapie infield single. Feliciano, who Matt Cerrone warned us would be key, got Geoff Blum to foul out to first. Then came Filthy Sanchez facing Eric Young for our Metstradamus Play of The Game...

How do you define budding star? One definition is a player who comes back from an awful defensive game and, instead of getting down on himself, comes back in spectacular fashion. It wasn't quite his barehanded play from last season in San Diego, but it was more important. His diving play started a 5-4-3 double play (I still don't like the way Kaz Matsui turns two. A tip for the youngsters, if you're a young second baseman and you want to emulate your favorite athlete's signature move, Kobe Bryant's fall away jumper might not be the best option) and got Filthy the victory after the offensive explosion in the eighth.

(By the way, hate to say it boys and girls, but Young was safe.)

At the end of the season, this is the game that you want to look back on. Not so much for the comeback victory or for the strong outing by Steve Trachsel, but for the fact that three of the four largest targets for scorn and derision were actually...I can't believe I'm actually going to say this...productive! Kaz Matsui homered yet again on his first at bat of the season...this time of the inside the park variety. Jose Valentin got his first base hit of the season. And even Jorge Julio garnered the elusive 1-2-3 inning in mop-up duty in the ninth. If all three of these players are productive in the same game again this season, you might as well send the Mets straight to the playoffs.

By the way, who was that behind the plate for San Diego? He kind of looked familiar...like a guy I knew in New York. But it couldn't be him. His goatee wasn't finely manicured like the guy I knew. Didn't wear the same number as the guy I knew either, so I'm really not sure.

But boy he looks like him. The double play he hit into in the first...that looked really familiar. Well, not the guy I knew way back when...but the guy that was here last year.

Look at that, look at him trying to throw out a baserunner stealing in the eighth...yup, that's him. Has to be.

It wasn't? Well it sure looked like him.

It sure was weird to see Mike in another uniform. But the topper to third base had become all too familiar in the past few years. I know there's some that are sad that Piazza will not be around for what could be the best Met season in years, but seeing Piazza tonight has convinced me that it was the right time to turn the page. There was a feature in one of the Sunday papers last season, I think it was the Post, talking about where everyone's locker is. The feature mentioned that Piazza was the last one in, and the first one out last season. Piazza even told reporters before the game that he thought the time was right for the organization to cut ties and move on.

The class act...now that's familiar.