Any similarities to Tike Redman and Braden Looper are completely coincidental.We hope.
This is the game that you don't want to take a nap in the middle of...especially anytime after the ninth inning. Because after Country Time spit the bit against the Pirates tonight, one could easily drift off and, after a chorus of "Enter Sandman" have nightmares of Fluff Castro going from second to third on a double, Braden Looper's 178 pitch at bat to Tike Redman, Cliff Floyd's impression of Willie Mays circa 1973. It's enough to make you wake up in a cold sweat screaming "No More Pirates games!!!"
Enter night. Exit sanity.
But alas, this season's answer to last season's debacle contained the alternate ending, a Carlos Delgado opposite field (!) blast off of Mike Gonzalez to win a twelve inning game that had no business going past nine. It only goes to prove that it doesn't matter where Carlos Delgado is during the seventh inning...as long as he shows up for the twelfth. God Bless Carlos Delgado.
And no, that wasn't Tike Redman with four hits and a shocking diving catch in extra innings, that was Endy Chavez. Check the New York area hospitals on February 4th, 2007, and see how many children are named Endy (girls too).
But this win leaves many questions:
- Who is Ronnie Paulino and why do the Mets insist on making him and his ilk into superstars?
- When do the "Duaner Sanchez for closer" calls start coming in to the FAN?
- How does a strikeout pitcher let Jose Hernandez, a strikeout hitter, make contact?
- No really, who's Ronnie Paulino?
- When do Met fans start calling Country Time by his alternate nickname: Lefty Looper?
I'm hearing from my sources that starting next game, Billy Wagner's new entrance music will be "I'm Sorry" by Brenda Lee.
7 comments:
I give Wagner slack because he has yet to blow a game against the Braves. I have faith that we can put him in every 'big game' and that he will put the game away just about every time. If he blows these 'regular games' against the likes of the Pirates, I'm not going to throw myself off the roof because I know he can shut the Braves down.
After the last two schmucks we had, who couldn't close a game against the Braves or Yanks for all the money in the world, I'll take a 'Big Game' closer and just depend on the rest of the team to make sure we don't lose to the likes of the Pirates for all the other games.
And the Braves lost! Do I have to root for the Braves tonight? I get so confused. No point in worrying about the Nats/Fish game. Who cares who wins that one.
Hey Metstradamus, you should do this for a living. Seriously. Somebody should be paying you for your column/blog because it's better than any column in any NY-area paper I've seen. And I write for a living, so maybe my opinion counts slightly more than Joe Schmoe. Keep up the good work!
"It only goes to prove that it doesn't matter where Carlos Delgado is during the seventh inning...as long as he shows up for the twelfth. God Bless Carlos Delgado."
A great, great line!
You have to wonder that if Delgado's agent wasn't such a head case and he came to New York last year, would we have been a playoff team?
If it helps, Paulino is a pretty highly regarded catching prospect from the Pirates system. He hasn't shown much power with the big club, but he's hit at just about every other level he's been at.
I agree Tommy, and I'm willing to give Country Time slack as well. After all, Armando wouldn't have blown a save yet...but we all know how that goes in September.
Anybody who wants to pay me to write is certainly more than welcome to do so. I do appreciate the kind words.
And Pat, for what it's worth, our announcers here were commenting on how Jim Tracy was showing a lot of faith in Paulino, even though there were better hitting catchers on the bench. Of course, Paulino got the base hit soon after.
Dave,
If this season is any indication, Delgado would have made a huge difference last season. Scary to think about.
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