You don't need me tonight.Because you know what I'm about to say.
Really. Because it's obvious as the nose on your face. Or the bruise on your knee.
They say...that MVP awards are won in September.
Well check the calendar boys and girls. You know what month it is.
And Carlos Beltran won a lot of votes tonight.
It wasn't necessary...he could have played the carom...while playing for the tie. Nobody...not this blogger (or this blogger, or this blogger, or this blogger, or any other blogger...I assume) would have called Carlos out for not going full steam on Lance Berkman's hard hit gapper off of Country Time. Certainly not with a huge lead in the division or in the league or in the freakin' galaxy.
But Carlos would have gotten on Carlos.
And it brings up the question: "How does one measure value?" Is it pure numbers? Is it defense? Is it one whose team makes the playoffs on game 162? Is it one who makes sure his team doesn't have to count that high?
Or is it one who is there for his team when it needs him? Is it one who heads towards an unpadded chicken fence with disregard for life and limb and a matching regard for picking up his teammates?
It's a little bit of everything.
And it depends on who you ask.
If you ask me? I'll tell you to look at the tape of Carlos Beltran's catch in the bottom of the ninth inning to save the game. That's value to me. I mean, we're counting defense, right? We established that already, right?
Oh by the way, a question for Sports Illustrated's Frank DeFord:
Where's Carlos Beltran's f%#&ing poem???!!??
And one more question for Astros fans: How does it feel to be owned by the guy you mercilessly booed over the last two seasons? Now don't get me wrong...if I was in your shoes I'd boo Carlos Beltran every chance I got too. Nobody understands your pain more than me (see: Strawberry, Darryl: 1991 Dodgers). But no matter that Mets play by play man Gary Cohen gave Astros fans credit for cheering when Carlos Beltran finally got up, I heard the vocal minority that booed Beltran all the way from Rego Park (Cohen saw first hand what Keith Hernandez had to go through when he blasted the woman trainer...Gary isn't about to stir the pot, guys). Gary might have heard the cheers when Beltran got up, but I heard the boos during that moment...loud and clear. And if that was you, let me remind you that your organization employs a pitcher...at the prorated cost of more than a Beltran...that doesn't even make road trips.Would you trust him run through a fence for you?
10 comments:
Great post.
I was at the game tonight and I have to say that was the most amazing catch I've ever seen live...
To make it sweeter, I was two innings removed from a clenched fist finger pointing full throated yelling argument with 6 Astros fans behind me over whether Beltran should win the MVP. They were picking Berkman (???... how 'bout you focus on finishing at least .500 first I said).
Naturally you can understand my internal groaning when Berkman came to the plate. I'm eatin' crow... I could just feel it. The shot of his bat was a sure-fire crow eating deal sealer, until...
That said, the boos were loud and clear. Houston has no class as a city. None.
The only upside was that we were finally able to get an MVP chant going without getting shouted down because I think there were enough ashamed Astros fans there to let us have our 15 man chorus for Beltran for a minute or so.
The second best moment of the night was sitting behind a woman in a Biggio t-shirt who was previously arguing with us over Beltran (who else?).
"That gold glove's looking a little rusty. Eh, lady?"
I too was at the game tonight and have a few more thoughts to add to adoniram's.
A) I was 5 rows behind the mets dugout and it was almost sad to see how much more fun all of the mets players seemed to be having than the astros. They were engaged and smiling, hanging over the railing and watching the whole thing while the astros bench seemed dazed from the first pitch.
B) I really wish Anderson Hernandez could hit, just the tiniest eetsy little bit, he and reyes really seem to click together and he's a great energetic presence on the bench.
C) The Beltran catch was truly amazing, I dont know how it played out on tv but he had no right getting anywhere near that ball.
And what made me angrier than the boos when he finally got up were the cheers when he went down. Im sorry, but Hitler could've made that catch and I would still applaud the effort.
great job as always metstra, i was actually excited to get back home to see what you wrote about the game.
[cross-posted on faith and fear]
if mvps are won in september, they're also lost there, especially if you don't play.
beltran, who has been everything and much more for the team this year, may have lost his chance by making a truly heroic catch. i still can't believe the ground he covered just to get to it.
and have no doubt, this game was all about beltran making sure to stick it to the astros. he had a hand in three of the mets' four runs. in the fourth, still no score, he singles to advance lo duca, then on wright's ground ball distracts biggio enough to make him pull a buckner. lo duca scores, and beltran goes to third, then comes home of floyd's sacrifice.
in the sixth, how about the run he manufactured? with two out and no one on, he reaches first after hirsh, the rookie pitcher, drops the ball -- and beltran is gentleman enough that he doesn't run over the guy -- then runs from first to third on delgado's single, then scores on a wild pitch.
beltran's knee dodged a bullet last night. and it's great that he'll be able to take all the time he needs to come back healthy. but he may fall out of the rhythm that has made him the most valuable player on the best team in the league. and even if he doesn't, he'll not be in the lineup for a few games on the september stage.
no matter. october is more important. and he's still the mvp.
Truly an incredible play. As for the booing when he got up, I didn't hear it - probably because I was approaching full panic mode at that point. If that's true, it's despicable. I still boo Mike Hampton when he comes to Shea, but if he ever made anything even approaching a play like that, I'd either applaud or shut the @#$@ up.
Beautiful catch - defensive highlight of the year for the Mets. Loved his comment after the game, when asked if this injury could be compared with the Cameron collision in San Diego. CB's response: "After the Cameron collision, I didn't know where I was. After this catch, I knew where I was. I heard the booing and I knew I was in Houston."
Props to Cliff too - big time RBI double in the 8th.
I dunno, as soon as I saw him go down I found myself wishing he'd played the carom.
As soon as I saw him after the game on SNY talking about not being able to bend his leg and patella tendons & such I started thinking about the value of this particular game vs an outfield of Floyd, Chavez & Green for the playoffs.
Hopefully it's not that bad, but remember our Carlos is fragile. Let's hope this isn't any kind of turning point in the season.
michael
It's nice to see that MC Hammer is 120 GB. Hehehehehe
I don't care if we go to the WS and we loose (alright, maybe I'll care). I take pleasure in seeing Chipper and Andruw getting lost in the shuffle.
Let's hope this isn't any kind of turning point in the season.
Wow, talk about pessimism. The guy makes an incredible play, the Mets win the game, and thank god his injury is not that bad, and you're thinking it could be a negative "turning point" in the season? Explain.
To add one thing to what Wongmo said...
I was sitting facing the Mets dugout and I noticed the same thing. The whole game the Mets were on the top step, watching every pitch, clowning around.
I borrowed some binoculars from the guy next to me and you could see Reyes through nearly the entire game cracking jokes and laughing and running around the dugout.
Couple that with the debacle that the Astros were on the field and you can see in vivid color what makes for a team that's 30+ games over .500 versus treading water.
Championship teams enjoy the game and each other and turn double plays in one run squeakers. End of story.
Carlos is "fragile"...? He played last year with a broken face! So he could try to help the team get a wildcard.
Next, we'll be hearing that Beltran's "not clutch"...after all, those playoffs were in Houston and not a real city like NYC. And also, it was a long time ago. What have you done for us lately, Carlos.
Post a Comment