The Re-Release

This was the story we all had hoped to see re-released in a ballpark near you.

Just seeing Tom Glavine back on the mound was a victory in itself, so his performance hardly mattered tonight. The fact that Glavine looked so good the first time through the lineup before his meltdown in the fourth just tells me that the Astros lineup did their homework on him. I hesitate to say he ran out of gas only because Glavine has had a few outings this season...especially in July...that have been similar to tonight's outing. And Glavine was also victimized by some inconsistent umpiring by Paul Nauert (who was muy horrible tonight behind the plate) along with some bloop hits here and there. Luckily, Glavine has the luxury of having a near perfect bullpen behind him to bail him out.

Tonight, in the role of ultimate protagonist, was David Wright. Oh yeah...he's out of his slump all right. You were impressed by the hard hit bases loaded double to right field in the fifth inning to give the Mets the lead. I was impressed by the double off the left field wall to set up the winning run in the eighth. Just before that double, Wright turned on a pitch from Russ Springer (or was it Dennis? Or Jerry? Or that Springer Spaniel down the block from me?) and sent it about five feet foul deep down the left field line. Just after that long foul, Wright had that look in his eye that reminded me of when Hulk Hogan would make his scripted comeback against the likes of Iron Mike Sharp and The Brooklyn Brawler...and he'd get hit for the third time after miraculously recovering and all of a sudden stop pumping his fists to look at his opponent with those wide eyes before wagging his finger Dikembe Mutombo style (or does Mutombo wag his finger Hulk Hogan style).

That look.

Next pitch, Wright crushes the double, and Jose Valentin drove Wright in to drop the leg on the Houston ham and eggers. Endy Chavez provided insurance.

(P.S. How do you know a team's doomed? When their manager pinch hits Aubrey Huff to attempt to put the game out of reach in the fourth inning. When he tapped to second to end Houston's rally, it put some air back into the Mets balloon and was a key moment. But what would you expect from a manager that was so badly outmatched by Ozzie Guillen in the World Series and the All-Star game.)

Now would probably be a good time to mention that the Mets, who have been scoring at an incredible clip, are about to get Cliff Floyd back. Cliff, if you missed tonight's broadcast, hit two home runs Friday night in a rehab start at Port St. Lucie. Having Cliff back would present some nice problems regarding himself and Endy Chavez splitting time in the outfield. Good thing for Cliff too...he's spent way too much time in St. Lucie, and is probably climbing the walls waiting to get out. Any place where you have to drive all the way to Orlando to get a decent steak is somewhere you don't want to be.

I heard that he was seen pacing the hallways at the local Courtyard by Marriott, where he was overheard muttering to himself that "in April, I was a guest on TRL...being interviewed by Vanessa Minnillo. Now, I'm lucky to get a decent meal at a Country Kitchen before it closes at six in the evening. I've got to get out of here! What has become of my life?

And Endy better not have used all of my shaving cream. Lord help Endy if he used all of my shaving cream."