"Only time will tell..."You hear that all the time when you're watching television. A serious looking face comes on your screen and says something like "Will I be hit by a truck? Will a meteor hit the earth? Will Lindsay Lohan drink again? Only time will tell."
"Only time will tell" is the literary equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders. "I have neither idea nor insight." So you understand how painful it is for me to type what I'm about to type:
Only time will tell (shudder) if Willie Harris is going to be a footnote in this 2007 season, or a thorn for all time. It depends on what the Braves and Mets do during the time that is left (and "time" isn't a nebulous throw away term...the time we're talking about here is a finite about of days and games left). Today, Willie Harris is their Endy Chavez. In time (you know, the time that will only tell), he may become our new Terry Pendleton.
Larry Jones is there already. And he, of course, was up to his old tricks, hitting a three run bomb (and I mean a flippin' bomb) off of John Maine which turned the game on its ear (it's amazing how when I see Jones play against others, the pain in his thumbs make him wince and grimace like he was David Wells at a vegan convention...but against the Mets all that pain seems to wash away like he's taking a Calgon bath or something.)
Mark Teixeira is getting there. Not only for his home run which followed Jones', but for prevention of a Luis Castillo RBI triple in the fifth inning...the same inning in which Fluff Castro popped up with the sacks full to end the inning...and how much more damaging than one run would that frame had been without Teixeira's diving play down the line? Yeah, he's getting there.
But it's always the one that you never expect. I was in the stands when Pendleton ripped my heart out of my chest and fed it to Tom Pagnozzi in front of everyone. I can absolutely tell you that I never saw it coming. The thought never entered my mind that Pendleton would hit a ball that crossed the plate at his ankles out of the ballpark. And it never entered my mind that Willie Harris would rob Carlos Delgado of the tying home run in the ninth. Never would I have thought he would have done that twice in the same game after robbing Moises Alou of a double in the first inning...again preventing a small inning to grow and blossom into a large one.
I wasn't in the stands for this one, although my cat probably would have wanted me there for all the soft objects turned into projectiles around Casametstra today. But that's the way it goes in the big city. One minute, Oscar Villareal's cab is taking him to Yankee Stadium, the next he's getting his first save on any level of professional baseball...against the Mets, of course. But that save was equal parts Larry, Tex, and Willie Harris. At 3.5 games ahead, the world isn't ending. The meteor isn't hitting anytime soon. Or has it already hit the Mets season...
"Only time will tell."
10 comments:
I had no idea they allowed kids into X-rated ballgames. Or are these noontime camp-day starts an excuse for Milledge to wear a dress?
Seriously, for the Braves, playing the Mets is their World Series.
For Willie, starting a bench player in CF during a crucial series--and having him get injured--well, those painkillers are darn strong, eh, Willie?
anon got it right. For the Braves, this is the World Series. They know they have to beat us to win, and even when they beat us, it's not enough.
the Mets don't struggle with Atlanta, Atlanta just plays hard and they treat them on the same level as the Phillies and Marlins and Nationals. And with good cause.
and btw, i don't think there is something missing from this team that was there last year. I just think we're conserving that special something instead of using it up before we can win it all like last year.
yeah, where the hell was milledge for the first 3 innings?
You're being naive in thinking that the Mets can just turn it on. They don't have the same vibe as last season, their 1st place lead is not the same as last season, and the consistency is not there from last season.
The Braves have took 8 of 12 this season but they have a lot more do do in order to take the division. The Mets will ultimately get it but may not get as far as they did last year in the playoffs due to the improvement of the other teams in the league. Pedro may be an X Factor.
There's more Met whining with a 4 game lead than there was on the Yankees side when they were 14 games out and in last place.
Well, hopefully there goes our yearly quota of game-saving catches against us (Rowand into the fence was last year's).
I can absolutely tell you that I never saw it coming.
Truer than true as to the Pendleton Incident. McDowell scared you with walks and dribblers, but homers were never the fear. Especially when anyone not named Clark was at bat.
By the way, "never saw it coming" was even more true as to the other unfortunate Incidents of my Met lifetime: The Scoscia Incident and the Yadier Fuckin' Molina Incident.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to put my head through the wall before I start thinking about AJ Duhe and Webster Slaughter.
(Not to mention Ken Morrow.)
well, at least we didn't get swept.
you would think that after all these years of Mets-Braves rivalry, a player would develop on our side that had that same fire, determination, grit (or maybe it's grits) that Chipper has. Clearly he comes to destroy his enemy and all too often he does. Meanwhile, our guys continue to go through the motions.
I hope I have to eat these words but the Mets simply do not have it this year. They seem lifeless. I'm sick of watching Willie make awful choices and then stand in the dugout and grimace. Where is the fire? Maybe Keith needs to give the team a pep talk.
This game and series wasn't about Willie Harris' catch. This series was about watching Jose get us a first inning run, then the team sleepwalking through the next 5-7 innings, falling behind, and then trying desperately to catch up. They were 1 for 3 in desperation. Not a great game plan.
It was also about Oliver Perez and John Maine coming up small in an important (but not critical) series.
I agree with the other comments - there's a lack of fire in the belly missing from this team. The Braves aren't necessarily better - but they certainly seem to want it more.
I'm curious to see how much "the Atlanta 'Graves'want it more" during the Phillies series.
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