Nostalgia's Interference

Because Joe Torre is the polar opposite of Bobby Valentine, chances are you weren't going to see him get ejected from tonight's game after Russell Martin's catcher's interference blunder on Claudio Vargas' groundout to second with two outs ... which led to four Mets runs, and yet another Mets victory over Brad Penny. And if Torre did argue and get chucked, better chances had Torre not returning to the bench in a fake mustache and glasses like Valentine did.

But coincidentally, it was a catcher's interference call that caused Valentine to get thrown out of a game against the Blue Jays in 1999 (a game where Carlos Delgado went 1 for 5, you know, before he wore the home team uniform and became the villain ... although it looks like Willie's benching has convinced Carlos that he's no longer allergic to diving), which he later returned to the dugout in the guise of some sort of grounds crew worker. When Vargas' bat tipped Martin's glove close to nine years later, you could almost feel the ghost of Bobby V ranting and raving and kicking dirt.

So if you felt a little deja vu surrounding you at the ballpark, don't worry ... you could cut the deja vu with a knife with all that stuff from the past swirling around you. Valentine, Delgado, Torre, a three game winning streak ... memories of which were somehow vaguely familiar, yet all fuzzy until a bat hitting a glove brought 'em all back.

Thanks Russell. Console yourself in the knowledge you made children happy.