Friday, July 18, 2008

10 (Cue Bolero)

Your season looks a whole lot more beautiful doesn't it? Throw in a 10, a lot of things will seem more beautiful.

So, those of you who were complaining that David Wright and Billy Wagner were less than overwhelming* during the All-Star Game ... would you rather they pulled that tonight against Cincinnati? Would you rather David Wright's game tying blast off of Frankie Cordero had come against the American League? Would you rather Billy Wagner had gotten Evan Longoria out instead of the 6-7-8 hitters of the Cincinnati Reds?

What do you like better, home field advantage in the World Series ... or first place?

Yeah, I would have liked both too. But I guarantee you when Wright blasted that dinger off of Cordero that nobody was saying "damn, I wish he had done that on Tuesday." I'm the grumpiest Met fan on earth and I was dancing on the table. If I was dancing on the table, I guarantee you were too.
"It's now the first day that I can say without fear of backlash that you're going to have a tough time convincing me that both this team and this season aren't a complete waste of time." -Metstradamus/July 4th, 2008
Umm, yeah. Ten straight wins has convinced me.

It was an outcome that didn't seem too possible when Johan Santana got bludgeoned with a five run fourth inning and was lifted. It didn't seem possible when Javier Valentin crushed the Mets again with a sacks clearing double to make it 8-6. And it sure as heck didn't seem possible when Ken Griffey Jr. turned Fernando Tatis around with a screamer in the eighth, and you could clearly see my brother in the front row of the outfield stands bow his head in disgust.**

But then came the all-stars. First Wright with his poke off of Cordero to tie the game. Then, Carlos Delgado doing his Kosuke Fukudome impression*** with the bat to give the Mets the lead with a nice little single to left center. Then came the other all-star ... Country Time. 1-2-3. Count it off all the way to 10.

*That was a good pitch Evan Longoria hit in the all star game. I can't "Kill Bill" for that.

**Actually, my brother bowed his head because he dropped his cell phone. What you read was Hollywood license.

***Somebody I know thinks that Carlos Delgado should alter his swing to be more like Kosuke Fukudome. Whenever I try to wrap my head around that line of thinking, I get cramps so severe that I have to call out sick. It's worth noting that on April 30th, Fukudome was hitting .327, while Delgado was hitting .198. Now, Delgado's at .254, and the Chicago cult hero is at .276. I'm not sure what exactly that signifies, other than that I'm starting to get those cramps in my brain.


***

Oh, by the way ... you, as a Met fan, have to appreciate the irony of the announcement of Pedro Martinez's start being pushed back by injury coming on the same day that Orlando Hernandez injured himself on the first batter of his rehab stint in Binghamton. But this also comes on the same day that the Phillies made their deal for that big pitcher they've been waiting for. And it's the 5-12 booed out of Oakland Joe Blanton. While I feel the Mets dodged a bullet that the Phillies dealt for Blanton instead of A.J. Burnett or Matt Cain, it only means that Blanton will go 3-0 with a 1.12 ERA against the Mets down the stretch.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your brother was a blue dot on the SportsCenter highlights. But what the television couldn't show was the stupidity of two hayseeds next to me ... getting on Tatis about 'roids, then asking me about last year: how we were "supposed to win it all". Now after forgetting that Tatis was NOT in the Mitchell report, I asked when was the last time the REDS were "supposed to win it all"? Who was president then?

Last time in the post season was 1995 and they're talking smack. Please.

And Tatis and Feliciano both were nice enough to say hello to me ... I'll take that over a sullen, over the hill right-fielder any day.

Wish me luck trying to keep my six-year-old engaged past her bedtime to catch the fireworks that will surely freak her out!

MetFanMac said...

10-game winning streak? I blame Jerry Manuel :)

Jaap said...

Blanton is no worry. Salvador Aguilar can't be far from his Shea debut. At least the Phillies didn't sign Richie Sexson. Then we'd really be quaking in our boots.

Toasty Joe said...

"I'm the grumpiest Met fan on earth and I was dancing on the table."

Can a Met fan get a table dance?!?

Anonymous said...

nice little rally-starter by Argenis Reyes. Maybe we can get a middle round draft pick for Castillo.

Anonymous said...

Way to get the ball rolling, Mets!!

Late last night, Jerry Manuel called me to tell me that many of his players read this site religiously and they had seen my comments about winning 10 games straight to 'get the ball rolling.' He didn't really buy it but was willing to go along with it since as he said to me "the end justifies the means." Nice job Jerry and thanks for the Dave Schneck bobblehead.

Anonymous said...

What a surprise 9th inning that was. The bottom of the 7th looked like the same old Mets from June (allowing a 2 out rally, walks, bad pitches). And then they give us that 9th inning rally, sparked by Argenis Reyes and concluded with Tatis's big RBI double? By far, the most enjoyable win of the year.

That park is ridiculous - maybe even smaller than Citizen's Bank. 370 to right center? Arroyo must want to get the hell out of there.

Anonymous said...

finally a right field HR from Wright. Maybe he has woken up from his Dave Kingman dream. Very encouraging.