So it's the bottom of the seventh on Wednesday afternoon, one man out, Jose Reyes on second, and Luis Castillo grounds one in the hole at short. Reyes tries to take third base on the play.Jose Reyes ... of all people ... should know better than to try something that dumb. Reyes has made that play on baserunners tens of hundreds of times. Besides, you learn this in little league, that you don't advance when the play's in front of you. So why on Earth would Jose do this? I mean, people wonder why we get frustrated with the Mets. All the talent in the world, but sorry ... this team has a low baseball IQ. Has had a low baseball IQ for a while.
And it's starting to rub off on the fans. Look, I know it was a weekday afternoon game and there's a lot of kids in the crowd. And I'm not blaming the kids. But in the eighth inning, immediately after Kelly Johnson put the Braves in the lead off of J.J. Putz, what's the first thing that happens in the crowd? You guessed it ... an attempt from left field to do the wave.
Are you kidding me? "Hey, we just got our hearts ripped out. Let's do the wave!" C'mon. How can we expect our team to play smart when our camp counselors are teaching young fans bad habits like the wave? This must stop, now.
***
Ask yourself this, when was the last time you were watching a Mets game and thought "wow, that's a heady play", and the subject wasn't Alex Cora?
But is it stupidity? Or is it something else?
You know how a pitcher throws 98, and he solely relies on that, even when 98 becomes 92? His coaches constantly hammer him to change speeds and play smart, but he still wants to blow everyone away?
Now Reyes is fast. Hasn't lost a step like our fictional pitcher. But does Reyes think he can beat everything out just because he's fast? Does he think, "Aah, if Yunel gets it I'm still fast enough to beat it out or discourage a throw"? If that's the case, that's carelessness and it's a lack of attention to detail. Escobar's a good shortstop, but it's not like you've got Fluff Castro running ... it was Luis Castillo. It would have been a near impossible play to get Castillo from the hole if Reyes had held. And then if he would have wanted to advance after the throw (like he's done), fine.
Instead, Reyes gave Escobar the Get Out of Jail Free card because of a combination of arrogance, and a lack of brainpower. And this is why the Mets can't get out of their own way. In games like Wednesday's game, where it goes back and forth and is decided in extra innings, it's little things like a stupid baserunning play and other mistakes that you can avoid by merely thinking that can cost you five or six games which, near the top of the N.L. East, is all it takes.
(Not to mention the physical errors, such as David Wright jumping out of the way of a ground ball that went through his legs. How does this happen, exactly?)
***
And speaking of "How does this happen", I missed Gary Sheffield's game tying home run in the eighth. Why? I was buying ice cream. Okay, it happens.
Now, check the helmet that I bought the ice cream in:
If you said "Hey wait a minute, that's an interlocking NY painted over the Final Season at Shea logo", give yourself a big round of applause. Then laugh.
Then cry.
Seriously? A paint job over a plastic cup? Was it sponsored by Spongetech? I give up. Instead of harping on that, let's see how rehab is going and play "Where's Oliver?"
Today, Perez found a good way to stay in shape as he landed a part in the local production of "Billy Elliot the Musical." His habit of leaping over the foul line made him a natural fit for the part. Unfortunately, on the very leap you see above, Perez aggravated his patella tendon and will miss an additional two weeks.***
Oh and a word of advice to Snoop Manuel since the team is on its way to the west coast: If the phone should happen to ring at 3AM, and you didn't order room service ... just let it ring.
12 comments:
you know i looked at those helmets at last night's game and decided i didn't want ice cream. nothing special. i guess i didn't get close enough to realize that I HAD ONE OF THOSE ALREADY!! good catch on the paint job. the only thing painted blue, a primary official team color, inside the entire stadium.
The wave is worse this year than ever. Can they see better? Can they see worse? Are more people who just want to see the ballpark vs. want to actually watch the game there? I do not get it.
The ballpark obviously isn't too expensive if the 'casual fan' or whatever is getting in to do the wave on a regular basis. (Although I didn't notice a wave trying to start while I was sitting in RF, maybe I was just oblivious)
I don't kill Reyes too much, I give him a little bit of a pass on aggressive plays, because the team needs that. Castillo running probably hurt him though, because otherwise Escobar probably would've been thinking first, but knowing he couldn't get him, he took the opportunity.
I'm all for not throwing out the millions of helmet cups they had from last year and reusing them, but they could've just left them as is. I know at Shea in the picnic area they used to have all the old leftover souvenir cups for sodas into at least the next year.
Manuel needs to get one of those 3am calls. So does Warthen. I don't know if I have faith in Minaya to make that call though.
Please repeat one of the following to at least three of your friends, post it on Facebook, call your local newspaper, and quietly tell four tabloid reporters...the wave causes cancer OR the wave causes swine flu.
This may seem like it is in bad taste, but weigh it against the taste in your mouth left by watching the Debits Field "fans" do the wave.
Haven't you seen Jose's Modell/Underarmour commercials?
"If I get a good jump, I'm gonna steal two bases" Then he proceeds to do just that, wearing the underarmour, of course. This is the problem. He believes his own press.
ladymet: i think you are overestimating jose's english grammer prowess. i believe the quote is 'if i get a good jump, i gunna steal two bases'. also, that commercial is really stupid
I love all the explanations about why they couldnt paint the fences and facades blue, and yet Delta has no problem having a blue background for its ad on the outfield wall.
I think we're all forgetting the bigger issue here: namely, that Metstradamus, who I personally know to be over the age of 8, actually purchased a helmet ice cream cup. The public demands an explanation.
Toasty, my blogging campaign is based on transparency. So I hereby give you, the public, my explanation:
The play was actually to buy a hot dog. The grill had no hot dogs. Sparing the woman behind the Nathan's counter the embarassment of uttering the words "we've run out of hot dogs here at Nathan's", I asked for ice cream.
And that, my friends, is the explanation. May God bless you, and may God bless America.
Having sat with Metstradamus while he enjoyed his ice cream helmet, I can report that he is also a devotee of rainbow sprinkles. Sorry for throwing you under the bus 'Damus, but the public has the right to know.
Great line from a caller to Fatso On The Fan today..."why is it that a naked streaker has no problem sliding into a base while the Mets players refuse"?
Name one thing besides sprinkles that come free in that ballpark? You can't. Just my way of sticking it to the man.
the jalapeno's at the condiment bar are free. I just down those instead of buying food.
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