If I Could Save Baseball In A Bottle

Tonight was merely a sad reminder of how life could have been 'round these parts in September. Close games with division rivals ... Cole Hamels imploding ... some brushback pitches ... smart baserunning ... emotion from the manager ... fights in the stands ... it was all featured at Citi Field as the Mets gained a game on the Philadelphia Phillies with a 4-2 victory. The only thing missing was Larry Andersen wanting to put one in Frankie Rodriguez's neck, although I'm sure that quote is coming.

Only 13 and a half games to go!

I have to admit, as I'm searching for small things to clutch to, that I gravitate towards the spiteful. Whether it's 13.5 back or 13.5 ahead, Cole Hamels could walk off a skyscraper for all I care. Seeing him fall below .500 (and incidentally have a worse record than one Mike Pelfrey), did my baseball heart some much needed good. Was it important? No. But was it satisfying?

Well, not as much as I would like. After all, all the good done on Friday will most likely be neutralized as the J.A. Happ (remember when it was good news to see him on the mound?) will ride a potent Phillies lineup against Tim Redding on '69 night Saturday, and then Oliver Perez on Sunday. (Whoo boy, if you thought Ryan Howard hit the ball hard against Pelfrey ...) But Friday night was something that really should be put in a bottle and saved for all of those September nights when the Mets are down 17-1 and you don't want to go all the way back to 2006 for a halfway decent baseball memory.

Also, I'd like to mention that the Boston Red Sox lost on Friday by a score of 20-11. This is notable for two reasons: One: because the Sox hope that Billy Wagner can be the one to stop these football scores from being put up against them as they've claimed him on waivers from the Mets. And two: Because this was the score that broke the camel's back at Citi Field. This was the score that revealed another Citi Field flaw ... the out of town scoreboard doesn't have the capacity to show that any team scores over 19 runs. They only put enough lights in the teens column for a "1". So once the Red Sox surrendered 20, the score was taken off the board.

Funny how the 97-year-old creaky scoreboard at Fenway can handle 20 runs, but the state of the art six-month-old scoreboard at Citi can't handle it. Actually it's not funny at all. It's just sad. But it's not surprising. In fact, it's a big f***ing shocker. Right Billy?