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.

Vote Paul Lo Duca!

Well that was a mighty fine start to the homestand, wasn't it? Not only a victory, but a blowout victory at that.

Don't forget to vote Paul Lo Duca for next month's all-star game.

Carlos Beltran's quad certainly seemed no worse for wear either, as he dashed home from third on Carlos Gomez's sacrifice fly.

Hey, vote for Paul Lo Duca five times for the all-star game.

And John Maine was spectacular. When the Mets needed a great effort from their starting pitcher, Maine was there for them with seven and 1/3 innings of four hit ball and only two walks.

Paul Lo Duca needs your votes to take the lead back for starting catcher for the all-star game.

And the lineup seemed to be breaking out a little bit as well. Two hits each for Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green, Jose Reyes, heck even Ricky Ledee had two hits. And David Wright had three!

You know who else had two hits? Paul Lo Duca. And you know he needs your all-star votes.

You might have noticed the frequent in-game requests to vote for Paul Lo Duca for the all-star game. Well, don't worry. Those of us at home were also hit with commercials to vote Lo Duca. This recent election campaign came after Russell Martin of the Dodgers recently took the lead. I myself am mildly surprised that the Mets would undertake a campaign for one player over the others, but Lo Duca is the player that needs your help right now.

But as long as they're spending money to get votes in preparation for this Queens caucus, the ad campaign needs to be a bit stronger. May I suggest:

Tea Totallers

And now, exclusive to you, are condensed highlights of Orlando Hernandez's performance against the Dodgers tonight...we start in the fourth inning:

Or were those Sunday's highlights?

And before you get on me for being fair weather, I'll remind you that as Met fans, you should understand that food tastes better, traffic moves faster, and air smells less smoggy when your favorite team wins.

When the Mets lose, we're grumpy. It's how we're wired.

I, my friends, am grumpy. And at this moment, I sincerely don't feel like putting things in perspective, keeping a happy face, turning the other cheek, noting that before tonight Hernandez has been nothing short of spectacular, or anything else that resembles positivity. This blog post, as are all blog posts, are not a reflection on how things will go the rest of the season, but rather a snap shot of how I feel at the moment. And guess how I feel right this very moment? I feel grumpy. I don't feel like spin doctoring, or being logical, or rational, or reminding myself (and you) that the Mets are still in first place. No, right now I feel like using Bugs Bunny as a metaphor for Orlando Hernandez.

Yes, Hernandez may be an innocent victim here, as the Mets lineup deserves scorn for not getting a hit past the sixth inning. And Paul Lo Duca deserves wrath for his idiotic throw to try to double up a runner after a squeeze play was foiled, costing them the fifth Dodger run. Even though it meant nothing, the play served as a microcosm of the horrible fate that has befallen the Mets since Doug Davis yo-yo'd them to death eight days ago. And you can't prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that after Lo Duca's mistake cost the Mets that insurance run that the air didn't come completely out of the Mets balloon.

But I can't find an appropriate video depicting a horrible throw to first base...and heaven knows I've tried (I even searched the term "midget toss", so don't tell me I haven't looked everywhere). Besides, Russell Martin taking over the All-Star balloting lead at catcher is probably punishment enough.

At a future date, hopefully not that far in the future, we'll all have a good laugh about this. We'll laugh as the hitting is good enough to overcome the pitching, and vice versa. But right now, the grumpiness seethes from my pores. I choose to embrace that. You may not, and that's your prerogative. Until further notice, and a couple of wins in a row, I'm grumpy.

All right, maybe a little positivity, but that's it.