The Year Long Ovation

It was just about one year ago, coincidentally a weeknight game against the San Diego Padres, when Met fans started saying thanks to their future hall of fame catcher after a two run home run (with the help of a butchered ball in center field by Padres center fielder Xavier Nady, you know, as long as we're going down memory lane here). The ovation that night...that I was a part of in the stands...wasn't your garden variety "thanks for the dinger, Mike" that he had known for the better part of seven plus seasons. That ovation was different. That ovation was the start of the Mike Piazza farewell tour.

It lasted all the way through tonight.

Tonight's game was certainly not reminiscent of Eddie Giacomin's return to the Garden as a Red Wing in November of 1975, when chants of "Ed-die! Ed-die" punctuated a virtual Red Wings home game at Madison Square Garden after Giacomin felt the ultimate indignity by being put on waivers, nothing gained in return for the then bumbling New York franchise. Thankfully through the Mets' success this season, it didn't go that far...because even though nothing was gained by the Mets in exchange for Piazza either, there was an understanding by all parties that it was best for everyone...Piazza included. And tonight there was nothing but love for all involved...as it should have been. But mostly for Piazza.

Why it was even a question as to whether Piazza was going to be received warmly is beyond me. For all he's done for the New York Mets franchise, he's family. And when family comes home you clean the house, you stock the refrigerator, you wheel out the rollaway bed, you get out their favorite CD's (some Jimi Hendrix, perhaps) and you make family feel welcome. He got an ovation before the game. He got an ovation when he took his position in the field. He got an ovation before his first at bat to the familiar strains of Hendrix's "Voodoo Child". He got an ovation before his second at bat, when with second and third, he had a chance to perform some actual damage on the franchise that provided his paychecks with runners on second and third.

It was Mike Piazza's third at bat that Met fans proved they have enough love for everyone. First, another ovation for Piazza in his Padre surf and sand ensemble (yes, the color that adorns Piazza's pants is actually called "sand"). Then, a moment for the man who replaced him, which flew in the face of what is now known as conventional journalism. Paulie Undertaker received his very own "PAUL-lo-DUC-a" chant after throwing out Brian Giles attempting to steal second. Tonight, the first home game for Lo Duca since he was stung by the pesky bee that is tabloid journalism, and Met fans gave him a little extra something to tell him that although Piazza is forever a Met, Paulie is a Met right now, and through the adversity he's facing now that they've got his back...just as it would be on the streets of Brooklyn when sometimes all you had was your friends.

I'm sure it was a moment Piazza, standing practically next to Lo Duca, could appreciate as it was once Piazza who the tabloids attempted to use to sell newspapers. Next pitch, Piazza lines one to center for his first Padre hit at Shea Stadium...and once again it was love for Mike Piazza as his name was chanted as well. It was five minutes that provided a perfect parallel of past and present.

Future was present tonight too. After all, there are no boundaries when love intersects with baseball. So David Wright not only drove in the tying and winning runs tonight, but he and his partner in expectation Jose Reyes both did what any red-blooded American male would do. They stole bases on Mike Piazza.

But that hardly mattered.

What mattered was that a long lost family member came home...and the year long ovation continues.

Comebacks: A Primer

Hey, guess who's coming back to Shea Stadium!

That's right! Mike Cameron!!!

Here are some reminders of other emotional/notable comebacks to Shea Stadium (thanks to Retrosheet):

• Dave Kingman's return to Shea came on July 29th, 1977 as a member of the San Diego Padres. Kingman, in an amazing sense of the moment, only struck out one time in four at bats in a 4-1 Mets win. Kingman was traded the same day as some pitcher named...
• Tom Seaver quickly followed Kingman back to Shea, returning to pitch for the Reds on August 21st, 1977. This was a mere two months after Seaver was traded for Steve Henderson, Doug Flynn, Pat Zachry, and Dan Norman. Seaver, proving that you get what's coming to you, spun a complete game gem at the Reds, striking out eleven and only giving up one run to get the win.
• The opposing pitcher in both of the above games was Jerry Koosman. His foray into the American League delayed his Shea Stadium return until April 29th, 1984. Koosman's return wasn't as successful for the scorned, taking the loss after giving up 4 runs in 5 and 2/3's innings.
• One of Koosman's teammates that day was Juan Samuel...and he came to the Mets in another typical Mets trade that sent away Len Dykstra. Dykstra returned to Shea just days after the trade, tripling in his first Shea Stadium at bat precluding a Dickie Thon homerun. Amazingly (is there any other way?) the Mets won 9-3. (Roger McDowell also made his Phillies debut at Shea, allowing two inherited runners to score via Met singles)
• Samuel's return to Shea as a visitor carried no such fanfare, but he did go 2 for 5 in a 9-4 Met win on May 11th, 1990.
• But keeping with the Juan Samuel theme, after finally getting his wish to play with Los Angeles, Darryl Strawberry returned to Shea on May 7th, 1991 and hit a mammoth two run home run to center field...after which a good 5,000 of the paying customers rose from their seats to hit the food lines at once. The runner who scored ahead of Strawberry? You guessed it, Juan Samuel.
• Bobby Bonilla's return to Shea afforded Mets fans an opportunity to flock to Queens to show Bobby the Bronx. Bonilla, no doubt wearing earplugs, singled and scored the go ahead run in a 5-2 Marlins win on June 4th, 1997, which included a pinch hitting appearance by future Met Cliff Floyd (but no sign of Juan Samuel, thankfully).
• We should all remember Doc Gooden's return to Shea...it was the first game of the famous dual venue doubleheader between the Mets and the Yankees on July 8th, 2000. While that day went down in history as the day Roger Clemens committed attempted homicide (and unlike most convicted felons, was not convicted, yet hailed as a hero), it was Gooden who pitched 5 innings and kept the Mets pretty much in check giving up 2 runs while earning the victory. Of course, the Yankee win should be retroactively overturned since admitted steroid user Jason Grimsley pitched five outs of scoreless baseball.
• On August 21st, 2001, Mike Hampton returned to Shea and got more than a taste of instant karma. The Mets dropped 5 runs on Hampton in the first two innings en route to a 5-2 Mets victory. Key to the victory was an RBI single and a home run by none other than Mike Piazza.

And thus, we come full circle. Although Jerry Koosman and Juan Samuel aren't going to be involved in tonight's game, an important part of Mets history will be...and if history shows us anything, Mike Piazza will make it eventful...one way or the other.

Yesterday's News

The Metstradamus crack staff has learned that Christie Brinkley, who has been on the cover of the New York Post for days on end, is suing the Post for age discrimination after she was bumped from the cover by Paul Lo Duca's wife Sonia.

"I mean, I'm on the cover for like eight weeks, and I get bumped for a 34 year old flavor of the month?" the 52 year old Brinkley said.

Brinkley, headed towards her fourth divorce, had been on the cover of the tabloid newspaper for 183 days straight before being knocked off the cover on Monday by Sonia Lo Duca, reportedly headed towards only her first divorce.

"It's frustrating" said Brinkley. "I gave those photographers ice pops during 100 degree weather for crying out loud. And this is how I get treated? If I wasn't 52 years old then who would care about this baseball wife? It's age discrimination, pure and simple. And I have every intention of reclaiming my spot on the Post front page."

(Disclaimer: This is satire...and not very good satire at that. This is not meant to be taken as fact. Please don't call the New York Post, please don't call Christie Brinkley, and please don't call Paul Lo Duca...he isn't going to talk to you.)

Maineshiserdale

The second baseman made the out, and a streak was born.

For Orel Hershiser, it was Steve Sax that converted Tracy Jones' grounder into the first out of 59 scoreless.

For Don Drysdale, it was Luis Alcaraz fielding a Don Kessinger grounder to start the Dodgers' 1-0 win against the Cubs, and Drysdale's original standard of 58 and 2/3's scoreless inning streak.

While it's too soon to start dreaming about a sentence of Hershiser, Drysdale, and Maine, Bangor's streak also started with a second baseman...Jose Valentin grabbing a pop up off the bat of Aramis Ramirez to innocently start his scoreless streak, now at 23 innings. (Can a scoreless streak start off anything but innocently? I mean, nobody gives up a run and then gets an out and sends everybody in a tizzy running around screaming "Ooooooh, here comes that big 65 inning scoreless streak!" Man, I can be an idiot sometimes. But you do have to start somewhere.)

Unfortunately, it's going to take a lot longer for Maine to reach the plateau of 59 and 1/3 if he keeps getting pulled after six innings while throwing 107 pitches (or keeps working on nine days rest). Drysdale and Hershiser basically went nine innings every time out. Did you know that Orel Hershiser not only went 10 innings in that last start against San Diego to cap the streak, but pitched two complete games immediately before the streak started? Meanwhile, in 1968, Don Drysdale went 10 innings twice in games that weren't even part of the streak?

It's just the way the game goes.

But hey, John Maine's 23 inning scoreless streak for a player of his relative lack of stature is impressive nonetheless. Tonight's win came off a team that has probably the most formidable lineup he's faced so far...even without Bobby Abreu. Most impressive was Bangor's ability to get out of some sticky jams as he did in the first inning striking out Ryan Howard with first and third in the initial frame with one out...and in the sixth, striking out Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand with first and third.

Maine's streak continues to let the Mets take a couple of breaths about where their starting pitching is. But be afraid Met fans, be very afraid. I don't want to say this can't last (hell I've photoshopped John Maine with two of the best pitchers ever), but not only are tapes of Bangor going to start to get around, but tonight's national television exposure only exacerbates the tip off to the rest of the National League. It's fun to have a fourth starter go on a run like this though, so I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Someone who is looking over my shoulder at this very moment is screaming at me...he's saying that now that I'm mentioning Bangor in the same sentence as Hershiser and Drysdale, Maine's streak is probably doomed. And I just want to say: that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard...that something I've said could affect the outcome of a baseball game. Like I can jinx a scoreless streak. I mean, when he says things like that, he must be a slave owning Nazi. Doesn't he know how cretinous he sounds? He makes no sense! I mean that statement is part Slobodan Milosevic, and part Genghis Khan! He's stupid! There is no God!

Why is my eye bleeding?

***

Speaking of yahoo Yankee baseball announcers, Paul O'Neill came up with an interesting theory during today's Orioles game...apparently, Yankee fans don't necessarily hate the Mets anymore because former Yankee Willie Randolph is managing the team.

Yeah Paul, and Met fans are singing Kumbaya in the Bronx because former Met Joe Torre won all those championships with the Yankees. Me thinks Paul has had one too many ricochets of batting helmets he's thrown in disgust to the head.

***

And why does Joe Morgan bother me? He's another one during tonight's Mets game trying to turn the Bobby Abreu salary dump into some sort of master plan by Pat Gillick..."Oh well that lineup had numbers but were they consistent?" Blah blah blah.

Hello? Joe? They're third from the bottom in the NL in pitching? Hello?

If Pat Gillick wasn't on a budget, Bobby Abreu would still be a Phillie!

Can't anybody here announce this game?

***

Hopefully, salary dumps like Bobby Abreu aren't going to happen anytime soon in Queens, and the Mets took steps in that direction with the recent fair signings of Jose Reyes and David Wright. We were all worried about it a while back, but they did the correct thing with both players, and at reasonable prices on both ends for the club, giving them flexibility for the future.

You know Reyes is happy with the financial security, having hit a grannie tonight that brought the house down.

***

Baseball Tonight is starting their "Best Web Gems Of All Time" series, where the panel picks the three best defensive plays for each franchise all time.

For our boys, you have to consider Ron Swoboda and Tommie Agee from the World Series, and of course, David Wright's barehander.

But for what it's worth, and for my money, the most incredible play ever occurred on June 5th 1987. You may know it as Dwight Gooden's return from his stint at the Betty Ford clinic. I remember it just as much for the Sid Bream liner to left center field that Mookie Wilson and Lenny Dykstra converged for and slammed faces together at full speed, with arms and legs flying everywhere like a mangled helicopter. Think Carlos Beltran and Mike Cameron with two major differences:

• Dykstra and Wilson weren't as seriously hurt as Beltran and Cameron (Lenny and Mookie actually stayed in the game), and...
• Mookie Wilson caught the ball.

For those who remember it (I sure as heck remember it...I was there!), it's gotta be the in the top three...without a doubt.

Just Stoppin' By

As I get ready to curl up with some chicken wings to go with some Sunday night Mets baseball, I have a couple of quick ones for you...

Many thanks to Toasty Joe for Michael Kay's meltdown (via the good people at "Deadspin"...via the good people at "Fire Joe Morgan") on ESPN radio. This left me speechless (hopefully, not for long).

And apparently, Paul Lo Duca isn't speaking to the media anymore, for reasons that he said would be apparent to all of us today. The crack staff has convened and closest thing they could come up with was this innocuous quote at the end of this Palm Beach Post article...

Before Wednesday's game, former Marlins catcher Paul Lo Duca held a black bat in one hand and a silver Sharpie in the other.

"What should I sign to Dontrelle?'' Lo Duca said.

"How about, 'Can't wait to catch you on opening day,'?" one tabloid reporter replied.

Lo Duca put his head down and whispered to himself: "That would be nice."

I know I wouldn't be too happy if something I whispered underneath my breath about a player on another team made it in print. I wonder...

Either that or the Undertaker is mad at Michael Kay for comparing an unwritten clubhouse rule to the Holocaust. I can't tell.

P.S. David Wright: locked up! Booya!!!

Christmas In August

It started innocently enough, with two outs and nobody on base in the sixth and the FOX announcers talking about how the Phillies may have found the right chemistry on their team after trading Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle to the Yankees (as if that was the plan all along).

Jon Lieber had the Carlos Beltran tapper in his hands...all he had to do was toss it to a waiting Ryan Howard to end the inning. Instead, the Mets scored three runs to take the lead without looking back as all talk of Pat Gillick having a master plan ended right then and there as all attempts at revisionist history was stopped in its tracks. Lieber's errant throw and Pat Burrell's inability to catch a fly ball I(on Wright's and Endy Chavez's fly balls) contributed to the Mets' comeback. I'm touched that Lieber and Burrell would be so thoughtful as to send the Mets some early Christmas gifts.

Of course, Country Time Wagner had to give us all more palpitations by putting runners on first and third with two outs after Ryan Howard and pinch hitter Chase Utley put themselves on third and first base, and Mike Lieberthal sent a 3-2 pitch screaming down the left field line, but before you could get the words "tie game" out of your mouth, there was David Wright to save the day, as he did once before against these very Phillies in their park, with a diving backhanded stop. And although he only needed one out this time, it didn't make the moment more spectacular.

On June 22nd, David Wright was hitting .338. On June 23rd, Tom Glavine got win number 11. It hasn't quite been fun times since then for those two. Wright's average had dropped 30 points going into today, and Glavine was stuck on 11 victories. Today, it's Wright's refusal to let his slump follow him to third base that secured win number 12 for Glavine, who is currently sending a gift basket to the Wright residence for this very special Christmas in August.