Friday, June 01, 2007

Look Ma, No Outfield!

I was wondering why Carlos Beltran wasn't turning and going to second on Kevin Frandsen's off target throw as Beltran ran into Rich Aurilia. Well duh, he was hurt!

Unfortunately, hurt enough to leave the game and leave the Mets juggling with an outfield of Endy Chavez, Carlos Gomez, and Ben Johnson. A far cry from Beltran, Moises Alou, and Shawn Green. But hey, when Orlando Hernandez is going the way he was going (after the first inning, of course), you could have an outfield of me, my brother, and my cat (our combined averages are just above Gomez's average right now but we can't cover nearly as much ground...that's why the cat would be in center field), and still come away with the 4-2 victory that they came away with.

The theme of this series was most assuredly "Giants two, Mets coming to bat", as three times the Mets spotted the Giants a two run lead before Jose Reyes' bat was to waggle in the box. Yet the Mets were a mere Barry Zito gem away from possibly sweeping this series. Two out of three, under those circumstances, and under the circumstances of no starting outfielders left standing, is completely acceptable, not to mention completely indicative of the way the Mets' starting staff is able to bounce back from early hiccups...and I give Orlando a boatload of credit. These are usually the kind of games that Hernandez can't bounce back from. He's usually either terrible or brilliant, but never both in one game. Luckily, he got the terrible out of the way and ended off with a whole lot of brilliant.

Of course, an MRI on Carlos Beltran is completely scary, as the last thing the Mets need while they are humming along is for a major cog in the offense to be out for any stretch of time. So y'all keep your fingers crossed.

***

Where were you when Armando got traded?

Where were you when you found out that Carlos Delgado's game winner was the last pitch that Armando Benitez would ever throw in a Giants uniform? Where were you when you found out that the Mets, who couldn't beat Benitez for the longest time, officially became dragon-slayers, retroactively, on Tuesday night? Where were you when you found out that not only have the Mets flushed Benitez out of San Francisco, but basically brought him back to the National League East where our team will have a few more cracks at him?

Of course, it was in a Marlins uniform where Benitez had his greatest successes against the Mets, so I probably shouldn't talk too soon. And more than likely, Benitez isn't going to be let anywhere near the ninth inning unless Kevin Gregg, Henry Owens, Matt Lindstrom, Troy Percival, Bryan Harvey and Charlie Hough all go down with injuries. But rest assured, our paths will cross again in 2007. The Mets and Armando. Armando and the Mets.

So go ahead, Fredi Gonzalez...let him close. I dare you. But you've gotta ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?"

Do ya?

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

giants fans in teh bay area are having a blast right now with the Blownitez trade.

no one seems upset losing the series but everyone is elated about the trade..

talk show hosts, callers.. my neighbors..

didnt realize these guys hate blonitez more than mets fans..

Jaap said...

My only question is, would your cat in center field be wearing a glove on his paw or can his mouth open wide enough to catch a fly ball?

Metstradamus said...

Neither. The cat doesn't have an especially big mouth, but needs the use of all her paws to get the best use out of her wheels. She would catch the ball by leaping and wrapping all four paws around the ball. She'd kind of look like the Firefox logo.

She covers a lot of ground and has an unbelievable first step. Unfortunately, she's got no stick...which makes her the Rich Becker of cats. (Football is more her bag anyway.)

Anonymous said...

firefox logo.. loooooool

Anonymous said...

where the hell has darth marc been?

us "infidels" are having a blast this season and giambalco gets hurt while doin his homerun trot.. is that the funniest sh!t or what..

Anonymous said...

"didnt realize these guys hate blonitez more than mets fans.."

No way. Not possible. Tell them to give me a call when he blows their postseason chances three years in a row.

Anonymous said...

I think the giants should have gotten more. Certainly with Mike Gonzalez down, he would have been great as a Brave.....

Jaap said...

I'm sorry, I'm not convinced about this cat playing center field thing.

All four paws working in unison at the conjunction of one fly ball lost in the lights?

Will the cat be wearing eye black (and thus appearing almost racoonish) or will the whiskers suffice?

What if the cat mistakes the warning track for the litter box and loses concentration?

Cats don't evern chase balls. Don't dogs?

Metstradamus said...

She uses Feline Pine, which is nowhere near the consistency of the warning track, so that doesn't worry me. I'm more worried that while chasing a fly ball in the gap, she's going to all of a sudden stop and groom herself. She's clean and vain to a fault, especially in front of crowds that are 40,000+.

That, or she'll fall asleep in the rolled up batting practice box.

Mike said...

you could have an outfield of me, my brother, and my cat (our combined averages are just above Gomez's average right now but we can't cover nearly as much ground...that's why the cat would be in center field)

Oh my god. People toss around a lot of LOLs, but that one really had me going. HI-larious.

Well done, Metstra.

Anonymous said...

FREE AT LAST!
FREE AT LAST!

Now what do I do with all these anti-Mando T-Shirts......