Defeat

As I type this, the Mets are losing: 6-2. I think Niese just ran into trouble; a pretty rough game for such a young pitcher--my hunch is he walked the bases full, then gave up a grand slam home run. Such is life. Rather, that is the game of baseball, at least for a Mets' fan. They crumble under pressure, like a pie crust made with too much butter and not enough flour.



Oh well, I hear Penny yelping, which is the only sound coming from the first floor where they are supposedly watching the ball game. Guess I shall take her for a leashwalk, and hope the Mets decide they are tired of being the statue and want to crap on the Cubs.

Which leads me to the question: what the hell is wrong with this team? For two months--from the end of June until the end of August, they looked like a dynamic ballclub. If the pitching was spotty, the hitting and fielding saved the day, and vice versa. Now, it's just a total mess--perhaps the injuries to Tatis, and the fact that Ryan Church is not playing at 100 percent have hurt. Of course, having a bullpen that can't save a ballgame does not help. And I have my doubts about Jerry Manuel's handling of the bullpen situation, changing pitchers the way runway models change outfits. The alternative is to leave a pitcher in until he finds himself or gives up several runs. If John McGraw came back from the dead, I don't think he could get the Mets to the post season.

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

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Yep, that's my feeling about the Mets' bullpen. Yosemitie Sam would have been a great sportswriter, although I don't think he would have had the patience to sit through a Mets' game. He'd probably pick up his rifle and chase the erring pitcher around the basepaths.

I know there are far more important problems in my life, and the nation. The economy has collapsed, and it looks as though John McCain may win the Presidential election. That means Sarah Palin is one septugenarian heartbeat away from the Presidency. If any politician has the raw ambition to start a military coup, it's her. God, I hate 40 year old women who are 'cute' or 'perky'.

Besides, how long would the Mets last in the postseason with only three solid starting pitchers and a wobbly bullpen? Not long.

As The Days Dwindle Down

so do the Mets. It is hard to win a division title without an effective bullpen ( the stats in today's NY Times were pretty dismal) and becomes even harder when the hitters stop hitting. It is like being on the deck of the Titanic and seeing the iceberg get closer and closer.

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No hitting and no pitching means no division title. What a shame--the Wilpons probably blame Jerry Manuel and will deny him a full time managing jog. He's kept this team going far longer than expected, but can't get them to win the title.

My Sister was right: it's the curse of Citifield, or in the alternative, Citifield was really The Mother Ship, and the Benevolent Beings who took pity on the Mets in June have changed their minds. They brought back the old bullpen, and took the alien pitchers back to their home planet.

And Now, A Word From Our Sponsor

When you watch all the Mets' games, you get to see the same commercials over and over. So, here are a few of my thoughts:

That guy from the hair implant company scares me. He's having a bad hair life, not just a bad hair day. The implants look very weird--he reminds me of a fledgling bird--and this is supposed to be better than male pattern baldness? I think not.

As for the furniture company, I am getting sick of their 'take me out to the ballgame' pastiche. Get off my television now.

Like the Fios Flea, though.

Caption It

I see the well oiled, if not oily, Wilpon p/r machine is doing its' usual bang up job. First of all, thanks to Flushing University, I read an article where Fred Wilpon admitted that he 'messed up' Willie Randolph's firing. Oh, Fred baby, don't be so hard on yourself. Just because you treated Randolph with total contempt, and thought you could pull a fast one on the NY Media doesn't mean you messed up. It probably means that you are a fool.

A Real Estate executive, who owns a major league baseball team, in one of the premier media markets, and does not know that a 3 Am press release will annoy the NY media? Oh come on, it's like Captain Smith saying, with his last breath, 'guess I should have read those iceberg warnings'. The damage has been done, so suck it up and deal with it.

Furthermore, I sense the Mets' spin cycle is giving John Maine's injury the silent treatment. Maybe if they ignore it, the injury will go away. Perhaps if they ignore the Marlins and the Phillies, they too will go away, along with the NY Press corps, and those annoying middle class Mets fans who have the nerve to want to attend the same ballgames as their employers.

I'd like the Mets to win the NL East, but I wish the Wilpons would behave like adults. Hey, I wish Prince Albert of Monaco would marry me, or Calgon would take me away, but it ain't gonna happen--not in this universe.

Like the lady in this print, I agree that "Hope Deferred maketh the heart sick".

Que Sera, Sera

Phillies 8-Mets 6. It was 6-2 in the top of the ninth inning, and the Mets bullpen chose to roll over and play dead. There are more important things than baseball, but there are few things that give me more pleasure and pain than the NY Mets. The gallbladder does cause some discomfort, but not as much as the Mets.

So, what am I going to do tonight? Watch the game, and suffer like any other well educated Mets fan. Grit my teeth when Gary Keith and Ron say nice things about the Phillies, and negative things about the Mets. Just because they tell the truth doesn't mean I am ready willing and able to accept it.

Love Wagner saying that if it was September he might have pitched in the game. Two more games like this and there won't be any important games in September.

I think I may fly away, perhaps to the Moon, because my body weight will be less, and I won't have to watch the Mets.

May I Have the Reality Check, Please?

The Mets' winning streak is finished. The odd thing is I feel a slight sense of relief. Why? Because the longer the streak lasted, the greater my disappointment would have been when it ended. That just shows you that some Mets' fans like myself have very warped minds when it comes to 'root, root, root for the home team". Hey, I remember when Mr. Met had a pointy nose, and Casey Stengel wanted to put one of Mrs. Payson's horses in the outfield, because they'd reach the ball before his outfielders did. When I went to college in Massachusetts in 1976 ( College of the Holy Cross) the MA students looked at me as though I was from Mars when they asked 'are you a Yankee fan?" and I replied 'No, I'm a Mets fan. I survived the Nolan Ryan for Jim Fergosi trade, which was much more difficult than making it through open heart surgery in 1962.

Yes, like the horseshoe crabs on Plum Beach, I am moved by primeval forces far beyond my understanding. Too much success too soon makes me nervous. Of all the Mets bloggers, I think Metstradamus would understand my feelings. Mets' fans who are 50 and older are like horseshoe crabs. They have developed very hard shells, try to dig themselves into the sand when something nasty happens during a game, and usually wind up stuck on their back, helpless against the Met Hostile universe.