Happy Mets Year!

From The Ballclub, a Happy New Year to Mets fans everywhere!

Here's hoping the above scene is one oft-repeated in 2008.

Historical Perspective

I don't write much about Football here, or in general, although I am an avid fan. Perhaps it is because my particular allegiance involves some explanation.

As a child, the first football game I ever watched was Super Bowl XIX, a matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Miami Dolphins, a matchup of a pair of legendary Quarterbacks, Joe Montana and Dan Marino.

The 49ers, behind Montana, were able to frustrate Marino and take apart the Dolphins consistently throughout the game, cruising to an easy 38-16 victory.

Despite being a native New Yorker, and never having been to San Francisco, I have been a die hard 49ers fan since that day.

I've remained loyal even though the past few seasons have been alternately trying and embarrassing, but I am able to take solace in five Super Bowl titles in 15 seasons between 1981 and 1994.

But moreso than just the victories, there was always something symphonic about watching the 49ers play in those years. Montana in particular was always a joy to watch, because it all just seemed to come so easy to him. It's easy to become spoiled by this, but with Montana, and later, Steve Young, you never really felt like you were out of a game. Working within offensive systems that played specifically to their strengths, Montana and Young were able to operate with frightening efficiency for several seasons, simply because their skills, and the superior talent around them, were always able to overwhelm the opposition.

The 49ers were 15-1 in the 1984 regular season, and ran the table to that Super Bowl XIX victory. Their only blemish a 20-17 loss to the Steelers in Week 7 of that season. They were the first team to win 15 games in an NFL season since the 16-game schedule was adopted in 1978. Other sterling seasons of 14-2 and 13-3 also led to Championships (1989, 1994), but other seasons in which the team did as well ended with playoff losses (1990, 1992, 1997).

There have been three other occurrences of 15-1 teams in the NFL. The 1985 Chicago Bears lost a notable Monday Night game to the Miami Dolphins after starting out 12-0. They would continue to romp on to a victory in Super Bowl XX.

The 1998 Minnesota Vikings lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers early in the season, but set scoring records and appeared poised to cruise into Super Bowl XXXIII. Until a missed Gary Anderson Field Goal late in the 4th Quarter of the NFC Championship game allowed the upstart Atlanta Falcons to tie, and eventually win in an astounding overtime upset.

The 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers lost their second game of the season to the Baltimore Ravens, and lost their starting Quarterback, Tommy Maddox, in the process. In his stead, Rookie Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers to 14 straight victories in the Regular season and another in the Divisional Playoffs. Then, they were promptly buzzsawed by a superior New England Patriots team in the AFC Championship Game.

The point being, Regular Season success is often fleeting. And even the most successful teams can often fall short if the stars align against them.


I'll be rooting for the New England Patriots tomorrow night against the New York Giants to complete their quest for an undefeated regular season, and I'll be rooting for them in the playoffs to run the table straight through to Super Bowl XLII.

Part of my reasoning is simply to be contrary; it seems, especially here in New York, that everyone hates the Patriots, hates Brady, hates Belichick, thinks they cheated, etc, etc. I'm not particularly interested. I've always been a fan of Brady. I don't care about the off-the-field exploits. Hell, he's no more overexposed than Peyton Manning, and he's not half as overbearing. Brady, on the field, has always exuded that killer instinct. That he knows he may not possess the best skills, but he's got the best skills in his system, and he can use that to his advantage. He's always given me the feeling that the Patriots were never out of any game so long as he was on the field.

Sort of like Joe Montana.

Moreover, as I've mentioned, success is often fleeting. And who the hell remembers or even cares about the 2004 Steelers or 1998 Vikings? Who even knows about the one game the 49ers lost in '84 or the Bears in '85?

There has only been one perfect season in NFL History, of course, the 1972 Miami Dolphins. We've got a chance to see History unfold over the next month with the Patriots, in a time when the game is vastly different than it was the last time something like this happened.

The Patriots have already done something nobody's accomplished by winning their first 15 games. From a Historical perspective, I cannot help but root for them to run the table the rest of the way.

20 Days in October, Part VIII

...Continued from Part VII
Parts I - VII

Monday, October 18
Atlanta would have made the trip regardless.

The Mets are happy to be coming back.

Both teams are headed South, back to Atlanta, for a most improbable 6th game of the NLCS. Somehow, the Mets have pulled together to make this trip necessary. It's hardly been a pleasure cruise for the Mets, between the sniping between players, the injuries and the question of whether or not their manager will even be back after the season.

But then again, this season has gone on a hell of a lot longer than anyone expected. With the Mets coming back from the dead over and over again, the Mets are beginning to garner National attention. They've put all the pressure on Atlanta to finally put them away like they're supposed to. But Valentine believes the pressure still lies with the Mets. Both sides are correct. For the Braves, coming in with Kevin Millwood, who has been simply dominant over the last few months, and who was solid in his Game 2 victory, the edge lies decidedly with them. But for the Mets, they still have to win to stay alive, in a stadium where they haven't been able to. And their starter in Game 6, Al Leiter, who was seen warming up during the 14th inning Sunday night, is now scheduled to take the start on 3 days' rest, something he's not accustomed to doing, but a challenge he'll readily accept.

Meanwhile, questions remain on both sides. Why didn't Cox go to Kevin Millwood in the 15th inning on Sunday? What's the story with Mike Piazza? Is he well enough to go tomorrow? How will Leiter respond to what will certainly be his biggest start as a Met on short rest? Will John Rocker ever keep his mouth shut?

It's mostly lost to me, but in the other league, the Yankees very quickly and very quietly wiped out the Red Sox in 5 games in the ALCS. If there was any more incentive for the Mets make history, here it is. Beat the Braves, come back for a Subway Series.

This series has delivered a lot of different angles, from both sides. So far, the only thing that has been resolved by this series is that the teams continue to speak highly of each other on the surface, but continue to have a mutual underlying dislike.

It's all about to come crashing together once again in a battle for the ages.

Tuesday, October 19
Game 6

Baseball is a game of context. A game of building and then sustained tension. The New York Mets have lived an October on the edge. Four agonizingly close playoff games with the favored Atlanta Braves left them down 3-1 and facing elimination for the second day in a row. In Game 5, after 14 1/2 taut innings, they had again been pushed to the brink.

'Costas: (over shot of the Mets dugout) The Mets are down to what could be their last 3 outs of a memorable season...(Cut to Shawon Dunston) Rolled toward the middle, Base Hit! A trememdous at bat by Shawon Dunston!...(Cut to Todd Pratt) The 3-1...Ball 4! Game Tied!

Morgan: The Mets will not die.

Costas: (Cut to Ventura) Now Ventura, still looking to bust loose in the Playoffs...A drive to right! Back to Georgia! What a scene at Shea!'

The longest Playoff game in Baseball History shortened the distance between the Mets and the most improbable comeback in Baseball History. Game 6, next.

-Bob Costas

After several games where NBC's opening montage slanted decidedly towards the Atlanta Braves, now the Mets were the ones getting all the attention as the series returns to Atlanta. This montage featured clips culled entirely from the bottom of the 15th inning on Sunday night, culminating with Robin Ventura's already legendary Grand Slam Single.

With the series now 3-2 Atlanta, there is more of a sense of urgency. For the first time in the Postseason, Turner Field is sold out. But the crowd of 52,335 is not jammed with Braves fans ready to chop into the night. There are many Mets fans who have made the trip south for this game, including a classmate of mine, who drove overnight from Binghamton to Atlanta.

Turner Field has always been a house of horrors for the Mets, ever since it opened in 1997. It looks dark and forbidding on TV, as Bob Costas and Joe Morgan sign on. After dressing in an odd variety of shirts and jackets, both Costas and Morgan are dressed seriously tonight. No more joking around. This series is for real.

Costas and Morgan go over the pitching matchups. Costas notes that Leiter "has been in a great groove of late." Morgan says that there are two questions concerning Leiter. "Does he have good stuff, and how long can he go?" With the day off on Monday, the Mets bullpen, which was spent by the end of Sunday's game, is somewhat refreshed. They'll also have Masato Yoshii and, once again, Kenny Rogers out there should the game require them.

On the other side, Costas and Morgan go over why Kevin Millwood didn't appear in the 15th inning on Sunday. He could have closed, but then, if he didn't, and had to pitch to the conclusion, he wouldn't be able to pitch tonight, forcing Cox to use Glavine tonight, and potentially Smoltz tomorrow, both on short rest. Plus, with the luxury of being able to give a loss, and with the condition of the field, Cox did not think it prudent to run Millwood out there. So, he gives up Game 5, and focuses on Game 6 tonight, with Millwood on full rest.

Meanwhile, Jim Gray is underneath the Stadium with John Rocker. Rocker crashed his car yesterday. Unfortunately, he's OK. He's still smug as always, and he blamed the other driver involved in the crash. His car is pretty messed up. But he says it looks a lot worse than it actually was. Too bad he didn't break his jaw or something.

Craig Sager is with Mike Piazza on the Mets bench. Piazza still looks like death. He speaks slowly. He has a forearm bruise from his collision with Lockhart on Sunday, among other things. He says "It's still sore. It was sore in BP. It feels good now, and I'm gonna go for it tonight. But if I can't, Todd's done a great job, so we'll be in good hands. I don't like being banged up. I'm gonna go out and do the best I can. I'm not using that as an excuse. I'm just gonna go out and hopefully we can get a timely hit and take it to a seventh game."

Sager asks Mike if he feels cheated because his injuries have not allowed him to perform at his peak in the Playoffs. Mike responds, "I just regret that I came in here running on fumes. I wouldn't give this up for anything."

Costas states that "If the Mets make the World Series, Piazza should get a Ring and a Purple Heart."

Following the interviews, we move quickly to the start. The Mets lineup is largely similar to Game 5. Alfonzo hitting 2nd, Olerud 3rd, Darryl Hamilton starts in CF. Cedeno is back in Right against Kevin Millwood, who pitched well in Game 2, and finished the season red hot. There are loud boos for Rickey as he steps in against Millwood. Costas talks about Rickey's lack of production this series, as Millwood quickly gets ahead. With 2 strikes, Turner Field is loud. Louder than it had been at any point in the first 2 games. But Rickey reaches for one and pokes a single to right, in front of Brian Jordan. Alfonzo bats, and there is an audible "LET'S GO METS!" chant as he steps to the plate. It was Alfonzo's sacrifice in the 15th on Sunday that really set up the inning for the Mets. Costas and Morgan note this, even though the play itself was largely overlooked. Fonzie hits the ball well, but right at Jordan for the first out.

For the Mets, Cookie Rojas is back as the 3rd base coach, following his 5 game suspension after his blowup in the NLDS. This helps, as the Mets are more familiar with Rojas giving signs, as opposed to Bruce Benedict, who had replaced him there. Benedict is back on the bench.

John Olerud is next, and he hits a fly ball to center that dies. The ball carries well down the lines at Turner Field, but not to Center Field. Andruw Jones catches it easily. Piazza follows. Knee, thumb, hand, forearm, concussion, and he's still in the lineup, and batting 4th. Rickey's not running. Millwood has been able to keep him close at 1st, and he has been pitching from a slidestep. Rickey doesn't seem able to time him well. Another "LETS GO METS!" chant breaks out. Piazza looks pained on every swing. Costas says that Piazza will not talk about his condition unless asked. He says he feels a tingling in his hands at times. His bat looks slow and if this were the regular season, he would not be in. Rickey runs on a 1-2 pitch, but Piazza strikes out.

And this would be the last normal moment in the ballgame.

Back for the bottom of the 1st. The only change in Atlanta's lineup is Brian Hunter starting at first instead of Klesko, against the lefty Leiter. A sign in stands reads "That's Mr. Larry to you!" The signs at Shea were much more imaginative. Nobody in Atlanta seems to have much of a sense of humor. On the mound, Leiter needs to get off to a good start. He relies on his cutter inside, his trademark. The bat breaker. But if the Braves lay off it, he could fall behind hitters and get in trouble. The Braves swung at a lot of bad balls from him in Game 3. He only lost on that damned unearned run, when neither he nor Piazza could make a play in the 1st. Tomahawk chop as Gerald Williams leads off and takes the first pitch inside. On the 1-1 pitch, Williams is hit by the pitch. Great start. It was a breaking ball, it tailed down and in and hit him on the right foot. Williams hops out of the box and walks down to first. Boone follows. He takes the first pitch inside. Atlanta batters are clearly taking all the way against Leiter early. That can't be good. Williams attempts to get Leiter to balk. He dances back and forth at first. Once again, Costas reminds us that Leiter's pickoff move isn't nearly as good as Rogers'. On 2-0, Boone takes a strike. Nobody's swinging here. At all. 2 more balls outside and Boone is on. 8 pitches by Leiter, 0 swings by the Braves. Not good. The crowd is getting louder and here's Larry. Not Hello Larry in Atlanta. Now, it's Chipper the beloved. Valentine won't wait long to go to his bullpen. He can't afford to. The first pitch is low inside, as the runners go. Piazza's throw to 3rd is low and off to the side. It bounces off Ventura's glove, into foul territory, Williams hops up and scores easily. Boone holds second. Just like Game 3. Fucking hell. Another run off an error. The fans are chopping away. It's about to get worse. Next pitch, Larry is hit on the right knee. What the fuck!?! The cutter tailed inside and got him, almost in the same place Williams was hit. This is a debacle already. Someone needs to talk to Leiter or someone has to get up in the bullpen. Finally, Dave Wallace comes out. The entire infield is at the mound. Pat Mahomes is frantically warming up. Costas notes that this isn't like the old days, when pitchers were expected to go on 3 days' rest. 10 pitches by Leiter, 0 swings from the Braves. Jordan up. On the 1-0, Jordan grounds the ball foul. 12 pitches from Leiter before the Braves swung at one. Leiter gets to 1-2 on Jordan, but Jordan then singles under Ventura's glove. Boone scores. 2-0 Braves. Andruw Jones is next. He's taking the first pitch also. He swings wildly on 1-0. If Leiter can make him swing at bad pitches, maybe it'll be OK. He chops the 1-1 pitch back to Leiter. Leiter spins for 2nd, but he throws wide and pulls Alfonzo off the bag. Jordan slides in, but even with a good throw, he would have been safe. Morgan says this was bad communication between Piazza and Leiter. Leiter should have gone to 1st for the sure out. His throw was immediate, but Jordan is already at 2nd, and he slides right into Alfonzo. It's a fielders' choice, no error on Leiter. Still no outs. This is starting out like a more horrible version of Game 3. Now, the bases are loaded, and Eddie Perez is up. He's only hitting .471 in the series. Leiter gets ahead of Perez, but he cannot put him away. Annoyingly, Perez is fouling everything off. Finally on the 8th pitch of the at bat, Perez lines a clean single over Alfonzo's head, into center field. Oh Fucking Shit. Jones and Jordan both score easily. Perez and his fucking hideous mole are on first. The crowd is chopping and cheering and I want to vomit. This inning is now officially a total fucking disaster. Leiter has thrown 25 pitches, gotten 0 outs, given up 2 hits, hit 2 batters, there's 4 runs home, and that is it.

"Pitching on 3 days rest, and now may have all fall and winter to rest," is the only thing Costas can say as Leiter is removed. Leiter slumps off the field and tosses his glove on the bench. Stunning. No team has scored more than 4 runs in a game in this series, and Atlanta has now scored 4 in this inning, with 0 outs, and Andruw on 3rd.

Pat Mahomes takes over and gets Hunter to fly out on the 1st pitch. Hamilton catches it in medium deep CF, but it's easily deep enough to score Jones. 5-0 Atlanta. Oh my God. They're even scoring on outs. They made Leiter work, they took pitches, and they turned this game into a romp. Dammit. Right now, I'm seething. I hate the Braves. Fuck Atlanta. Fuck Larry. Fuck Rocker. I hate all of the South. Jordan, Andruw and Williams are laughing on the bench. Just to turn that knife a little more, Costas reminds us that Millwood hasn't allowed more than 2 runs in a start in over 2 months. Mercifully, Weiss grounds to Alfonzo, and the Mets turn a 4-6-3 DP to end the inning. I don't know if this inning could have possibly gone any worse.

Then again, the Mets haven't rolled over and died yet, and they could have done so very easily on Saturday and Sunday. Can they pull off another comeback? It's a longshot, but there's a lot of game left to be played.

Boy, is there ever a lot of game left.

"What a difference between Robin Ventura's last at bat and this one," says Costas as the top of the 2nd begins. Ventura's last AB, of course, ended the game on Sunday. The Mets do make Millwood work somewhat. Millwood seems to be a little wild, but he's throwing strikes when he needs to. He falls behind Ventura 3-1, but gets him to pop out. In the Mets dugout, Craig Sager has spoken to Leiter. Apparently, Leiter confirmed when he came off the mound that he could not throw any of his pitches for strikes. "He is a tremendous competitor, but tonight is perhaps the greatest disappointment of his career," Costas adds. Witn 1 out, Hamilton singles, but Cedeno and Ordonez both ground out. Still, Millwood doesn't look his sharpest, and perhaps the Mets can wait him out. With 2 outs, Masato Yoshii is warming in the bullpen. Valentine worked his pitchers to the max in Game 5, and he seems prepared to do so again tonight.

Mahomes hums right along in the bottom of the 2nd. He retires Atlanta 1-2-3. But will he stay in the game? According to Sager, Dunston will bat for Mahomes in the 3rd.

Meanwhile, Costas and Morgan give us the following bit of information: In Game 4, Atlanta did not strand any runners on base. In Game 5, they stranded 19. Bobby Cox says this shows you that there are many ways to lose. Mahomes strikes Boone to end the 2nd, and appears to be done for the night.

But it's not Dunston in the top of the 3rd. Mahomes bats for himself. Valentine changed his mind at the last minute. If Mahomes can remain effective, it's not a bad idea. You have to keep the Braves where they are, and chip away. Morgan says that the Mets need to break the game into 3's. 123, 456, 789. Get 1 run here, 1 run there, chip away at the lead, and go from there. Costas says that the Mets came back from 6 runs this season in Philadelphia. That was their largest comeback of the season. On the other side, the Braves blew a 5-0 lead in Philadelphia. Leiter started the game where the Mets came back. Millwood started the game Atlanta blew. Perhaps a coincidence? But the Mets can't get anything going. Mahomes strikes out looking. Henderson grounds out. Alfonzo flies out on a 3-1 pitch.

NBC's cameras show that Brian Jordan has a bloody knee from his slide in the 1st. The trainers can't stop the bleeding. Good for him. Jackass. Larry singles to lead off the last of the 3rd. He's running with Jordan up, but Jordan fouls off some pitches. The Braves, obviously, would like to tack on more runs. The Mets absolutely have to keep Atlanta where they are. Turk Wendell is now warming up for the Mets. On 1-2, Larry runs again, but Jordan protects him and chops the ball to the right side. Ordonez was running to cover 2nd, but when the ball is hit, he cuts in front of Alfonzo on the right side of 2nd base, and throws Jordan out. Andruw follows. On 0-1, Larry breaks for 3rd. Piazza's throw is there, but it's low and in front of the base, and Larry slides in safely. Now, the Mets have to bring the infield in. Piazza looks disgusted. Fortunately, Andruw can only chop to the right side, Alfonzo looks Larry back to 3rd and throws out Andruw. Huge out. Perez grounds out to Ordonez on the next pitch, and the Braves are turned aside.

Meanwhile, the Mets can't do anything against Millwood. In the 4th, Olerud starts off by striking out on 3 pitches. With Piazza coming to the plate, NBC shows a montage of him getting knocked around in the 3 games in New York. Costas jokes that if something happened to Pratt, the Mets would have to re-activate Jesse Gonder and Choo Choo Coleman. Piazza is sawed off and busts his ass to 1st, but is thrown out by Hunter. Ventura flies out on the 1st pitch.

Mahomes walks Hunter to start the last of the 4th. Once again, it's up to Mahomes to stifle a Brave rally. The Mets pitch out on the first pitch to Weiss. Hunter is running, Piazza's throw is good, but Hunter is safe anyway. Ordonez thought he had him. He slaps his glove against his leg and yells to the umpire, Jeff Kellogg. Weiss grounds to Ordonez, behind the 2B bag. Hunter runs on contact and moves to 3rd. Once again, the Mets have to bring the infield in, even with Millwood up. Wallace runs out to the mound, to try to plan for a potential squeeze play. To this point, Mahomes has retired 9 of 11 batters. He's been outstanding. More importantly, he's kept the Braves from extending their lead. And here, he gets Millwood to break his bat and hit a soft liner right back at him. Hunter broke from 3rd on contact, and is easily doubled off 3rd. Once again, the Braves are turned away.

If the Mets get a man on in the 5th, Mahomes' spot would be up, and Valentine would probably have to pinch hit for him here. Mahomes has done his job and then some. Hamilton leads off with a clean single to center on a curveball. It's not a good curve from Millwood. It hung up over the middle of the plate and Hamilton whacked it for his 2nd hit of the night. But Cedeno flies out and Ordonez strikes out. Ordonez has been basically an automatic out in the postseason. He is 1 for 21 in this series, and has failed miserably on several bunt attempts. Bonilla pinch hits for Mahomes, with the hopes that he can get a hold of one and cut into the lead. Wendell is warming up again. Bonilla hits a sharp single to right on the first pitch, and now, finally, a viable threat from the Mets. Now, it's Rickey, with a hit sorely needed. It's gotta be Rickey Henderson time now. But just as he has done throughout the game, Millwood has not looked sharp until he has absolutely had to. After barely missing on 0-2, he comes back on 1-2 and freezes Rickey with a curve to stop the rally. It's a pretty pitch, the exact opposite of the hideous curve he threw Hamilton. Still 5-0. The Mets are now officially running out of time.

Wendell enters the game in the bottom of the 5th, but let's not forget the outstanding job by Mahomes. He stopped the Braves where they were and has kept the game at 5-0. Much like Hershiser was able to do on Sunday. But the Mets, although outhitting Atlanta 4-3, have not come up with the key hit and have not cut into the Braves lead. Wendell continues the strong bullpen work from the Mets with a 1-2-3 inning.

Smoltz and Maddux are grinning and laughing in the Atlanta bullpen. But it's the Mets who come out firing in the top of the 6th. Alfonzo works Millwood before ripping a long double in the Left Center Field gap on the 6th pitch. That's Fonzie's first good hit since Game 2. Olerud follows by working Millwood as well before bouncing a single just under Weiss' glove, again on the 6th pitch of the AB. Alfonzo moves to 3rd. Now, it's Piazza, in a spot where the Mets desperately need him to bust out. Costas notes that Atlanta was 4 outs from the World Series on Saturday, and 3 on Sunday, and didn't get them. Now, they're 12 outs away. Morgan notes that Piazza is missing pitches that he usually hammers. Valentine says Piazza "has been playing through clenched teeth." Millwood's pitches are flat right now. Piazza puts what looks like his best swing in weeks on an 0-2 pitch and hits it high and deep to left, but playable for Williams. Williams catches it in front of the warning track, but it scores Alfonzo and the Mets are finally on the board. Terry Mulholland is warming for Atlanta. Ventura follows by drilling a shot into the RF corner. Now, the Mets are really getting to Millwood. Piazza would have hit that last pitch to the moon if he were going good. Ventura's double moves Olerud to 3rd. Now, Hamilton's up and Leo Mazzone makes a quick trip to the mound. Costas says the Mets are a single away from getting back into this game, and they get it when Hamilton hits a single right back up the middle on the first pitch, a roller under Boone's glove, scoring Olerud and Ventura to make it 5-3! Now, we're talking! Now, I'm back in the game too. Morgan puts it succinctly: "The Mets will not die. They have showed that they will get up off the carpet as many times as necessary to prolong their season." Hamilton is 3 for 3, the Mets contingent is now up and cheering once again, and Millwood is done. Mulholland is coming in, and Agbayani bats for Cedeno. Once again, the Mets are playing this game in thirds, just like Morgan said they had to. The Mets have managed to cut Atlanta's lead to 5-3. It's drizzling in Atlanta as Benny Agbayani steps in. It looks somewhat like the rain in New York on Sunday. They played through that, and there's no reason why they wouldn't play through this. In the bullpen now for Atlanta are Russ Springer, Mike Remlinger and John Smoltz. They're all throwing. Agbayani battles and battles and draws a walk. The rain picks up, and umbrellas and slickers are now sprouting up out of the crowd. The tying runs are on base, but now it's Ordonez up. Dunston steps on deck. Ordonez is not bunting here. Morgan is baffled as to why he's not bunting. Quickly, Ordonez falls behind 2 strikes. Even worse, on 1-2, he hits a line shot right at Weiss who quickly runs to 2nd base and doubles off Hamilton. Fucking ass hell. That's the best ball he's hit this entire series, and even that screws everything up. Ordonez slams his helmet down and kicks it off. Killed the damn rally.

Still, the Mets chipped away a little. Now, it's up to Wendell to continue to hold Atlanta where they are.

NBC is late coming back from commercial for the bottom of the 6th, and as they return, Brian Jordan is glaring at Turk Wendell after Wendell came inside with a fastball and hit him on the right hand. Jordan slowly walks down to 1st, still glaring at Wendell as Cox and the trainer look at him. This particular wrist has been bothering Jordan all season. Jordan said something to Wendell as he walked up the first base line, but Jerry Crawford, the Home Plate Umpire, walked up the line with him to diffuse any situation. Agbayani has take over in Right Field for the Mets. Andruw Jones is bunting. Cox would really like to get another run here. The rain has stopped in Atlanta. Andruw hits a 20 foot single in front of Wendell. The ball dies on the grass in front of the mound. Wendell slides to get it, but his throw is late to 1st. The fans Chop. Shut up you A-holes. Perez follows with a sacrifice. Costas says that this is the largest crowd ever at Shitforbrains Field, at 52,335. I'd bet that most of the 6,000 empty seats from the first two games were filled up by Mets fans. Brian Hunter is walked intentionally to load the bases with 1 out. Take your chances with Weiss and try to get out of this inning without giving up more runs. Set up the DP. Then again, this has all the makings of another disaster. Fortuitously, Weiss hits the first pitch to Olerud, with the infield in. Olerud comes home for the force, but Jordan cuts out Piazza's legs with his slide before another throw can be made. Piazza goes flying and lands on his backside. He immediately hops up and glares at Jordan. Piazza and Jordan share an icy moment. Morgan says it's a clean play, but Piazza wasn't looking, and Jordan went straight for his legs. Piazza is hurting, he's tired, and now, he's fucking pissed. Lockhart is announced to pinch hit for Mulholland, and here comes Wallace, and here comes Dennis Cook for Wendell. With Cook in the game, Lockhart is pulled back for Jose Hernandez and his copious strikeout ratio. This is a move that Cox seemed to make Valentine do several times in New York. Kenny Rogers is now throwing for the Mets. Hernandez lines the 1-0 pitch through the hole into left, just barely between Ventura and Ordonez. Motherfucker! God-Fucking-Dammit! Jones and Hunter have scored, it's 7-3, and they're chopping again in Atlanta. Go away! Ugh. Ned Yost, Atlanta's 3rd base coach is wearing a microphone, and he's just squealing like a pig on the replay. This is just galling. Cook gets Williams to pop out. The damage has been done. Finally, the Mets get back in the game only to give the runs right back.

Or do the Mets have the Braves exactly where they want them?

John Smoltz is in the game for Atlanta in the 7th, as opposed to a relief pitcher. He looks totally flat. His pitches seem to be weaving in and out and all over the place. Matt Franco leads off hitting for Cook, and on the 2-2 pitch, he drills a double up the gap in right center, well over Andruw's head. Rickey takes a few pitches. Smoltz doesn't look good at all. On 3-1, Rickey hits a shot down the left field line, easily scoring Franco. Here we come again. Alfonzo hits a deep drive to right, but it's caught by Jordan. Rickey moves up to 3rd. Olerud hits a hard single to right, scoring Henderson. 7-5. Now, it's Piazza. Lazarus at the plate, representing the tying run. We don't need to hear about how banged up he is right now. It's been said too many times. Now, he's got to summon up the adrenaline, and the anger, and the fact that that Fucking A-hole Jordan just undercut him. Morgan again talks about how the Mets will not die. And then Smoltz comes in with a meatball on 2-1...

The 2-1 to Piazza...Hit in the air to deep right center! Way back! And...GONE!!! TO TIE THE GAME AT 7!!! Tied at 7, hoping for Game 7!

-Bob Costas

Now, it's fucking on. I'm leaping around the common room. Piazza is stone faced as he rounds the bases, just a ball of intensity. Ventura high fives him and slaps him on the helmet. The ball sailed way over Jordan's head, over the wall, bounced off an aisle and bounced back onto the field. The Mets dugout is out. Leiter kisses Mickey Brantley. The pitch tailed back right over the heart of the plate and Piazza just smoked it. Once again, the heart of this team came out when they needed it most, overcoming the Braves, overcoming the early deficit and evening up the game. Cox immediately removes Smoltz for Remlinger. Smoltz was counted on to eat up a couple of innings and instead incinerated the game. The Atlanta dugout is stunned. The fans are stunned, except for the hordes of Mets fans, who are now screaming and yelling and drowning out everything else.

Remlinger is now in the game. 7-7 in the 7th. Holy Shit. Even Costas and Morgan are dumbfounded. NBC shows a shot of Jerry Seinfeld in the stands, sitting right behind Ted Turner. Jerry's got a smug grin on his face right now. This team just never quit. On 2-2, Ventura drills one deep to right that looks for a second that it could get out, but it drops into Jordan's glove at the wall. Shots in the Mets dugout show them jumping over the dugout railings when Piazza's ball went out, and they jump around again when it looks like Ventura's ball might have a chance. Hamilton grounds out to end the inning, but the damage has been done. No team has come back from 0-3 to get to a Game 7. Because they refused to give up, the Mets now have a chance.

The entire series has played out like a Shakespearian Drama. Now, with the game tied, and left in the hands of two exhausted bullpens, the final act is about to play itself out, dissolving into some sort of horrible Baseball version of an Ali/Frazier fight.

Orel Hershiser takes over for the Mets in the bottom of the 7th. Costas welcomes us back by saying, "In case you're just joining us, where've you been?" Hershiser, after his tremendous outing on Sunday, once again is on to keep the Braves at bay. Morgan says that the Braves need to respond immediately. But Boone grounds out, as the "LETS GO METS!!!" chants have gotten louder and louder. Orel pitches around Larry and falls behind 3-0, but he swings on 3-0 and grounds weakly to Alfonzo. They play the Tomahawk Chop music, but nobody's chanting. Where are your fans, Atlanta? Nobody feels much like chopping right now. Jordan pops out to Agbayani on the first pitch. The Mets charge off the field, raring to take their hacks again.

Rocker tosses in the OF in between innings as we move to the 8th. Remlinger is still on for Atlanta. Another fine job from Hershiser in the 7th. Yet another strong outing for a Mets reliever. Agbayani leads off. On 1-0, he nails a single in front of Jordan, picking right up where the Mets left off. Attack, attack, attack. He has thoughts about second, but thinks better of it. Ordonez squares on the first pitch and Holy Shit! He got the bunt down! It's good and right to Remlinger who tags him out. Agbayani moves to 2nd. If even Ordonez can come through, maybe the Mets really are charmed. Melvin Mora hits for Hershiser. Russ Springer is warming. Mora looks to add to his legend, after already becoming a standout in this series. And damned if he doesn't rip the 1-0 pitch hard into Center Field!

He lines this one hard! The Mets are gonna have the lead! Agbayani being sent home! And Melvin Mora, who only a few years ago was playing in the Chinese Professional League in Taiwan, gives the Mets the lead in Game 6!

-Bob Costas

Agbayani scores easily! Every pinch hitter has delivered for the Mets tonight. Mora pumps his fist as he rounds first. He's done it again! I'm running up and down my hall yelling "MELVIN FUCKING MORA!" The "LETS GO METS!!!" chants are abound again. What a team, what a year. What a game! The Atlanta Bench looks like a morgue right now. Morgan and Costas are running out of ways to describe how this game has played out.

Morgan: "This is a Big League Baseball game. This is really a Big League Baseball game."

Costas: "And what was Sunday night?"

Morgan: "I like this one better because I've seen some line drives, I've seen some guys run around the bases, I've seen some hitters do everything."

Rickey bats next. On 3-2, Rickey calls time just as Remlinger delivers. The pitch was well outside as Mora ran. He breaks his bat on the next pitch and rolls to Weiss. The throw is close, but Mora is just barely out. Remlinger deked Mora with his delivery. Mora broke back to first instead of towards second. Without that, he would likely have beaten the play.

"The Yankees finished off the Red Sox last night. They might have been thinking about packing for Atlanta. Not so fast," says Costas as Alfonzo steps to the plate. On 2-0, Henderson runs and steals 2nd. Perez's throw is low and hits Rickey in the stomach as he slides into 2nd. The ball ends up rolling in between his legs. Remlinger misses on the next two to walk Alfonzo.

Craig Sager reports from the Mets dugout. On the message board in the Mets locker room, Bobby Valentine wrote "Why not?" before the game. Why not the Mets to come back from 0-3 and win? More shots of Mets on the top step of the dugout. A shot of Millwood staring blankly out onto the field. Olerud inside outs one to left, but it hangs up for Williams. But finally, improbably, the Mets have the lead.

Jim Gray chimes in from the Braves dugout at the start of the bottom of the 8th. He says that "The Braves in the dugout are shell shocked. Nobody has said anything to anybody." On the other side, Craig Sager says that "This dugout has been like a pep rally." Hershiser has his arm wrapped around Leiter. Mets fans in the stands, are standing and cheering. One holds up a sign that reads "THE MAGIC IS BACK." I can taste Game 7 right now.

John Franco on the mound now for the Mets, as Agbayani moves to left and Mora takes over in right. Henderson is out. The Mets are 6 outs from Game 7. If you're the Braves, you have to do something quickly. Benitez is warming. Andruw grounds out to Ordonez. Morgan surmises that if Franco can get 1 more out, they will go to Benitez. Atlanta batters are 1 for 30 against Benitez this season. Eddie Perez is the only one with a hit, in the 11th inning on Sunday, and he's hitting right now. He whacks a single to left, in front of Agbayani. The Mets just can't get him out, which is baffling because he's not good. Otis Nixon comes in to run for him. Damn, two games in a row with an Otis Nixon sighting. I guess he really is still alive. Hunter follows. Franco works in and out, but Hunter is nicking the strikes and working the count. Rocker is warming for Atlanta. Howard Battle is on deck. Nixon runs on 2-2. The pitch is inside, Piazza's throw is low and hops into center field. Ugh! Alfonzo can't knock it down, Nixon hops up and moves over to 3rd. Piazza is disgusted. Hunter flares the next pitch into center field for a hit. Nixon claps his hands as he crosses the plate.

"It doesn't get any better than this. Guys coming through and getting the job done this late in the ballgame. This is just beautiful," says Morgan.

Franco made his pitch, it's off the outside corner, but Hunter just goes out and gets it. It's 8-8. The crowd is chopping again. The Braves have come back to life. Weiss bats for himself and Battle remains on deck. Weiss is up there to bunt. Cox's plan is now to move Hunter over and have Battle drive him home, and bring in Rocker with a chance to win it. Weiss does his job, bunting to Franco, who throws to Alfonzo for the sacrifice. But Franco gets Battle swinging to stop the rally and end the inning.

Well, shit. Here we go again. If Sunday didn't kill you, I hope you're ready for another heart attack. At this point, I'm amazed I can form a coherent sentence.

Here's Rocker, in a tie game in the top of the 9th. Greg Myers is in to replace Eddie Perez behind the plate. On the Atlanta bench, Perez is pretty mad. Andres Galarraga calms him down. Nobody wants to come out of this game, but Nixon ran for Perez, stole a base and scored the tying run. Piazza leads off and pops up to Larry just a shade down the 3rd base line on the first pitch. The crowd is standing. Piazza still looks pissed off. But he overextended on that swing. He sits on the bench and rips off his gloves as Costas says of Piazza, "His previous at bat produced a Home Run of Heroic proportions. Not just because it tied the game 7-7 in the 7th. But it was his first extra base hit in a Postseason in which he has been bruised and battered, and if there was not so much at stake, he would have been pulled from the lineup."

Meanwhile, Morgan talks about how Ventura and Olerud have had better at bats against Rocker as this series has progressed. But Ventura still doesn't have a hit off him, and he pops up to Weiss. Hamilton is next. The crowd is trying to outshout each other right now. Mets fans are making noise, and Braves fans are chopping, in an effort to drown them out. Hamilton remains in for his defense, even against the Lefthander. Morgan says that if you are going to go down, you want your best defense out there. If they hit for Hamilton, it would be with Shawon Dunston, who was exposed in Center Field in Game 5. Hamilton lines to left.

Craig Sager comes on as we move to the Bottom of the 9th: "Back in Atlanta where a double switch has been made by the Mets. Mike Piazza is out of the game. Todd Pratt goes into the game. He will bat in the leadoff spot, Rickey Henderson long gone, he is in the clubhouse, Armando Benitez the pitcher will hit in the 4th spot, and Melvin Mora remains in the 9th spot. Mike Piazza, we were told, did not hurt his shoulder, but he is wearing down, and he did come out of the game."

Benitez in, Pratt in. Piazza, on the bench, has not changed the expression on his face in 3 innings, at least. Who knows what's going through his mind at this point? I'm holding my breath now. Any margin for error is gone. But then, this has been the case for 4 days now. Any run eliminates the Mets, but the Braves have not been able to touch Benitez this season. Of course, Benitez immediately goes 3-0 on Williams to start. Williams, though, takes two strikes. On the second one, he takes all the way and thinks it's ball 4. But it is a good fastball that catches the inside corner. He fouls off another pitch before grounding out to Ventura on what would have been Ball 4. Williams almost threw his bat at it. Boone follows. Morgan says that it's not easy to be patient with Benitez, especially with his fastball. His splitter has been sharp too, and Boone appears over matched. Right now, both teams are on the top steps. Fans of both teams continue to stand as well. Boone fouls off pitches on a pair of emergency swings before Benitez strikes him out on a splitter. Boone made a half-wave at the ball and foul tipped it into Pratt's glove. Larry follows, with "Crazy Train" blaring. Pratt goes to the mound. How fucking scary is this? Benitez works him away away, away. Valentine in the dugout has his face buried in his sleeve. Armando will not give in to Larry and walks him on 4 pitches. Chop. Bobby clenches his fists towards Benitez, as if to say go right after Jordan. Go get him. Wallace and Pratt come to the mound. Morgan says Larry will try to steal a base. This conversation is to guard against that. Wallace has his arms on Benitez and Pratt's shoulders. This is no time to fuck around. Costas says as much. "Any pitch could be the last of the Mets season. What they have done in this series and in this game is nothing short of amazing. But they are in a sudden death spot. Any extra base hit would send the Braves to the World Series."

Jordan is up there hacking. He fouls off the first pitch. Larry runs on 0-1. Pratt's throw is high. The pitch is a strike, but Jordan took it and allowed Larry to steal. Now, Jordan is looking for the hit that could win the series. It's the 6th steal in 6 attempts in this game for Atlanta. Jordan whacks a ball deep to right, but foul on 1-2. Armando throws 2 balls before yakking Jordan with another splitter that Jordan waves at. It's in the dirt, but Pratt quickly slaps a tag on Jordan. Armando pumps his fist as he walks off.

This game is not a war of attrition and a test of wills like Sunday's game was. This is a battle of life and death right now. And once again, this war is extending deeper and deeper into the night, into extra innings.

"Extra innings. We haven't done this in a while," says Costas as we go to the top of the 10th. Costas and Morgan again discuss the pitching situation for both sides. Rocker is still on for the Braves, and Benitez will probably continue for the Mets. How long do you stick with Rocker and Benitez? Cox can still think about a 7th game. Valentine cannot do so. This will likely be the last inning for Rocker. Greg Maddux is walking around in the Atlanta bullpen. They still have Springer and McGlinchy as well. The Mets have Rogers, Yoshii and Dotel, all of whom have started games previously.

Agbayani against Rocker to start off the 10th. Agbayani hangs in against him, and works out a 6 pitch walk, as Rocker begins to miss high and away. Ordonez is next, again up to sacrifice. His first bunt rolls foul. Costas tells us that "Agbayani at first, despite his heft, is not slow. He runs pretty well." Ordonez's second bunt is a liner right to Hunter. Trademark Ordonez bunt. Hunter might have had a play on Agbayani at 1st, but he slips on the infield grass. Benny is able to get back. Mora follows. The upstart. Can he come through again? Mora works the count to 1-2. Agbayani runs, but Rocker has him picked off. Agbayani appears to be dead, but Hunter's throw pegs him right in the back. Hunter did a good job getting in position but his throw was awful. Agbayani is safe at 2nd on the error. Valentine is dancing and juking and flashing signs, and Mora lines the next pitch into center field for another hit! What a job he has done. He takes the fastball off the inside corner and smacks it right through the box. But Agbayani cannot score on the play. He holds third, and Todd Pratt is up. Once again, I'm up on the crack of the bat. The Lets Go Mets chants are loud once again. Valentine is once again making faces and gestures. "You could make a movie just based on Valentine's reactions during an important game," says Costas.

Pratt is up in yet another big spot. Atlanta plays for the DP on the infield. Rocker now is starting to look gassed. He's wild with his slider and he falls behind Pratt. But he comes back with a fastball and Pratt can't catch up. On 2-2, Rocker misses inside. Mora will probably be running, making it difficult to turn a double play. Atlanta's infield pinches in at the corners. Rocker looks in for the sign. He rears back and delivers just as the clock strikes Midnight...

Wednesday, October 20

...and Pratt hits a fly ball to medium center. Agbayani runs back to 3rd to tag up. Andruw Jones makes the catch and fires the ball home. But his throw is up the 3rd base line. Myers cannot handle the throw as Agbayani belly flops across home safely. Mets lead! Mets lead! Agbayani pops up and gives Pratt a giant bear hug as they head back to the dugout. The ball was shallow, but Jones had to throw immediately and his throw was not accurate.

Costas's call: "It's exactly midnight and the 3-2 pitch with the runner going is hit in the air to medium center. Jones with a good arm is charging. Here comes Agbayani, and the throw to the plate us up the line, Myers can't handle it, Agbayani scores!"

On the 0-1 pitch to Alfonzo, Mora breaks for 3rd and Myers cannot handle the pitch. Mora steals without a throw. Morgan is just gushing right now. "How good is this guy Mora? I mean, he is good."

"Who has it been in this inning?" adds Costas, "Agbayani, Mora, Pratt. As unlikely as this whole run in September and October has been for the Mets, some of the names contributing have been just as unlikely."

Alfonzo strikes out. But we are 3 outs away from Game 7.

A shot of Orel Hershiser's grabbing his chest in the dugout as the bottom of the 10th begins. Rocker is fuming in the Atlanta dugout as he talks to Mazzone. Andruw Jones leads off against Benitez. Benitez appears to be working Jones inside. Benitez would like him to chase a bad pitch, but Jones isn't swinging. The count runs full and Jones nails a fastball right back up the middle for a leadoff hit. Here we go again. Rocker was a bit worn out in his second inning, and I wonder if Benitez is as well. In this particular situation, that is a scary thought. He's thrown 30 pitches so far, much more than his usual load. Greg Myers follows, perhaps bunting, or perhaps Jones will steal. But Myers is not bunting. The Mets bullpen is now quiet, a rare sight in this series. Ryan Klesko is in deck to hit for Hunter. On 2-2, Myers hits it off the end of the bat, a fly ball out to left. Agbayani puts it away. Klesko is up. And Klesko has pop. It's another scary, scary moment. Benitez right now isn't popping his fastball in there as well. Instead of 97-98MPH, it's 93-94MPH, and he falls behind Klesko 3-0. Ozzie Guillen is on deck to hit for Weiss, as the moves continue to come fast and furious. Guillen battled Benitez well on Saturday at Shea, almost hitting a Home Run before flying out deep to Right. Benitez walks Klesko on a high 3-1 fastball. Wallace is out as the winning run is now on base. Chop. Benitez is up to 40 pitches and it's going to be up to him to get through this inning, and these have been pressure innings of the highest order. Larry can't watch on the bench. He has his head in his hands. Cox's last man, Jorge Fabregas, moves on deck to hit for Rocker. On 0-1. Guillen steps out as Benitez was winding up. The next pitch is hit just barely past Alfonzo's glove into right field. Another hit. Jones races home with the tying run, and Klesko makes a beeline towards 3rd. But Mora charges the ball and comes up firing towards 3rd, not Home. His throw is a perfect peg and it nails Klesko with ease. Huge. Huge play keeping the winning run off 3rd with less than 1 out. Mora does it again. Now, Fabregas bats with 2 outs and Guillen on 1st. The game is once again tied 9-9. "No end to the heroes in this game," says Morgan. Kenny Rogers is now throwing for the Mets. Russ Springer warms up for Atlanta. Fabregas hits a lazy fly out to Agbayani in left. Fucking A. Benitez threw 45 pitches, and stressful pitches. He can't be blamed for looking gassed in his 2nd inning. Neither can Rocker. Not the way this game has played out.

It's 12:20AM now, and on a school night no less. Russ Springer on for Atlanta, Olerud up for the Mets. 9-9 game in the 11th inning. Greg Maddux continues to walk around in the Atlanta bullpen. Ozzie Guillen remains in at SS for Atlanta, Klesko stays in at 1B. Shawon Dunston, the last man off the bench for the Mets, is on deck to hit for Armando. On 2-1, Olerud flies out to center. Dunston is next, as Costas recaps his incredible 12-pitch at bat in the 15th inning on Sunday. Valentine paces around the Mets dugout with his hat off. Dunston hacks at the 1st pitch and pops out to Klesko. Stark contrast to Sunday. From 12 pitches to 1 pitch. Ventura follows. On 2-2, Ventura is just barely ahead of a high fastball, which he drills deep to right, but foul. On the next pitch, he grounds out to Boone at 2nd.

"How about this as an encore to Sunday," says Costas as the bottom of the 11th begins. After 5 games where neither team scored more than 4 runs in a game, we are 9-9 in the last of the 11th. Kenny Rogers is now pitching for the Mets, after he threw 2 scoreless innings on Sunday. Gerald Williams leads off. Rogers comes right after him with curveballs low and outside. Williams watches one for a strike, and waves at the second. On 0-2, Williams reaches for a curve that hung a little, and pokes it just barely fair down the 3rd base line. Williams digs around first and cruises into 2nd for a double. The pitch hung just a little bit. Rogers left it up. The Braves are now up and alive. Ventura goes in to talk to Rogers. Boone is probably up there to bunt. Dotel is warming for the Mets. No fucking around now. Boone squares and bunts the first pitch right to Olerud on the first place line. His only play is to tag Boone. Now, the winning run on 3rd and 1 out, with Larry and Jordan coming up. Don't think Larry's hitting here, they throw him 4 wide, and probably 4 wide to Jordan as well. The season is now 90 feet away. On the bench, Don Bayor, the Atlanta hitting coach, talks to Andruw. Valentine comes to the mound. You know this situation is pretty fucked up here. My fingernails were gone on Sunday. I now have my face buried in my shirt. The entire infield convenes on the mound. Valentine talks and kicks some grass as he walks back to the dugout. Pratt crouches down and they apparently will pitch to Jordan. First pitch is a pitchout, as if they might squeeze. The second pitch is also a pitchout. Now, Pratt stands and they finish the intentional walk to Jordan.

This isn't good. Costas reminds us that "Rogers is one mistake away from adding another terrible chapter to his already horrid postseason history." NBC has now put their olympic peacock logo on the screen. Ball 1 to Andruw Jones is a curve low. Pratt goes to the mound. The next pitch is a curve in the same place. Low, ball 2. Now, you just have to throw a damn strike. Throw a strike! Rogers does, and Jones taps the 2-0 pitch slowly down the 3rd base line. Fans start to squeal as it rolls, and if it stays fair, the game is over. But it rolls foul. The Mets appear to be playing in on the corners, but medium up the middle, as if to try for the DP on Andruw. The crowd chants "ANDRUW! ANDRUW!" The 2-1 pitch is high outside and the crowd is delirious.

"It's been a 173 game wild ride for Valentine and the Mets," says Costas.

"And Bob, you hate for it to end on a walk," says Morgan.

Rogers fires in strike 2. This game can't end like this. I turn to my roommate and repeat what I said Sunday: "If it has to end here, so be it. It's been one hell of a ride...

...But, man, wouldn't it be sweet if they could get out of this?"

Rogers winds back for one more pitch...

* * *

"Oh Dear," is all I can say. I'm basically frozen in my seat. I don't move or speak for some time afterwards.

Someone is hauntingly screaming "Mets suck!" over NBC's feed. It is screamed 13 times over shots of Braves celebrating, and Mets slowly walking around in the dugout.

Bobby Valentine smashed the dugout railing twice, screaming "NO! NO! NO!" Morgan says that "We've finally reached the closing night on the greatest Mets show since 1986. And that's why. (shot of Valentine) He didn't want to lose it that way. And I must admit I hate for the game to end that way."
Edgardo Alfonzo, Rey Ordonez and Melvin Mora remain in the dugout, after much of the team had moved inside. They can only sit and watch. Jay Payton wraps his arms around Benny Agbayani. Valentine continues to pace back and forth.

On the other side, the Braves celebrate. It makes me sick. Both teams expended an incredible amount of energy in this game and this whole series. But when you come out on top, it seems to feel a hell of a lot better, doesn't it. Joe Garagiola said it in 1986, during Game 7 of the World Series. "Losing hurts worse than winning feels good."

The focus is on the Braves. The cameras show them celebrating and spraying champagne on each other. But the Mets cannot be ignored after the fight they put up. Costas acknowledges this: "Seldom has a losing team in a playoff series emerged with such enhanced regard as have the Mets. They have made fans not just in New York, but all over the country, with the wild ride they took us all through in late September and October."

Morgan follows with, "The Mets just would not die. They played a great series, but I think history caught up with them today Bob."

Meanwhile, NBC plays some shots of Yankees/Braves games from the regular season. Costas has no idea what's on the tape. It seems hastily put together. I'm nauseous, and frozen in my seat. I cannot move or speak until this is put up, when I get up and kick over my chair. No way will I come anywhere near that World Series.

Ted Turner accepts the Warren Giles trophy. The trophy that could have been ours. The trophy that will be ours one year later. Bobby Cox interview takes some veiled jabs at Valentine and the Mets, talking about Character. I'm not really interested in anything he has to say. Larry and Rocker get interviewed. Blah blah blah. The sight of them is beginning to make me irrationally angry.

Finally, NBC cuts to Craig Sager outside the Mets clubhouse with Bobby Valentine. Valentine seems surprised that someone is talking to him. Sager asks what Valentine said to his team.

"I said Congratulations. I told the they played like Champions and they should feel like Champions. We don't have a trophy, I know that, but I don't think you can play better than they did right now and for this season, they did everything they had to do. Congratulations to the Braves and Bobby Cox, they did a little more than they were able to muster, but I said Congratulations."

Bobby's voice is cracking and he has to clear his throat. When asked when he will be back, all he can do is smile and say "This is my life."

Brian Jordan is the first Brave to say anything complementary of the Mets. "Those guys never quit, they never died, they never rolled over," he says. Smoltz also talks about how well the Mets played, and how "They're not going to go away, and they're not going to go away next year, either." They look happy now, but the Braves players look pretty damn exhausted too. Once the elation of victory wears off, the exhaustion will come out. Physically and mentally spent following this series, the Braves will barely make a peep against the Yankees in the World Series, getting swept in 4 games.

The Mets are also totally spent. In his press conference, Valentine reiterates himself. "I told my guys it might be a long winter or a short winter, but heck with it. Those guys played like Champions and they should feel like Champions." Shawon Dunston will deliver his famous, "I am so proud to be a Met" speech. Piazza remains slumped in front of his locker, too exhausted to speak. Many Mets follow suit. The ones that do speak can only speak slowly, and with disappointment. They too are hurting, physically, but the emotional pain appears to cut deeper.

John Franco: "We had a good feeling about everything. We just didn't get it done. It's a shame that it had to end that way. But I think everyone in this room should be proud of the way we played the last 2 1/2 weeks. we came through like champs. But we didn't get the job done tonight. "

Darryl Hamilton: "We played as hard as we could...Never give up. Never give up. This is just one of those things that ran out a little bit, but New York should be very proud right now. It's tough, but I'll wake up tomorrow morning, and we'll go back to New York, and we'll be back. We'll be back."

Valentine: "We left it all out on the field and gave everything we had. It wasn't enough to get us to another game or get us to play the Yankees, and it's a damn shame."

Kenny Rogers: "I had to get the ball over to Andruw and I didn't. You just have to deal with it. You can't reverse it. I can't go back out there. It just didn't happen. I couldn't get the ball to go where I wanted it to."

Al Leiter: "I'm harder on myself than I should be because I didn't do my job as the starter of this game. But my teammates have supported me...I believe that we feel that we're as good as that team that's going to the World Series."

Todd Pratt: "A lot of teams would have packed it in, especially against Kevin Millwood, but every time they come to the bench, the bench players try to pick them up, let's get some hits, walks, and try to get a big hit and pull it together. We battled. We had some real clutch hitting today. I'm not disappointed at all. We played our hearts out. I'm sure there are some players here that are sad, but I always believe that if you give it your best, you can always look at yourself in the mirror."

As they prepare to sign off, Morgan tries to sum it all up. He says, "I don't think any series has been more exciting than this."

Costas and Morgan plug the World Series. It's their World Series. We're not going, and I'm not watching. The pride comes later. Right now, it's too painful. But the hurt of this loss will fade over time. The memory will not. And what remains is tremendous pride for the way the Mets hung in there and never, ever quit until the final pitch was thrown. But for the past 20 days, the Mets have taken myself, and every Mets fan on a wild, unforgettable ride. When any other team might have folded up their tents, the Mets got off the mat and battled and battled and damn near accomplished the impossible. There's a lot of sadness and disappointment now. But I have never been more proud to be a Mets fan.

Final Score
Braves - 10
Mets - 9
(11 Innings)
Braves Win Series, 4-2

To Be Continued...
Part IX - Postscript

The Battle of the Pastrami Sandwich

Apropos of nothing, unless you're one of the good people at Curbed or The Gothamist, was the re-opening of the 2nd Avenue Deli last week at its new location at the vortex of the Universe, 33rd Street and 3rd Avenue (I refuse to pronounce it in Bugs Bunny dialect) in Manhattan's Murray Hill.

As a native of Murray Hill (and someone who is much more likely to refer to it as Midtown rather than Murray Hill), I had to stop by, not so much to get something to eat as much as to pick up a menu and see what was what. I work nearby the former location of the 2nd Avenue Deli at 10th Street and 2nd Avenue (now one of the Chase Manhattan Bank locations more appropriate for the universe created in Woody Allen's "Sleeper," than Manhattan, 2007), and for what it's worth, I was never impressed. I rarely, if ever, ate there. I was never particularly fond of the food, and it was incredibly overpriced, at $13.25 for a Pastrami Sandwich, among other things.

When the 2nd Avenue Deli closed at its original location, there was, of course, a great uproar within the neighborhood. How could an iconic place like this close down? I figured it might have had something to do with the $14 sandwiches, but I kept my mouth shut, lest risk being beaten down by rabid foodies. But, few short months later, it was announced that the 2nd Avenue would be re-opening in my backyard, just down the street from another iconic New York Deli, Sarge's. Now, I happened to grow up directly across the street from Sarge's. I broke a salt shaker in there as a small child and was afraid to go back for several years. But eventually, I would return. Their prices increased over the years as well, although they currently get $10.95 for a Pastrami Sandwich. My father mused that a price war would occur between the new rivals. Who would win the battle of charging the most for a Corned Beef Sandwich?

So, the 2nd Avenue returned on 33rd Street. Not much has changed at the new location, opened up in the storefront of a building owned by a relative of the late Abe Lebewohl. I was there with my father at around 11pm on the day it opened, just to pick up a menu. The restaurant itself was packed. Lord only knows what people were picking up, but it was still packed late on a Monday night. The 2nd Avenue plans to operate 24/7, just as Sarge's does, but at what cost? Combing the menu, I found the going rate for sandwiches to be downright alarming:

Corned Beef - $12.75
Pastrami - $13.75
Tongue - $20.75

$20.75 for a damn Tongue sandwich? I work with a big Tongue fan. When I mentioned this to him, he started yelling about taking out a loan so he could go have lunch.

This is what it's come to.

The iconic New York Deli is a dying breed. There are only a few left, scattered in pockets around the city. The Carnegie is probably the most hyped, although it's also probably the worst out there. The Stage is still around too, although it's seen better days. Wolf's was probably the best, but when it closed its original location at 57th and 6th in 1997, a small piece of me died with it. A relocation was short lived. My personal preference has always been Katz's, on Houston and Ludlow, where it's been forever, even as the gentrification in the neighborhood seems to make it more and more endangered with each passing day. There's always been something oddly charming about the way Katz has operated, with the walk up counter, the miles of Hot Dogs grilling away, and the old-fashioned Water stand in the back. It's always an event for me to go there. It has been a long standing aspiration of mine to someday take a date to Katz's and get her to fake an orgasm over a sandwich of her liking.

But not when that sandwich is over $15.

20 Days in October, Part VII

...Continued from Part VI
Parts I - VI

Sunday, October 17
Game 5

The Mets would begin this day in a foul mood. Fortunate enough to have won last night, they are suffering from a battery of physical ailments, and seem more intent on grousing at each other than focusing on the next game.

You know, the game that could very well be their last if they don't win it.

It's a stormy start to the day, where this team that has battled this far seems ready to rip each other apart. Players are unhappy. Valentine is being questioned. Dischord is abound.

None of them have any idea that the game they will play this afternoon will erase any ill will.

Nobody has any idea that this will turn out to be the test of all tests, the war of all wars, and by the end of the day, a game that will emphasize a full team effort in absolutely every way possible.

As the game begins, the talk is focused on Rickey Henderson. Rickey was removed from last night's game at the beginning of top of the 8th inning. He had gone out to his position before Valentine called him back and replaced him with Melvin Mora. Insulted, Rickey stormed into the clubhouse, right past Valentine, who had attempted to apologize.

Following the game, Valentine again apologized to Rickey. Again, Rickey did not accept. Turk Wendell fired back at Rickey. "This is a real team effort except for one guy who quit," is his quote in the papers. This did not sit well with Rickey. In an interview before the game with Craig Sager, Rickey is in classic form. He is speaking so quickly, one is barely able to understand what he's saying. He talks about how Wendell doesn't really know him if he's calling him a quitter. He says, "I've played this game too long to be a quitter."

But the interview takes an even stranger turn when Sager poses the following to Rickey:

Sager: The Playoffs are usually Rickey Henderson Time. But you've been struggling.

Rickey: It's Rickey Henderson time. We had a wonderful series in Arizona, but Atlanta's been tough on us all year round. It's just not Rickey Henderson's whole ballclub trying to get hits and score runs. Each day you go out there and try to do your best.

Me, I've been out most of the afternoon. I return home, shortly after 4. Actually, I thought the game was at 4:30. I immediately rush into my apartment and stick a tape in the VCR. It's got Game 3 and Game 4 on it. I figure today's game will finish up this tape, and I've got the end of another tape I can use when this tape runs out.

Little do I know how much tape I'll need today.

On the Atlanta side, things are still fairly relaxed. Bobby Cox talks with Jim Gray and is his usual diplomatic self. He credits the Mets and their ability to come back, and when asked about being 4 outs from the Pennant, he replies, "Sometimes they're a tough 4 outs to get. We can't hold them down forever. We've been fortunate to be up 3-1. It comes down to a pitch here and a play there."

It's fairly overcast at Shea as the Mets take the field. It's daylight out, but the clouds are moving in, and rain is predicted later on. Masato Yoshii takes the start for the Mets. After suffering a mildly sprained ankle in Game 1, Yoshii was pronounced good enough to go. All, however, is not well with the Mets on the injury front. In the 9th inning, Roger Cedeno reached and twisted around for an Ozzie Guillen line drive, and twisted his back. He woke up with severe back spasms, and was basically debilitated. Great. The one guy who seemed to be hitting the ball well for the Mets, and he wasn't available. Hamilton makes the start in Center, and Melvin Mora is in Right. For Mora, it's his second start of the series, after it seemed like a surprise that he would be playing at all. But he has made the most of his opportunities, with key hits and clutch defense.
As Gerald Williams steps in against Yoshii, Costas again talks about how neither team has hit much, if at all. Neither team has scored more than 4 runs in any one game, and in the two games at Shea, the Braves are batting .107 as a team. It's not totally full at Shea, as revealed from the blimp, but it will be pretty soon, Yoshii starts off blazing. As the crowd chants "YOSHII! YOSHII!" Masato zips strike after strike, striking out both Williams and Boone. And Hello, Larry follows. The venom directed at Larry has not died down one bit. He rips a shot towards the middle, but Alfonzo is able to dive to his right to knock it down and throw Larry out at first. "That's that Met defense!" says Costas.

In the bottom of the 1st, Rickey comes up, 1 for 13 in the series. It definitely has not been Rickey Henderson Time. Turk Wendell is sitting in the Mets dugout, and although he has tried to clear the air with Rickey, Rickey doesn't seem interested in clearing the air with Wendell. But when Rickey hits a chopper against Greg Maddux, and beats the throw from Weiss at short, Wendell is clapping and pumping his fist. Alfonzo is next. Back in the 2 hole after two games hitting 3rd. The strategy did not serve the Mets well at all. Although Olerud had a good game on Saturday, Alfonzo went 0-8 with 6 Ks in the 2 games. Maddux is paying attention to Rickey at 1st, but his pickoff throws seem halfhearted. On 1-2, Rickey runs, but the pitch is high and inside to Alfonzo, and when he attempts to back away, the ball glances off his bat foul. On the next pitch, Rickey runs again, and Alfonzo drives the ball in the gap in left center. It appears to be flying towards the wall, but for Andruw Jones running it down to make the catch, then gunning the ball back in, just slightly late to get Rickey going back to 1st. With Olerud up, Rickey needs to regroup before he can run again. Joe Morgan notes that Rickey really busted it going down to 2nd on Alfonzo's drive, and at age 40, it's tough to get the energy up to run like that. But on a 2-1 pitch, Olerud assures he can trot. His drive into Right-Center sails over the Gap ad on the outfield fence. Brian Jordan smacks the wall in disgust. Valentine's reaction is nonplussed, similar to his reaction to Olerud's HR last night. Costas's call: "And the 2-1 pitch is hit deep to Right Center Field. Jordan back. To the track. Gone!"

Costas and Morgan credit Rickey with an assist for the HR. Maddux had made several throws to first, and his attention was focused too much on Rickey than on Olerud, and Olerud burned him. Rickey's trot is slow, and he arrives at Home just barely in front of Olerud. Olerud has driven in the last 5 Met runs, or, more properly, every run the Mets have scored at Shea in this series. Piazza follows with a line drive single to left. The crowd is roaring. But the rally is diffused when Ventura pops out to Larry, who ignores the catcalls, and Mora flies out to Jordan in right. But the Mets have struck first, something they haven't done much of lately. But can they make it stand up?

Meanwhile, Costas says of Olerud. "The possibility of a subway series is still alive, thanks in large part to John Olerud, one of the few NY ballplayers who at least occasionally rides the subway to the ballpark. Some guys pull up in a limo, he's been known to pull out a token and ride the subway, get off that #7 train here at Shea."

Another shot from the blimp as we open the 2nd. I'm still not used to seeing Shea from the blimp. It looks odd, even by day. In the game, Yoshii continues to hum along, setting down the Braves in order. In the Mets half of the inning, Hamilton drills the ball deep in the gap in Left-Center. Gerald Williams makes a dive to try to catch the ball, but he can't get it. The ball hops over the fence, and Williams nearly decapitates himself crashing into the wall. Ordonez follows, and he makes a rare productive out, grounding to 2nd to move Hamilton over to 3rd. But it is at 3rd he will stay as Yoshii strikes out and Rickey grounds out.

In the 3rd, the Braves begin to mount a threat. Eddie Perez, the only Brave who is hitting at all, drills a pitch deep to left, just foul. He follows by driving one fair, just inside the right field line. Perez is slow, and watching him chug around the bases is riotous. He appears as though he just might keel over before he makes it to 2nd, but he gets there. But much like the Mets couldn't get Hamilton in, Atlanta can't get Perez past 2nd. Weiss lines out to Hamilton, Maddux strikes out and Williams grounds out to 3rd.

Cut to the 4th, where Atlanta finally breaks through against Yoshii. Boone hits a drive to left that appears to be misjudged by Rickey. It sails over his head for a leadoff double. The ball is really carrying in the gaps today, especially to left. And Hello, Larry once again. Larry continues to be greeted with groans and boos, and the occasional chants of "LARRY SUCKS!" Yoshii is baffling him with his splitter, but on 1-2, he goes to his fastball, and Larry tucks it just inside the 3rd base line, past Ventura, to score Boone. Now, all of a sudden, the tying run is on 2nd, and the crowd is beginning to get nervous. Orel Hershiser begins warming up in earnest in the bullpen. Brian Jordan follows with a soft liner to left that falls in front of Henderson. Larry was running on contact, and he is able to score easily. The game is suddenly tied, and panic is beginning to set in for the Mets. A sick silence has set over Shea. For the first time, the Braves are stringing hits together. "This is what the Braves were looking for. Base hits to score runs instead of Home Runs," Morgan says. With Klesko up and the count 3-1, Jordan runs. Klesko fouls the ball off, and his long backswing nails Piazza on his left wrist. It's almost as if Piazza has become a punching bag in this series. Yoshii walks Klesko on the next pitch. Dave Wallace is out of the dugout, and after a lengthy discussion, he removes Yoshii and brings in Hershiser. It was already apparent that the Mets were ready to go to their bullpen as often as they had to today; even Kenny Rogers is available today. Hershiser comes in and immediately stops the rally. Using a baffling assortment of off-speed pitches, he strikes out Andruw and Perez, and gets Weiss on a groundout.

As the game continues, fans who couldn't get in have begun to crowd up on the 7 Train overpass, looking in from the Right Field corner. The Mets can't manage anything more than a 2 out single from Darryl Hamilton in the 4th. In the 5th, the Braves threaten yet again. With one out, Williams doubles to center. But Hershiser proves he is worthy of his nickname Bulldog. After getting Boone to ground to Ventura, it's Hello, Larry once again. But Hershiser gives Larry the intentional pass and goes after Jordan. Hershiser takes his sweet time on the mound working to Jordan, and it appears to frustrate him. He steps off several times, before getting Jordan to chase a fastball well off the outside corner for strike 3. Exhale once again. Orel pumps his fist as he walks off the mound.

Meanwhile, the Mets offense has stopped completely, except for a series of meaningless 2-out singles. In the 5th, it's Alfonzo with the irrelevant hit that goes nowhere.

The sun is beginning to set in New York, and the lights are on at Shea. Costas reports that it is sprinkling in Manhattan, but it's still dry at Shea, for the moment. Atlanta continues to mount threat after threat, but cannot get the key hit to push across the lead run. In the 6th, this trend continues. Leading off, Klesko grounds hard to first. Olerud knocks it down but can't field it. Alfonzo picks it up, but his toss to Hershiser at the bag is too late. Klesko is safe on Olerud's error. Andruw follows by sacrificing Klesko to 2nd. Now, it's Valentine who comes out to talk to Hershiser. Wallace is usually the one who comes out. When Valentine comes out, you know it's important. But at the moment, the Mets bullpen is quiet. It is a rare sight in this game. Hershiser walks Perez intentionally, and why not, he's the only player really hitting on the Braves side. But then, Hershiser can't throw a strike to Weiss, and walks him on 4 pitches. I've gone from cigarettes to fingernails and back again. Now,the bases are loaded for Maddux. The crowd is nauseous. Valentine is pacing and spitting. Wendell is now throwing in the bullpen, as the rain begins to fall, however lightly, at 6:01. Maddux falls behind 0-2, but hangs tough, fouling off 4 pitches before the squeeze is put on. Maddux bunts through the pitch for strike 3, and Klesko is hung up. He breaks back towards third as Piazza throws to Ventura. Klesko turns back towards home. Hershiser is there, screaming for Ventura to throw him the ball before Klesko flattens him. Ventura throws, and just as Klesko is about to steamroll Hershiser, Orel makes the catch, sidesteps Klesko and tags him out. Another disaster averted. Jesus. Orel is growling in the dugout.

Meanwhile, in the bottom of the 6th, it's the Mets who put a little rally together, at the expense of some porous Atlanta defense. The rain has picked up in intensity a bit, and perhaps this is beginning to play havoc with the fielders. Piazza leads off and grounds to Larry. Larry fields it cleanly, but his throw is low, and Klesko cannot scoop it up. Piazza lunges for the bag and barely beats the play, tripping over Klesko's back foot and tumbling to the dirt in the process. Well, why not another ding? Piazza is immediately up, a small miracle in and of itself. The error is on Klesko. Ventura follows. He's banged up as well, although not quite as in spectacular a fashion as Piazza, but he's struggling. He hasn't had a hit all series. And he watches strike 3 here. Mora follows. With the crowd now chanting "MELVIN MORA!" as they have all weekend, Mora responds by singling through the right side, moving Piazza to 2nd. Hamilton follows by hitting a shot right to Klesko, who spins and throws to 2nd, but his throw is awful. It's way wide, and Weiss has to lunge to simply make the catch and prevent the ball from sailing into the outfield. Klesko appeared to step towards first before deciding to throw. Cox throws his hat in the Atlanta dugout. It's a golden opportunity for the Mets...Until Ordonez slaps the first pitch directly to Weiss, who steps on 2nd and tosses to 1st for the easy DP. So much for that.

I'm watching the clock, as my tape appears ready to run out as the 7th begins. I've got the next tape ready for the next commercial. Hershiser is back out there for the 7th. With 1 out, he hits Boone on the elbow. Boone really made no effort to move, and Valentine, Hershiser and Piazza argue this point. The ball barely grazed him. Boone is run for by Otis Nixon. Otis Nixon? He's still alive? Who the hell even knew he was on the Braves roster!? With Atlanta carrying only 9 pitchers, they can afford to have a deep back end of the bench, but it's full of guys who never play. Ever. Except in situations like this. Meanwhile, Wallace is back out, and he removes Hershiser in favor of Wendell. Hershiser is given a nice hand as he departs. Although, by day's end, Hershiser's role in this game will be lost in the shuffle, it cannot be overlooked. He was able to stop the Braves offense for 3 innings, and prevent them from scoring any runs. Even more key considering the Mets inability to generate much offense of their own. NBC goes to commercial, and I change the tape.

Turk Wendell comes into the game, slams the rosin bag down, and Hello, Larry. Dennis Cook is now throwing for the Mets. Wendell is trying to keep Nixon close. Nixon is only in there to steal a base and everyone knows this. On 0-1, Wendell very nearly picks Nixon off. On 0-2, Larry checks his swing, but is called out, as Nixon steals second. Cox is stewing and shaking his head. Jordan follows. On 2-0, Piazza goes to the mound to talk to Wendell. When he goes back to the plate, Wallace comes out and brings in Cook. Cook then throws intentional ball 3 and 4 to Jordan, and then prepares to face Klesko. But Klesko is called back for Brian Hunter. Valentine comes out to talk to the home plate umpire. Now, not only is there tension, there's confusion as well. Is it possible that Valentine has had Cook has come in only to throw two intentional balls? The walk is charged to Wendell, and Cook hasn't officially faced a batter, but Wallace comes out and removes him for Pat Mahomes. Essentially, Cook has been wasted with these machinations. Go figure. This is the kind of series it's been. Now it's Mahomes pitching to Hunter. And Mahomes walks Hunter on 4 pitches. Once again, Atlanta has the bases loaded, and without the benefit of a hit. Once again, it's gut-check time for everyone in the ballpark. Now it's Andruw. On 2-2, Jones hits it deep to left, but not deep enough, and Henderson is able to make the catch in front of the track. Exhale. Mahomes holds his fist up and pumps it as Rickey catches the ball. 10 LOB for Atlanta through 7 innings. No sanity left for Mets fans.

I'm exhausted. My roommate is exhausted, and he's not even a Mets fan. But what's really scary is that this game isn't even halfway done. They're just getting warmed up.

The chess match continues after the 7th inning stretch. Hunter is still in at 1st. Keith Lockhart replaces Boone at 2nd. Mahomes leads off for the Mets. Mahomes hit .313 for the Mets in the regular season, including some clutch hits. But not here. He works the count before striking out. Neither Rickey or Alfonzo can do anything afterwards.

The 8th begins with shots of the Birthday Boy, John Rocker, stretching out in the bullpen. Cox says he's good for an inning, if the Braves take the lead. There may be a mystery guest in the pen too, perhaps Kevin Millwood could make an appearance before this game is over. John Franco is up for the Mets. Ventura makes a great diving stop on a grounder by Perez. Weiss follows with a double in the Left Center Field gap. Gee, another threat by the Braves? Jose Hernandez follows, Pinch Hitting for Maddux as Terry Mulholland is warming for Atlanta. Hernandez attempts to fool the umpire by dropping his bat on a check swing. Nobody is fooled. Hernandez is notorious for his high strikeout numbers, and he doesn't disappoint here. Williams is walked intentionally. And here comes Dave Wallace once again. Wallace is probably wearing out a path from the dugout to the mound. Here, he pulls Mahomes for Franco to face the lefty Lockhart. As NBC returns from commercial, more plugs for the Bud One Airship, as the rain continues to fall, however lightly. There are a few umbrellas up. Franco is the last lefty reliever for the Mets, although Rogers is available. Mercifully, Franco gets Lockhart to dribble the first pitch to Olerud for the easy out. Franco pumps his fist as he walks off.

Terry Mulholland probably warmed up in every game in this series. But this is the first time he's gotten into the game. He's the 2nd pitcher for Atlanta. The Mets have used 6. Olerud starts off with a single to left. Heaven forbid, a leadoff hit for the Mets! Piazza follows, and he clearly looks like a corpse. He's able to work the count, but he eventually strikes out, just as my second tape runs out. Damn. I knew this game was slow, but this is ridiculous! I scramble to my room for a fresh tape, and pop it in as Ventura grounds softly into a 4-6-3 DP to end the inning. He's 0-16 for the series. Some boos are heard. Don't know if they're for Ventura, or for the Braves. Who cares, at this point?

As the 9th inning begins, Costas tells us that the Mets have used 5 pitchers to face the last 10 Atlanta batters, only one of whom has gotten a hit. I don't know if that means that they've done a good job, or if Valentine has just lost his mind. I'm pretty sure I'm about to lose mine at this point. Hello, Larry. The crowd may be too tense to jeer him too much, considering the situation. But they're all up when he looks at strike 3 from Franco. Jordan taps one towards 3rd. Ventura charges the ball, but loses it on the transfer. Infield hit. Franco is able to get Hunter to pop out. Armando Benitez is warming, Valentine is pacing in the dugout. Franco strikes out Jones and exults as he strides off the mound. A chance to win it for the Mets, if they can get that elusive key hit in their half.

The rain begins to pick up in intensity as the bottom of the 9th begins. Benny Agbayani is on deck to hit for Hamilton, as Mora is batting. I guess the plan here is to sacrifice some defense for some hopefully immediate offense. Or maybe the righty/lefty thing with Mulholland in the game. Russ Springer and Rocker are in the bullpen, warming up for Atlanta. "A lot of wet uniforms out there, but also a lot of dry throats. Especially for the Mets, with their entire season on the line," Costas says.

With the crowd behind him, mustering all their energy to try to will him on base, Mora battles, but strikes out on the 9th pitch. Agbayani grounds out. Bobby Bonilla is on deck if Ordonez can get on. But Ordonez, a paltry 1 for 17 in the series, grounds out to Weiss. 1 for 18, and this game, already intense, is now going into extra innings. I think I'm about to pass out. Pass the bong, please.

It's Benitez in for the 10th, with the Braves 0-26 against him this season. Agbayani takes over in RF, Mora moves to CF. Meanwhile, Perez breaks up Armando's "perfect game" with a flare single in front of Rickey. Perez is run for by another one of Atlanta's mystery men, Howard Battle. Howard Battle? They've got guys I've never even heard of! Weiss attempts to bunt, but cannot get one down, and strikes out. Cox is frustrated. Ozzie Guillen is next, Pinch Hitting for Mulholland. It's getting down to the back ends of both benches, but the Mets appear to have more viable pieces left for them. At least that's what I'd like to think at this point. Guillen pops the ball high in the air foul, behind the plate. Piazza goes back, and looking up, all he can see is blowing raindrops. He staggers for a bit, and collapses to his knees before catching the ball near the Mets dugout. Everyone can see that Piazza is suffering out there. Costas says that "Whenever this season ends for the Mets, and wherever Mike Piazza has a vacation retreat, he should go there immediately."

With Gerald Williams batting, and the count 1-0, Battle runs. Piazza's throw is to the 3rd base side of 2nd. Battle lumbers, and slides late, but he's safe. Meanwhile, in the Atlanta bullpen, Rocker continues to toss, along with Mike Remlinger, both lefties. It messes up the Mets bench. Most of their best hitters off the bench are lefties. Has this been said before? Yes. Costas reminded us of this in Game 1, Game 3 and probably last night as well. Williams grounds out. I think I've forgotten that that was the final out. Maybe I'm just too tense to move from my chair in the common room. The game had started out with just my roommate and I watching, but the crowd has grown as the game has progressed. There are now 7 people milling around my apartment in Binghamton, all of them now glued to the game, many of whom I didn't even know were Mets fans.

Bottom of the 10th. Shawon Dunston hits for Benitez, as Remlinger comes in to pitch. Perez is out of the game for Atlanta, Greg Myers has come in to catch. With the Mets out of true relief pitchers, Kenny Rogers is warming up in the bullpen. The carousel continues to spin. But the Mets can't get anything going. This game has simply become a war of attrition. The Mets, now down to only starting pitchers, will likely have to go with one pitcher until the game is won or lost. With 2 out, Alfonzo bats. Costas recaps Fonzie's heroics against Cincinnati and Arizona. Even clips of Alfonzo's big HRs can't snap him out of his funk.

The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" is playing as Kenny Rogers warms up for the 11th inning. Benny Agbayani is now in left, Dunston is in Center, and Mora is back in Right. Got that? Good, because I don't think I do. Costas tells us that Kenny Rogers hasn't relieved since 1991 with the Rangers, when his manager was Bobby Valentine. Meanwhile, Valentine is talking to the umpire, and then talks to a fan as he walks back to the dugout. He takes off his cap, smiles and shakes his head as if to say whatever happens, happens. This is what we got, and this is what we're going with. And with Rogers in, this almost certainly means that if the Mets can win this game, Leiter is going to start Game 6. Lockhart leads off, and Rogers fools him badly with a curve for strike 3. Hello, Larry. Even in this tense game stretching deeper into a wet evening, the fans are still all over Larry. But Larry singles to center on the first pitch with Dunston playing deep. Jordan is next, and grounds to Ventura, who makes a nice pickup before throwing to second to get Larry. The Rain picks up again with Hunter at the plate. And on 1-0, Hunter drives one to deep right center. A heart attack ball. But Mora is on his horse, and he runs the ball down on the warning track for the final out of the inning. Phew. 7:58pm and the game began at 4:09. This game isn't getting any easier to watch.

It's still raining as we go to the bottom of the 11th. Costas says that It would have to be a torrential downpour for them to stop the game. Olerud leads off, and he drills one to deep right against Remlinger. Off the bat, it looks like it might have enough to get out. It heads down towards the right field corner, but the pitch was in on his hands, and the ball does not carry deep enough. Jordan catches it. The Mets dugout is all out as it leaves the bat, but disappointed as the ball is caught. Piazza is right on a pitch as well, but he lines right at Williams. Ventura follows by finally nailing his first hit, a hard single in front of Jordan, not surprisingly, a 2 out single. Mora grounds out on the first pitch. Larry makes a fine stab of a hard liner. On we go.

Moving to the 12th, a caption tells us that Atlanta has left 15 men on base, as opposed to only 7 for the Mets. This is followed by a recap of some of Atlanta's futility, specifically in the 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th innings. It's still raining hard. There are umbrellas, more than before, but very few fans have left, and it doesn't appear that many have moved inside, either. Meanwhile, in the Atlanta dugout, Jim Gray tells us that Remlinger is finished for the game. John Smoltz is hovering around the bat rack, and is ready to pinch hit if the pitcher's spot comes up. This is because the only position player left for Atlanta is their 3rd catcher, Jorge Fabregas. On the other side, The Mets have Matt Franco, Pratt and Bonilla. There's also Cedeno, but he is probably unavailable. Atlanta has more pitchers left, though, with Russ Springer, Rocker and Kevin McGlinchy out in the bullpen. On the field, Rogers is weaving in and out of trouble yet again. He walks Myers with 1 out. A shot of the Atlanta bullpen reveals that all 3 remaining relievers are warming up at once. With Weiss batting, a shot of Smoltz in the on-deck circle. Meanwhile, the ticker at the bottom of the screen reminds us that the Boston/Yankees game has started and is 0-0 in the 2nd. Weiss grounds to Ventura who turns a fine 5-4-3 DP. Cox is disgusted.

Bottom of the 12th. Atlanta has brought Russ Springer in to pitch. Agbayani leads off and draws the walk. The crowd, which seems to have risen and fallen with each pitch, each swing, is up once again. A Sign in the stands reads: "Ya Gotta Believe. Mets in 7." Ordonez follows, ad squares to bunt. Shockingly, he pops the bunt up. The crowd Boos. He can't get a hit, and he can't lay a bunt down to save his life right now. Dunston is also hacking at the 1st pitch, and he pops up to Larry. The crowd isn't as loud now as he tries to catch it. I would guess that they are exhausted at this point. Bonilla hits for Rogers. He is greeted with loud cheers. Once again, I state, after everything that's gone down with Bobby, if he could deliver the big hit here to win the game, perhaps all would be forgiven. Octavio Dotel is warming for the Mets. He's truly the last guy out there. Bonilla hangs in there, but strikes out on the 8th pitch. I can only shake my head. This game is going to come down to whoever can take a chance and somehow catch a break to push a run across.

"We've gone through 12 innings to resolve nothing so far," is the quote from Costas as the 13th inning begins. He recaps the scoring, showing highlights of Olerud's HR, Larry's double and Jordan's single. Not much to recap, really, although it was daylight when the last run was scored. Another way to look at it would be to say that the Mets haven't scored in over 4 hours. That's a comforting thought. Jorge Fabregas, the last man on the bench for Atlanta, pinch hits for Springer. Octavio Dotel, who hasn't pitched since Game 2 of the Division Series, is in the game for the Mets. Fabregas, who is awful at best, somehow hangs in. He fouls one pitch off Piazza. I think it hit him. Maybe Piazza is just flinching now, after all the jabs and dings. Fabregas strikes out on the 7th pitch. A shot in the Atlanta dugout shows that Cox is drinking coffee or whiskey or something. It's a brownish liquid, which he sips and sips and then dumps on the field. Gerald Williams bats next, and as he steps into the box, Costas reminds us that Williams is the 100th batter in this game. Jesus, these guys aren't fucking around now. Williams grounds to short. Rocker and McGlinchy are warming in the Atlanta bullpen. 2 outs, and Lockhart flares a single into CF, to the left and in front of Dunston. Hello, Larry, once again. The signs are still up, and the crowd is still jeering, however muted it seems. Everyone's a little too tense, and maybe a little too cold at this point. The OF is very deep. On 0-1, Lockhart runs and Larry drills it down the RF line into the corner. The first words out of my mouth are "Oh, Fuck!" It's hit hard and down towards the corner. But Mora is quick to the ball, which may have been slowed by the wet grass. Still, Lockhart is racing around the bases, and Ned Yost, the Atlanta 3rd base coach is waving him home. If the ball can just get by Mora and go to the wall, Lockhart scores for sure. But here's Mora flying over and cutting the ball off! He turns and whips the ball in to Alfonzo, who turns and fires a low throw towards Piazza at Home. The ball shorthops Piazza, but Mike is able to look the bounce right into his glove. He's got the plate totally blocked. Lockhart is dead.
Costas's Call: "There goes Lockhart. (Groans) And Jones raps it down the Right Field line! Racing over is Mora, he cuts it off. They're gonna wave him home! They're gonna try to score Lockhart! And Piazza's got it! (Cheers) Takes the collision and tags him out! A big play by Mora to prevent the ball from going to the wall!"
Lockhart is out by 20 feet. He crashes into Piazza, somehow trying to knock the ball out. He lowers his helmet into Piazza's left forearm, and appears to try to grab and twist his arm as well. Piazza hops up and immediately lowers his head in pain. Meanwhile, a heroes welcome for Mora, who is grinning and high-fiving fans down the right field line as he runs in to the dugout, where he is greeted by his teammates. Ned Yost sends Lockhart, knowing that a good throw will get him, but you have to make the Mets make the play. Cox kicks the dugout steps. It's the right call by Yost, especially the way this game has gone, but Mora came up with a throw as clutch as can be, a play equal to the magnitude of the game itself. When the tag is made, everyone in the room is up and screaming. It's as if we were suddenly energized by Melvin Mora.
Meanwhile, NBC does not break for commercial. Mora's throw and the tag are replayed several times. The look from different angles show Lockhart really driving his tiny head into Piazza's arm. As Costas and Morgan are talking, Boos are audible as Rocker charges in. Here it is, his 25th Birthday, and Rocker is pitching in the 13th inning of a game in the city where he is hated more than anywhere else. Cox says Rocker can give an inning. But this is extra innings. If he gives one, can he give more? Costas wonders this aloud. The boos are even louder as Rocker is announced. But the boos immediately turn to cheers as Alfonzo is announced as the leadoff hitter for the Mets. Costas tells us that Rocker said before the game, "These fans think they've gotten in my head. They're wrong. I'm in their heads." The Mets are all on the top step of the dugout. Nobody is sitting. Alfonzo strikes out on 3 pitches. With Olerud batting, Rocker steps off. Boos. The fans boo his every move. Costas and Morgan recap the pitching situation. All Atlanta has left in the bullpen is McGlinchy. All Valentine has left altogether are Leiter and Reed. Olerud flies to medium left. Williams makes the easy play. Piazza is next. Craig Sager reports that Piazza came into the dugout after the collision with Lockhart and told the trainer that he's OK, he just wants to end it right here. He's got a chance to. But he looks totally bombed right now. Piazza is clearly swinging for the downs. His swings are massive. Rocker's grunts are again audible. This game is 4:37 old. You can't really tell if it's Rocker grunting as he throws, or Piazza grunting as he swings. Mike swings through a high fastball for strike 3. Rocker bounds off the mound, scowling, with his chest pumped out. Piazza drops his bat and slumps off, as if every bit of energy has left his body.

Coming back from commercial, a shot of Rocker walking off the mound. Costas says, "You can read John Rocker's lips. The fans taunting him, as they have all weekend, and he yells back, 'I just struck out your best hitter,' meaning Piazza, 'what are you yelping about?'" In the dugout, Rocker is yukking it up. Meanwhile, it's a different story on the Mets side, as Craig Sager tells us:

"Well, Mike Piazza has a strained right forearm. I don't know if it happened on that swing, where he took a hard cut at the first fastball, or if it was in the collision, but he told the trainer Fred Hina before that he was all right, he just wanted to end it right there, and when he wasn't able to in the Bottom of the 13th, he could no longer continue, he is coming out of the game."

And no sooner are the words out of Sager's mouth than the cameras cut immediately to Todd Pratt behind the plate. On the other side, Rocker was grilled by Cox and Mazzone, and he will continue. For the Mets, Al Leiter has gone down to the bullpen. Brian Jordan strikes out leading off. Costas and Morgan continue to discuss the Mets situation. Morgan says "If you have to use Leiter, you use him. You can't worry about Game 6 right now." It's true. Right now, the Mets just have to worry about getting to the next game before they worry about who can pitch. Brian Hunter loses his bat and nearly kills Eddie Perez as it flies into the dugout. He flies out to Mora. NBC runs an ad for Game 6, on Tuesday, if necessary. Andruw Jones walks with 2 out. Every time an Atlanta runner reaches base, it's tense. At this point, every pitch is tense. Costas tells us that the Longest LCS game is 4:51, a game between Cleveland and Baltimore 1997. This game is at 4:49. The longest LCS game by innings was Game 6 of the Mets/Astros series in 1986. With Myers up, Dotel appears to be getting a little wild. Dave Wallace, who, after running out every other batter earlier in the game, appears to have not been seen in ages, but he runs out to talk to Dotel here. Whatever he said must have worked. Dotel comes back and fires 3 quick strikes to get Myers. Dotel pumps his fists as he walks off. Both managers are getting a little fidgety now. They're both running out of players and some serious decisions are going to have to be made now.

It's time for the 14th inning stretch! Shots of the crowd reveal that very few fans have left, impressive considering the length of the game, considering it's Sunday night, and considering the rain. Rocker remains in the game for Atlanta. Ventura leads off. It's also 2-2 in the Red Sox/Yankees game. But they've gotten there in only 3 innings. It's the 14th here. With the tension and the drama reaching unbearable heights, Costas is in rare form. "If anyone thought the Mets would roll over after being down 0-3, they thought wrong. They came back to win last night, and they've battled to the 14th inning here, where any misstep could spell the end of their season," he says, as the crowd chants "ROCKER SUCKS!" Ventura at least puts his bat on the ball and flies out to center. The crowd cheers, and Rocker mocks them, waving his hands and giving a fake scream. Cox comes to remove Rocker. Rocker stomps off the mound defiantly once again. The crowd boos, and he boos them back. He yells, boos them some more and storms into the dugout. One final look at this vile and evil presence, this scourge who has talked his shit and for the most part backed it up. It's now Kevin McGlinchy for the Braves. McGlinchy, a rookie, is the last reliever in the Atlanta bullpen. McGlinchy comes out throwing darts. He strikes out Mora quickly. Costas chimes in once again, "If you're just joining us, and you're a little bit confused, with the postseason television schedule, which game is on which network and so forth, this was a day game, originally. We're in the 14th."

If you're just joining us, well, where the hell have you been, would have been more appropriate. I've stopped biting my nails. Now I'm eating my shirt.

Agbayani draws a 4 pitch walk, just after Morgan states that the Braves have only allowed one walk through 13 innings. This game has gone from a war of attrition to simply a battle of wills, a contest to see who will blink first. Matt Franco is the only position player on either side who has not been used. The only pitchers to not be used are all starters. Now, it's Ordonez up for the Mets. Great. On 1-1, Agbayani steals! McGlinchy has a high leg kick, and there was no chance to throw him out. Maybe a chance for the Mets, even as Al Leiter begins to throw in the bullpen. But Ordonez slaps it to Lockhart. And so we continue. Have I said that before? At this point, I have no idea.

To this point, the Braves have left 17 men on base. This is officially a Postseason record. Walt Weiss leads off the 15th. It's still raining and wind is blowing everything around. The field looks mucky. Valentine and Cox continue to pace. In between innings, I have taken walks around my building just to stretch myself out and diffuse some of the tension. Other people in the room are transfixed to their seats. Costas continues to hyperbolize about Dotel and if Leiter will come in. Leiter is now sitting in the bullpen, out there by himself. Weiss lines one in front of Agbayani for a single. Valentine, Wallace and Leiter discussed the options and have decided that they'll piece together Game 6 if they have to use Leiter tonight in order to get there. McGlinchy is next, and you can bet the farm that he's bunting, and Dotel is throwing high fastballs at him. But Dotel misses a few too many times and runs the count full. NBC shows shots of the crowd, which has thinned progressively more and more as the game continues. The crowd was announced at 55,723. Perhaps about 35-40,000 remain. On 3-2, McGlinchy bunts through strike 3, as Weiss runs. Pratt's throw is good, but it's too late and Weiss has stolen 2nd. Williams flies out to left, and it looks like Dotel may get out of it. Wallace goes to the mound to talk to Dotel about Lockhart. You have to be careful with Lockhart, a good fastball hitter, but you also can't just walk him and face Larry, even with first base open. At least this is what I surmise Wallace is telling Dotel. Dotel seems to be too busy knocking mud out of his cleats, just to give you an idea of how messy things have gotten with all the rain. Lockhart is next, and he swings at the first pitch and hits a drive similar to the hit he got in the 13th. But Dunston was shaded deep in Left Center. He races over as fast as he possibly can, but he can't get it. Once again, Holy Fucking Shit. Dunston overruns the ball as Weiss scores easily. Mora picks it up and fires back in, but Lockhart has made it all the way to 3rd. Oh My God, the Braves scored. Someone actually scored! Now it's deathly quiet, both in my apartment, and at Shea.

Costas's Call: "And a line drive towards the gap in Right Center Field! Sprinting over is Dunston, he can't get to it! It goes by him as Weiss scores the go ahead run! Lockhart around second, digging for third. And his triple has given Atlanta the lead in the 15th!"

Atlanta's dugout is out and all of a sudden alive. There is cheering and clapping and high-fives all around. Hello Larry? The fans can't get it up now. Larry is intentionally walked. Costas questions whether Hamilton might have been able to get the ball. In reality, it was probably hit too far in the gap. Dunston was shaded towards left. He had such a long way to run that it was likely impossible for him to get there in time. In the Mets dugout, Valentine continues to pace. Dotel strikes out Jordan and pumps his fists. The crowd comes to its feet to salute the Mets as they come off the field. In the room, I say to nobody in particular, "Well, they've come this far, and if it has to end here, so be it."

Coming out of commercial for the bottom of the 15th, NBC shows the long line score for the game. Costas says that "The Mets have operated on the edge for about two weeks now. Now they're down to what could be their last 3 outs of a memorable season." The crowd is still stunned. But if the situation might appear that all hope is completely gone, this is lost on the Mets. From one end of the dugout to the other, they believe. They believe they're going to win. And Shawon Dunston steps to the plate knowing that he's going to get that hit, especially after it was his questionable play that allowed the lead run to score. Dunston's up and immediately hacking. But on 1-1, he takes a strike. Costas wonders "What's he thinking about?" Matt Franco is on deck for the Mets. But will he bat if Dunston gets on? Will they send up Dotel to bunt? Can Dotel bunt? These are the questions being asked by Costas and Morgan, as Dunston fouls off a couple of pitches. On the mound, McGlinchy is just firing the ball up there. He looks wide eyed, and his mouth is agape. Dunston works the count full, and continues to foul off pitches.

A shot of the Mets dugout. Still, very few are seated. Piazza is one. Piazza, on the bench, is glassy eyed and looking down. Meanwhile, Rick Reed is warming up in the bullpen in earnest. If the Mets should tie it, Reed threw 7+ innings last night, but only 73 pitches.

As Dunston fouls off yet another pitch, Costas begins to let the schmaltz get the better of him. "Baseball, especially Postseason Baseball, can be a game of building tension. Sustained and building tension. And that's what Dunston and McGlinchy are giving us here. 6 foul balls after the count went full."

Finally, after 6 fouls, and on the 12th pitch of the at bat, Dunston gets his pitch and pings it right back up the middle, into center field. When the Mets need it the most, Dunston comes through with the leadoff single. Costas's call: "Rolled toward the middle, base hit! An incredible at bat for Shawon Dunston!"

Matt Franco is announced as the pinch hitter, but then is suddenly called back, and Dotel is sent up to the plate. The Crowd reacts with bewilderment. Costas and Morgan do as well. Dotel would bunt, but he only had one sacrifice all season. There's no guarantee that he can lay one down. McGlinchy makes a throw to first. And then, as if Valentine just changed his mind back, Franco is back at the plate, and Dotel is walking off. Morgan notes that Valentine's mind has been churning for 5 hours and 40 minutes. He might be excused for being indecisive at this particular point. Morgan thinks this is the right move. On the Atlanta side, Leo Mazzone comes out to talk to McGlinchy. It's only 9:46 in a game that started at 4:09. The crowd boos loudly. Every Met is on the top step of the dugout. Every fan is standing. Now, they're waiting for Dunston to steal, or Franco to get the big pinch-hit that he's come up with all year long. On 2-1, Dunston breaks, but Franco fouls the ball off. Dunston had it stolen easily. McGlinchy's delivery is long, with a high leg kick. They talked about it in the 14th.

As Dunston heads back to 1st, more from Costas. His delivery is quick, as if he had rehearsed it. "Here's the difference between Baseball and any other sport. When it comes down to crunch time in Football, you're gonna try to throw it to your best receiver or give it to your best back. In Basketball, you're gonna try to put it in your best scorer's hands. But sometimes in Baseball, it's a journeyman like Franco off the bench and a rookie like McGlinchy on the mound with the whole season on the line. Baseball history is dotted with the names of people like Al Weis and Brian Doyle. People who have come out of the shadows and into prominence, because it's just their time."

On the next pitch, Dunston runs again. The pitch is well outside for Ball 3. Myers makes a desperate throw, but it's well to the right of 2nd base, and not close. Dunston ran on a curveball, and had the base stolen easily. McGlinchy is clearly rattled now, and his next pitch is inside for ball 4. Franco tosses his bat away and walks to first.

Alfonzo is next, and before Costas can even ask, Morgan states that now, you have to bunt with Alfonzo, who can bunt, and if he can't get one down, you still have a good hitter up with 2 strikes. And Alfonzo does just that. He selflessly lays down a picture perfect sacrifice bunt on the 1-0, right in front of the mound, moving up the runners. In the Mets dugout, Todd Pratt stands next to Valentine and laughs. Alfonzo moves the runners up, leaving first base open. The Braves will inevitably walk Olerud intentionally, and it's going to be left up to Todd Pratt once again. Pratt loves it. As soon as Fonzie's bunt is laid down, Cox waves 4 fingers. Olerud is thrown 4 quick balls, as Costas brings us up to speed on Pratt:

"That would leave it up to Todd Pratt, a 32 year old who, to call him a journeyman would be kind. At least prior to the last few weeks. He spent a full year out of Baseball. He worked at a pizza franchise, for a while he taught at Bucky Dent's Baseball school in Florida. He was up and down between the Minors and Majors 3 times in another season. You don't get all that much time playing behind Mike Piazza, but when Piazza's aching thumb forced him out, it was Pratt who came on in the Division Series and hit an Extra Inning Home Run over the center field wall 8 days ago in this ballpark, that finished off the Diamondbacks and sent the Mets to this NLCS against the Braves."

As Pratt strides to the plate, looking calm and confident, Valentine waves for time. Of all people, Roger Cedeno is running out of the dugout. Cedeno had been unavailable with back spasms. But with the length of the game, he obviously healed up enough to pinch run here, and he's in for Franco. It's Cedeno, truly the last man off the bench, representing the winning run for the Mets. But it's up to Pratt first. A hit would surely win it. But a ground ball right at someone would be instant disaster. McGlinchy's first pitch is inside. Darryl Hamilton is on the bench praying. The next pitch is Ball 2 outside. The crowd is up and roaring with every pitch. McGlinchy looks about ready to shit himself. Ball 3 is high. Pratt is laughing and smiling. He's totally in the driver's seat now. John Franco gestures to the fans to get up. On the next pitch, Pratt leans forward and waggles his bat in front of the plate to try to distract McGlinchy, who throws a strike. Now, Pratt has to be careful that McGlinchy doesn't make him a good pitch. But the next pitch is Ball 4 outside. Pratt flings his bat away and runs to first, as Dunston trots home, and the entire Mets dugout is out as "Don't Stop Believing" is blasting. I'm high-fiving everyone in the room, running up and down the hall like a drill sergeant.

Joe Morgan puts it succinctly: "The Mets will not die."

Now, the Braves bring the infield and outfield in for Ventura. But Ventura, like Pratt before him is in the drivers seat. True, a hard ground ball and the Braves can get out of the inning. But that doesn't appear likely. McGlinchy just looks petrified now. The crowd is roaring. McGlinchy throws Ball 1 low and inside. Ventura swings at the next pitch and fouls it straight back. Cedeno is dancing up and down the line on 3rd, and he distracts McGlinchy, whose next pitch almost sails to the backstop. It takes a great stop from Myers to prevent that. It's 2-1. Ventura gets into his stance. McGlinchy gets his sign, and rears back for the 482nd pitch of this Marathon of Marathons.

The crowd is roaring. Ventura is waiting. McGlinchy staring in, has his sign. The 2-1 pitch. And a DRIVE IN THE AIR TO DEEP RIGHT FIELD! THAT BALL IS HEADED TOWARD THE WALL! THAT BALL IS...OUTTA HERE! OUTTA HERE! A GAME WINNING, GRAND SLAM HOME RUN OFF THE BAT OF ROBIN VENTURA! VENTURA WITH A GRAND SLAM! THEY'RE MOBBING HIM BEFORE HE CAN GET TO SECOND BASE! THE METS HAVE WON THE BALLGAME!

-Gary Cohen

"A drive to right! Back to Georgia! Gone! A Grand slam!
(L.A. Woman plays)
What a scene at Shea!"

-Bob Costas

Ventura's drive is smoked. Deep and high and over the 371 sign on the Right-Center field wall. Brian Jordan just runs in, as do the rest of the Braves. But rather than rounding the bases, Todd Pratt turns around and tackles Ventura between first and second, lifting him up in the air and putting him down as the entire Mets team comes racing out of the dugout, out to the middle of the infield to mob Ventura. Cedeno scored, yes, but nobody else did. The umpires all ran off. The Mets and their fans celebrate. Those who have stayed, stuck it out after 15 innings, 5 hours and 46 minutes of tension, were treated to an ending like no other, and now, they refuse to leave. NBC shows the final score as 7-3 Mets. But there's some debate as to whether or not that's really the case.
Costas describes the scene as "A 5 hour and 47 minute trip to Bedlam!"

Costas says Valentine is saying "Thank You, New York." He's really saying "Thank You Lord." I'm ready to thank the Lord after a game like this. On the replays, Ventura appears to wave Pratt on as he comes around first. It's possible Ventura was the only Mets player who saw the ball go out of the park. Everyone leaps out of the dugout as soon as the ball is hit. Pratt tackles him between first and second and everyone else piles on from there. Costas and Morgan are deliberating as to what the final score actually is. Music is blasting, and fans are dancing at Shea. Nobody is leaving, even as the rain continues to pour.

"I'll tell you, these Mets are Rasputin-like. You cannot put them away. They will not die! Whatever the official score is, the Mets have won it. After falling behind 3-2 in the top of the 15th, they rally to win it and force Game 6," Costas says.

In the stands, Sign Man is holding up his "ACE VENTURA" sign. Ace Ventura, indeed. The scoreboard reads "GOOD LUCK IN ATLANTA, NEW YORK METS! YA GOTTA BELIEVE!"

If you don't believe in this team after watching a game like this, then you probably never will. A friend comes charging into my apartment looking for me. I leap into his arms, similar to Ventura and Pratt. We're screaming and yelling at the replays, and laughing at McGlinchy.
In the Mets clubhouse, Jim Gray is with Bobby Valentine. Gray says that Valentine told him not to ask about the game, because he can't remember it. But Gray asks him about the end of the game.

"I remember that because Robin Ventura played on one leg this whole game. There were about 5 times I thought about taking him out and he said no, he could go, no, he could stay in and it's poetic justice, justice indeed for him to get the big hit. God, what a great player, what a great team," is Valentine's response.

On the field, Ventura is the lone Met remaining. The field is flooded with reporters standing in the rain. Ventura is clearly exhausted. Craig Sager pulls him aside for an interview. Ventura looks like he is about to punch Sager in the face and tell him to get the fuck out of here so he can go inside and sit down. Sager asks him some puffy questions and Ventura responds. Sager then attempts to wave Ventura around the bases so his Grand Slam will count. This as the grounds crew has pulled up the bases. Ventura glares at Sager before saying, "No thanks, I've had enough."

Finally, after everyone is somewhat able to catch their breath, Costas and Morgan try to sum this game up. But how can you sum up a game like this, with so much riding on every pitch, with the chess match moves, the plays and the nuances of a game where neither team could blink until the very end. Morgan talks about the Mets situation and says, "They couldn't see beating the Braves 4 in a row, but I think they can see beating them two in a row now. They've taken it one game at a time until they got to the point where they can see the end of the goal now and I think they have a chance of winning two ballgames in a row."

As NBC signs off, Costas lets us know that Red Foley, official scorer has deemed the final score 4-3. It is a Grand Slam Single for Ventura, a manic coda to a bizarre, frenetic, ridiculously extended ballgame. Just like you imagined.

How did we get here? How the hell are we still alive?

Final Score
Mets - 4
Braves - 3
(15 Innings)
Braves Lead Series 3-2

To Be Continued...
Part VIII - The War of The Worlds

Time of the Season

Dear Mets Seven Pack Purchaser:

Thank you for your support among the record 3.85 million Mets fans who came out to Shea Stadium in 2007. Our entire organization looks forward to a return to championship excitement as we approach our final year at Shea in 2008, and we hope you will be part of it.

Omar and our baseball staff are aggressively exploring every opportunity to improve the team - through trades, free agent signings, or player development. Our Ownership is committed to provide the resources to build upon the nucleus of our ballclub - All-Stars Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, and David Wright; and a pitching staff anchored by Pedro Martinez, "El Duque," 15-game winners John Maine and Oliver Perez, and All-Star closer Billy Wagner.

We all hope to conclude our year-long salute to Shea in 2008 with a Championship celebration. Throughout the season, we will commemorate the history of the ballpark with unique promotions, special events and return visits by many of your favorite Mets.

This was in today's e-mail. Is it really that time of year already? I'm still stewing over the way last year's model turned out, and now I have to start worrying about 2008? Oy veh.

The former El Guapo and I both bought seven packs last year, which was basically our primary ticket purchase for the season. It's always annoying the way they put these packs together, for example, on one such pack I was able to attend 6 of the 7 games. On the other, 5 of the 7. And a number of the games ended up bunched together, leaving us going to games on back-to-back nights, or 2 out of 3 nights. The way I assume my schedule for the Summer will break out, there are a few packs that are automatically useless to me, such as the packs that only feature weekend games. But this year, a rarity: I could actually attend all seven games on the Power Pack.

Two years ago, it was perfect. There was one pack, the "Pedro Pack," that featured Opening day, and one of the Yankees games. But the Mets have gotten cute and stopped putting both of those games on one pack. I was hoping there would be a pack with Opening day and the last game at Shea on it; no such luck there either. And the "Shea Goodbye" pack is all weekend games, which I never attend, except for the last game of the season.

Maybe when Citi Field opens, they'll get their act together. Something tells me that's not going to happen, though. Not for $400 a pack.

Dopes to Infinity

I feel as though I should have some sort of larger reaction to the Mitchell Report being released yesterday, but to be honest, I feel largely indifferent. My thoughts on the Steroid issue in Baseball have been well-documented here. It's not as though naming names is going to somehow bring justice to the situation, because nothing can. If nothing else, it just confirms for us who, exactly, the cheaters were, when they did it, and if they were willing to respond to the allegations. And even then, who even knows if this was a full list?

Admittedly, I had WFAN on in my office all afternoon. I heard Mike & The Mad Dog talk about it, I heard the names, and the speeches and the fallout. I even took a glance or two at the sprawling 409-page report itself. But was I surprised at the reactions? No. Was I surprised at the conclusion? No. Some of the names surprised me, but then again, the players who have been suspended for Steroid use since the testing was put into place in 2004 haven't exactly been marquee names.

As far as the Mets are concerned, well, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn't think Lenny Dykstra or Todd Hundley probably used steroids in their time with the Mets. Just looking at Dykstra in February, 1989, showing up twice his normal size, or Hundley exploding for 41 HRs in 1996 after barely topping 15 the year before, you wanted to think that they were doing it on their own. It's upsetting, as a fan, to know that your guys were among the ones using, but then again, given the system of Baseball, especially following the Strike of 1994, maybe the ones who should be singled out are the players who weren't using.

It's been argued that since nobody bothered to go after Steroids until 2003 or so, that it's not cheating. Steroids were, in fact, made illegal in Major League Baseball in 1991, but no efforts were made to test players, and, as I've contended, Selig more than likely turned a blind eye towards the players who were using after the Strike in 1994. More bloated hitters meant more offense, people love offense, why stop now? But then, why all of a sudden do this 180º turn when it all blows up?

Part of me wants to believe that this is all one great conspiracy to try to break up the MLB Players Union. There is no other professional sports Players Union with more power than the MLBPU. The Owners know this, and they hate it. They'd probably prefer to have Free Agency abolished and go back to the reserve clause if they could force it upon the players. But that would never happen. Even the Media, rats that they are, like to try to attack the players' union and blame this whole mess on them. But the blame, I believe, comes back to the owners and to Selig on all fronts. Steroids, Testing and Culpability for allowing this to continue.

If this is all some sort of effort by Selig to strengthen his legacy, well, he's done that all right. He's cemented his place as one of the strongest creampuffs of all time.

There's one really good thing that came out of all of this, however...

This was mentioned on Mike & the Mad Dog yesterday, but it bears bringing up again. With Roger Clemens being implicated in the Mitchell Report, and with his career path lending itself to quite a bit of scrutiny (somehow resurrecting himself after age 35), Mike Piazza is sure to have the last laugh in their long-winded feud. If the treatment of Mark McGwire is any indication, Clemens has likely done irreversible damage to his Hall of Fame Chances. Mike Piazza, on the other hand, hasn't been implicated in anything. He did it all on Meatballs and Penthouse Models. And he's going to be the one chuckling his way into Cooperstown, while Clemens is busy hocking cheeseburgers at Houston-area Sonic Restaurants with Andy Pettitte.

20 Days in October, Part VI

...Continued from Part V
Part IV Part III Part II Part I

Thursday, October 14
The Mets return home, hot and out of humor, trailing the Braves 0-2. It seems as though these first two games have played out exactly the same, just like every other game they've played in Atlanta over the past month. Too much pitching, too little offense, too many bad breaks, too many questionable decisions, too much poor execution. Neither team is hitting particularly well in this series, a testament to the pitching on both sides. But it's the Braves who have done the little things, executed those miniscule details just well enough to swing both games their way. Game 3 will be no easier, with Tom Glavine taking the hill for Atlanta, a seasoned postseason veteran in his own right. But with the Mets, especially the middle of their order, Olerud, Piazza and Ventura, experiencing a major power outage, the Mets are severely lacking in punch.

It's easy to say Game 3 is a must-win for the Mets. To this point, no team has ever come back from 0-3 to win a playoff series, and only once has a team even forced a Game 6. That was last year, when the Braves themselves won two against San Diego after falling behind 0-3.

Coming home, many of these Mets feel that being in their park, with their fans behind them is certain to change their luck. The crowd is sure to be raucous, cheering on their team, and ready to give an earful to the Braves, especially a couple of players on their side who have been the poster boys for the indignities inflicted upon their team.

Larry expects it. He's wisely backed off his statements. In fact, he's so wary of the treatment he expects to receive, he's considering wearing earplugs. Rocker, on the other hand, can't help but give the fans more ammo. "To hell with the New York fans. They're a bunch of stupid assholes anyway. They keep saying we suck. If we suck so much, how come they can't beat us? They're a tired act," is the quote.

This series is about to take a turn for the surreal.

Friday, October 15
Game 3

Four minutes before this pitch was thrown in Game 2, the Mets were shutting out the Braves. But both the Mets Bobby Valentine, and the Braves Bobby Cox know that in the Postseason, a lead is precious, and any move they make, or don't make will be magnified. Kenny Rogers' pitching error suddenly became Valentine's burden. His self- proclaimed error in judgement cost the Mets the lead. Across the diamond, Cox demonstrated why he's winning the managerial chess match. In the 8th, John Rocker's two strikeouts surrounded a strategic intentional walk. Advantage Cox. In the 9th, he stunned observers by removing Rocker and calling on Smoltz in relief. If anyone questioned that, Smoltz had the answer. A 1-2-3 9th, capped by a strikeout. Down 2 games, it's now Valentine's turn to make the next move. Will his troops regain their belief, and rally in front of their home crowd? Or will the Braves continue to roll? Game 3, next.

-Bob Costas

NBC opens with a montage of more Mets frustration plays, beginning with Eddie Perez's Home Run, through Bobby Valentine tossing his cap across the Mets dugout, and capped off with John Smoltz pumping his fist at the end of Game 2. I'm beginning to get sick of this. We cut to Shea Stadium, from the blimp. I can't remember the last time I'd ever seen Shea Stadium from a blimp. They usually don't fly by Shea, probably because of its proximity to LaGuardia Airport. Unlike in Atlanta, Shea will be jam packed tonight. Shots of fans, 55,911 strong, streaming off the 7 train, carrying signs, banners, what have you, reveal that they're here, and they're ready to rock.

Costas, dressed in his Emo costume, a sport jacket with a black turtleneck, no tie, brings us up to speed. It's Leiter and Glavine tonight, and both he and Morgan proclaim Leiter to be "as close to a stopper as the Mets have got." He'd proven to be up to the task at least in his last 3 starts. And the Mets desperately need him to come up big here. Especially with the middle of the Mets order a miserable 1 for 21 in the series.

Bobby has juggled his lineup a bit tonight. He says it's to combat the "Rocker Factor," the lefty stopper coming in and getting Olerud, pitching around Piazza, and getting Ventura. He's switched Olerud and Alfonzo in the lineup, and moved Ventura to 6th, behind Piazza and Benny Agbayani. It remains to be seen if that's going to work.

Meanwhile, things seem peaceful on the Atlanta side. Unless John Rocker is involved. During the pregame introductions, Rocker is booed, loudly and heartily, and he responds by giving an exaggerated, over-the-top tip of his cap. Already, Rocker has engaged in verbal disputes with fans, screaming and pointing at them, as they yell and hurl things at him. In the dugout, he's interviewed by Jim Gray. In between "Uh" and "Duh," Rocker states that "It's kind of enjoyable knowing that I can get in their fans heads that bad, to know that I can push their buttons by a couple of comments. I'd be more upset if if I walked out expecting boos and jeers and they were quiet." It's almost as though he'd rather have this negative attention drawn on himself. He follows this up by talking about some of the things that Mets fans have said to him: "I don't think it's right and somebody needs to speak out about how we don't need to hear these kinds of things or fear for our safety at a simple baseball game."

In Atlanta, the largest security concern was counterfeiting and trademark endorsement. Whatever that is. In New York, the security concern is crowd control. In addition to the over 500 uniformed policemen already at the stadium, extra undercover officers are abound. Snipers are posted on the top of the stadium if necessary.

This isn't just a simple Baseball game. It's war. And the main aggressor wears #49 for the opposition.

As the Mets take the field, Shea is rocking. Costas proclaims that Leiter "truly has been a stopper" as he recaps his last 3 outings. Morgan, in comparing Leiter and Glavine, tells is that "the only similarity is that they are both left-handed." Leiter will throw hard and come inside on righties. As Gerald Williams steps to the plate—accompanied by loud boos— we're ready to get going. This crowd is ready to bust out of their seats. On 1-1 to Williams, they're already chanting "LETS GO METS!" Leiter gets to 2-2, and again, the crowd is up with 2 strikes, but Leiter misses high with his next two pitches, walking Williams. Funny, Williams has led off each game by getting on base.

Unlike Kenny Rogers, Leiter does not have a good pickoff move. The Braves know this, and they figure to test Leiter and Piazza often in this game. Boone is next, and on 1-2 hits a chopper back to Leiter. Leiter immediately turns toward second, but realizes he may not have time. He turns, to go for the sure out at first, and lobs the ball toward Olerud. But he rushed the throw. He never aimed, and his throw is wide of first, pulling Olerud off the bag. Great. 2 on, nobody out, and guess who's up?

Hello, Larry.

To say that Larry was simply booed is an understatement. There is an audible, disgusted groan that goes up from the audience when he is announced. There are shots of signs being held up around the stadium. One such sign shows a crude drawing of Larry getting his head chopped off by a tomahawk. Costas tells us that Piazza always says, "Hi, Larry!" whenever he steps in the box. His reasoning? "I refuse to call a grown man 'Chipper.'" On 0-1, the crowd is chanting "LARRY SUCKS!" When Larry pops to Alfonzo, the crowd roars with delight.

That might be the high point of the evening.

On the first pitch to Jordan, both runners break. Piazza comes up, and appears to slip somewhat on home plate as he throws towards second, trying to get Boone. But his throw is horrible. It's so poor, in fact, that it sails way over Alfonzo's head and into Center Field, allowing Williams to score, and Boone to move to 3rd. The defense, the one sure thing on this team, is now abandoning them. "Here are the Mets. Who made only 68 errors the whole year, easily the lowest figure in the history of baseball, they have made 2 errors this inning, and 5 in the series," is the quote from Costas. Another bad break, and another early lead for Atlanta.

They threaten to extend this lead on the next pitch. Jordan lifts a fly ball to medium center. It's Mora starting in Center tonight, against the lefthander, instead of Hamilton or Cedeno. After his clutch defense in the Division series, and his strong showing in Game 2, Mora's earned it. And he's going to earn it even more when he catches Jordan's fly ball, and his throw home is dead on the money, right into Piazza's glove as he blocks the plate and braces for the impact. Boone is toast. His only chance is to try to knock the ball out. He lowers his shoulder and slams into Piazza. Piazza's mask, and the catcher-cam within, go flying. Piazza is knocked flat on his back, and lies there for a moment. But he holds the ball. Boone is out. The inning is over.

The concern immediately shifts to Piazza. Boone immediately reached over to see if he was ok. Fred Hina, the trainer, and Valentine came out to check on him. Piazza is dazed, but walks off on his own power. On the bench, he looks to be in space world. That's not encouraging.

Announcing the Mets lineup, Costas shows us his humorous side. "The middle of the Mets order has made about as much noise as Marcel Marceau." It's not very funny, but it is true.

As Glavine is warming up, Costas and Morgan are extolling his virtues. He's a D-Bag, as far as I'm concerned. Rickey is back, healthy, and in the leadoff spot. But he takes strike 3 on the inside corner. The trademark Glavine strike. Rickey argues with the umpire, Charlie Reliford, to no avail. The pitch was probably a few inches inside. Questec hasn't been invented yet, so Glavine gets the call.

With 1 out, it's Olerud, who hasn't hit outside of the #3 spot, all season long. Olerud draws a walk. It's the first of many instances where the Mets will put the tying run on base. Costas tells us that Glavine has allowed 18 first inning runs in 35 starts in 1999. He's had first inning issues. So, of course Alfonzo strikes out on the next pitch, and Piazza, still shaking out the cobwebs, rolls to Boone at second. If this weren't a playoff game, Todd Pratt would probably be catching right now.

In the 2nd, it's more talk about Piazza and his lack of bearings. Andruw Jones strikes out on a wild pitch. It hops by Piazza and rolls to the backstop, and by time Mike can pick it up, Jones is aboard. Perez follows by hitting one deep in the hole at short. Ordonez goes into his trademark slide and appears poised to turn his amazing, yet routine, double play. But he drops the ball while transferring it from his glove to his hand. Everyone is safe. I'm ready to throw my television out the window. What the fuck is going on here? But next, the Mets finally catch a break. Brian Hunter hits a liner right to Ventura. Andruw was way off second base, and he's easily doubled off. Rey makes the turn as if he might have a chance for Perez at first, but Perez is able to get back. Weiss strikes out. The crowd roars.

Another look from Catcher-Cam as we start the bottom of the 2nd. Piazza caught the 3rd strike to Weiss and didn't immediately get up. He looked at the ball for a few seconds before walking off. He's clearly a little off. Morgan believes this to be true. He also talks about the effect Cookie Rojas' suspension has had on the team. Bruce Benedict is now coaching 3rd, instead of being Bobby's ear on the bench. Not only have moves not been made, but the players have not been used to getting signs from Benedict, and there have been mix-ups. It's a comforting thought to the already distraught Mets fan.

With 2 outs, it's Mora at the plate, and just as Costas talks about how he has come out of nowhere to really have a fine postseason, he drills a single to right off Glavine. Morgan suggests that Mora may want to try to steal with Ordonez up. Problem is, if it doesn't work, Ordonez leads off the 3rd. Morgan says that Ordonez could get on base, but Ordonez hasn't been able to hit his weight this postseason. Mora runs anyway, Boone runs to cover 2nd, and Ordonez puts forth the best piece of situational hitting in his life, slapping the ball right where Boone had been playing. Mora goes to 3rd, runners on the corners, and the Mets have a rally going, and...Oh. Leiter's up.

Leiter works the count full and puts forth a good effort before striking out on a Glavine curve that was probably ball 4.

In the bottom of the 3rd, it's Rickey leading off with a single, but with the hit and run on, Olerud hits the ball right at Weiss, near the bag at 2nd, who turns the easiest of 6-4-3 double plays. Alfonzo strikes out again, and that's that.

In the 4th, Hello, Larry. More boos. Craig Sager tells us that Rickey may have hurt his back sliding into 2nd. His slide was late, and a bit awkward. He rolled over the base before coming to a stop. With this in mind, Larry rips a drive down the left field line. Rickey charges the ball and comes up with it, but Larry's racing for 2nd. Rickey fires the ball back in towards Alfonzo, and his throw is right on the money. Larry is out by a good margin. The crowd loves it.

But the Mets still can't get a damn thing going against Glavine. They get hits, but nary a big one. This time, it's Piazza singling hard into right field for his first of the series. They have the beginnings of a rally when Mora hits a parachute single in front of Jordan 2 outs later. Piazza is on 3rd, but Ordonez grounds out to Hunter.

The 5th begins exactly the same as the 4th. Perez leads off with a liner down the left field line, bounding into foul ground. Perez is slow, and chugging around the bases. Rickey again charges the ball and comes up firing. His throw to Alfonzo is again a perfect strike. Perez makes an awkward, ugly slide into second, and he, like Larry before him, is easily tagged out. After a walk to Hunter, Leiter gets Weiss and Glavine. After his rough first, Leiter has settled in and done a great job. He's kept the Braves off the board. But the Mets offense has generated nothing but a smattering of singles, none of them key. In their half of the 5th, it's a 2 out single from Olerud. That's it.

In the 6th, Ordonez makes that backhand play that he couldn't make in the 2nd. With Boone at the plate, Ordonez makes a sparkling play, prompting Costas to gush, "They should just walk out there and hand him the gold glove right now!"

Hello, Larry. Signs in the stands have become more and more creative. Such gems include:
"HEY LARRY, WHERE'S MOE?"
"HELLO, LARRY!" featuring Larry Fine's head on Jones' body.
Larry strikes out. The crowd goes wild.

In the Mets half of the 6th, Piazza drills the first pitch from Glavine deep down the right field line, but it hooks foul. He will single through the hole on the left side on the next pitch. It's the 7th hit for the Mets off Glavine, but none of them have been productive. And it will also be the last hit the Mets will get. In fact, it's the last hit for either team tonight. On a 1-1 pitch, Agbayani hits a screamer down the right field line foul. Some fans in the temporary box seats on the field reach over to try to get the ball...and they manage to knock over the entire temporary wall down the line. People who have probably paid quite a bit of money for these seats are now soaked in their own beers. These seats would become permanent in 2000, but for now, they're just folding chairs and a wooden barrier. There's a lengthy delay while the grounds crew tries to fix the wall, and Glavine whiles away the time by soft tossing with Perez. Meanwhile, Cox gets impatient and goes out to argue with the umpire. A grounds crew member is smashing the wall with a hammer, trying to wedge it back into place. The wood splinters everywhere.

While this delay is going on, Costas takes another opportunity to remind us that the Mets have the wonderful task of having to face Glavine, followed by Smoltz and Maddux this weekend. All this while trying to come back from 0-2 and facing a team that has beaten them 20 of their last 26 games. Why even bother playing the rest of the series?

Finally, we're back, after a delay of about 7 minutes or so. Benny hits it well, and deep to center, but Andruw runs it down. Ventura and Mora also fly out. Something's gotta happen soon. Right?

Leiter is done after 7 yeoman innings. He had come on deck with Ordonez leading off, but when Ordonez struck out, Dunston was sent up to pinch hit. Dunston swings through Strike 3, but Perez let the ball roll away from him, and then didn't really make an effort to go pick it up, and Dunston reaches. Perhaps this is the break. But it's not. Henderson flies out on the first pitch, and with the count 3-1 on Olerud, Dunston is thrown out stealing. Balls. It doesn't seem as though Glavine has been at all dominant, but here he is, walking off the mound after 7 shutout innings. What the fuck.

Franco starts off in the 8th by walking Weiss. Glavine bats for himself and sacrifices Weiss to 2nd. Enough messing around. Valentine goes right to Benitez, who has been tough on Atlanta hitters all season. He gets Williams to fly out, and blows away Boone. This energizes the crowd. But can it inspire his teammates?

Piazza got hit by a backswing from Williams, we see on Catcher-Cam as the bottom of the 8th begins. As if he weren't banged up enough already. Remlinger comes on for the Braves in the 8th. The Mets go quietly, 1-2-3, including Alfonzo's 3rd strikeout, and a deep drive to right by Piazza that Jordan runs down. As the ball is caught, Piazza's disgust is evident, as he begins screaming and swearing to himself.

In the 9th, Hello, Larry. Costas surmises that Larry's comments were based on his reaction to Benitez's on-field hysterics, pumping his fist and whatnot. But Benitez gets him again, freezing him on an unhittable splitter on the outside corner. He also strikes out Jordan, and gets Jones to fly out. 3 outs left for the Mets, against the real enemy.

As the Bullpen door opens, and Rocker comes streaking in towards the infield, the boos begin to echo from one end of the stadium to another. Small objects come flying towards him as he runs. He's oblivious to all of it. He's unflappable on the mound, and he's out for Met blood. That is all too evident. The fans can't get to him, and he loves this fact. He is about to turn this evening from frustrating to galling, embarrassing, humiliating. Costas tells us that Rocker's birthday is Sunday, and he will be spending it in the city in which he is most despised. Agbayani leads off, with Pratt on deck to hit for Ventura. Agbayani hits a roller to Weiss, who fields it, bobbles it, gathers it and fires to first...too late. Agbayani is on, and the crowd is roaring with delight. It's a chance against the enemy. Pratt is next. It's a controversial move, removing the popular and veteran Ventura for Pratt. Some Mets players will take it as a slight. But not only is Ventura slumping, he hasn't been able to touch Rocker. But on this night, Pratt can't either, striking out on a high fastball. Rocker's grunts are audible on each pitch. Mora follows, and he hits it well, and deep to right center field. But it's not deep enough. Jones runs it down. A few feet from being an instant hero, Mora is despondent as he walks off. 7 hits to the Braves 3, and on 2 of them, the runner was thrown out. Unbelievable. Cedeno is on deck, on the off chance Ordonez can come through. But Ordonez hits the first pitch weakly to Weiss, who flips to Boone for the final out. Rocker lets out a wild screech as he leaps off the mound, then spins towards the fans and begins screaming at them uncontrollably. The crowd has suddenly and instantly become very quiet, as if the reality of the Mets situation has become clear in that one instant, the instant Rocker began stomping around the Shea infield, his chest pumped out, a defiant stare on his face as he slapped hands with his teammates. Costas says that Piazza "said I'd still take our team over theirs. But by the results, that statement is hard to justify."

Walking off the field, Rocker flashes to the crowd with his fingers, 3-0. Galling. It's just galling for this to happen. It's bad enough to lose to the Braves. It's even worse to be humiliated at home, on an unearned run, down 0-3 to our most bitter rival, having them come in, do all their talking and then knock us around, and to top it all off with this clown whooping it up. This team has played its way into our hearts and left a great mark on Mets history. But they're about to be embarrassed in their own park. If they want to go any further, they're going to have to do something that's never been done before, and make some more history in the process.

Final Score
Braves - 1
Mets - 0
Braves Lead Series, 3-0

Saturday, October 16

Game 4

The privilege of wearing an Atlanta Braves jersey in the 90s. The exhilaration and disappointment that comes with near perfection. The highlight of the decade, the 1995 World Championship. The 1999 Braves, another season of excellence. Big contributions from unlikely sources. And the expected production from the games best arms. The combination of talent and professionalism that has them one win away from erasing the Mets for good. One win away from their fifth World Series appearance in the 90s. The overwhelming odds say that Atlanta should advance to the World Series, if not tonight, then soon enough. And if and when they do, another piece of evidence will be added to the case for the Atlanta Braves as the team of the decade. Game 4, next.

-Bob Costas

It's bad enough that the opening to tonight's game is a veritable lather job of the Braves. To make matters worse, an image of a broom sweeping away a Mets logo is mixed into the NBC opening montage, which closes with an image of Rocker screaming and leaping off the mound at the end of Game 3.

Shea looks quiet on TV, from the blimp, and it probably is. That's not to say that it's not full, at 55,872. It's not as packed as last night, but close enough. Costas tells us that "The circumstances are far from pretty for the home team. Faced with the prospect of having to win 4 straight to win the series, something that has never happened. If Smoltz can get the W, the Braves not only advance, they get a week's rest."

Good. That makes me feel so much better. I can't take it tonight. I can't be around to watch this. I've got the VCR running, and I'm going out for the evening. If they win, I can watch it later. If not, burn the tape.

The games have all been close, Morgan tells us. It has basically come down to the following failures by the Mets:
Game 1 - Squeeze
Game 2 - Indecision
Game 3 - Mistakes
"The Mets have made great individual defensive plays, but they have not played good team defense," Morgan states.

An interview with Smoltz before the game with Jim Gray is hilarious. Smoltz does nothing but spout cliches, and he's spouting bad cliches at that. He says "This team will not finish its job until it is finished," and follows that up with "When you go to the postseason and you make good pitches, you will get good hitters out." Thank you, John, for that moment of enlightenment.

On the other side, Craig Sager talks with Piazza, who says "I feel pretty good. Good night's sleep and a couple aspirins, I'm feeling all right. Adrenaline has a way of being a pretty good drug itself. But if I don't feel like I can contribute, I won't go out there," and when asked about his team's circumstances, says "This team has never lied over and died the whole year. We just have to go out there and keep going at it. Whatever happens, happens."

Later, Sager talks to Valentine, and asks him what he told his team before the game. Valentine won't reveal his pregame speech, and is as elusive as ever, but he does say that "Someone is eventually going to win 4 after losing 3, but that's not what we're here to do tonight. We're just here to win 1." He finishes the interview and waves to fans in the seats before stepping into the dugout.

Costas and Morgan then talk some more about the Braves making quick work of the Mets before the Mets finally take the field. The start time of the game was pushed back for some reason. It was scheduled for a 7:42 start time, but probably started closer to 8. The Mets take the field. Everyone, that is, except for Reed, who, given the extra time, is still sitting in the dugout. Costas says that Valentine considers this the Mets 4th Postseason series, considering all the games they had to win against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati just to be able to play Arizona and Atlanta. Reed finally takes the mound, and gets a big hand when he emerges from the dugout.

Gary Carter threw out the first pitch at tonight's game. He had suggested, as a means of changing the Mets luck, throwing the pitch from home plate to second base. But someone mentioned to him that that was how the only run of the game scored last night, and it might be considered a slap at Piazza. So Carter threw the pitch the traditional way, to Piazza.

The Mets wear Black on this evening, after wearing the whites in Game 3. The crowd is festive. If this is going to be the Mets last stand in what has been a fine season, so be it. If we fall, we fall together.

As Gerald Williams steps in, Costas tells us that in this series, Eddie Perez is hitting 6 for 10 through the first 3 games. All other Braves are batting .182. Still, they lead 3-0. Go figure. Williams flies out to Right, and it's notable because it's the first time the Mets have managed to retire Williams to start the game.

Boone is booed loudly after his collision with Piazza last night. Boone's father, Bob Boone, was a catcher for many years. What would he say about that? Boone went into Piazza with his shoulder, and apparently was unable to speak when he got back to the dugout. He strikes out. Reed looks sharp early.

Hello, Larry. Guess what the reception is? Costas says Jones is "Hearing the sort of invective reserved for Midtown traffic and Reggie Miller." He rolls to second. Nice inning for Reed.

The Mets line up in similar fashion to last night. Olerud is 2nd, Alfonzo is 3rd. Cedeno is back in the lineup, batting 7th, and Hamilton starts in center, batting 6th, all against John Smoltz, who threw 11 pitches in his relief stint in Game 2. Costas and Morgan talk about how Smoltz has been battling elbow pain throughout the season, and changed his delivery from over the top to 3/4. He's managed to keep his velocity up despite this. He had been on the DL twice during the season, and had thought about retiring. But after experimenting with the new arm angle, and feeling good, he's kept going. He makes quick work of the Mets in the first.

It's the 30th Anniversary of the Mets capping off the greatest miracle of all, winning the 1969 World Series, Costas tells us as the 2nd inning begins. Costas and Morgan talk about how Reed reminds people of Greg Maddux. Gee, that's never been said before. He goes from inside to outside with his pitches, and always hits the corners. Reed finally came into his own with the Mets after knocking around forever. He has proven himself and overcome resentment after being a replacement player during the strike. But many of the Mets feel that he has earned the right to be here. He is very superstitious. He only eats chicken and pasta on days he starts, and always wears the same t-shirt when he pitches. "Thankfully, he washes it between starts," Costas adds.

Klesko battles against Reed before striking out on a high fastball. Klesko obviously is frustrated with himself. Reed retires Atlanta in order in the 2nd.

Piazza leads off for the Mets in the 2nd. "Mike Piazza, career .328 hitter, under .200 lifetime in postseason. Playing this october through clenched teeth. Bad thumb, weak knee, collision at the plate last night, if these games weren't so important, Piazza would be sitting," Costas tells us. Piazza hits the ball solidly, but can only fly to left. Ventura pops to 3rd. The crowd gets very loud as Larry gets set to catch the ball. But they cannot distract him. He makes the catch.

Both pitchers are perfect through the first two innings. This has the makings of yet another pitchers duel. Reed retires the Braves in order on 7 pitches in the 3rd. Cedeno leads off for the Mets with a flare into short left field for the game's first hit. But the Mets can't move him any further than second. Meanwhile, Costas is still raving over Smoltz's arm angle. He says that "Craig Biggio said that he had 50 career at bats against somebody else named John Smoltz. This is a whole different pitcher."

Reed is motoring in the 4th. We have a shot from the Blimp, and according to Costas, "Folks, it just isn't baseball without the view from above." With 1 out, Boone hits an 87 hopper up the middle for Atlanta's first hit. And Hello, Larry. Another friendly reception for Jones. On 1-1, Boone takes off. The pitch is a strike, and Piazza's throw is high, but Ordonez is right in position. He makes the catch and zips his arm down to slap a tag on Boone, in time for the out. On the next pitch, Jones makes a halfhearted swing through a slider in the dirt. Inning over. 9 pitches for Reed in the 4th.

Alfonzo is up with 1 out in the 4th. He was red hot until he faced Glavine in Game 3, whom he can't hit. He was 0-4 with 3K, and now 0-2 tonight after he K's here. Can one bad night against a pitcher you don't hit well throw you off your rhythm? Piazza follows, and on the first pitch to Piazza, Smoltz groans and shakes out his elbow. He obviously hurt it throwing what looked to be a breaking ball. He is still shaking it out one pitch later. Guess we won't be seeing any more sliders from Smoltz. He's still shaking it out a few pitches later. You figure he won't throw the slider if it hurts his elbow. You try to sit on the tailing fastball. So of course he comes back with the slider to K Piazza. But at what cost?

In the 5th, the report out of the Atlanta dugout is that Smoltz went into the clubhouse in between innings, came back and said he was fine. Apparently, his elbow always hurts, but he just did something in particular on that pitch to Piazza. Meanwhile, Reed just zips along, Jordan flies out, Klesko grounds to Alfonzo and Jones grounds to Ventura, and Reed is through the 5th inning on 6 pitches.

Smoltz comes back in the bottom of the 5th and does not appear to show any ill effects. Hamilton strikes out looking on a wicked fastball that moves inside and then tails back over the plate. He's dumbfounded. He argues with the umpire. It even crossed up Eddie Perez. Cedeno follows, and hits a high popup towards the seats near 3rd base. Larry gives chase, but it bounces in the seats, and bounces back to Jones. He takes the ball and walks back towards the infield. He looks at the ball, then he turns around and tosses the ball into the seats. A fan catches it, and the surrounding fans immediately begin yelling for the fan to throw the ball back. But the fan won't throw it back. Cedeno singles, his second hit of the game, on a 3-2 pitch. He's got the only 2 hits for the Mets so far, and he's been the only Met hitting with any real consistency in this series. He tries to steal a base, but Ordonez swings at the pitch he's running on and flies out.

In the 6th, Reed is again brilliantly efficient. He's thrown 46 pitches through the first 5 innings, and he gets through the 6th with 9 more. Not only that, he's faced the minimum. In the biggest start of his life, Reed has come up big, if only to keep the game even because his team's not hitting either.

Until John Olerud comes up with 2 out and nobody on in the bottom of the 6th. Any one run could win this game, and that's why it's significant when Olerud hits a 1-1 pitch like a rocket over the wall, a no doubt shot that lands just under the far right end of the scoreboard. Jordan turns and can't even give it a courtesy run. Costas' call: "Olerud drills it to deep right and this one is on its way and gone! And there's the breakthrough!" Valentine in the dugout reacts with only a brief nod of his head.

Now pitching with the lead, Reed goes back to work and mows the Braves down again in the 7th. But this time, he is battling a bit harder. Hello, Larry is the 3rd man to face him, and while the crowd continues to jeer and point at him, Larry works Reed to a 3-1 count. It's Reed's first 3-ball count of the night. But he rebounds, throwing a fastball on 3-2 that tails away from Jones, tails away from his bat for strike 3. Reed pumps his fist as he walks off. The crowd is electric. A fan has K cards with Larry Fine's face.

As the game moves to the top of the 8th, Rickey re-assumes his position out in Left Field. But suddenly, Mora is racing out to him, and Rickey sheepishly walks off. Valentine, admittedly, made a mistake. He wanted to send in Mora for defense, and forgot to make the move. But Rickey is sensitive, and Rickey is insulted. He storms off the field, and runs into the clubhouse. On the mound, Reed has thrown 70 pitches coming into the top of the 8th, and has just been cruising along. There's no reason to think he would have any difficulties here whatsoever, which is why it's so jarring when Brian Jordan drills the first pitch deep to center and off the USPS sign on the front of the bleachers. The ball bounces back on the field, and Costas surmises that it might have hit the top of the wall, as Mora fires the ball back in, but it was over the wall. Home Run, and just like that, tie game. Jordan does his dance-step around the bases, and finishes with his little sidestep across the plate, before charging into the dugout. Wendell and Cook are up in the bullpen immediately. Smoltz is whooping it up. And two pitches later, he's whooping it up even more when Klesko unloads and launches a long Home Run of his own, into the same spot Olerud's went. Klesko drops his bat and waves his arms before rounding the bases, pumping his fist. The Braves are all out of the dugout to greet Klesko. It's taken them 3 pitches, but all of a sudden, they're now 6 outs from the pennant. It's dead quiet at Shea except for the Braves. Wallace and Piazza walk very slowly to the mound. Reed looks disgusted. Everyone looks disgusted. With themselves, and with the world. Valentine can do nothing but pace in the dugout. Reed departs to a standing ovation, a 73 pitch effort that just came apart suddenly at the end. Wendell comes in. Reed is throwing cups around the dugout. Larry and Klesko are horsing around in the Atlanta dugout. Wendell gets through the 8th unscathed. But is there any fight left in the Mets?

Smoltz remains on for Atlanta in the bottom of the 8th, now 6 outs from the pennant. Cedeno leads off, with Remlinger and Rocker in the bullpen, and Matt Franco on deck to hit for Ordonez. Cedeno singles up the middle for his 3rd hit of the night. Agbayani is called back and Ordonez comes to the plate, again to attempt the sacrifice. If Valentine sends up Franco, Cox is certainly going to counter with Remlinger. Ordonez, however, can only pop up the bunt directly to Brian Hunter at first, in for defense. It's almost identical to the stinker he laid in Game 2. Ordonez is booed off. Franco is announced as the pinch hitter for Wendell, and as soon as he is, Cox emerges to remove Smoltz from the game, in favor of Remlinger. Here we go again. Every move the Braves make works, and the Mets can't get a damn thing right. Valentine counters by sending up Agbayani for Franco. Costas and Morgan are beseeching Cedeno to steal second. He bluffs and bluffs but won't go, and eventually, Agbayani strikes out. 4 outs to go for the Braves. Mora is next. On 1-0, Cedeno finally runs. The pitch is low, and it seems like Perez caught it almost standing up. His throw is way off to the right, no chance to get Cedeno. Now, it's down to Mora. And Mora works the count. On 2-0, Mora hits a long drive down the right field line foul. Mora works out the walk. Olerud follows, and Cox makes themove for Rocker. Olerud is now 0-9 with 5K against Rocker, so this is an easy call for Cox. He double switches Rocker into the game, with Ozzie Guillen coming in for Weiss at SS. And as Rocker dashes in, more boos and more projectiles come flying from the stands. Cedeno and Mora talk on the basepaths. There needs to be a plan against Rocker. Try to shake him up and change the Mets luck against him. If not now, then never. He cannot celebrate on our field. Everyone on the Mets side knows this. Rocker is grunting audibly on each pitch again. On 1-1, the runners go. Rocker's pitch is low and in the dirt. Perez cannot make a throw and it's a double steal. Maybe they figured out there is no tomorrow, and now they're letting everything go. The crowd is up again. On 2-2, Olerud bounces one through the middle. Guillen makes a valiant effort, but can only deflect it with his glove, out into short center field! Cedeno scores! Mora is racing for the plate right behind him! Mora scores, and jumps into Cedeno's arms at home. Finally, the Mets catch a break!

Costas' call: "A bouncing ball through the middle. Guillen! Knocks it down but can't make the play! The tying run scores and here comes the lead run as Mora comes across!"
It wasn't at all a pretty hit by Olerud, but it did the job. Finally, the break came for the Mets. Finally, a move worked against the Braves. This was a tough play for Guillen, in the game cold and all, but it's questionable if even Weiss could have made the play. It wasn't much of a hit, but it plates two. Olerud battled Rocker and finally came through. Rocker came with the curve, but it wasn't snapped off quite as sharply as he normally gets it off. With the runner on third, he could not afford to do so, lest he risk a wild pitch. Benitez is finally able to warm up and take the mound with the lead, and the Braves have not been able to hit him at all. Alfonzo Ks, but the Mets get a standing ovation. For the first time in the series, they have gotten the break and taken the late lead. Rocker skulks off the mound quickly, and is stone-faced in the dugout. He sips Gatorade and glares out at the field in frustration.

Benitez comes on for the Mets in the 9th, with the Braves 0-23 against him this season. Guillen leads off, and on 2-1, he gives every fan in attendance a heart attack when he launches a drive deep down the right field line. It has Home Run distance, but it hooks just barely foul at the last second. On the 3-2 pitch, he lines one to right. Cedeno seems to misjudge the ball briefly, and it nearly goes over his head before he twists around, stretches out and makes the catch. Williams flies out to Cedeno on the first pitch. One out from Game 5. Keith Lockhart, a pesky, annoying hitter, hits for Boone. On the bench, Benny Agbayani is praying for the last out. Benitez is pumping fastball after fastball, and Lockhart can't catch up. His final pitch is another one, just on the outside corner. Lockhart is frozen. The Mets have finally broken through in this tense 3-2 victory. "There it is!" is the call from Costas as L.A. Woman plays and the crowd roars. Piazza walks to the mound and embraces Benitez as the Mets stream out of the dugout, victorious at last.

To recap, Costas says "Tonight, at least late in the game, Bobby Valentine's moves worked."
Right after the double switch, Olerud gets the hit off of Guillen's glove, Cedeno and Mora score after a double steal. The ride's not done yet.

On the postgame show, Olerud is his usual blase self. He doesn't say too much, only that "We gotta take it one game at a time. I know that's a cliché, but that's what we got."

Reed follows with "If I coulda crawled under the mound, I would have. But the team battled back and picked me up. There's already pressure, there's no sense in adding pressure to it. We can't win 4 games in one night."

Finally, it's Valentine, who after being asked what he thought about the game, gives the response, "Great for TV, I guess! It's a great break for us." Later, when asked about his team, he offers this response: "I thought we were gonna leave it on the field tonight, and we left it on the field...For 3 games everything we had wasn't working, but those two stolen bases were big...We can't get 3 tomorrow, we can only get one and...someone's gonna do this someday."

Reed is sitting in Valentine's office, and when Bobby comes in, he plants a kiss on Reed's cheek. Costas and Morgan review the highlights of the game. Because it's such a fast game, at 2:20, there's room for more talk and a real postgame show. I return home around midnight, and check the score on my computer. Immediately, I get an instant message from a friend, that simply reads. "ROCKER!!! WE BEAT ROCKER!!!" That's all I need to know.

It's just a prelude for the real drama.

Final Score
Mets - 3
Braves - 2
Braves Lead Series, 3-1

To Be Continued...
Part VII - Just Like You Imagined

Rehashing Things We Already Knew About The Mets (in 18 point font)

This morning's article by Bob Klapisch on ESPN.com basically tells us everything we needed to know about the Mets postseason pursuits.

Unless you've been living in a cave, or someplace where there is no Sports Media readily available to you, everything Klapisch has to say is probably not news to you.

Klapisch breaks down the Mets biggest problems in the following order:
1) Big-time starting pitcher
2) Bullpen Help
3) Catcher
4) Right Field

Soooo...was this unclear to anyone? No? Was it unclear last month? How about at the end of the World Series? How about September 30th?

These problems were pretty clear going back as far as the trading deadline last season, and some of them were evident at the beginning of June! Klapisch's article might have been better titled "OBVIOUS PROBLEMS WITH THE METS." The Mets have made some strides to address these problems, dealing Mota was obvious addition by subtraction, but others (read: Milledge) have been outright puzzling.

So now, the talk has turned to what, if anything, the Mets can do to bring in one of these sexy starting pitchers we've been talking about, most notably Johan Santana. The Mets, amazingly, appear to remain alive in the chase to bring Johan aboard, and they can certainly afford to pony up if they are somehow able to piece together the chips for him.

I know Omar is out there trying, although his logic sometimes baffles me. And I know he's trying to put together the pieces that shattered at the end of the season. But it's still frustrating, for me and for all Mets fans, having to deal with all this time passing and no obvious sign of anything productive happening for the Mets.

I'm sick of hearing about it. We're all sick of hearing about it. The nucleus of this team got to within an inning of the World Series in 2006, and 2 years later it's turned into this horrible mishmash of retreads and noodle-arms. It can happen that quick, I guess. But there's too much talent here to let waste away with a mediocre supporting cast.

Landing a big-time ace would help allay Mets' doubts [ESPN.com]

Become What You Are

I know I have to put my mind more into it. Sometimes I felt tired and I still played, but I didn’t perform. I feel strong in my mind. I think this is going to be a good year for me.

I would have written this last week, were it not for the idiotic deal of Lastings Milledge. My point strengthened by this article appearing in Thursday's New York Times in regards to the offseason exploits of Jose Reyes.

It was probably a great relief to Jose Reyes to hear that Omar Minaya adamantly refused to deal him to the Minnesota Twins for Johan Santana. After the way Reyes played out the 2007 season, he might have been justified in thinking he was on some form of thin ice, both with his fans and with his team's management.

The flipside of this is that with Omar and Willie continuing to show their faith in him, Reyes must realize that it is now incumbent upon him to deliver on the promise that we all know he has. It was clear that when Reyes wanted to be, he was by far and away the most energetic and dynamic player on his team, probably in his league and perhaps in all of Baseball. With the output he presented in 2006, there was no reason to believe that we shouldn't expect even better results from Jose in 2007.

Needless to say, we were more than underwhelmed by the results.

It's clear, from reading this article, that Reyes has taken the criticism to heart, which is good to hear. The above quote is in reference to being asked about the pair of incidents where Reyes did not run out ground balls. If it is a matter of focus, then Reyes seems intent on addressing the issue, and making sure it doesn't happen again.

However, if it is an issue where Reyes needs more rest than he is willing to admit he does, it then becomes the responsibility of his manager to realize that Reyes needs a rest, and to sit him for a day or two if he can. Part of the problem, it appears, was that as the Mets fell apart at the end of the season, Willie continued to play Reyes every day, even though Reyes was probably toast. And Reyes, naturally, wanted to play every day, so he wasn't about to go to Willie and say he needed a day off, especially in the middle of a pennant race.

It's an interesting conundrum, for both player and manager. What ought to be the case for now is that not only should Reyes be more open about when he needs a rest, but Willie needs to be able to realize when he needs a rest, and to make sure he's rested more often earlier in the season, so that by the time September and, hopefully, October rolls around, we still have Reyes with fresh legs. One need to look no further than the case of Mike Piazza in 1999 and 2000 for an example; when Piazza had to play every day down the stretch in '99, his postseason performance was miserable, however, when he played in fewer games and rested late in September 2000, he came through with a fabulous run in the playoffs.

But focus is something that can't be gained with rest. And focus is something that seemed to abandon Reyes at times during the 2007 season as well, outside of the baserunning incidents. Reyes is working hard to fix that. Behind the hard work is the desire to do well. Omar will visit Reyes in the Dominican Republic and so will Willie. And it's clear that Reyes wants to show them that he's deserving of their faith, and deserving of the faith of Mets fans to believe in him; to believe that he is capable of being the Jose Reyes of 2006. You know, the guy who almost led this team to the World Series.

Remember him? He'd like you to.

Reyes is Back Home, and Not Going Anywhere [New York Times]

20 Days in October, Part V

...Continued from Part IV
Part III Part II Part I

Sunday, October 10

Atlanta is going to be playing against some ghosts, because they said we were dead. I don't know if they have ever played against people who have come back from the grave before.

-Bobby Valentine

And thus, the first salvo was fired in anticipation of the NLCS, slated to begin on October 12th, in Atlanta, where the Mets had never fared well. Of course, the Mets were hurting physically, with Mike Piazza's thumb the chief among injury concerns, but, shudder the thought, the Mets actually had a couple of days off to catch their breath before the Blood Feud was to begin.

But it would be Valentine who would corral the spotlight at this particular moment, chiding the Braves, their MVP candidate Larry Jones and their Manager, Bobby Cox. Lest we forget the previous season, when the Mets strode into Atlanta in the season's final weekend, needing to win one game to put themselves in the Postseason, and lost all three. One such game saw Cox play out several starters the entire game, another saw him use three starting pitchers in the same game.

But given the chance to fire back, many of the Braves instead bit their tongues. In particular, Atlanta Right Fielder Brian Jordan had a feeling that these two teams would meet again, especially after the Mets had made the playoffs. Even the most outspoken Brave of all, John Rocker, was quiet, stating only, "We've handled them as well as anybody. Hopefully, things stay the same. I'm not going to give you any ammo."

I pay attention to little of it. I'm just trying to get myself back to Binghamton for some auditions I was holding. I leave New York at around 2pm, figuring I'll be back in plenty of time for my 7pm call. It's raining. There's traffic. My friend driving keeps going the wrong way. I'm incredulous.

We pull into campus at 6:55pm. A 3 hour trip in 4 hours, 55 minutes. Phew.

Monday, October 11
The war off the field continues mostly quiet today. Valentine has said all that he will, and not much is said by the Braves. Atlanta, I figure, must be a bit leery facing the Mets now, after all that has been said, and all that has occurred between these two teams over the past 13 months. Plus, their own Postseason history has been, at best, spotty. About to play in their 8th straight NLCS, they have only won 4 pennants, and only one World Series. The way the Mets see it, the pressure is really on the Braves to win, because they're expected to. The Mets are the ones playing with House Money. Darryl Hamilton says as much.

Meanwhile, another team occupying the same city is preparing for a Championship Series of their own against their most hated and heated of rivals. For some reason, it seems like that series lacks the panache that this Mets/Braves duel has generated. There's no anger, no residual bitterness lingering in this Yankees/Red Sox ALCS. They're going to show up and play, best man win. Subway Series talk is abound across New York. The perfect coda to a symphonic season.

But the real Opera is about to begin in Atlanta.

Tuesday, October 12
Game 1

Three days ago, Todd Pratt, who'd spent much of the 90s in the minors, delivered the biggest hit of the 90s for the New York Mets. Their improbable October run continued. A victory shower, where barely a week before, it seemed their hopes were drowned. As September ended, it looked as if their season had as well, thanks to Chipper Jones and the Braves. Losing 5 of their last 6 meetings; swept off their feet in Atlanta.

The Braves, a postseason perennial, would like to return to the Fall Classic, especially at the Mets expense. There are many ways to describe these teams' feelings about each other. Fondness is not among them. But that matters less than Atlanta's pitching, and the presence of the odds on MVP, Chipper Jones.

But starting tonight, the Mets earlier failures don't count. Starting tonight, the slate is clean. Starting tonight, the Mets and Braves go at it again. Game 1, next.

-Bob Costas

Costas' sign-on to NBC's pregame show told me, and showed me everything I needed to know. Shots of Todd Pratt's HR gave way to shots of Brave players celebrating, and Chipper Jones hitting repeated HRs off of Mets pitchers. If that wasn't enough to put Mets fans in a riotous mood, well, nothing would.

Cut to a somewhat damp Turner Field, where cars seem to be lining up, and fans seem to be milling around the stadium...But it only appears to be about 80% full for this Playoff game. Turns out that was the case: only 44,172 would be in attendance tonight, in a stadium that holds over 50,000.

Some fans.

Costas and Joe Morgan lay out the setting for this most operatic of series. On one side, the Mets, battered and bruised both physically and mentally, finally getting their catcher back, and raring to go. On the other side, the confident and cocky favorite, ready to prove that all the talk has meant absolutely nothing. The pregame interviews indicate as much. On the Atlanta side, Jim Gray pesters Bobby Cox, tries to get him to say something. But all Cox will talk about is Quail hunting with Ted Turner after the season. On the other side, Craig Sager talks to Bobby Valentine, who will only say that "we're not here to talk about it, we're here to play." Todd Pratt, standing in front of Cookie Rojas's jersey hanging in the Mets dugout, will only say, "Time to put up or shut up."

And with that, the paltry crowd gives their Champion Braves a lukewarm response as they take the field for the start of the game. It's Greg Maddux on the mound, he of his baffling array of pitches and oh-so-delicate temperament.

As Rickey Henderson steps in to begin this series, Costas gives the knife just one more twist. "The Braves have to deal with a ghost, but the Mets are haunted to some extent themselves. They have lost 13 of their last 14 games in this ballpark."

Thanks for reminding us.

This game seems to begin just like 13 of the 14 before it. Maddux feeds strike after strike, the Mets can only ground out, and they go down 1-2-3. And in the bottom of the 1st, the Braves come right after Masato Yoshii and Piazza. First, Gerald Williams singles up the middle, steals second, and he's home when Bret Boone rifles a single right back up the middle as well. Hell of a start. 2 batters in, and it's 1-0. Larry is walked, and I'm already snarling. Here we go again. But somehow, Yoshii rebounds, getting Jordan and Klesko to fly out, and Andruw Jones to ground out to Ventura at 3rd.

But the Mets cannot get anything going against Maddux, and when they do, they seem to fail in spectacular fashion. In the 3rd, it's Cedeno leading off and slapping a hit in between Jones and Williams in left-center. It's easily a double, but Williams' throw back in is deflected by Boone, and rolls into foul territory, allowing Cedeno to get to 3rd. But this break is immediately given back. Trying a safety squeeze, Ordonez can only deaden the ball right on the first base line, where Eddie Perez easily throws him out. Then, with Yoshii at the plate, the Mets try the suicide squeeze. It's a good pitch, but Yoshii mysteriously bunts right through it. Cedeno is hung out to dry, tagged out by Eddie Perez. One pitch later, Yoshii taps back to Maddux, and very quickly, the Mets are turned away.

But one inning later, the Mets are finally able to cash in. After Rickey looks at a 3rd strike, it's Alfonzo hitting a double in the gap. Olerud follows with a single and it looks like the Mets are finally poised to strike, with Piazza at the plate. But clearly, Piazza is not right. He puts a good swing on the ball, but can only ground weakly to Weiss at short, allowing Alfonzo to score the Mets first run, evening the game at 1.

That would be the extent of the Mets damage against Maddux.

The tie lasts until the 5th, when Walt Weiss, only in the game because Cox wanted to strengthen his defense, leads off with a double. Maddux is next, and his bunt attempt is true, landing in between Yoshii and Ventura. It appears that Ventura has the easier play, but Yoshii lunges off the mound to field the ball, spins and throws Maddux out. But Yoshii lands awkwardly on his left ankle while lunging for the ball. He's hurting, and the trainer and Bobby Valentine are out to look at him, but he remains in the game.

Williams follows by singling past Ordonez to score Weiss. An errant throw by Henderson allows Williams to second. The paltry crowd is now at their loudest, as they begin waving their red foam tomahawks, doing that most recognizable of chants.

I want to vomit.

Boone follows with a deep drive to right. It seems destined for extra bases, but for Cedeno flying over to make a fine running catch. Larry is then walked intentionally, and Yoshii is done, hurting and lifted from the game in favor of long man supreme, Pat Mahomes. Mahomes gets Jordan to fly out to center.

With 1 out in the 6th, Alfonzo comes through with his second double, again a well struck shot past Andruw Jones in center. This time, Olerud can't get him over, and Piazza follows with his third straight groundout.

In the bottom of the 6th, Klesko reaches on an Olerud bobble. But he's immediately erased when Andruw grounds into a nifty double play, a shot that is deflected by Mahomes, directly to Alfonzo, who makes the textbook flip to Ordonez, over to Olerud for the Mets infield specialty, a 1-4-6-3 DP. Of course, it's just prolonging the inevitable. the next batter, Eddie Perez, only starting at Catcher because of a knee injury suffered by Javy Lopez, drills a long Home Run out to left, making the score 3-1 Atlanta.

Maddux finally departs after 7 tidy innings. He came out for the 8th, but after Matt Franco was announced as a pinch hitter for Dennis Cook, Cox came out and pulled Maddux in favor of aging lefty Mike Remlinger. Bobby counters by sending Melvin Mora up instead of Franco. Mora figured to be used primarily as a defensive replacement, but he's up to hit here, and he draws a 7 pitch walk. Henderson and Alfonzo both advance him on groundouts, so he's on 3rd when Olerud comes up. But Cox goes to the mound once again. He's going for his closer. He's going to Rocker.

In Atlanta, Rocker is greeted with loud cheers as he dashes in from the bullpen. He appears the perfect part of the villain. Snarling on the mound, venom from his mouth off the field. And the Mets can't seem to hit him at all. Especially Olerud. Olerud to this point is 0-7 against Rocker, and this time proves no different. After watching two strikes, Olerud swings and isn't even close on the slider. Rocker pumps his fist and grins, smugly.

The Braves add a tack-on run in the last of the 8th against Wendell. Andruw Jones walks, is bunted over and scores when Weiss's line drive is just barely out of Ordonez's reach. 4-1 Braves. It may as well be 400-1 the way this game has gone.

The 9th seems like a formality. Piazza grounds out again and Ventura strikes out looking. Dunston pinch hits for Hamilton, and chops one to 3rd. But Larry can't pick it up, and Dunston is safe on the error. A wild pitch from Rocker moves Dunston to 2nd. Todd Pratt is up, pinch hitting for Cedeno, and his single drives home Dunston. A breakthrough? Now, the tying run is up. But the tying run is Rey Ordonez. There is nobody left to pinch hit, other than Benny Agbayani and Bobby Bonilla, and certainly nobody left who can play SS (although Dunston had played there many years prior). Benny can only stand on deck and watch, as Rey valiantly battles, hits several pitches foul, including one just barely past Larry's glove at 3rd, foul by mere inches, before finally grounding out to 3rd on the 8th pitch. It takes an awkward bounce and Larry has trouble picking it up, but manages to make a cocky little flip from his glove to his hand before firing to first, well in time to get Rey, well enough to wrap up this 4-2 Atlanta victory. The situation changes, but the result remains the same. The Braves made all the plays and all the moves worked in their favor. The Mets couldn't do anything right. The crowd is chopping. Rocker is walking around, high fiving his teammates, yapping and shaking his head.

Maybe tomorrow will turn out differently. With Kenny Rogers on the mound against Kevin Millwood, I'm not inclined to think so. The Mets just can't win in this godforsaken city.

Final Score
Braves - 4
Mets - 2
Braves Lead Series, 1-0

Wednesday, October 13
Game 2

Atlanta, Georgia. Not the Mets favorite NL Stop. They are losers of 14 of their last 15 at Turner field. Last night's Game 1 victory for the Braves was spun by Greg Maddux. It was his 4th victory against the Mets this year. His performance was no surprise. The contributions of Eddie Perez and Walt Weiss might have been. A manager can make moves, but his players must execute. If they don't, you've got big problems. So Atlanta rocked New York for the 19th time in 25 tries over the last 2 years. When, praytell, can they break through? Game 2, next.

-Bob Costas

Once again, Costas is to the point, as his opening plays over a montage of Brave hitters hitting, Brave players celebrating, and Mets screwing up and looking frustrated. It's not looking good right now, as the Mets and Braves get ready for Game 2. I'm not sure what to think. With a 4:10 start time, right now, I'm in class. My VCR is set and rolling, but I'll be home before the game ends. It's still cloudy in Atlanta and it had apparently poured heavily overnight. With that in mind, Craig Sager gives us a tour of the sophisticated drainage system underneath Turner Field. How quaint.

The crowd in Atlanta is about as mild as it was the previous night. Only 44, 624 in attendance as the Braves, behind Kevin Millwood, take the field. The lineup for the Mets hasn't changed. Rickey Henderson steps in to lead off, and Joe Morgan is extolling his virtues as a leadoff hitter over his career. Rickey taps back to Millwood for the first out. It would play out similar to the top of the first last night, except that Fonzie reaches on a single, but he's stranded there.

Even as I sit in class, I'm holding my breath as Kenny Rogers takes the mound. Solid after being dealt to the Mets from Oakland, Rogers has not fared well in his career in the postseason. Costas is quick to remind us of this, and Williams leads off by singling through the left side. But Rogers picks Williams off. Rogers has a hesitation in his delivery, it seems. It's close to a balk. But it's enough to deceive a runner, and it worked on Williams. He was frozen as Rogers threw to first, and he was tagged out easily by Olerud. Boone and Larry go down behind him. So far, so good.

In the 2nd, the Mets get their first good rally going. Ventura leads off with a walk, and Hamilton singles behind him. Cedeno follows, and he battles Millwood hard, before drilling a single right back up the middle, scoring Ventura and giving the Mets their first lead of the series. Hamilton goes all the way to 3rd, and the Mets appear poised to strike hard. That is, until Ordonez attempts a safety squeeze bunt and lines it directly to Brian Hunter at 1st. It's such a poor bunt that Hunter is almost able to double Hamilton off of 3rd. Rogers follows with a bunt of his own, but is only able to get Cedeno to 2nd. Henderson follows with a grounder deep in the hole at 2nd, that Boone handles and is able to get Henderson by a step.

Yet another missed opportunity by the Mets.

As the bottom of the 2nd begins, Morgan notes that Rickey is "laboring out there." He clearly looks pained, and were he healthy, he could have beaten out that grounder. Andruw Jones singles with 1 out, and Rogers picks him off. Again, it's that hesitation before he throws to first. Is he balking? If so, they're not calling it. Jones is a dead duck and gets himself in a rundown before Ordonez tags him out. But Eddie Perez follows with a flare to left, that drops in front of Henderson. Rickey doesn't look good, and neither does Rogers, as he walks Hunter on 4 pitches. Rogers has been erratic, and that slow curve of his has been missing high and outside. Costas notes that Rogers "has been shelled almost every time he's taken the mound in the postseason, as a Yankee or a Met."

Dave Wallace comes out to talk to Rogers, and as he does so, Melvin Mora is shown throwing with Matt Franco in the Mets dugout. It's clear that Rickey is going to have to come out of the game, and he's coming out right now. Valentine and the Trainer walk out to left, talk to Rickey, and walks him off as Mora trots in. This isn't good. Not only is Rickey out, but Mora, who was counted on as a swing defensive replacement late in the game, is now in the game, leaving an already thin bench even more depleted. But Rickey needs to rest.

Mercifully, Weiss slaps the next pitch right back to Rogers. Disaster averted.

In the 3rd, Rogers is in trouble again, as he walks Millwood to start off. But Williams follows by grounding into a 6-4-3 DP. A Boone single is harmless as Larry is called out on strikes.

Otherwise, this game has settled into a pitchers duel of sorts. With 2 out in the 4th, Cedeno hits a high drive, deep down the right field line that just barely hooks foul. In the dugout, Valentine leans on his side so far he practically falls off the bench trying to will it fair. Doesn't work.

In the top of the 5th, it's Mora at the plate with 2 outs, taking a 2-0 high fastball from Millwood and walloping it with authority, deep into the left field seats. Melvin Mora, who knew?! "It wasn't strategy, it was necessity," Costas says, "Henderson sits, and Mora trots!"

Finally, I'm back from class as the top of the 6th is going on. Millwood has just set down the Mets in order. It's 2-0, and so far, so good.

I spoke too soon.

With 1 out in the 6th, Rogers walks Larry. Rogers seems to have tap danced in and out of trouble all game long, and now, it's about to blow up on him. On a 1-0 pitch, Brian Jordan hits a high drive deep down the line in Right. It seems headed the same direction as Cedeno's drive, but GONG! It clangs off the foul pole. Fair ball. Home Run. Game tied. Jordan pumps his fist as he breaks into his obnoxious dance-step of a Home Run trot. Great. Wendell is warming up furiously. Rogers is laboring now. He barely had it earlier in the game, and now he's toast. Andruw follows with a well struck single, and before the dust clears, Eddie Perez has smacked another Home Run, just into the seats in left. Eddie, with his hideous grin and that mole on his face, somehow has hit his second HR in as many games. Now, the crowd is making whatever noise it can muster, with the tomahawks, and the cheering, and the pointing. Valentine is disgusted. He throws his cap clear across the dugout, before sending Wallace out to mercifully remove Rogers from the game, after 91 pitches, about 10 too many.

Wendell is in, and after getting Hunter to fly out, Weiss reaches on an error by Alfonzo. I've had enough. Ever since I've turned the game on, nothing has gone right. Obviously, I've jinxed the Mets. It's my fault. With the VCR still running, I shut the game off. I'm disgusted.

With the way the rest of the game played out, I probably did the right thing.

Millwood holds the line in the 7th, but in the 8th, he finally runs out of steam. With 1 out, Mora rips a shot just under Larry's glove at 3rd. Questionable, but it's scored an error. Larry probably should have come up with it. Alfonzo follows by drilling a double to deep center, way over Andruw's head and off the wall. Mora scores all the way from 1st. Are we finally in business? Can we come back?

Of course not. Here comes Cox, and here comes Rocker. After 24 pitches and 1.1 innings last night, he's back. Cox cannot resist Rocker against Olerud, especially after Olerud looked silly against Rocker last night, and sure enough, Rocker makes Olerud look silly again. Not only does Olerud swing through strike 3, but his bat goes flying clear out to Hunter at 1st. Follow that up with an intentional walk to Piazza, and now it's Rocker against Ventura, who, much like Olerud, has had no success. To this point, Robin is 0 for 4, striking out every time.

Guess what happens.

You guessed it. Everything works to Cox's plan. Rocker lets out a holler and pumps his fist as he runs off the mound. I hate him.

Armando Benitez comes on in the bottom of the 8th. Benitez has been to the Braves similar to what Rocker has been to the Mets, albeit in less spectacular fashion. And without the sideshow and obnoxious remarks. But he goes 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 8th. Rocker is back out for the 9th, until Shawon Dunston is announced as the pinch hitter for Hamilton. That's when Cox pulls another rabbit out of his hat and brings in John Smoltz to close out the game. John Smoltz, he who would he starting Game 4. He who has never appeared in a game in relief in his life. The crowd is blowing their kazoos as Smoltz trots in. It's as if the Mets are screwed before even taking a swing.

Of course they are. Smoltz pumps fastball after fastball at the Met hitters. Dunston pops out to Weiss. Cedeno grounds out to Weiss, and makes a desperate, headfirst slide into first. "Sometimes, it's the emotion that makes you do that." Morgan states. Bonilla is next, hitting for Ordonez. Bonilla, fat and surly, steps to the plate, the last hope. God help us. The Mets bench is stonefaced. Bonilla watches strike 3, a fastball on the far, outer half of the plate. He can do nothing but drop his bat and walk off, shaking his head. Much like the Mets and their fans. Smoltz pumps his fist and points to the sky. The crowd is chanting "EDDIE! EDDIE!" To add insult to injury, Rocker is named the player of the game, another victory in which the Braves did everything right, and the Mets just couldn't.

Hopefully, a day off can allow the Mets to regroup. Hopefully, going home, with their crowd behind them can turn their luck. Valentine and Leiter believe they can. Rocker hopes they shut up. Something's got to change. They can't lay down and allow the Braves to talk all this junk and then walk all over them.

It can't possibly get much worse, can it?

Final Score
Braves - 4
Mets - 3
Braves Lead Series, 2-0

To Be Continued...
Part VI - Protest and Survive

Maybe he meant Piece of Ace, not Piece of Ass!

When you win 15 games, I believe you are afforded some "eccentricities."

Reported today at Page 6, and followed up at the Daily News and again at Deadspin, it seems that John Maine has decided to make a fashion statement. While out at a New York nightclub opening last week, Maine apparently asked several women to wear their dresses for a nominal sum of cash money.

Just about everyone naturally declined him.

For Maine, who is known to be a rather soft-spoken and sometimes milquetoast individual, who carries himself with little emotion on the mound, this behavior is indeed out of character. Apparently, Maine was ingratiating himself to people by stating loudly, "I'm John Maine! I pitch for the Mets! I'm a hot piece of ass!"

It was charming last season when we read about Maine's slight obsession with Jennifer Aniston, despite the fact that Maine is a married man. There's also this photo of Maine getting dressed up as a samurai while on tour with the MLB All-Stars in Japan. Now, we have the dress incident last week. Perhaps, after his success in last year's postseason, and building on his success in a very solid 2007 season, Maine is just allowing his humorous, adventurous side to come out a bit more. Or, maybe Maine just likes to dress in Japanese outfits and Women's clothes. Sort of like how Annie Savoy wanted Nuke LaLoosh to wear garters in Bull Durham.

At first, I thought no good could possibly come of this. But in reality, the only harm is that the non-Met fans (read: Haters) over at Deadspin are leaving a bunch of snarky comments about the article. Like I said, Maine won 15 games and nearly pitched a no-hitter in the biggest game of the year. Let's not send him up the river because of some ill-advised public displays. I'd be willing to bet the farm that Maine was likely inebriated at the time, and who hasn't been drunk and made an ass of themselves at one point or another?

Let's just hope that this doesn't make the Mets lump him in with the "rabblerousers" and deal him to Arizona for Tony Clark and Chris Snyder.

John Maine loves the Little Black Dress [Deadspin]
Mets Pitcher is a Drag [NY Post]
Met's pitch is a Changeup [Daily News]

The Relentless Pursuit of Nobody in Particular

I'm still stewing over the Lastings deal. I suppose I've softened my stance since Friday, where I said to the former El Guapo, "I don't think I want to be a Mets fan anymore. I am switching to the Pirates. It's easy to not be disappointed when you have no expectations for success in the first place." But still I ask myself, "Why?"

There really was no good purpose for dealing Milledge for the National Pu-Pu Platter. If that was the best deal to be made for him, why do it at all? Because Schneider will be the galvanizing force that Estrada will never be? Because Church is going to surprise us all and become a big time hitter? This deal can at best be a wash for the Mets, and at its worst, a catastrophic blunder.

Even Joel Sherman, two-faced ass that he is, is ripping this trade. And this man never said a kind word about Lastings Milledge in his life.

But I digress. Names and players and deals are sure to be flying around this week as the Winter Meetings have commenced in Nashville (despite the fact that it's not even Winter yet). And so far, the only rumor I've heard concerning the Mets is that they're talking to Baltimore about Erik Bedard. Who's being offered, though? Who's left? It's beginning to sound an awful lot like Pelfrey and Humber have no real value, at least not to the teams the Mets are likely to deal with. My personal preference would be Haren from Oakland (who I'm convinced could be Santana-Lite, kind of like how Rick Reed was Maddux-Lite), but who knows what exactly Billy Beane is using to rate prospects these days. I seem to remember him having a massive orgasm for Milledge a few years back, but if that were still the case, I'd have to imagine Lastings would be packing his bags for Oakland right now.

All this talk, or lack thereof, makes me nervous. Is there a plan? Does Omar really have anything up his sleeve? These articles from the Daily News seem to indicate that he's grasping at straws. It's a little scary to read that your GM is ready to cash in with authority for...Bartolo Colon. Right. I can see it now. I'll be walking down 14th Street drunk, after seeing another Mets debacle, and I'll see Bartolo Colon in the KFC at 2nd Avenue, face down in a bucket of Extra Crispy. That's a deal that doesn't inspire much confidence in anyone.

Right now, I'm inclined to agree with Billy Wagner's comments last week, because this is shaping up to be something in the neighborhood of a 3rd place team, unless a front-line starter finds himself under my Chanukah Bush sometime soon.

Omar Minaya brings mixed record to table for the Mets [Daily News]
Omar Minaya may throw Bartolo Colon into Met Mix [Daily News]