Talking Turkey

I know that the talk all day on Friday was about the Frank Francisco "Chicken" comment. At least that was the case judging from what I'd heard listening to WFAN all afternoon. It was either that, or it was Yankee fans basically behaving like Yankee fans and calling Mike Francesa to accuse R.A. Dickey of doctoring the Baseball (something Francesa, known as a chief among Yankee backers, wouldn't even entertain). But, Dickey won't pitch until Sunday, and it was only Friday, so the Chicken was the story of the day.

I have the feeling that Francisco may have meant to call the Yankees Turkeys, rather than chickens. A chicken might have implied that they were scared, and I've never known the Yankees to be scared. Turkey might imply that they are slow, or old, which is slightly closer to the truth. Then again, Francisco elaborated to say that the Yankees were "complainers," which I wouldn't have derived from chicken or turkey. So, then, I have no idea what the hell he was trying to say, and let's just all leave it alone since he managed to get his way through another sweaty 9th inning on Friday night and finish out a much-needed, for sanity's sake, Mets victory.

The game offered quite a bit in the way of breaks going the Mets way, which probably would spur a bit of complaining from Yankee-dom, but it's fine with me. Ike Davis' 3-run Home Run in the first was aided a bit by Nick Swisher catching—but not catching—and then losing the ball over the wall. Yankee fans may cry cheap, but then again, Jeffrey Maier wasn't there to knock it back, so tough crap. This, of course, spurred on a flurry of "Ike's Back!" talk, which has been going on ever since he started to hit again last week in Tampa. Nothing to complain about there. So, the Mets broke through with a 5-run inning off Pettitte, probably more runs then they've scored all week (or at least it feels that way sometimes). Jonathon Niese settled down and cruised along before Yankee-do what Yankee-do and hit a couple of Home Runs in the 6th and 7th, and another in the 8th of Miguel Batista (8th inning man Miguel Batista? Another topic worth revisiting), and a feathery 9th inning from Francisco, punctuated by a 2-out pop-up that Omar Quintanilla staggered under for a few seconds, giving every Mets fan ever a mild heart attack from flashing back to Luis Castillo, before ultimately squeezing the last out.

Phew. Good. Another plucky win for the Mets who refuse to be plucked. At least these games won't be a total washout. But let's try to do this a couple more times.