Prick Up Your Ears

Wednesday's afternoon game meant another of my "working man's specials," where I'm in my office with a portable radio, catching whatever bits of the game I can when I'm not buried in whatever that day's task may be. The result, as always, is that I tend not to get the best perspective on what's actually going on in the game, but after Monday and Tuesday, I can't say I had particularly high hopes for the outcome. The owner of a nearby establishment, a fellow Mets fan, popped into my office once or twice, stuck his head in my office and would say things like "It's suicide watch time..." and "Can you even bear to listen to the game today?"

There have been days where I haven't had a day game on in the office, but it's rare. Usually, I was simply too busy and I forgot there was a day game. But I seem to have enough cognizant Baseball fans around me to not let that happen anymore. I put the radio on and immediately had to go into my Boss's office for a spell, and when I came back, the Marlins already had a 3-0 lead. The way things were going, I figured the game was already over because the Mets can't score 3 runs. So the game dissolved into background noise and I continued working. Only when David Wright hit a Home Run did I pay attention, and that was only because Josh Lewin punctuates his calls with a particular kind of screaming that you sort of can't miss. A few minutes later, he was screaming again, because the Marlins came right back and tacked on another run. 4-1, I figured, would still sink the Mets and finish off a sweep of particular embarrassment.

Which is why I found it rather jarring when, some time later, Jordany Valdespin hit a 3-run Home Run that, according to Lewin, gave the Mets a 5-4 lead.

A 5-4 lead?! The Mets scored 5 runs?

A novel idea, scoring runs indeed. And not only scoring runs, but tacking them on, thanks to John Buck an inning later.

Try as they might, the bullpen couldn't blow this one. The Marlins got as close as 7-6. Bobby Parnell came in for a rare save opportunity and, of course, just as the bottom of the 9th was starting, I was called out of my office again. I came back just in time to hear Lewin screaming some more, "AND HE STRUCK HIM OUT! AND THE BALL GAME IS OVER!"

"That was quick." I thought. "And they actually won."

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. As hard it may appear to be for the Mets to win a game, it's also equally as difficult for them to lose every game. This will, apparently, happen from time to time.