Change Of Frequency

Loyal readers of this blog will know that I've been know, on certain days, to keep a portable radio in my office and listen to those occasional weekday afternoon games on the Radio. They may also know that I have, over time, become an avid streamer of WFAN programming in general. It's not necessarily because I have some great and deep affinity for Joe Benigno, Evan Roberts or Mike Francesa, it's more because I find the background noise somewhat soothing while I work. It was easy to get away with; for one, I had my own office space at my job, and in general, certain things, like the ubiquitous 1-877-KARS-4-KIDS commercials, would tend to ward off the riff-raff.

Still, it is, as I said, background noise. Even when I would have to pull out the portable radio for game broadcasts. Work is work, and it's got to be done, and more often than not, I'd end up tuning out those lazy afternoon games altogether, only paying attention when the intonations in the voices of Howie Rose or Josh Lewin distracted me (Ed Coleman was also good at knowing when to draw focus. Other fill-in announcers like Jim Duquette were useless non-entities). If things didn't go well, it stood to reason that an entire Mets game could happen and I'd have no idea what went on until I heard Howie Rose talk about being back with a recap in some desultory tone of voice.

I knew that there would be wholesale changes coming in 2014. For one, the Mets weren't going to be on WFAN anymore, after a breakdown in negotiations. I wasn't thrilled about this; although it meant very little as far as the Mets presence on the radio, since they'd just move to another station, I preferred keeping my radio on one station, so I could listen to the dulcet tones of the insane New York sports fans and hear the Mets without touching the dial. The Mets didn't move far, only from 660 to 710 on the AM dial, but a change is still a change. I also didn't particularly like that the Mets were replaced by this other team and their games were now pre-empting the afternoon voices with their voices, which I find highly unpleasant to listen to.

But it's all now a moot point. For one, the portable radio that I had in my office died an untimely death, as most cheaply-made electronic devices are wont to do. I could have anted up for a streaming audio subscription, but I couldn't really justify paying for something that I could listen to for free, and in reality, I only listen to so many games on the radio a season. To date, though the Mets have had multiple weekday afternoon games this season, I've gone without listening. But an even greater change happened when I got a new job, and moved to a new office, where, rather than an office space, I now have a cubicle (the tradeoff is worth it for a multitude of reasons not worth discussing). Unfortunately, this means no more radio games, though when you think about it, without a radio in my old office, I was kind of in the same situation anyway. Considering I have yet to hear a Mets broadcast on WOR (a station whose "Radio 7-10, W-OHH-RRRR!" jingle was one of those sounds of my youth), maybe it's not that much of an adjustment.

It Happens

It really does happen. Sometimes, the Mets win a game.

Usually, it seems to be in those weekday afternoon Getaway Games, because for the past few years, it seems like having the game on the radio in my office appears to be some kind of demented good luck charm. Or at least it just seems that way. I don't know.

Today's game was kind of a blur. I say this because when I'm working and humming along in my office, large chunks of game can happen and I'm only marginally aware of it. I remember hearing the beginning of the day, of course, and I know that the Mets didn't score in the first, but I sort of lost track of things from there. I was in the midst of multitasking, and it was particularly involved multitasking, because when I started paying attention again, I assumed it was 3-0 Cardinals in the 3rd, but it was actually 2-1 Mets in the 5th. Of course, it may also just be because, after these past few weeks, I've been conditioned to think that the Mets are always down 3-0, like some demented Stockholm Syndrome or something to that effect.

At any rate, I was kind of surprised that it was 2-1, and I was even more surprised a few moments later after Daniel Murphy hit a ball through the fence at Jack Buck Stadium (and I can tell you that Howie and Josh did not do a very good job of describing exactly how Murphy's ball went through the fence, leaving me to some bizarre visuals) which spurred another 2-run rally, meaning the Mets had actually scored 4 runs for the first time in about 3 weeks. Meanwhile, Jonathon Niese was very neatly setting the Cardinals aside with rather dutiful efficiency, which may also have been a reason why I wasn't really following things—it wasn't an incredibly attention-grabbing performance. But one does not have to be attention-grabbing in order to be effective, and in doing both, Niese put together his best start in about a month, something sorely needed at this particular moment in time. Couple that with Daniel Murphy's 4 hits and the Mets actually won a game rather than going down in flames like they usually do in St. Louis. Believe it or not, it does happen.

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.

I'm In My Office...

It seems as though the weekday afternoon game has been a fairly regular occurrence this season, much more than I remember it being in past seasons. I've made mention of keeping a radio in my office for just such an occasion. I'm assuming there must be some sort of stipulation in the new CBA requiring getaway games to be played in the afternoon when someone's got a long plane flight ahead of them and a game the next day. That's the only thing that makes sense to me. But I digress.

I'd barely put the radio on when Kirk Nieuwenhuis led off the game with a 2nd pitch Home Run. I'd left my office altogether when he hit his 2nd HR in the 4th. In between, the game was vaguely a blur.. I know it was rather back and forth at the beginning, but I tend to tune these things out, particularly while I'm working on whatever it is I need to work on, only drifting into the game whenever I hear a raised voice. Josh Lewin is particularly good for this; he has a certain punctuation to his calls, to the effect of "...and he LINES ONE DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE..." loud enough that you can't help but pay attention to him.

Howie Rose doesn't have quite the same intonation of Lewin, and since I've been listening to him for 20 or so years in one capacity or another, I'm sort of used to his vocal inflections. He will raise his voice in certain important moments, and you can really hear the despair in his voice when something goes against the Mets, and of course, he will elevate to a shout in those exceptionally big moments (like, say, the first No Hitter in Mets history). There's something about Lewin's timbre, however, that appears to catch the ears a bit more. Maybe it's because he's new. I did have some limited exposure to Lewin on Fox games, where I found him to be overly irritating, and since he voiced the Texas Rangers during their run of success, his voice would pop up on MLB Network bumpers here and there. I wasn't especially thrilled to see him as the new announcer alongside Howie Rose, but for the most part, he's done a fine job complementing Rose, and since Lewin apparently grew up a Mets fan as well, he has some accurate notes to banter with Howie on. And he hasn't been as screamy or lispy or grating as I thought he'd be.

So, at any rate, I heard Lewin raising his voice a few times in the 3rd and 4th inning, so I knew something good must have been going on, and if he got really loud, I might have even stopped what I was doing for a second or two to pay attention. At some point, someone came into my office and asked me the score and the inning, and I wasn't sure of the inning. I did know that the Mets were up 8-4, so that must have counted for something. Ultimately, things got a bit hairy in the 9th, I know that because Howie was getting a bit worked up by Frank Francisco, but the Mets did hold on and complete their sweep of the Rays. So much for the certain doom facing the Mets in Tampa.

So, home again, home again, jiggety jig for the Mets, after a rather schizophrenic road trip. The Reds are coming back this weekend, followed by more AL teams. Who knows what will happen. Another madcap weekend with the 2012 Mets awaits...