Our Turn Now!

I'm starting to like this Barajas fellow.

In spite of the fact that I shortchanged his career-high HR total (seems I missed him hitting 21 with the Rangers in 2005), Barajas just went out and hit a couple more last night, including the Walk-off shot that pulled our asses out of the fire and saved us from another extra-inning affair that could have gotten ugly. You know, like the other two the Mets played this week.

But Barajas stopped the game from getting that far, aided by his multiple-HR compatriot, Ike Davis, who picked a fine evening for his first career Multi-HR game. In fact, for most of the evening, Davis was the story of the night. His first HR, a shot that Howie Rose referred to as "Strawberry-like," scraped off the front of the Pepsi Porch. The second one went to dead center, a part of Citi Field where most Mets haven't been able to hit the ball in the past year plus. Behind Mike Pelfrey, who seemed perfectly fine following his shoulder scare of earlier in the week, the Mets looked to be cruising right along to a victory over the Giants.

Until John Bowker (you know, the great John Bowker) came up against Rodriguez and hit a tying HR that was reminiscent of one of Ike's shots. That sort of took the wind out of everyone's sails. But, fortunately, it was only temporary, thanks to our new savior Rod Barajas in the last of the 9th, who hit a towering shot into that part of Citi Field where it looks like it's going to go out off the bat, but then there's that moment of abject horror where the ball looks like it just hangs there for a little bit, and it's going to end up either clanging off the top of the wall, or worse, falling short and being caught. Even Howie Rose wasn't quite sure where it was going to end up, but it managed to make its way into the seats, ending the game and re-igniting everyone's spirits. Nice to finally have a Walkoff HR in Citi Field, nice to see the Mets jumping around like idiots, nice to finally do the walking off and the idiot jumping than having it done against us.

I hope to see it a few more times this season. Maybe even when I'm present.

The Iron Rod

I was out last night and given a rare opportunity to actually watch the Mets game, and apparently I picked the right night to do so.

I didn't see any of the early part of the game, and when I finally found myself in front of a TV, things seemed to go from bad to worse for the Mets. It started out with Fernando Nieve getting two quick outs, and then giving up two long HRs to Votto and Rolen (who I thought died 4 years ago).

I really know how to pick my spots.

Nonetheless, I stuck around and drifted in and out of attention as the game moved to the 9th. I figured another extra-inning game was imminent until Rod Barajas stepped up and hit one out against Francisco Cordero. A night that had seemed to take a rather frustrating turn had unexpectedly become more palatable, and looked even better when Rodriguez locked up the win shortly thereafter.

Rod Barajas! Who knew? On Opening Day, I didn't even realize he was on the team. I figured it made sense, he seemed to fit in with the slew of Fat Hispanic Catchers the Mets seem to be so fond of (though Barajas is from California, he appears to be of Mexican descent). To that point, I'd only known Barajas as a seldom used backup catcher on the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks that Bob Brenly took a gamble on one night in the World Series and responded with a HR off Mike Mussina. A 34-year old retread, when I mentioned his age to El Guapo, he muttered some words about the Mets that I wouldn't consider family friendly. Then again, this blog isn't family friendly, so let's just paraphrase it to "What the fuck is the matter with this fucking team?" But Barajas came through with a pair of hits, and though he doesn't and hasn't ever hit for an average, he's made his hits count, to this point. Consider this: It's May 5th, and right now, Rod Barajas leads the Mets with his 7 HRs.

I don't know that anyone would have figured Rod Barajas would be leading the Mets in anything this season. But, here he is, and not only that, he's getting some HRs in key spots. Who knows if he'll keep this up; there's also a very good chance that he'll just regress to his usual lousy self, but last year, he did beef up his numbers to a career-high 19 HRs and 71 RBIs, which is perfectly respectable for a Catcher, and certainly more than respectable for Rod Barajas. Numbers like that from him this year would help quite a bit, and make the Mets catching situation, something that was probably more of a joke than a real threat at the outset, one of this season's more pleasant surprises.