Back in Black

My Birthday passed recently, and, on my birthday, I happened to be looking on eBay at Mets jerseys, when I should have been working. I didn't actually plan on buying anything. I only own one jersey, a snow white David Wright "Genuine" Jersey that I bought in 2005, and recently sewed the shoulder and neck patches onto so it would appear more like the "Authentic" jerseys that the players supposedly wear (Yes, if you can believe it, I know how to sew).

There wasn't any particular player I was looking for, although I've always wanted to get a Piazza jersey, but I've always been outbid on those, and the John Maine jerseys just look a little too fishy for my liking. If I'm going to buy a jersey, I'd at least like it to look real.

Which is why I was skeptical when I happened on a Black Carlos Beltran "Authentic" jersey, with a Buy it Now price of $38.00 (with shipping). New, with tags, yes. The seller was based out of Seoul, South Korea. He very likely turned it out in his Basement. But he had plenty of photos of the jersey, and it certainly looked real enough. Good feedback rating, too.

There was another dilemma I faced. There is, at least among the circle I run in, a bit of taboo about the Black jerseys. Just about everyone I know hates them, and wishes they would go away. One friend in particular will only acknowledge the pinstriped jersey as "real." For a while, there was even a petition running to get rid of the Black Jerseys. I put my name on it, although for what it was worth, I never had anything against the Blacks. In fact, when the Mets first introduced them in 1998, I kind of liked them. Yes, they were a trendy marketing ploy, but so what? The Black and Blue cap that accompanies it has been my official Game Hat for the past two seasons, and it's primed to ring out Shea this upcoming season.

But I had to ponder whether or not I should purchase this particular jersey. My father used to tell me, "What does finding the right price mean if it isn't the right thing to do?" Well, the price was certainly right. But in addition to wondering if the jersey would actually make it from Korea to New York, I had to think about whether or not it was worth it to potentially ruin my credibility and actually be seen out in one of those oh-so-shameful black jerseys. I thought long and hard about it, staring intently at the computer screen, ready to click that "Buy It Now" button that was singing out to me.

"Screw it," I said. I bought the Jersey. Street Cred be damned. Got it in 10 days. Happy Birthday to me!

Always Be Closing...

This is #5 of 5 Key Mets Players for the 2008 Season.
In 2006, Billy Wagner had what was for him, a normal, outstanding season, replete with 40 Saves, a 2.24 ERA, 94 strikeouts in 72.1 innings, and his usual agita, particularly at some bad moments.

In 2007, Wagner began the season at an even better clip, allowing only 3 earned runs entering June, and not having blown a save all season. Even after he did blow one, annoyingly to the Phillies, Wagner continued on a seemingly dominant clip, making the All Star team and providing little concern.

Then came a game on August 10th against Florida. With the Mets leading and seemingly cruising along, Wagner came in to close out the bottom of the Marlins lineup. No problem. Except that he gave up a hit to Miguel Olivo, walked Jason Wood, and then, out of nowhere, Hanley Ramirez turned around Wagner's best fastball and smoked it off the center field fence, scoring both runs and giving the Marlins the lead and, eventually, the win.

Following that game, Wagner became downright frightening to watch pretty much every time out. Even when he didn't blow the save, he gave me John Franco flashbacks and when he did blow it, well, it was just ugly 10 different ways.

Then, in September, we just didn't know what to expect. Wagner was alternately good and horrible at the same time, ended up missing a key stretch with back spasms, and became more or less an afterthought when things fell apart completely. Billy certainly didn't have a bad season all told, but the majority of his 34 saves and 2.63 ERA were accomplished at early points in the season.
Basically, I don't know what we'll get out of Wagner this year. This is inasmuch as we know what we'll see out of him, which is that he'll do his little Alpaca-hop from the Bullpen as "Enter Sandman" blares, and he'll throw 95MPH fastballs and mix in a slider and whatever that other pitch he was working on but rarely used last season was here and there, but will he? He'll be 37 on July 25th, and he's made a career on throwing the ball hard and with a lot of torque on that small frame.

Yes, yes, I know. He's done it for years, and why should this year be any different? Well, I'm not saying that it will. But last year brought into question whether or not he's going to be able to hold up over the course of a full season, now that he's getting older and the mileage is beginning to take its toll. In '06, he remained consistent throughout the season, with a stinker sprinkled in here or there, so it really wasn't much cause for concern. Last year, the bad outings really clumped up late in the season.

There's one other thing. Every few years, Wagner seems to get hit with injury problems that knock him out for a good chunk of the season. In 2000, he appeared in 28 games and put up an ERA of 6.18. In 2004, with Philadelphia, he again was hurt and appeared in only 45 games. I have this haunting fear that Wagner's about due for another one of those seasons where he's ineffective and injured, and that's not good, especially given the problems with the Bullpen as it is, and with no clear replacement on the team (yes, I am knocking on wood as I write this). At least not a trustworthy replacement.

Granted, a lot of this is all hearsay. But given that Willie and Peterson really count on their Bullpen—and especially their Closer—to carry a lot of the load over the course of the season, it means that everybody that the Mets trot out after their starters are under scrutiny, and everyone deserves to be looked at as a key to the team. But I consider Wagner separate from the Bullpen because his role is clearly defined and isn't going to change if he performs poorly a few times. Come in for the 9th inning, throw strikes, get outs, finish off the opponent. And do it consistently over the 90+ games the Mets will hopefully win this coming season. His track record would dictate that he's not going to fall into a pattern where he gets routinely hammered. But he needs to stay healthy and he needs to finish the marathon if the Mets are going to win, and advance into October, just as much as the guys who will be the bridge between the starter and him need to get him the ball so he can do so.

Wanted: Offense

In 2004, the Mets made a trade that was monumentally stupid when they dealt Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano. That's a rather obvious statement in and of itself. But consider this: At the time the deal was made, Jim Duquette professed a need for pitching. Then-Manager Art Howe was quoted as saying, "You know me, I can never have too much pitching."

At the time, the Mets had the third-best pitching staff in the National League. The problem was an impotent offense that could barely plate runs on a regular basis, anchored by players like Kaz Matsui, Eric Valent and Jason Phillips playing major roles. And with their great new pitchers, the Mets went out and proceeded to lose games 2-1 instead of 3-1.

The case could be made that had Kazmir been dealt for a big outfield bat, or even a passable outfield bat, that helped the Mets stay alive in a race they were probably going to lose anyway, it might have been a better deal. I'm not saying that it would have been, I'm just making this argument.

Right now, the Mets are in a similar position. With a major chunk of the offense either inactive or hurting, the Mets really could use another bat. I think this has been addressed more than once, by more than a few people.

Right now, Moises Alou, who we knew would be injured at some point, will be out at least until May with a hernia. Carlos Beltran hasn't played after offseason knee surgery has hampered his quads. Carlos Delgado has been ailing, and even then we don't know what we have with him. Marlon Anderson and Ryan Church have returned from injuries resulting from last weekend's collision. Endy Chavez has also been battling hamstring problems.

This outfield is in a bit of flux right now. Fortunately, it's still March, the games don't count, and there's still time for things to fall into place. But should these problems re-surface during the season, the Mets could find themselves in a bit of trouble. While the Bullpen certainly has garnered a bit of concern (although the emergence of former-prospect Nelson Figueroa has added another arm to the mix I discussed last week), right now, you can't feel too comfortable about the offense, outside of Wright, and the renewed Reyes, and operating under the assumption that Beltran will come around.

How bad is it?

Last Friday, Buster Olney on ESPN actually made a rather convincing argument advocating the signing of Barry Bonds. This blog (ESPN Insider or a friend with Insider who can e-mail it to you required) by Olney, who is always well-thought out, basically states that Bonds will only cost the Mets money, would provide plenty of offense in Alou's stead, and either way, the left fielder would be replaced by Endy Chavez for defense in the late innings.

It's a convincing argument. I wish I could acquire whatever Olney is smoking.

Bringing in the absolute unadulterated Circus that is Barry Bonds would probably make everyone on the team nuts. Bonds is already under indictment and could likely go to jail by season's end. Minaya would probably be excoriated by everybody in New York, filleted by the media, and chuckled at by Yankee fans. He'd hit, yes, but it's nowhere near worth a) what the Mets would have to pay him and b) the headache. And after the Mets dispatched such "troublemakers" like Milledge and LoDuca, what message would this be sending?

Fortunately, the Mets have deemed this report as ridiculous. At least that's what they're telling people.

There are, in the opinion of many, more palatable options, players who can come in and fill roles. A righty bat who could play left when Alou is hurt, play right and spell, or perhaps platoon with Church, or even play first if Delgado falters. But a deal clearly would have to be with someone looking for some excess bullpen help. It's no surprise that Jorge Sosa and Scott Schoeneweis are being shopped around. The Mets can't afford to deal any prospects, certainly after the Santana trade. But there are players who can be had for this price, one would assume. Xavier Nady is the first such player who comes to mind, someone who has already played here and played well, before being forced into another such reactionary deadline deal in '06 (albeit one that has had much better results). Marcus Thames has also been bandied about as an option coming over from Detroit. A third option is Jay Payton on Baltimore, although he'd be acquired as a part-time player, and he has, in the past, complained about a lack of playing time. In camp, Angel Pagan has performed well, and Brady Clark is, well, Brady Clark. Other options might include Reed Johnson or whatever outfielder ends up on the bench on the Washingtons of the world.

Bottom line here is that something needs to be done. It's not a major deal, and it's not a reactionary deal, so hopefully, the Mets won't try to turn it into one. All this takes is a player who is a ridiculous, useless veteran on another team, who would be a perfect fit on the Mets. I'm rooting for Nady, since the Pirates can trot out an outfield of Bay, Nate McLouth and Nyjer Morgan, and Adam LaRoche at first. Nady has no real spot on that team. Let's bring this guy back. I liked him.

A Foolish Arrangement

This is #4 of 5 Key Mets Players for the 2008 Season.

Last season, I named the entirety of the Mets Bullpen as one of the Five Key Mets players for the 2007 season. This unit was one of the strengths of the Mets in 2006. Changes were made before 2007, although many of the major pieces remained. But there were questionable moves made, notably the departure of Chad Bradford, the injury to Duaner Sanchez and the inclusion of Scott Schoeneweis, Ambiorix Burgos and Guillermo Mota.

As we saw, the Bullpen didn't even sniff the success of 2006. In fact, the bullpen as a whole pretty much became a giant liability as the season wore on. Sanchez missed the entire season with a shoulder injury. Heilman was grossly inconsistent. Guys like Schoeneweis, Burgos, Mota and Aaron Sele were either injured, or frighteningly horrible. Even Billy Wagner wasn't immune from shaky performances as the season wore on. And finally, come September, the Bullpen was exposed, beaten down and thoroughly embarrassed with regularity.

It's safe to say that even taking the offensive struggles of Reyes and Delgado into account, the Bullpen was by far and away the leading culprit in the September collapse.

So, moves were made. Not many, but some. Gone were Sele and Mota, given away for songs. Schoeneweis was only retained because of a massive, idiotic contract. Spare parts such as Steven Register, Ruddy Lugo, Matt Wise and Brian Stokes were brought in, if only to give Willie some more faces to look at in the spring. This bullpen will eventually be cobbled together, but it's a gigantic question mark as to how effective they'll be over the course of the season.

Of course, it's a far cry from 2005, when the Mets started the season with Manny Aybar and Felix Heredia, two pitchers whose inclusion on the Opening Day Roster made my blood pressure jump 20 beats. But nonetheless, it's going to be an adventure.

Going down the line, we're going to see:

1) Aaron Heilman
I'll give Heilman credit for not caving in completely after the Molina disaster in '06. I was afraid, briefly, that he might go Brad Lidge on us. But aside from being a little too prone to the longball, Heilman was, for the most part, fairly reliable as the 8th inning guy. But without a reliable compliment to spell him every so often, Heilman eventually hit a wall and wasn't so effective down the stretch. One such game against San Diego in August saw Heilman nibble and nibble against Adrian Gonzalez in the 10th inning, but, unable to put him away, finally grooved a pitch that Gonzalez hit out of the ballpark. Another Sunday in Florida saw Heilman receive a 3-run lead and promptly hand it back to the Marlins. We know what we'll get out of Heilman at this point. But unless there's another righty who can be trusted in a key spot late in games, it'll be up to Heilman to run out there game after game...consequences be damned.

2) Pedro Feliciano
Feliciano has basically re-invented himself over the past two seasons, and has become the most reliable lefty arm in the bullpen, if not the most reliable guy, period. But for some bizarre reason, Willie kept using him as if he were merely a lefty specialist, not allowing Feliciano to finish innings or games at times, when it was clear that he was by far the better option than whoever was replacing him. Feliciano has been effective enough over the past two seasons that I'd feel comfortable letting him face a right handed hitter in a key spot. He's one of the few pitchers the Mets have in the bullpen who actually exhibits a keen head for pitching, and not someone who will just run out there and try to throw the ball through a brick wall. He'd be a good compliment to Heilman if Willie would use him that way. He just needs a chance, that's all.

3) Duaner Sanchez
The Most Key Met of the Season, as far as I'm concerned. We don't know what the hell we have here. After his great 2006 season was curtailed because of the now-infamous taxi accident, Sanchez showed up in 2007 overweight and undermotivated, got sent home for oversleeping one too many times, and eventually broke down and missed the entire 2007 season, which was a key blow because if Sanchez had been in the ballpark of his 2006 numbers, it probably would have been the difference between the Mets and Philly come the end of the season. He was, in '06, and should have been in '07, the perfect righty compliment to ease the burden on Heilman in the 7th and 8th innings. One of Sanchez's overlooked strengths was the best rubber arm the Mets could trot out there since Turk Wendell. This year appears to be a different story with Sanchez. This year, he showed up thinner and with a renewed resolve to prove his past behavior an aberration. He says he feels as good as he has in years, and so far, the early results have been encouraging.
But what will it translate to? Can he re-capture his previous success? Does he have anything left? Can his arm hold up over a full season? There's enough questions regarding Sanchez to warrant its own blog entirely. If Pedro Martinez is going to be the key to the starting rotation, and whether or not he can pitch deep enough into games to preserve the bullpen, then Sanchez is the key to the bullpen, whether or not he can answer the bell and be effective after missing a season and a half, and take some of the pressure off the other guys in the bullpen by finishing up what Pedro (and the remainder of the staff) starts.

4) Scott Schoeneweis
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I have to talk myself down just to write about him. Schoeneweis was given an absurdly large contract, and then came in and proved himself the second coming of Rich Rodriguez for pretty much the entire first half of the season. Especially at home, Schoeneweis was routinely hammered by both lefties and righties, which was interesting because Willie continued to use Schoeneweis in the role that Feliciano should have been used in. By the end of the season, Schoeneweis had righted himself, somewhat, this after the revelation that he had been pitching with a torn tendon in his leg, and actually came up with a pair of saves in September, which shocked the hell out of me, but they came in instances where he was, quite literally, the last remaining serviceable arm in the Bullpen. The hot word is that the Mets are willing to deal Schoeneweis and the remaining $7+ million he's owed, but I can't imagine any GM is stupid enough to make a deal for him. Then again, someone took Guillermo Mota. Then again, he's left-handed, he's breathing, and we know he can put the ball over the plate...

...It might save my sanity in the process.

5) Jorge Sosa
Sosa pretty much came out of nowhere and pitched better through the months of May and June as an emergency starter than anyone probably thought he would. In fact, after one particular outing in Detroit, Sosa was probably the best starter the Mets had going. Then, he came back to earth. He had some success in the bullpen last year, but again fell into that Heilman-like trap of being the only reliable guy out there for a time, which meant that Willie was going to run him into the ground. And, he did. Basically, I'm not sure how long we can count on Sosa to be effective in any given role. He's likely going to slide into that Aaron Sele long-reliever role for a time, which is fine, but this means that he's likely only going to work in blowout situations. If Sanchez is effective and Heilman is Heilman, then Sosa will certainly be counted on to carry less of a load. That may not be a bad thing.

6) Matt Wise
A lot of people I know seemed to really like the Wise pickup. Although Wise has never posted eye-popping numbers, and he had a pretty bad second half with Milwaukee last year, he's been, for the most part, a guy who has good stuff and gets outs. That's all I really know about him. If the first five guys I mentioned are going to make the team bar none, then Wise is really the only guy here who could conceivably be fighting for a job, despite his experience. That, or he's more likely just here for insurance in case Sanchez can't go or Heilman's arm falls off in May. Or, my theory, he's just here because Omar wanted to have at least one new face in the bullpen to make us think he's done something productive.

7) Joe Smith
I'd like to think Joe Smith has a better chance at making the team this year. He started off like a house afire after surprising the hell out of everyone in Spring Training last year, but the league caught up to him after a while and he ended up back in the Minors, and didn't seem to get much use when he was recalled. He was pretty up and down after May. I'd like to think that was due mainly to hitting the proverbial wall because he hadn't pitched so many innings before, and he might be better conditioned for more use this year. I have a feeling he's going to play a bigger role in the Mets bullpen this year than people are willing to give him credit for right now. Keep an eye on him.


8) Ambiorix Burgos
A co-worker of mine kept asking me if we were going to have some Burgos on the days after Burgos pitched last year. I thought he was making some sort of idiotic reference to Burgers, until I found out that Burgos is apparently a type of Polish Hunter's stew, a horrendous mishmash of ingredients thrown into a pot and boiled until it resembles the structure of Burgos' arm by the end of last season, after he had accomplished little more than reminding us of Kane Davis. Sigh.

The Rest: (Register, Lugo, Stokes)
I would have thought that Register might have a better shot at making the team since he's a Rule V draft pick. He still might make the team, although it may only be holding the baseballs for Billy Wagner out in the Bullpen. Lugo I know nothing about except that he's just another slop-throwing reliever who can put the ball over and might get an out here and there. Stokes managed to get himself booted out of Tampa Bay which really gets me excited about his prospects here. I'd expect to see the three of them at Shea at some point, but they might as well have the staying power of Jon Adkins. There's also Willie Collazo (not Colazzo) and Carlos Muniz, although Willie seemed to think that he would be summoning the furies of hell if he actually let them pitch last season, so that probably means neither of them is ready yet.

Man, there's a lot of crap at the back end of this bullpen.

I don't know. Yes, spring training is supposed to be a time for Optimism, but for some reason, this Bullpen continues to give me a very queasy feeling.

I hope it's just gas.

Lost Classics: August 18, 1998

It has been quite a bit of time since I've done a Lost Classic around here. In fact, I haven't done one since the end of last season. Granted, much of my Historical work went into the 20 Days in October series. But I'd been thinking about August, 1998, pretty much ever since Friday, when Greg over at Faith and Fear offered up his latest Flashback Friday, the second of back-to-back DHs with the St. Louis Cardinals, with Mark McGwire in the heat of the HR chase. That particular month, I was home following my first year of College, volunteering at a specialized school in the Bronx, and going to Mets games pretty much all the time. I made it to 28 games that particular Summer, 9 of them in August. The DH Greg wrote about was one of three the Mets played that week, thanks to a particularly rainy May that saw virtually an entire homestand washed out. Three Doubleheaders in one week. I was at all three.

I've always thought of the 1998 Mets as one of those teams that time seems to have forgotten. They are, much like the 2005 Mets, the prelude to a great era. The 1998 Mets seemed to play out the season in Jekyll and Hyde mode. Sometimes, they hit. Sometimes, they pitched. Rarely, though, could they do both well at the same time. But they hung around, and hung around, and took off once Piazza was brought in, and then, just when they seemed to be on the verge of wrapping up a Wildcard berth, the bottom fell out. But they played a lot of bizarre, interesting and fun games in the process, games which, I believe, we'll be taking some looks at during this season's slate of Lost Classics. Because, as a team that time forgot, they played a lot of great games that nobody really remembers.

These are two such games.

It's a sweltering August night in New York. I'm pretty much whiling away the rest of my summer before heading back to school. Why not go to another game? After all, the Mets and Rockies were rained out last night, the make up game from a rainout on May 1st, and so they're playing two tonight. The Mets currently stand at 66-55, a game behind the Chicago Cubs in the Wildcard race, a hopeless 14 1/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL East. The Rockies are nowhere.
It's a 5:10 pm curtain on this Tuesday night. I'm by myself on this evening, sitting in the Loge, Section 21, Row G, Seat 7. You could afford those seats back then, I wasn't traipsing around like Mr. Gotrocks. Al Leiter faced off against his future teammate, Pedro Astacio in Game 1. Leiter starts off strong, as he did most of the time in 1998. In the first, he's got two quick outs until Larry Walker lofts a fly ball to medium left field. No problem.

Oh, wait. Todd Hundley was in left. Hundley gets there, gets his glove on the ball and it pops right out. Walker scampers to 2nd. No harm, though, as Leiter promptly strikes out Dante Bichette.

On the other side, Pedro Astacio, every bit the workhorse, starts off by running deep counts all over the place. Tony Phillips singles up the middle on a 3-2 pitch. Astacio hits Alfonzo on 2-2. Olerud grounds into a fielders choice on 2-2. Next, it's Piazza, who flares a single in front of Bichette to score Phillips. 1-0, Mets. But the rally is stopped there, McRae flies out on the 6th pitch of his AB, Hundley strikes out on the 7th pitch.

Leiter settles into a nice rhythm, and the Rockies seem to have little answer. A walk in the 2nd, a harmless single in the 3rd. For the Mets, Alfonzo hits a HR just inside the foul pole in Left Field leading off the 3rd. After the Rockies load the bases against Leiter in the 4th, it's Hundley leading off and doing the same, hitting one of his classic Hundley HRs, a rising line drive that clears the fence and lands in the Mets bullpen. It's Hundley's second HR since returning from elbow surgery, but it will also be the last HR he'll hit at Shea while with the Mets. With Piazza aboard, Hundley will be unable to find himself in Left Field, and will be dealt following the season. Although he will have decent seasons, he won't ever come close to the numbers he had in 1996 or 1997. Steroid allegations will also follow him. But his HR gives the Mets a 3-0 lead, which seems to be in good hands with Leiter.

But in the 5th, the Rockies reach Leiter for a pair of runs. After Darryl Hamilton leads off the inning with a double and is sacrificed to 3rd by Neifi Perez, Larry Walker again goes the other way, this time hitting one over Hundley's head for another double, scoring Hamilton. One batter later, Vinny Castilla singles past Ordonez into left, scoring Walker to make the score 3-2.

Drama? Nah. Leiter gives up a short single to Todd Helton before retiring Mike Lansing for the 3rd out. In the bottom of the 5th, Alfonzo walks with one out, and Olerud follows by putting one of his sweet swings on an Astacio curve and pops it deep and out, just in front of the scoreboard. Piazza follows with a strikeout. He's booed, as was sickeningly common throughout this period of time. But those boos go away quickly when Brian McRae, who mysteriously managed to hit 21 HRs and drive in 80 runs in 1998, sends a screamer down the left field line, banging off the retired numbers for the 19th of those 21 HRs, and extending the Mets lead to 6-2.

NOW, with the game in Leiter's hands, the lead is pretty much safe. Leiter gives up a pair of singles in the 7th and another in the 8th before departing after 8 innings and 132 pitches, giving up 10 hits and 2 runs, with 5 strikeouts, good enough to earn his 12th win of the year. The Mets don't mount much in the way of any more rallies, although in the 7th, with Alfonzo on 3rd, Piazza grounds into a fielder's choice, and Fonzie is tagged out. And again, Piazza gets booed by many of the cretins who somehow thought this proper behavior. Turk Wendell comes into the game for the Mets in the 9th, slams the rosin bag down and slams the door on the Rockies, striking out Vinny Castilla for the final out. 4 HRs for the Mets and a tidy 6-2 victory to start off this Doubleheader, in a prompt 2:36.

With about 45 minutes or so to kill in between games, I walk around a little bit. It was rare that I would really get to walk around and explore Shea, except during rain delays, or moments like this. I call a friend, who says I should pick up tickets for the doubleheaders coming up against St. Louis. I walk down to the hidden ticket booth on the Field Level near Gate C and buy tickets to both the Thursday and Friday night doubleheaders. Baseball Summer is in full swing. I walk back to the Loge, look at a souvenir stand, get a Hot Dog and I'm back in my seat, ready for Game 2. Of course, I only managed to kill about 20 minutes or so, so I've still got a little sitting around to do.

Finally, Game 2 gets underway at 8:31 pm, 44 minutes following the 7:47pm conclusion of the first game. It was typical, I had observed, for teams to throw out completely different lineups in doubleheaders, and usually one of them would be loaded with the dregs of the team. This game would be no different. Although the starters would be passable, with Bobby Jones for the Mets, and another future Met, John Thomson starting for the Rockies, the lineups were littered with names like Curtis Goodwin and Jeff Reed for Colorado, and Lenny Harris and Jorge Fabregas for the Mets.

By the start of Game 2, Shea was about as full as it was going to get on this night, with only 21,611 in attendance. The stadium was mostly empty at the outset, as most twi-night DHs are. It would fill by the latter stages of Game 1, and would again empty out as Game 2 progressed. The game started off quietly, as both Jones and Thomson eased through the first. But the Rockies would string together a few hits to start off the 2nd; Todd Helton would single to left for the 3rd consecutive hit, scoring Bichette with the first Colorado run. Following a walk to Mike Lansing to load the bases, Jones would strike out Jeff Reed before allowing a sacrifice fly to Hundley in Left by John Thomson. The collective gasp as Hundley settled under the ball could be heard throughout the stadium.

Meanwhile, Thomson neatly tied the Mets up in knots. Thomson was, I felt, a good pitcher trapped in pitching hell in Colorado. His numbers were never good, but I felt he had talent. When the Mets dealt for Thomson in 2002, I was thrilled. But Thomson proved himself mostly untalented at any altitude, and he was gone following that season, never amounting to much in Atlanta or Texas either, before fading into obscurity. But tonight, all the Mets can get off him are singles. Olerud in the first. Fabregas in the 2nd. Harris in the 3rd. Finally, in the 4th, Carlos Baerga inside-outed a ball down the line in left for a double. Fabregas followed with a weak single to left, moving Baerga to 3rd, where he would score on an Ordonez groundout. But that was pretty much it for the Mets in the 4th. Nothing in the 5th. The Rockies would extend their lead to 3-1 in the 6th, on a Walker walk, a Bichette single, and a a ringing 2B by Helton past Hundley in left to score Walker.

In the bottom of the 6th, the Mets would again start to rally against Thomson. With 2 outs, Fabregas would single cleanly to center for his 3rd hit of the game, which was amazing to me, because Fabregas was, in my opinion, barely passable as a Major Leaguer, a 3rd catcher at best. But here he was, starting in this game and going 3-for-3. Go figure. Some cretins are mumbling that he should be playing instead of Piazza. Ordonez dunks a double just fair down the right field line, and now the Mets have 2nd and 3rd, and Matt Franco is up to hit for Jones. On 2-2, Franco hits the ball hard, but right into the glove of Castilla for the 3rd out. Dammit.

Mel Rojas, or as I liked to call him, Smell Blowjas came into the game in the 7th, and I figured that was probably my cue to leave. Rojas did a good job in 1998, if you can consider routinely blowing leads and incinerating games a good thing. Somehow, Rojas set down the Rockies 1-2-3 in the 7th, setting the stage for the Mets in the bottom half of the inning.

Thomson continued to chug right along, getting Harris to fly out to center, and Alfonzo to pop out to short. But Olerud followed with a sharp single to right, which is something he'd done all season. With Hundley following, Don Baylor took his cue to pull Thomson after 118 pitches, and brought in lefty Chuck McElroy, moving Hundley around to the right side of the plate. But this strategy backfired when McElroy couldn't throw a strike, walking Hundley on 4 pitches. With Hundley, the tying run, now on base, he was run for by speedy Jermaine Allensworth, another one of the mysterious players who somehow surfaced on the 1998 Mets. Brian McRae then followed by chopping one off the plate. The ball bounced high into the air and landed between Lansing and Perez on the infield, but far too late for a play on anyone. Finally, what remained of the crowd was making some noise. Baerga was called back, and Mike Piazza strode to the plate.

Mike Piazza, to this point, the hired gun brought in, who had to this point failed to earn the respect of many of his hometown fans, who was booed loudly during the first game, and who was greeted here with a few groans from the fans around me.

But on the 1-2 pitch, Piazza turned everyone on his side. In typical Piazza fashion, he took an inside pitch, flipped his wrists and unleashed a screaming line drive that damn near went through the fence out in deep right center. It bounced off the wall onto the track, as Olerud, Allensworth and McRae all scored to give the Mets their first lead of the game. And those same fans who booed and groaned were now chanting Mike's name as he stood on 2nd base with a pinch-hit 3-run double.

Luis Lopez hit for Fabregas and struck out to end the inning. In the 8th, Rojas walked Walker with one out, and was removed for Turk Wendell, who did as he did in Game 1, came in, slammed the rosin bag down, and slammed the door on Bichette. Dennis Cook would come in to face Helton after a Castilla single, and Helton rolled weakly to Olerud.

In the last of the 8th, the Mets put the game away. With 1 out, Phillips hit for Cook and hit an infield single between Castilla and Perez against former Met gas can Jerry DiPoto. Lenny Harris followed by drilling a 1-2 pitch deep into the Mets bullpen. Harris raised his fist as he rounded first, and I did the same. Once again, the Mets had come back, and apppeared poised to sweep this doubleheader. John Franco came on in the 9th, and closed the game out with strikeouts of Mike Lansing and Derrick White, capping off the Mets 6-3 victory, giving them a Doubleheader sweep from the Rockies. I pump my fist again as White swings through the last pitch, at 11:54 pm on this Hot Tuesday night that will be a Hot Wednesday morning before I'm even on the 7 train on my way home. It doesn't matter how they do it, or who gets the hit, I'll take the victory any way it comes, especially when the Mets are right in the thick of a pennant race for the first time in forever. The train back is mirthful and merry, full of the spirited few who stuck it out for 6 hours and 43 minutes of Baseball, ready to come back for two more nights of doubleheaders later in the week.