The Rarest of the Rare

This article came to me via El Guapo on Facebook this morning, and it seems so fitting that I had to share it with the rest of you. I think it might save all of us quite a bit of headache and misery if this particular play were truly a reality.

But what I'm not sure about is why the article features a photo of stone-handed Dan Uggla? If Francoeur had hit his line drive at him, he likely would have either dropped it or missed it completely. My guess is that The Onion couldn't find a photo of Hanley Ramirez in time. Or, perhaps, the play was of the 4-6-4-6-4-6-4-6...variety.

Rare Centuple Play Ends Mets Season [The Onion]

What Game?

I know that there was a game between the Mets and the Phillies on Monday afternoon, because I was there. But for the life of me, I just can't seem to remember it.

There were people, and some balls flying around, and some of them were caught, and some of them were dropped, and there was some cheering, but I don't recall doing too much of that. There were a lot of people in red, sitting in packs throughout the stadium, like some bizarre, loathsome game of connect-the-dots. These people in red seemed to be doing most of the cheering. The people in blue, that is to say my people, just sort of sat there and stared.

Was it a dream? Or was it simply that this game was indistinguishable from the other games I'd attended on this most disastrous homestand, where the Mets appeared sunk before they even had a turn at bat.

Trouble was abound early. The stadium was only marginally full for a Monday afternoon game. I, being who I am, had taken off from work and gone with a colleague who was attending her first baseball game in 4 years. We arrived in our seats just in time to see Parnell plunk Shane Victorino. "I hope it hurt!" I yelled. This must have angered the Baseball Karma Gods because two batters later, Victorino was stealing 2nd and going to 3rd when Santos sailed his throw into Center Field, and scoring another batter later when Ryan Howard launched the first of his two moonshots. 3-0 Phillies and the Mets were basically cooked before they even came to the plate.

The rest of the game was pretty academic. Chase Utley and Gary Sheffield both kicked the ball around a little bit, the Philly fans were loud and proud, the Mets fans were quiet and not proud. A game happened. I saw it, I suppose, but for what it's worth, it's not worth talking about. The best I could come up with was that it was better than being at work.

Spectacular Failure

So if it wasn't enough for the Mets to have found new and inventive ways to lose games, or get their own players injured, or have injured players mysteriously become even more injured over the course of the season, now, the Mets are conjuring up ways to lose ballgames that haven't been done in over 80 years.


I suppose, as with so many other disastrous things that have happened to the Mets this season, you could see it coming. The situation was rife for such a play. Much like the Mets other Most Glaring Failure this season. Playing their closest rival, and the team that has dogged them for the past three seasons. Playing out the string, and trying to salvage some kind of pride. A wild game that saw the Mets fall behind 6-0 and peck and scrape and claw and somehow make a game of it. A game that saw the first inside-the-park HR in Citi Field history. And, of course, the perfect storm for the perfect play, 2 on, 0 out and the runners in motion.

Should Francoeur's line drive have been a few inches higher, and over Bruntlett's glove, then the move to send both runners looks genius. In fact Francoeur hit the ball well enough that had it been past Bruntlett, it likely would have shot into the gap for a tying hit. But, such as the Mets have had no luck this season, and no breaks, and whatever the absolute worst thing that could happen has happened, that's just what happened. The line drive was low, it went right into Bruntlett's glove as he ran to cover 2nd, and managed to pick off both Castillo from 2nd and a befuddled Murphy coming from 1st, and, thus, another Brilliant 2009 Mets moment.

It's not enough to simply lose anymore. The Mets now make their losses look spectacular.

How The End Always Is

I suppose it makes sense that my personal best (or should that be personal worst) 5th consecutive loss was that of an utterly frustrating variety. Though the Mets were in the game the entire way, and even had a chance to win it in their last at bat had Murphy not swung at a sucker pitch for the game's final out, you just knew that this was how it was going to turn out.

You knew when you got to the stadium, got your Tacos (which were once again the highlight of the evening, "Orgasmically good" might be the best way to put it), sat in your seat and looked at the Mets lineup that, even with Santana pitching, the Mets were doomed. After Luis Castillo in the #2 spot, it was all downhill from there. Daniel Murphy, who appears to have been stuck with a .248 average since May, was 3rd. Cory Sullivan, birthday boy or not, was hitting 5th (this before I knew that Sheffield asked out of the lineup over a contract spat, oddly, this is the first known issue he's created this season). Brian Schneider and his .187 BA hitting 7th. The eminently unexciting Anderson Hernandez 8th. The lineup basically read like Johan Santana and his band of Merry Men. They loaded the bases in the 1st, Tatis grounded out, and that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the night.

Santana was admirable, no doubt. Efficient as well. But for a little bit of bad luck (a better throw by Pagan on Infante's Sac Fly in the 3rd might have got Church at home) and one bad pitch (McCann's moon shot in the 4th), Santana was his normal self. But, oh, that lineup just couldn't do anything against Kenshin Kawakami, no matter how much he tried to let the Mets back into the game. Other that one instance in the 3rd where Tatis' line drive was hauled in on a brilliantly timed leap by Infante, you never really had the sense that the Mets were going to mount a serious threat.

The crowd, as it has been most of the season, was in positive spirits, in spite of the general hopelessness the team seems to exude. Looking for some sort of light, we got it in the 8th. Santana was removed from the game, and you could see a rather familiar looking lefty throwing in the bullpen. And once that bullpen door swung open and the first few notes of "Enter Sandman" began to play, the crowd was suddenly energized. After a constant string of injuries and players dropping on an alarming basis, here, finally, was someone actually coming back on schedule. Here was Wagner, making his familiar Alpaca-like stride in from the bullpen, coming in, and throwing surprising heat, 94-95-even touching 96MPH. He struck out his first batter, Curly McHanrahan, with relative ease. Larry swung on a 3-0 pitch and popped out. And with a flourish, Wagner finished by slipping his tradmark slider by McCann. The crowd was up. The crowd was energized. Could Wagner's appearance energize the Mets as well, and spur them on to a comeback victory?

No. Of course not. They got a little closer, thanks to erratic Mike Gonzalez, an error from Larry and a pinch single from Omir Santos. But with the tying runs on base and 2 outs in both the 8th and the 9th, the Mets went down predictably meekly. Just like you figured they would. Just like they have all season. There's nobody who can step up and rip that walkoff 2-run HR now. You just have to close your eyes, hope for the best and not be too surprised when you get the worst.

3 games remain on my 15 game plan. I've been to 11 of the first 12 and watched the Mets post a miserable 4-7 record in those 11 games (they of course won the game I missed). Add in the one random game against the Yankees and my record for the season is 4-8. Is it any wonder why I feel so defeated watching this team?

I Shoulda Been There!

Last season, I wrote about my kind of game and how it generally ends up going somewhere between 12 and 14 innings.

This year, my kind of game seems to have been the hopeless blowout that you can sense from the outset. I've already been to two of them this season, and a third that was probably worse than the final score would indicate.

By all rights, I should have been at last night's game as well.

I was out a little later than usual and when I briefly checked the score on my phone, it was 3-0 Atlanta in the 2nd. This didn't bode well, but considering how Tuesday night's game turned out, you couldn't be too sure. By time I got home and put the game on TV, Atlanta was scoring more runs and the score was 11-1. I realized that whatever I'd missed wasn't worth watching anyway.

I have tickets to tonight's game, and a matchup of Johan Santana vs. Kenshin Kawakami (you know, the great Kenshin Kawakami). The Braves will probably win this game 3-1 or something to that effect. In reality, I probably should have had tickets to last night's game, which would have fit in very well with the kind of games I've been attending this season. Who knows, the Mets might actually win tonight. My personal losing streak currently stands at 4 games. I haven't seen the Mets win a game since June 25th. This current losing streak ties my personal worst, originally set back in August/September of 2005. It would be fitting, I suppose, for this particular Mets team to break that streak and hand my my 5th loss in a row. But with Santana on the mound and the horrible, embarrassing blowout last night, I hope it doesn't come to that.

Besides, my next game is Monday afternoon vs. Philadelphia, with Parnell probably making the recovery start after last night. A loss tonight and 4 could become 6 very quickly.