Small Screen

I have, for years, talked about the perils of being a 49ers fan in New York, and how on most weeks, their game isn't on TV. This season, by sheer happenstance, their first 4 games have been televised in New York. Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs was the first time this season that the game was not on in New York. In prior years, when this has happened, I've been able to click on the NFL app, which offered free access to the radio broadcast of the game, and listen on my phone. I fully expected to be able to do so on Sunday, but, to my horror, when I opened my app at about 3:55pm, I discovered that the app had instituted a paywall, and in order to listen to the game, I had to plonk down something like $19.95. I'm in no mood to hand over money to that shyster Roger Goodell, so instead, I pulled up NFL.com's gamecast on my computer and followed things that way. This isn't what I would call effective—it's easy to get distracted by other things, and who the hell can stare at animated graphics on a computer screen for that long—but if nothing else, I at least knew how things were going along in the game.

The 49ers, fresh off their come-from-behind win over Philadelphia last week, again found themselves in a back-and-forth battle with the Kansas City Chiefs and old friend Alex Smith, and although the lead changed hands multiple times, it was the 49ers who came out on top, thanks to 5 Phil Dawson Field Goals, another solid performance by the defense, and a trick play in a key moment, which paved the way to a 22-17 victory that put the 49ers back over .500.

The game didn't start out especially well for the 49ers, as Alex Smith, who rightfully received a warm welcome in his return to San Francisco, led the Chiefs right down the field for a Touchdown on the game's opening possession. Colin Kaepernick responded by leading an equally strong drive, but unfortunately, the drive stalled and the 49ers, in what's been a recurring theme, ended up having to settle for a Phil Dawson Field Goal. Each team's second drive culminated in Field Goals as well, as the Chiefs, behind Smith and Jamaal Charles moved down the field, while the 49ers embarked on a drive that fell flat when Kaepernick, who once again was working without his safety net in Vernon Davis, instead was throwing passes to the stone-handed Vance McDonald, who caught none of them and the end result was another Dawson Field Goal.

The 49ers 3rd drive finally hit paydirt right before halftime. Kaepernick hit Anquan Boldin and Derek Carrier (not McDonald) for large gains, and Frank Gore picked up some key yards in setting up a 9-yard Touchdown pass from Kaepernick to Stevie Johnson with but :35 seconds left in the half. This gave the 49ers their first lead of the day. But the Chiefs grabbed the lead back on their first drive in the second half on a lightning quick drive that saw Jamaal Charles break one long run and De'Anthony Thomas finish it off with a 17-yard run. Dawson's 3rd Field Goal on the ensuing drive cut the Chiefs lead to 17-16 as the game moved into the 4th Quarter.

The 49ers started out a drive deep in their own end, and it appeared destined to stall after Frank Gore couldn't gain much in the way of yardage. But on 4th and 1 at their own 29 yard line, Jim Harbaugh made the gutsy move to call for a fake Punt. Craig Dahl took the snap and basically plowed forward for the necessary yard to convert the 1st Down and give the 49ers new life. The drive continued as Kaepernick hit Brandon Lloyd for an acrobatic 29-yard catch that set up yet another Dawson Field Goal that put the 49ers ahead to stay at 19-17. The 49ers defense force Kansas City to punt on their ensuing drive, and once the offense got the ball back, they set out to eat the clock, which they were successful in doing thanks to Gore, Carlos Hyde and Kaepernick running the ball, ultimately setting up Dawson's final Field Goal. Alex Smith tried to lead the Chiefs back on a desperation drive with no Time Outs and just over 2 minutes to play, but for the second week in a row, Perrish Cox came away with a game-clinching Interception and the 49ers came away with their second win in a row.

The win, though nice, was far from memorable, and that's not just because I was halfheartedly paying attention to the game on my computer while watching the Orioles and Tigers on TV. The 49ers offense did more or less the absolute minimum necessary in order to win the game, doing a lousy job of finishing off drives and relying too heavily on Phil Dawson to kick them to victory. Any one of those 5 Field Goal drives finishes in the End Zone and the 49ers would have coasted to a fairly easy victory. Though Alex Smith did have some flashes, he only threw for 158 yards, and Jamaal Charles only rushed for 80. By comparison, Kaepernick threw for 201 yards and a Touchdown, while Gore banged out his second straight 100-yard effort. Brandon Lloyd paced the team with 76 yards receiving as Kaepernick spread the ball around to 8 different receivers over the course of the game. With this sort of output, you would think they would have been able to generate more than 22 points, but that's all they ran up on this day. The team hasn't really hit its stride yet, which I suppose is something worth remembering. But it will take a better effort than this to keep the winning going once the big boys start coming up on the schedule.

Certain Royalty

We are, perhaps, somewhat jaded as Mets fans, and rightfully so given the way the last 8 seasons have ended up. But it doesn't look so bad when measured against a franchise like the Kansas City Royals, who are in the Postseason for the first time since 1985, when they won their only World Series Championship behind bygone names like George Brett, Frank White and Bret Saberhagen. That was 29 years ago. If that's not enough to get you to root for them, and root for them hard, well, then I don't know what to tell you. The Royals made their way into the ALDS on Tuesday night, by virtue of a furious double-comeback against the Oakland A's, coming back from deficits of 7-3 and 8-7 in the 12th inning before ultimately winning 9-8.

In the ALDS against the Anaheim Angels, a team that boasts the Best Record in Baseball, the Best Player in Baseball in Mike Trout, and a pair of former MVPs in Albert Pujols (still not very good) and Josh Hamilton, the Royals seem unfazed, and after winning both Game 1 and Game 2 on the road, in 11 innings, on Home Runs from, respectively, Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, I'm beginning to think there's something a little deeper at work here.

For one, after watching Game 2 play out in particular, I began to realize that, for the Major League Ballplayer, you don't pick the Postseason, the Postseason picks you. Think about this. The Angels and Royals are led by a couple of bright young stars in Trout and Hosmer. But if you were going to think of the guy who was going to steal the show and make the Postseason his own, it would have to be Trout, wouldn't it? Trout is the odds on favorite to win AL MVP, after hitting 36 Home Runs and driving in 111 in the regular season. Hosmer, on the other hand, was injured, has failed to live up to his billing as a franchise 1Bman, and for the season hit 9 Home Runs and drove in 58. But when the bell rang for October, the roles have flipped. Trout, the ballyhooed, has gone 0-for-8 with 2 walks in his first Postseason. Hosmer, on the other hand, has been a man possessed. After going 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored, an RBI and a Triple of massive importance in the Royals' 12th inning winning rally, Hosmer greeted the Angels by going 3-for-7 in the first two games, including 2 walks, 2 runs scored and a 2-run Home Run in the 11th inning Friday night that proved to be the winning hit in Game 2. That's the sort of clutch you would have expected out of a big-time star like Trout, and not someone who's struggled to find himself like Hosmer has. But this Postseason has been Hosmer's coming out party, and he's showing what he's capable of in front of a National audience. Some guys just find that spotlight. Hosmer's performance, along with Moustakas, and some clutch play from other unsung guys like Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez and Jarrod Dyson have aided the Royals...The Kansas City Royals!!...ahead 2 games to 0 and heading home with a chance to sweep the Angels out of the playoffs on Sunday night.

You want a story that will make you believe and feel good about Baseball, that's it right there.

Trust Frank

After two consecutive losses, the 49ers came back to Levi's Stadium in fairly desperate straits, needing to right the ship against a Philadelphia Eagles team that was coasting in at 3-0. In spite of the fact that the 49ers had multiple breakdowns on Special Teams and an Interception from Colin Kaepernick that led to three Eagles Touchdowns, the 49ers rallied back from a 21-10 deficit, solved their second half issues and ultimately put forth an inspired goal-line stand to finish out the game and come away with a sorely needed 26-21 victory to even their record at 2-2.

The 49ers won this game primarily behind the effort of Frank Gore, who broke out of an early season slump with 119 rushing yards and also a career-long 55-yard Touchdown reception that gave the 49ers a temporary lead in the 2nd Quarter. In the second half, Gore, who'd voiced his displeasure over a lack of carries in Arizona, gashed the Eagles defense and helped to set up a pair of Phil Dawson Field Goals that would ultimately win the game. For Gore, just another feather in the cap, really. This is the sort of performance he's made a career on. Gore doesn't boast the flash or panache of bigger-name backs in the league, he just pounds the ball consistently, he's done that year after year, and now in his 10th season in the league, he showed he can still have an impact on games. Trust Frank! That's what the 49ers needed to do offensively in order to get over their second half doledrums. The problems they'd had were well-documented, but on Sunday, they were the ones doing the damage, outscoring the Eagles 13-0.

The other reason the 49ers won this game was their defense, still mostly in patchwork mode thanks to the missing names, but Patrick Willis and company still managed to keep the Eagles offense off the scoreboard. The Eagles, by virtue of a few busted plays, had run out to a 21-10 lead, but that wasn't on the defense. The 49ers first drive fell apart after Colin Kaepernick was sacked back at his own 2 yard line. Andy Lee's subsequent punt attempt was blocked in the End Zone when nobody made any particular effort to block Trey Burton, and Brad Smith fell on the ball for an Eagles Touchdown.

Though the 49ers would eventually take a 10-7 lead on Gore's 55-yard TD (a busted play in its own right; Kaepernick had scrambled out to his left before turning and throwing the ball essentially sideways across the field to a wide open Gore, who was able to take the ball to the End Zone virtually untouched), they began to crumble in a particularly bad sequence midway through the second quarter in which they handed the Eagles 14 points without their offense even setting foot on the field. First, Kaepernick, on a 3rd down play, threw a pass that was supposedly intended for Brandon Lloyd, though it seemed more intended for Malcolm Jenkins. Unfortunately, Jenkins plays for the Eagles, and he was able to run his easy interception back for a score. After responding to this with a penalty and an incomplete pass, the 49ers punted the ball back to the Eagles, where the always dangerous Darren Sproles shot down the sideline for another Touchdown that put the Eagles up 11.

At this point, things really looked bad for the 49ers, already struggling, with Kaepernick unable to move the offense and the specter of their 3 second half points in the first 3 games. But after trading punts, the 49ers finally strung a decent drive together shortly before halftime, aided by Gore for one, with Anquan Boldin making a pair of key catches and Michael Crabtree keeping a play alive in spite of his helmet being ripped off his head, and ultimately ending in a Dawson Field Goal to make the halftime score 21-13.

The 49ers finally caught a second half break early in the 3rd Quarter. After punting on their first possession, they forced an Eagles Turnover when Nick Foles hit Zach Ertz for a short gain. But Antoine Bethea punched the ball out of Ertz's hands and directly into the hands of an eagerly waiting Perrish Cox to set the 49ers up in great position. This time, they finally managed to punch the ball into the End Zone courtesy of a brilliant tightrope catch from Stevie Johnson, who reeled in Kaepernick's 11-yard pass for his first score with the 49ers and cut their deficit to 21-20. More importantly, it was a second half Touchdown that seemed to break the ice for the team.

After once again forcing the Eagles into a 3-and-out, the 49ers leaned on Gore to get them down the field and in position for Dawson's 3rd Field Goal of the day to give them back the lead at 23-21. With the lead, the defense, which had been playing well all game, finally started to really give the Eagles offense problems. First, Bethea registered his first Interception with the 49ers, picking off Foles on a deep pass intended for Jeremy Maclin. Later in the 4th Quarter, the 49ers forced another 3-and-out and drove down for Dawson's 4th Field Goal to give them a 26-21 lead.

With time left for one last shot, the Eagles then embarked on what was easily their best drive of the game. The 49ers defense, which had held high-flying Running Back LeSean McCoy and Foles and his galaxy of speedy stars in check, allowed the Eagles to slowly but surely work their way down the field. Not that they made it easy, Ian Williams regsitered a sack on Foles, but eventually, the Eagles worked themselves into position to score a potential winning Touchdown. McCoy couldn't punch it in, though, and with two chances from the 49ers 1 yard line, Foles ended up getting chased around by assorted 49er defenders before throwing the ball away, allowing the 49ers to take over on downs. Though they would have to punt back to the Eagles, the 49ers ended the day when Perrish Cox intercepted Foles on a desperation pass and the 49ers had gutted their way to a win that, to call it much-needed might be an understatement. At 1-2 and trailing 21-10 at home, things probably couldn't have looked much worse. But the 49ers got off the mat and finally started to hit back when it counted, and the result was the kind of win that's been emblematic of the Harbaugh era.

Kaepernick, in spite of another semi-erratic outing, managed to net 218 yards passing and 1 Touchdown, spreading the ball around to Boldin, Crabtree, Johnson and Lloyd with regularity. Derek Carrier again had a solid performance, particularly after Vernon Davis departed with a rather scary-looking back injury. Defensively, Bethea and Cox served as the standouts, each coming up with a pick of Foles and pitching in on the key 3rd Quarter fumble that may have tilted the game in the 49ers favor.

So, the 49ers have snapped their 2-game losing streak and are now back at .500. Next week, they remain at home to play the Kansas City Chiefs, who will be bringing old friend Alex Smith with them in his return to San Francisco.

Into The Sunset

It was a sublime final act for the 2014 Mets this afternoon. From Bobby Abreu's final hit and exit off the field and into retirement, to Bartolo Colon's fine season-ending effort, to the influx of Casey Stengel, to Lucas Duda's show-stopping 30th Home Run to cap off a season-ending 8-3 Victory over the Astros, Sunday's season finale couldn't not leave every Mets fan with good feelings all around heading into the offseason.

The closing day crowd was in a mostly festive mood, which was good to see. I feel like I've talked a lot more about the finality of the final weeks of the season, like the end of the season has come up quicker than normal and seems to be striking me differently. There are many reasons for feeling this way; one such reason is Hope. After 6 seasons in the wilderness, there's actually a number of pieces in place that can legitimately make the Mets fan feel a little positive. There's still a lot of work to be done in order to legitimize that hope, but nonetheless, there's a lot more of that word being thrown around here now than there's been in years. So, perhaps, this closing day is going to mark the closing of the door on a truly terrible era of Mets baseball.

As I'd mentioned, I was in attendance this afternoon, the 14th time in the last 20 years that I've been to closing day (and 4 of those were missed because I was in College and not in the City), and for the 3rd year in a row, I was accompanied by my other half to my final game of the season. The games aren't necessarily as enjoyable for her as they are for me (We moved yesterday and I had to essentially roll her out of bed in order to get her ready for the game), but she still comes and sticks it out with me. The lure of a 2015 schedule magnet helped, as well as the Casey Stengel Bobblehead (whom she insists is my long-lost Grandfather). I, on the other hand, will show up even when nothing is being given away, so my presence at the game was long since assured. How could I not be there? It's my last chance to see the Mets up close until April 13 of next year.

So, there we were, and there were the Mets, sending Bartolo Colon to the mound on the season's final day, which seems fitting since it seems like I saw him substantially more often than other pitchers on the roster (this was the 5th time he started in my 17 games), against Nick Tropeano for the Astros, a Rookie with Long Island roots and the large rooting section to prove it. In the 4 previous Colon starts I'd attended, the Mets had not just won, but won fairly easily, another good omen for the day. Early, it didn't seem as though this game would necessarily follow suit; the Mets scored in the 1st inning when Matt den Dekker led off with a double, advanced on a Bobby Abreu ground out and scored on a Daniel Murphy Sac Fly. The Astros responded with a pair of Ground-rule doubles in the second from Jon Singleton and Max Stassi to tie the game. The Mets went back ahead in the 3rd, only to see the Astros tie the game again on an RBI double from Jose Altuve, who wasn't supposed to play, but tweeted his way into the lineup and justified his presence by picking up two hits and the AL Batting Title.

Lucas Duda took matters into his own hands in the 5th inning, first by hitting a 2 out, 2-run double off Tropeano. This rally was started by Bobby Abreu, who inside-outed a pitch into Left Field for a single, which was immediately followed by an extended standing ovation, because we all knew what was coming. Abreu hadn't played much, if at all, of late, and he announced Friday that he would be retiring after the game today. Obviously, he earned the start this afternoon based simply on that fact and once he got one final hit, he'd get his ovation and be removed from the game. True, Abreu's career was spent mostly with the Phillies, but in his 16-year career, he established himself as a fine player well worthy of the respect of Mets fans, and you could tell he appreciated that. Abreu departed for pinch runner Eric Young Jr., stepping off the field and into retirement. Following that, Murphy walked, setting the stage for Duda to line a shot down into the Right Field corner to score both runs easily, and also brought Duda to the magic 90 RBI plateau.

But Duda wasn't done. Though the Astros drew back to within a run on another Stassi RBI, Duda came up in the 8th inning with Murphy aboard, facing the Astros' Fidrych-like reliever Michael Foltynewicz. Certainly, with the Familia/Mejia Report doing their thing, this stood to likely be Duda's final at bat of a fine season, and everyone kind of had the sense that maybe he'd be swinging for the fences with the 30-Home Run mark sitting right there for him. Foltynewicz kept trying to jam Duda, but eventually made a mistake, and Duda jumped all over it, smashing the pitch out over the bullpen for that 30th Home Run, earning himself perhaps the day's loudest ovation and even a Curtain Call in acknowledgement of his breakout year. Who the hell would have thought that back on Opening Day?

Ruben Tejada closed out the Mets scoring for the season with a Home Run of his own, his 5th of the year to make the score 8-3, and Jenrry Mejia very quickly set the Astros down in order in the 9th to close out the season and send the Mets off for the winter with one final wave and some caps tossed into the seats.

So, after a pair of 74-win seasons, the Mets ticked slightly upward, finishing with a record of 79-83. This record, amazingly, was good enough for them to finish in a tie for 2nd place in the division with the Atlanta Braves, and if you want to get technical about it, they do finish ahead of Atlanta based on the fact that they won the season series. After so many years of 4th place finishes, 2nd place seems a hell of a lot better, even if it's not good enough for the Mets to make the Postseason, it represents a step in the right direction. A lot of things that happened this season represent a step in the right direction.

But now the conversation has to change for the Mets. They've done about as much rebuilding and retooling as can be expected, now it's time to get some payoff from all this work. There's great pitching in place and some decent offensive parts. Now, Sandy Alderson & company need to put up or shut up. This stands to be one of the more interesting offseasons the Mets will have in many years.

Coming up, my annual Mets report card (if I can get my act together), some more thoughts on the San Francisco 49ers, and odd observations of the MLB Playoffs.

From The Ashes

The Mets won their penultimate game of the 2014 season solely on the timely and virtuous power hitting displayed by Lucas Duda. In a season where he's become one of the happier success stories in recent Mets history, Duda, who's slumped a bit down the stretch, sent himself into the offseason on a high note, belting a 2-run Home Run off lefty Tony Sipp with 2 outs in the 9th inning, providing the Mets with their entire evening's output of offense in a 2-1 victory that put everyone in a good mood, even if they weren't in attendance to see the season's final postgame concert.

My other half and I moved apartments this morning, and fortuitously cable was installed in the afternoon, and although nothing was in a shape for us to do so, we were too exhausted following the day's events to do anything beyond sit on the couch and watch tonight's game. For a Saturday night, next-to-last-day-of-the-season game between two teams that will finish with over 80 losses, the crowd seemed lively at Citi Field, and it was discussed at length by Keith and Gary that the draw was mostly of young girls to see teenybop sensation Austin Mahone. Who knew. I've never heard of Mahone, not like I've been aware of other Met Postgame Concert series participants, and when I first saw this on the schedule, I wondered if this particular ploy would sell tickets. It seems his presence is, indeed, enough to get people out to Citi Field on a Saturday night in Late September. Not me, I personally try to avoid concert games like the plague (also, I don't think Nirvana is available to perform at Citi Field), but for those that like that kind of music, I'm sure the game couldn't get over with fast enough.

Far as the game, which did happen, Rafael Montero took the Jacob deGrom spot in the rotation and pitched reasonably well over his 5.1 innings of work, allowing only one run, which occurred in the 6th inning when Dexter Fowler, who was last seen pogo-sticking his way around the bases in one of many Met debacles in Colorado, hit one of those terrible slow rollers up the 3rd base line that you can only sit and watch and hope it rolls foul, except that it never rolls foul. Daniel Murphy did his best Lenny Randle impression but to no avail. Jason Castro followed with a double up the gap that scored Fowler with, to that point, the lone run of the game. This remained the lone run of the game until the 9th inning, and for that the Mets can thank Montero, Buddy Carlyle and the Jeurys Familia/Jenrry Mejia Report, who kept the Astros off the board. They can also blame Samuel Deduno, a Twins castoff that resurfaced mysteriously with the Astros, probably because they needed a warm body who could throw strikes, followed by Jake Buchanan, Kevin Chapman and Jose Veras for not allowing them to score any runs on their own.

But then came the 9th, and Tony Sipp for the Astros. Eric Young tripled with 1 out, which was good, because it put the tying run on 3rd with Daniel Murphy coming up. But Murphy only popped out, which as a Met he is generally wont to do, and so it came down to Duda. Duda, who for years has been a particular flog of mine, and someone whom I've heaped loads of disdain upon, and mostly it's been justified. Because I, like most Mets fans, want him to do better, know he can do better, and don't quite understand why he doesn't do better. And when Davis was traded back in April, I was skeptical as to whether or not that was really the right thing to do. But based on what's happened since then, clearly it was; Duda has come of age this season, and it's been a delight to see and wonderful to have him prove me wrong. Duda has not only hit for power, yes, in fits and starts, but that's how power hitters generally are, but he's driven in runs and he's gotten key hits. Things he had not done consistently prior to this year. And he rolled all of these things into a bow to cap off his season when he lined a 1-0 pitch from Sipp off the Right Field foul pole to win the game for the Mets, 2-1, earning himself a rousing ovation from everyone watching in person and on TV, and a couple of pies in the face from some enterprising teammates.

So, one more for the season, tomorrow afternoon, which I'll be at. If Lucas Duda can come up with one more Home Run, he'll finish off with a nice even 30 for the year, and 90 RBIs if he can do so with someone on base. If the Mets win, they can finish off the season with 79 wins, 5 more than last year, and also hand me my 11th win of the season, something I haven't enjoyed since 2006.