Comic Book Farce

In this late part of the Summer, my co-workers (all two of them) have been in the office sporadically for one reason or another. I of course had taken my vacation earlier in the Summer, and as a result I've had several days where I've been in the office by myself. I have passed these days by harkening back to my old days and putting on the radio for a little while. It had been some time since I'd heard Mike Francesa, but Thursday was the first time that the Mets had a game on a day where I was in the office by myself. I didn't have a physical radio, but I did have a computer and an MLB.com subscription, so I was able to listen along with Howie and Josh while I worked.

I was, much like I did in the old days, listening with half an ear until about the 4th or 5th inning when I heard Michael Conforto batting and Howie say something like "And Conforto goes down!" and then, of course, my first thought was "Now What!?" Of course it wasn't good, and it looks as though Conforto has separated his shoulder and I'd assume this is the last we've seen of him for 2017. I assume. I'd like to hope otherwise. But doesn't it figure that the guy who's been one of the few legitimate bright spots for the Mets would g

In this late part of the Summer, my co-workers (all two of them) have been in the office sporadically for one reason or another. I of course had taken my vacation earlier in the Summer, and as a result I've had several days where I've been in the office by myself. I have passed these days by harkening back to my old days and putting on the radio for a little while. It had been some time since I'd heard Mike Francesa, but Thursday was the first time that the Mets had a game on a day where I was in the office by myself. I didn't have a physical radio, but I did have a computer and an MLB.com subscription, so I was able to listen along with Howie and Josh while I worked.

I was, much like I did in the old days, listening with half an ear until about the 4th or 5th inning when I heard Michael Conforto batting and Howie say something like "And Conforto goes down!" and then, of course, my first thought was "Now What!?" Of course it wasn't good, and it looks as though Conforto has separated his shoulder and I'd assume this is the last we've seen of him for 2017. I assume. I'd like to hope otherwise. But doesn't it figure that the guy who's been one of the few legitimate bright spots for the Mets would go down doing something as benign as SWINGING A BAT? It's just indicative of the farce this season has become. It's no longer 2001 or 2013 where everyone is sluggish and the team never got going. This is turning into 2009 where its not enough that everyone gets hurt, but people are now getting hurt in ridiculous ways. I at least give the Mets management some degree of credit for throwing in the towel and trying to build forward instead of trying to kid us into thinking this season was salvageable, which it's not. But what is next year going to be? That's what I find worrisome because 2009 happened and you figured. oh, it'll be OK, the injured guys will come back and 2010 will be better! and instead 2010 stunk just as bad.

Sigh. After all that, who really gave a shit about the game? The Mets lost anyway.

o down doing something as benign as SWINGING A BAT? It's just indicative of the farce this season has become. It's no longer 2001 or 2013 where everyone is sluggish and the team never got going. This is turning into 2009 where its not enough that everyone gets hurt, but people are now getting hurt in ridiculous ways. I at least give the Mets management some degree of credit for throwing in the towel and trying to build forward instead of trying to kid us into thinking this season was salvageable, which it's not. But what is next year going to be? That's what I find worrisome because 2009 happened and you figured. oh, it'll be OK, the injured guys will come back and 2010 will be better! and instead 2010 stunk just as bad.

Sigh. After all that, who really gave a shit about the game? The Mets lost anyway.

And Here We Go Again

I know that the Mets weren't actually going to go 162-0 for the 2017 season, but still, you watch games in the early going of the season, particularly when they win on Opening Day, and you sort of hope they can just postpone that inevitable first loss of the season. But, it's going to happen whether you like it or not, so you may as well just get it out of the way quick. So, after a rousing start on Monday, the Mets came back on Wednesday, got a solid start from Jacob deGrom, had a hard time with our old friend Bartolo Colon, went deep into Extra Innings, couldn't capitalize on some opportunities and ultimately lost in the 12th inning when Rafael Montero couldn't get out of his own jam.

These games are bound to happen and in fact, I think I've seen this game before. It's an April Wednesday night. It might not have been a cool day during the day but at Citi Field it probably feels about 40˚ at game time and only gets worse as the evening goes on. The #2 starters for each team throw zeroes at each other. Maybe each team scores a run. Both teams threaten in late innings but some steely bullpen work keeps the game tied. And then it goes into Extra Innings and the Mets just kind of run out of steam and the opponent scores multiple times and the Mets can't get off the mat. That was this game. Fortunately, I wasn't there. It sort of sounds like the kind of game I might be at but it wasn't on my plan and I've sort of learned my lesson about going to extra April Night Games.

Instead, I was home, trying out this newfangled internet radio that my other half bought me during the offseason (and required me purchasing an MLB At Bat subscription). I don't particularly mind this, given how used I am to listening to games on the radio, and also since I am in the habit of getting home and conking out for a spell. I'm not quite in midseason form just yet. It'll come. But so here I am with this "radio," and there's Howie and Josh and deGrom is on the mound looking like his old self, and Bartolo Colon is incongruously pitching for the Braves and everyone is going bonkers. Jay Bruce hit a Home Run in the 5th inning—and after 3 walks on Opening Day perhaps he's the one off to the hot start out of the gate—but otherwise there wasn't much in the way of action.

Then, deGrom departed in the 7th and things went haywire. Hansel Robles, who you'd think would be past this after two seasons, came in, immediately gave up a triple to Nick Markakis, walked another guy, gave up a game-tying double and was right on the precipice of disaster when Terry Collins mercifully removed him. And this is why nobody's every totally comfortable with Hansel Robles, because for every time he has a lockdown inning like he did on Monday, he's just as likely to come back the next night and leave a giant turd on the mound. Fortunately, Jerry Blevins came in and cleaned up the mess.

The game then turned over to the bullpens and not much of consequence happened after that. Fernando Salas, Addison Reed and Josh Edgin were all just fine, but the Mets couldn't capitalize on in the 8th and 10th when the game seemed to be right there for the taking. The 10th was particularly irritating, when after Bruce doubled and Lucas Duda was given a mulligan (still processing this new intentional walk rule), Travis d'Arnaud, who along with Robles seems to be an early candidate for The Ballclub's Flog of the Year, then struck out watching a pair of pitches that might as well have been sitting on a tee for him, and Ty Kelly, batting probably because Collins was playing matchups in a spot where T.J. Rivera probably should have hit, struck out as well.

So, it came down to Rafael Montero. After a few seasons that at best could be considered iffy, he had a strong spring and worked himself back into everyone's good graces. But he's still not showing what I'd consider decent command and he got himself into trouble in the 11th and again in the 12th. The difference was that in the 11th, he was able to get out of it. In the 12th, he got a necessary 2nd out with men on 1st and 2nd. Freddie Freeman was then rightfully punted to 1st Base so Montero could pitch to Matt Kemp. Given that Montero's stuff had been lively and Kemp was looking fastball on the first pitch, the smart thing to do would have been to either bury a changeup in the dirt or throw a slider 3 feet outside and let him wave at it. But nooooooo. Montero had to be a hero and fire a fastball on the inside corner, right where Kemp was looking to whack it into the Left Field corner for a 2-run double.

That was the end of the meaningful portion of the night. Jay Bruce hit with 2 out in the last of the 12th but Lucas Duda was subsequently pretzelized by Jim Johnson and thus, the Mets got their first loss of the season hung on them, and I suppose it's fitting it's to Atlanta. They were a pain in the ass last year and I suspect this will be the case again this year. Meanwhile, the same guys who looked so good down in Florida and got our hopes up all turned back into pumpkins the first opportunity they were given. So Robles, d'Arnaud and Montero need to get their asses in gear. I know it's two games in but teams with World Series aspirations can't have the same dumb guys doing the same dumb shit day after day.

Sigh. The lone upside I can see to all this was that I was not there to freeze my ass off for this one. I suspect I would have gotten fed up and left after the 11th but who knows. Sometimes, I'm still pretty stupid when it comes to this stuff.

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.

Dead Air

This afternoon's game was kind of bittersweet for me, although what went on during the game itself had very little to do with it. It's no secret that the Mets won't be on WFAN any more after this season. Although my initial reaction was of disdain and disgust for the Wilpons for allowing this to happen, I later found out that apparently WFAN lowballed the Mets during negotiations. But regardless of that, it's really the end of an era, since I basically grew up with the Mets on WFAN (and, yes, WHN before that), and WFAN and the weird, wild voices of New York have sort of become the background noise for my life. Sure, you get all sorts of perspectives and personalities, and I tend to agree with very few of them, but it's almost always entertaining. And, of course, this station that seems to be the quintessential New York station was the home of my team. And now, it's not going to be. And that's really weird.

So, at any rate, this was the Mets last Weekday Afternoon game of the year, and as such it was going to be the last time I'd be listening to the Mets on WFAN in my office. As I've mentioned, I usually stream WFAN, but thanks to Slick Bud, the Mets games are blacked out from streaming audio unless I open up my wallet. It's for this reason that I keep a portable radio on hand. Unhappily, after making it through the entire season without an issue, only today did the batteries in the radio die. That wasn't so bad, except that the radio is one of the 6 devices remaining on earth that uses "C" batteries. I know this because if you go anyplace to buy "C" batteries, they're usually buried at the bottom of a rack, covered in dust with an expiration date about 4 years shorter than any other type of battery. Compounding the problem even further was the fact that the battery cover on the radio was stuck. I couldn't open it with my hands, and found no success with a variety of other tools and objects. So, no matter how hard I tried, there would be no final WFAN with Howie and Josh this Wednesday afternoon.

Relegated to MLB Gamecast, the game really existed on a rumor level. I know it's hard for me to follow the game in my office on the radio. On Gamecast, forget it. It may as well have not gone on at all. I clicked it on, started working on something else and by time I looked at it again, it was the bottom of the 8th inning. What I missed, apparently, was Daisuke Matsuzaka dialing the clock back to 2008 or perhaps back to Japan, because he basically stepped on the Reds throats completely over his 7.2 innings of work. The Mets got a run on a little scratch of a single through a drawn-in infield by Eric Young, Jr and that was it for the scoring. The rest was all Daisuke, who, amazingly, started out looking like one of the worst embarrassments in Mets history and has improved, start by start, to the point where hey, maybe he is part of the discussion. How the hell that ever became possible, I don't know, but his last 4 starts, all of them Met wins, have certainly done wonders for his public opinion among Mets fans. And his swan song today (assuming this is his last start this season), against a Playoff-bound Reds team, was easily his best start yet.

Matsuzaka is certainly the story today, and if he's not back (and I'm still hard-pressed to think he will be), he's if nothing else proven he's still able to compete. Today, although he didn't get much help offensively, he made his 1 run stand up, partially due to his Catcher Juan Centeno, who became the first Catcher to successfully throw out the hotshot speedster Billy Hamilton after 13 straight successful steal attempts to start his career. The rest of the game, from what I could gather, was fairly uneventful. Pedro Feliciano and LaTroy Hawkins finished things out for Daisuke, and the Mets, long since left for dead, went into Cincinnati and kind of pissed on their parade a little bit, making them look bad last night and lifeless in Wednesday's 1-0 victory, beating them 2 games to 1 in the series, and giving the Pirates and Cardinals a decided leg up as they continue to fight for position. Then again, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh play this weekend, so maybe they'll just beat each other up before they meet in the Wildcard Play-In Game (more of a mouthful than it needs to be).

So, the Mets are done for this season on the road, where amazingly they ended up just barely over .500 at 41-40. Their problem, obviously, lies at home, where they come now for 4 final games to close out the season. The Milwaukee Brewers—Remember them?—are the final team to visit, and they arrive fresh off a near-riot in Atlanta caused by old friend Carlos Gomez. Unfortunately, Gomez was in the wrong in this particular incident, so it's hard to get on the Braves too much, but they seemed to be doing an awful lot of whining afterwards (and while we're on the subject of teams I don't like, Wednesday night officially confirmed what was brewing for weeks—New York will be Baseball-free come Sunday night, although don't be surprised if fans of the other team continue to insist that "Dey still gotta chance (garble snort drool)!"). But that's scarcely the concern of the Mets. Right now, the plan is to keep what could be a really nice, strong finish going through the weekend.

Salvage The Day!

See?! Everyone can be cool every once in a while.

After two days of basically being stomped on by the Braves, the Mets fought back a little bit and won in what is mercifully their final game against Atlanta for the season. The schedule says they only played the Braves 19 times, although I swear it felt like they played about 66, particularly after the All Star Break.

It was another radio special in the office today, and last year, I'd mentioned that a game on the radio and R.A. Dickey on the mound almost always ended up a winning combination. This year, the combo seems to be the radio and Dillon Gee. This may not be true at all, but it just seems like every time there's an office radio day and Dillon Gee on the mound, the Mets have come up roses.

Today, in particular, was one of those games, as the Mets came out firing early and often and never looked back in a 5-2 victory that actually felt more like a blowout victory than it actually was. Andrew Brown homered early and even Lucas Duda ran into a fastball for one of his own to stake Gee to a lead, and Gee just ran with it from there. He was up to the task of getting out of early trouble, striking out a pair with men on 2nd and 3rd in the 1st inning, which set the tone for his day, as Atlanta barely made a peep against him for 7 innings. Gee even helped his own cause with a floating single that neither Meathead Gattis nor Fredo Upton made any particular effort to catch, causing Howie Rose to state, with exasperation, "The Braves look like they have no interest in playing a ballgame today!" 

And yet, for as much as it felt like a runaway, the game was a wayward Vic Black pitch away from being a squeaker in the 8th. Black motored through the first two batters before Freddie Freeman, who may as well just start wearing uniform #10 or start making snide comments in a half-drunk Florida drawl about Mets fans putting on Yankees gear, because that's pretty much who he's turning into, caught up to him, and then Gattis was aboard, and it was a little hairy for a second because Gerald Laird battled, but eventually popped out. Then I went to the bank, and by time I returned, the game was over.

So, the Mets are finally done with these clowns for 2013, although rest assured I'll continue hating them for as long as their season is going. I will be rooting against them in the playoffs, particularly when everyone starts brown-nosing them as they get bounced in the 1st round again. But that's another story for another time. Next, the Mets go off to visit my relatives in Cleveland, a place they last visited in 2010 with positive results.

One Lazy Afternoon

Thursday's game, yet another of the fabled Radio Afternoon Specials for me, was, perhaps, a good example of a team just letting their frustrations out after a spell of misfortune. After a week where nothing went right for the Mets, between injuries, inconsistency and Miguel Cabrera, this 9-game homestand had seen the Mets go 2-6 and look really bad in the 6. But, with one chance to get it right and if nothing else split this interminably long 4-game series with the Phillies, the Mets went out, smacked around that Ethan Hawke fellow, scored 11 runs and came away with a resounding win in support of Carlos Torres, pitching in the now-vacated Matt Harvey spot in the rotation.

A majority of the people in my office cleared out early in the day yesterday, in anticipation of the holiday weekend. I, however, did not leave, opting instead to take advantage of a rare quiet day in the office. I used this opportunity to provide myself with the company of Howie Rose, along with replacement announcers Eddie Coleman and the always-dreary Jim Duquette. I don't like this particular combination, because often, I have a tendency to not listen, and then I realize I'm listening to Coleman and Duquette and wondering where the hell Howie Rose is (This happened today—even when there's not many people around, I can still lose myself in some work). I bring this up because, in the 4th inning, I heard Coleman announce that someone hit a Home Run. I missed who hit it, and I got excited for a second, because I knew that Matt den Dekker had been called up and was making his debut this afternoon. That would have been a hell of a start! But, no, it wasn't den Dekker. It was another guy who'd been recalled with him, Anthony Recker, who continues to hit very little, but make what hits he does get count.

In fact, it appeared as though just about everyone other than den Dekker was hitting for the Mets on this day, particularly Recker, Daniel Murphy (for once), Andrew Brown and Eric Young. Though I predictably drifted in and out of the game, I did hear the Mets scoring several runs, and it appeared that those 4 were particularly front and center in these rallies. And the rallies were plentiful. The Mets scored at least once in every inning from the 3rd to the 8th, which feels like something they haven't done in about 15 years, and they cruised—cruised—to a 11-3 victory.

Strange as it may seem, the Mets only have two road trips left this season. It feels as though it's snuck up on us, but all of a sudden, this season is almost over. This penultimate road trip takes the Mets to Washington, where they will make a rare appearance on The Biggest Game In The Galaxy on Sunday night, followed by, in one of the more asinine scheduling quirks ever, a Monday Afternoon game in Atlanta. Nice of MLB to do us that solid. After that, a visit to my relatives in Cleveland, which should be fun. Haven't been there in a while.

Pit Stop

This game had to be made up at some point, since MLB isn't really fond of letting teams punt games entirely, even if it holds no bearing on any sort of playoff berth. And I guess Minneapolis is sort of halfway between San Diego and New York, if you're going by way of Pickle Lake, so why not drop in and play a Baseball game? It ain't no thang.

Man, I'm this snarky after the Mets won? Imagine if they'd lost.

Fortunately, they didn't lose, and so the road trip from April that saw 2 games snowed out, a 3rd game frozen out and 5 of 7 games played in conditions bordering on the inhumane is now finally complete, with the Mets having made two of these little "side trips" and coming away with two wins.

Monday, the Mets essentially had a brief layover in Minneapolis, arriving in town late Sunday night to play a Monday afternoon game that was, for them, quick. So quick, in fact, that if you blinked, you probably forgot they even had a game today. I didn't, although I was engrossed enough at work that I actually missed the beginning of the game. I've made mention at times that I will often keep WFAN streaming on my computer at work, but if there's a game on, I have to switch to a portable radio because for whatever reason, MLB blacks out the internet stream of live games. But they're not consistent with it. And sometimes, if I'm not paying attention, I'll all of a sudden start listening again and wonder why I've got a replay of Boomer and Carton on. This is what happened today, so by time I tuned in, the Mets were already up 2-0 and Dillon Gee was cruising right along.

Gee, who's been a large part of the Mets resurgence, came through with another fine start on the heels of several other fine starts he's had, and it's gotten to the point that people are actually starting to recognize Dillon Gee as a good pitcher in his own right, and as pivotal a part of the Mets rotation going forward as anybody they've got in the system. Sure, he doesn't have the general panache of Matt Harvey or Zack Wheeler, or really any other pitcher in the rotation right now (Not including Carlos Torres, since he really doesn't count in deference to Jenrry Mejia), but what he has done is get people out consistently over a stretch of time where it's been pretty important for him to do so. Particularly when things like, say, his job were on the line. But he's proven up to the challenge and today was another good example of that. Given an early lead, Gee set out and smashed the flea—in this case an overmatched and anemic Twins lineup—with a sledgehammer, only allowing 1 run in 7.2 innings of work, and even that was unearned courtesy of an error by the irritatingly spastic Daniel Murphy. The end result was about 12 well-spent hours in Minneapolis, before finally and in some cases mercifully heading home.

Other items of housekeeping: Perhaps the least surprising move of the season is the non-return of Travis d'Arnaud to AAA with John Buck returning to the team tomorrow. d'Arnaud doesn't have a hit in 3 games, but I don't see anyone going nuts about that, particularly considering the fact that he's drawn 5 walks in the process. He's also probably going to see a majority of the playing time down the stretch, which is, of course, what he's here for. Gone is Anthony Recker, whom I'm sure we will remember about as fondly as, say, Vance Wilson or any other light-hitting backup Catcher. Braves in this week and I'm making an unannounced appearance tonight, in order to continue my streak of having seen at least one Mets/Braves game every year since 1998. This may or may not be a good idea, but with Zack Wheeler on the mound it will at least be interesting.

Complete Opposite

Last August, the Mets met their Waterloo in a home series against the Colorados where they neither hit, pitched, fielded or performed any particular actions consistent with the acceptable play of a Major League Baseball team. The end result was a Thursday afternoon affair that saw the Major League debut of Collin McHugh where McHugh mysteriously struck out 9 batters and threw 7 shutout innings. But the Mets didn't hit and in the end some poor fielding ended up costing them the game in a 1-0 loss. I listened to this game with contempt on the radio, and if the disgust in Howie Rose's voice wasn't enough, immediately following was one of Mike Francesa's most vitriolic rants against the team. He summed it up by simply saying "NNNNNEY STINK!" and he was right. Ney did stink.

One year later, we're seeing just how different the attitude is around the team. Today, the Mets played the Colorados in a Thursday afternoon finale to a series in which they played smart, heady baseball, they hit, pitched and (mostly) fielded well against a Colorado team completely decimated by injuries and general malaise, and the end result was that they scratched out enough runs to take a lead and the pitching, led by Dillon Gee and capped by LaTroy Hawkins, put the Colorados AAA lineup in their place in a 2-1 victory that finished off a series sweep. They are doing the sorts of things that you expect to see out of a young team that's only starting to learn how to win. The puzzle is complete, but you see the signs and the talent is certainly starting to surface. They didn't play outstanding baseball against the Colorados; they only hit sporadically, but they made their hits count. The pitching just stepped on the Colorados' throats, only allowing 3 runs in 3 games. Last season, 3 runs in 3 games might have been enough to beat the Mets in all 3. This year, the results are different.

Having a series like this against the Colorados isn't going to save this season, and had it happened last season it wouldn't have done anything to make that year more worthwhile either, but if nothing else, it's shown that the Mets now have a pulse. They have some direction and they have talented pieces that are useable going forward. They got great performances from their starters each time out, they played fundamentally sound, made productive outs, got productive hits when they needed them most, and parlayed some heads-up baserunning plays into important runs that ultimately won games. This is the sort of inspired play that makes fans want to show up and watch the team, even if they're hopelessly out of any sort of real contention for a playoff spot. Because it inspires HOPE for the future. Last year, at this time, there was no hope. There were islands of talent in a wasteland. Earlier this season, there were still islands, but the roster has been tinkered with and changed around until finally, a cohesive mix has begun to form. Guys who weren't on the team or weren't in anyone's consciousness at this time last year are now the guys making the plays, like Juan Lagares, or Eric Young, Jr, or Jenrry Mejia, or Marlon Byrd. Hell, they got two Saves this week from LaTroy Hawkins in a pinch.

The upcoming West Coast trip could prove to be the Mets' Waterloo, given the standing of some of the teams they're playing or, in the case of San Diego, the general bad luck they have in that stadium, but for whatever reason, I don't think that will be the case. They have, in general, been playing too well as a whole of late to think they will just roll over and die on the West Coast.

That Stupid Team

I know there's a thing about every great pitcher having one team that always gives him fits, and unfortunately for Matt Harvey, it's the Mickey Mouse Marlins.

Thursday's game was another Radio special for me, so I wasn't fully cognizant of what was going on (case in point: I was asked multiple times what the score was, and after answering 0-0 a couple of times reflexively, I had to pause for a second, pensively, before saying, as matter of factly as I could, "I don't know."

At that point, I didn't. But it was still 0-0, and the game was dragging along, as these weekday afternoon games usually do, because when the Marlins finally broke through against Harvey, I was convinced it was the 7th inning and not the 6th. The Mets were doing their usual "no runs for Harvey" act, and Harvey was pitching the way he usually pitches, until he got himself into a jam in the 6th and, at least as far as Howie and Josh would lead me to believe, just expended too much mental energy striking out Giancarlo Stanton and eventually, the Marlins just sort of vultured him to death. I couldn't be bothered to watch any replays, but it seems to me that a flare hit, a hit batsman and another flare hit led to 3 runs and that sort of took the air out of everything. The Mets couldn't hit Tom Koehler or anyone else the Marlins plopped out there and the end result was that the Mets lost and ended up 2-2 in what is fortunately their final series in Miami this season.

It's the 3rd such start that Harvey has made against the Marlins where they've just sort of nicked and pecked him to death this season, and I'm sure he's had more than enough of it. I'm sick of it, but then again, I'm sick of anything that has anything to do with the Marlins. Of course it's the Marlins. They're the team that seems to just bedevil the Mets the most, even when their leadoff hitter is the President of San Marcos.

I have nothing else to say. I'm thoroughly exasperated. At least the Mets don't have to go back to Miami this season. They went 3-7 this season in the Aquarium of Horrors, but it felt like 1-13. I wish that place would just sink into the ground.

Hitting Shoes

For all the ways in which Zack Wheeler has been compared to Matt Harvey, I really think the two could not possibly be more different.

For one, the Mets seem to score runs in bunches on days he pitches, for the most part.

Whereas Harvey arrived at the Major League level one year ago today with all the polish and poise of a seasoned veteran, Wheeler has often looked like what he is: A Rookie making, in yesterday afternoon's game, his 7th Major League start. He hasn't been bad, he's had some bad outings, but at no point have I come away from any of his starts thinking that he's a flop. He's just trying to figure it out. Fortunately, in the games he's pitched, the Mets have been able to outhit him getting it together. It's happened against Milwaukee, Atlanta and again, Thursday was a prime example.

Wheeler's general problem to this point has mostly been command. He throws hard, yes, and he seems to have a very easy time of it. So easy, in fact, that it appears his fastball becomes too light and moves around so much that it gives you the impression that he's wild. Sometimes, he is, based on the number of walks (to this point 20 in 38.2 IP) he's allowed. Against Philadelphia last weekend, this particular problem bit him in the ass to the point where he couldn't get out of the 5th inning, in spite of a lead, costing himself a win. Yesterday, it nearly got him again. Spotted a 4-1 lead, Wheeler allowed guys on base, eventually got burned for a pair of Home Runs and that 4-1 lead all of a sudden became 4-4. But, the point with Wheeler might not be to simply look at the results, it's how he responds to adversity. He's handled tough situations rather well for the most part; one of the upsides of the fact that he's allowed so many baserunners is that it's helped him toughen up and get himself out of jams. He got himself out of some hairy situations multiple times yesterday, and managed to work his way through 6 innings.

And, as has become the case multiple times, the Mets managed to get him some runs as he was departing the game in order to give him a win for his efforts. The Mets scored in bunches in this one, and these were primarily generated by Marlon Byrd, Daniel Murphy and David Wright, who I believe combined for 8 of the Mets 14 hits, and John Buck, who drove in 3 runs in assorted spots and has started to hit a little bit again. In fact, everyone, in some way, has been hitting a little bit recently, which has helped the Mets go on this nice little run that's got everybody feeling optimistic in Metsville these days. The split against Atlanty is nice, sure, it could have been better; if Justin Turner's shot falls in on Monday night, perhaps this is a 3-1 series win and a 5-2 homestand, but for as badly as the Mets have played at home, 4-3 is pretty good.

Washington today, where the hallowed tradition of the Day-Night Doubleheader will take place.

Of Course He Did!

After a tough loss last night, the Mets responded by throwing what has, to this point, been the weakest link in their rotation at the White Sox in Shaun Marcum. Though not entirely his fault, Marcum hasn't found any kind of consistency or success in his short time with the Mets, and has sort of earned a place in everyone's doghouse, primarily because he doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the team concept (whatever that is). Though he certainly earned some acclaim for his time in Toronto and Milwaukee, Marcum has seemed to find disaster at every corner this year. He's taken losses in games where he pitched decently, but got no run support. He's had games where he just simply came unraveled for one inning and dug himself an insurmountable hole. He's even lost in games he didn't even start, but found himself eating innings in an emergency situation that bordered on the heroic. The end result has always ended up with Marcum walking off the mound with this miserable puss on his face, and the losses amounted to a hideous 0-9 record and were Jonathon Niese not hurt, a likely demotion to the Bullpen.

The point is, Marcum hasn't inspired any sort of confidence to this point this season, so, of course, when everyone expected the absolute worst, and with the ignominy of being the first pitcher to start a season 0-10 staring him in the face, Marcum went out and threw 8 shutout innings at the White Sox, and the Mets responded with a 3-run rally to back him up and ultimately get him off the schneid with his first victory of the season.

An odd bit of circumstances had me listening to this game on the radio at home. This is a rarity for me, for sure, but my other half, who freelances as a makeup artist, had scheduled a session in our living room that started sometime around the 4th inning. Accommodating man that I am, and knowing that she probably would rather not work with a baseball game on in the background, I shut off the TV and went in the bedroom, where there is no TV, but there is a radio and an Air Conditioner. So, I listened to the game and cooled off, and in the shuffle of things I manged to miss the Mets 3-run rally in the 5th. I then distracted myself with some documentaries about strange, forgotten New York Neighborhoods, while Marcum continued to mow the White Sox down. Then, of course, I fell asleep, which I wasn't planning on, and was only awakened by Howie Rose yelling "Put it in the Books!"

So, what I was able to grok from the recap and the postgame show is that Marcum was quite efficient tonight, and did so in such mundane fashion that he not only bored me into some alternate forms of entertainment, he also lulled me to sleep. But, if that's what it takes for him to win a game, I suppose I shouldn't complain.

Kid A

I generally abhor the Day/Night Doubleheader, and that sentiment hasn't changed today, but if nothing else, I had vastly different perspectives on both games, so much so that they almost felt as if they could have been played on different days. It's enough of a difference in experience and atmosphere in which I took in both games that each game merits its own post.

Today was certainly a day that everyone who had any sort of interest in the Mets had circled for at least the last week, when it became apparent that not only would Matt Harvey take on the Braves in his regularly scheduled appearance, but he would be joined in the nightcap of this Doubleheader by Zack Wheeler, who would make his long-awaited and much-anticipated Major League Debut. Perhaps, if things went well on both ends, this could be one of those watershed days in Mets history. In the midst of a lost season, these are the sort of things you look to take away.

Matt Harvey, in this lost season, has already proven himself worthy of the praise; even though his numbers belie his success, that hasn't diminished his already lofty standing both among Mets fans and his peers around Baseball. He hadn't won a start in close to a month, though that wasn't due to anything in particular he did wrong. He might not have you believe that, but Matt Harvey has pitched well enough to stand with 9, perhaps 10 wins to this point in the season. Such is the peril of having a historically inept offense behind you.

Last start, Harvey took his first loss of the season, a head-scratching 2-1 loss to the Cardinals, where Harvey did what he always does, pitch into the 7th inning, give up 1 run, allow 4 hits and strike out 8, and even if those aren't his exact numbers from last Thursday, they're close enough. But the Mets gave him nothing, the bullpen gave up 1 after he left, and that was enough to saddle him with the loss. Harvey, as is his wont, shouldered the blame himself. In his mind, the only way to counter the effects of his teammates' ineptitude is to simply not allow any runs.

Early this afternoon, Harvey essentially did that, taking a No Hitter into the 7th inning, while the Mets went out and provided him with an unheard of 4-run cushion.

Of course, being that it was a Tuesday afternoon, I was relegated to Radio duty. Therefore, my ability to follow the game as much as I would have liked was hindered. I remember hearing Josh Lewin barking something about Daniel Murphy sneaking home from 2nd base on a Marlon Byrd infield hit, but I was taking a phone call when John Buck hit his Home Run, and come the 8th inning, I was in a meeting and I have no idea how the Mets plated 2 more runs.

I also had no idea Harvey was working on a No Hitter until Howie Rose mentioned something in the about "The only runners to reach against Harvey have walked..." or something to that effect. At that point I thought I ought to try to keep up with things a little more, but just at that moment, Jason Heyward hit a little squibber that Harvey fielded and, what I believe happened was that he threw the ball to someplace where Lucas Duda probably was supposed to be, but wasn't. I also, at this point, have not seen a replay, so I don't know where the truth really lies. But, if nothing else, the loss of the No Hit bid meant I could go back to my regularly scheduled activities.

Harvey tired in the 8th, although again, I was still in a meeting, so I wasn't quite sure what had conspired, or who was even pitching for that matter. By time I got my bearings back, Bobby Parnell was striking out Chris Johnson, and for a second I thought the game was over, since Parnell was in, but what I'd missed was a bizarre Braves rally that developed slowly and then boiled over once Harvey was removed from the game, badly enough that Parnell was called in to rescue the Mets from their own ineptitude. Fortunately, Parnell was up to that task, and got through the 9th with relative ease, finishing off the 4-3 victory and getting Matt Harvey that most elusive 6th victory of the season.

The talk afterward was whether or not Harvey was pitching with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, just to remind everyone who the boss was, even though everyone was more enamored with Zack Wheeler. Harvey, who normally throws pretty hard, appeared to be crackling today, touching 100mph on one instance. Perhaps, although Harvey generally has one demeanor when he's on the mound, and not knowing him personally, but seeing him enough times, I'd have to imagine it's pretty intense. Whether he's trying to win a game or send a message doesn't particularly matter. Even in games where he hasn't looked his best, he's managed to gut his way through games. Today, he went on cruise control and spent most of the game gassing the Braves, en route to a career high 13 strikeouts. And after so many frustrating outings where he's pitched his ass off to no avail, the Mets finally got a few hits for him. Thus, the keynote for the day was sounded, and the Mets could enjoy the 3 or so hour break in between the two games, and I could finish my job for the day and head home in time to catch Zack Wheeler's debut in the Nightcap.

Enough Of This

Rare is the Friday when I end up having to listen to the Mets on the radio, but here it was, a Friday afternoon game, which of course meant that the Mets were in Chicago to play the Cubs. I've mentioned several times in the past that for some reason I have very little recollection of the Mets playing in Chicago at all over the past number of years, and one of the reasons why is that they play a dearth of afternoon games at Wrigley Field. I'm usually just not home when they're playing there. And, of course, I'm so limited in the amount of attention I can pay to games in my office that it makes these Chicago trips even more of a blur.

Today's game was no different. Sure, there was a little extra juice in today's game because Matt Harvey was pitching, but I still have work to do, so you know, you do the best you can. I usually stream WFAN online, but because of the usual MLB rights restrictions, I can't actually stream the games. I have a pocket radio in my desk for such occasions. This is noteworthy because today, I actually forgot to take the radio out of my desk and at some point, I realized I was listening to a replay of Boomer and Carton. Horrified, I quickly clicked the stream off and got out my radio, turning it on just in time to hear David Wright hit a Home Run and give the Mets an early lead.

I know that the Mets hitters seem to have this feeling that one run is all Harvey needs, but Harvey is, in fact, mortal and sometimes he will give up more than 1 run. This happened rather mysteriously in the bottom of the first inning. Somehow, in between writing some checks and giving a copy machine tutorial, the Cubs got some runners on, and apparently they both scored while I was working at another station. So by time I came back, the Mets were down 2-1 and I figured, "Of course, This is finally the day that Harvey doesn't have it."

But apparently, I was wrong. Harvey just didn't have it in the 1st inning. I heard Daniel Murphy hit a Home Run in one of the middle innings, and then engrossed myself in a project that pretty much ate the remainder of my afternoon and ate up my attention so much so that by time I stopped for a breather, it was the 7th inning. In between that period, Harvey basically stopped the Cubs cold, which was a good thing, because the Mets were doing what they usually do and not scoring any runs for him.

I suppose Harvey must have been fed up, because I tuned back in just in time to hear him drive in the game winning run. Well, why not? Nobody else seemed prepared to step up for him. Although he'd never say it, I'm sure he was tired of pitching his ass off for 7-8 innings and getting no run support. So, given the opportunity with Ankiel on base, he got the hit, drove in the run, and then went back out to the mound and I went back to work.

It was the 9th inning when I looked up again, and by this point I'd missed the key play of the game, which was Marlon Byrd pulling Scott Rice's ass out of the fire and throwing out Barney Rubble at the plate (Barney apparently helped the process by pulling a Carlos Beltran and not sliding). Bobby Parnell, who continues to impress me in the closer's role, finished out the job, giving Matt Harvey his 5th win, which probably should have been his 8th win if there was any justice in this world. I then went back to work and promptly forgot what time it was, because I got in such a zone that I didn't look up until about 6:50. I'm supposed to leave at 6. Whoops.

So, the Radio streak continues. I'm tempted to go to work over the weekend and listen on the radio if that will help the cause.

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.

A Clockwork Knuckleball

That old recipe for success that's worked for the Mets all season worked once again this afternoon. R.A. Dickey pitched, I had the game on the radio in my office, and the Mets won the game.

I've lost count as to exactly how many times this has worked, and the last couple of times the Mets played a weekday day game, things didn't work out well for them, but Dickey wasn't on the mound in those games. More often than not, they've won the Weekday Afternoon special, and when Dickey's been on the mound in those games, it seems victory is a mortal lock.

As is usually the case when the game is on in my office, however, I don't often have the time to pay attention to every detail. In fact, I've been known to miss chunks of game completely if I have to go on an errand or some such nonsense. Today, I didn't even click the radio on until the 3rd inning, just in time to hear Adam Wainwright hit a Home Run off Dickey, putting the Cardinals on the board. As usual, I have to pay attention to vocal inflections to determine when something important is going on, and for a good while, I didn't hear much, except for that Ike Davis Home Run. Business took me out of the office for a few minutes around the 7th inning, so I missed Dickey's departure, but even the end of the game appeared to be rather benign, as I'd sort of glossed over what was going on, until I heard Howie say, "And that's the strangest 'Put it in the Books' I've ever made," or something to that effect. Apparently whoever was on base for the Cardinals had rounded 2nd base on a fly out, and then didn't touch 2nd base going back after the catch (We call this pulling a Jay Payton here). The Mets, perhaps in a bit of payback for Monday, appealed and the runner was called out, ending the game before even Frank Francisco knew what was going on.

So, the Mets salvage a game against the Cardinals, when they probably should have won the series if there was any Justice, but whatever. The Cardinals can go play the Brewers, Rockies, Padres and Marlins and probably win themselves another Wildcard in the process. Or they can go jump in a lake for all I care. We're done with them, and not a moment too soon, because for some reason, my ire towards them really started to come out this week. Let's instead focus on R.A. Dickey, who looks like he may be going on another hot streak to finish out the season, opportune considering his prime positioning for a potential Cy Young Award. Right now, he's the first to 18 Wins in the Majors, and the first Mets pitcher to win 18 games since Frank Viola won his 20...22 seasons ago (and as an honorable mention, Dwight Gooden won 19 that same year). Dickey's primary competition is probably Johnny Cueto from Cincinnati, whose sole edge may be that his team has been playing exceptionally well (and he leads Dickey in ERA by about 10 points). I know that there's some sort of anti-Knuckleball bias being talked about (and perhaps a Mets bias, too), but I have to call BS on that. I don't care what he's throwing or whether it's a gadget pitch, or whatever. He's had an outstanding season for ANY pitcher. Dickey has pitched out this entire season as an absolute master of his craft. It just so happens that his craft is throwing a particularly elusive pitch. He's more than earned whatever accolades he may get this season.

Radio Rescue

So, basically, the Mets have had two real bonafide solutions to whatever's ailed them this season.

1) Play a weekday afternoon game so I have to listen to it on the radio in my office.

2) Pitch R.A. Dickey.

If the Mets just switched exclusively to weekday afternoon games, maybe they'd win more often, since that seems to be the formula that works best for them. I'm not sure what their record is, but it seems like every time I click the radio on and listen while I work, the Mets come out victorious. And when they happen to throw R.A. Dickey in a weekday afternoon game, well, look out, because they seem to be just about unstoppable. Yesterday was one such example.

After a pair of games against the Neutered Mickey Mouse Marlins where the Mets basically looked like a defeated team playing out the string, Dickey went out yesterday and breathed some life back into everyone by doing what he does best: fluttering around the knuckleball, foul up the timing of the opposing batters, let his offense score whatever they can (the 6-run outburst seemed like manna from heaven, particularly considering most of it was generated by Andres Torres), and finish off the rest.

Aside from Justin Rugelach's Home Run in some early inning (I forget which), the Marlins really didn't seem to mount much of a threat the rest of the way. This is, of course, as far as I could tell, listening mostly with half an ear while immersing myself in assorted phone calls, e-mails and other paperwork that must be done. I've mentioned that Josh Lewin generally comes in handy on days like this; his inflections generally call attention to the important. Unfortunately, Lewin was off yesterday, leaving Howie Rose to rot alongside the vanilla voice of Jim Duquette, who appears to be about as competent a broadcaster as he was a General Manager. With Duquette, I'm left to sort of figure things out for myself, because he doesn't leave much in the way of notifying you of something interesting going on. After he did his innings, he threw it back to Howie. There was a long pause, much longer than usual, before Howie started speaking again. I was beginning to think he might have put Howie to sleep. He would have put me to sleep had I not had other things to do.

Nonetheless, even being bored by Jim Duquette couldn't put a damper on Dickey's sterling performance. With him pitching on a Thursday afternoon, how could you go wrong?

Midday Magic

Once again, the Mets played a midweek afternoon game, where I followed along on the radio in my office.

Once again, the Mets won big in this Radio Game.

It's become a bit of a pattern. As I keep mentioning, usually, when I have these games on the radio in my office, I'm listening with half an ear for one reason or another, or I have to step out of my office and I miss things completely. Thursday was no different. I put the radio on just as the game was about to start. Then I was called out of my office for about 10 or 15 minutes. When I came back, the first inning had ended, and the Mets had a 4-0 lead. That was a rather pleasant surprise.

Even more surprising was the source of much of the Mets offense. We don't have to talk about Jason Bay, because even though he drove in 2 runs, it's more than likely that this will send him into another 0-24 skid. Ronny Cedeno, like Bay, doesn't generate much offense, but then again he never did, so when he gets 5 RBIs in a game, it's like gravy because he's usually just in the lineup because a lefty was pitching or Tejada needed a burn.

Of course, since I was only partially paying attention, I didn't quite realize that Cedeno was having quite the day until Josh Lewin yelled something like "And it's a FIVE RBI day for Cedeno!" I probably wasn't even aware of the fact that Bay had done anything at all until I looked at the game recap much later on.

So, 3 of 4 in San Francisco, fine payback for them taking 3 of 4 here in April. All of a sudden, this West Coast swing hasn't gone too badly. Then again, now it's off to San Diego and Petco Park, where the Mets, I believe, have lost every game they've ever played there by a 2-1 score. Hopefully things will go better this time around.

Radio Glaze

Slacking this week, as tends to happen when the weather is hot and the Mets are playing lousy. I hadn't seen much of the team since the All Star Break, and clearly I hadn't missed much, but faced with a Thursday afternoon game, and a quiet day in the office, I of course tuned in to Howie and Josh for the day's proceedings.

Sometime during the affair, I got to thinking about some other Afternoon games I'd heard in my office this season. I could be totally off here, but it seems like the Mets do reasonably well in these kinds of games. Yesterday, of course, went splendidly (mainly because the Mets were able to outhit their lousy bullpen), then there were games in Chicago, Pittsburgh and in the Mets prior trip to Washington that also turned out in our favor. There were probably games that didn't go so well, but I choose not to remember them.

Regardless, this was the kind of game that the Mets needed in the worst way, and of course it was Dickey and David Wright leading the charge for what was supposed to be an easy victory, that of course managed to turn hairy during an 8th inning that featured 4 pitchers and the tying run on deck at the end of the inning (It may have been 3 pitchers, but it seemed like 4). It's rather frustrating to not have any sort of faith in the bullpen (we've already been through this, if you care to remember the final, futile weeks of 2008), but as Mets fans, we seem so battle tested by this that nothing's so surprising anymore. Oh, the Bullpen sucks? OK. It always did anyway. But if we are going to remain in contention, and Sandy Alderson claims that the Mets are buyers for the moment, then that's the first, last and only place that changes need to be made. This team has come this far based on the cohesiveness of the team. It's a damn shame that all the progress is being submarined by a bullpen that completely lacks the ability to get anyone out, and even a 9-1 lead somehow feels sweaty.

Damn. This should have been a much more positive post, shouldn't it?

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...