Oh man, that eighth inning.
Trachsel clearly running out of gas (though I was happy to see Willie let him hit for himself and go out there), Tim Welke's Magical Strike Zone contracting, the count mounting on Mike Matheny, I'm muttering Come ON Trachsel, hit it to anybody though preferably not Diaz, then Michael Fucker (whose name is somehow always misspelled) at the plate, looking to see if he can tear open Piazza's thigh with his spikes or if his old friend Angel Hernandez is around to help him cheat, and Trachsel's fastballs are high, his offspeed stuff rolling instead of breaking, and the count mounts on Spikey McFucker and the Magical Strike Zone goes back and forth like an accordion, and I'm now muttering comeonTrachselhitittoanybodythoughpreferablynotDiaz, and now Michael Fucker has walked and here's Randy Winn, and I'm thinking that's one batter too many and I just lived through this with Jae Seo and am not sure I can do it again, and Trachsel goes 2-0 on Randy Winn and I'm sure that's fatal, now I'm reduced to hoping we get lucky somehow and yelling Come ON Trachsel hit it to ANYBODY — EVEN DIAZ and then sonofabitch, he pops it up, and it briefly looks like Reyes and Cairo and Beltran are going to stare at each other until it plops into the grass, but no, Beltran gloves it, we're safe, still 1-0.
Well, safe except for Braden Looper out there on the mound. And he was accompanied by some strange moves by Willie — why double-switch and take Jacobs' glove out of the game for Chris Woodward's? Were we playing for the tie? I mean, if where Looper hits in the order comes into play, we're already screwed — and a screwing is more likely with subpar defense at first, isn't it? And speaking of subpar defense, why was Diaz still out there in right?
So of course Looper gives up a leadoff double to Omar Vizquel and I'm screaming epithets at him, but then somehow, just as I'm seething and rehearsing a blog entry about how we can't survive with Looper as our closer, he makes a terrific play on Pedro Feliz when nobody would have blamed him for avoiding the broken bat, then gets Moises Alou, then Ray Durham grounds into the second-base hole and Cairo flings it to Woodward and holy shit we've won, though I still kind of feel like throwing up. Attaboy Looper, I guess.
Man. This game'll kill you. And that's when you win.
Prescript: Antsy before the start of things (thank goodness that's the last 10:10 game of the year), I flipped over to watch Braves-Brewers. It was some kind of Turn Back the Clock night in Milwaukee, so the Braves (whom we now trail by just four, though let's not talk about that) were wearing Braves road unis, and the Brewers were wearing…Braves home unis. I felt like I had vertigo; it took me like two innings to get it straight and even then I had to keep checking. Then Ben Sheets came out of the game late with an injury and in came…Kane Davis. Kane Davis? Really? I figured he'd be on about Year Two of the You Need a Ticket to Get in Here Buddy plan. Strange night all around.
Were we playing for the tie?
I'm still laughing at that. I had similar thoughts as soon as I saw Woodward out there. Though he's newly converted to first, and he just escaped Binghamton, Jacobs looks rather capable with a glove. Diaz? In spring training and at the start of the season, Diaz seemed steady if unspectacular in right. Now he looks like a graduate of the Roger Cedeno Outfield Clinic. It's scary, but I now look forward to seeing Gerald Williams in right as a LIDR.
As a longtime fan of Trachsel (as our fourth or fifth starter), it was great to see him come through when we needed the roll to continue. Maybe we can score some runs for him the rest of the way. And maybe we can hold a @#$%ing lead for Pedro…….
Can someone give me a synopsis (or a good anecdote) of why Angel Hernandez is so despised? His name sticks in my head, but I don't generally remember umpires and have no clear memories.
July 5, 1998. Mets-Braves, 2-2, 11th inning at Turner Field. Last game of the first half. (Not a coincidence.) We're fighting for our lives. Ball hit to Gilkey, Michael Tucker on third. Gilkey throws a one-hopper to Piazza, ball beats him home, Tucker comes in with his spikes high, a dirty slide that gouges Piazza's thigh. Angel, who's out of position as usual, calls him safe. Franco, Valentine and Piazza had to be restrained. Piazza called it “the most ridiculous call I've ever seen in 10 years of professional ball and 20 years of ball, period.''
At least we're not alone. A 1999 USA Today poll rated him the fifth-worst ump in the game, as did a 2003 Sports Illustrated poll. Cub fans may hate him even more than we do — he was the ump who ejected a Chicago Bear who sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and told the crowd he'd have words with the home-plate ump (Angel) after the game. (Actually, I can't really blame him for that one.) There's even a page of vitriol reserved for him.
As for me, I've hated him ever since that play. And that goes for his little spikes-up pal too.