Is that an earthquake?
No, it's Ramon!
Fans of Romy & Michele's High School Reunion, which include my six-pack partner and myself, will recognize the above line and may have very well applied it to the eighth inning Tuesday night. Laurie and I have been tossing it back and forth all season every time our backup catcher gets a big hit.
We've used it a lot.
Was it only in July that we were all kvelling from our catcher's dramatic home runs and the curtain calls he was generating? Different month, different backstop, same response. Who was the last catcher not named Mike Piazza to receive a curtain call at Shea? The immediate answer would be Todd Pratt, but did Todd Pratt actually get a curtain call for his Finley-veiled series winner? It's not like he actually went into the dugout and returned to the top step at the audience's behest. (Just realized he was in the house tonight. Think he thought of that?)
Maybe Jason Phillips was lured out in 2003 but he was probably playing first (say, does Mike still have to break the record for most curtain calls by a catcher?). Vance Wilson? Hearty applause once or twice at best. If it wasn't Pratt, you may have to trek all the way back to Todd Hundley when he was hitting it hard for the previous unMiked catcher curtain call.
So much for getting lost in the moment. The important thing is that a Met rated a curtain call. They all did.
Ramon Castro's blast off Ugueth Urbina (the second-greatest home run Uggie's ever allowed; this explains the greatest) will surely stand the test of time as a touchstone in Mets history. It was a game-, season- and life-altering event.
Unless we lose the next two. So let's not do that.
I just looked at the standings for fun and it turns out we're still a fourth-place team one game removed from the basement. How is that even possible?
In the words of one of the great musical artists of our time, “That's too much fucking perspective”.
what i loved most about this game was that for once, in a game that they had to have, they got it done. moreover, i felt they knew they were GOING to get it done.
how prepared would we have been to deal with a loss? you know, the one that would not only have been the third in a row, erasing any good karma left over from the road trip, but the one that would have shoved the mets 2.5 games back, and needing to win the next two just to stay in the race.
and then absolutely requiring pedro to be pedro tonight — which actually, we still need him to be. but at least now it's for the lead in the wild card race.
gee, it was fun just to type that.
I think it might be time to put Matsui back into the everyday second-base job. Cairo's overmatched as an everyday player. A .211/.268/.256 line for August? Oof.
I'd prefer gambling on Matsui and his potential talent, as opposed to Cairo and his lack thereof.
You gotta love that Pedro is on the hill tonight!! And I say leave him in there even if we are up 8-0 after six! No taking chances any more!
Actually, you may be on to something. The Mets already have a short bullpen, four of the five were used last night and we're one day removed from expanding the rosters. If we're ever gonna have Trachsel up in the bullpen, tonight might be the night. Not that I expect bad stuff to happen to Pedro but in the you-never-know way baseball has of biting you when you least need it to, I don't know who steps in (effectively) if there's a problem.
I'll take that 8-0 lead, though. And Pedro. (Brett Myers is a tough customer, however.)
Idiotic brainstorm on my part: When Mientkiewicz comes back, how about Dougie at second for a night? He's played there before.
It's more idiotic than brainstorm.
Wet blanket that I am, I would urge keeping the razor blades in the medicine cabinet IN CASE one or both of the next two games don't go as well. If we're 2-1/2 back at the close of business on September 1, it's not the end of the Wild Card world. Every game is another opportunity to gain ground, so let's not be stunned when a loss is mixed in.
Let's avoid them at all costs, of course.
It is gratifying to watch your team do what it has to do, eh?
yes, i'm not used to that.