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ABOUT US

Greg Prince and Jason Fry
Faith and Fear in Flushing made its debut on Feb. 16, 2005, the brainchild of two longtime friends and lifelong Met fans.

Greg Prince discovered the Mets when he was 6, during the magical summer of 1969. He is a Long Island-based writer, editor and communications consultant. Contact him here.

Jason Fry is a Brooklyn writer whose first memories include his mom leaping up and down cheering for Rusty Staub. Check out his other writing here.

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Exit Night, Enter Light

Game Seven is dead. Long live Game One.

Ohmigod, it’s so good to have one of these to pore over again. Three new Mets (lifetime count: 802). Four not yet overworked relievers (to paraphrase Madeline Albright, what’s the point of having this superb bullpen that you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?). Four double plays (Valentin’s middle name must be Flynn). Three RBI for the once and again No. 2 hitter (Lo Duca doesn’t look a ballplayer but he sure does play like one). Two ribeyes for Cleanup Daddy Delgado (who needs Spring Training?). And 291 for the Met we call Glavo (without a second thought).

One and oh. One and oh and it’s all good. A fabulous throw from Beltran (or Bel-TRAH!n as Jon Miller reinvented him). A sliding catch from allegedly ancient Alou (I’ve got to turn the sound down on ESPN next time). Even two hits from the allegedly decrepit Shawn Green. So far, so crepit.

Listening to Mets Extra beforehand, I heard nothing but roars and cheers which led to nothing but bile and disgust. But then 8:10 or thereabouts rolled around and I didn’t care about the 2006 Cardinals anymore. The 2007 Cardinals I will care about for two more games and not again ’til June. The 2007 Mets have my attention. They don’t suck. Not yet anyway.

The long night of winter is over. Nothing sucks.

16 comments to Exit Night, Enter Light

  • Anonymous

    And 291 for the Met we call Glavo (without a second thought)
    There will always be a second thought. (You suck, BTW)
    And this rose-colored glasses thing (superb bullpen?) you do is always cute, but it won't last. heh
    BUT WE WON!!! AND WE RUINED THEIR CELEBRATION!!! WHOO-HOO!!!

  • Anonymous

    Just call me Pollyanna ;)

  • Anonymous

    And the magic number is down to 161…

  • Anonymous

    Even better for you being in California, you get to enjoy it again in three hours!

  • Anonymous

    HAHAHA, we've both been called worse. And often by each other!

  • Anonymous

    All our hitters who spent March not hitting (LoDuca, Alou, Green) must've just been saving it up for when it really counts.
    I would have liked to see Willie leave Smith in for one more batter, just to get a better idea of what the kid was made of. Apart from the “unintentional” walk to Pujols, he threw nothing but strikes. And if that's the biggest criticism I can think of, well, we're off to a fine start.
    Afterthought: what was with the paid programming on the Deuce immediately following the game? I thought they didn't do those kind of long-form commercials until at least three in the morning.
    One down, 161 to go. Whew….

  • Anonymous

    Smitty's an old hand now. He faced Pujols and lived to tell about it.

  • Anonymous

    This has truly been a dream season to this point. We really got to play 161 more?
    Seriously, after the crapfest that was March, good to see that when neccesary, we can hit, play defense, and pitch effectively. First game of 162 seems so small, but let's face it, on a lot of levels winning this first game, against THEM, meant a hell of a lot.

  • Anonymous

    Glavine certainly had the “A” team playing defense behind him tonight. Does anyone remember just how awful the Met defense was when Tommy first joined the Mets? He lost a lot of games those first coupla years because of shoddy play in the field…….some difference now.
    We're in first place…….whoopie! So far, so good. Wouldn't it be so-very nice to hold that position from start to finish? I'm sure that I wouldn't object. Jeez, I wish we didn't hafta wait till Tuesday for the next game……lets hope that El Duque's up to it.
    jano

  • Anonymous

    What I did really like about tonight was that even though we often got ourselves in a world of trouble–hence my numerous heart attacks–we got out of it. I'll take the drama every time, as long as it ends well (proof: my all-time favorite Met is John Franco). Trouble happens. Just get out of it.
    Too bad Endy was nowhere to be seen. I would love to have heard the fans' reaction to him. I've wondered if they hate him like we hate Y.F. Molina, or if they don't care because they won in the end.

  • Anonymous

    Not for nothing, but So Taguchi does a real awful impression of Endy.
    I'm gloating, I know….

  • Anonymous

    Endy did come in for defense in the ninth, unmentioned by ESPN.
    I wondered who had come in for Alou, then saw Alou himself trotting in from left field. One nice play and lefty reliever notwithstanding, it's scary if there's somebody out there who needs to be taken out for defense more than Alou….

  • Anonymous

    Games on ESPN (the world wide leader in self promotion) are worthless now that we have SNY….I tuned into SNY after the game hoping for a postgame show…none to be had…I suppose they only have one after they show a game…

  • Anonymous

    I think that's a good point about the defense and the difference it makes for Glavine. Can't believe TG has any warm memories of Ty Wigginton playing 3rd base. Does anyone?
    Smith got the grounder he needed, just found a hole. I was quite worried seeing Heilman asked to get us out of that.

  • Anonymous

    I missed Endy?! I was on the computer in the 9th, gloating with anyone who'd listen (well, read). I probably didn't even look at the TV screen once.
    Well I won't be doing THAT again! I mean, blink and you miss Endy… thanks for that, Willie. >:-(

  • Anonymous

    HI Greg,
    How could last night's game been any better (albiet a no-hitter or a shutout)? Glavine pitches great, we get clutch two-out hits, our old-timers Alou and Green hit hard line drive singles, four double-plays (two gems), a runner thrown out at the plate and (incredable to us skeptics) a great, diving catch by 40 year old Moises Alou. And we completely humiliate the defending “world champion” Cardinals.
    Well, it was even better, thanks to ESPN. Never thought I would praise Jon Miller and Joe Morgan but their coverage was fantastic since it focused so much on the Mets and talked about St. Louis only as an afterthought. The Mets were the team to beat. The Mets have the best hitting. The Mets have solid infield defense. The Mets might have pitching problems but what other team does not? Oh, St. Louis got hot during the playoffs but the Mets were tied for the best record in baseball. One would have felt the Mets were the defending world champions, not St. Louis….. they refered to the Cardinals as the world series winner on occasion but did anybody hear them talk about St. Louis beginning it's defense of the world championship crown?
    Revenge is sweet when humiliation (unintentional or otherwise) is added by the network broadcasters.
    They got no respect.