Seems there are some things we're not accustomed to.
Dae-Sung Koo is not accustomed to hitters swinging 3-0 — “In Korea and Japan, most players don't swing at 3-0. I wasn't expecting a swing on that.” That, of course, was the lifeless, string-straight fastball he threw to Carlos Delgado in much the same way a zookeeper throws a hunk of meat to a lion. I half-expected the guy who caught it [1] to hold up a bunch of thread and a scrap of burning horsehide. To quote Bernard Gilkey from a few years back, a grown man hit that ball.
Kaz Matsui isn't accustomed to playing day games at Dolphins Stadium, which is why he lost a pop-up in the sun. Granted, he did manage to get the force, in a play that was tailor-made for reminding fans when the infield-fly rule is called and when it isn't. Marvelously fair game, this baseball thing.
We, of course, are accustomed to Matsui muffing pop-ups, not to mention grounders, humpbacked liners, bunts, pivots and other hazards of the infielder life. We are growing more and more accustomed to being pleased to see Miguel Cairo, his late Yankeeness notwithstanding. And from the chatter, Omar Minaya is increasingly accustomed to calling other GMs who think they need a middle infielder. Something tells me that one or another, the Kaz Matsui Era is nearing its close.
We're also accustomed to other things, like Tom Glavine quietly semi-blaming his teammates, manager and everyone else who wears the same uniform. (From the above New York Times article: He was “close” to empty before the 8th, could “certainly” have gone back out there, but also said he understood “if you guys want to send someone out there fresh”. Glavine also noted how he would have pitched Delgado differently, though he wasn't trying to second-guess Koo. Of course not. Hey Tommy — if you're so friggin' smart and not out of gas, why not insist that you want the ball for another inning?)
Oh, and we're accustomed to Mike DeJean being sucky. Too accustomed, I'd say.
Let's hope we don't get accustomed to Victor Diaz and David Wright grounding into double plays, or to Heath Bell getting grounders in exactly the wrong places. Tough “L” for Heath.
Yes, we took three of four from the Marlins, and I could get accustomed to that. But I could have tried on the four-game sweep for size, too.
By the way, how is it that neither the Mets nor the Yankees play a game on Memorial Day? What am I supposed to do, have a cookout and watch Braves-Nationals? How on earth does something like this happen?