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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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Paradox by the Scoreboard Light

Apparently holding a post-game concert wasn't enough of a way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Night. The Mets collectively played as if they were descended from the would-be 15th-century conquistador El Choko (he had almost all of Europe under his control when he decided his most splendid warrior should abandon the battle after throwing 78 pitches), while the Nationals were doing their best impression of El Kabong.

It was as if somebody hijacked the Ameriquest runs bell: Ka-BONGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!

As for it being Dog Night, I had a feeling it would be a horrendous idea to permit those smelly, pathetic mutts into the ballpark.

But enough about our relievers.

Nobody except the Mets Walkoffs guy loves a walkoff win more than me, but this was ridiculous. If baseball had a commissioner who wasn't Bud Selig, I'd suggest he investigate how it's possible that a team capable of blowing an 8-0 seventh-inning lead to the lowest-scoring team in the National League also managed to gain ground in a Wild Card race that's tighter than the apple in Braden Looper's throat.

Look at us!

We're a contender!

We're two games out!

We've matched our high point for the year at four games above .500!

Something stinks here, but technically, we don't. In reality, we've got relievers who are incapable of protecting eight-run leads with nine outs to go, closers who can't close out two-run leads with one out to go, catchers with fractures who are sitting on the active roster, healthy starters who are left in limbo and a lineup that took a disco nap from the fourth through the ninth. By then, our laugher was long ago and it was far away.

Fortunately, we also have Chris Woodward. There aren't enough words to describe how grateful we should be for him. There aren't enough words because when Brian Schneider doubled in the tying run, I hurled the first thing handy in the general direction of the television and it happened to be a dictionary — ironic in that my vocabulary had just been reduced to a single f-word.

We won. I'm totally disgusted.

I guess it was also Paradox Night.

7 comments to Paradox by the Scoreboard Light

  • Anonymous

    Boy, was that ever a classic Mets-'Spos affair. The only thing missing was the freezing rain. And the eventual loss. Things are looking up.
    Is it too late to contract their a**es?

  • Anonymous

    Contract the Expos…that's your answer to everything.

  • Anonymous

    Yep. I'll never give up hope. A girl's gotta dream.

  • Anonymous

    Short of contracting the Nats, can we just contract Danny Graves already? I'm having a lot of trouble with Blooper (a closer who doesn't strike many batters out, despite a 96-mph fastball) and Graves (a former closer who didn't strike many batters out) on the same roster. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but Graves has no use, aside from the one he had on Saturday night.
    My dream is that one morning, Omar will wake up and say, “Ohmigod! Graves is the Ghost of Loopers Future!” Then he'll unload both of them that day on the Rockies or the Rays, in exchange for some Gummi Worms and a rosin bag.
    I wonder if anyone in Mets fandom feel comfortable with the idea of Looper trotting out of our bullpen in October to protect a lead.

  • Anonymous

    Sadly, I'm beginning to think Looper and October leads are mutually exclusive.

  • Anonymous

    Joey, this is what happens when a short reliever sits for a week at a time. It's not his fault. It's Willie's for not using him correctly. He needs to pitch his way back, it's the only way. Sitting for an average of 6-8 days at a stretch just builds up the rust, and makes him a sitting (ha) duck out there when he does finally pitch.
    Willie needs to stop treating this team like it's shirts vs. skins in high school, where you just pick your best buddies for every game and no one else ever gets to play unless you're suddenly stuck for a warm body. He plays favorites way too much. Unless you're in with the in-crowd, you only play once a week, and then you get criticized/booed for being ineffective. It's a very bad way to run a team.

  • Anonymous

    Uh-huh. Please look at his season game log, in particular April 13 through April 26, May 1 through May 9, and May 18 through May 22.
    He's not effective when he pitches regularly. He's not effective when he pitches irregularly. He's. Not. Effective.