1. Every run is sacred. Endy getting thrown out at home plate twice is not cute, no matter what the score is. It's leaving the door open for the wolf.
2. Don't be cavalier about who's closing. It's a tougher job than you think. I take back several weeks' worth of abuse, Mr. Wagner.
3. There is nothing wrong with Johan Santana that wouldn't be cured by his supporting cast not repeatedly and horrifyingly spitting the fucking bit. Fire Joe Morgan already put this far better than I could. Mr. Sperkleman should be very angry about the work of Horflitz and Przyblr on the assembly line tonight. So should Mr. Santana.
4. “If the ball's coming to me, what do I do with it?” is a question every fielder should have in mind at all times. You gotta know who's running, who's heading for second, and where the sure out is if things go awry. It might not be at second base.
5. Sometimes you think that a seemingly cosmetic home run that makes the score 5-2 in the eighth is not a blemish but a premonition of doom. The vast majority of times, you're just being paranoid. There is nothing to do but pray each such occurrence is part of the vast majority of times.
6. Some games you never, ever want to stay up to see recapped on SportsCenter.
7. When every frothing-at-the-mouth psychopath on the FAN is going to be justified in whatever bile they spew, don't listen to the FAN. It'll just make things worse.
8. So Taguchi is actually the Devil. Don't turn your back on that little bastard. Not even for a second.
9. Sometimes even Ryan Howard makes the pickup on the short hop.
10. Being one game out on July 23 isn't worth throwing yourself out a window over, no matter how many games you feel a cosmic gut-punch of a loss should be worth in the standings. (Honestly, if Bud Selig had declared us now five games back because of Rule 639a, would you have been surprised?)
11. It's easier to abide by No. 10 when the highest window in your apartment is only 10 feet off the ground.
12. There's always tomorrow.
13. If there isn't tomorrow, compensate by holding a grudge against Tom Gl@vine until the sun goes dark. He deserves it.
It never ends with this franchise.
Which in a weird way is kind of comforting… if the Mets didn't do stuff like this, they wouldn't be the Mets.
That said… I really really hope Greg got stuck in an elevator or abducted by moonbeasts or something and couldn't make it to Shea tonight. For his sake.
F**k tomorrow. I had circled tonight.
I hadn't been to a game in over six weeks (which is years by my standards), and had circled tonight. Couldn't wait. We know the backstory — this one's for a place alone at the top. And for 8 innings my excursion was everything I wanted it to be, Luis Aguayo excepted.
Honestly, if Bud Selig had declared us now five games back…
Forget Bud, I feel like that already. Everybody leaving the stadium looked like they felt like that already. I want to say this is the most depressed I've been leaving Shea since the last week of September last year, but I said the same thing May 15th. (Day game — Pelfrey gem vs. Nats; Mets can't score, 2 odd double plays in the last two frames.) I didn't think that PTGS (Post-Ten-Game-Streak) I'd have to feel like that, but yet here I am. Here we are. We win tomorrow we still get that share back, right?
Johnny, please remember how to pitch. Now's a fine time.
I can't believe I re-engaged. This team is a joke. A JOKE. I'm done with that place. Burn it.
Not Santana's fault, obviously, but he could've finished the goddamn game. Should've. That was the consensus in my section of the mezz, and I have to say I agree. Shit.
You forgot 8a). The Devil's emissary is that little squeaking twerp Shane Victorino.
Am I the only one who caught Victorfuckingrino show us up in the 9th? He scores the tying run by standing still on home plate?!
He's been on the list of “someone bean this fucking Phillie already” for 2 years now, but he just moved himself to the top of the list with that stunt (followed of course by Burrell, Rollins, Werth, Utley, and Dobbs).
I had plans to do my last-ever Shea walk-up tomorrow and sit in some awful seats. Now I don't know if I can. Tonight hurt so bad, I'm not even sure I can watch it at home. The worst of it was the feeling I got in the 7th, “Endy got thrown out again, Utley saves 2 runs… shit, that cost us the game. We're gonna lose.” Even knowing ahead of time didn't help.
These are the kind of losses where I can't even clean the apartment or do the dishes to get my mind off of it. These are the losses that make me say, “I really shouldn't be taking baseball this seriously. This is a problem.” These losses are just… just the worst. Now it's time to hit the hay, and hope I somehow fall asleep within 2 hours.
I think we can all agree: for Johan's next start against the Phils, let him throw 200 pitches.
14. If you don't know what to do, changing the pitcher shouldn't be your 'go to' move.
14.a Alternatively, if it ain't broke, don't take him out! (could be applied to Santana, Smith, or even Sanchez)
I was annoyed when Smith got pulled after coming in, under enormous pressure, and inducing a perfectly good ground ball. But why the hell was Heilman sent in to get the final out of that inning when the score was already 8-5? Feliciano can't take all of the blame, but seriously, let him clean up the remainder of the mess and give the rest of the bullpen a break.
The Mets must have pissed off some Asian god. Between So, thay guy on the Cards and the Kaz Matsui Experience, we have an entire national against us.
FUCKPISSWANKBUGGERSHITTINGASSHEADANDHOLE!
In all seriousness, Kevin, I had the exact same thought.
Especially after SNY showed Rudy Seanez's hornpipe off the mound after the Utley dive.
And to round out a perfect scenario, the forecast calls for lots and lots of rain tonight, so redemption might be postponed…
What will it take for us to get a competent manager? We've had three numbskulls in a row now. Seriously, did anyone in the entire metropolitan area think removing Johan was a good idea? There were plenty of culprits in last night's disaster but Manuel is #1.
Great, tonight the family and I get to be fools in the rain. In a perfect world a monsoon would kick up at 4 and the game called by the time I leave my office. In Met Fan world it'll rain on and off all night, with just enough breaks for them to try and get the game in. I'll be soaked and miserable, and Maine will go 4 solid innings, come out for the fifth after a 1.5-hour delay and get waxed for 5 runs, we'll score 2 in the bottom, then it'll rain again and it'll get called after another 2-hour delay.
Fuck it. It's a loss. Move on. I've never read so much whining in my life. “Oh, I'm done with this team”, “I don't know if I can go to the game”, “I can't watch them tonight”. Jeez, I hope I never have to go to war with you ladies. That being said, Santana should have been out there in the 9th. Can we please get a complete game out of him? Especially when I see Sabathia doing it twice already with the Brewers.
Well, i thought Willie was fine, but I agree that a lot of this is on Manuel. What pisses me off most about it is it's the same mistake he's made in the past. He just doesn't learn.
All due respect, blogs are sort of for whining, among other things. And this one displays far less than most.
What a body slam that was. And to think that with the Mets and that other team both home last night and the other team facing a wild card contender, the Mets outdrew them by almost 1,000.
What's Rule 639a?