The funny thing is, I had this series circled on my calendar a long time ago — with an accompanying sense of dread.
The dread was that Pete Alonso would hit at least one big home run and the Mets would fall to the Orioles, with the series loss enough to push them out of serious playoff contention. The dagger, if you will.
Ah, I was so innocent back then.
Check on the at least one big home run, check on the Mets falling to the O’s, check on a lineout drawn through playoff contention. But my scenario played out as more farce than tragedy, what with “serious playoff contention” having left town somewhere around Memorial Day.
The finale of the series was very much a “Do we have to?” affair. Alonso smashed another long home run, but that was just one in a barrage surrendered by hastily recalled Xzavion Curry: If Samuel Basallo wants the ball he hit back, he’ll have to wait a few years and negotiate with a triumphantly returned taikonaut. The Mets, meanwhile, did little to disturb Chris Bassitt and the relievers who followed him, some of them familiar names in their own right — Alonso was the headliner, but the number of Old Friends checking back in for this series was startling.
As for ESPN, their wall-to-wall Polar Bear Fest might have been cute if it had been the opening game but was grating as accompaniment for the third, at least for me. Oh look, it’s Pete mic’ed up in the field! It’s Pete wearing a Go Pro! It’s Pete and the ESPN crew touring the Big Apple on a bicycle built for four! Subtlety isn’t exactly ESPN’s thing — by the time the broadcast was done, the Alonso homecoming horse was not only dead but had been hammered into little floating drifts of powdered bone.
(Mild news from the broadcasting booth, I suppose: Asked if he’d be interested in managing the Mets, David Ross — who employed Andy Green as his bench coach in Chicago — didn’t exactly turn tail and run. But that’s an off-season story.)
Anyway, I’m glad that’s over and we can get back to trying to wreck things for the Phillies, honoring Carlos Beltran and saying farewell to Howie Rose, and then extracting whatever fun there’s to be had from a last road trip. And perhaps when next we meet this particular band of Old Friends, fortunes will be different.
Final thoughts: Any long-time Mets fan has suffered through more than their fair share of humiliation and embarrassment. L’Affair de Polar Bear Pierre is now on the Top Ten List. I still have not heard one legitimate reason as to why he is not a foundational piece of this team anymore. Why was concern about the back-end of his Five Year deal more worrisome than the impact on this season, next season and the one after that? Effective GM’s like Dave Dombrowski play for the season they are dealt, and worry about the back-end later, with the expectation that they will think of something. Would Pete not have been a difference maker on this team? Conceding the near future to the Dodgers is and was not a viable strategy. The jury is not out on their decisions, it is back and the verdict is in: complete mismanagement of assets, guilty as charged. Play the kids. Which brings us back to the enigmatic Alvarez. How does someone with so much minor league promise not progress? His lazy defense and endless thoughtless plate appearances do not augur well, but we could have said the same thing about D’Arnaud before he left the building. Reluctantly, a little more patience is probably in order here, but somebody (Andy Green?) should read him the riot act about the crossroads he is at in his career, and what he needs to do to improve, or else….
The argument about the end of Pete’s contract might hold a little weight. But Stearns traded for Semien who’s a classic aging player in decline. Instead of waiting 3 years for our 1st baseman to age we get to experience it now at 2nd. A little consistency in the approach would be nice.
ESPN is the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.
I took the opportunity to listen to Howie Rose, whom I will miss. Then I watched the great Bob Murphy sign off for the final time in 2003 with these immortal and classy words to the fans:
“I’ve enjoyed the relationship with you.”
We did the same. And lo and behold, our audio feed, which is through mlb.com, was almost perfectly synced with the TV broadcast. The last time I tried that, it wasn’t. Not sure it works for the streamers, though.
No.
You’ve now been told twice to stop being tedious about this.
As a baseball fan, I presume you understand what a third strike will mean.
— Mgmt.
Uh-oh…. I may need to use an ABS challenge.
The Smoke and Mirrors with occasional actual Hot Hitting post-trade deadline run is over. Good, last thing we need looking ahead to next year is false optimism. None of the past month has made me the least bit optimistic. Nate Lavender. Right. Sure.
It’s almost as though Stearns was trying to sabotage the Mets and put a dagger through the heart of their fans. That would at least make sense. But keep him on the payroll, Cohen.
What I saw last night was a microcosm of the entire season. We had three players whose combined annual salary exceeds $120 million watch helplessly as an easy popup fell to the ground in short left field.
I try to resist labeling one play, or even one game, as a “microcosm of the entire season.”
Baseball takes a long time. 162 games, 9 innings (give or take)…a lot of stuff is going to happen, and I’m pretty sure there were ugly plays, ugly innings, ugly games in 1969 and 1986 and 2000 and 2006 and 2015 and 2024. Brain farts occur at the highest level in every aspect of life, in every human activity.
This season has been a trying experience, to be sure, but focusing on one play as “here! This is what’s wrong, right here!” is far too reductive and simplistic.
Except Luis Castillo. F**k that guy, forever and ever.
Who gets a lot of flak for that one dropped popup, while forgetting that he played in 142 games and hit .302 that year.
Yeah, but still.
I can’t help thinking Greg and Jason are looking forward to the offseason. Kudos to them for hanging in there for us.