When they brought the Antichrist back, it wasn't a sure thing we'd face him. Then it looked like their rotation wasn't aligned for another meeting. And that was fine with me. It's an old hatred by now, a grudge that involves vanished players and distant times. I can reach back and bring the causes back […]

The beach? Lovely.

The Mets? Did I mention the beach was lovely?

We're staying for the week on Long Beach Island, one of our favorite places in the world between the beach, the general atmosphere of non-New York Cityness, the best beach burger place a body could ask for (Woodies) and, oh yeah, the fact that LBI […]

Being a baseball fan is hard work. At least the players can do things. Our primary occupation is to squirm, fret and get lost in our own anxieties.

Death Month '07 began in earnest with the Alternate Reality World Series, known in this universe as the World Series of Bitterness, or the Except for the Fact […]

We may be standing on the unanticipated and unwanted resumption of the Ricky Ledee era. At least I assume that's who'll get the call from New Orleans, though the way things are going with anyone unwise enough to set foot in our outfield, perhaps it'll be Ron Swoboda. Or me. They're saying that what struck […]

A while back Emily and I lucked into a little windfall — not win-the-lottery stuff by any means, but enough for a bit of irresponsibility. Whereupon I broached the idea of HDTV.

Where HDTV was concerned, I'd been waiting for next Christmas for several Christmases now, determined to get a big flat-panel set with various bells […]

Before this game goes into the books for good or ill (ill's tucked in by the rail and riding hard), a word about the improbable events of last night — perhaps the only time in Mets history a walkoff home run will leave me and Emily blinking in puzzlement instead of leaping about. (I mean, […]

Mets 6, Marlins 4.

The Mets put up a four-spot in the fourth inning against Scott Olsen, Jorge Sosa held the Marlins at bay, and the relievers hung on despite two late Florida runs and the Mets leaving the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth. Seems pretty straightforward.

Ah, but it wasn't. Depending on which medium […]

I kept thinking of Smoltz's 200th win as the mirror image of Oliver Perez's 36th — he looked dominant for long stretches, acutely vulnerable at other times before wiggling out of trouble, and while he was clearly the star of the game, the outcome remained in doubt until the very end.

Yes, David Wright got fucked […]

Having won the first round of the basically meaningless Battle for New York, it was time to resume pursuit of the real prize — the National League East — and the foe that seems to have returned after a one-year sabbatical. So how'd it go against the Atlanta Braves?

Not so good. It was obvious pretty […]

Make no mistake: Last night was fun.

There was Endy, gunning down Johnny Damon and turning our groans into cheers. There was Endy again, walloping an Andy Pettitte offering over the fence. There was Perez, whose game was in some ways more impressive than his Mother's Day throttling of the Brewers. He had everything working then; […]