Just When You Thought it Couldn't Be Fun Anymore...

THIS happens:



And sidenote: When I went looking for the above video to grab the proper embed code, just pressing "video" on the main page of mlb.com, THIS was the 1st video on the main video page:



As cool as that is, I digress.

Bartolo Colon has been an extremely entertaining person to watch fail at hitting this year. With his helmet-losing spins and an approach that only a rather large man who has pitched the majority of his games in the American League could have, I swear that Bartolo has been worth making a Met just so we have those batting memories to make us warm on a cold, 2020 winter afternoon.

We knew he'd eventually get his 1st hit as a Metropolitan. The way it went down, however, couldn't have been more perfect. We're down 1-0 in a game that has rapidly traveled to the 6th, in jeopardy of getting swept, and Bartolo laces the 2nd-pitch fastball down the left field line for an easy double that he could just jog on in for. And we're talking Bartolo Colon jogging. Then, Eric Young, Jr., who we cannot deny adds something extra to this team when he is on the roster, drives him in, before our slumping Captain drives EYJ in to give us our first lead of the series. Could this be the turning point? Probably not. But it definitely lightened the mood and gave some life to a team that has looked severely lifeless the majority of the year.

And one of the reasons it probably isn't the turning point is because of this man. Danny Abriano of Rising Apple, as always, precisely describes why Terry Collins' thought process defies logic. I feel I can sum up some modern day managers' thought processes: It’s the moment where they say to themselves, “Well, I gotta do something.” When nothing was the something to do. Terry's explanation was that 86 pitches in that hot weather was the equivalent to 120. Terry, come on! You're the oldest manager in all of baseball! There's got to be a part of you that thinks all of this is absolutely ridiculous. Why are we babying these people?! Back in the day, I'm pretty sure the one to finish the game is the 40-year-old veteran ace who is absolutely cruising with a 2-run lead. We're babying the babies of baseball....we really gotta baby the 40-year-old big man who defies what our minds say a older man of his size can do in the first place? My God.

Outside of the little zany world we like to call the Mets, I'd be remiss not to touch on Tony Gwynn in this forum. I commented the day of on social media, but failed to do so in my first post after his death. The only time I ever saw Mr. Padre play was in his last season of 2001 facing the Marlins at Joe Robbie Stadium. Somewhere out there prior to the digital age, there are photos I took with, what was the film called? "Advantex?" Anyway, you had the choice of the kind of picture you could take, i.e., you could take a panoramic photo and it would get developed on that kind of sized paper. Whatever, that's not the point. The point is I obviously focused on Tony Gywnn, who is arguably the greatest hitter of the last 20 years of the 20th Century, though his hitting was the last thing that drew you to him. I always wanted to hear what the man had to say because he seemed to be more than just a solid man. When I heard Monday morning that he had passed away, my heart got a little weaker. That was some sad news, and baseball has a void that it will never be able to fill. He went way too early, and completely shocked me regardless of having heard he had be dealing with some health issues. 

I raise a glass to Anthony Keith Gwynn, Sr.
You will be sorely missed.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. For more from myself and others on the Mets, head over to Rising Apple. And for the latest on a Brooklyn Baseball TV Series I am developing, Like the Bedford & Sullivan Facebook page, follow on Twitter here, and listen to the research process here.

Well, THAT was Stupid.

I should be fine with 3 out of 4 from the Dodgers, and 4 out of 5 in general. I really should. I even gave myself 18 hours to let the grossness of that loss dissipate. But it lingers. That 8-3 loss lingers. And thank god we all have a day off to recharge our fandom as the players recharge themselves.

They play such crisp baseball behind RA and Johan. You just wished it would transfer over to the other starters more often than it does. And if Ronny Cedeno is there for his right-handed bat and his defense, why is he swinging at the 1st pitch against Clayton? And why is he bobbling the force-out? It's funny that Daniel Murphy, who has been red-hot with the bat, also turned some fantastic double-plays with Ruben the last few games. They've been looking real in sync. And here's this guy (who, if DFA'd, I could care less), bobblin' the ball and helping to hand that game over to the Dodgers. And if the Mets are indeed buyers at the deadline, how 'bout we get a real back-up catcher who might hit but can CERTAINLY play defense. I have never been wowed by Mike Nickeas' defense, which is essentially what he's here for. Also, I appreciate everybody being aggressive on the basepaths against a pitcher like that, but don't be stupid. "Hey, Clayton? Would you like 2 outs in the 1st inning? Here you go." The bad defense, bonehead plays and the bad bullpen are the difference between being 6 games over, 3.5 games back and a cute 1st half story, to being 15 games over, in 1st place and an AMAZIN' 1st half story. I hope they take off in the 2nd half like we all know they can.

I hate it when teams play who can screw up the least.

Props to Dee Gordon, however, for bouncing back from that early inning debacle.

Big games between the last place Phils and the last place Cubs. They looked exhausted as far back as the 1st 2 games of the Cubs series, so I'm glad this day off was scheduled to let everybody recharge before making sure they win these last 2 series, if not sweep at least 1 of them.

Tomorrow night at 7:10PM, Jon Niese welcomes the just swept Phillies into town. Vance Worley will take the mound for the Phils.

Come on home and dominate, Metsies.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Converted Mets Fan is now on Twitter. Follow me @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.