Back to Form...on Both Sides of deBall

There is no end to dePuns we can come up with when it comes to deGrom. What a sight for sore eyes, even though my ears were doing the work last night when I got a chance to tune in. Throughout the night, I and most Mets fans had flashbacks to his Cy Young season, when luckily he was too damn good to overlook giving the award. The lack of support he got on the offensive side, however, was a big reason we were mired in the disgusting grime of the sewage that was the 2018 season.

Elsa/Getty Images
Photo via nytimes.com

The Reds, who are trying to grow themselves after years of frustration, have not yet won the series but have already left two bad tastes in our 9th inning mouths. I have never been a fan of pitching your closer in the 9th inning of a tie ball game. Logic would dictate you want your best relief pitcher out there to keep the game intact. Edwin Diaz, and numerous other closers, however, have a history of having ERAs and AVG against that tick up when in these situations. I couldn't tell you why this is, but even going back to Mariano Rivera, and of course the 2016 Wild Card game with our former closer now on our IL, I would love to see how widespread this is across the league over the last 20 years, and whether my trepidation is warranted. Many point to the fact Seth Lugo only pitched to one batter before Diaz was brought into the 9th, a valid point to make about the managing.

The turnaround to the next game is the first of its kind this year with a 12:10 game today and temps heading into the 70's. No matter whether we split this 4 game series, the bad taste of yet another uneven series, where even the game we've won so far had to be salvaged in extra innings, makes optimism with the way this team plays the game right now hard to process. Still, you must keep that head held high, because no one in the NL East is running away with anything as of yet. I wish I could just stop everything and head on out to Flushing, Queens, today, but alas, I will have to find another time to take in my first game of the year. I wasn't able to make it out to Citi Field until September last year, the two games I watched the Mets lose in Denver notwithstanding. No matter how much I currently have on my plate, I could use a little Metsian teacup as soon as possible.

KEEP. ON. PUSHIN'.

LET'S. GO. METS.

(as I got back to work last night having taken a dinner break that coincided with the end of the game, this was the first song the Pandora app played for me on the oldies station I was listening to. I voiced it on Twitter as well at the time that I appreciated the optimistic sentiment.)

That Cy Young Better Have a Knuckle Grip On It

In my wildest dreams, there's a World Series involved. But when I and many other Met fans who...kinda saw this coming, realizing R.A. Dickey was an ace before anybody really gave it much thought...when we dreamed of what R.A. Dickey could do, I'm not sure we ever even imagined a Cy Young Award at the end of it.

R.A. Dickey was easily the best pitcher in the National League. Once that award was announced, all us Met fans nodded our heads and said, "Yeah. Exactly." Today, we celebrate that everyone else completely agrees.

Let us not fret over whether or not he will be a Met. Right now, he is a Met, and a Met who gave us, the city and the game of baseball one of the most thrilling, most entertaining and most fantastic pitching seasons the collective has ever seen. The fact his franchise collapsed around him for the umpteenth time in its 50-year history makes it all the more impressive. Though a season without a ring will always be bitter, this...this right here, has much, much more of the sweet.

That jersey was customized and purchased December 1, 2011, and arrived to me sometime that week. The patches were added by me at a later date. It was my first real Mets jersey; no hand-me-down t-shirt or '47 Brand Shop shirt. This was the real deal, and I am beyond ecstatic that it went through a Cy Young season in its first campaign (not to mention a No-Hitter.)

In 2010, R.A. Dickey became one of my favorite Mets ever. In 2011, he became my favorite Met ever. In 2012, he won the Cy Young Award.

Love Live The Knuckler.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.

Hearing 'bout the Fish as We Travel Through the Land

My dad and I finally hit the road to 'Bama and Denver yesterday. First, we had to come back into the city for a doctor's appointment of his, and from there we ventured down to Northern Virginia, to see my aunt and my uncle, who is recovering from a stroke. He is making great progress, but it is still hard to see him in that condition. The visit certainly got him excited, and his energy level was fantastic. We crashed there for a couple hours, then got up in the middle of the night and kept driving the long journey down to the South. We are passing through Tennessee now, and should arrive in Birmingham sometime in the afternoon.

Just in time for a nap, because my sleep schedule is really out of whack. (Didn't mean for that to rhyme, BUT I am a poet...and I do know it.)

Anyway, sometime last night, this is how I found out about the newest Marlin fiasco, via a few Ted's Quotes (he's regularly the one to break news to me, as he did when Reyes Grew Fins):

Ted: Yo, the Marlins.

Me: What

Ted: They just traded...everyone
Everyone but Stanton
To the Jays
Reyes, Johnson, burrhle, bonofacio, buck

Me: Holy. For what?

Ted: That's so crazy. I'd be super pissed if I was Reyes. And no free agent will ever sign there again
Yunnel Escobar and two big prospects

Me: I knew Reyes would get traded. Didn't think it would be so quick.

Ted: Now he's stuck in Toronto

Sam: Which might not be bad
Not weather wise, though

Ted: I mean your an FA you get to pick where you want to play / live and then they turn around and screw you and lock you down in Toronto for what 4 or 5 more years
What a total shit organization
Apparently mike Stanton is angry tweeting right now


Yeah, they really suck. As all that spending was occurring last offseason, we all knew it wouldn't work, but I don't think any of us could have predicted the fire sale would happen so quickly. I figured Reyes would be a Yankee in 2 or 3 years when Jeter moved to the outfield or something. Yeah, don't think that's gonna happen now.

And I'm kinda sad to have him gone out of the division. I had grown attached to his role as a divisional rival and villain, but that's something I'll get more into over at Rising Apple later.

Anyway, I've got to take over driving for a little. Looking forward to the Cy Young Award announcements later, regardless of who wins (though I do have a feeling R.A. will take it.) It will be nice to have the 2012 season that much more in the rearview mirror.

And one last note, though I do believe we should all have perspective and not complain about #FirstWorldProblems...

This Blogger App sucks.

But at least I ate this morning.

It still sucks, though.


LET'S. GO. METS.

(Random Road Trip Photo)

Done Dickey Deal

As the excitement grows for a game you are going to, it never plays out in your head as a come-from-behind victory. At least for me, but for most you too, right? In my head, the Mets score a couple runs early and R.A. Dickey throws a perfect game. That's not exactly what happened, but how that game played out was certainly one of the biggest baseball thrills in my lifetime.

For most of the game, I sat next to the father of my friend on the inside who got me the tickets, up the 3rd base line in the outfield. I kept saying to him, "They're gonna do it. They're gonna get him the runs he needs."

I met up with Greg Prince of Faith and Fear in Flushing behind my section in the middle of the 5th. He was only a couple of sections over, but when I tried with my 110 ticket to go say hi to him in 114 earlier in the game, the green guys didn't allow it, (a fact I will not get into right now because on the last day of the season it perturbed me to no avail.) Anyway, as we were catching up and talking Mets, it. All happened. Much needed good luck after the first 2 games we took in together did not exactly pan out well for the Metsies.

Is the best part of all this how juiced the crowd was all day for R.A.? Was the best part that our All-Time Hits Leader got that much closer to the Home Run Record with a 20-win-clinching bomb? Was the best part that Jon Rauch didn't blow it so I could actually appreciate this catch?

Yeah. That might be it.

If you haven't seen it, your eyes will yell at you for taking so long. In context, this hypothetical Mike Baxter home run would have tied the game at 2 in the 2nd inning. Being up the 3rd base line in right field, we had a pretty solid view of the Mo's Zone. Off the top of my head, before I link it ('cause I'll do that in the editing process,) I cannot remember the player's name. I certainly cannot remember witnessing a better catch in my baseball history as well. I've seen some catches. This guy reached around 5 FEET OVER THE NEW MO'S ZONE WALL. HIS ENTIRE ARM IS OVER THE WALL. Unbelievable. There was definitely a buzz throughout the crowd after that. So good, I might actually frame it one day...you know, now that the Mets won that game. They don't win that game, they lose 7-6 or something along those lines, THAT'S the catch that would have denied them the victory. Spectacular. It's unfortunate that my camera was out of commission for the day, but the image is certainly burned into my brain. (When you watch the video, I gotta give Howie the best call of the play. "HIGHWAY ROBBERY!") Oh, yeah, and that's an easy fly ball last year. Much more excitement with those walls WHERE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALL ALONG.

(And something random...as I looked at Keith without his 'stache....I couldn't see him without it. The 'stache was still in how my mind's eye perceived him. His upper lip was also extremely white from zero sun for 20 or so years.)

I have praised Robert Allen a bunch here. If you've been reading this blog throughout 2012 (and I must say thank you once more) then you know I am not surprised by this kind of season from our knuckleballer. He is an inspiration, and I look forward to several more years of the Knuckleball Wobble.

They did it. 

They actually did it. 

They got RA his 20th and they got to double-digits in 2nd half home wins. Only 10 after the All-Star Break (6 of which happened in their last 7), but I don't care. They obviously need to clean up their 2nd half act from now on, but it doesn't take away from how much fun I had at Citi Field this season. I saw a ridiculous 9th inning comeback against the Phillies, I saw RA get his 20th, I saw the 1st Mets no-hitter, and many, many more.

Yes, we want October baseball in Citi Field.

But I can't thank the Mets enough for some spectacular memories.

The 50th Anniversary season has been nothing short of Amazin'.

The 2012 New York Mets.

CY. YOUNG. DICKEY.

LET'S. GO. METS.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @convertedmetfan. And for Rising Apple twitter updates, click here.