I wish I could quote word for word what Howie said last night about the difference between the Mets and the Braves, but he basically listed off everything Atlanta was doing right. He then finished with, "And then, there's the Mets."
It was glaring how far and beyond the National League East leading team is over the "Come get us" Mets right now. That is the line everybody likes to sarcastically bring up these days when voicing their disdain with the state of the team. I cannot fault, however, Brodie's bravado. What else would you want him to say as he is putting together his first offseason at the helm? It's just a very easily mockable thing now as we watch this team fall apart at the seams. Even if the pitching isn't sound because the ball is "juiced," you cannot make excuses and have to adapt to the circumstances at hand. There are obviously plenty of teams having success with the hypothetical tighter wound ball. The Mets have issues all around, but the bullpen is far and beyond their biggest. They would be a pretty good team if they could just hold onto some games. The way Zack Wheeler pitched last night, however, the bullpen only exacerbated the issue. They had no game to blow, only one to let get further away. As I tweeted earlier...
For a hot second, I was sure the #Mets couldn’t have another June as bad as last year. Then their June schedule was all like pic.twitter.com/AlyEm5i5RD
It wouldn’t stop raining. Anyone who currently lives in the New York region knows it has been raining as if the Pharaoh needed to be proven something. The plants all around us had more than blossomed, in some places spilling over into the roads they lined. As yet another day carried onward as drenched as we could be, I wondered whether yet again would the fates tease the Mets as they attempted to get back to the .500 mark.
Wearing my Mr. Met shirt, which plays on the MLB logo with Mr. Met as the silhouette gearing up for the pitch, I worked the rush hour completely spacing on the fact the Mets were on the road in Washington this time. Even though the weather between the two cities can sometimes pair up, a Mets fan who got in the rideshare car just before gametime not only informed me they were about to start, but reminded me that the game was down the interstate this time. Maybe luck was finally in play for the Mets after all.
After I dropped him off at his location, I had some moments to take to Twitter while viewing gameday. A few minutes into first pitch and before I had seen what the batting Mets were up to, I got this tweet off:
It’s time. Ain’t no better moment than the present. Do NOT act as slump busters anymore, #Mets. The #Nationals, struggling mightily right now, are obviously gonna be ripe to show they aren’t who they’ve been as the take on a divisional rival. DO NOT LET UP, @METS! DO THIS! #LGMpic.twitter.com/vHtR4TQWRw
Not much need to elaborate on what I said above. If you're a fan of this team, you know how it can go. It was and is time for the Mets to make those bad habits a thing of the past. They were brewing something in the first inning when former National Wilson Ramos, at the time sporting a .235 AVG, walked to the plate with the bases loaded. Feeling this was a prime opportunity for him to get it going, I tweeted this off:
Sure enough, the next gameday alert I was alerted to read, "In Play, Runs." When the bases are juiced, this could me loads of things. It meant only one thing in this particular instance: a grand slam.
I appreciate the ego boost, but I think the tweet was more words of encouragement than predicting anything. With the inning over, it was time for Noah Syndergaard to hold those runs up. He has struggled mostly this season, but in this game, though I wasn't able to watch any of it, sometimes you can just tell by the gameday results when someone has it. He no-hit the Nationals till the 6th inning, which was his least sharpest frame of the night. Still, it was the only runs he would allow, and he ended up going 8 fantastic innings. By the time the 9th inning rolled around, I had the booth of the Mets in my ears well into a workout at the Fairview, NJ, Planet Fitness. One of my favorite prospects-turned-pinch-hitter-extraordinaire, Dominic Smith, rolled up to the plate looking to get an insurance run on the board. Though he's been great off the bench, his power has yet to arrive. So, I once again went to the twitterverse:
Thing is, gameday is generally ahead of the radio. So, I decided to go to it with the count 2-0. The count became 3-0 and I thought to myself, "Let him rip." Next thing I knew, with the bases empty, "In Play, Runs" flashed across the screen. When there is no one on base, it obviously means ONLY one thing. Echem...
Obviously, all of these things are just coincidences. I have never had a knack for "predicting things" on Twitter. Most usually, the basket rolls around the rim and hops out, with the asked-for HR becoming a strikeout or something of that nature. Last night, however, was not the case, and I was on my prophet game. What's the difference between the other times and the night the Mets needed to make a clear statement against a struggling Nationals team hoping the Mets could be inspirational slump-busting fodder? The Mr. Met shirt. It is not a 7 Line branded shirt, nor official MLB gear. It is just some random shirt advertised to me on Facebook, and they got me. The funny part of it all is that Mr. Met is never at bat. He is only leader of cheer, truth be told. Even Mr. Met, however, wants to get some swings in from time to time. I sweated rather profusely in it last night so the Mr. Met shirt was in need of being tossed in the hamper once I got home. Today, I am wearing my Robin Ventura black t-shirt and I'm hoping it holds the same powers, especially with a better pitcher on the mound for the team from Washington. Now, I'm also realizing it is time to get all of my Mets shirts back downstate as they are all mostly in my mother's basement upstate. I guess blame me for any inconsistencies the Mets have shown and show from here on out. Or just keep blaming the Wilpons.
As I wrapped up driving rideshare last night, I said on social media, both Twitter and some Mets facebook groups, that I “have to go to sleep soon, but I envision waking up at 5am to the sights of a Mets W…Or the 28th inning.”
I lasted, with the radio on, till about the 3rd or 4th inning. I either woke up right before or was woken up to Howie’s call of Pete Alonso’s home run in the 9th inning. The call was detailed enough to inform me this home run had broken a tie. I smiled as I closed my eyes once more.
I did not last woken up long enough to hear the Mets just hang on to a 7-6 win. I was lucky enough to wake up around 5:40 to the sights of that conjured Mets W. I have not gone into the full details of how this Mets win came to be other than what I took in early in the game as well as that Pete Alonso call, probably falling asleep sometime after the Padres had tied it at 2. A box score, however, can speak a thousand numbers. By the looks of it, the Mets were down 3 but persevered to tie the game. Then Alonso, who made a bold statement by backing up his words the other night that we HAD to win this next game, lead the charge with the game-winning home run.
He willed this team to a W and the words I spoke before going to bed luckily rang true. They showed resiliency by battling back from a deficit that would have led to their 5th straight loss. Now, however, they must carry this momentum into today's day game. It will mean nothing if they cannot use yesterday as a catalyst to stop this pattern of yet again losing steam as April turns into the rest of the season.
I'm sure many people have made that "Familia" joke or a rendition of it, but at least it allows me to use my favorite "badum tsst" gif. Also...oy, I had one-a doze emotional posts yet again. Ironically, the last one like that, coinciding after deGrom ended his crazy-good streak, was written while I waited for my tires to get fixed, and yesterday, after the post was published, I discovered my driver's side rear tire losing air as well. Got it fixed again, but not sure what the universe is trying to tell me... Thankfully, I nipped it in the bud rather quickly so I could keep driving and earning yesterday evening. I decided to end the day just in the nick of time to catch Familia 1 out into the 9th inning. "Alright!" I thought to myself. "Jeurys is going to use this Edwin Diaz offnight to get it together as Wayne and Howie take me home." So, if you're playing the home game, the Mets had a lead and Familia was pitching well before I started listening, and then I listened to it all fall apart. If it weren't for Jeurys's 2019 track record, I would think I was the jinx.
I kept listening, however, and heard the new cavalry of JD Davis, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso combine to give us a much needed walkoff win in extras. I'm not quite sure how to approach the JD Davis situation, though. I do understand that he's hit rather well when he gets his chances, but his defense leaves much to be desired. Todd Frazier is a pro out at 3rd base, and keeps running into baseballs with his bat at opportune times. We're not talking garbage time home runs, no matter whether he swings and misses a good amount of times as well. I'm not going to go outrageous about whether JD Davis should be starting over him at this particular junction. If Todd becomes a major liability, it will most likely play itself out. Pete Alonso cannot help but swing hard. Though it was a classic Citi Field warning track shot, it was all we needed last night but man, is that guy strong. His energy is also contagious, and he seems to have taken a quick leadership role in his rookie season. With the Captain David Wright no longer there (single tear) it is nice to see such a young player taking some of the responsibility lost as Wright, head held high, marched into the sunset at the end of last season. Back to Familia, however. I don't know how to dissect what is going on. It seems to be more mental than physical as his confidence is completely through the grass, scratching the bottom of the soil. Do I agree they should continue to put him out there in high leverage situations? On the one hand, he needs to fix these moments somehow, some way, but as players like Drew Gagnon proved last night, proper performances should be rewarded. It may behoove management to let Familia take some of the pressure off himself and pitch in moments when the game isn't on the line, because every time the game is on the line, he has come undone. We need these W's right here, right now, because this East of the NL is proving quite the crap shoot. Here we come to another deGrom start. Luckily, the weather doesn't look to be nearly as volatile this evening as it was the night last week he should have never started in the first place. All of a sudden, Jason Vargas isn't the worst pitcher on the Mets, and I was hoping to not invoke his name in this post, but you know what? His performances lately has left me no choice. The Mets, however, need to put all their pitchers in the best positions to succeed and hopefully deGrom can do so once more going forward as the best pitcher in baseball.
After a night where I watched a game on TV for the first time all season, I was back to the radio waves, which I certainly don't mind given we have a great radio tandem in Howie Rose and Wayne Randazzo. Though you can certainly have the game on in the background when taking in SNY, the radio lends itself to multitasking better than the visual distraction that respective broadcast can be. I appreciated being able to just relax and take in only the baseball in front of me Monday night, and the Mets, who looked rather lackadaisical on the road, seemed to perk up being at home in the Citi, which is never a given the way things have gone over our ballpark's first decade.
They've had a habit lately of winning the first game only to fall flat the next two, so they needed to show us that energy Monday night was not an isolated incident. Behind the literal strength of the blossoming Zack Wheeler, they were able to carry themselves to a 9-0 win, sealing the series victory in the process. I had to head to bed around 8:30, but the radio was obviously left on, allowing me to doze off with the sounds of two homers. Firstly, Zack Wheeler's, whose jack was a beautiful sight once I was able to see the highlight this morning, taking it the other way impressively in that cavernous outfield. He took matters into his own hands earlier with a double that put us on the board, while simultaneously shutting down a Phillies team who got called out by their resident veteran, Jake Arrieta, for a lack of energy in Monday's game (as well as chiding Bryce Harper for putting himself in a position to not be an on-field factor the remainder of that game.)
When Zack is lit on the mound, he is so much fun to watch. The ball just zips out of his hands and the confidence he exudes is palpable. He has crept up incrementally on the starting pitching depth chart. Friendly competition would be lovely from Syndergaard right about now... Secondly, the last thing I consciously took in was Todd Frazier's grand slam, more or less sealing the outcome of this game. I like Frazier. There. I said it. I know people are low on him because of the large contract and his generally low batting average, but it isn't a bad thing to have a power-laden veteran of his caliber if he can obviously not be a black hole out there (whether it is starting or off the bench.) No, he should clearly not be taking AB's away from Jeff McNeil right now and I prefer McNeil's defense at 3rd rather than in the outfield. Frazier, however, is defensively a good 3rd baseman as well (even though Jeff is a McRevelation out there right now.) If they can make the mix work, more power to them. Last night, it worked wonders.
It is time to press down on the Phillies' necks and sweep this series. This is how you should be performing at home. While Jacob Rhame throwing behind Rhys Hoskins' back was, I think we can all agree, a message after a few of our batters got hit on Monday (and we lead the league in that category so far this year) we have to make sure it isn't a letdown game with the Phillies jacked to retaliate to the perceived "not fair form" and obviously with our resident worst starter on the mound in Jason Vargas.
I always feel like everyone needs spring training.
Photo via https://wtop.com (AP PHOTO/NICK WASS)
The players need it, the manager needs it, the umpires need it, the SNY truck needs it...and us fans? We need it too. We have to work that muscle in again, what baseball feels like, what baseball looks like, how it paces, how it goes. You would think by now with as many games as we die-hards take in year in and year out, we'd be so familiar with it, especially considering it is on 24/7/365 in this day and age. Still, I think one has to feel it out year in and year out and sidle back on into the rhythm, the play and that sense in your brain. This day and age for me personally, however, I feel so overwhelmed by everything in my life that I haven't had time to just sit, relax and watch a ballgame, much less listen to a spring game on the radio. I am both in a heightened state of being overwhelmed yet finally am practicing, or at least attempting, to train myself to take it easy, take everything step-by-step, go easy on myself while holding myself accountable. I'm trying to both train new muscles and work out older muscles I've hardly used over the last few years, writing included. Whether it is our physical strength or theoretical muscles, we all need training to get ourselves to where we need to be. You generally don't just show up "In The Best Shape of (Your) Life," without having gotten to that point by doing what they say you need to do to get to that place on the corner of 57th and 7th: Practice. When it comes to the sounds of baseball on the radio, however, they sidle on in so eloquently and naturally to compliment the sounds of the city of the ballteam we all so adore. On Opening Day, though the "City" was the one with Jersey in its name, I had the game on the old fashioned way with the AM dial...yes, THAT frequency set-up...tuned into the new home of the 2019 New York Mets, WCBS 880. All of a sudden, I could breathe. Combined with the warming temperatures and sunny disposition of the tri-state that day, I didn't feel I had needed ear training to appreciate the feeling of baseball being back in my life. I had just gotten right back on the bike after all this time. All weekend, it was how I took in this new incarnation of the New York Mets. Part of the beauty of listening to the game is that you imagine what is going on visually based on how smoothly the announcers, in our case Howie Rose and Wayne Randazzo in his first year officially as Howie's right-hand man, describe the scene to our ears and brains. Part of listening to the game is the anticipation of seeing the moments visually later on in your day. In today's media landscape, us fans can see the highlight of what we heard in a matter of moments if we so choose. My job, however, renders me unable to take my eyes off the road (as, really, is everybody's job while driving...) so I must wait till I am not working Lyft to take it all in at once. Here are some things I liked seeing from our team this first weekend of baseball in 2019:
The Mets MO is winning on Opening Day. They get their fans' hopes up, but ironically have never won the World Series thereafter in seasons they win the first game of the year (a trend I hope they change this year.) There are many incarnations of Mets teams that have won on Opening Day, so we are trained to take the results with a grain of salt. In the moment, however, it is nice when the plan comes together TO A TEE: get a couple runs for your ace, play crisp defense and have your bullpen hold the lead. The Mets took advantage of a HR prone Max Scherzer (he gave up 23 of them last year, folks) got an insurance run late and did what they hardly could do in 2018 for our horse: give him a W.
The Mets offensive approach looks much more professionally sound than in recent past seasons. They have a clear idea of what they want to do up there and are executing it so far. They are laying off some junk a good amount of the time, taking what the pitcher gives them and gliding the ball the other way. Players like Jeff McNeil and rookie Pete Alonso are doing a great job, with some tough pitches, of getting the barrel on the ball and making solid contact. All good so far, keep it up.
They showed resilience and resolve to take advantage of a so far weak Nationals bullpen and even though lose the last game, gave themselves a chance to win...they've given themselves a chance in every single game they've played so far. No way, obviously, to go 162-0, but if you continue to put yourself in positions to win, you will do so more often than not. Keep executing, fellas.
I was also lucky enough to talk Mets, burgers and BBQ with Metstradamus himself, John Coppinger, on his Burgerball podcast, on-location from the Barnwood Restaurant parking lot as I ciphered off their WiFi which I paid them back for with the purchase of a pulled pork sandwich afterwards. Along with plugging a burger I had had the night before at Rathbone's on 88th and 2nd in Manhattan, this was a fun time I highly recommend you take in.
Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends. Though that isn't the song I'm going to go with to close us off. As I'm trying to train and retrain my physical and mental muscles, I'm going to go with a song I keep going back to lately: Mind Power by James Brown.
While at work at Two Boots Hell's Kitchen, I normally, unless there is a way to stream the video i.e. ESPN Sunday Night, put the gameday audio on and stick my phone on the left of my register in a large fountain soda glass. I'm not fancy enough to have a bluetooth speaker there, but the cup is enough volume to hear the game while not overriding the ambiance radio that helps make the Two Boots experience.
Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
I was grabbing slices out of the oven, the location of which is far enough to make the radio mostly non-audible. Until Howie Rose went ballistic. I ran over to my phone to hear what all the commotion was about, and when I heard, "Bartolo Colon home run," I went ballistic as well. It probably distracted from me doing my job properly the rest of the shift, because all I could think about was the home run, and the 1-run ballgame that unfolded, with Big Sexy's 2-run shot the difference until the 9th inning when David Wright and Michael Conforto tacked on 2 insurance runs with respective solo shots. Thank God it was a game we won (and an impressive win to boot after such a struggle in the first 2 games) as opposed to a historic footnote in another loss to the Padres. I haven't been able to wipe the smile from my face every time I've watched it, which is already at least 2 handfuls of times. And the "Must C: Classic" that combines all the calls, including the Spanish one, brought tears to my eyes. Truly one of the greatest moments in baseball history. The man is a Mets legend. Now, if we can only split the series from these Southern California Fathers!
While I haven't been posting, the Mets have gone ahead and lost a series to the Good Brew Crew, won a series to the Bad Dad Crew, and now dropped another series to the Great Red Crew, continuing to keep that RISP number at a loser's level. With myself, my aunt, uncle, cousin and lil sis on hand for Father's Day at a rather full, actually, Citi Field, I was happy to see Curtis provide a spark at the top of that lineup with an awesome Pepsi Porch leadoff home run. I have been settling into the family of Mets fans that is Two Boots that the poor sight of the Mets in San Louis has not generally been in mine. Though I did not work Monday Night, I do not have cable, nor plan to anytime soon on my budget, so my sight generally does not take in the Mets live, rather listening to Howie and Josh describe the sight that's in their eyes.
It's clear, however, that we all need to just smile. Unless we take some serious political protest stance in some fashion or another, which would be interesting to see but I'll tell ya right now that I won't be the leader of the revolution, this team will most likely fail to be properly managed all the way from the top down. The Wilpons do not know how to run a ballclub, let alone know what it means to run the New York Metropolitan National League Baseball Club. I have very little faith, no matter what happens- no matter whether they have a winning season over the next couple of years- that the Mets can have sustained success with the Wilpons at the helm.
So, when I think about what I want to write on this blog at this particular moment, all I can think of is playing the song below, because every time I listen to it, it puts a huge smile on my face. Don't read into any of the lyrics, though I'm sure many of you may do so. That was not my intention, no matter how poignant it may seem at this particular Metsian intersection. I just want to smile, and tonight, when I got home from Two Boots and settled down, the song came on, and I just smiled. So, screw it, man. Let's just listen to Bob Marley.
Last year, late in the season when we had lost 5 in a row, Jon Niese started against the Phillies and shut them down for 9 innings, completing the game for a 5-0 win.
Though Niese did not have the same dominant game he had on that August day, he was once more called upon to shut the losing streak down, and he did more than his part last night with 7 innings of 3-run ball, off 4 hits and 5 walks, striking out 5. He would have been even better had it not been for his former teammate Justin Turner tattooing him in the 7th for an original dimension game-tying 2-run homer, erasing the lead Niese helped grab with a double in the 5th inning, the only pitcher other than Jacob deGrom with a hit on this team. Turner had also helped the Mets by bobbling Daniel Murphy's grounder to let the 3rd run score in that same 5th.
Back to Niese in the 7th, however, as he battled through and picked up the win when Wilmer Flores and Juan Lagares combined in the bottom half to get the lead right back; Wilmer singling to lead off the inning and Lagares driving him in with 2 out on a single as well.
The offense was really the star of the show last night. No, we did not have an explosion, but the productive outs that were missing in our features for so long were had by the likes of Eric "Soup" Campbell, who has done nothing but play like a serious pro since he arrived from AAA.
The AB of the night, though, and the AB of his year so far was Curtis Granderson in the 2nd inning. This is where I came in, turning on WOR probably 7 pitches into the 12-pitch AB that ended with a double over Matt Kemp's head, taking 3rd base on the outfielder's bobble. Watching some of the early parts of the game later, it was clear in the 1st inning that Zack Greinke, who had been on fire this year (and really for his last 100 starts), did not have his command when David Wright had an 8-pitch AB that unfortunately finished the inning with a strikeout looking. Curtis fouled them off and fouled them off until driving it to center, scoring on Mr. Campbell's sac fly to tie the game at 1.
As I walked Queens Boulevard towards the bridge getting ready to call Gary Mack for Mets Musings, Howie Rose had a call to match the amazing moment he was witnessing, as Yasiel Puig made one of the greatest catches you will see, almost doubling up The Duda at 1st (Howie's call is around the 2:10 mark.)
Yasiel Puig is quite the amazing talent, but the infamy of the Cuban player not having his head in the game or being unaware of the rules was evident throughout the series. He looked silly gunning the ball towards the plate with 3 out the other day. Lucky for him and the Dodgers, that didn't affect those actual outcomes, whereas last night, he burned his team on an infield fly that tailed to the outfield in the top of the 6th, where the rule clearly states, "run at your own risk."
Oh, and of course, the man got doubled off on this, in Eric "Soup" Campbell's 1st Major League outfield start.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Mr. Jenrry "Back-to-Back" Mejia, who took a page out of Jose "Papa Grande" Valverde's antics book to lock down his 2nd Major League save.
And some other items of note:
Though he did get caught stealing in the bottom of the 3rd, David Wright should attempt to steal more bases if he's going to be a singles hitter. I think, however, we haven't seen more steal attempts because he's still rather timid following his hamstring issue last year.
SNY needs to change the defensive alignment graphic that is still the original Citi dimensions. It's been like 3 years, you guys...
Speaking of SNY, whether or not the Mets are struggling, Gary, Keith and Ron are ALWAYS on their game.
The Dodgers were in an alternate road uniform that was a grey version of their home unis, with the classic "Dodgers" across the chest as opposed to "Los Angeles." I'm a stickler for having your nickname on your uni at home and your city on your uni on the road. Unless it's the Phillies, where there's really no difference from saying "Phillies" as opposed to "Philadelphia."
So, we salvage the final game, getting the timely hits we had not been getting. Curtis has been impressing me with his approach lately, Flores is hitting when getting the chance, and Eric Campbell should probably be playing wherever we can get him in the lineup. Clearly, one game is not going to turn my opinion around on Sandy and Terry, but a win is a win, and I'll take it. No matter how much a massive losing streak could possibly help purge this team, seeing and hearing a solid, well put-together win always trumps any vitriol that had been building up. That's all you want to see: The New York Mets win, not keep botching winnable games, and look like there is some actual growth with this franchise. As I stated before, Mr. Gary Mack was my eyes and ears during last night's contest as I walked over the Queensboro Bridge discussing the Mets with him on Mets Musings. Make sure to take a listen on this Friday in May. Have a great holiday weekend, folks...and as always...
I was exhausted last night, so I was very happy to lay down and zone out to an hour-behind Howie and Josh on Chicago's South Side. It was the beginning of the 9th inning, with the Mets down 4-3. That was my last conscious moment before I woke up and recollected my faculties. The game was still going, as I heard Howie voice. I took a look at my Gameday App, and before I could seriously register that it was 4-4 and HOW it became 4-4, Howie was informing me of a White Sox hit to win it. ...And back to sleep I went.
I was working the Rising Apple twitter feed for the majority of the game, when my internet went out just in time for the 9th inning. I had been watching the game, but my dad wanted to get his American Idol fix (.........................) in an upstate house with only one TV (he's renting his house out soon so we're up here getting it ready.) After the 6th inning, I started listening to Howie and Josh on gameday audio until the internet went out, 'cause for some reason Sprint just stopped working around here yesterday after being one of the better Sprint spots I've found. So, 3G gameday audio pickup was impossible.
Anyway, you could care less about my technological angst. I got to watch the Mets comeback in the 9th inning (with me ranting and raving to my dad about the sac bunt to get Mike Baxter over to 3rd after his double, but that's really a whole 'nother discussion for a whole 'nother post.) With the internet still very, very flimsy, I hopped into the car and listened to the 660 feed that had very tolerable amounts of static. THAT was where I heard Josh Lewin's call on Jordany Valdespin's Grand Slam walkoff, the first Mets Grand Slam walkoff in 22 years, which...
@2stepsaway @convertedmetfan You might have been able to hear Josh all the way to wherever you are without the radio on that last one. — Mets WFAN (@MetsWFAN) April 25, 2013
Today was the first time this year I yielded to football. I ventured out in my Jets hat with Howie and Jim in my ears via my Radio Shack Transistor Radio, journeying through the excellent-but-standard Giants win. Listening to Howie will always be entertaining, regardless of the score, but that football game was as entertaining as it gets. The Giants are a fun team to watch, and in football, me rooting for the Jets over the Giants in Super Bowl XLVIII doesn't mean the Giants aren't a real cool franchise. I mean, look at the way they've won the last few years. Eli Manning isn't just an elite quarterback, he's a Hall of Famer.
Yes, the Jets lost today to couple with The Wily Peralta Show their former landlords attended. But I think they actually will be a lot better than I or others expected. I honestly wasn't going to be surprised if they were a trainwreck, and they might very well still become one. But I actually think this season will be very interesting, no matter how circus-like the Jets can seem from far away. Maybe they'll finally get their crap together, after 43 years. They certainly didn't seem that way this off-season, but maybe Mike Tannenbaum is some crazy genius, lighting a fire without using any method, man-made or otherwise, to start it up. We have 9 games left of Mets Baseball in our area code. Who cares what the state of the team is? I want to go to as many as time can possibly allow or afford. Baseball, folks. It's in the autumn of the year. Regardless of your angst towards this team, you all are certainly going to miss your 2012 New York Mets. The Ill is on it's way. The Knuckler's waiting for his prey.
In my search for a photo for yesterday's game recap, there on the page was Daniel Murphy holding a huge paper airplane. "What?" I didn't immediately investigate, just wanting my current state of how my world experienced the Met game to stay the same. Apparently, a giant paper airplane landed in front of him in the 6th inning of yesterday's game, all the way from the upper deck. Murph got a kick out of it and, according to comments on Metsblog describing Howie's description of it all, he and Ike applauded the fans. Must have been a funny moment in yet another Mets loss.
Speaking of Ike, I'm glad to hear he hit his 27th home run of the year. I'm sure it's bittersweet for him as it is for all of us. I am actually allowing myself to open football into my world today. Instead of being in a Metsian recluse, I will toss Howie and Josh into my ear come 2:10, which will be the first time in a while I've been able to either listen or watch a game. While I'm not even close to letting Mets baseball take a backseat, the transition should start earlier than I expected I would let it. Enjoy the game, enjoy Sundays in the Autumn and Winter, and enjoy the Random Song of the Day.
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