The Wild One

When they peered out into the bullpen in the late innings and I saw Ramon Ramirez, I said, "Oh, great. It's Ramon Ramirez." Its amazing how quickly a reputation can change, and Ramon Ramirez, after having the 6th best reliever ERA from 2008-2011, has fallen into a long line of relievers to exert that kind of reaction from Mets fans after killing it in other corners of the MLB. He continued what Jeurys Familia began, who walked the park in his debut but kept the Marlins off the board through 4. Other relievers followed suit, and what was a 2-0 lead became a 2-3 deficit. Mix that with double digit LOBs, and you have a loss.

That's just the nature of the beast.

Of all the bullpen problems, Ramon Ramirez is the most troubling. Others, like Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch, were coming off of uneven seasons. The former you kind of expected something like this (an odd mix of a 5.53 ERA and 23 out of 27 opportunities locked down) and the latter with solid showings sandwiched in between early on and recent non-effective outings. Manny Acosta kind of gets the same "Oh, look who's in the bullpen" reaction Ramon Ramirez gets, but I like Manny when he's pitching well. He's an peculiar show on the mound. Ramon Ramirez was supposed to be THE piece of the Angel Pagan trade. Andres Torres was just replacing a position player, with the hopes he would somewhat duplicate his World Champion 2010 season. "Whatever. Sandy got Ramon Ramirez, one of the most effective righties in the National League." Oofph. He looks lost out there. In another world. I hadn't seen a pitch sail like that in a long, long time. I look forward to not seeing Ramon Ramirez in that bullpen next season. I'd rather see a kid get the chance than give him another shot.

You know, the funny thing about baseball is that even in a game the TV crew dubbed "a 4th place team playing a 5th place team kind of game," and rightfully so, it still tugs on your nervous system as you wait for what the next pitch will bring. After Fred Lewis* got hit by the pitch in the 9th, every Ike Davis foul had me waiting and hoping for the dramatic from my team. I was on the edge of my seat till he almost hit it passed Carlos Lee at 1st for the final out. That's what people who call baseball boring don't understand. All you have to do is focus your mind on following that little white ball from the pitcher's hand to the small diameter of the plate, and seeing what happens to it every time that motion occurs. It's a fascinating game. I absolutely love it.

Anyway.

I'm gonna go watch the rest of episode 3 of New York: A Documentary.

So, let's file this wild one away, and get ready for the final R.A.

KNUCKLE. THAT. BALL.

LET'S. GO. METS.

*Fred Lewis has yet to have a 2012 New York Met Moment. He's running out of chances. I was hoping he would have that moment with 2 out in the 9th, tying the game with a pull home run down the line. Got hit instead. Oh, well.

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Playin' That LOB Chicken.

Usually in a back and forth LOB scoreless game like that, the better team will win. The better team will not always be the best team on any given night, but the better team will most likely be the best team by the end of a game like that. While a 0-3 loss, an interesting game, nonetheless. Props to all the pitchers who did their job under severe cardiac arrest. Both the Mets and the Reds popped the clutch as they sped off towards the cliff. Unfortunately, the Mets got their coat caught on the handle and fell to their death, while the Reds were able to roll out safely. Jot this one down in the right column. Prepare for another game.

And so, we march on.

LET'S. GO. METS.

 

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A Sour Note to an Otherwise Solid Road Trip

Well, Matt Harvey didn't have it (but I was still impressed with how he was able to limit the damage.) The offense couldn't get anything going off that Staten Island native and the bullpen (I mean Ramon Ramirez) allowed tack-on runs as we chipped away, and we lost 3-7. Oh, well. Not how we wanted the San Diego weekend to go, but after a 1-12 or whatever it was stretch, we'll take a 6-5 road trip. 

Enjoy the day off before the stripped down Marlins and that Jose Reyes character come to town.

LET'S. GO. METS.

(If you are not a South Park watcher, please, do so. Yes, it can be crude, but it is also one of the best written shows ever. Great narrative, fantastic characters, and even some solid lessons along the way. Don't let it's crudeness turn you off. Click a random episode on their full episode website and see where it takes you. South Park is one of my favorite things ever and has gotten better with time. Sorry. This became a South Park Blog for a brief second.)

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"...And They Win the Damn Thing"

The in-laws are in town and I must entertain them. So, this will be the "Cliff Notes" version of the game post:

1. We live in a studio, and the folks were going to bed. So, it was either go to the gym to watch the game or sit in my parked car and listen to Howie and Josh (car's in a good spot, which is why I didn't drive around.) I had some wine earlier, so the latter sounded more appealing. 4 hours later...I finally came back inside and went to sleep. I still haven't seen the highlights. The game lives in my head only through the sounds of Howie Rose and Josh Lewin. Not bad.

2. I dosed off in the bottom of the 7th, and woke up right before the big Scottie Hairston blast. Apparently, Jordany had a good at-bat....Oh, I see now he got the single on an 0-2 count. Sweet.
 

3. I'm sure many of you are with me when I say I'm sick of Bobby Parnell not growing as a pitcher. We're all sick of this bullpen, and Sandy's inaction was front and center during last night's/this morning's game. (Meanwhile, though, effective outings once again from Ramon Ramirez and Jon Rauch. Nice.)
 

4. Jason Bay helped us win a ballgame?! Wow.
 

5. That was the most fun time had on twitter in my young twitter history. Props to Mets fans on there for gutting it out to the very end, and making us all laugh in the process.
 

6. Baxter. You're like a miniature Buddha. (Mike and the Anchorman references are back!)

What kind of excruciatingly painful fun will be had tonight at 10:10PM, when Matt Harvey takes on Tim Lincecum? Oh, must we really wait 12 hours to find out? I better find as good of a parking spot...

LET'S. GO. METS.

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Okay, campers, rise and shine, and don't forget your booties 'cause it's COOOOOLD OUT THERE TODAY.

 

LET'S. GO. METS.

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Absolutely NO WAY We'd Let Reyes High-Five on Our Field

An unbelievably thrilling 9th inning led to a 3-2 Homegrown-Mets win, sweeping the Store-Bought Marlins out of town.

What can you say about Turner's At-Bat? I was pacing back and forth at work, exclaiming after every foul ball. He laid off all the breaking pitches and didn't let the strikes go by him. Fantasic. I went to softball with a smile on my face rather than an "Oh Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad." I woulda been lying to myself, however. In this instance, coming off of that Giants series and with the heightened emotions of Reyes returning, I feel it was sweep or bust. Awesome.

Niese is solid once again, and Cap'n Kirk keeps it up. 

And props to Ramon Ramirez for 2 scoreless innings.

I am traveling to Denver this weekend to see some friends, some family, and some Mets. Saturday and Sunday I will be at Coors Field. I want a 14 on the left side of the column by the time I get home. Keep it up, Orange and Blue.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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My First Opening Day

"They're a little bothered that people don't think we're very good." 

                                         --Terry Collins

Yesterday morning, I woke up with the largest smile on my face. The event I had been waiting for since the 3-0 win over Cincinnati had finally arrived. None of the negativity that has surrounded this team through the offseason mattered anymore. On April 5, the only thing that mattered was that a baseball game that actually counts would be played. And my girlfriend and I would be there thanks to a birthday gift from my aunt, uncle and cousin.

Decked out in my Mets jacket, and with my camera in hand, we hopped on the N train in Astoria to Queensboro Plaza and caught the 7. The local appeared to be the only thing that was running at the time, which ended up being a pleasant surprise, for I was able to get some nice shots of Queens along the way.

Now that I live in the borough, I have noticed that Queens is a hot bed for graffiti. Besides the 5 Pointz Aerosol Art Center, there is plenty of graffiti lining the buildings along the 7 line route. I had seen it before, but recently I bought a massive coffee table book called Subway Art, and have since taken a fascination in the ways of the aerosol. Some of it is vandalism, some of it is art, and which is which and what is what is completely up to the interpretation of the viewer.

 

As these buildings passed us, I glanced in front of me and saw, peering over the many Queens apartments, the Citi we've been waiting for. 

When we finally arrived, what a sight for sore eyes the packed, sun-drenched Citi Field Plaza was. It might have been a little chillier near the water, but no worries. There would soon be baseball to warm us up.

When we found our seats right behind home plate in the upper deck, we saw an even awesomer sight for sore eyes: Mr. Johan Santana, warming up in right field.

The usual opening day ceremonies I had seen on TV in years past were fantastic. Our Pelfing Bag Mike and the training staff got the loudest boos in the introductions (other than the Atlanta Braves) and Ike Davis, David Wright, RA Dickey and the Mets massage therapist got the loudest ovations. After that, it was the late Number 8's turn to shine. (He was before my time, but couple days after his death, I wrote about what Gary Carter means to me.) Howie Rose serenaded us with the memory of our Kid, and after a moment of silence, the Carter Family unveiled a memorial for Gary on the newly blue, left-center field wall in the image of the patch the Mets will wear throughout the season.

After the National Anthem (a song I cannot hear without thinking of baseball) the Carter Family threw out the ceremonial first pitches to Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez, Daryl Strawberry and Mookie Wilson. After that, it was time to play ball.

As Johan Santana took the mound in the crisp new/old jersey, the ballpark was filled with anticipation and anxiety. He had not taken a major league mound in a year and a half, and everyone was pumped to see how he would perform, none more than Johan himself. He is a very smart and professional pitcher, and he didn't let his nerves destroy his levelheadedness.

Except for a hiccup of a single (there goes the no-hitter in Mets game #7,969) Johan breezed through the first inning, inducing a ground out, a fly ball to right field and strike out of Dan Uggla. Overall, Johan pitched an excellent 5 innings, giving up only two hits and 2 walks. Those two walks came in the 5th inning, when looking up at his pitch count (he was on a strict 80-90 pitch limit) we could see he was running out of a little steam at around 75 pitches, which was understandable given his situation. After a double and the 2 walks to load the bases, Michael Bourn took the count to 3-1. We were nervous, but got behind Santana more than at any point throughout the day, with a "Let's Go Mets" chant reverberating around the ballpark. He got a strike on a fastball at Bourn's knees, and then, to the extreme delight of the everyone in the building, got him to chop the ball directly back to the mound. With everybody elated, Santana tossed a high throw over to Ike, who leaped ever so slightly before coming down on the base for the out.

It was a good ol' fashion pitcher's duel, as the Mets offense couldn't get a lick off the Braves starter Tommy Hanson. They only had 2 hits through the 6th inning, and around that time, I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that the 4 other games being played around that time were all scoreless as well. Who would be the first team to score? 

Andres Torres started the 6th off with a walk. Daniel Murphy then singled and Andres Torres showed off the speed and energy we brought him here for by racing from 1st to 3rd (more on that energy soon.) David Wright then stepped in and, much to the delight of all of us, swung at Tommy's first helping, singling to left field for the first major league run of the day.

Tommy Hanson, coming back from surgery as well, was done after that. Unfortunately, the Mets couldn't plate any more runs in the inning (with runners on, Jason Bay ironically got under a ball and hit it right in front of the new wall in left-center) and we carried a 1-0 lead into the 7th.

In that inning, with Ramon Ramirez on the mound (brought over in the Angel Pagan trade along with Andres Torres), a Brave hit a ball to right-center field that looked catchable if Torres were to extend and dive for it. He did extend, but it went over his glove and to the wall for a double. He came up awkward and started walking towards the dugout as Ray Ramirez, the head trainer, started jogging towards him. Turned out Torres strained his left calf, the same muscle he strained just two weeks ago. Andres Torres takes medication for ADHD, and going off of my own personal experience with ADHD pills, I wondered in this Rising Apple post whether his ADHD medicine might be a reason he keeps having these strains. Clearly, there is not one definitive reason why an athlete would keep having these types of injuries, but having experienced what it feels like to be treated for the diagnosis for 20 years of my life, I think the medicine could be one of the things that aids the strains.

With the Braves bats quiet but the Mets bats less so, we were treated to a first look of the revamped bullpen. After Ramon Ramirez, Tim Byrdak made his debut less than 4 weeks after knee surgery and looked real sharp. That man is a freak of nature, and he needs to grow his horseshoe back. Byrdak gave way to Jon Rauch, who struggled during the spring but progressed as March gave way to April. He pitched a solid 8th inning, setting the save up for our brand-spanking new closer, Frank Francisco.

The Mets got some runners on in the 8th inning, and we so desperately wanted them to get a little insurance for our 9th inning man. But alas, they left the bases loaded against Johnny Venters, and Frankie came out of the bullpen needing to hold a 1-0 lead.

Francisco struggled during the spring as well, and had a knee scare the last couple of days. An MRI turned out negative, and here he was trying to prove to the Citi Faithful he was the right man for the job.

The first out was a high chopper to second, and Ronny Cedeño, who had just entered the game as a defensive replacement to Murph, handled it with care and threw the Brave out at first. The second out was a grounder to short, handled very nicely by Ruben Tejada to throw the Brave out at first as well. The 42,000 of us rose to our feet, erupting with "Lets Go Mets."

The new Frankie quickly got 2 strikes on the batter, and, as loud as ever, we willed him to tomahawk the Brave.

With that, he swung on and missed, and all of us went crazy in the elation of the 1-0 Mets win.

All in all, what an awesome experience this first game was. Every year, baseball finds a way to feel fresher than ever to me, and this opening day was nothing short of that. We will be traveling back out to Citi Field to see RA Dickey make his 2012 debut on Saturday at 1:10 PM. My RA Dickey Blue throwback jersey will be making it's 2012 Citi Field debut as well.

LET'S. GO. METS.

The Exhausted Newbie

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