Remember this Great World Baseball Game?

With the rosters for the WBC announced, it brought back some memories of the young tournament, and got me pumped up for the upcoming edition. If you didn't watch the game the first time around, and/or never saw these clips, besides quite possibly being one of the best highlight videos ESPN has ever put together, it is also a perfect example of how awesome the World Baseball Classic can be. Every player on both the Puerto Rican team and the United States team played this game with championship intensity, including 3 All-Time Great Mets (4 if you include Nelson Figueroa.)

One could argue this is THE great Met highlight reel of 2009.

Yes, the timing of the WBC is rough, and some would argue they should save that intensity for their respective teams and cities.

But I don't think one can argue that it isn't good for the game to have this kind of talent level all pooled together to produce an all-time great baseball highlight such as this one.

This is good for the longevity of the game and its market on an international level.

Roll the Tape, Youtube.

(Look out for David Wright's Kickass Home Plate Slide)

U. NITED. STATES.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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Well, Hello, Ike Davis. Bring that Swing Home with You, Please.

Looking back, it seems silly that the Phillies ever gave us a deficit to come back from. Maybe had they been playing from behind early, this series would be turned around. But alas, the fact of the matter is we faced two former Cy Young Award winners and Officer Joe Blanton, who all pitched solidly and had chances to win. Yet the New York Metropolitans are the ones who were on top every time, including last night's 10-6 win.

I was watching the Knicks early on and when I switched over real quick to see the game tied 1-1, I said, "Well, that's cool. I'll take a Dillon Gee-Cliff Lee 1-1 tie." Soon, however, the injury-riddled Knicks were not worth viewing but the injury-riddled Mets were. The Phillies take a 2-1 lead? No worries. We got a rejuvenated Andres Torres, who is waiting for his pitch, taking walks, and smacking a triple passed sliding Shane Victorino's glove. David Wright will get you home, Torres. Phillies have a 4-2 lead in the 7th? No worries. We'll take some walks from Kyle Kendrick, drive the ball deep into the fields of green and get plunked on the side to tie the score. Every mistake the Phillies made in this series we capitalized on. You can say what you want about where Philadelphia is as a team right now (and it's not good) but the reason we should bask in this glory is because the Mets of the past would have missed some of these opportunities handed to them. Why not be excited? This team is fun to watch. There will obviously be moments where they make us pull our hair out, but this New York Metropolitan Club is headed in the right direction, and I am very much looking forward to where the road takes us this summer.

I have to admit, though. You are pretty funny, Phanatic.

IKE DAVIS!!!! Bring that swing home and hit that Shea Bridge 50 times. Oh. While you're at it, break every light on that @#&^%$ home run structure in Miami.

The Mets take the day off, then face Mark Buehrle and the Marlins at 7:10 PM in Miami. Johan Santana will go for the Mets in the 8,000th game played in their history (and without a no-hitter.) Let's keep this good ride goin' and make our inaugural Marlins Park trip a fantastic one. Shut 'em down here, shut 'em down there.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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An Amazin' Home Run to Walk In On

Last night, I sat at work listening to Jon Niese give the Phillies an early 2-0 lead, and against Roy Halladay no less. I chatted with my co-worker while the Mets in the background went down inning after inning to that frustratingly great pitcher. Though Niese settled down, I figured we were on our way to getting shut out by one of pitching's finest. Nothing to fret about. Happens to the best of them.

Then Andres Torres walked with 2 out in the 6th.

Then Cap'n Kirk got a hit.

And all of a sudden, Howie Rose enthusiastically described David Wright's double down the line, plating both Torres and Kirk to tie the game at 2. In the midst of whatever us workers were talking about, I stopped and opened my ears wide, pleasantly surprised to hear of the tie score. This team, however, battles so much that the surprised feeling is most certainly fading.

The overtime at my office provides us a car ride home, and this time we had 4 people in the same vehicle, leading to an extra-long journey through Queens. We first dropped off somebody in Long Island City, around the time Bobby Parnell was getting in and out of a 7th inning jam with a blatant Shane Victorino interference call at 2nd base, giving us a huge double-play to send us into the 8th. We dropped somebody off in Sunnyside around the time Lucas Duda was grounding into his own inning-ending double play. As we headed to Jackson Heights, another Phillie rally was brewing, with Parnell getting tied up on a weak grounder in front of the mound, doing a split and falling on his backside. After a sacrifice bunt by Placido Polanco, moving two runners over to 2nd and 3rd, I listened as Howie described to me a comebacker to Parnell, who threw to Josh Thole to tag out old friend Ty Wigginton. Wigginton's shoulder, Howie described, hit Josh's head hard and he laid out across home plate. Thole was taken out for concussion testing and Mike Nickeas entered the game. We turned onto Roosevelt Avenue under the 7 train as Tim Byrdak came in to pitch. I pumped my fist as Byrdak struck out Erik Kratz (who?) to end the threat, and we got out from under the elevated to drop off the last co-worker of the evening.

We headed to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway as Daniel Murphy fought off Jonathan Papelbon only to strike out after the umpteenth pitch. Ike Davis drew a fantastic walk but Justin Turner struck out as well. Up strolled recently inserted Nickeas. He fought off some pitches and then turned on one, sending it into left field for a double as the car pulled up to my building, with Ike Davis stopping at 3rd. I ran inside, turned on the TV, and the wide-shot of the baseball diamond was a welcome sight to my eyes. Ten seconds after the unit was ignited, the rookie Jordany Valdespin crushed a low-hanging breaking pitch into the right-field stands (his first Major League hit), giving Gary Cohen quite the play to call, and leading the Mets to as big a 5-2 win as you can have in May.

What an amazin' home run to walk in on.

And all 5 runs were scored with 2 out. Awesomeness incarnate.

The Mets continue their series against the Phillies tonight at 7:05PM, sending "The Handyman" Miguel Batista out to face "Officer" Joe Blanton.

LET'S. GO. METS.

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