Just now, while looking through an old collection of photos of the Giants and Dodgers (and some early Mets) I decided to start a new segment here at Converted Mets Fan called the Mets Legacy Photo of the Day. I may or may not make this a daily occurrence, but I have enough to certainly post a few of them a week. The first one comes to us from Life Magazine; A photo of the left field stands of Ebbets Field, reminiscent of Citi Field in the Septembers.
It's hard to win when your ace gives up runs in each of his first 3 innings. By the end of the top frame, we were given a look as to what the final product of the game would be: The Mets chipping away, but alas, a run short. They could not tie it within the 1st half-hour, and they could not tie it by the end of the 9th. While an entertaining game, it still ended up on the right side of the record, as The Mets lost 6-7. Apparently, every time I go to the ballpark to see the Orange and Blue take on the Orange or the Blue, they have to lose by 1 run.
I think we all sometimes forget that Johan Santana is coming off major shoulder surgery. It was remarkable what he was able to do for most of the year, but it was unrealistic to believe he would continue to only give up 0-3 runs each start. While he has been sub-par since the no-no, I do not believe the 134-pitch performance is what has caused this lapse in good pitching. He hasn't pitched a full year since (honestly) 2008, and I believe his ineffectiveness is due to that fact. It's certainly bothering him more than it is bothering us. Johan is a battler and he will ease his way through this. (Sounds like they might give him some rest with a possible DL stint. Not a terrible idea. We need him at his best.)
He just keeps on doin' it.Jordany Valdespin is making as big a case as can be made to pencil his name in the starting line-up everyday. Things happen when he's out there, as they did when he reached 1st on an infield single in the 9th, heading to 2nd on an errant throw. Obviously we want a productive, right-handed bat in the middle of our line-up with all the lefties runnin' down the line, and Jason Bay has looked better at the plate coming off this DL trip than his last DL trip (troubling sentence, though). Jordany keeps coming through in big spots late, however, putting us in positions to win ball games. If he were making things happen early on, though, maybe we would actually win these ball games.
Oh, lost in the...well...loss...was Daniel Murphy going 4-5, with every hit traveling the opposite way to left field. Man, he's such a good hitter. Murph's a lot of fun to watch.
And my girlfriend and I did our best impression of a vanishing act before Daughtry could penetrate our ears.
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.
The Mets continued to soar and the Dodgers continued to wilt. Santana was fantastic, The Mets offense efficient, and after taking their 4th in a row by a score of 5-0, they look to clinch a winning 1st half with a W today.
What most impressed me about the way the Mets went about their business last night was the fact the 1st 2 runs came of sacrifice flies. They would get a runner into scoring position with no out, move him over to 3rd with a productive ground out or fly ball, then hit a sacrifice into the outfield with ease. Strict Fundies. And with a combination of the way Santana pitched and the Dodgers' current lack of punch, all the Mets had to do was manufacture a couple of runs and have their sluggers wait for a high fastball to rake into the stands. Ike, The Duda and Wright, when all cylinders are clicking, are the perfect middle-of-the-order bats. Without too much team speed, it is vital as the summers wears on that these bats stay hot, so we aren't always playing base-to-base. They have been running more lately, with Torres finally finding his legs, but still. Our offense with more power produces quite the images in my brain of what could be. We should never DEPEND on the power the way other teams have, but we clearly need a couple batters to knock over 20 out. Looks like Ike and The Duda will do that, and David Wright might just follow suit as well.
Tonight, on paper, is the most difficult game the Mets will play in LA. Dillon Gee vs. Clayton Kershaw is not the ideal match-up, no offense to Gee. If we win, we guarantee we're still over .500 going into the break. If we were to win today and lose every game we play against Phillie and Chicago, we'd still be 2 games over going to Kansas City. Lose today, and we're 6 games over with the possibility we could be back to .500 just in time for the 4 days off. With the way the Dodgers have been playing, a win is most certainly possible. Why am I thinking in short-term Doomsday scenarios? I don't know. Just looking ahead to every possible outcome. Clearly, I hope they win out and move on up the standings. Regardless, I am proud to call this 2012 New York Mets team my ball club, and I look forward to them wrapping the road trip up tonight at 8:00PM with a win before heading back home for the holiday week.
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.
Seriously, he's gonna do it, right? I mean, at some point, everything should work out to perfection. I have no doubt in my mind. RA Dickey will one day throw the 1st Perfect Game in Mets History. Don't know if it will be this year, but chances are...it could be. When was the last time you sat down to watch a Mets game and said to yourself, EVERY TIME a certain starting pitcher goes out there, that there's a possibility you could see a no-hitter? And yes, this wasn't the Yankees. And they didn't have their two best hitters. BUT...#1, he didn't have his best stuff for the Yankee game, and had he, the pinstripes wouldn't have stood a chance, and #2, neither would Kemp and Ethier with the stuff he had last night. Enough words have been spoken on RA Dickey. Let's just watch him pitch some more.
And RA Dickey has left me so speechless, I don't even have any hyperbole on the Mets hitters of the night. Let's just watch them do what they did again to help bring us to an 9-0 win. Murph. Tejada. The Duda.Wright. Ike. When this lineup clicks, fun ensues.
And now, we have Johan Santana to look forward to. He takes on Nathan Eovaldi at 7:15PM. I love having Santana to look forward to after watching the Knuckleball dance. What a 1-2 punch.
Beat LA.
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.
We didn't think we'd be in the car that long, but all of a sudden, it had been 3 hours, my friend's suit was not out in Bay Ridge as he had thought, and the Mets had held on to a much-needed 3-2 win.
Listening to Howie and Josh wax poetic of the story happening near the Hollywood hills, we rode from the east side of Brooklyn to the South West, but my buddy's suit (needed for a New Hampshire wedding) was no where in sight.
As we passed by Washington Park (the pre-Ebbets Field era ballpark home to the Dodgers for many years), Jon Rauch induced a double play in the 8th inning, which, according to Josh Lewin, was the Turning Point of the Game.
And as we drove up the BQE towards our homes in Queens, Bobby Parnell located his fastball real, real well and shut down the Dodgers to lock down the win and the save. I pumped my fist and smiled all the rest of the way home.
The Mets look to put more smiles on our faces as they send RA Dickey to face Aaron Harang at 10:10PM.
Knuckle Forth, Oh, Robert Allen.
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.
