Beautiful

It was a beautiful spring evening when the Mets took to the field to play the Marlins. I watched the first inning, saw the Mets score two and decided it was too beautiful to stay in watching baseball.

So I walked. I walked through the city, people were outside drinking, running, biking, errand running. It was spring and everyone was soaking up the delicious weather. I come back in the 6th, only to see the Mets down 5-4. And then Endy! tied it up. NB: For those of you unfamiliar with my blog, I always call him Endy! after that amazing catch at the 2006 NLCS. It should be noted, I haven't had too much to Endy! about so far this season.

Maybe it was spring, maybe it was the pressure, maybe it was the self realization that they are a great team. They sure played like one. Second stringer Tatis with the clutch hitting, a fantastic bullpen, even Ollie kept it together. My personal favorite extra innings play was the Sanchez bunt; even after getting smacked by a pitch he came back, bunted and ran his mightiest to first. He didn't make it, but man... he tried. He tried so hard, as ever single one of them did.

And that my friends, is indeed beautiful. 7-6 beautiful.

Day to Day

Well... they did it last night. Won a game, that it. Beat the fish 5-3 with Johan getting it done, a good defense to back him up, a bullpen that held it together and stiff bats with 9 hits. Oh and a nice double steal to boot.

Yes, it was a victory. A victory that was nearly as hard fought as the Democratic nomination. But are the Mets Hillary or Barack? That we'll know in the coming days and weeks. I suppose that Willie has been given a reprieve. For today. Jack Curry in the Times has it right - Willie, like the Mets, is day to day.

Someone Else to Kick Around

Oh Mets. What can I say? The only thing that changed since I last blogged about you is that you are no longer clinging to .500... you're officially under .500 and are closer to competing with the Nats than with the Braves. You dropped three out of four against the Rockies. Something is outta whack.

Charges of racism (in a game that is more integrated than most workplaces or communities in America it should be noted) by Willie, our star players looking like Mitt Romney (over-hyped and under-performing), and of course the hitting. Or lack thereof.

My two cents on the Willie thing - I said last month that it might be time for him to go. I don't know if that will solve the problem immediately but there is something wrong at the core if a team built like this can't get things going. Sometimes those who are the most gifted are the most lazy laziest, which is why leadership and guidance are critical. I fear those things are missing and is that is precisely what is holding us back.

And it looks like tonight will be no different than the last couple of days. Another loss; I suppose the Marlins is an excuse. Clearly the boys aren't playing up to their potential, but in this case the perception fueled by the media have become the reality. Joe Girardi must be a happy guy - everyone is so busy trashing the Mets that the end of a five-game winning streak is probably not a contender for the sharp tongue of tomorrow's NY Post.

Almost in the Toilet

We're baacck! Yes, the Mets that played in April are back again in May. Yes, I know they disappeared over the weekend. But it seems like the scoreless, listless and even nearly unconscious (if you're Ryan Church) Mets showed up at Turner Field to drop two to Atlanta yesterday. Good times.

I can't decide what is more painful - my bathroom getting ripped out or my heart after watching last night's game. At least the bathroom is scheduled to be back in commission tomorrow. Too bad I can't say the same for the Mets.

Better Than Broadway

Oh New York. Such drama. The saga of the Mets has taken on a soap opera feel, with Billy Wagner playing Cruella de Vil in the locker room after the Nats disaster. Instead of a game against the Yankees on Friday, the team had a rain out meeting something like an AA gathering replete with recriminations, apologies and a vow to play like the $100 million plus team the Wilpons and you and me have paid for.

Something worked. Maybe it was the sharing of feelings, maybe it was the thrill of the subway series. Whatever the case, we've got yesterday's win and today's plowdown in the Bronx. 11-2. Now granted there's no A-Rod and no Posada in the Yankees lineup. But it wasn't about that. It was about Oli holding it together and more importantly the Mets bats performing (18 runs over the last two days, which is probably more than the last three weeks).

What's so amazing about the Willie-Billy-Delgado drama is that in any other town it wouldn't have escalated to this point. But other towns don't have the tabloids or the aggressive fans. At least the tale of these two wins after last week will give them what they are all looking for - a damn good show.

Disgusted

I didn't watch yesterday's "pitchers duel" between Mike Pelfrey and the Nat's Jason Bergmann (who was recalled from the minor leagues). 1-0. And not one for us.

I'm not giving the blow by blow, but yet again the matzo bats failed. Just call the Nats Mike Huckabee - unlikely to win it all, but certainly exceeding expectations.

Me, I'm just disgusted.

Eye on the Prize

Yes, I know the Nats are the worst second worst team in the National League. Yes, I know we should be kicking their butts. But it is not so. 5-3 at the hands of Heilman, who maybe should also be designated for assignment a la Sosa and Figueroa. Claudio Vargas, brought up from the minors, pitched a solid game before the Heilman giveaway.

What gave me a giggle was watching the broadcast on MASN (the Nats network) and the announcers commenting how they couldn't understand the booing at Shea when Heilman showed up on the mound. Couldn't understand?? Haven't these guys watched a single day of Mets baseball?!

Nevermind. I'm letting go. It's not far off from Clinton's West Virginia victory earlier this week... kinda futile. Phillies and Braves lost, so the half game sandwich remains.

Nasty as They Wanna Be

If the Mets were Sybil, last night would have been the appearance of their childlike personality. With pitching and fielding like an 11 year old slow pitch team, they were routed by the Nats (yes, the Nats) 10-4. Nelson Figueroa melted down early and often and Sosa (one of my favorite S's) gave the Nats the rest of it. Nice scoreless 8th from Sanchez, who was shaky the last time I saw him.

But overall, ugly. Ug-lee.

What seems to be the talk today (other than Figueroa's future) is Lasting Milledge and his crew applauding the Mets flubs. The Times writes all about it.

I didn't see it, but I'm not surprised. Milledge, who was once a Met, always lacked a little maturity. Showing up late, high fives with the fans - it just ain't classy. Hence his move to the Nats.

We got the better end of that deal (Church and Schneider) even if it didn't show last night. Oh well. The battle v. the war, right? I need something as I think about where we were last May (first place) and where we are now - three back, in a half game sandwich between our two biggest rivals. And who's number one? The Marlins. Look out world, it's as crazy as John McCain getting the Republican nod seemed 9 months ago.

The only consolation in that is McCain imploded early.

He's Lost Control?

That Oli. Always an enigma. Yesterday, a balls to the wall performance until the 6th. And then, out of nowhere the inning turned into a struggle a la the Democratic nomination. A gazillion pitches, every one of them more tense than the last one and unfortunately resulting in three runs.

It's ok. 8-3 ok. The Mets pulled it out with bats that are thriving better than mold in DC (it has rained nearly 5 inches in a day here). The Carloses are alive and well, David and Jose are starting to awake too. Even Scott Schoenweis pitched a blemish free inning.

But Oli, what's your deal? I know you still probably enjoy comic books and miss your hometown. But c'mon, you're in New York. You're playing in the big leagues. You're getting paid a lot of money. And you and your greedy ass agent want even more money come next year. So don't go the way of Romney or head down the path currently being forged by Hillary Clinton. You can do this. The good news is that unlike in politics, in baseball you can control about 85 percent of the outcome.

P.S. I didn't write about the whole series against the Reds, which the Mets took 2-1. Lovely play on Saturday, but the MLB package didn't offer the day game. This is the second time a Saturday day game was unavailable - bastards!

Clintonian

The New York Mets. When they are on, they are like Bill Clinton in 1992. When they are not, they are like Bill Clinton in 2008.

Today it's 1992.

Losing One Can Mean Everything. Or Nothing.

My favorite part about the MLB package is that you get to watch announcers from all over baseball. So I have been listening with glee to the Dodgers announcer who knows as much about the Mets as the current Congress and President seem to know about policy making.

This false sense of perspective must have worked on me. I fell asleep on the couch sometime in the 4th inning without too much agita. The Dodgers had a pitching meltdown that looked disturbingly Met-like. The boys were winning 4-1. I felt alright going to bed.

But I had ignored the warning signs - no hitting. David Wright striking out. Lots and lots of base runners stranded. I was so focused on the decent pitching and excellent offense, I ignored the soft underbelly... bats as cold as an office building in summertime. Mets lose 5-4.

As in life and in politics, you can't have it all. Sometimes you win one, sometimes you lose one. As this stage of the baseball season it's not just one that makes the final decision. As for politics, I guess we'll see in Denver.

What the West Can Do

West coast baseball is a sleep killer. The games don't come on until 10 and by midnight I am usually begging to be put to bed. Last night was no different; after watching the first inning of Oliver Perez I figured I could go to bed because I already knew the outcome.

He was battered by the batters (literally by a pitch) and just seemed to lack concentration at times. Sigh. Nothing new here, unfortunately. Just a repeat of the last two outings.

Now it could have been worse, in the end it was only 5-1. And the Dodgers are hot, hot, hot. But, I'm not sure this was the team I saw pounce on Arizona just a few days ago. Who the hell showed up last night? Maybe it's California, we know what it can do to you. Just ask Barack.

Our Guam

Wow, what a weekend between the Mets and the gorgeous weather. The past two days were literally the most beautiful of the year - 70s, 80s... perfect biking weather. And I took advantage of it.

That, of course, meant that I only saw a bit of the Mets take the series 2-1 from Arizona, the team with the best record in baseball. Now before you think we're out of the woods, think again. Yes, we won today in a pitchers duel (yes, we won a pitchers duel, shocking I know) between Johan and Dan Haren. But yesterday was a complete and total pitching meltdown, not dissimilar to the Pittsburgh avalanche last week. Friday was a beauty, with Moises Alou back, Jose's bat alive, and pitching that held it together. What can I say... we're streakier than my pollen covered windows.

And we're still a half game out of first. Consider this series kind of like Guam - sometimes it's the perception and the subsequent momentum that matters more than anything.

Believe

Now I know what it is like to be a Ron Paul operative. After yesterday's unbelievable Mets performance (for those of you not in the know 13-1 trouncing), I can only believe that it is my own delusions that are feeding any ideas of Mets grandeur.

I didn't watch, since it was a day game. But here's the quick recap: poor Oli left after the second inning when the Pirates... yes, the Pirates, scored SEVEN... yes seven, runs. But that was only meltdown #1. Sosa repeated the same performance just a couple of innings later. But this time, it was just 5 runs. While these problems are not new, they were just jacked up on steroids yesterday.

More disturbing were the number of errors. Chase downs, bad communication between players. Dude, where's the team that has dominated over the last two years? Trying not to freak out. It is only April and if you're gonna melt, this is the time. Plus, these guys are only human. And while we expect our ballplayers and our political figures to be absolutely perfect every time, I know they're all just human. So no yelling, no booing. Y'all are perfect on paper, now you all just need to believe it.