Major League Jerk

Well, I am two games into Mets vs Phillies and I feel my Aorta tightening and my left ventricle slowing down. Two pockmarked, fun-filled, intense, exciting games that have an October feel in early July. I think I need an ambulance. But before they take me away I got two more of these things. Now understand, Friday night I was done with this team. I was ready to put Carlos Beltran in a very ugly place. The team as a whole blew another Johan performance, and this time the Manager got in on the fun. By Saturday at 10:30 P.M. (U.S Standard Time) I was back. I was feeling it again. Both the Mets pulse and those fluttering chest pains. Mets vs Phillies is turning into a true blue, top-notch rivalry. I mean geographically it has made sense. It only took 45 years to get here. It’s about time.

Friday night was a tight game. Both teams had a tough time generating runs. Both teams had an opportunity for more but couldn’t get it done. Now if Gonzo wants to go into the ins and outs of the Phillies and what he thought they did right and wrong, so be it. He really doesn’t have too. They gutted out a big game with J.A Happ on the mound. I am going to give you the Mets in a fucking nutshell. First off, we learned that if the opposing teams starting pitcher has a first name that is only initials (ie RA Dickey or J.A. Happ) the Mets are going to lose. Secondly, the Mets have determined that when the Johan Santana is on the mound they don’t need to score many runs. Because, you know, Johan is a God and is impervious to runs. Or so the legend tells us. The Mets are 0-6 in Johan’s last 6 starts. Johan’s ERA is 2.48. Now I know in the Seattle game, Johan gave up a grand slam to Felix Hernandez and the runs were unearned because of a David Wright error. But they still lost to fucking Seattle. Which is just hideous. Now I, for one, fell for the legend of Johan. I expected fire to shoot out of his arm and ice to pulsate through his veins as he throws 90 pitches to completely shut down opponents. Well, sort of like the game last year at Shea were he tooled the Mets on 92 pitches. That has not happened this year. But Johan has given this team some big time starts and some very good starts and the team has still pissed those away. If the Mets scored any sort of runs in his starts we would be talking about how great Johan has been. And how he is earning his money. Well, Johan gave the Mets 95 pitches through 8 innings allowing only 2 runs. He was masterful after the 5th. Guess what? Jerry Manuel, who had been using Johan for like 115 pitches a start for all the previous games decided to pull him. Why Jerry? (copyrighted by Nick Papageorgio 2008) Your team needed to get through the 9th. The two best pitchers you had for that situation were Billy Wagner and the guy on the mound. Keep Johan in. Hell, if he gets through the 9th, the team might reward him with a win or something by scoring in the tenth. Instead he went with Duaner Sanchez, who has been pretty good this year but is not Johan, and well after a Burrell double and Victorino single, that was that.

The third and final thing I took from Friday was I can not trust Carlos Beltran at the plate when it counts. Listen, Carlos is OK. He gets all the right numbers. He has won games for this team. But his propensity to strike out at the worst possible time kills this team time and time again. NLCS Game 7 2006 will be the one thing Mets fans will look to as the microcosm of the big Beltran strike out. He took strike three. Now he does this a lot. Why you ask? Because he takes a lot of pitches and works walks. I am fine with that to a point. I have learned to accept that. But Friday, he totally forgot what to do and what I have been told is the reason for his success. He swung at ball four. The bases were loaded with two outs. He worked a 3-2 count. Fouled of some pitches and swung at ball four. A walk makes it 3-0 with Church coming up (their best clutch RBI guy). So he swings. Kills the rally and to me cemented that game. The Mets have shown that they are a bully team. Get all the runs at once and then shut off the pipe line. My heart wanted the Beltran Grand Slam, my head just asked him to keep it going. His great batting eye betrayed him. He swung at ball four.

So after giving up on the Mets for the 17th time this season, I watched most of Saturday’s game. I had my niece’s Christening and was driving home after a very nice party so I caught up in the 5th. Earlier, my wife had caught the score as I was watching my cousin unclog a toilet. At that point the Mets were up 3-0. I had given up on them but of course I was intrigued again so I couldn’t wait to get home and watch the rest of the game. I am such a sucker. That’s why the Mets can count on me to pay for tickets in the new Stadium. I never ever give up. So I turn on the TV and I am just getting the aftermath of the Ryan Howard Home Run. Two walks and a shot. The first hit off of Johnnie Maine was a three run homer. Fitting. I slumped back into my chair with a bag of Tostitos and I felt my chest clench again. Possibly, the fried Tortilla chips. Possibly, the fucking Mets. Maybe a little gas from the Clams Linguine or the Penne a la Vodka I had earlier. Either way I did not have a good feeling. The 6th inning started to confirm my feeling when Maine had to leave with cramps in his non-pitching arm in the 6th with 2 outs and 2 strikes on Ryan Howard. The 7th inning solidified my feelings as the Mets left the bases loaded again and in the bottom of the inning Jayson Werth drove in a pinch hit RBI. 4-3 Phillies. The Mets never come back. Especially with JC Romero coming in. But in the top of the 8th things changed. Easley got a single. Delgado, who is terrible against Romero gets a single and moves Easley to third. This is where the managerial dance starts. Manuel vs Manuel. And in this case both guys did the right thing. Only Chollie was on the losing end. Chollie pulls Romero for Tom Gordon. Jerry pinch hits for Castro (his catcher) with Marlon Anderson. Gordon lets down his manager. He throws a wild pitch (which should have been a past ball on Chris Coste) and Easley scores. 4-4. Delgado moved to second. Anderson walks. Then Jerry pinch hits for Chris Aguila with Endy Chavez (once again bringing in the lefty to face the righty) Endy grounds out to first but Howard decided against trying to turn two and the runners are on second and third with two outs. Jerry then puts in Brian Schneider to bat for the pitcher and Schneider who has had an up and down year and has essentially lost his starting catchers spot hits a two run double. Jerry was rewarded for pinch hitting for a good hitting catcher and capitalizing on the lefty righty advantage he had off the bench. Chollie did the right things too. He put in a Met killer and really good bullpen guy (Romero) in the 8th inning of a tie game with Beltran (not as good Righty) and Delgado coming up. He then removed him at the first sign of trouble and replaced him with Gordon, who has been good this year and is the 8th inning guy. Both moves backfired but not for lack of good managing. Hell, he took out Moyer with 95 pitches in the 7th and had Madson face Wright with the bases loaded and it paid off. The only move I have any sort of problem with, time and time again, is Chollie taking out Burrell, be it for a pinch runner or a defensive replacement. In the 8th inning it bit him in the butt again when Carlos Ruiz was batting with men on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Initially, Victorino was on second with two outs but Jerry Manuel gave no pause to walking Howard in that spot. If Burrell is coming up he may pitch to Howard in that spot with either Sanchez, or bring in Wagner early or pitch Schoenweis. Burrell being out takes away so many possibilities of weakening the opposition. But Chollie does this all the time and the Phillies are in first, so he must be doing something right.

The Mets tacked on some 9th inning runs too (something they never do) and there was also a weird 15 minute rain delay for no reason. Any way, 9-4 ballgame Mets win. Now this series is locked up 1-1 and they play today at 1:30pm (U.S Standard time). It should be fun or frustrating. Ollie Perez vs Kyle Kendrick. Both of these teams are playing like it means something. The Phillies just want the Mets dead and buried. If they win the next two, the summer should play out as a two team race with the up and down Marlins. The Mets win the next two, they are 2.5 back, over .500, and in this thing. A split equals status quo. And since both the teams are shaky, status quo is a scary proposition on both sides. The Phillies partied had on the field after Friday’s walk-off single. The Mets had some swagger after last night’s win. This series has two more games and should be fun (for those who don’t like either team). I say jump on board Mets vs Phillies before is becomes bastardized and over-hyped like Yankees vs. Red Sox. Trust me I wouldn’t have spent 1700 words on something that wasn’t as good as advertised.