A Day of Great Expectations and Melancholy [J. Mark English]

The only thing that I am certain of today is that by eight o'clock tonight, I will be sitting in my seat at Giants Stadium, awaiting the kickoff to a Sunday Night Football match up between the Eagles and the Giants. The Giants come in with a 1-2 record, as are the Eagles. The result of the game will likely determine which team has the hopes of turning around its season, and which team may want to start early preparation for the 2008 draft.

The implications of the Sunday night match-up will pale in comparison to the events that would have already occurred in Queens, slightly north of Giants Stadium, as well as the events that would have transpired a hundred miles south on I 95 in Philadelphia.

The Mets and the Phillies, as well as the Padres, will set the mood for Met fans at Giants Stadium tonight. Can the Mets stave off a complete disaster by finishing with a desperate finish in their finale? Will the Phillies actually surpass their expectations of always choking? Will there be an additional game needed to determine who wins the division tomorrow afternoon? Beyond this, will their be even another game after Monday to determine the Wild Card team?

Many questions hover in the baseball world as of this post, and most will be answered by the time I have made it past the security entrance at the Stadium. Football really will take a back seat to baseball today.

I'm sure to have vertigo from staring simultaneously at the Mets game, the Phillies game, and the Padres score. I'm dreading the tension, the palpitation I'm likely to suffer as the games take hold. It is likely I'll have a few heart attacks an during every gut wrenching pitch.

I think I have a pretty good notion of how this day will end. The Mets will probably lose, and the Phillies will win. This will make me an angry Giants fan, but an even more depressed Mets fan. There will be a feeling of melancholy for me at the game tonight. Instead of thinking about the Jints and their present day battle, my mind will still be on the Mets and what could have been.

Earlier this season the Mets played an up and down game against the Phillies that could be seen as an allegory for the season (they lost). Matt Cerrone of Mets Blog described his reaction following the game:

…man, i’m exhausted from this game…i can only imagine how the players feel…frankly, this game felt like a microcosm of this entire hi-wire, roller-coaster of a season…good play, bad play, down, out, dejected, hopeless, up, winning, hopeful, then, bam, the carpet is yanked out and i’m sitting here confused, looking at the scoreboard wishing it would change…

I fully expect that this will be my range of emotions throughout the games today. Of course, I will be enjoying it while it lasts to the very last out. Then I will console my sorrows with a shot of whiskey, and then hope that the Giants can exact some revenge on the Philadelphia Eagles.

LETS GO METS!

LETS GO GIANTS!

State of the Mets: Swept by the Phils, Falling Fast [J. Mark English]

"Met Fans Your Season has Come"...

Thats what the public relations office of the New York Mets keeps reminding us. If this is the season that was meant to be, then what was meant to be is turning into a nightmare.

Last Saturday the Mets, despite their problems at home, held a comfortable seven game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies. A mere five days later, that lead has been cut to two, and the red hot Phillies have found their swagger going into the final month of the season.

As summer gives way to fall, the Mets are playing the part of a dying leaf, violently falling back towards earth.

The Mets lost in four disturbing games to the Phillies. They were blown out 9-2 in game one. Their pitching staff could barely contain the potent Phillies offense as the Mets gave up 18 hits in eight innings.

On Tuesday the Mets showed a little more moxy with Tom Glavine on the mound, but as soon as he left the game with a 2-0 nothing lead, fortune favored the Phillies. They tied the game 2-2 on a rolling bunt, in which the ball remained on the fair side of the foul line. The Mets just stood and stared at the ball as the Phillies erased the magnificent work of Glavine's pitching. Then the Phillies notched the win in the bottom of the 10th with a walk homer off the crushing bat of Ryan Howard. At least it wasn't Pat Burrell, who still continues to kill the Mets as if they were his own pinata. (He hit two homer today.)

Last nigth, it was the Mets who had to mount a come back in the late innings. Conspiracy enthusiasts would have had a field day with yesterday's loss. Ben Shpigel of the New York Times explains:

The first loss here this week did not disturb the Mets too much because their healthy lead remained intact. The second one stung a little bit more, but they figured there were still two games left to salvage a split and leave in good shape. But the third one, a controversial 3-2 defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night, left them outraged, confused and one game away from being swept.

Their anger was directed at the second-base umpire, CB Bucknor, who wiped out the tying run by calling out Marlon Anderson on a runner’s interference call that resulted in a game-ending double play. Anderson tore off his helmet and screamed for an explanation from Bucknor. Manager Willie Randolph sprinted out of the dugout demanding one, too, as the Phillies, flabbergasted, started celebrating on the infield grass.

Heading into this afternoons fourth game of the series, the Mets were losers of four in a row, three in a row to the Phillies, and their lead in the NL East trimmed to just three games.

Matt Cerrone of Mets Blog sums up the frustrations of today's loss:

…this is a devastating loss, if for no other reason then because it appeared Charlie Manuel was doing everything within his power to give the Mets a win, and they still lost…not too mention the Phillies are now two games back…two…i mean, screw Pittsburgh, this game, this one right here was the most painful loss of the season, despite the team ‘still’ being in first…

…given how sad the Mets bullpen has been of late, willie chose to use Billy Wagner for a six-out save in what he clearly felt was a very, very important game…wagner allowed a home run to, yep, you guessed it, Pat Burrell, another run in the ninth, and then for whatever reason he ignored Jayson Werth, who stole second and then stole third without so much as a look over…i can only think wagner and Paul Lo Duca determined that the game was to be won at the plate…the only problem is that while they were trying to win at the plate, the Phillies were winning it by running around the bases…at any rate, Chase Utley ripped a bullet below the glove of Carlos Delgado and the throw to the plate was not in time, Tad Iguchi slide home safely and the game was over…the Phillies completed the sweep…

…man, i’m exhausted from this game…i can only imagine how the players feel…frankly, this game felt like a microcosm of this entire hi-wire, roller-coaster of a season…good play, bad play, down, out, dejected, hopeless, up, winning, hopeful, then, bam, the carpet is yanked out and i’m sitting here confused, looking at the scoreboard wishing it would change…

…well, enjoy the drama, guys, it’s only just begun, because the Mets have a pennant race on their hands with just 29 games left in the year…

There you have it folks. The Mets head to Atlanta with their backs against the wall, with much to prove, and a lot to lose. Their mettle will be tested. I'd suggest they play the song "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty on the flight down to Atlanta, and start tuning out "I'm Free Falling."They need to really pull it together over these last 29 games if they really want to prove to us Met fans that our "season has come."

MLB Mid-Season Hot Stove [J. Mark English]

The trading deadline is approaching ever so fast, and teams are making moves to help assure their post season hopes.

We'll start of with the New York Mets. They moved to bring in a solid second baseman to help fill the void of injured Jose Valentine. Matt Cerrone of Metsblog tells us the latest:

In a conference call a few moments ago, the Mets officially announced the acquisition of 2B Luis Castillo from the Twins in exchange for Double-A C Drew Butera and Single-A OF Dustin Martin....

…i have yet to talk with a minor-league reporter, expert, etc, who does not side with the Mets in this deal…if for no other reason than, most people would actually rather the second-round draft pick over butera and martin, which is the compenatory pick the Mets will get at minimum should castillo leave via free agency…and i totally agree…

…in addition to the pick, the Mets get a Gold-Glove second baseman to either a) start for the Mets, should Ruben Gotay stumble, or b) be a defensive replacement, shoud gotay continue to hit…also, by acquiring castillo, Damion Easley will essentially become the team’s other back-up outfielder.

The team chasing the Mets for the NL East crown, the Atlanta Braves, were not to be outdone. Dayn Perry of Fox Sports updates us on their moves:

What figures to be the biggest trade leading up to this year's non-waiver deadline has already gone down.

We speak, of course, of the deal first reported by Ken Rosenthal that sent first baseman Mark Teixeira and lefty reliever Ron Mahay from the Texas Rangers to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus and a pair of pitching prospects (probably including Double-A lefty Matt Harrison).

That's a headline-grabbing deal, and it's also one that puts the New York Mets and every team with a hope of entering the NL wild-card fray officially on notice.

Lo Duca and his Snafu [J. Mark English]

Matt Cerrone from Mets Blog offers up the latest on the Mets catcher, Paul Lo Duca, and his slip of the tongue:

Mets C Paul Lo Duca, during last night’s rain out, as quoted in the Bergen Record by Steve Popper, who gives a blow-by-blow of the event in great detail…

“Listen up everybody. Stop asking me when I'm going to drop my suspension. When are you guys going to drop it? I'm tired of being asked about it. Go ask Tony (Bernazard). God almighty, it's like the president got killed…

“You need to start talking to other people. It's the same three or four people everyday. Nobody else wants to talk. Some of these guys have got to start talking. They speak English, believe me.”

…yikes…the thing is, he’s a victim of his own brilliance…fact is, he’s a great quote, as evident by this post…actually, lo duca even admitted to this, calmly, when talking to wfan a few weeks ago…

On June 15’s game on SNY, Keith Hernandez singled out Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, stating that the two players should be more vocal in the clubhouse and with the media.

…i will say this, to lo duca’s credit, i comb through the post-game quotes every night, for hours, as you know, and lo duca and wright make up more than half of them every day…the thing is, like he notes in the wfan comments, the beltran and delgado quotes are often boring and offer zero insight…occasionally, delgado gets lively, usually when directing remarks at himself, but it’s always cliche after cliche from beltran, and often i listen and just discard it all because you guys will get nothing from it…meanwhile, lo duca will be talking about movement on pitches, how he called the game, etc, and wright is talking about pitch selection, going in for the kill, and so on…lo duca and wright are simply far more interesting…

…now, i’m not in the locker room, but if any player, for whatever reason, is avoiding the media and dumping the responsibility upon another player, well, that is weak…the the thing, by lo duca’s own admission on wfan, nobody is skirting the media…yet, he makes that claim last night…so, the question is, which is the truth – last night’s comments, or last week’s comments…fact is, lo duca informed reporters before last night’s rant that he had been in a bad mood all day, so, my guess is that he was overly emotional and shooting his mouth off, and while there may be a hint of natural truth to what he is saying about spanish-speaking players not talking to reporters, i suspect it is not as bad as last night’s remarks came across…

Could A-Rod be a Met? [J. Mark English]

Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog chronicles the recent buzz of possibility that A-Rod could be wearing orange and blue next year.

“He's Alex Rodriguez. He's a Hall of Famer. He does everything in the game exceptionally well. I still think it's a little premature…if Omar or someone from the front office approaches me and says, ‘Hey, we're looking, Alex has an interest in coming to Queens,’ I'd be the first one to offer to play anywhere they want me to because like I said, a guy like that just makes a team completely better.” - David Wright

Barry Zito to the Mets? [J. Mark English]

If the rumors are true, tomorrow could have Met fans finding Barry Zito under the Christmas tree! Matt Cerrone addresses the rumors directly from Mets Blog.

In anticipation, I had some fun photo altering this image and giving Zito a snug place amoung the Met Christmas ornaments: