Excitement is For Losers
The Recap: Cards 8, Mets 7 (13 innings)
Sure, yesterday's game was exciting as the Mets battled back from a 6-run deficit only to lose the game in extras when Jerry Manuel decided to pitch to the best hitter in the game with a base open, but give me an 8-2 boring win like Monday night's game anytime. In the days of high-priced ballplayers, there's no such thing as a moral victory or a loveable loser anymore.
THE GOOD: It's always nice to see a team come back against a good team, against any team for that matter, but as mentioned above, I don't want to see comebacks. I don't want excitement. I want to see wins.
Ya gotta love 32-year-old journeyman Mike Hessman, who spent most of his career playing 1,621 games in the minor leagues and hitting a total of 329 minor league homeruns playing at the likes of Greenville and Toledo.
So when he came just a few feet shy of a grand slam in the first inning, it definitely was a "feel good" moment of Bull Durham proportions as he recorded a two-run double for his first MLB hit since 7/25/08 with the Tigers. (even if the Mets were down 6-0 at the time)
And guess who hit his first homerun of the season to up his meaningless RBI total to 3? Yes, Carlos Beltran, who incidentally was the only hitter in the Mets order to strikeout when it really counted when the team made its 4-run 8th inning comeback. Who knows? Maybe the dinger wakes this guy up. Beltran's homer was his first since Sept. 26, 2009.
Remember the last time Johan Santana hooked up with the Cards' Jaime Garcia in a game? It happened on April 17th in St. Louis when the game went 20 innings. So I guess a loss in just 13 saves Mets fans about 2 hours of torture. (although the Mets won that game, 2-1)
THE BAD: Johan certainly didn't have it last night, but he's been so spectacular lately, we're just hoping this is merely a blip on the radar screen.
Extra inning games have not been kind to the Mets lately, as they've lost 3 since July 21 alone. The loss stopped the Mets winning streak at one game. And even though Jerry Manuel lost the game by pitching to Albert Pujols, I may be inclined to give him a pass on this one, since another feared hitter (Matt Holliday - who already hit a homerun in the game and had 3 rbis) was up next and would've probably won the game anyway. But still, remember this: A limping, tired, headached, fever chilled, coughing, and distracted Albert Pujols is STILL the best hitter in baseball. And what's the Cardinal rule of baseball (no pun intended): you don't let your opponent's best hitter beat you. Again, you learn that in little league, but sometimes it falls on deaf ears for well-paid major league managers.
What bothers me a bit more is that when the Mets batted in the bottom of the 13th down a run and facing defeat, Manuel had no one else to turn to and had to bat pitcher Raul Valdes because his bench was empty.
Finally, don't talk trade with Jeff Francoeur. Not that he was a hitting machine before, but since trade rumors having him going to Kansas City heated up, he's been pretty bad, including an 0-for-5 night last night in which he looked horrid. Not the showcasing the Mets were expecting from him for sure.
THE UGLY: Boy, you'd think the Mets would learn from the Ryan Church incident, but the Mets crack medical staff is at it again. It took them 4 days to diagnose Jason Bay's "mild concussion" resulting from his slamming his face into the outfield wall in Los Angeles.
4 days!!!! We at MetsFanClub.com, as noted in a previous post as stupid enough to watch all the LA games, diagnosed his concussion IMMEDIATELY with absolutely no medical experience whatsoever with the innocent observation:
"Wow... that must have hurt. No way he plays again for awhile."
Instead, not only did he continue to play the LA series, but then the team (in Ryan Church fashion) flew him back to New York and THEN diagnosed his condition.
According to the Mets, they may have put Bay on a "48-to-72 hour clock" that could land him on the disabled list. Can you believe a medical staff can continue to be so inept and somehow keep their jobs? (same ugly comment for the GM, manager, owner, PR department, scouting staff... just keep going down the list with this team)
Sure, yesterday's game was exciting as the Mets battled back from a 6-run deficit only to lose the game in extras when Jerry Manuel decided to pitch to the best hitter in the game with a base open, but give me an 8-2 boring win like Monday night's game anytime. In the days of high-priced ballplayers, there's no such thing as a moral victory or a loveable loser anymore.
THE GOOD: It's always nice to see a team come back against a good team, against any team for that matter, but as mentioned above, I don't want to see comebacks. I don't want excitement. I want to see wins.
Ya gotta love 32-year-old journeyman Mike Hessman, who spent most of his career playing 1,621 games in the minor leagues and hitting a total of 329 minor league homeruns playing at the likes of Greenville and Toledo.So when he came just a few feet shy of a grand slam in the first inning, it definitely was a "feel good" moment of Bull Durham proportions as he recorded a two-run double for his first MLB hit since 7/25/08 with the Tigers. (even if the Mets were down 6-0 at the time)
And guess who hit his first homerun of the season to up his meaningless RBI total to 3? Yes, Carlos Beltran, who incidentally was the only hitter in the Mets order to strikeout when it really counted when the team made its 4-run 8th inning comeback. Who knows? Maybe the dinger wakes this guy up. Beltran's homer was his first since Sept. 26, 2009.
Remember the last time Johan Santana hooked up with the Cards' Jaime Garcia in a game? It happened on April 17th in St. Louis when the game went 20 innings. So I guess a loss in just 13 saves Mets fans about 2 hours of torture. (although the Mets won that game, 2-1)
THE BAD: Johan certainly didn't have it last night, but he's been so spectacular lately, we're just hoping this is merely a blip on the radar screen.
Extra inning games have not been kind to the Mets lately, as they've lost 3 since July 21 alone. The loss stopped the Mets winning streak at one game. And even though Jerry Manuel lost the game by pitching to Albert Pujols, I may be inclined to give him a pass on this one, since another feared hitter (Matt Holliday - who already hit a homerun in the game and had 3 rbis) was up next and would've probably won the game anyway. But still, remember this: A limping, tired, headached, fever chilled, coughing, and distracted Albert Pujols is STILL the best hitter in baseball. And what's the Cardinal rule of baseball (no pun intended): you don't let your opponent's best hitter beat you. Again, you learn that in little league, but sometimes it falls on deaf ears for well-paid major league managers.
What bothers me a bit more is that when the Mets batted in the bottom of the 13th down a run and facing defeat, Manuel had no one else to turn to and had to bat pitcher Raul Valdes because his bench was empty.
Finally, don't talk trade with Jeff Francoeur. Not that he was a hitting machine before, but since trade rumors having him going to Kansas City heated up, he's been pretty bad, including an 0-for-5 night last night in which he looked horrid. Not the showcasing the Mets were expecting from him for sure.
THE UGLY: Boy, you'd think the Mets would learn from the Ryan Church incident, but the Mets crack medical staff is at it again. It took them 4 days to diagnose Jason Bay's "mild concussion" resulting from his slamming his face into the outfield wall in Los Angeles.4 days!!!! We at MetsFanClub.com, as noted in a previous post as stupid enough to watch all the LA games, diagnosed his concussion IMMEDIATELY with absolutely no medical experience whatsoever with the innocent observation:
"Wow... that must have hurt. No way he plays again for awhile."
Instead, not only did he continue to play the LA series, but then the team (in Ryan Church fashion) flew him back to New York and THEN diagnosed his condition.
According to the Mets, they may have put Bay on a "48-to-72 hour clock" that could land him on the disabled list. Can you believe a medical staff can continue to be so inept and somehow keep their jobs? (same ugly comment for the GM, manager, owner, PR department, scouting staff... just keep going down the list with this team)
posted by Mets Fan Club @ 6:09 AM
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