Saturday, September 29, 2007

The Mets

I saw the Mets at Shea lose Tuesday and Thursday and when will it end?

I hear LoDuca won't be back. I'll miss the one guy who hates, HATES to lose. Duke is all guts, playing hurt in Friday's game after a shot to the knee from a foul tip.

All season I've been a Wright fielding knocker. There but for the grace of Delgado the Mets would lead the majors in balls thrown in the stands. Wright is an aimer, not a thrower.

Last night's performance was beyond belief. I used to tell my daughter, before the ball is hit to to you, picture what you're going to do with it. She was one of the few girls who didn't stare at the ball thinking for two seconds after she caught it.

With the bases loaded, when Wright threw home and got the ball back and didn't step on the 3B bag as he missed making the tag on the runner from second, I was gobsmacked. At third there are not too many options when the bases are loaded. Throw behind the runner and the force is off, then tag. Throw home is like a 6-4-3. How do you forget that or not know it or not plan for it if the ball comes to you?

Here's what might have confused him. Did you see the runner who was thrown out by Wright at home? The runner stopped in his tracks, turned around and looked back to third, as odd as that sounds. This might have messed up Wright's head into thinking the runner was alive, like, maybe LoDuca's foot wasn't on home. But even still, the force would have still been on at third.

No one ever accused him of being a genius off the field but I expect more from a so-called MVP.

The Met collapse has even affected my feeling about Jet football. Am I wasting my time?

Still, a day at the ballpark is always fun. My brother revealed that in 1975 he took his girlfriend to 7 Met games and the Mets won all 7. This was a .500 ballclub so the odds were 1 chance out of 2 to the seventh power of that outcome. Rolling the dice and trusting his gut, he married the girl and they have four daughters all these years later.

Why is Shea empty? I blame management. Florida and Washington are negatively promoted as third tier bronze games as they raise prices for Yankees, Atlanta, etc. I remember getting to the park at 10:30 to watch batting practice before a double header. We'd bring a big paper grocery bag of sandwiches and Sun Dews. The Mets were playing the Expos. All for $1.35. Then $1.50. Section 1 behind the plate, sit where you want "general admission." I think reserved ended around row D. Regular fans in that section included a bearded guy named Fuzzy and his cohort Nelson. I should have known that nothing could feel that good again for $1.50.

Read my other Met post this season. Could it be the same team?

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