Wednesday, June 11, 2008

BY POPULAR REQUEST.

This one goes out to reader Kate, who wrote in an inspired defense of Big Pelf, not that she needed to.  But it did make me sit down and dig out a good photo and do what I had originally planned to do on here, that is until Billy Wagner was kidnapped by aliens and replaced with some guy who just came up from AAA. The fact that the meltdown alien abduction TOTAL F’ING BS game transpired the way it did doesn’t mean that Pelfrey shouldn’t get the tribute due him. So here you go. Better to light a single candle and all that.

(Have you ever been less excited about a walk-off home run? No, seriously, have you?)

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

RIDE THE LIGHTNING. [06-10-08]

I was happy to head out to Shea tonight, believe it or not. No one at my office could believe that after a day in sitting in an unairconditioned office (it is freezing in that place every single day of the year - except today) I was voluntarily going to sit out in the ballpark in sweltering heat. But I know, like you do, that it wasn’t going to be 97 at Shea, and that the breeze would come in and it would be almost pleasant. Really, the question tonight wasn’t the fact that I was going to sit in the heat, it was that I was voluntarily going to sit in the heat and watch These 2008 Mets be their wacky selves again.

At one point during tonight’s game Mrs. W. (mother of Miriam, AWOL tonight) said, “I’m convinced they’re just going to find a way to lose this ballgame.” And, as the game progessed, there wasn’t much the denizens of Section 12 could do but grimly agree with her. John Maine, who is our ace, clearly not understanding that he is the ace and he should just throw strikes. Moises Alou with his first hit off the DL almost driving a hole through the retired numbers. Delgado belying his nickname of “Mr. Contribution.” And David Wright, getting that HR just when he needed it most.

Click to continue reading RIDE THE LIGHTNING. [06-10-08]

JUNIOR.

The first homerun I actively remember seeing was by Ken Griffey, Jr.

It was in the Kingdome in 1995. I had been in Seattle for a little over six months. The startup I was working for had just moved from the marina on Lake Union to a building downtown. Our sysadmin was a guy named Steve, who loved baseball and the Mariners. He had season tickets right behind home plate, in the front row of the upper deck.

When we moved downtown, we went from being 4 people and Steve to being about 14. And somehow the idea of a company outing came up and Steve suggested we go see the Mariners. In August or September of 1995.

So we bought 14 tickets and headed to the Kingdome. Three of us were from New York, and two of us, at least, were offering various opinions on the umpires in a very New York fashion.
That was until a gentleman who was leading cheers in our section - he wore gloves to do so - came over and informed us that he was certain we were from out of town, and so he’d give us the benefit of the doubt, but baseball fans in Seattle did not conduct themselves in that way.
As he turned his back and walked away, one of us commented that he was lucky we hadn’t brought the D batteries that day.

I didn’t know what was going on. How could I? But I thought I did. And I was from New York.

I don’t remember much of what happened before the home run, but I do remember that instant when the bat hit the ball because that was the moment the Kingdome got to its feet. I haven’t been to the Metrodome but TBF tells me of the great home field advantage anyone has there in playoff games because it is so loud, and that is the thing I remember most about the Kingdome, how LOUD it was compared to any outdoor baseball game I have been to. In my minds’ eye I can see the ball sailing into the outfield but I will be gentle and say that it is likely my imagination.

And the fireworks! Indoor fireworks! The smell and the smoke and the - INDOOR fireworks? Wow, Dorothy, you’re definitely back IN Kansas if the fireworks are *inside*, I thought.

I remember it most of all because at that moment I felt a little more like I belonged to my new hometown. That I could cheer with the crowd and mean it. 

Of course, I did not take this. It is by my friend Alan, and the occasion should be obvious to any of you who are reading. You can see the entire set here. And, read 600 Words For Junior, which made me realize I had something of my own to say.

STREETBEATER PT. 2

This is probably our favorite photo of Uncle Cliff and D. Wright. It was the first photo we uploaded to a baseball wiki we started for ourselves early in 2006, and we ended up purchasing it at the end of the season, deeply discounted since Mr. Floyd was going to be moving on. It has pride of place in the living room, and will always remind us of a very special year.

If you are a Cliff Floyd fan, you will enjoy The Cliff Floyd Factor. I have enjoyed reading about Cliff’s successes this year, and he will always be one of my favorite players.

[via]

DARRYL TONIGHT!

Not going to the game? Want a way to beat the heat before you go home? Come see Darryl Strawberry himself live and in person tonight!

WHO: Darryl Strawberry
WHAT: DVD Signing of THE NY METS: ESSENTIAL GAMES OF SHEA STADIUM & SHEA GOODBYE: 45 YEARS OF AMAZIN’
WHERE: Best Buy—559 5th Avenue, NYC
WHEN: Tuesday, June 10th, 6:00pm - 7:00pm

I will be sweltering out at Shea tonight.

Monday, June 09, 2008

PUT RYAN CHURCH ON THE DL *NOW*.

I’ve been sick for most of the weekend, so only saw parts of games, but I saw enough to know that there isn’t much to say (I could quote TBF’s ultimatum that “this isn’t a championship team. We’ll save a lot of money in October.").

What I don’t understand is why Ryan Church isn’t on the DL RIGHT NOW. Or the inconceivable notion that they were somehow unable to find a qualified medical professional in Southern California and need to put him on the plane AGAIN.

Someone on WFAN last night said that teams aren’t afraid of the Mets. That there’s nothing to fear in their lineup. Couldn’t agree with that more.

I am just livid that the team continues to mishandle someone with a head injury. High school teams act with more concern for their athletes. There is no excuse - I don’t want to hear, “Well, Ryan says he’s okay, and we have to go on that.” This is a HEAD INJURY. The SECOND ONE he’s had this season. I don’t think you have to be a qualified medical professional to understand that.

I am more disgusted by this than anything else, really. Or maybe I’m disgusted with everything and this is just giving me focus.

Saturday, June 07, 2008

HANDS OFF MY MAN.

“It’s not true,” she said. “Nothing ever happened with Mr. Met.”

[via]

SUBTERRANEAN NINTH INNING BLUES.

I found the site that would generate the flash, but TBF provided the humor. A day late, but still hysterical.

(Click the image to go to the site for the movie. It won’t play if I embed it here for some reason)

Friday, June 06, 2008

MORE REASONS TO LIKE RYAN CHURCH.

A while ago, I toyed with the idea of writing up something about Ryan Church. I thought I owed it to him for continually referring to him before he arrived as “that anti-semitic scrub outfielder”. That was wrong, and massively unfair. Now, I realize that Ryan Church is not exactly sitting here reading my blog, but I think it’s time for the public apology anyway.

Last Sunday at Shea, while I’m always happy to see Ryan Church out in right field, I wasn’t happy to see him that day. I still felt it was too soon, felt the whole Mets treatment of the situation was unforgivable. He seemed to be fine but I hoped he wasn’t rushing it because he knew that the team desperately needed him.

That alone is enough of a reason to like Ryan Church, but he has given us countless other on-field and at-bat reasons to be glad he was here.

I asked my buddy Kristen, over at great Nationals blog We’ve Got Heart, what she thought:

I really miss Ryan Church.  I’ll say this - He was treated unfairly here.  The Front Office had some kind of personal distaste for Ryan and it carried over into everything.  He was yanked around the minors and even when he was a starter, he’d be the first to sit for some new outfielder experiment.  I believe that he was actually a fan favorite.  So many bloggers and fans I’d talk to wore Church jerseys and Church t-shirts.  He was a lot of people’s favorite.

I’m not surprised by his performance.  I knew he had that in him but this just wasn’t the right atmosphere for him to build success.  From up high, there was no confidence in his abilities or desire to let him be an everyday outfielder.  That’s a sad reality when you are the worst team in baseball—to pass up on a guy like that for experiments (like Wily Mo, Nook Logan, Ryan Langerhans...ugh!)

He started hot last season and cooled off a little, but he did manage to rack up a ton of doubles.

Personally, I wasn’t following the team with the Jewish controversy came about.  From my understanding, he was asking his pastor about his girlfriend that was Jewish.  I never took it to me that he was being critical of the Jewish faith, but trying to explore conflicting beliefs.  I don’t know enough to say more - except that I took his explanation to be sincere.

He comes from a military family and I’m almost certain his brother has spent a significant amount of time in Iraq.  His other brother, I believe, is a security guard at a prison.  I think his mom has joked that Ryan has it the easiest.

As far as I know, he was a good guy on the team.  First to come out to get the game started.  He’d always sit on the bench for a few minutes before running out to stretch - but he was - almost always, the first person out.  He rarely signed autographs before games. He was serious and focused it seemed.

I really do wish him the best.  Here’s a great blog about it.

Finally, for those of you who don’t live in the area (which seems to be an awful lot of you, which I continually find cool as heck), there is this story, which, while continuing to prove the unspoken point about Yankees fans, shows you a ton about Ryan Church. He just got here; he doesn’t know people; but yet he was touched by this woman’s story and wanted to help.

[For the record, TBF noted that if heaven forbid something happened to him and Joba Chamberlain wanted to give me some money, he wanted to make sure that I knew that he would want me to take it.]

Thursday, June 05, 2008

PICK THE TEAM.

Which team are these quotes below referring to?

“They’re not happy, and they shouldn’t be,” [team manager] said. “I’m sure our ownership and our fans, they’re not happy. Anybody that’s happy in this clubhouse, there’s something wrong.”

“This is not a field managerial issue,” [GM] said. “He’s not at the plate with men on first and second and leaving them there three times. Those things have to happen. His focus, and the staff’s focus, is to try to get them to do those things and to be a prepared club.”

[Only Yankees fans wimps will use Google to answer this.]

I don’t know why another team’s misery is something I am looking to, but I found the second quote to be telling because I don’t remember anyone in the Mets organization actually saying that.

I am not yet ready to say that Our 2008 Mets have turned a corner. Not just because of Oliver the Bad on Monday, but that is part of it. (And that whole thing makes me so angry I could scream, but that is for another time and another post.)

I missed the Pedro start (aside from a few key plays) because of an emergency at work. I missed yesterday’s game because I have friends in town playing shows.  I also think that a tiny break right now might not be the worst thing in the world. Last week was tough. The emotional rollercoaster is hard.