An Amazing Day

What a day yesterday. Honestly, I can't remember a day with as many dramatic/awesome moments across different sports as I saw yesterday.

First there was the US-Algeria game, which I watched with one friend and 20-30 random coworkers in a tight little corner of the 39th floor of our building.

As the US missed opportunity after opportunity and time wound down, the crowd, so excited initially, started to hate soccer again. Hardly anything can describe the elation when Landon Donovan put home the go-ahead goal with the game in stoppage time.

It was an incredible moment, not just to witness the feat of perseverance by the US team, but to see the reaction of the crowd.

To me, that was why the US victory was so important. For 90 minutes yesterday, a lot of people cared about soccer. For it to have come to nothing might have confirmed a lot of people's inhibitions about the game, which essentially boil down to a feeling that it's too long and there's not enough scoring (also, that the refs are out to get the US).

In the end, whatever new fans soccer has cultivated in the US were rewarded yesterday in extraordinarily dramatic fashion. The US will play move on... I know what I'll be watching Saturday afternoon.

Segue! After the soccer game, Sip sent an email out to a bunch of people asking where they planned to watch the game this weekend. After a few emails bounced around, Sip mentioned that everyone should turn on Wimbledon, where the most amazing thing was happening.

Now, I don't think of Sip as a huge tennis fan; maybe that's not fair but honestly it's just not a sport we've ever talked much about. I could hardly imagine what on earth in tennis could qualify as the most amazing thing ever.

I flipped over to ESPN.com and my jaw dropped. By that point the 5th set of the Isner-Mahut match was something like 46-46. I didn't see any of the match, but the idea that a match could go that long is truly staggering.

These guys must be completely wiped. They'll pick it up again at 9:30am; somehow I'm convinced that it'll end after just a few games, but what do I know?

Capping it all yesterday was the Mets game, which featured another great performance from R.A. Dickey. What more can you say about Dickey at this point? He's been a complete godsend.

Now the Mets are back where they were before the two losses to the Yankees, back to that 11 games over .500 mark that some in the media thought they'd never reach again. One thing we're learning about this 2010 team -- you can't count them out. As was said last night, they're not as talented as the 2006 team, but it's possible they want it more.

The game aside, I quite enjoyed Jerry Seinfeld's commentary; I appreciated that he wanted to talk about baseball. Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay him is that I wouldn't mind if he came back and did it again some time.

Anyway, what do you say we make it a sweep tonight?

- A.F.O.M.G.

A Big Win

Fairly or unfairly, the vultures are always circling this Mets team.

There's a lot of people who think their success is a fluke, that their pitching isn't this good and their hitters are too inconsistent. They see a Mets team that lives and dies with its streaks, a team that wins in bunches then coughs the gains back up with a sustained rough patch.

Even after a 7-2 road trip, the emphasis in the media wasn't on the 7, it was squarely on the 2. On some level it was fair; the losses came in their final two games, and of course they came against the Yankees, against whom everything is magnified.

But on the sports talk shows yesterday and in the papers the past two days, the talk wasn't just about their latest setback, the question was whether the Mets had peaked. They were 11 games over .500 entering play on Saturday -- would they ever reach such lofty heights again this season? Surely they would get a healthy dose of reality with two strong AL Central teams coming to town.

One game does not a successful home stand make, but with all of that as prologue, the 14-6 dismantling of the Tigers at a rain-soaked Citi Field came at a pivotal moment in the Mets' season.

The losses against the Yankees were disappointing, particularly with Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana (both of whom have looked decidedly mortal lately) on the mound for the defeats. But in what has become a hallmark of this team, the Mets didn't succumb to the negativity swirling all around them.

The media and the fans have been poisoned by the past few seasons of disappointment. Many in both camps have a default expectation of failure.

I confess I've had that feeling myself. Coming into the year, certainly, I expected little from this team (my exact expectation was a ,500 season). I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point they made a believer out of me.

I still have my moments of doubt; that's what three years of disappointment will do to you. The part of me that used to expect failure would have expected the Mets to come out flat last night, but the part of me that believes in them again thought they'd come out and send a message to the remaining doubters.

In the end, belief carried the day. The Mets didn't allow a 2-game skid turn into a longer losing streak; they didn't let the media run with all the negative story lines. Instead they gave everyone a decisive victory to talk about.

It was a big win.

Let's get another one like it tonight.

- A.F.O.M.G.

He-So-Nasty

Sorry for the radio silence this week, team, just had a brutal week at work. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming this coming week, but wanted to pass along a few quick hits in the meantime.

First, Hisanori Takahashi (aka "He-So-Nasty") deserves to stay in the rotation, no question about it. He had the two tough starts, but to me, the one against the Marlins really wasn't that bad.

As I remember it, he shut them out through 4 and then gave up a solo shot and a pop-up three-run homer. On balance, that one wasn't such a bad start.

Granted he got shelled against the Padres, but every pitcher's going to get roughed up from time to time. Why should we dwell on that one outing anymore than the two masterful efforts against the Yankees, or the 6 shutout innings against the Phillies on May 26?

The question, at bottom, is this: given what we've seen from Takahashi, what has John Maine done to deserve having his spot in the rotation again? I was always a big Maine booster, but the results just haven't been there, not for a long time.

I appreciate that the bullpen is better with Takahashi in it, but maybe Maine can fill that role when he returns. If Takahashi falters or Maine dominates, then you consider making a change.

You don't consider making a change when Takahashi looks like he belongs every fifth day and Maine continues to be a reclamation project. Simple as that.

* * * * *

Before this road trip began I said that if the Mets couldn't win a series against the Orioles or Indians, then maybe it just wasn't meant to be. The Mets didn't just win those series', they stomped on lesser competition in a way they haven't done in a long time.

After winning yesterday, all that's left is to win one more against the Yankees to take the series.

And hell, if we can take the next two, that'd be pretty good by me, too.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Jon Niese, Special Pitcher?

You know whose injury last year might have bummed me out more than any other? Jon Neise's.

When Carlos Delgado got hurt you still felt the Mets had enough pieces to contend.

When Jose Reyes got hurt you thought he'd be back in short order.

When Carlos Beltran got hurt it only confirmed what you already knew: the season was over.

Zoom past another 10 injuries or so to Niese. By the time Niese got injured, the season was in full tailspin mode. There was nothing to play for other than giving the kids a chance.

No kid in our system intrigues me more than Niese. I see that hard fastball-sweeping curve combination and I start dreaming big things. Ever since that first time I saw him pitch in 2008, I've had a good feeling about Niese. More than that... I haven't just thought he was going to be a good pitcher for the Mets, I've thought he was going to be a special pitcher, a guy who would become a presence in the league.

That's why, when he went down last season, it really bummed me out. He had a golden opportunity to get some starts under his belt at the Major League level in a zero-pressure environment, and all of a sudden it was gone.

All of which is to say, I took particular satisfaction in watching his dominant outing last night. I still think we're probably 2 years away from him reaching the "special pitcher" territory I've dreamed out for him. In the interim I expect him to have ups and downs, for him to dazzle one night and get rocked the next.

Developing pitchers requires patience. We're seeing that with Mike Pelfrey, who absolutely stunk two out of his first three seasons. As we're seeing with Pelfrey, that patience can pay off.

Hopefully we give Niese a chance to develop into the special player I expect him to be.

* * * * *

It goes without saying, but if we can't win one of these goddamn series in Baltimore or Cleveland the next few days, then maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Have good weekends, everyone.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Strasburg, Pelfrey, and Davis, Oh My!

Hey everyone, a few quick hits for you today as I'm short on time:

First things first. I didn't watch Stephen Strasburg's major league debut last night, but I've seen a good amount of highlights by this point.

At the risk of saying something I'll regret for the next however many years before Strasburg signs with the Yankees, as I watched the highlights of his performance I found myself feeling really happy for Nationals fans last night.

It's only one game (against the Pirates*, no less), but Strasburg didn't just look like he belonged last night, he looked like he was ready to dominate the league.

It wasn't just that he had 14 strikeouts, it was the way the ball exploded out of his hand and into the glove on his fastball, the way it cut mercilessly down on the curve (I didn't see it, but I'm sure the changeup was good, too).

It was a masterful performance, and it appears that the Nationals will now have the kind of big-time talent to make them relevant, both in terms of drawing attendance (great to see them sell out last night), and, potentially, in terms of the NL East.

You don't want to get ahead of yourself. Again, it's only one start. And even if Strasburg can match this effort against better teams, you still never know if he'll go on to be Tom Seaver, Mark Prior, or something in between... Doc Gooden maybe.

That's it on Strasburg; promise never to gush about him again.

* * * * *

Awesome win for the good guys last night. You know, say what you want about Strasburg, but right now Mike Pelfrey's the kind of pitcher I'd be jealous as shit about if he were on one of those other teams in NL East.

What more can you say about the effort last night? It was nice to see him settle in last night after getting touched up a bit early. I wish we'd been able to get him a win to show for his 9-inning gem, but as Pelfrey said afterward, sometimes the other guy just matches you.

If it had been Johan Santana on the mound, I'd have probably slipped into a deep depression for him on account of another brilliant outing with no W to show for it, but Pelfrey's had run support (or at least he can't complain compared to Johan).

* * * * *

Anyway, it took 11 innings but then Ike Davis ended it with a no-doubter to right field. After the obligatory home-plate celebration, he spoke with Kevin Burkhardt and got his second shaving cream pie to the face.

Now, question here. I remember shaving cream pies getting thrown in rookies' faces after their first game winning hit. But since A.J. Burnett made a habit out of it for the Yankees last year, the Mets seem to have adopted the practice of shaving cream pieing anyone who get a walk-off hit.

It reminds me of when the Mets started playing Sweet Caroline at Shea Stadium, in a blatant rip off of the Red Sox. Only this is worse because now we're ripping off the Yankees.

It occurs to me I could be wrong about this -- have people always gotten shaving cream pies in the face after game winning hits?

* * * * *

Know what was the best part of Davis' post-game interview? The way he answered the question everyone's been asking. Why is this team so good at home, Burkhardt asked.

"Because of these guys," Davis said, looking at the fans. "Because of the fans. Thanks everyone, good night!"

I'm paraphrasing a bit there, but that's the long and the short of it. It's the best and only answer you can give.

* * * * *

That's all I got. Now let's get Johan some runs tonight.

- A.F.O.M.G.

* Know what else would make me really happy? If Lastings Milledge starting wearing his hair like Lil Wayne (Free Weezy!); from the looks of it he's on his way.

The Big Story No One's Talking About

A little Player A-Player B exercise for you today. Let's start with the stats.

Player A through June 7: .295 AVG, 7 HR, 29 RBI, .350 OBP, .461 SLG, .811 OPS.

Player B through June 7: .292 AVG, 3 HR, 24 RBI, .380 OBP, .439 SLG, .818 OPS.

Any guesses as to who these two players are? Hint, they're two highly touted outfielders whose first seasons with the Mets came five years apart.

Going once, going twice...

OK, Player A is Carlos Beltran in 2005, and Player B is Jason Bay in 2010.

Just like Beltran his first season in New York, Bay is having a terrible season -- by his standards or anyone else's. Unlike Beltran that first season, he's not getting the shit booed out of him.

(An important caveat here: I can't recall exactly when, what point in the year, the Shea faithful turned on Beltran. Certainly he was getting booed by mid-August, when he collided with Mike Cameron in the outfield; his resilience in coming back from that injury silenced some of his critics. But had the booing begun by June 7? Can anyone remember?)

Bay's struggles certainly aren't lost on Mets fans. They're not lost on Gary, Keith, or Ron, nor are they lost on the media (the New York Times, of all places, has run two stories on Bay's struggles). Nevertheless, his struggles haven't been a major story the way they were with Beltran, nor have they made the fans completely turn on him.

Puzzlingly, a fan base known for its impatience (remember when Mike Piazza got booed in spite of his .350 average?) seems to be giving Bay the benefit of the doubt.

It's a curious phenomenon... is there an explanation?

To start with, there are a few critical differences between Beltran's situation and Bay's. Beltran was signed to be a 5-tool superstar; as such, his 7-year, $119mm pact dwarfs Bay's 4-year, $64mm deal.

It's an important difference. With Beltran, we were witnessing a guy who would define our franchise (or at least our payroll), for a few years shy of the next decade.

Though Bay certainly has the capacity to be a superstar player, he wasn't signed to be a savior (another difference from Piazza, as well), and he wasn't given the years to be a next-decade-defining player. The expectation for him was that he would come in and add thump to a punchless lineup. He hasn't done it, and the offense sure has looked anemic at times, but no one is really focusing on his struggles. Again... why?

There are any number of possibilities. It could be because people studying the team's offense are more focused on the ups and downs of Jose Reyes or David Wright's prodigious strikeout rate (the meteoric rise of which has been slowed recently), or, more positively, the return of his home run stroke.

It could be because the circus surrounding Oliver Perez (and also John Maine, to a lesser extent) has served as a lightning rod for the fan base's ire, distracting all from the disappointing season our shiny new left fielder is having.

It could be because people like focusing more on the will-they-or-won't-they-fire-him drama surrounding Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya.

And yes, uncomfortably, it could on some level have something to do with the fact that Bay is white and Beltran is Latino -- I want to give the fan base more credit than that, but is it within the realm of possibility that that's a factor? Yes.

Each of those phenomena are possible explanations. Ultimately though, there's one very, very important difference between Beltran and Bay that isn't captured in the statistics listed above.

For all his anemic productivity, Bay has been an excellent player at Citi Field. He's hit to a .336 average, .429 OBP, .558 SLG, and .987 OPS; he's hit his 3 home runs at Citi and driven in 19 of his 24 runs.

Fans who are frustrated with Bay simply haven't had any reason to boo him at home; no matter how bad a player's going, you don't boo him after he gets a hit or strikes a batter out (it's possible that once upon a time Robbie Alomar or Armando Benitez put the lie to that generality, but it's still a pretty reliable rule of thumb).

Beltran didn't have the same luck. His horrid first year was as bad at home as it was on the road. Fans saw him struggle in a way they haven't seen Bay struggle, and they pounced. More than anything, Bay's productivity at Citi Field, combined with the fact that he wasn't signed to be a savior in the manner of Beltran or Piazza, best explains why he hasn't been torn apart the way Beltran (or Piazza) was.

Even with his home park production, Bay is on pace for an epically bad season. He's currently on pace to hit 9 home runs and drive in 68 runs. Those would be horrible final numbers for a guy making his kind of money; they'd be horrible for almost anyone you trotted out there 162 games a year.

I used to think he'd snap out of it at some point, but now I'm not so sure. I wonder if he, like Beltran, will simply have a perplexingly bad first season as a Met, leaving us all to hope that he comes back in 2011 the player he was before 2010.

If so, he'd do well to keep raking (in a homer-less kind of way) at Citi Field. Those Mets fans can be vicious, man.

- A.F.O.M.G.

'It's My Kinda Team, Charlie, My Kinda Team'

There were a lot of great things about the game today, but two things stood out to me.

One is that this was a classic example of a game the Mets would never have won the past three years. Not only would they never have won it, they never would have even made it competitive.

After they'd fallen behind 5-0 they would have packed it in, told themselves winning series was what counted, and started preparing for their rematch with the Padres.

That's something this year's team doesn't do. They fall behind and they fight back; they don't always win, but they always fight back.

For years this is exactly the sort of spirit fans of the team were desperate for. For me, that was the second great thing about the game today -- the realization, as a fan, that I can count on this team to keep fighting no matter what the scoreboard says, and frankly, that I believe they're always still in a game.

Even when they fell behind 5-0, you knew it wasn't over. I'll admit it, I didn't think they were going to win, but I also knew somehow they weren't going to lose 5-0 or 5-1.

I hate to say it, but you know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of the way those Phillies teams always used to play. Even when they were down you knew they weren't out, and for years it drove me crazy with jealousy.

Now the Mets play like that. It doesn't mean we're the class of the National League like the Phillies were (are?), but we've captured a key element of their success and it makes us an incredibly fun team to watch.

For a long time, that wasn't really the case. As a fan, I couldn't be happier to have that sense of fun back.

Like Lou Brown once said, "It's my kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team."

* * * * *

A few quick hits:

The Mets are now playing "Bad Romance" when Rod Barajas gets a big hit. Can I take credit for that?

Me and a big group of people were out at Citi Field on Friday... another amazing night at the ballpark. Friday nights at Citi Field are quickly becoming some of my favorite nights; I rarely have as good a time as I do when I'm out there with 8-plus friends, cheap tickets, cold beers, and some center field food in my belly.

McFadden's continues to be an excellent post-game ritual. REALLY long on this one.

Thank god K-Rod didn't blow the save today. I might have gone ballistic.

I'm extremely happy for Jeff Francoeur. He's a favorite of Little Miss Citi's, and honestly, how could you possibly pull against the guy? I know the stat-heads hate him, and I understand the argument against him, but I'm still in the camp of people who feel his attitude and personality mean a LOT to this team, more than the stats tell. Really glad he's having some success again. 

That's all I got. Now let's enjoy the off-day and go get 'em on Tuesday.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Well That Was Terrible

"15 scoreless innings from Santana on the road trip and the Mets lost 'em both."

That quote, from Gary Cohen, really sums up all of the frustration that's been building up around this team's baffling futility away from Citi Field.

Say what you want about Johan getting away with sub par stuff or Eckstein hitting a ground ball with eyes, the bottom line is the Mets fucking blew it tonight.

Now we've got to deal with all the same boring storylines for the next couple of days until they're back at it on Friday. Then we'll have to deal with them all again next weekend in Baltimore, and then in Cleveland if/when we fuck that one up, then at Yankee Stadium if/when we fuck that one up too.

Stat of the night? The Mets have not won back-to-back games on the road since July of 2009. Completely. Pathetic.

Pathetic. Pathetic. Pathetic.

What more is there to say?

- A.F.O.M.G.

A Must-Win Game?

I know it, you know it, the team knows it, the media definitely knows it... the Mets stink on the road.

I tried explaining it to my dad the other day and really found myself at a loss as to how a team could play this good at home and still be this bad on the road.

Whatever the explanation, here we are a full two months into the season and the Mets haven't won one goddamn series away from Citi Field.

After they were blown out in the first game against San Diego, they came roaring back yesterday on the strength of another great outing from Mike Pelfrey.

With Johan Santana going tonight, I'm gonna come out and say it: tonight's is a must-win game for this team.

It's must-win because they need to put this storyline behind them. They need to prove they can take their show on the road.

They need to do it because they need to prove they can hang with anyone, and who better to make that point against than the team with the best record in the National League?

And finally, it's a must-win game because they've got Johan going, and any time he takes the rubber the Mets need to win. He's given them a chance to do that his last five times out; the Mets have responded with two wins in those five games. They have to do better than that.

Tonight is their chance. If they win tonight, they win themselves two days of positive vibes and positive press.

More than anything though, they take a giant step toward putting this storyline about their futility away from Citi to bed. It won't vanish based on one series -- they need to do it a few times over before anyone forgets how bad they've been on the road.

As they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Tonight's their chance. Let's get after it.

- A.F.O.M.G.