So, it was 1986 night at Shea. I was unable to attend, though from all I caught on SNY, it would have been great to be there.
Sure, a few of the pieces were missing. Davey and Knight were presumably unwilling to show up for whatever reason. Special Assistants to the GM shouldn't usually have commitments that stiff.
McDowell and Mazz are usually in other teams' dugouts nowadays, but I can't imagine the Braves would do any worse if Roger didn't show. The Yankees game was over right around 4:30. Mazzilli couldn't have hopped on the shuttle?
And where was Bruce Berenyi?
Nevertheless, it seemed as though these players were incredibly honored to attend. It was not cheesy at all, especially considering that it could have been. It was great to see Frank Cashen there and how all of the players reacted to him, including Darryl giving him a kiss.
But during the game, we saw a different side of the Mets. The '86 team had incredibly strong pitching. The '06 team gave starts to Jose Lima, Jeremi Gonzalez, Victor Zambrano and Alay Soler. John Maine wasn't doing well, up until his latest hot streak.
And here came Dave Williams, the crafty lefty from Anchorage, Alaska. How often do you catch that? An Alaskan facing a Canadian? Curt Schilling must have done it before.
Williams pitched awfully well. He didn't look overpowering or dominant nor did he look like he'd have a bunch of success at missing bats. And even after he left with cramps in his legs (what now?), he left giving the Mets a damn good shot at winning, with a 1-0 deficit.
I like that.
Everybody who reads this blog knows, though, that I had (and still have) a severe issue with the Roberto Hernandez trade. And what did Bert do? He screwed up the game. He converted 1-0 to 4-0. Nice work, punk. His only out came on a Yorvit
Torrealba caught stealing.
But in true never-say-die '86 attitude, the Mets came back against previously untouchable Jeff Francis.
It all started with Michael Tucker (yes, Michael Tucker). Then the Duck walloped a double. And then Beltran scorched a line drive to left field.
Matt Holliday kinda looked like Todd Hundley in left field. Very un-'86. He just looked awful, missing Beltran's linedrive. The Duck should have scored too, but it was no matter. Beltran wound up on 2nd and Delgado drove the Duck in on the next play.
Beltran scored then on a passed ball. Game 6, anyone?
Jeff Francis intentionally walked David Wright.
It made sense. Chris Woodward popped out with the infield fly rule. But then Firstings rapped a single to right field that right fielder Ryan Spilborghs booted, causing Delgado to score and David Wright to advance to third.
The game was tied. I only wish his piping had been lined up.
There was another intentional walk and two more bases-loaded walks before the Mets ended the inning with a 6-4 lead.
Heilman pitched well in two innings of work and Firstings hammered another pitch, this time into left center field.
Wagner locked it down 1-2-3 for the save in the ninth inning. A great game, with the Mets going for the sweep today.
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I don't know whether this space is pro- or anti- Bobby Granger, but I found this clip pretty funny. (Thanks to Blueshirt Bulletin for the link.)
Hockey Rodent also has an interview up with Jaromir Jagr where he discusses that his shoulder's still sore.
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Knowing me, you can guess what the next words out of my mouth will be. Words of doomsday.
"Speaking of sore shoulders...", this season may just have taken a turn for the worse. The Daily News is reporting that Glavine has a blood clot in his shoulder.
Pedro, Zambrano and Bannister are on the DL. That's three of our five starters to begin the season. If Glavine joins them, that's four out of five. 80%! If you can't grasp how ridiculous that is, well... you might be a little too caught up in the fever of '86.
I'm officially pushing the panic button on this season. The Mets are in trouble. Somebody has to step up from the farm, whether it's Williams, Bannister (DL), Pelfrey (DL), Perez, Lima or anyone else isn't really important. Maine already has stepped up.
Steve Phillips was talking on ESPN today about how, if Glavine is done, the Mets are going to have trouble making it out of the first round of the playoffs.
For once, I agree with him. With Pedro a question mark physically, Trachsel and El Duque question marks in general and Maine untested in battle situations, shouldn't we be worried?
Ugh.
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At least the Jets played really well last night. Ramsey wasn't all that great, but he was pretty good. No vertical game yet from Mangini and Schottenheimer, but we saw a couple interesting plays. Like that crazy Brad Smith touchdown and Leon Washington's KR touchdown. And then Clemens threw a touchdown. I liked what I saw.
The line looked good; the coaching looked very un-Herm like.
Nuge didn't look all that good kicking though. Third-round pick LB Anthony Schlegel looked awful. What the so-called experts called a huge overdraft appears to be correct.
Never you mind, it was a big win, even for preseason.
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Remember when the Mets didn't sweep a three-game series at home all year? We're trying for number two in a row today. Let's go get the Rox, Duque. You and Maine are the aces now.
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