A Met microcosm

I like using words like that.

You know, some people wonder why I get so frustrated with my teams. All you have to do is watch the Mets-Braves game of today to know. And since the game was on Turner BS, I had the displeasure of quivering through nine hideous innings. The Mets face John Thomson, another pitcher who was brutal, got dipped in the magical waters of Mazzone/Cox Inc, and became good. He'd been doing bad lately so I knew the Mets were in trouble.

First inning, we go up 1-0. Jose Reyes uses his speed to get on base, steals second, and scores on a Carlos Beltran double. And boy, we'll get to Beltran in a couple of lines.

Three batters in to the Slaves' first inning, Larry Jones doubles, scores Marcus Giles. So much for "Scoreless" Stev Trachsel. And a homer to Andy Jones. 2-1 we trail. But Steve settled down and held the Slaves in check. Meanwhile, Thomson allows runners, but never a run. 3rd innning: First and second, one out Floyd and Wright come up. Floyd whiffs and wright flies to right. Inning over.

But nothing aggravated me more than the 7th. Diaz opens with a single. Trachsel comes up and can't bunt. He pops the ball into the air like Rey Ordonez used to do so well. One out.Reyes comes up. A dribbler down the third base line. Larry and Estrada watch the ball roll down the dirt and it stayed fair. An infield single! First and second, one out. Kaz Matsui up. He's actually been halfway decent. He walks! Bases loaded! One out! The heart of the order coming up.

Up steps Mr. October, the 119 million dollar man, Carlos Beltran. He works the count to 3-1. Now you don't want to walk the tying run, so he's going to see a strike from Kyle Davies. Fastball right over the middle, he FOULS IT OFF BEHND HIM!

I swear to God, I knew right then, he had blown his chance and the Mets were done. Absolutely finished. Sure enough next pitch, fly ball to shallow right field. It's caught by my new "favorite player" Jeff Francoeur. And third base coach Manny Acta sends Victor Diaz home against the ridiculous right arm of F'nc'r. Throw right on the money, Estrada blocks the plate, Diaz slides, and doesn't even reach the plate. Double play, side retired. Beltran fails miserably again.

Now they did tie the game at 2-2 in the 8th on a sac fly off the great relief pitcher Blaine Boyer. But when Victor Diaz to strand a runner at 2nd, I knew again the Mets wouldn't win.

And how many times will I have to watch Larry Jones get another big hit? Watch the Mets or Yankees get him once he gets about 38 years old. A 2-run homer off Trachsel. 4-2.

Kyle Farnsworth comes into close it. And this was typical of pretty much every Mets 9th inning. Marlon Anderson gets a pinch hit and the top of the order comes up. Reyes, the sparkplug, pops to short, failing to even move the runner over. Matsui, takes not even a half ass swing at the ball. It looked like he didn't know if he wanted to bunt or swing and miss. He pops out. And up comes Beltran. Three pitches. Three strikes. Three outs. Game over. Year officially over.

Beltran's first season is officially a thorough failure. Is he a bust? No, not yet. But with another season like this, he's well on his way to surpassing Roger Cedeno, Juan Samuel, Mo Vaughn, Roberto Alomar, George Foster, Bobby Bonilla, and Gregg Jeffries as the biggest BUST in the 43-year history of this franchise.

So, Omar Minaya, how is the filet mingon going down tonight? A little harder to chew it tonight? Fred Wilpon, how's the Chableis tasting now? Just another typical Mets loss to Turner's BS. Disgusting.