Has a first place team ever been so inept and so uninspiring? After what has transpired, as I have now turned 26 years and 1 day old, I am again one disgusted Mets fan.
It starts with the trade deadline which began today, though the flurry of moves started yesterday. It was one thing when I heard Atlanta was about to land Texas slugger Mark Teixiera. Makes their lineup even more potent. I could deal with that. About 5:30, I'm at the gym getting to the end of my elliptical workout. I'm watching ESPN and I see the Braves are likely to acquire reliever (and former Met) Octavio Dotel from Kansas City for starting pitcher (and a pretty inept one) Kyle Davies. I fell off the machine and said out loud in front of the a lot of people "You have got to be kidding me. This can't be true!"Eighteen hours later, it was. And they add Royce Ring, another former Met pitcher, who we gave up in that ingenious trade along with Heath Bell (who has been lights out for the Padres) for Ben Johnson and Jon Adkins. Ring is in the minors, but I'm sure he'll get some Met lefty out in a big spot this year.
As for the other teams. The Phillies add Kyle Lohse to bolster their rotation, have just gotten back Brett Myers and Tom Gordon, and can barely lose a game right now. The Brewers add Scott Linebrink in the bullpen. The Cubs add Jason Kendall, are going to get Kerry Wood back, and can barely lose a game either. The Padres get Rob Mackowiak and Morgan Ensberg, who will add some life to their lineup. They addressed their needs.
The Mets? No Jeff Conine. No Chad Cordero. No Eric Gagne. Not even a Solomon Torres. We get Luis Castillo to play second base. Good defensive player, good hitter, but Ruben Gotay, Marlon Anderson, and Damion Easley have all been doing a decent job at second base. Their real need was helping this brutal bullpen. And we get nothing to help it. Which means more appearances for guys like Mota, Sele, and who knows who else. Oh, and Carlos Beltran is officially on the DL again and will miss the series against the Brewers, Cubs, and Braves.
And then tonight's game. Remarkable. Tom Glavine going for career win #300. I think SNY had shots of his wife every 3.5 minutes, I was tracking this. Milwaukee takes an early 1-0 lead, but Glavine was amazing on the mound. 6 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk. But the Mets show how consistent their offense is. Against Jeff Suppan, the pitcher who kept us out of our rightful spot in last year's World Series, we can't score until the sixth inning. David Wright grounds a single to score Jose Reyes and he would score on a sac fly. Could have taken a 3-1 lead in the next at bat, but on Shawn Green's double, Carlos Delgado gets thrown out at home. Glavine leaves the game leading 2-1 in the seventh.
The the bottom of the 8th inning. Pedro Feliciano, who has been amazing all year, is wearing out quickly. He hits Prince Fielder with a pitch in the back for runners on first and second with one out. Then Willie Randolph brings in Guillermo "The Juice" Mota to pitch and I knew Glavine was not getting the win. Bill Hall nails a ground rule double to tie it. Mota then walks Kevin Mench to load the bases. But to his credit, he comes back to retire the next two hitters and we go to the 9th. With two outs, Reyes gets on and steals second. Castillo, the new acquisition, can come through with a big hit. Flies out to left.
Then the bottom of the 9th. Jorge Sosa, Thursday's probable starter, comes in. Unable to control his pitches, he loads the bases before even recording an out. I figured the game was over. Checked back, saw he got two outs. And then he got Hall to fly out to extend the game to extra innings. The Mets open the tenth with walks to David Wright and Delgado. Moises Alou, the veteran hitter, the guy who will come through in the clutch, grounds into a double play. Easley strikes out, rally killed.
Fast forward to the 11th. Aaron Sele come in to relieve Sosa, who did well. Before I blinked, base hit, base hit. And I'm thinking, it's over, just put me out of my misery. JJ Hardy bunts and Delgado throws a strike to Wright to force the runner at third. I'm still not too confident we the heart of their order up, but we have a chance. Ryan Braun, a red hot rookie comes up. Sele get his to ground into a double play. Onto the 12th.
Castillo, who had done nothing, bunts his way on. Next batter is Wright, who drills a bomb to right field. I thought the ball was going to Lake Michigan. No. Kevin Mench jumps the fence and robs him. Next batter: Delagado. First pitch: double play. Inning over. Prince Fielder leads off for the Brewers. He hits two mammoth shots into the upper deck, but both go foul by a few feet. He still gets a single, but Sele gets the next three out.
In the 13th, the Mets get Moises Alou on second base with one out and then Ramon Castro and Lastings Milledge can't hit the ball out of the infield off the immortal Chris Spurling. Bottom half, Graffanino doubles, Jenkins homers, Mets lose 4-2, what a shock.
Here's the stat I can't get over and this goes back to what I was saying earlier. From the 6th inning on, the Mets pitched only one inning where they got Milwaukee out 1-2-3. That's 1 out of 8. These are the games we would have always found a way to win last year. With the upgrades all these other teams have made, hope is dimming by the day.
Can football be far away?
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