Mets v. Rockies

Rockies at Mets

The game is on the CW 11 tonight. Hopefully that means we avoid morons on the broadcast team. And it’s Gary Cohen and Ron Darling. This might be tolerable. Since last time I blogged a game, the Mets are no longer the New York Mess. Seems like with Jerry Manuel the Metropolitans have gotten their groove back, so to speak.

7:06 pm: I’ve already seen the same Amstel Light commercial twice in five minutes on the same station. Seems ominous.

Oliver Perez faces off with All-Star Aaron Cook. Speaking of cook, remember Dennis Cook? He pitched for the Mets during the Bobby V years. I remember Bobby using him every single day. I also remember he was very angry and liked to fake guys back to second base using a “hanging leg” pick-off move. Oh and by the way, Ollie is 1-3 against teams under five hundred while 5-0 against teams over five hundred. As Ron Darling notes: this is the way the Mets season has gone.

Mets are 22-15 against teams below .500. They are 23-26 against teams below .500. These are the important statistics we all require when watching games. Take note Morgan and Miller. Tulowitzki and Helton are both on the DL.

7:10 pm: Ollie throws strike one. 92 mph. And second pitch is 94 mph up and away. Every since Rick Peterson has left the scene Ollie has looked like a new man. Dan Warthen, new pitching coach, wears cool eye glasses too. Actually, they look eerily European, just like Skipper Jerry Manuel.

7:12 pm: I said it once, I’ll say it again: screw you Clint Hurdle for picking David Wright to replace Alfonso Soriano on the All-Star team. A plane just passed over Shea and drowned out Gary Cohen, it was so loud. Who doesn’t love LaGuardia’s traffic patterns?

7:15 pm: Perez is rearing back and throwing it right by people. Just threw one up and away to Holliday. And other: 95 mph and two swings and misses. Perez looks different since Warthen has taken over, Darling and Cohen note. Down looking. 1-2-3. Perez looks good and the dog is peacefully sleeping. Tonight has potential.

7:18 pm: The last player vote All-Star gimmick is for asses. There, I said it.

7:20 pm: Plenty of talk about grandpa tearing his left hamstring last night. And my grandpa, I mean Moises Alou. I think that poor Moises is done. He’s a hitting machine who could never quite stay healthy enough to fulfill his extraordinary ability to hit, hit, hit.

7:25 pm: Has anyone ever thought of how foolish the Bank of America we’ll round up to the dollar and put it in your savings account actually is? The commercial talks about people “saving money”. It’s not saving money. It’s theirs already. You’re just moving money from one account to another. Right? Right.
7:29 pm: We’re at the point in Carlos Delgado’s career where every single ground ball to him makes think something bad is going to happen.

7:37 pm: Delgado just hit a ball through the shift and then hustled it into a double. If Perdo Serrano starts hitting the way he used to hit. Watch out. Hats for bats!

7:43 pm: Who gives a darn that the American Boxing Team is at Shea Stadium? And they’re talking to the first Arab-American boxer to represent the States. I mean, this is a great interview for Outside the Lines. Actually, this is sort of fascinating. The interview is taking too long. His name is Sadaam Ali from Brooklyn. And I just kind of got the chills. Maybe I am interested in the Olympics, again.

7:47 pm: Mike Gallego is the third-base coach for the Rockies. Mike Gallego.

7:57 pm: Bret Hawpe just misses catches Jose Reyes’ foul ball down the right field line. Reyes then lines a single up the middle. And then runs on Wily Taveras and turns it into a double. A plain hustle, speed double. Looks like a long dog walk after this half inning, so I really need Endy Chavez to get a two out hit here. Struck out looking. Scoreless after three.

8:26 pm: I’m back and the Mets are down 1-0. Brian Schneider singles down the right field line, Hawpe bobbles it and the husky catcher hustles into second base. A “good baserunning” play. Ollie Perez swings and chops a grounder to second thereby moving Schneider to third. An underrated gambit by Jerry Manuel.

8:28 pm: Dog barking for nightly treat. Just wait, dog, until I see if Reyes can get a two out RBI…he does! No camera shot of Wille Randolph grimacing in the dugout. Life as a Mets’ fan is good right now.

8:39 pm: Dan Warthen out to talk to Perez after a 1-out, sixth inning walk to Wily Taveras. Noted Met-Killer Clint Barmes up to bat. Ollie paints the outside corner for strike one. Can’t help but notice the noise at Shea. Different from earlier in the year, the “other shoe waiting to drop” sound isn’t there. Fly to center. Two away. Interesting that it even comes through over the television. Up and away on a 3-2 pitch to Holliday. Two on, two out. Yeah, I’m nervous. And Ollie’s thrown 100 pitches. And after going 3-0, Heilman arises from the pen.

8:48 pm: Walked him. I have a pit in my stomach. Popped him up. End of inning. Big ovation from Shea. He’s twirling a one-hitter. I quickly check mlb.com. Phillies are up 3-1 in the sixth against the DBacks. Yeah, the NL is awful.

8:52 pm: Do you know that there has been only one All-Star game at Shea, in 1964? Johnny Callison hit a game winning home run for the National League. The NL hasn’t won a game in the mid-summer classic since.

8:57 pm: Delgado just misses a double on a laser down the right field line. Is there any feeling more gut wrenching then seeing a ball hit down the line and not knowing whether it’s fair or foul until the umpire makes some type of motion?

9:01 pm: Tie game in Philly. Yes, it’s scoreboard watching time already.

9:19 pm: Aaron Heilman came in and just blew two guys away. A full inning. Masterful. With two men on, he puts out the fire. They’re cheering him. Holy cow.

9:28 pm: Nick Evans takes thirdbase on a semi-deep fly ball to right field. He’s there with two outs. Another aggressive bit of baserunning by the new-look Mets.

9:30 pm: Yet the running goes for naught. Chavez bounces out.

9:35 pm: Duaner Sanchez is in for the third straight night. Gets the first out, then a walk and a well-struck single. Sanchez’s velocity is still down from before his taxi-cab accident. Possible double play ball bobble after Reyes gets the force out at second. Manuel out to the mound to bring Feliciano in to face the lefty.

Reason 4,349 why baseball is the most exciting sport ever: With one simple action where the offensive player succeeds (hits it really hard [that’s what she said] the defensive team can get out from under a massive disadvantage with a double play.

9:43 pm: Mets pitchers have walked 9 guys tonight. And it’s still 1-1. Like I said, things in Flushing might be slowly turning.

9:47 pm: Rockies have had the bases loaded three innings in a row. No runs have scored.

9:51 pm: Damion Easley goes yard. Holy cow. Right after Gary Cohen talked about him hitting one out.

9:54 pm: How do you know things are changing? Carlos Delgado isn’t boo-ed when he makes an out anymore. Boy, New York fans sure are magnanimous.

10:01 pm: Billy Wagner is an all-star, no doubt about it. Two strike outs to start the inning. Fly ball to Beltran to end it. Matt Holliday is left in the on-deck circle

Seven a row for the Mets. Two games to the All-Start break. I’ll anxiously watch the Philly score til the end of the night. It’s fun to be a Mets fan again.