Nine minutes until first pitch. Nervous time for Mets fans. Another brutal loss yesterday in a fashion all too familiar to Mets fans. They carrry a lead into the late innings, fail to build on it, and blow it real late in the game. Yesterday it was a 4-2 Mets lead to start the 9th ended up as a 7-4 loss.
Pedro gets the ball tonight. He needs to find the magic and figure out how to go 6 innings or so and keep the Mets in the game (or preferably in the lead). A huge game for Pedro and the Mets. A win, and the lead is at 1.5 games with 13 to go. A loss and a slim 1 game lead get sliced in half.
On the wild card front, in an interesting move, the Brewers, who have everything invested in winning this year, fired their manager Ned Yost. Panic move? Maybe. But I think its pretty smart, considering how much ground they have hemmoraged in the past couple of weeks. They currently sit in a flat-footed tie with the Phillies after leading almost the entire season so far.
Will post after game tonight.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
17
17: The number sends chills through every Mets fans spine. It was last year around this time that the Mets were "Up 7 games with 17 to go." As you may know, the Mets went 5-12 in those remaining 17 games and ended up losing the National League East by 1 game to the Phillies.
This year the 17 games remaining guidepost arrived on Saturday the 13th, with a double-header against the Braves on the docket. The Phils were hosting the current wild-card leaders Milwaukee. The Phils won their game against the Brewers 7-3, and the Mets lost the opener of the double-header in heartbreaking, 2007 reminding, fashion. A 2-0 lead that could not be built upon, became a 3-2 loss.
With the lead, down to two games, the Mets responded in the night cap. Behind 8 shutout innings from rookie Jon Niese and home runs from Wright, Reyes, and Beltran, the Mets took a nice lead early and never looked back. The win kept at bay, the panic that could have set in had the team and fans had to stomach another loss last night.
I was at the game with my sister Maggie. Sharing the box was my friend Larry, who is the only person I know who was at the first game ever at Shea in 1964 and who will be at the last regular season game next Sunday, September 28, 2008. My friend Danny joined us in the adjacent box for game 2 and made a really nice grab on a foul ball, that, but for his quick glove, was destined for the screen, but instead was snagged by Danny. Nice catch my friend.
So, down to 15 games to go in the season. Thanks to a nice bounce back win, the Mets lead sits at 2.5 games (3 in the loss column). Stay tuned for a game by game countdown to the end of the season.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Ike Approaches Texas
Wow, Ike is a big storm. 105 MPH winds are serious, but the story here is the awesome size of this storm. Seems to be covering the entire Gulf of Mexico. This means it will churn up the waters there even more, the winds will extend far beyond where the storm center makes landfall, and that the rainfall amounts could be devastating. I've been watching the news this morning and the pictures from the Texas beaches are pretty awe inspiring. The waves crashing into shore are mammoth.
Interesting to note, that the authorities have told the populace of Houston NOT to evacuate. When Houston was evacuated for Rita, the traffic was absolutely out of control and many people died just trying to drive away. Sounds to me like telling people to stay for this one is probably the right call.
Just heard on CNN that the storm is 900 miles wide. Wow.
Interesting to note, that the authorities have told the populace of Houston NOT to evacuate. When Houston was evacuated for Rita, the traffic was absolutely out of control and many people died just trying to drive away. Sounds to me like telling people to stay for this one is probably the right call.
Just heard on CNN that the storm is 900 miles wide. Wow.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Three in a Row for Mets
Following their much needed win against the Phillies on Sunday night, the Mets had a couple of games with the Nationals facing them this week. They won them both, albeit in a fashion that they may not have chosen as their number one option. Tuesday night, with my family and me in attendance, the Mets won 10-8 at the same time that the Phils were losing to the Marlins, giving the Mets a 2.5 game lead in the division. Wednesday played out similarly with the Mets winning another barnstormer and the Phils again doing down to the Marlins.
At the Tuesday night game, in the 8th inning, Carlos Beltran fouled a pitch off about 15 to the right of my family's location. After it bounced around for a couple of seconds, the ball made its way towards me and I stuck out my glove and snagged it. It was my second foul ball this year and it is made special by the fact that it has a stamp on it commemorating that it came from a game played in the final year of Shea Stadium. (See photo.) I'm glad I was in the right place at the right time, and that I kept the ball. Will happily buy a display stand for this one and find a good place for it at home.
Santana going to the mound against Mike Hampton tomorrow night at Shea. Mets will go into that game with either a 3 or 4 game lead over the Phils depending on the results of the Phils/Brewers game tonight in Philadelphia.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
What a Day: Part 3
11:03 PM
Mets win! An absolute gem by Santana and another HUGE night by Carlos Delgado. 7 and 1/3 innings for Santana and a huge 2 RBI single by Delgado in the first, followed later on by two monsterous home runs. Mets lead goes back to two games and Santana proves again that he may be the difference between the '07 and '08 Mets. The bullpen got the job done tonight too. Some clutch outs in the 8th from Feliciano (against Ryan Howard) and Stokes (against Burrell). I'll tell ya, this win did a lot to redeem for me what had been a pretty stinky sports day so far. Thanks Mets.
Across Roosevelt Avenue, the tennis match is tight. Serena won the first set 6-4 and Jankovic was a break up and had a chance to serve for the second set, but she couldn't close it out and we are currently at 5-5. Jankovic was down 0-40, battled back and lost after the 5th deuce. This has been quite a match. Lots of long, entertaining rallies.
The latest on Brady: Reports are swirling that Tom Brady has a torn left ACL and will be out for the year. But, he is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow, so how the sources know is a little bit of a mystery and I won't believe it until I hear more tomorrow. Of course, ESPN is all over the story.
More later. (or tomorrow. :)
Mets win! An absolute gem by Santana and another HUGE night by Carlos Delgado. 7 and 1/3 innings for Santana and a huge 2 RBI single by Delgado in the first, followed later on by two monsterous home runs. Mets lead goes back to two games and Santana proves again that he may be the difference between the '07 and '08 Mets. The bullpen got the job done tonight too. Some clutch outs in the 8th from Feliciano (against Ryan Howard) and Stokes (against Burrell). I'll tell ya, this win did a lot to redeem for me what had been a pretty stinky sports day so far. Thanks Mets.
Across Roosevelt Avenue, the tennis match is tight. Serena won the first set 6-4 and Jankovic was a break up and had a chance to serve for the second set, but she couldn't close it out and we are currently at 5-5. Jankovic was down 0-40, battled back and lost after the 5th deuce. This has been quite a match. Lots of long, entertaining rallies.
The latest on Brady: Reports are swirling that Tom Brady has a torn left ACL and will be out for the year. But, he is scheduled for an MRI tomorrow, so how the sources know is a little bit of a mystery and I won't believe it until I hear more tomorrow. Of course, ESPN is all over the story.
More later. (or tomorrow. :)
What a Day! Part 2
Well, things not off to a good start for me with the sports. The Phils handed the Mets a beat down. Pedro got rocked and the Phils have now taken the first two games of the series to close the Mets lead in the NL East to just 1 slim game. Biggest game of the year awaits the Mets tonight, on ESPN, with the ESPN team of broadcasters no doubt bringing up the ghosts of September of 2007. Remember this folks, the Mets of 2007 did not have Johan Santana and that is why their end of the year slump got as deep as it did. I expect him to go out and pitch very, very well tonight and for the Mets to hit enough to get a win over Cole Hamels and the Phillies.
I caught some interesting NFL games today too. First off, the Bengals lost to the Ravens. Frustrating loss in which the Bengals talented offense never really got going and a decision to go for it on 4 and 1 with 7 minutes to go from the Ravens 25 may have been the final blow. Bengals ran the ball for no gain and never got another chance as the Ravens were able to run out the clock on their ensuing possession. NOT a good start for my boyz from Cincy.
The Jets got themselves a nice win, surviving losing their placekicker, and surviving a final (unsuccessful) drive by the Dolphins led by former Jet Chad Pennington. Some good stop and a an interception on the final play by the Jets secondary allowed them to hang on for the 20-14 win. Could have been a REALLY tough loss for the Jets to take had the Dolphins scored there and won by a single point.
And as some of you may know, I live in Cambridge, MA these days so I have to mention that Tom Brady hurt his left knee early in the first quarter of the Patriots opener. They managed to win, in no small part to the fact that their backup QB took most of the pre-season snaps as Brady nurses some injuries, so he was pretty sharp and a defensive stand at the end allowed them to hang on as well against the Chefs. (mis-spelling intentional) No word as of yet on the extent of Brady's injury. Will keep you posted.
Nadal kept the break he earned yesterday and has won the third set from Andy Murray. They are on serve early in the 4th although the 2nd game has gone to 8 deuces so far with Murray having squandered 7(!) break points in the current game.
I caught some interesting NFL games today too. First off, the Bengals lost to the Ravens. Frustrating loss in which the Bengals talented offense never really got going and a decision to go for it on 4 and 1 with 7 minutes to go from the Ravens 25 may have been the final blow. Bengals ran the ball for no gain and never got another chance as the Ravens were able to run out the clock on their ensuing possession. NOT a good start for my boyz from Cincy.
The Jets got themselves a nice win, surviving losing their placekicker, and surviving a final (unsuccessful) drive by the Dolphins led by former Jet Chad Pennington. Some good stop and a an interception on the final play by the Jets secondary allowed them to hang on for the 20-14 win. Could have been a REALLY tough loss for the Jets to take had the Dolphins scored there and won by a single point.
And as some of you may know, I live in Cambridge, MA these days so I have to mention that Tom Brady hurt his left knee early in the first quarter of the Patriots opener. They managed to win, in no small part to the fact that their backup QB took most of the pre-season snaps as Brady nurses some injuries, so he was pretty sharp and a defensive stand at the end allowed them to hang on as well against the Chefs. (mis-spelling intentional) No word as of yet on the extent of Brady's injury. Will keep you posted.
Nadal kept the break he earned yesterday and has won the third set from Andy Murray. They are on serve early in the 4th although the 2nd game has gone to 8 deuces so far with Murray having squandered 7(!) break points in the current game.
What a Day!
September 7, 2008
I went to the gym this morning and took a couple of classes. Muscle conditioning and yoga. Figured I had to get up and get that out of the way, because come 1:00 PM I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere.
Why? Well, could there be a more exciting sports day? Wow, I am firmly ensconced in my couch and not sure I'll be moving much more today. First off, in the heart of a tight pennant race, the Mets are hosting the Phillies in a day/night double header. Two games against team just 2 games behind them in the standings. And the Mets starting pitchers for today? Pedro in the day game, and Johan Santana in the nightcap. Awesome stuff.
Today is also the first full day of the NFL season. Its currently 1:34 and Brett Favre has already thrown a 54 yard TD pass for the Jets and Tom Brady is already out of the game in New England with a left knee injury? Think a changing of the guard is underway in the AFC East? Me neither, but it sure sounded good. And in other news, my beloved (but somewhat hapless) Bengals are down 7-0 to the Ravens. Mark my words, though, Bengals WILL win today. I hope.
Also, starting at around 4:00 PM today we get the continuation of the men's semi-finals at the U.S. Open, with Rafa Nadal down 2 sets already to Andy Murray. Federer got through to the finals yesterday, but the Nadal/Murray match was suspended by the rain associated with Tropical Storm Hanna. (I wonder what ESPN sportscaster Hanna Storm thought about that?) And then tonight at 9:00, in the U.S. Open's version of the day/night double-header, the women's final will kick off. Serena Williams vs. Jelena Jankovic. Sweet. (Williams in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, that's my prediction.)
So, fellow sports fans. Enjoy the day. The baseball, the full NFL slate. The men's and women's tennis. Get comfortable, stock up on the healthy snacks, and have a great day. Will post later with some more observations and post-game/post-match analysis.
I went to the gym this morning and took a couple of classes. Muscle conditioning and yoga. Figured I had to get up and get that out of the way, because come 1:00 PM I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere.
Why? Well, could there be a more exciting sports day? Wow, I am firmly ensconced in my couch and not sure I'll be moving much more today. First off, in the heart of a tight pennant race, the Mets are hosting the Phillies in a day/night double header. Two games against team just 2 games behind them in the standings. And the Mets starting pitchers for today? Pedro in the day game, and Johan Santana in the nightcap. Awesome stuff.
Today is also the first full day of the NFL season. Its currently 1:34 and Brett Favre has already thrown a 54 yard TD pass for the Jets and Tom Brady is already out of the game in New England with a left knee injury? Think a changing of the guard is underway in the AFC East? Me neither, but it sure sounded good. And in other news, my beloved (but somewhat hapless) Bengals are down 7-0 to the Ravens. Mark my words, though, Bengals WILL win today. I hope.
Also, starting at around 4:00 PM today we get the continuation of the men's semi-finals at the U.S. Open, with Rafa Nadal down 2 sets already to Andy Murray. Federer got through to the finals yesterday, but the Nadal/Murray match was suspended by the rain associated with Tropical Storm Hanna. (I wonder what ESPN sportscaster Hanna Storm thought about that?) And then tonight at 9:00, in the U.S. Open's version of the day/night double-header, the women's final will kick off. Serena Williams vs. Jelena Jankovic. Sweet. (Williams in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, that's my prediction.)
So, fellow sports fans. Enjoy the day. The baseball, the full NFL slate. The men's and women's tennis. Get comfortable, stock up on the healthy snacks, and have a great day. Will post later with some more observations and post-game/post-match analysis.
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