TWO DOWN, NINE TO GO
Sweet victory last night. Tommy G. in mastery zone (with a little help from a generous strike zone). Every Met fan's secret favorite player, Endy Chavez, doing his thing. More excellence from the bullpen. The Mets won by playing little ball (and NO, I'm not talking about Grady Little. More John McGraw if we're gonna put it in managerial terms).
While the Dodgers once again saw mental lapses do them in, the Mets played flawless, fundamental baseball: throwing strikes, picking the ball, legging it out, bunting, moving the runners, delivering with men on third and less than one out. Winning.
The Mets offense was so dominant at times this season it's easy to forget what a generally sound fundamental ballclub they were. Hell, I never gave it much thought, but there you had it last night. One extra base hit (LoDuca's early double over Lofton's head, a ball Beltran would've settled under even if he forgot how many outs there were). 4 Ks by Met pitchers. 3 runs scored on outs. Even Reyes' two wayward throws in the 9th (can we not do that again, please, Jose?) were neatly turned into outs by Delgado, as he ranged of the bag perfectly. Yet . . . a 3 run victory, because they executed so well. And as a result, the Dodgers execution date is rapidly approaching.
Briefly (I promise), a few thoughts:
Endy: What can you say? That bunt was such a generator. A true Rickey-esque run that inning. I don't know how it's possible (have you seen his lifetime stats?) but I feel so . . . confident when he's up in a clutch spot. When the ball's hit into the outfield, I want him, not Beltran, to field the ball. I know he's not as fast as Reyes, but put him on the bases and I assume good things'll happen. I hope he plays Saturday, even though Green has great career numbers against Maddux: 424/513/788).
Willie: Making all the right moves. Only 93 pitches for Glavine. Solid full inning from Feliciano. Penciling in Endy.
Beltran: Ok, big guy. We're on the road now. So, ummm, you can start hitting. And, now that we mention it, the Shea crowd likes you now. We all like you. You can hit at home too if you're up to it.
Heilman: I don't mind the homer at all. Gotta throw strikes in the 8th with a 4 run lead. He threw strikes. (One of them just happened to get mashed 425 feet. Hey, it happens.)
Valentin: Good at bats even though he remains hitless. Two big walks, scored both times. Nothing spectacular on D, but at least he went to 1st with all his throws.
And perfect moustache management. But that goes without saying; dude's on national TV, for goodness sake!
Grady Little: No opportunity to do anything too stupid last night, so I really can't award a Little Grady. Although leaving in Brett Tomko to face Carlos Delgado with the bases juiced could've been a disaster for him. Luckily for him, Delgado failed to deliver.
Carlos' defense has been excellent (at least three tag plays at first that I can remember in two games), and his offensive performance in game one speaks for itself, but he's stranding a lot of runners. He needs to put bat to ball in those spots. He's looked like he was trying to hit a grand slam on both bases loaded situations so far in the series. The result? Two outs, no RBIs. And finally . . .
The Dynamic Duo: Amazingly, neither of them has totally settled into his individual groove, yet they're doing great. If that makes any sense?
Wright is 3-for-8 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs, and has made some fine defensive plays. Yet you feel that there's more to come. Cool. And Reyes, despite the 2 RBIs last night is clearly not at his best yet. And that's a great thing. He gets into one of his grooves, and watch out.
To sum that thought up, let me put it this way. If I told you two days ago the Mets would be up 2-0 despite Reyes & Beltran going 2-for-10, you'd be pretty psyched, no? Well, the Mets are up 2-0, and Reyes and Beltran aren't 2-for-10. They're 1-for-12.
Be psyched. This going well.
While the Dodgers once again saw mental lapses do them in, the Mets played flawless, fundamental baseball: throwing strikes, picking the ball, legging it out, bunting, moving the runners, delivering with men on third and less than one out. Winning.
The Mets offense was so dominant at times this season it's easy to forget what a generally sound fundamental ballclub they were. Hell, I never gave it much thought, but there you had it last night. One extra base hit (LoDuca's early double over Lofton's head, a ball Beltran would've settled under even if he forgot how many outs there were). 4 Ks by Met pitchers. 3 runs scored on outs. Even Reyes' two wayward throws in the 9th (can we not do that again, please, Jose?) were neatly turned into outs by Delgado, as he ranged of the bag perfectly. Yet . . . a 3 run victory, because they executed so well. And as a result, the Dodgers execution date is rapidly approaching.
Briefly (I promise), a few thoughts:
Endy: What can you say? That bunt was such a generator. A true Rickey-esque run that inning. I don't know how it's possible (have you seen his lifetime stats?) but I feel so . . . confident when he's up in a clutch spot. When the ball's hit into the outfield, I want him, not Beltran, to field the ball. I know he's not as fast as Reyes, but put him on the bases and I assume good things'll happen. I hope he plays Saturday, even though Green has great career numbers against Maddux: 424/513/788).
Willie: Making all the right moves. Only 93 pitches for Glavine. Solid full inning from Feliciano. Penciling in Endy.
Beltran: Ok, big guy. We're on the road now. So, ummm, you can start hitting. And, now that we mention it, the Shea crowd likes you now. We all like you. You can hit at home too if you're up to it.
Heilman: I don't mind the homer at all. Gotta throw strikes in the 8th with a 4 run lead. He threw strikes. (One of them just happened to get mashed 425 feet. Hey, it happens.)
Valentin: Good at bats even though he remains hitless. Two big walks, scored both times. Nothing spectacular on D, but at least he went to 1st with all his throws.
And perfect moustache management. But that goes without saying; dude's on national TV, for goodness sake!
Grady Little: No opportunity to do anything too stupid last night, so I really can't award a Little Grady. Although leaving in Brett Tomko to face Carlos Delgado with the bases juiced could've been a disaster for him. Luckily for him, Delgado failed to deliver.
Carlos' defense has been excellent (at least three tag plays at first that I can remember in two games), and his offensive performance in game one speaks for itself, but he's stranding a lot of runners. He needs to put bat to ball in those spots. He's looked like he was trying to hit a grand slam on both bases loaded situations so far in the series. The result? Two outs, no RBIs. And finally . . .
The Dynamic Duo: Amazingly, neither of them has totally settled into his individual groove, yet they're doing great. If that makes any sense?
Wright is 3-for-8 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs, and has made some fine defensive plays. Yet you feel that there's more to come. Cool. And Reyes, despite the 2 RBIs last night is clearly not at his best yet. And that's a great thing. He gets into one of his grooves, and watch out.
To sum that thought up, let me put it this way. If I told you two days ago the Mets would be up 2-0 despite Reyes & Beltran going 2-for-10, you'd be pretty psyched, no? Well, the Mets are up 2-0, and Reyes and Beltran aren't 2-for-10. They're 1-for-12.
Be psyched. This going well.
posted by Mike at 7:00 AM
8 Comments:
Your knowledge of baseball is quite impressive. The other day I tried to name twenty baseball players off the top of my head. There may have been three or four on the list who were still active. Some were deceased! Keep plugging, I hope they keep winning.
Your knowledge of baseball is quite impressive.
And a statement like this always implies the flipside of the same coin: a statement of how much time I've wasted through the years compiling that knowledge!
But I guess we all have our diversions. For me, work is a diversion from diversion.
work is a diversion from diversion.
Classic!
How about Glavine's little bunt thing in (I think) the 4th! What a night he had.
Yeah, Tommy G had his mojo working. The all-time leader in career SACs couldn't get the bunt down . . . yet he managed to get in the catcher's way long enough to fascilitate a passed ball, then he executed the old, excuse me swinging bunt.
He was both lucky & good last night. I like it.
Why did Trachsel go home? Any news on that?
And what note was posted on Milledge locker?
Yeah, watching Tommy G. last night, I couldn't help but wondering if the ghost of Eric Gregg wasn't behind the plate calling strikes.
I think Eric Gregg's ghost may have more to do with Floyd's Homer-That-wasn't staying in the yard, more than any strike zone shenanigans.
If Eric's ghost stopped in nearby Flushing for some kimchi or Chinese cabbage, that would've explained the gusting winds last night.
Why did Trachsel go home? Any news on that?
I heard somewhere that he may have had a . . shall we say, LoDuca situation on his hands, and needed to go home to Mrs. Trachsel to patch things over.
Needless to say, one would assume that Trachs is neither accurate nor powerful, and runs out of steam halfway through, so Mrs. rachs could be mad for any number of reasons.
And what note was posted on Milledge locker?
"Rookie -- Know Your Place. Signed, Your Teammates," is what I heard the note said.
Are you suggesting that Trachs wrote it, and maybe his trip back West had something to do with that?
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