Everybody Sing!
As this series with the Cardinals was winding down, and the Mets were three outs away from being swept by the Cardinals which would have stuck it rather sharply to the Atlanta Braves, I kept thinking back to 2008. September 24th, 2008 ... to be exact, after the Braves, who had absolutely nothing to play for, nearly brawled with the Philadelphia Phillies thanks to Julian Tavarez:
As Derrek Lee singled in the go-ahead run the Braves exploded, cheering on the Cubs. It happened again when Aramis Ramirez homered and a few members of the team and traveling party began singing "Meet the Mets." Others mocked the Kevin James video shown at Shea Stadium where he screams "Let's Go Mets!"
It was then, while down 6-2 on Thursday that I thought, "well, maybe getting swept wouldn't be such a horrible thing." So at that moment, I did something I almost never do: I had my post for this blog written before the game was over. I've probably only done it ... maybe ten times in five years, and that's being generous. And maybe once have I either had a game swing that fast or had things drastically change where I had to rewrite the post. It was a done deal, save for the small changes like adding the phrase "when Ruben Tejada went down looking with the tying and go-ahead runs on base", and then "despite Ruben Tejada's game tying double in the ninth". I should know better than to do that with this team. In '09 and '10, you could do that. This season, you take your chances when you start writing posts in the ninth inning. Guess they showed Terry Collins that the tent hasn't folded.
So instead, we have a situation where the Mets scored six runs in the ninth to win (with the help of Rafael Furcal's soul crushing error early in the frame, Willie Harris' go ahead two run single, and Jason Pridie's sliding catch to end the game) and not only helped the Braves, but in the process made Terry Pendleton smile. That's right ... in one fell swoop, the Mets have helped a large swath of the legion of doom. And honestly, I feel kind of dirty about it. There really should be some sort of payback for 2008. So here's what I want: I want every Atlanta Brave sitting at home right now during their off day to join me in a non-mocking rendition of Meet the Mets. C'mon boys, I know you know the words ... you too Larry:
Meet the Mets,
Meet the Mets,
Step right up and greet the Mets!
Bring your kiddies,
bring your wife;
Guaranteed to have the time of your life
Mr. Uggla, you're a little flat, Mr. Hudson, that's "kiddies". And Jair, I don't think your heart is into it. Let's try again:
because the Mets are really sockin' the ball,
knocking those home runs over the wall!
East side,
West side,
everybody's coming down
to meet the M-E-T-S Mets of New York town!
Okay, that's better. But Martin, it's East side, then West side. Hey I have lyric sheets up here, so go get some, Freddie Freeman.
Oh, the butcher and the baker and the people on the streets,
where did they go?
No Larry, not hell. And not your mom's house either, Venters.
All right, all right, that's enough for one day.
***
And hey, speaking of collapses, we know that not only are the Braves having problems holding on to a huge wild card lead, but so are the Red Sox. The Red Sox situation is more of a "lack of healthy bodies" problem than anything. So the Sox actually contacted the Mets to try to acquire Chris Capuano over the past week. He obviously wouldn't have been eligible for the playoff roster, but their starting pitching has been so putrid in September that they just wanted him to start on Sunday against the Yankees. Meanwhile, God (the one you pray to), had tried to help the Red Sox out by delaying Capuano's start today by bringing the rain down for a couple of hours. Perhaps this gave the Red Sox a couple of more hours to up their offer from "cash", to "more cash".
Well, kinda didn't work out, as Capuano indeed made his start today. But hey, if the Red Sox are really desperate for somebody to pitch Sunday, we have a wide array of pitching in Flushing to help get them to where they need to go. Mike Pelfrey, for example. We aren't even going to prey on your desperation to get this deal done. All the Mets ask for Mike Pelfrey is a dollar, a dream, and a cannoli from Mike's Pastry. That's it. You have yourselves a one start starter.
Now I wonder if the Red Sox would be so desperate as to ask the Nationals about a guy who is in their system ... someone who has had success against the Yankees. A lefty ...
Nah, nobody is that desperate.
