13

September 7th, 2008
(Game 2)
Phillies- 3
Mets- 6

Finally! A 'Happy Recap''. We needed this win in the worst way. As I said late last night.

There was a lot of angst going into the second game, at least for myself and the fans. However, this year's team seems to have a short memory, which is a wonderful thing. They can brush off rough loses or lackluster outings and come out looking like a different team. We were all hoping this would be the case for the second game, but you just never know in September.

I splurged a little for the night cap. I really wanted a good seat for this one. So I got a loge seat near the third base/left field side. Over 90 percent of the games I've been to were spent in the upper reserved section. A red seat has been my second home but this was a welcome change. What a view I had of the three mammoth home runs. I'll get to that in a moment. Here's the view.



Anyway, the energy for the night game was what I expected the entire weekend to be like. The fans were loud and understood the importance of the game. They drowned out the few Phillies fans that had stayed for the second game. This was basically a sell out. I'm looking at the attendance now. It says 54,980 and it certainly seemed like that. There were few empty seats. And that's the way it should be for a game of this matter. I think everyone went to this game in order to avoid staying at home and being forced to listen to Jon Miller and Joe Morgan's subpar play by play skills.

I get to the night cap after having a quick meal in Manhattan. So that meant two extra trips on the 7 train. Always packed. Always a drag. But I love it. I also love night games. I know afternoon ones are great too and traditional but primetime ball is awesome. And you just get the sense that at night, a game in September means that much more. It's odd and I can't explain it but the atmosphere is turned up a few notches and that's always been the case. But here's my first issue. No bobblehead. Mets brass, I know you had a bobblehead day for everyone last month (Wagner; you jinxed him!) but come on! You have the third best attendance in baseball. Take care of your fans and offer a few thousand more bobbleheads for everyone! Will it really kill you?! Obsessed fans and overgrown children (myself) look forward to days like those. They get a promotion, save it, collect, etc. But you can't give me or another dedicated fan who plans his summer around this team a plastic toy?! My friend told me he saw a kid rip of the head! WTF! Please! Do something nice for the fans! Give us a break and stop being so cheap. After 07, we earned a little break. I'll never understand it. I went to Seattle this year, and they gave out Felix Hernandez bobbleheads to everyone. I have one here. They do the same in most ballparks, and they don't have the funds the Mets do, like a network, a bank paying them millions for naming rights, etc. Anyway that hurt passing the box of bobbleheads. The diehard fan knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Now to the recap. Crowd was pumped. Santana came out to Santana Forget About It. Here we go! Rollins hits a grounder to Reyes. 1 out. Then I quickly got sick because Utley gets a single. Then Werth is walked, then Howard gets an RBI single. They're hitting our ace! They have a lead already! And Burrell the original Mets killer is up. This can't be happening! What am I doing?! I started to think all the above. Luckily Santana struck out Burrell and had Victorino fly out to left. That was huge! I let out a sigh of relief. Though the Mets were already trailing and we had to face their ace, Cole Hamels, Johan limited the damage, something that Pedro failed to do.

The bottom of the first was the turning point of the game. The Mets needed to make a statement early, and they did. After Reyes pops up, Church, who I love batting second, hits a single to left. Wright then reached on catcher interference. Charlie Manuel argued the play for no reason. It's quite obvious that he interfered. Coste didn't even argue. Naturally, Manuel does and gets ejected. That fired up the crowd because we love a good fight. Beltran comes up big with an RBI single. The game is already tied at 1. I knew things were going to be different that night after that hit. Talk about coming up big?! Delgado hits a ball that goes up the middle and drives in two. 3-1! He hits into luck AND he hits the ball hard. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Because the Phils drew closer after Johan gave up his second and final run of the night. Howard hit a bomb which he seems to be doing on a nightly basis. Thankfully it was a solo shot.

The Mets would get that run right back in the bottom of the 3rd with a mammoth shot of their own from their own first baseman. Delgado hit a shot of the right field scoreboard. Man did he crush that Hamels curve ball. 4-2 Mets. They would extend that lead in the 5th inning with an even longer solo home run by... MVP...MVP. Delgado crushes another one. This time a change up that nearly reached the Mezzanine seats! 5-2. Delgado comes out for the curtain call. His second one of the year. A year that started off with fans booing him and calling for his release. I always wanted to keep him. i don't want to sound smarter than anyone because I'm not smart at all. But I think if he could give you a little more than he did offensively in 07, it was worth keeping him one more year. I didn't like the replacements that were being mentioned. That was an even bigger factor in my mind. Mike Carp was everyone's favorite name. Sexson, crazy enough was mentioned a swell. One wasn't ready. The other, past his prime. But not in a million years did I expect this! He's been the team's most clutch hitter BY FAR. And it seems when he goes, so does the team, a claim commonly used for Jose Reyes.

Santana was solid. 2 runs in 7 1/3. He got out of trouble when he needed to (the 1st inning) with 6 strikeouts, 3 of them coming in one inning! Yes! Then the bullpen came in...No! But like I said in game 14, the bullpen has been solid. Never thought I'd use those two words in the same sentence ever again. But with Heilman buried in there because of roster expansion, it's been much better. Felicianao came in to get Howard to ground out to Deli. Then Stokes was called to face Burrell who grounded out. End of the 8th!

I love how Jerry is pushing his starters. I almost got a heart attack when I saw Santana pitch the 8th. But he's getting every last ounce out of guys like Pelfrey, Ollie and Johan, as it should be! I also love his selection in the bullpen. Using one guy to get one out. We've seen it fail this year, but perhaps with more options it can work.

But don't tune out yet. There was an inning of baseball left, and as Mets fans have learned this season, it's never over until you hear that Takin Care of Business victory tune. Luckily they got that valuable insurance run. Easley hit a lead off triple. Thank you Jerry again. This time for playing Easley in BOTH games yesterday. I think he's the only guy in Mets organization that understands he can't keep trotting out Castillo just because he has a 4 year deal. Schneider drove him in with a sac fly. 6-2.

Bottom of the ninth was scary time. Ayala came into a non save situation. Victorino had to find a way to piss me off. So he gets on base with an infield single. Schneider, for some reason, tries to throw him out when he had NO chance to. So he rushes the throw and the ball goes into the stands. E2. Victorino at second. GREAT!! Cardiac arrest time. Ayala got Feliz to fly out to center, although the ball seemed to be hit hard. Stairs comes in and gets a BS infield single as well. So now I'm real worried. Especially when I hear a bench player comes in the game to pinch hit. You know how these types of guys love to kill us. And he nearly did, when he hit a bomb to left field. Guess what? Manuel's annual defensive switch was in place so at left was no other than Endy Chavez who leaped near the wall (the same infamous AIG ad) and caught it. Thank you Lord! A run scores on the play but that's okay. So the last out?! A strikeout for "J-Roll". Mets win. Mets avoid the sweep. The Phillies fans that asked us to get the broom ready can now shove that same broom up there...

Here's a victory shot from shitty cell phone camera:



Great win. Important win to keep the lead at 2. The Phils just beat the slumping Fish. I hate scoreboard watching! Now I have to invest that same passion for two games?! Ay!

Here's the scorecards of the night game. I've never done two scorecards in one game. Pretty crazy. Not as crazy as keeping one during a 14 inning affair against the Cardinals earlier. And then they lose!




Great W. Must take care of business after the off day against the always tough Nats.

My Shea Memories time. This game against the Phils really gave me playoff fever. There's not much better in sports than having your favorite baseball team in the playoffs. Only 8 teams in the entire league make it so you really have to earn that spot. My first taste of playoff baseball came at Shea of course. 1999 was the year against the Arizona Diamondbacks. No, it wasn't the Todd Pratt game winning homer in game 4. It would've been awesome to be there though. It was game 3.

I remember how hard we tried to get tickets. My mother and I kept calling ticket master. We just got the internet and wasn't reliable as it is today. So we did it the old fashion way. Call and get a busy signal. Repeat 1000x. We finally got through and got a couple of mezzanine seats for HOME GAME 1, which later turned out to be game 3 of the nlds. I really thought we were going to be unable to use the tix as the Mets were about to choke and give up their wildcard spot, being down two games with three to play! BUt the amazing happened and they win a one game playoff against Cincinatti. When they did that, I grabbed my tickets and held them up in the air. It was finally going to happen. I was going to see my Mets in the playoffs. I went with my brother Ray and we got there super early to see batting practice. We were behind the visitors dugout when I held a sign. It was stupid but what can I say? I was young and excited. It used that Visa card Priceless theme. It was new back then! So after BP, I begged for a ball, and Lenny Harris, former Met GREAT pinch hitter, threw a ball in my direction which I caught. This was my first baseball ever received at the ballpark. It was great. So many things have changed since then, technology wise, personal growth. But the joy you get during those times, they don't change. And thank goodness for that. The Mets blew out the Diamondbacks. The crowd was packed and absolutely crazy! I'd never seen Shea like that. It was a long time coming though. Beautiful stuff. Hershiser got the W believe it or not. I wish I still had the stub for that one. That was the last post season game I had gone to that year and overall I've been to about 6 Mets playoff games. But this first one was very memorable.

Well now it's onto a two game series against the Nats. Value dates meaning 5 bucks a ticket! YES!!! I'll be back with better pictures. Ollie Perez takes the hill. See you tomorrow night.