2

September 27th, 2008
Marlins- 0
Mets- 2



JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN! JO-HAN!

This game was all Johan. It was probably the greatest pitching performance I've ever seen live by a Met, right up there with last year's 1 hitter by John Maine, which had some stark similarities in regards to the positioning, timing and emotions. The team was dead and Johan was asked to put his money where his mouth was and did so in a huge way. He proved his worth and then some. Santana deserves the Cy Young. I don't want to hear Webb and his 3.33 ERA or whatever it is or Sabathia who pitched half a season in the NL. No. He deserved better from the bullpen and shouldn't be penalized due to the likes of Schowenweis, Heilman, Sanchez, even Wagner.

The weather was relatively shitty. It looked like rain was coming the whole morning/afternoon. Luckily for us, it held off. Matt and I went into the game confident. We heard Johan was going on short rest as this game was categorized as a must win. It sounded desperate but that's what the times called for. We were certain that the Brews would at least lose one of the next two games. We just needed them to lose that Saturday afternoon.

The place was pretty electric. Of course there were some empty seats and you want it to be as packed as possible, but the excitement was definitely there.

Besides giving up a single in the first, Johan coasted through the inning. So we're feeling good about the game at this point from a pitching standpoint. Offensively, it was a different story.

In the bottom of the first, the Mets hit Nolasco. Reyes hit a lead off single and stole his 56th base. Then Beltran singled yet it only advanced Jose to 3rd. Delgado got a productive fly out which scored Reyes. 1-0! They should've scored more than inning, especially since Wright also singled. But back to back outs by Murphy and Martinez ended any hopes of a huge inning.

Luckily, that 1 measly run was all that Santana needed. The Marlins would only muster up two more hits after the first. The Mets, only 3.

Ramon Martinez drove in the second and final run of the game with a 1 out double that drove in Murphy, another huge hit by him. Unbelievable that a guy that no one thought of for the majority of the season contributed big hits down the stretch. 2-0. And that was the final score.

We were really disappointed with the offense, as stated earlier. I mean they scored 1 run the previous night. 3 runs in two games doesn't really cut it. I could understand if we were facing Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux in the mid 90's. These are the Marlins. They have talented, young pitching but come on. This is supposed to be a prolific offense. The lineup is filled with stars. Too many missed opportunities. Not enough small ball. Bad execution. And Johan can't pitch everyday, although cloning might be a great alternative.

Here's the line of Santana. I don't need to elaborate more than I already have.
Santana- 9.0 IP/ 3H/ 0R/ 3BB/ 9K

Wow. Thank you. With the crowd chanting Jo-han during the final outs, and seeing the Cubs jump to an early 2-0 lead against the Brewers, (it started at 4PM) the crowd was rejuvenated. Hope was restored. We were ready for a chance on Sunday to play past the regular season schedule. It was so stressful, that ride home on the 7 train wondering if Chicago maintained their lead. We ran into the guy who's famous for catching well over 3,000 foul/home run balls. He kept us updated on his iphone.

Long story short, Cubs win a nail biter. Like last year, it would all come down to one final game against the same team that loves to kill us. I got no sleep that night. I had dreams and nightmares about what could happen the next day. What Perez would we get since he's on short rest? Will we hit Scott Olsen like we have all year?

My Shea Memories: This one is the most exciting baseball game I've ever seen. Mets vs. Giants- Game 3 2000 NLDS. Wow. My father and I scored back row tickets in the loge section. I don't need to explain to the Met fans how difficult those seats are. Last row. There's a lot of maneuvering involved to see fly balls. Man. That game lasted 13 grueling innings. IT was the series. It was tied at 1 and the winner of that game was going to win the series. In the bottom of the 8th, down 2-1 (Rick Reed pitched a solid game) the Mets scored a run off Rob Nen, their 'unhittable' closer thanks to Timo Perez and Edgardo Alfonzo, wto very clutch hitters that postseason. The game kept going and going. The frustration grew on him. I was 16 and was going insane, hitting my hat against the pole after missed scoring opportnities. Then in the 13, Benny Agbayani hit a walk off home run to left field, right over Bonds. How sweet it was. The place went ape shit. It was incredible. You often hear that during a huge game, you could feel Shea shake and move. This was one of those instances. I feared the place would collapse. The Mets won the following game thanks to a Bobby Jones masterpiece. They had defeated a 100+ win team and advanced to the Championship Series. But it was all because of this game, that they won their first pennant since 1986.