4

September 25, 2008
Cubs- 6
Mets- 7



This is why we love sports. Because it's a safe version of life, meaning that it's unpredictable. It's dramatic. It's euphoric. It's agony.

As bad a loss we witnessed the previous day, that's how good this win felt. I went into that game with zero confidence. Pedro Martinez was pitching that night and I never thought I'd witness the day where I would dread a start that he made. But that's exactly what happened. We were facing Rich Harden, a guy who's ERA was in the 2's. I was in a really foul mood on my way to the game. At this point, the monotony of the commute to Shea really irritated me. I was sick of trying to squeeze into an overcrowded 7 express. I was tired of the terrible rainy weather we were getting. I was sick of the city and the thousands of people. To make matters worse, prior to the trip I printed out four tickets to NLCS game that I was pretty sure we weren't going to play

Luckily, the line for tickets wasn't long at all. The weather did help in that regard. I ended up sitting in section 2 again with a friend. And away we go. Please don't blow it Pedro. We want to love you so much.



Pedro always gives up first inning runs, so I knew we would be behind shortly after my ass hit the seat. At the end of the top of the 1st, it was 2-0 Cubs partly due to a Micah Hoffpauir solo home run. Never heard of this guy? Well by the time this game was over, we did.

Mets got a run back in the bottom of the frame. Reyes reached on a fielding error and stole 2nd base. Then reached to third on a FC by Murphy. David Wright then drove him in on a sac fly. My friend must've said a million times, 'why couldn't you do that last night?" it was actually an excellent question. But this inning just proved how valuable Reyes can be. He single handedly scored that run. All he had to do was get on base. 2-1 Cubs.

In the third, they extended their lead on an RBI double by Hoffpauir. Ay! 3-1.

But the Mets were resilient that night, July-style. They evened the score in the 4th on a 2 rbi double by Church. He finally woke up! Yes!

Pedro settled down and threw a season high 9 strikeouts. So he sort of came through, until the 7th. Pie led off with a single, then Theriot walked. So Jerry yanked Petey for Rincon, since Martinez struggled with Hoffpauir who was due up. As Pedro walked to the dugout, he waved to the fans. It was a goodbye, since that was definitely the last regular season start and his contract expires by season's end. But the move burned Jerry and the Mets. Second pitch of the at bat, boom! A three run homer by this freaking guy again. WTF! I swear I never heard of this guy and I'm pretty sure the 45000 other fans didn't as well. Meanwhile, he was single handedly killing us, driving in 5 of the 6 Cubs runs. So even though Piniella gave the entire regular lineup a rest, this one man took over the game.

I was so depressed at this point. It was 6-3 in the 7th. I had no faith in us winning that game. None. I'm not afraid to admit that.

The Mets proved they had some guts left. This would actually be the last time the team fought. After this game, the offense disappeard. In the 7th, Robinson Cancel hit a lead off double. He was eventually driven in on a groundout by Reyes. It was a good start but I didn't think much of it at the time. Then in the 8th, with two outs ended up tying the game with singles by Beltran, Church, Martinez, and Cancel. But the way Church scored off the Cancel hit was incredible. He was dead meat at home, with an excellent throw by Fukedome. Church somehow ran around the catcher, avoided the tag, and hit home plate. It seemed like an eternity for that amazing play to unfold. When he was called safe, I went ape shit. Game tied at 6. This was a game we had to win suddenly. ANd they did.

In the 9th, with two outs and Reyes at second (reached on single and stolen base), Carlos Beltran singled on a line drive that was JUST beyond the reach of the first basemen. Reyes scores and the Mets win it! I turned around and took a bow to a couple of Cubs fans sitting a few rows back. This is how crazy I get during these games. 7-6! We're right back in it. The brewers ended up winning in 10 with a Braun grand slam which sucked but fans started to feel confident again. Things felt good. We split the series with the Cubs, stayed tied with the Brewers for the final playoff spot and it was on to the Marlins where we would seek vindication...

My Shea Memories: It's not the best one, but it's sort of relevant because it was against the Cubs. It was opening day, 2003, freezing cold day. I believe it was March 31st, the earliest opening day. My last class that day was early and I met this Mets fan in my class that was also attending the game so I was able to get a ride to the stadium.

Tom Glavine took the mound for the first time in his Mets tenure and absolutely bombed. He got killed. I'm sitting there, freezing my balls off to see errors by Cliff Floyd and meatballs thrown by our newly acquired ace. The final score was like 7-1. Wow. It turned out to be a terrible season so this game was definitely a sign of things to come for not only the 03 season but the entire Art Howe regime.