Sunday, October 15, 2006

Mets 12, Cards 5 -- top o' the ninth

By Heraclitus

Honestly, what the hell was Tony LaRussa thinking when he pinch-hit Chris Duncan for his starter and put some nine-year-old on the mound? I mean, Anthony Reyes wasn't exactly Don Gibson out there -- hell, he wasn't even Woody Williams (he walked the Mets' pitcher the first time he faced him) -- but what could LaRussa have been thinking? Oh, and now the Cardinals look like the Bad News Bears, letting a routine pop-up drop in the shallow outfield. Give me a break. And what the hell has happened to Scott Rolen? Ugh.

(So, apparently I'm definitely rooting for the Cardinals, rather than maintaining my ironic detachment. So be it.)

One last thing -- if the Mets win this series, the hero will be Darren Oliver. I'm dead serious. (Well, okay, and Beltran and Delgado.)

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UPDATE: Maybe the Cardinals deserve to lose. I know they're not watching the game on TV, but I'm sure they study the Mets' previous at-bats. So, after we see the highlights of Delgado hitting three home runs on three fastballs low and away, what does St. Louis do? They serve him up a fastball low and away. (Although, to be fair, it was really more in the middle of the plate than away.) And then, for some reason the outfielders were playing shallow as hell, as if they didn't know who was batting or something. I know they were probably hoping to have a play at the plate if Delgado just hit a single, but they were in terrible position. Speaking of which -- why isn't So Taguchi starting in left? He hits the game-winning home run the other night, and now he's sitting again? Seriously, wouldn't you rather have Taguchi starting at this point than Rolen?

P.S. Watching this series, I've become convinced that Jose Valentin is probably the best second baseman in baseball. And I love the way this umpire rocks out when he calls strike three.


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UPDATE 2: Mets 12, Cards 5. I'm happy for Delgado. The Mets have a great offence, and the Cards aren't without their stars (Pujols, Rolen, sometimes Edmonds), but it's clear why ESPN's Bill Simmons refers to the NL as AAAA baseball. The pitching is pretty weak. Oh, look, it's Taguchi in CF. There you go, Heraclitus. -- MJWS

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