My Best Day 2009

[Guest Edgy DC]

I'm tired of talking about other teams. I want to talk about the Mets. And one way is to look at the 2009 Mets through the prism of their best days.

Marlon Anderson --- a pinch hitter coming off a rotten year, and who finished his career with a season's 0-4 collar --- is a terrible place to start such a review, but what are gyou going to do? You can't re-write the alphabet. Take it Marlon.

****

Um, thanks a lot there, Edge. I, uh, went 0-4, as Edgy said. I had never played the field this season, struck out once, and had two infield groundouts. I didn't even advance a runner with a productive fuckin' out. So I guess my best day of the season was the last one in my long career --- April 10 (http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/FLO/FLO200904100.shtml). I pinch hit in the top of the eighth for Bobby Parnell in the eighth inning and flied out to right against Leo Nu�ez. It was my only ball out of the infield this season, ineffective though it may have been. Nu�ez would go on to blow the save (Maybe due in a small part to the slight chink my fly put in his armor? No? OK.)

We would go on to lose in the ninth, dropping to 2-2, as the fast-starting Marlins improved to 4-0. It was just one of 92 losses for the 2009 Mets, but it was goodbye, baseball for me.



Hey, Carlos Beltran, surely you had a better best day than that.

[G-Fafif]

I'm Carlos Beltran. Every single day sucked for us 2009 Mets. I don't want to think about any of it, not even my scattered individual accomplishments. Leave me alone, Marlon. It's no wonder we cut you.

[Guest Edgy DC]

That's some serious sabotage.

[Guest Kong76]

I can come up with a few, I suppose. First was with baseballmom
(the metfairy thing is gettting old) and son seeing the new ballpark
on that open house day.

It's a good thread idea, it's more of a post-WS thread for me to come
up with stuff.

[G-Fafif]

That's some serious saboutage.[/quote:4nmlpm1v]

Beltran gets real bitchy when asked to recall 2009 from a player's standpoint.

Personally, like Kase, I had some fine days.

[TransMonk]

For Christ...

I'm Carlos Beltran. While I only played in half of my team's games this season, I'd have to say my best was a 6-4 win at Atlanta on May 4th. I went 2 for 3 with a walk and 4 RBI.

The Mets were down 3 runs going into the top of the sixth. I hit a 2 run bomb and then 2 batters later David Wright hit a 2 run bomb of his own. Viola, we were winning 4-3. I padded the lead with another 2 run homer in the top of the 7th.

How'd you do, Angel Berroa?

[metirish]

Hi , I'm Angel Berroa ,

I filled in at SS for a few weeks , had a few RBI ....I think one was a big one but I can't remember. I have nine kids what the hell do you expect.


How did you do Robinson Cancel?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Hi, I'm Angel Berroa. My best day in theory was the one when JCL suggested I could be the solution to the shortstop crisis that'd plagued the Mets since Cora's thumb injury.

In practice, though, I'd say July 30 was a big day for me, as I doubled in two runs and later scored myself as part of a 5-run second inning against the Rockies that extended the Mets winning streak to five games. However, the hotness, mine and the Mets', was short-lived. The winning streak ended later that day in Game 2 of the doubleheader, and they never got hot again. I would be released within weeks, not the answer they were looking for.

I wonder what Lance Broadway would say his best day was.

[G-Fafif]

I'm Lance Broadway and any day somebody didn't make the porn star joke about my name was an awesome day for me. I usually pitched in lost causes, but I did throw two scoreless innings against the Braves on September 16, which is a game that we didn't lose until the ninth, which wasn't my fault, so that would be my entry.

Say, there's a knock on the door. Why, it's the pizza delivery guy...and his name is Emil Brown! Wokka wokka wokka...

[Guest themetfairy]

Lance says his best day was September 4th, when that cute girl from the CPF took his picture during BP -



Back to Emil Brown - what's your best day?

[G-Fafif]

I've never seen so much enthusiasm to get Robinson Cancel to the podium.

[Guest themetfairy]

I was just cribbing from above. I amended my post based on yours.

[G-Fafif]

I thought we were just mimicking management and pushing Robinson out the door as quickly as possible.

[G-Fafif]

Emil Brown here. I got a start in Washington on June 6. I passed Luis Castillo on the basepath. He played on the same team as me. Not my best day, I suppose, but surely my most memorable.

Will somebody please get Robinson Cancel up in here?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Hey, Robinson here-- I liked July 30. I got to hit once, and didn't have to catch at all, so I had plenty of energy for a postgame mofongo-and-ropa-vieja run (Buffalo's got nice deals on snow tires and wool items, but is a little short on good Spanish food). Plus, unlike the last time I was up in Queens, there was a lot less pressure, which my cardiologist appreciates. Y'know, because I'm older than my "young," "inexperienced" play might lead you to believe.

Over to you, Luis?

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I'm Luis Castillo, and my best day was June 13. I led off, worked some nice counts and popped a couple of singles, Gary Sanford hit a home run, and Fernando Nieve-- nice kid, nice arm-- won a big one for us. But what sticks out most is the crowd.

Usually, Yankee fans-- however supportive they are of their own guys-- can be pretty rude to us. It's no big deal-- we usually tune it out.

But today, these guys just couldn't stop clapping for me. Every time I came up to bat, they clapped and whooped as if it were New Year's back at my Grandmother's house in San Pedro. And when I caught a pop-up? THEY WERE EVEN LOUDER, like they had just won some contest by an incredible stroke of luck.

It was like my own personal playoff game. Gracias, Yankee fans! And gracias in advance, Ramon Castro-- it's your turn.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I really hope that Luis Castillo, for his own sake, has an enduring glorious moment as a Met, like Bucky Dent did in 1978 for that other team. It's the only way he can possibly eclipse the memory of that game-ending pop-up.

I'm glad I wasn't watching when that happened. I still haven't even seen a clip of it, and I don't plan to seek one out. Maybe they'll play it on Mets Hot Stove Report this winter.

[G-Fafif]

I'm Ramon Castro. My best day of 2009 was clearly July 23. I caught a perfect game. That I was wearing a White Sox uniform doesn't make any less wonderful.

Second-best day? Besides May 29, when I found out I wouldn't have to be a Met anymore? Let's say it was May 14, when I provided the ninth-inning RBI to insure we'd beat Brian Wilson and the Giants.

I wonder if Ryan Church even remembers being a Met.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wait a minute. That wasn't Emil Brown. I'm Emil Brown. And that day in Washington, while representing my total Met hit output, actually sucked. I fugged up and we were blown off the field.

My best day was perhaps the day "Big Stupid Tommy" sponsored my baseball-reference.com page (http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brownem01.shtml), declaring "Emil... you will SCREAM his name." That certainly proved true for Edgy June 6 when he attended his only Mets game and watched me pass Castillo as he passed something else. I believe Edgy stayed for that debacle despite having an undiagnosed broken hand that made him painfully unable to clap. The Mets did their part to make sure that wasn't much of an issue.

Anyhow, my best day on the field was the previous day, when I pinch-hit for Brian Schneider with one out in the seventh inning of a 1-1 tie and a runner on first and I walked, putting the tying run in scoring position. (http://leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=7609)

Yeah, our rally fizzled as Sheff whiffed and Cora grounded out, but I did my job. That day any way. And we won. Praise be, we won in extra innings! Two run double by Wright. I remember charging out of the dugout and greeting him with the gang and half of them wondered who I was. Good times! They sure knew my name the next day, by golly!

Yeah, maybe I should change my name so that my initials are DFA, but that day? That day I was king!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

July 10th was a good day.

Also, the day I was traded.

Yeah, I'm also pretty partial to the 10th of July.

Carlos Dos? Hit one out, big guy! We've gotta stay ahead of those Phils!

[Guest attgig]

the cat, Delgado here. My best day was August 11th when I thought I was going to get a chance to play for a month, and get a team to sign me this offseason. Of course I strained my oblique the next day, which made that day the worst, but it's the fact that the worst day of the season was so close that it made the day before that good.

On the field, my best day must've been April 8th against the reds. it was a new season, and I just KNEW we would make it to the playoffs after having blown it the past two years.
I got us on the board early with a 2 run jack, but of course big Mike gave them back 4 runs in the bottom 1/2.
but we clawed back, with me grounding out to score reyes, tying it up that inning, and a couple innings later, taking the lead on my ribbie single. we were up 9-4, but the reds started clawing back, but that's when we saw krod in action, for the save.

I saw this game as the beginning of many games. a tough, scrappy, and a team with an edge, and a pen that was gonna keep us alive.

what was your best day Elmer Fuddessens??

[Guest Edgy DC]

Way-way-wait. Thanks 'Los, but in this country, Delgado is followed by Evans. We also skipped us some Cora.

[G-Fafif]

Way-way-wait. Thanks 'Los, but in this country, Delgado is followed by Evans. We also skipped us some Cora.[/quote:1bt7vsxw]

To say nothing of the surfeit of Emil Browns.

[metirish]

It might help if we had us a nice little alphabetical list for reference. It would speed things up.

[Guest attgig]

whoops. my bad. a bit slow recognizing that whole alphabet thing...

Marlon Anderson*
Carlos Beltran#
Angel Berroa
Lance Broadway
Emil Brown
Robinson Cancel
Luis Castillo#
Ramon Castro
Ryan Church*
Alex Cora*
Carlos Delgado*
Elmer Dessens
Nick Evans
Pedro Feliciano*
Nelson Figueroa#
Casey Fossum*
Jeff Francoeur
Andy Green
Sean Green
Anderson Hernandez#
Livan Hernandez
John Maine
Fernando Martinez*
Ramon Martinez
Patrick Misch
Daniel Murphy*
Jonathon Niese*
Fernando Nieve
Darren O'Day
Angel Pagan#
Bobby Parnell
Mike Pelfrey
Oliver Perez*
J.J. Putz
Tim Redding
Jeremy Reed*
Argenis Reyes#
Jose Reyes#
Francisco Rodriguez
Johan Santana*
Omir Santos
Brian Schneider*
Gary Sheffield
Brian Stokes
Tobi Stoner#
Cory Sullivan*
Jon Switzer*
Ken Takahashi*
Fernando Tatis
Josh Thole*
Wilson Valdez
Billy Wagner*
David Wright

[G-Fafif]

I'm Don Zimmer, 1962 Met who would have fit right in with the 2009 club. I never did much care for alphabetical order.

[Guest attgig]

wait, did someone skip me?

sorry bout that, I got put under for some surgery to my thumb, and I think the anesthesia is finally wearing off.

anyways, my best day? hmm. might've been when my misery was ended when they fixed up my thumb. see, I was playing with a busted thumb for about 2 months, and when they finally put me under, the pain just went away. I guess that's why all my other buddies didn't even try to play with an injury. It just feels so much better when they actually fix you up.

but on the field, I think my best day may have been on 6/27. It was the yankees. we were shut out 5-0. But damn it, no yankee's gonna get a no hitter in my house. not on my watch!


all right... NOW it's elmer's turn.

[Met Hunter]

Thanks Alex. Hi, I'm Elmer. I'd say my best day was August 7th. That was when the Mets called me up for good for the 2009 season. Niese's break was my break. I wouldn't say there was any moment that stood out for me, but things were good. I was back in the bigs, living large. Life was good. Then I handed my Range Rover keys to the Holiday Inn valet and...well you know the rest.

Ok, Nick, pick me up from here, and if you see my truck near Parkside or the Lemon Ice King, please let me know.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Not a good season for me. First Gary Sheffield took my spot on the Mets roster. Then I started out hysterically slow in Buffalo, and I was in Binghamton before I got my shit together.

But I worked my way back. And all that hard work plus some ugly dice rolls on the injury chart landed me back in Queens. YES! I AM BACK! My first game back was just a pinch-hit appearance. (Who did they think I was? Marlon Anderson?)

But thank God for second games of double headers. Because my second game back --- oh, the second --- was a start at CitiField (where, if you recall, I joined David Wright and Dan Murphy in batting practice in a 2008 test of the new field's dimensions) against the Cardinals, a team we saw as rivals for a matchup in the (BAH!) post-season dance.

Well, they were rivals for nothing that day. We pantsed the Redbirds in an 11-0 debacle. Fernando Nieve blanked them for six, the bullpen finished cleanly, and yours truly came through with a fourth inning, two-run shot off of Brad Thompson. I was part of the team! The game was so laughable that I got double-switched out. Save some for tomorrow, kid, right?

Well, I'm still sort waiting for tomorrow, Jerry. Jerry? When might I start again? You know, I hit in eight straight starts when I came up, Jer. So I didn't appreciate the bench-riding in September. No sir. There I was. Waiting with my bat in the half-light of the clubhouse tunnel.



But at least I had a day.

What was your day, Pedro?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

So many games, so little differences between them. But I shined on June 9 against Philly, which the history books ought to show was the apogee of the 2009 abortion. In this game, the Mets were clinging to a lead in the 8th: Santana was going but gave up a leadoff homer to Utley to make it 6-5; Parnell came in next and surrendered a single to Werth.

With Howard and Ibanez due up, who you gonna call? Me, that's who, muthafucka. And I promptly got that fat fuck to hit into a 6-4-3 DP, bringing our win probability soaring from 18% to 84%. Then I got Ibanez to hit another weak grounder to second, and we were out of it. We held on to win by that 6-5 score, moving us to within 2 games of the Phils with 2 more to play in the home series. Of course we coughed both of those up and never got any closer.

Let's call Nelson Figueroa up from Buffalo so he can tell his story.