Benjamin Grimm

I know he's made a few that did remind me of the one with Feliciano last year, but I didn't get the sense that it came from panic. I suppose it was a different situation. Or, of course, it had something to do with MY frame of mind at the time. Our perceptions are based on a mixture of what we see and what we're feeling at the time.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Wasn't the Marlon Anderson triple game against Florida? (I may be confusing my Marlins with my Marlons.) I think that was the same game when Willie made his panic move, pulling Feliciano after one walk with a three-run lead. That was the game when I became irrevocably opposed to his remaining as Mets manager. I remembered correctly. This was the game: http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=7384 The Mets were leading 7-4, Marlins batting in the bottom of the ninth. Feliciano opens the inning by allowing a single and Willie pulls him for Sosa, and leaves Sosa in to give up a double, a ground ball out, and two more singles before getting the second and third outs. That quick hook just killed me. It sent a message of panic to me, and, I suspect, to the team. The Mets, though, did go on to win their next three games. And in the third of those games, when Delgado hit a three-run homer, I thought that they had turned things around. That three-game winning streak was followed by five consecutive losses at Shea. (Three to Washington, one to St. Louis, and one to the Cardinals.) Maine then pitched his famous gem in the second-to-last game of the season and turned things over to Glavine for the final game...

I thought Kent McCord was that guy from the Simpsons? I guess I was... wrong.

I'm pretty sure I was the first to use the C-word (not the one that Fman uses) in this forum. http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/7300/f14_t7390.shtml I see I actually took "credit" for it in the final post! What kicked off my dread reflex was the way the Mets played the day before in the final game against the Phillies. They were playing like they were afraid to lose. But even though I saw it coming, I think, deep down, that I believed they would turn it around before it was too late. I had, like others, little hope that they'd go far in the playoffs, but I really wanted them to at least get that division title.

Are you saying he corked his bat with semen?

I think so. If they're in third place on May 1, though, all bets are off.

I was watching on TV. (I was stuck with the Marlins telecast, which made it all the more unpleasant. Tommy Hutton was crowing with delight at the Mets misery.) Shea was rocking as the game started. There was so much positive energy there. And then BOOM, the place suddenly became a morgue. It was nice that the Mets had that one final chance to reverse the collapse. It was horrible that they blew it so quickly, and so convincingly. (Of course, there was still hope; the Phillies had a later start time and had they also lost, there would have been a tie-breaking playoff game at Citizens Bank Park the following day. But that seemed like, and was, a slender hope to hang on to.)

Over the years I've received several e-mails that lead me to believe that Ron Swoboda has left a long trail of illegitimate children. My estimate is that about 5 per cent of Americans under the age of 40 have some Ron Swoboda DNA.

Wasn't the Marlon Anderson triple game against Florida? (I may be confusing my Marlins with my Marlons.) I think that was the same game when Willie made his panic move, pulling Feliciano after one walk with a three-run lead. That was the game when I became irrevocably opposed to his remaining as Mets manager. I guess this is the month to remember the collapse, whether we want to or not. Maybe it will be cathartic to recall last year's misery while the Mets push on to a successful finish this year. (Or, if they fall apart again, we'll at least be better prepared to cope with it.) I think I want a World Series championship this year more than any other since 1986. A quick eradication of the 2007 collapse would be much better than the 16 years it took for the Phillies. Combine that with this being the last year at Shea, it would be a particularly good year to win it all.

Good idea. Done!

I think earlier on we were thinking that Delgado's money would be freed up, but that's not looking too likely anymore. Pedro's salary is going away. I'm not sure they'll be paying Oliver Perez anything at all next year, but if they don't, they'll still have to pay whoever replaces him. Alou's salary is going away too. I think that this winter they're going to have to pay a reliever (unless they want to commit to Ayala, which seems a bit risky to me at this point) and a starter. Fans are going to want Rodriguez and Sabathia, of course, but there are probably other options who will cost less and still help the team.

Voting for the first of the two slugfests against the Nationals at Shea, Tuesday night's 10-8 win, will close on Friday morning. Schaefer POTG 9/9/08 - Mets 10, Nationals 8

Well, yes. I didn't mean to sound like George Steinbrenner there. I look more to the Braves of the 1990's as a model. They would contend every year, they'd nurture and promote prospects, and they'd fill in with key veterans when they had a hole to fill.

The 0.2 points awarded to Joe Smith (0.1 by Frayed Knot and 0.1 by Johnny Lunchbucket) were discarded because Smith didn't appear in the game. VOTING FOR THIS GAME IS NOW CLOSED Totals for September 7, 2008 (14 votes) New York Mets 6, Philadelphia Phillies 3 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceCarlos Delgado64.704.623-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, SO.Johan Santana54.323.88(W) 7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO.Brian Stokes4.440.320.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Damion Easley4.300.312-4, R, 2B, 3B, SO.Luis Ayala2.700.191.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.Brian Schneider2.540.181-2, RBI, BB, SO.Carlos Beltran2.340.171-4, R, RBI, SO.Pedro Feliciano1.790.130.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Ryan Church1.720.122-4, R, SO.Endy Chavez0.650.050-0.David Wright0.300.020-3, R, SO.

Yeah, it was something about urine.

VOTING FOR THIS GAME IS NOW CLOSED Totals for September 7, 2008 (9 votes) Philadelphia Phillies 6, New York Mets 2 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceDavid Wright7.680.851-4, R, 2B, RBI.Carlos Beltran7.390.821-4, 2B, RBI.Nick Evans6.450.721-3, R, 2B, BB, SO.Scott Schoeneweis5.650.631.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO.Damion Easley5.650.632-4.Brandon Knight5.510.611.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.Nelson Figueroa5.370.601.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Duaner Sanchez5.000.561.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Robinson Cancel2.900.321-2, BB.Aaron Heilman1.570.170.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO.Pedro Feliciano1.080.120.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO.Pedro Martinez0.500.06(L) 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO.

I liked that Uzbekistan show too. It was also very funny when he had to buy a gift for a new baby. I forget what the gift was, but it was unusual (by American standards) and it was fun watching him try to put aside his own reservations and pick out the right item. (I wish I remembered what it was!)

His mom.

I don't know. I was pretty confident with the 7-game lead, I think. (We could look back in the archives and see what we were all thinking.) It was after losing this game, if I recall correctly, that I first felt the collapse coming on. I do like the softness of the schedule, but I took comfort in that last year, too. And seeing how tough the Nationals played over the last two days didn't make me feel warm and fuzzy about next week.

="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]I think Bourdain is a riot but he's also a major MFY fan. I love his show. I've seen him eat all kinds of gross things (that's not why I love his show, by the way) but the only time I ever squirmed while watching was when he went to the Bronx and gave a five-minute loving tribute to Yankee Stadium. Ewww. He has, though, inspired me to try all kinds of food where I might have hesitated in the past. It's rare that I get any kind of inspiration at all from TV people, so in that respect, Anthony Bourdain has been somewhat influential in my life. And when my formerly picky son (now 11) tries something different, I tell him, "Anthony Bourdain would be proud of you!" I just wish he wasn't a Yankee fan. (Bourdain, that is. Both my children are fully schooled in the evilness of the Yankee empire.)

I hear you. Here's another way of looking at the road ahead. There are 33 games left that we care about. (I'm putting aside the Wild Card here, because that makes things too complicated.) Of those 33, 17 will be played by the Mets and 16 by the Phillies. With a magic number of 14, we need a happy outcome in 14 of those 33 games. That means things have to go our way 42.4% of the time for the Mets to win the division. Let's hope that that number steadily decreases in the days ahead.

I'm thinking more of Fuentes than Rodriguez. If that "leak" was just a heads up to the fans not to expect Rodriguez, then I have less of a problem with it.

VOTING FOR THIS GAME IS NOW CLOSED Totals for September 5, 2008 (10 votes) Philadelphia Phillies 3, New York Mets 0 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceMike Pelfrey35.723.57(L) 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO.Daniel Murphy19.931.992-4, 2 2B, SO.Brian Stokes8.210.821.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.David Wright3.630.361-3, 2B, BB, SO.Ricardo Rincon3.130.310.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.Duaner Sanchez2.430.240.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Carlos Beltran1.900.191-4, 2B, SO.Carlos Delgado1.550.161-4.

Smith 1 Ayala 1 Wright 3.6 Beltran 2.2 Tatis 2.2

Smith 0.8 Stokes 0.7 Ayala 0.7 Delgado 3 Beltran 2 Church 1 Easley 1 Reyes 0.4 Wright 0.4