Down to 2

Thanks to the Braves inability to play good baseball (read Matt Diaz unable to catch a simple fly ball, he made Manny look like a Gold Glover there), the counting shal be 2 for the Mets to clinch. The outcome last night looked to be in doubt in the 6th, as Josh Willingham continued to torture the Mets, hitting his 3rd Home Run of the series to put Florida up 4-3. But the boys were able to tie the game in the 9th inning to force the game into extras.

Manny thanks to Miguel (Dorn) Cabrera, who in the ninth inning actually tried to make a highlight real play. Unfortunately for the Fish, Hanley Ramirez was the guy who should have fielded the ball, as Cabrera only succeeded in deflecting the ball past Ramirez, allow the tieing run to score. The best part of the play was that Carlos Delgado went the other way with the pitch. Now if only he could do that when the shift is fully on.

The Fish would be plagued by defensive lapses in the 11th, when the Mets were able to put the winning runs across the board. First, a wild pitch allowed Jose Valentin to score the evenutal winning run. Then, Hanley Ramirez had a throwing error trying to get Ledee at third on a grounder by Jose Reyes. The damage was completed by PLD, singling to score Reyes, who had advanced to second on the Ramirez error. Billy Wagner notched his 38th save, despite allowing a single to Willingham. Note to Rick Peterson, lets pitch Willingham a little more carefully next time, shall we?

Another note fromlast night, more good bullpen work. Glavine pitched OK, his usual 6 innings, 100 pitches. He was followed by Roberto Hernandez, Mota, Heilman (who got the win with 2 more shutout innings) and Wagner. The pen pitched 5 scoreless innings, allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk. They continue to get the job done. The Mota pickup, which many thought was a disaster in the making at the time, has turned into another gem. Remind me not to doubt Omar so much in the future.

So, the Magic Number is now 2. The Braves can no longer win the Division, and are all but eliminated from the Wild Card, being 6.5 games back, behind 5 other teams with 17 games to play. They stand at 7 games under 500. Not that I'm complaining or anything. Pardon me while I chuckle a tad. The wheels fell off for the Braves this year, dramatically. Now, Braves fans are thinking, "Well, Hampton comes back next year". Good luck with that. They guy is coming off major surgery, you really expect him to be great next year? Smoltz is all but gone as a FA, and Hudson has been awful. Larry Jones is a walking training room. Frenchy likes to strike out. The days of Braves dominance may be done.


On a non-baseball note, I read a nice "feel good" NCAA football story yesterday in the New York Times (yes, I do read more than the Post, News and Newsday). Seems a safety for Clemson, Ray Ray McElrathbey has decided to care for his younger brother, aged 11. Seems their dad is a gambling addict, and their mom is a drug addict. Ray Ray decided that rather than allowing his brother to go into foster care, he would take him in. Now, this being the NCAA, he was not allowed to receive any support from the University to help, or from others who may wish to assist. The school petitioned the NCAA, and they rightfully granted a waiver, allowing Ray Ray to receive extra financial assistance from the school and others not connected with the school as well. Teammates have helped him out, taking his brother for burgers and such. Others have helped with day care and while he is traveling for games. Had the NCAA not apprvoed this help, he would have lost his eligibility.

Now, this may not be a story that gets a lot of press outside of the Times, and many may be thinking, "big deal", but in my book, given all the recent stories of college athletes getting into trouble with the law, it is nice to see an athlete do something positive. Here is a kid who has had a tough upbringing by all accounts, yet he is mature enough to step up to the plate and take care of his sibling. The story gave me a nice feeling when I read it last night. I hope it does the same for you.