It Was COLD!

So, I witnessed the near carnage last night at Shea. Not a great beginning for Mr. Glavine. Giving up a solo Home Run to the hated Jimmy Rollins is not what the fans wanted to see. Following that up with 3 walks was also not good. The Phillies saved Tom from further damage there with stupid baserunning. Please tell me why Shane Victorino was running with Ryan Howard at the plate? How stupid is he? Howard, even hitting as poorly as he is, is still a very dangerous hitter (ask Ambiorix Burgos for confirmation). I'll take it though, as I'm sure Tommy did. I'll tell you this, the Phillies keep playing this dumb, and there will be no need to worry about them this season.

Rollins hit another homer in the second, after the Mets tied the game in the bottom of the first as Jose Reyes led off with a single, moved to second on a PLD grounder, and scored on a Beltran single. The fans were not happy. I was freezing a tad (maybe I should have worn mittens? Would that have helped?). It was now 3-1 Phillies.

Bottom of the second, and Alou leads off with a single. Shawn Green takes on for the team, so runners on first and second. Following a Damion Easley fly out, Tom Glavine put down a beautiful sacrifice to move the runners over. Wes Helms continued the Phillies defensive ineptitude, and threw the ball away, allowing Alou to score, and it was 3-2.

Glavine then settled into a rhythm, facing the minimum over the next 4 innings. He went 6, giving up 3 runs, 3 walks with 4 k's (including 2 of Howard). Moyer tried to settle in, but in the fourth, Alou doubled, Green popped out, Easley walked, and Glavine bunted again. This time the catcher fielded the ball and threw Glavine out. Reyes followed with a single for a 4-3 lead. It stayed that way till the 7th, when with one out, Wright his a triple to right. Alou followed with a run scoring single, and it was 5-3. That was all the Mets would need. Joe Smith came on in the 7th and was very impressive. The Show walked a hitter in the 8th, but needed only 9 pitches to retire the side. My thinking is that with the cold, Willie did not want to use Heilman, who had some elbow stiffness last weekend. Wags came on in the 9th, allowed a hit, but shut the door. I do wish he would not scare me so much, but he got the job done. Then it was time to head home. It was funn on the 7 train back to GCT, as fans were doing the "Jose Jose Jose" chant. Jimmy Rollins may have outscored Reyes last night, but the Mets came through.

Other Observations about the Game:

I was very impressed with the crowd when they applauded Lastings Milledge when he pinch hit for Glavine in the 6th. Very loud, considering how few were in attendance. Good for them, and I am happy for Lastings that he got a warm reception. Now, lets keep that up if and when he comes back from NOLA.

The lack of execution with RISP is a concern. I am not on the ledge yet, but Rick Down better start earning his paycheck. You can get away with that against lesser teams, but not better ones. It hurt us in the NLCS, and against Atlanta last weekend. This needs to be fixed NOW!

Can someone explain to me why asshat Yankee fans feel the need to come to Shea, and late in the game opening their jacket to show their jersey? I heard a Yankees suck chant start, and got pissed, thinking it was just fans chanting it because the Mets were winning, but then I saw the asshat a few sections over from me. Dude, that does not make you a big brave man. It makes you look stupid. In the future, people like that should be ignored.

I had my closest ever encounter with a foul ball, as one landed about one section away from me. I should have DVR'd the game, I might have seen myself.

So, my first game of the year is in the books. I plan on going to a few more. I think I'll wait for warmer weather though.

*************Other Stuff***********

Bad news for the Isles, as they lost 4-1. I obviously did not see the game (but I thank the guys at Metsgeek for posting score updates for me), but when you get only 1 shot in a period, odds are you are not going to win. Dubie got heckled a tad in the third per the newspaper, since he had the temerity (that's sarcasm folks) to allow 4 goals on 35 shots.

The good news is Rick was cleared to practice, and flew to the game last night with Wang and other execs. He could possibly play game 2, but Game 3 might be the better answer. Start him at home, with a welcoming crowd. But in Game 2, I would recommend lighting a fire under the ass of Yashin, Satan (who hit a post last night) and Kozlov. Those three need to score.

As for Don Imus, I frankly think he should have been gone a long time ago. He is an idiot, what he said was reprehensible. To those who feel this is a "free speech" issue, it is not. The gov't is not acting, a private employer is. An employer has the right to fire you for pretty much any reason, so long as it is not something prescribed by law (for race, religion, gender, etc). CBS Radio had no choice, advertisers were fleeing in droves. I think the forces of Sharpton and Jackson are hypocrites, as they have used inflammatory remarks in the past themselves, but that has no bearing on this issue, I wish people would realize this.

So, replaces him? Do His Pompousness and the Screaming Ninny move to the AM? Do they get split up with one moving and one staying? One paper wrote yesterday they could go after Michael Kay. I would stab myself in the ear with an icepick if the Yankee Homer was on the air of the home of the Mets. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

This weekend, Mets vs. Nationals. Alex at Metsgeek has your pitching matchups as usual. Isles have Game 2 Saturday night. Let's hope for a winning weekend, shall we?

Oh, and Mike, I rooted for the Rangers last week, and nearly had to break my fingers with a hammer for doing so. That will not happen again.