As Charles Dickens once said, “It was the best of times and
it was the worst of times.” For the NY
Mets season of "Great Expectations" it was a deserving (and thus surprising) announcement made yesterday that
Jacob deGrom, Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil were all named to the NL All Star Team. Given the pitching exploits of deGrom, the
power of Alonso and the Tony Gwynn-like hitting of Jeff McNeil (who did so
while being thrust into the unaccustomed role of outfielder), they not only are appropriate choices but for once the best of the best for the league, not just the mandatory selection from any bad team.
Previous "old" rookie Scott Rice
In the realm of recent positives came the rookie debut
pitching performance of 29 year old Chris Mazza. He performed admirably in relief of Steve
Matz who was shut down after the long rain delay, hurling 4 IP while giving up
5 hits but just a single run, walking no one and striking out 2. His major league debut ERA is a tidy 2.25 and
although he didn’t overwhelm people with power, the tall righty had a
performance that was probably everything he’d hoped it would be (and
more). When you pitched all over the minors
and independent leagues for the Twins, Marlins, Mariners and Marlins again
before landing in the Mets organization, just reaching the majors before your
30th birthday had to be quite special. To have pitched well enough that people were
questioning why you weren’t left in for another inning (before the bullpen
customarily imploded once again) probably made Mazza feel the experience was
quite surreal having toiled since 2012 to get here.
Lost in the hoopla of the 1969 anniversary celebration, the rain
delay, the 70 minute rain delay and the Seth Lugo meltdown resulting in yet
another bullpen-fueled loss was the 2-hit game by Robinson Cano. It actually was his second 2-hit game in a row. Baby steps, for sure, but perhaps he’s finally
beginning to shake off the "Hard Times" of his season-long slump and demonstrate the All-Star performance
that landed him that ten-year deal from the Mariners after his great career
with the Yankees. He then followed that up with ANOTHER two-hit game on Sunday night, but got nailed on the wrist and who knows what that will do to his fledgling comeback.
Then the worst of times resulted in a pure Metsian snafu
that a high school intern likely couldn’t execute, let alone a so-called professional
organization. The Mets did a very nice memorial
tribute to the gentlemen from the 1969 team like Tommie Agee who sadly are no
longer with us. Seldom-used outfielder Jim
Gosger and 2-inning pitcher Jesse Hudson made the video which announcer Gary Cohen
said “brought a tear to his eye”. The
problem is that both of these gentlemen are very much alive! You really can’t make this stuff up! The Mets have already reached out to Gosger
to issue an apology and were attempting to reach Hudson to do the same. You really can’t help shaking your head in disbelief
that a thoroughly planned event didn’t have someone checking the veracity of
the information provided before even committing to make the video let alone
showing it. Oh, and the coup de grace was displaying Jesse Hudson's name as "Jessie". The Mets organization reached a new low and deserves all of the ridicule coming from the local and national press for how they handled this celebration.
10 comments:
I am just sad that Keon Broxton was not there to see it - or future Mets fans might have been fondly discussing Broxton in 2069. Maybe they'll be talking about Alonso's 1,000th career homer. Or Jeff McNeil's 4000th hit.
I don't plan to attend in 2069 either way, though - I already have other plans.
I'm sure those plans can be altered. Don't be such a stiff.
I'll slip in with the bullpen cadavers - they'll never know.
Hey, we got a terrific zombie performance in the 9th last night.
Edwin Diaz should not get too excited after his save last night, with the Yanks and Phils due up for the next 5 games. Well, it is Fireworks Week.
Did you attend the 2019 ceremony
Bill, we did not - I was sure, though, that Reese would have been invited by Terry Collins. He was not, though, and Reese had a Tom Collins to get over it.
Bill
David Rubin has been there for the entire series.
Looking forward to what he writes about it.
And a Matt Harvey Wallbanger for good measure.
I was there with my Whaysapp group (minus you and Reese, of course).
Other than the rain and of course the results, it was a great experience.
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