Script Changes

It's not news to Mets fans, particularly anyone who has been following the team since Turner Field opened in 1997, but nothing good has ever happened to the Mets at Turner Field. I mean, sure, they've won some games here and there, and they've swept some series on rare occasions, but for the most part, nothing good ever happens to the Mets in Atlanta. Whether it's umpires blowing calls at home plate, or players abandoning fundamentals, or Larry being a general nuisance, something terrible usually happens to the Mets when they go to Atlanta, and the result is that they generally lose games. I don't think they won a game there at all between 2003 and 2005, and I believe they've only won about 2 games there since 2007.

Even without Larry around to wreak havoc, the Braves still feature all the pieces designed to annoy me. Dan Uggla—remember him?—is there now, and some Uptons are involved. This Andrelton Simmons fellow is drawing a lot of sizzle in spite of the fact that he poses as little more than a glorified Rey Ordoñez. Then, there's their closer, Craig Kimbrel, who everyone fawns and drools over like he's the second coming of Mariano Rivera except that people gloss over the fact that every time he's had to close out a big game, he's shit the bed. So...yeah. No love lost for the Braves.

Tonight's game seemed destined to follow in the footsteps of all those other games. The Mets broke out to an early lead thanks to the continued success of John Buck, but the Braves chipped away and chipped away, and ultimately tied the game in the 5th. It didn't help that Shaun Marcum couldn't keep himself together. But whatever. If the Braves didn't strike then, they would have struck later on. And they did, in the 7th, courtesy of a walk and an inopportune Wild Pitch, setting the stage for All Star Andrelton Simmons to tap into a Fielder's choice that probably would have been a Double Play had the ball been better hit, but them's the breaks. Mike Minor hadn't given up a hit since the 2nd inning. And there went the Mets in this game.

Except that for reasons I can't quite understand, the Braves removed Minor from the game. Marlon Byrd promptly hit a Home Run off Eric O'Flaherty in the 8th inning, re-tying the game.

So, the Mets won't lie down so easily, will they? That's OK. Braves Folk Hero du Jour Evan Gattis answered Byrd's Home Run with one of his own off Brandon Lyon. Braves lead once again. Braves fans doing their little tomahawk chop dance that brings me right on the verge of homicide every time I hear it. The unhittable Craig Kimbrel coming in for the 9th. We already know how the script ends. May as well pack up and go home.

Except that David Wright decided to man up and throw a wrench into that plan. Kimbrel had him late on a pair of fastballs, but, pro that he is, Wright shortened up his swing and deposited the next pitch in the Center Field bleachers, tying the game again, and hanging a BS on Kimbrel. I found this to be a particularly gratifying Home Run, particularly since Keith Hernandez—Keith Hernandez!—had spent the entire inning with his lips firmly glued to Kimbrel's ass.

Still, the Braves appeared primed to make Wright's Home Run a footnote in the bottom of the 9th. Ramiro Peña (who was a former Yankees prospect, so you know he's got to be good) doubled off Lyon, and then got sacrificed to 3rd. Here we go again. Another game in Atlanta destined to end with something stupid happening. But instead of sticking with Lyon to the death, Terry Collins instead went to Bobby Parnell. All Parnell did was get Jordan Schafer to fly out to center—probably deep enough to score Peña, but shallow enough to scare him out of trying—and Justin Upton to ground out, keeping the game tied and into another extra inning affair.

I still wasn't entirely convinced that the Mets were just prolonging the inevitable, because they still had to score more runs in order to win, and through 9 innings, they'd only managed 5 hits, 4 of which had fortuitously left the yard. Jordan Walden came in for Atlanta in the 10th, and while Keith spent a good 15 minutes expounding on his bizarre delivery, the Mets once again got to work. Jordany Valdespin worked a 2-out walk, which seemed innocuous enough, but in reality it set one of Terry Collins' more ingenious plans in motion. Bobby Parnell, the next batter, would surely have been hit for under most circumstances. But here he was, coming to the plate.

Only in retrospect was it evident that Parnell was simply there to square for a bunt and distract Gattis enough to allow Valdespin to steal 2nd. At worst, Valdespin is caught and Parnell goes out for another inning. Instead, Valdespin was safe, Mike Baxter subsequently pinch hit and walked, and Tejada and Murphy followed with run-scoring hits. Just the way Collins drew it up.

3 tidy, uneventful outs from Jeurys Familia later and, amazingly, the Mets had a 7-5 win that you sort of had to pinch yourself over. The Mets battled back in a game where Atlanta's groundswell probably should have overcome them. They tied a game in Atlanta where normally they would normally have meekly faded off into the night. They took an extra inning lead and held it. This isn't the script that these Mets/Braves games usually follow. I hope to see it happen more often.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

I'll be straight: I probably watched about 3 innings in total of the Mets/Braves series over the last weekend. I also missed tonight's forgettable affair with the Nationals (I only assume it was forgettable; I was out late and had put on Football rather than the Mets game, primarily because I forgot the Mets were on, and only later did I get an ESPN ScoreCenter buzz telling me the Mets had lost). Judging from the results, I can only assume I didn't miss much, outside of the weekend-long Chipper Jones Farewell Party (and yes, the cynical part of me wanted to call it the Chipper Jones Crotch-Grabbing Festival. But I'll be nice for once).

I can get behind the Mets honoring Chipper Jones, since he was, more or less, as worthy an adversary as they have ever seen. Whenever the Mets and Braves were locked in battle, particularly when they were both doing well, there was Chipper Jones, coming around to screw everything up for the Mets. In his younger days, Chipper was that swaggering, arrogant prick of a ballplayer who always beat the Mets and made us dislike him in the process. He played the part of the villain perfectly. He routinely killed the Mets and generally wrecked whatever aspirations of greatness they might have had in the process. In fact, he almost singlehandedly ruined the 1999 season in September, before a miracle finish righted the ship. And, of course, in the process, there was the famous quote that endeared him to basically nobody, and led to years of his being booed, heckled and called "Larry," repeatedly.

Chipper Jones had made himself the kind of villain that John Rocker only wished he could have been. He talked his shit, he backed it up, and then he spent the next several years keeping his mouth shut. In later years, Chipper would soften, eventually shedding some light on his quote, and even naming his son for Shea Stadium. But, he was still Larry. He'll always be Larry. Larry is to the Mets what Reggie Miller was to the Knicks: The ultimate adversary. The guy we loved to hate. And with Larry finally heading off into retirement, sure, the Mets/Braves rivalry may still exist, but it won't be the same again.

Bigmouth Strikes Again

I'll admit that I was as surprised as anyone to hear that David Wright had copped the NL's Gold Glove for 3rd Basemen this past week. I had figured that Ryan Zimmerman was the most likely candidate, although you can't really say there was a clear favorite in the race (I know Rolen has been the perennial winner here, but with his essentially dropping dead this season, the award has opened up again). The Silver Slugger award that Wright took home on Friday was not nearly as much a surprise. I'd like to see a convincing argument anywhere that Wright didn't deserve that one, and when the NL MVP award is announced on November 20th (the effort to extend the Baseball season as far into the Winter as possible), Wright likely won't win, but he'll get strong consideration.

Nobody will confuse Wright's fielding prowess with other Gold Glove Mets such as Robin Ventura or Rey Ordonez. But he handled his chances admirably well, and despite 21 errors, made some key plays when they were needed the most. Of course, Wright is helped by his popularity (which is what most of these awards really boil down to), the fact that he's his team's marquee player, and his ESPN factor (that by which all sports figures seem to be judged in today's society).

But then there's this little paragraph buried deep in the bowels of David O'Brien's Braves Blog in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"When I found out [Wright won] I was speechless, for quite some time. Certainly the guys with the least amount of errors and best fielding percentage quite obviously didn’t win it."

"I wouldn’t have been disappointed had someone like Feliz or Ramirez won it. I’m a little confused by the final tally — that’s a head-scratcher for me."

-Larry Jones

When will Larry ever learn? I know that it's his new MO, since he's getting up there in years and his team has crumbled around him, to become this new, outspoken voice about the "good ol' days," but it's not as though he deserved the Gold Glove over Wright. Wright's response was, of course, typical classy Wright, as it appears in a rare positive Mets piece in Sunday's Post:

"Chipper Jones plays for the Braves. Honestly I could care less. I respect what Chipper does in this game. I respect Chipper as a player. But what he says to the papers doesn't mean anything to me personally. I don't take anything he says to heart. Obviously I think I can be better defensively. There's no doubt about it. But I have a Gold Glove, and that's the bottom line, and that's something I'm very proud of, and I feel like I'm getting better and better defensively, and obviously managers and coaches have seen that."

-David Wright

Larry, nobody likes you here anyway, and anything you say in regards to the Mets will just draw the ire of the fans even more. Obviously, you and your team have fallen on a bit of hard times over the past couple of seasons, and really, that's a damn shame. Perhaps you have some residual bitterness over the way Wright and the Mets have handled the Braves over the past couple of years (see above). Or perhaps you're upset that the stadium that bears your daughter's name is being torn down after next season. But is there really any good reason for you to attack David Wright like that? I don't think so. What next, you'll complain that you didn't get a Silver Slugger, either? You're old, you're bitter, and you're ugly. Shut up, Larry.

Chipper "Shocked" by Wright Gold Glove [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
2 For The Money [Tabloid Rag]