Seven Red

It’s pouring rain here in Chicago, which means that the tarp is on at Wrigley, and Sunday Night baseball looks doomed on ESPN. But it’s been a good weekend. I have to admit that I was so enraged after the Mets blew the big lead in Pittsburgh – unlike some more insightful Mets bloggers, who correctly diagnosed it as no big deal – that I was nearly put off Mets blogging for the season. It just felt like one of those deflating moments. Earlier this year, the Mets blew a lead against Philly at home, and it sent the team into a three week tailspin. This Pittsburgh thing had all the hallmarks of the same, and maybe I was getting a little twitchy this time.

But then the Flushing Crew (what what? Flushing High School 1992, kid) crashed into the hapless Nats, and all’s right with the world. The sweep of the DCer’s, accomplished with crushing offense and some remarkable defense, put things to right again. The Braves were at a bit of a schedule disadvantage, facing the red hot D-backs, and they faded, though not completely (as would have been the case, I think, if they lost today). Moreover, the Bucko’s just about lit up the Phillies, who dropped to 5 back. Grok this: the Mets have a bigger lead over their next closest division rival than the league leading Bosox. More on that in a second. In fact, the Mets have the biggest lead of any 1st place team in baseball, as of tonight. Let’s hope they can hold on. The Mets also showed off their deadly road stuff once again, which is heartening with a nasty West Coast trip looming, against teams just a wee bit tougher than the Bucs and Nats. (On edit: My bad…Westies will be playing at Shea. Still wanted a reason to mention the best road record in the NL, though…)

But to return to the Pirates. The Met game had ended, so I turned on the audio and gamecast for the PA cross-state rivalry. This was at the beginning of the 7th, Buc’s frame. The Phils were up 4-0, so I chalked it up as a Phillies’ win, no gain no loss, standings-wise. Then the Bucs just opened up. Single, walk, single, double, double, double, single, bang bang bang bang bang. It was a bloodbath. Three Phillies relievers got lit up, one after the other. When the last out was called for the bottom of the 7th, it was suddenly 7-4 Pirates. Just ugly for the Philly boys. And, while I may have been wrong in dating the Mets’ doom to a late-inning rally in Pittsburgh, I had that feeling again here for the Phils. Maybe I’ll be wrong again. But to get lit up like that with a 4 run lead and the division leader’s double-ya just flashing on the big board? That’s gotta hurt.

And now for my Paradoxical Yankee Lovin’ Moment. As readers of this blog know, I really, really, really want to see the Red Sox Nation eat shit this year. I am so sick of these fuckers that I can barely see straight when one of them comes strutting in with the damn Youkilis shirt. So, I’ve thrown in with the Yanks attempt to win the AL East. I know, I know. But the sweet, sweet vision of the Nation having to eat the greatest regular season comeback in baseball history would finally overwhelm their endless yap about the greatest playoff comeback in history, a la 04. It would be the 04 AL Championship series played out in slow motion, and in reverse. As Walter E. Kurtz says in Apocalypse Now, “that’s my dream…it’s my nightmare.” So today the Sox lost and the Yanks won, bringing the lead down to 4 games. Of course, the Yanks now go west to face the Halo’s, while the Sox get a vacation in Tampa. But still. We can dream of a befuddled and stunned Nation, the greatest late-season choke in history, can’t we?

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