Casey Stengel, when he managed the NY Mets in 1962 to the worst season ever in the history of Major League baseball, observed that the Mets would improve when their bad players left the Mets and played for other teams.
Tonight was one of those moments. Armando Benitez is the closer for the San Francisco Giants. Shea Stadium, however, is not a happy place for Armando. Mets fans remember him in Game 1 of the Subway Series. The Mets had the game and all Armando had to do was to pitch one inning against the Yankees. He blew it. Actually Armando had a habit of decompressing in big games for the Mets. They finally dumped him.
Tonight he came in against the Mets with a one run lead. He walked the fastest guy on the Mets, Jose Reyes. He didn't make Reyes steal second, Armando balked. Reyes eventually ended up on third with Carlos Delgado, dangerous power hitter at the plate. Armando figured a way to get Reyes off the base paths. He balked....again. He balked in a run to tie the game. Needless to say, Armando decompressed and threw a juicy fastball to Delgado. Delgado hit it. The ball landed in Yonkers and the Mets won. Every Met fan knew that Armando was going to give up a home run to Delgado. It was a moment of poetic justice.
Casey was right. The Mets have scattered their bad players around the league and are currently in first place.
1 comment:
Switching ove from the NBA game, the only pitch I saw was the one that landed in Yonkers.
At least you don't have a dozen players on the DL (like the A's).
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