Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Luis Castillo stumbles on to the Citi Field Curse

Up to now, the Mets could not say they were the victims of bad luck. Every team has injuries, and while the Mets have had more than their share, they must take the blame for lack of depth in the organization. There are also continuing questions in how the team deals with injuries.

But when Luis Castillo gets hurt simply going down the dugout steps and must be carried to the clubhouse, it's time to wonder if more malevolent forces are at work. Is there a Yankee fan or a Phillie fan somewhere with a box of voodoo dolls?

If Castillo ends up on the disabled list, it will mean that just about every Met position player will have spent time there. Even backups Alex Cora, Angel Pagan, Fernando Martinez and Ramon Martinez have been on the DL, or in the case of the latter two, are still there.

David Wright and Daniel Murphy have been spared, but perhaps our sinister Phillie fan took a more subtle approach with them.

Wright was not injured, just sapped of his power. Murphy was fine, except when he was in the outfield, when he would lose the ability to stay on his feet.

Come to think of it, a perfectly-timed voodoo spell could also explain why Castillo dropped that popup.

Only Omir Santos has been immune to the spells among the position players. Santos has neither been injured nor humiliated. Instead, he was responsible for the high point of the season - the ninth-inning homer off of Jonathan Papelbon.

Santos came out of nowhere to take a share of the catcher's job. But the vibe around Santos is so positive that, even when Santos' success got Ramon Castro banished to Chicago, Castro ended up catching Mark Buehrle's perfect game. And Castro is also in a pennant race.

Or maybe Santos is living some sort of "Twilight Zone reality" in which he has all the luck and nobody around him has any.

Then again, Santos can't be that lucky - he is on a team that is nine games out of the wild card.

Photo by therozblog

6 comments:

Alvaro Fernandez Ravelo said...

Omir Santos is doing a Luis Sojo ...

Uncle Mike said...

Oh, Jon, Jon, Jon... I realize that, as a Met fan, your only experience with curses has been the Curse of the Billy Goat (one time, with the 1969 Cubs, and it worked toward your benefit), the Curse of Judge Hofheinz (one time, with the 1986 Astros, and it also worked toward your benefit) and the Curse of Kevin Mitchell (every Met season since 1986, not to your benefit). So I can understand why you don't understand such things.

Let's be clear about something: If there is a recently-placed curse on the Mets, it was not a Yankee Fan who put it there. Think about it: Why would one of us put a curse on Luis Castillo? He's won almost as many games for the Yankees as Carl Pavano did!

If anybody believes in curses, it's got to be Johan Santana. How could he not, for he was supposed to be the difference-maker for the Mets, and he has made no difference at all.

And then there's Francisco Rodriguez: He was supposed to be the difference-maker this season, and he blew another one last night. I know the Cardinals are a good team, but, still, you lead 7-5 in the 9th with a closer that good on the mound, you're supposed to win.

And then to hit a batter with the bases loaded in the 10th, bringing Albert Pujols to the plate... Greg Prince of "Faith and Fear in Flushing" is right, it's "Mets-ochism."

In "Bull Durham," Susan Sarandon said, "The only church that truly feeds the soul, day in and day out, is the Church of Baseball." She must have been in character: In real life, she's a Met fan, and how could a Met fan truly believe that baseball feeds the soul? Feeds ON the soul is more like it.

Jonmouk71 said...

Wasn't it in 2007 that the Yankees suffered a bunch of hamstring (and other) injuries and they fired their new strength and conditioning coach about a month into the season? I kind of like the internet chatter that the Mets built Citi Field on an old Indian burial grounds......

Alvaro Fernandez Ravelo said...

Now the Mets can pickup Cody Ransom!

Jorge Says No! said...

I fear that just by watching the Mets I will soon tear my hammy or fall down the stairs as I leave for work...

Ed Leyro (and Joey Beartran) said...

In my opinion, it was the cat that ran near the Mets dugout on Opening Night that cursed the Mets this season. We were all healthy then. Then, the CAT-astrophe happened and half of the team got hurt.

The black cat ran behind Mets' third baseman David Wright in the on-deck circle just as the black cat walked behind Cubs' third baseman Ron Santo in the on-deck circle in 1969. We all know what happened to the Cubs after the cat intervened.

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