Before last night, David Wright was evoking memories of another captain who overstayed his welcome in the top part of the lineup. Then Wright showed how wrong those of us who doubted him were when he hit a two-run homer in his first home at bat in the World Series and later singled in two more runs to put Game 3 out of reach. The Mets' bats woke up to the tune of nine runs, and not a moment too soon. Now it's a Series again.
While Noah Syndergaard set the tone with his first pitch, high and inside, got twelve straight outs at one point, and worked out of a based-loaded jam in the sixth when he was already over 100 pitches, most of his final numbers - 6 innings, 3 earned runs, 7 hits, 2 walks - were comparably to Matt Harvey's in Game 1 - 6 innings, 3 earned runs, 5 hits, 2 walks. Syndergaard struck out six to Harvey's two, had a lot more swings and misses, and of course threw that opening tone-setter, but it was the Met bats that made the most dramatic improvement from the first two games.
It's even debatable how much of a game-changer, much less a Series-changer, Syndergaard's first pitch was. The initial results were not good - by the second inning, Syndergaard had given up three runs and Jon Niese was warming up. One could have argued at that point that Syndergaard had angered the Royals. But then Syndergaard retired all nine batters he faced in the third, fourth and fifth on his way to twelve in a row. And while the performances of Harvey and Jacob deGrom in Game 2 raised speculation that the Mets' young pitchers were worn out from pitching deep into October, Syndergaard got his biggest out with the bases loaded in the sixth on his 104th pitch.
But debating on who was the biggest hero last night for the Mets is like arguing over which is the best doughnut at Dough. Both Thor and the Captain came through in a must-win situation. Curtis Granderson hit his second homer in three World Series games.
Along with moving Wright down in the order, I also wondered before the game if Michael Conforto should be benched and if Juan Uribe was really healthy enough to be on the roster. Then Conforto threw out Alex Gordon at third and drove in a run with an infield hit. And Uribe, in his first plate appearance in over a month, singled in a run and later scored. It was that kind of night.
After Game 2, the Mets looked dead. After Game 3, things look much better. The Mets have a rested Steven Matz going in Game 4 against Chris Young, who is pitching on three days rest after throwing over 50 pitches in relief in Game 1. And the Mets have that great Citi Field crowd behind them. Let's go Mets - and Matz!
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Mets-Royals World Series Game 2 - deGrominated
Game 1 was bad enough, but Game 2 was even worse. At least the Mets could have and probably should have won Game 1. But the Mets were outplayed in every phase in Game 2. The hitting and pitching issues that surfaced in Game 1 look much worse now. And the Royals are halfway to the title.
After Game 1, I rationalized that Matt Harvey had pitched well enough for five innings before giving up the lead in the sixth. In Game 2, Jacob deGrom did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. After four, he had allowed no runs and one hit. But then it all fell apart for deGrom and the Mets. In the fifth inning, he allowed four earned runs on five hits. deGrom did not come out for the sixth.
After two games, a trend looks to be developing. The Met starters can't strike out the Royals - just four Ks combined in 11 innings. And while the Mets needed to blow past innings limits just to get to the World Series, the starters now appear less able to go deep into games.
Starting pitching was supposed to be the big advantage for the Mets. Johnny Cueto allowed eight earned runs in two innings in his previous start and has been erratic since his trade to Kansas City. But Cueto held the Mets to just two hits and became the first American League pitcher to throw a complete game since Jack Morris in 1991.
Game 1 seemed to emphasize that the Royals would have their best chance to win once the games went to the bullpen. But the Royals were able to win Game 2 without using their bullpen at all, keeping them rested.
It was inevitable that Daniel Murphy would cool off. But not only has nobody else stepped up, but it's become more evident that much of the Mets lineup has been lousy throughout the entire postseason. Wilmer Flores has a .669 OPS with no homers and no RBI. Yoenis Cespedes has an OPS of .631.Travis d'Arnaud OPS is .595, David Wright's is .540, and Michael Conforto, just 1-for-20, has a batting average of .050 and an OPS of .325.
A great Game 3 from Noah Syndergaard and a mediocre performance in Game 4 from Chris Young, who threw 53 pitches in Game 1, and this series could be tied. So there's still hope. But that hope is slipping away fast.
After Game 1, I rationalized that Matt Harvey had pitched well enough for five innings before giving up the lead in the sixth. In Game 2, Jacob deGrom did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. After four, he had allowed no runs and one hit. But then it all fell apart for deGrom and the Mets. In the fifth inning, he allowed four earned runs on five hits. deGrom did not come out for the sixth.
After two games, a trend looks to be developing. The Met starters can't strike out the Royals - just four Ks combined in 11 innings. And while the Mets needed to blow past innings limits just to get to the World Series, the starters now appear less able to go deep into games.
Starting pitching was supposed to be the big advantage for the Mets. Johnny Cueto allowed eight earned runs in two innings in his previous start and has been erratic since his trade to Kansas City. But Cueto held the Mets to just two hits and became the first American League pitcher to throw a complete game since Jack Morris in 1991.
Game 1 seemed to emphasize that the Royals would have their best chance to win once the games went to the bullpen. But the Royals were able to win Game 2 without using their bullpen at all, keeping them rested.
It was inevitable that Daniel Murphy would cool off. But not only has nobody else stepped up, but it's become more evident that much of the Mets lineup has been lousy throughout the entire postseason. Wilmer Flores has a .669 OPS with no homers and no RBI. Yoenis Cespedes has an OPS of .631.Travis d'Arnaud OPS is .595, David Wright's is .540, and Michael Conforto, just 1-for-20, has a batting average of .050 and an OPS of .325.
A great Game 3 from Noah Syndergaard and a mediocre performance in Game 4 from Chris Young, who threw 53 pitches in Game 1, and this series could be tied. So there's still hope. But that hope is slipping away fast.
Contest: Win a Ruben Tejada autographed baseball gift package, courtesy of Verizon
- Ruben Tejada autographed baseball
- Mets cap (official MLB World Series edition)
- Lipstick-sized phone charger
- Big League Chew gum
- Black Verizon tote
This contest is only open to readers in the continental U.S. Please enter between now and tomorrow (Friday, October 30) at 5:00 p.m. We will pick a winner at random before Game 3 of the World Series Friday.
You may remember that Verizon got me into a sweet Citi Field suite on Opening Day, and lent me a Verizion Ellipsis 8 tablet to take pictures with (my shocking shot with Mr. Met came from the camera in the tablet!) Incidentally, if you are in the market for a tablet, I highly recommend the Ellipsis 8. And don't forget the Verizon charging station at Citi Field: I have used it more than once to charge my iPhone at!
Verizon also has some tips at this link and below for baseball fans to offer a seamless mobile experience for the World Series games at Citi Field this Friday, Saturday and Sunday:.
• Keep your selfie game on point. Lose the selfie sticks out of respect for your fellow fans, but gain more “likes” with selfies that don’t just highlight your face, but include the field green and scoreboard in the background. If you’re taking the subway, snap a shot getting off the 7 train to capture the energy of the crowd before the first pitch.
• Share updates in real time with your family and friends. Love what you just saw? Tweet it, upload a picture of it and tell your friends. There is no such thing as oversharing when it comes to the championship.
• Ensure your connection is strong. Verizon has increased capacity at Citi Field by adding more sites and allocating more spectrum to LTE so customers should experience a fast and reliable connection during the series. Fans can also leverage Verizon’s free Wi-Fi in the stadium.
• Stay fully charged in the stands. Don’t let the fear of your battery running low limit your game time data usage. Pick up a Mophie Powerstation to extend the power of your device and stay in the game.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Mets-Royals World Series Game 1: Extra painful
There's not much worse than having your dominant closer give up the lead in the ninth inning of a World Series game. Unless he went in facing the 7-8-9 hitters. And the number 8 hitter smacked a 428-foot home run. And now that the game looked lost - a deflating homer, the game now to be decided by the middle relievers, a big disadvantage for the Mets - the teams continued to battle for five more innings before the Mets lost with the help of an error by the captain who had waited so long to get to the World Series.
This is a bad loss and potentially a fatal one. But let's not call David Wright and Jeurys Familia goats just yet. Wright has made several great plays in the field this postseason, including a leaping catch in yesterday's fourth inning. Familia's blown save was that much more disappointing because he's been so dominant in this postseason. Compare that to Armando Benitez, who blew the save in the last World Series Game 1 the Mets were in before yesterday. That postseason, Benitez had two saves and two blown saves. For his Mets career, he had three blown saves in six postseason chances. That's why he's remembered as a regular-season star who couldn't get it down in the postseason. Familia is now 5 of 6 in postseason save chances with an 0.82 ERA.
The Mets really seemed destined to win the game when Eric Hosmer, winner of the last two American League Gold Gloves at first base, allowed the go-ahead run to score when a ground ball got by him on a play that naturally brought up memories of Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series. If the Mets had gone on to win, the Royals would have been lamenting a loss due to one of their main strengths - defense - faltering at a critical moment. But one of the Mets' main strengths, Familia, returned the favor an inning later.
Along with Buckner in 1986 and Benitez in 2000, the game also brought back memories of the 1969 World Series, when Tom Seaver gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Don Buford, in Game 1. And my friend Roger suggests that five-tool centerfielder Yoenis Cespedes' mishandling of the ball that Alcides Escobar hit that went for an inside-the-park homer was reminiscent of the 1973 World Series, when the ultimate five-tool centerfielder, Willie Mays, was struggling in the outfield at the end of his career.
Just before Cespedes and Michael Conforto mishandled Escobar's fly ball, Cespedes was a no-show for the pregame introductions. That may mean nothing and may be a coincidence. Perhaps he had an upset stomach and did not feel like sharing the details. But this is the player who suddenly came down with an injury in Game 4 of the NLCS and he's already gotten the benefit of the doubt that it had anything to do with him playing golf that day. And then he shows up on the bench in the ninth inning of Game 4 wearing a championship shirt and goggles. Even Ron Darling in the TBS broadcast booth began muttering about the baseball gods. Maybe the baseball gods were hovering over centerfield last night.
The Royals lived up to their billing as a team that keeps coming back. Matt Harvey has gotten a lot of criticism for reduced velocity and not throwing enough fastballs last night, but he had allowed just one run going into the sixth inning, and that run was the tainted inside-the-park homer. But the Royals rallied for two runs to tie the game in the sixth, and Harvey was done after 80 pitches.
The Mets lost the first two games in 1986, and did so at home, so tonight is not necessarily a must-win. But it's pretty close.
This is a bad loss and potentially a fatal one. But let's not call David Wright and Jeurys Familia goats just yet. Wright has made several great plays in the field this postseason, including a leaping catch in yesterday's fourth inning. Familia's blown save was that much more disappointing because he's been so dominant in this postseason. Compare that to Armando Benitez, who blew the save in the last World Series Game 1 the Mets were in before yesterday. That postseason, Benitez had two saves and two blown saves. For his Mets career, he had three blown saves in six postseason chances. That's why he's remembered as a regular-season star who couldn't get it down in the postseason. Familia is now 5 of 6 in postseason save chances with an 0.82 ERA.
The Mets really seemed destined to win the game when Eric Hosmer, winner of the last two American League Gold Gloves at first base, allowed the go-ahead run to score when a ground ball got by him on a play that naturally brought up memories of Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series. If the Mets had gone on to win, the Royals would have been lamenting a loss due to one of their main strengths - defense - faltering at a critical moment. But one of the Mets' main strengths, Familia, returned the favor an inning later.
Along with Buckner in 1986 and Benitez in 2000, the game also brought back memories of the 1969 World Series, when Tom Seaver gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Don Buford, in Game 1. And my friend Roger suggests that five-tool centerfielder Yoenis Cespedes' mishandling of the ball that Alcides Escobar hit that went for an inside-the-park homer was reminiscent of the 1973 World Series, when the ultimate five-tool centerfielder, Willie Mays, was struggling in the outfield at the end of his career.
Just before Cespedes and Michael Conforto mishandled Escobar's fly ball, Cespedes was a no-show for the pregame introductions. That may mean nothing and may be a coincidence. Perhaps he had an upset stomach and did not feel like sharing the details. But this is the player who suddenly came down with an injury in Game 4 of the NLCS and he's already gotten the benefit of the doubt that it had anything to do with him playing golf that day. And then he shows up on the bench in the ninth inning of Game 4 wearing a championship shirt and goggles. Even Ron Darling in the TBS broadcast booth began muttering about the baseball gods. Maybe the baseball gods were hovering over centerfield last night.
The Royals lived up to their billing as a team that keeps coming back. Matt Harvey has gotten a lot of criticism for reduced velocity and not throwing enough fastballs last night, but he had allowed just one run going into the sixth inning, and that run was the tainted inside-the-park homer. But the Royals rallied for two runs to tie the game in the sixth, and Harvey was done after 80 pitches.
The Mets lost the first two games in 1986, and did so at home, so tonight is not necessarily a must-win. But it's pretty close.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
World Series Mets-Royals: Four wins to go!
29 years ago today, I sat in the upper deck at Shea Stadium as the Mets won Game 7 of the 1986 World Series. At the time, I thought it was the start of a dynasty. Instead, it's been the only title for the Mets in 46 seasons. And the only other time the Mets got to the World Series since then, it was something I tried to forget after the Mets lost the Yankees in five games. Now the Mets have a chance to create new memories, and spare Squawker Lisa from hearing so much about 1986.
I'm saying Mets in six because of their big advantage in starting pitching. While the Met starters have been blowing people away, Royals starters have been shaky at best. Johnny Cueto allowed eight earned runs in just two innings in his last start in the ALCS. He also allowed four earned runs in his first start in the ALDS. Cueto pitched well in his other postseason start, beating the Astros in the deciding ALDS game five, but that's still two lousy starts out of three. Combine that with his regular-season ERA of 4.76 in 13 games as a Royal (after a 2.62 ERA in 19 game with the Reds) and one has to wonder if the injury-prone Cueto is hurt again.
Edinson Volquez also has two mediocre postseason starts sandwiched around one good one. Yordano Ventura has also had just one good postseason start this year.
The Royals were able to win two playoff series despite having a starters' ERA of 5.56 because they had a lower overall ERA in each series thanks to their 2.85 postseason ERA. In 41 innings, the Royals pen has 59 strikeouts.
Met starters need to significantly outpitch the Royal starters because the Mets don't want to let the bullpens decide these games. Wade Davis is even better than Jeurys Familia, and the Royals' setup men are much better than their Met counterparts.
On the hitting side, Daniel Murphy is not going to keep hitting a home run in every game, especially after a layoff, but the Mets have had others consistently step up during this postseason, especially when they are not facing an ace. But while the Royals hitting does not seem imposing, they seem to constantly find ways to win, as when Lorenzo Cain scored the game-winning run from first on a single in the final ALCS game.
The Mets would seem to have a good chance of putting a couple of games out of reach early against the Royals' starters. The Mets scored in the first inning in all four NLCS games, including three runs in Game 2 and four runs in Game 4. So even if the Royals' bullpen, great defense, low strikeout totals from their hitters and overall scrappy play could make most of the games tossups, the Met starters should provide the decisive edge to enable to Mets to win in six. Let's Go Mets!
I'm saying Mets in six because of their big advantage in starting pitching. While the Met starters have been blowing people away, Royals starters have been shaky at best. Johnny Cueto allowed eight earned runs in just two innings in his last start in the ALCS. He also allowed four earned runs in his first start in the ALDS. Cueto pitched well in his other postseason start, beating the Astros in the deciding ALDS game five, but that's still two lousy starts out of three. Combine that with his regular-season ERA of 4.76 in 13 games as a Royal (after a 2.62 ERA in 19 game with the Reds) and one has to wonder if the injury-prone Cueto is hurt again.
Edinson Volquez also has two mediocre postseason starts sandwiched around one good one. Yordano Ventura has also had just one good postseason start this year.
The Royals were able to win two playoff series despite having a starters' ERA of 5.56 because they had a lower overall ERA in each series thanks to their 2.85 postseason ERA. In 41 innings, the Royals pen has 59 strikeouts.
Met starters need to significantly outpitch the Royal starters because the Mets don't want to let the bullpens decide these games. Wade Davis is even better than Jeurys Familia, and the Royals' setup men are much better than their Met counterparts.
On the hitting side, Daniel Murphy is not going to keep hitting a home run in every game, especially after a layoff, but the Mets have had others consistently step up during this postseason, especially when they are not facing an ace. But while the Royals hitting does not seem imposing, they seem to constantly find ways to win, as when Lorenzo Cain scored the game-winning run from first on a single in the final ALCS game.
The Mets would seem to have a good chance of putting a couple of games out of reach early against the Royals' starters. The Mets scored in the first inning in all four NLCS games, including three runs in Game 2 and four runs in Game 4. So even if the Royals' bullpen, great defense, low strikeout totals from their hitters and overall scrappy play could make most of the games tossups, the Met starters should provide the decisive edge to enable to Mets to win in six. Let's Go Mets!
Monday, October 26, 2015
What snobby runners and same-sex marriage opponents have in common
I recently heard about a New York Times story from a few years back about slower runners. The article, written by Juliet Macur, is entitled "Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?" This is one of those types of stories that goes viral every few months, and it apparently did so again recently. The gist of the piece is that the Times interviewed a bunch of whiny runners who feel that their New York City Marathon experience has somehow been ruined because of runners who take longer time to finish the course than they do. And they feel that their own marathon records are devalued by the "plodders."
Adrienne Wald, the women's cross-country coach in the University of Rochelle, said in the piece that "There used to be a pride saying that you ran a marathon, but not anymore. Now it’s, 'How low is the bar?" And Julia Given, 46, who finished the Baltimore Marathon in 4:04:52, (which isn't an elite time, by the way!) sniffed: “If you’re wearing a marathon T-shirt, that doesn’t mean much anymore,” Given said. "I always ask those people, ‘What was your time?’ If it’s six hours or more, I say, ‘Oh great, that’s fine, but you didn’t really run it.’”
These quotes examplify a small but real undercurrent in the running world of what legendary runner Frank Shorter calls "snobbery." He said you "never" hear such criticisms "from elite runners," noting that "Elite runners admire other people’s performance. I find it much better to welcome slow runners to the club than to vote them out."
At any rate, I fail to understand how the heck having slower runners in marathons (whose money helps fund the race, enable bigger prizes, etc.) devalues the faster runners' accomplishments? It is literally the same argument that homophobes make when they claim that allowing same-sex marriage somehow devalues their own marriages. Why in the world does it matter to you if Susie Slowpoke finishes the NYC Marathon in five or six hours (or, for that matter, if Susie Slowpoke wants to marry Pamela Plodder?) It smacks of insecurity to me.
There's also a certain cluelessness (or even outright hostility) towards slower runners that I've noticed in some of the races I have done. While the vast majority of the over 60 road races I have run in the past two years have been fantastic, and most fellow runners supportive, there have been some real doozies, like when the Staten Island Half Marathon, which I completed two weeks ago, ran out of water and Powergels.
And the crazy race I did yesterday,.which was almost comical in the reminder about how those of us slower runners sometimes get treated. I did the Frost on the Pumpkin 10K race, a small race in South River, NJ, with members of my running club. The good news is I had my best time ever for a 10K race, even though my hip was acting up. The not-so-good news is what happened before I crossed the finish line. There were so many things that went wrong, it was ridiculous
Believe it or not, I've never finished last in a road race until yesterday; there are usually a good number of people behind me in the bigger races. Even in the smallest races, there is usually some walker, or older person, behind me. So I've never had the sweeper vehicle (the car or bike that follows the end of a race, to check on people's safety) directly behind me before. But yesterday, I finished last (spoiler alert!) And there was an ambulance acting as the sweeper car. Only thing was, the ambulance driver, for whatever reason, decided to cut in front of me and leave me out there by my lonesome.
Maybe he was bored. I dunno. But this driver's actions appeared to cause a chain reaction. Cops and race marshals who were on the race course directing traffic left, because they understandably thought all the runners were done. That meant that one of the cars on the road when I was running nearly hit me.
It also meant that a poorly-marked course, with twists and turns, became even harder to navigate, and cost me (and many of my fellow club members) time. After the car mishap, and after running over a mile and not seeing a single human being on the course, I ended up calling the local police department to make sure I was still in the actual race. That's how isolated I was!
A cop came out a few minutes later to check on me and direct me on the right path. A mile or so later, another police officer directed me to turn right, only to find out, as I went down the hill, that I was supposed to turn right *after* that block! Oy.
Anyhow, I finally finished the race -- the nice thing was that there were a few people at the finish line who clapped and cheered for me. But the time clock was turned off! And while I know my 1:24:?? time was the best I've ever run for the race, I found out today that this might not count as a PR due to the clock not being on. What a fitting cap to a debacle of a race.
Look, I understand that race directors are under a lot of pressure. But the whole thing made me feel like a second-class citizen. Slow runners pay the same fees as everyone else, yet do not always get the same treatment or experience.
And I really think that every single race director should have to enter a race and finish in the back of the pack, to see that the experience isn't always so fun. It can be very lonely. If the race directors don't want to deal with slow runners, then have a time limit. But they won't do that in most races, as they will lose the money from the back of the pack runners.
If I had been a new runner, yesterday would have been my last race. As it is, I won't go back to this one next year. But really, there has to be a better way. Just think about what it would be like to run 10K and not even be able to get an official time at the end, because somebody turned off the clock. Or to worry that you were going to get hit by a car during a road race.
Look, I'm trying as much as I can to be a faster runner. I've been at this at two years, though, and I have zero natural ability or talent at it. Suggesting I simply run faster, or wait until I can so I can be assured that I am treated with common courtesy, as some have said, is a bit much. How about races treating all of the runners well? Or is that too much to ever hope for?
[Update: My running club friend Amy, who ran the race as well, discovered that there actually is a time listed for me: 1:24:24 (13:37 pace.) And that somebody else finished 11 minutes behind me! I feel terrible for that person; his race experience must have been even worse than mine!]
Adrienne Wald, the women's cross-country coach in the University of Rochelle, said in the piece that "There used to be a pride saying that you ran a marathon, but not anymore. Now it’s, 'How low is the bar?" And Julia Given, 46, who finished the Baltimore Marathon in 4:04:52, (which isn't an elite time, by the way!) sniffed: “If you’re wearing a marathon T-shirt, that doesn’t mean much anymore,” Given said. "I always ask those people, ‘What was your time?’ If it’s six hours or more, I say, ‘Oh great, that’s fine, but you didn’t really run it.’”
These quotes examplify a small but real undercurrent in the running world of what legendary runner Frank Shorter calls "snobbery." He said you "never" hear such criticisms "from elite runners," noting that "Elite runners admire other people’s performance. I find it much better to welcome slow runners to the club than to vote them out."
At any rate, I fail to understand how the heck having slower runners in marathons (whose money helps fund the race, enable bigger prizes, etc.) devalues the faster runners' accomplishments? It is literally the same argument that homophobes make when they claim that allowing same-sex marriage somehow devalues their own marriages. Why in the world does it matter to you if Susie Slowpoke finishes the NYC Marathon in five or six hours (or, for that matter, if Susie Slowpoke wants to marry Pamela Plodder?) It smacks of insecurity to me.
There's also a certain cluelessness (or even outright hostility) towards slower runners that I've noticed in some of the races I have done. While the vast majority of the over 60 road races I have run in the past two years have been fantastic, and most fellow runners supportive, there have been some real doozies, like when the Staten Island Half Marathon, which I completed two weeks ago, ran out of water and Powergels.
And the crazy race I did yesterday,.which was almost comical in the reminder about how those of us slower runners sometimes get treated. I did the Frost on the Pumpkin 10K race, a small race in South River, NJ, with members of my running club. The good news is I had my best time ever for a 10K race, even though my hip was acting up. The not-so-good news is what happened before I crossed the finish line. There were so many things that went wrong, it was ridiculous
Believe it or not, I've never finished last in a road race until yesterday; there are usually a good number of people behind me in the bigger races. Even in the smallest races, there is usually some walker, or older person, behind me. So I've never had the sweeper vehicle (the car or bike that follows the end of a race, to check on people's safety) directly behind me before. But yesterday, I finished last (spoiler alert!) And there was an ambulance acting as the sweeper car. Only thing was, the ambulance driver, for whatever reason, decided to cut in front of me and leave me out there by my lonesome.
Maybe he was bored. I dunno. But this driver's actions appeared to cause a chain reaction. Cops and race marshals who were on the race course directing traffic left, because they understandably thought all the runners were done. That meant that one of the cars on the road when I was running nearly hit me.
It also meant that a poorly-marked course, with twists and turns, became even harder to navigate, and cost me (and many of my fellow club members) time. After the car mishap, and after running over a mile and not seeing a single human being on the course, I ended up calling the local police department to make sure I was still in the actual race. That's how isolated I was!
A cop came out a few minutes later to check on me and direct me on the right path. A mile or so later, another police officer directed me to turn right, only to find out, as I went down the hill, that I was supposed to turn right *after* that block! Oy.
Anyhow, I finally finished the race -- the nice thing was that there were a few people at the finish line who clapped and cheered for me. But the time clock was turned off! And while I know my 1:24:?? time was the best I've ever run for the race, I found out today that this might not count as a PR due to the clock not being on. What a fitting cap to a debacle of a race.
Look, I understand that race directors are under a lot of pressure. But the whole thing made me feel like a second-class citizen. Slow runners pay the same fees as everyone else, yet do not always get the same treatment or experience.
And I really think that every single race director should have to enter a race and finish in the back of the pack, to see that the experience isn't always so fun. It can be very lonely. If the race directors don't want to deal with slow runners, then have a time limit. But they won't do that in most races, as they will lose the money from the back of the pack runners.
If I had been a new runner, yesterday would have been my last race. As it is, I won't go back to this one next year. But really, there has to be a better way. Just think about what it would be like to run 10K and not even be able to get an official time at the end, because somebody turned off the clock. Or to worry that you were going to get hit by a car during a road race.
Look, I'm trying as much as I can to be a faster runner. I've been at this at two years, though, and I have zero natural ability or talent at it. Suggesting I simply run faster, or wait until I can so I can be assured that I am treated with common courtesy, as some have said, is a bit much. How about races treating all of the runners well? Or is that too much to ever hope for?
[Update: My running club friend Amy, who ran the race as well, discovered that there actually is a time listed for me: 1:24:24 (13:37 pace.) And that somebody else finished 11 minutes behind me! I feel terrible for that person; his race experience must have been even worse than mine!]
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Why this Yankee fan is rooting for the Mets to win the World Series
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| Squawker Jon and I just before the NLDS started. Jon looks cautiously optimistic, as my brother said. |
And even Red Sox fan BFF/frenemy Nick at Monstah Mash is rooting for the Mets. The fact we are all on the same side is a sure sign of something very strange afoot!
It has been an exciting postseason so far. I have watched more October baseball this year than I ever have in any year that the Yankees weren't really involved.
Especially the Mets. I have seen almost every pitch of every one of their nine playoff games to date. More than some Mets fans I know who have more of a life than me!
I wrote a few weeks ago why I wanted the Mets to win it all. (Click here to read why.) Not only would it be good for the Squawkers and my plans for world domination, but it would give my blogging partner and his fellow Mets fans something to talk about besides 1986. (Mets coach Tim Teufel recently said that even his fellow 1986 Mets are sick of hearing about the 1986 Mets!)
And it might also light a fire under Yankee brass. We all know that Hal Steinbrenner doesn't really care about baseball. But he does care about money. And if this town starts to become a Mets town, and his bottom line is threatened, he might actually wake up and shake things up in Yankeeland. Once rich people start entertaining their clients at Citi Field instead of Yankee Stadium, you'll see some real change.
John Scimeca, one of our longtime readers, shared this quote with me the other day: "Somehow I go back to 1969 when the Mets won the pennant and Yankees President Michael Burke sent the following telegram to M. Donald Grant of the Mets: 'Congratulations on being Number One - am rooting for you to hang in there and take all the marbles. As a New Yorker, I am ecstatic, as a baseball person, I am immensely pleased, and as a Yankee, I consider suicide the easy option.'" Heh.
The Mets winning has also given me a chance to be an altruist for once in my miserable life. I have been genuinely happy for Jon and my Met fan friends (and strangely enough, I have more Met fan friends than Yankee fan friends. Go figure.) They have waited 15 long years for this moment. And they haven't become completely insufferable yet. So let them enjoy this October. Let's go Mets, I say.
However, some of my Yankee fan brethren disagree, and are rooting against the Mets. They are also claiming that so-called "true" or "real" Yankee fans would not cheer for the folks from Flushing.
First of all, I hate the idea of "true" Yankee fans just as much as I do the self-appointed Yankee experts who deem players like A-Rod not a "true" Yankee.
And contrary to their opinion, there is nothing wrong with wanting the other New York team to win. Maybe it's because I lived in Texas for 15 years. But the rest of the country hates/envies New York. So what's wrong with wanting the fellow New York team to succeed? (Incidentally, they think of *all* of us New York transplants as "damn Yankees," for what it's worth!)
Look. If you are a Yankee fan and can't root for the Mets, knock yourself out. But don't tell me what I can do. I don't react well to that!
Thursday, October 22, 2015
NLCS Mets-Cubs Game 4: Who let the cicadas out?
In 1986, the Mets made the World Series for the first time in thirteen years. In 2000, the Mets made the World Series for the first time in fourteen years. And now the Mets are in the World Series for the first time in fifteen years. My friend and fellow Met fan Dina compared the Mets to cicadas and their 17-year (sometimes 13-year) life cycle. Indeed, today the whole town is, uh, buzzing - the Mets are in the World Series!
This is the tenth season of Subway Squawkers, and being a Met fan during the time has often been more comparable to a plague of locusts. Things looked promising when Subway Squawkers began in 2006 as part of the New York Daily News website. The Mets were coming off an 83-79 season. They won 97 games, only to be upset in the NLCS.
As disappointing as the end of the 2006 season was, it was largely downhill for Met fans in the following years. Chokes in September 2007 and 2008. And then things really got bad. Bernie Madoff. Luis Castillo. The Yankees go to the World Series and you're not even sure if you should root against them because they are playing the Phillies.
Even when the Mets had a chance to celebrate something, it was always short-lived. Jose Reyes wins a batting title but leaves the last game of the season in the first inning, sparking criticism from media and fans. (Personally, I thought Reyes got a raw deal here for all the criticism about him not "playing the game the right way," particularly with what would later happen with the player he beat out for the batting title, Ryan Braun.) And then it turned out to be Reyes' last game as a Met.
The Mets finally get a no-hitter, but Johan Santana throws 134 pitches and his career craters soon afterward.
R.A. Dickey becomes one of the most unexpected Cy Young award winners ever and is promptly traded away.
It seemed that whenever the Mets finally had someone to root for, he was soon off the team. When Dickey was traded, I wrote the following:
I hope Dickey proves all the doubters wrong. With Jose Reyes also joining the Blue Jays, I now have a new team to root for in the AL East.
That said, with the current state of the Mets' franchise, trading Dickey for the haul of prospects the Mets got could be the right move long-term. Citi Field could even become a more interesting place if the team appears to be building for the future instead of treading water and denying they are in rebuilding mode.
At that point, all I wanted was a little hope. Who would have thought that Travis d'Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard would be integral parts of a pennant winner within three years?
Now it's the Mets who are upsetting the 97-win team in the NLCS. Now it's the other team with the ludicrous fielding displays (I'd still take Kyle Schwarber's bat on my team, though). Now, instead of trading away a Cy Young winner, the Met mow down Cy Young candidates Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Jake Arrieta.
When Santana and his huge contract went down with a serious injury, he could not successfully come back. When David Wright and his huge contract went down with a serious injury, he made it back in time for the homestretch and postseason. In Game 4, Wright's leaping grab of a Starlin Castro liner with the bases loaded and none out in the fourth prevented the Cubs from getting back in the game.
Now, instead of having to wait a cicada life cycle for another Mets World Series, Met fans only have to wait a few days. Amazing!
This is the tenth season of Subway Squawkers, and being a Met fan during the time has often been more comparable to a plague of locusts. Things looked promising when Subway Squawkers began in 2006 as part of the New York Daily News website. The Mets were coming off an 83-79 season. They won 97 games, only to be upset in the NLCS.
As disappointing as the end of the 2006 season was, it was largely downhill for Met fans in the following years. Chokes in September 2007 and 2008. And then things really got bad. Bernie Madoff. Luis Castillo. The Yankees go to the World Series and you're not even sure if you should root against them because they are playing the Phillies.
Even when the Mets had a chance to celebrate something, it was always short-lived. Jose Reyes wins a batting title but leaves the last game of the season in the first inning, sparking criticism from media and fans. (Personally, I thought Reyes got a raw deal here for all the criticism about him not "playing the game the right way," particularly with what would later happen with the player he beat out for the batting title, Ryan Braun.) And then it turned out to be Reyes' last game as a Met.
The Mets finally get a no-hitter, but Johan Santana throws 134 pitches and his career craters soon afterward.
R.A. Dickey becomes one of the most unexpected Cy Young award winners ever and is promptly traded away.
It seemed that whenever the Mets finally had someone to root for, he was soon off the team. When Dickey was traded, I wrote the following:
I hope Dickey proves all the doubters wrong. With Jose Reyes also joining the Blue Jays, I now have a new team to root for in the AL East.
That said, with the current state of the Mets' franchise, trading Dickey for the haul of prospects the Mets got could be the right move long-term. Citi Field could even become a more interesting place if the team appears to be building for the future instead of treading water and denying they are in rebuilding mode.
At that point, all I wanted was a little hope. Who would have thought that Travis d'Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard would be integral parts of a pennant winner within three years?
Now it's the Mets who are upsetting the 97-win team in the NLCS. Now it's the other team with the ludicrous fielding displays (I'd still take Kyle Schwarber's bat on my team, though). Now, instead of trading away a Cy Young winner, the Met mow down Cy Young candidates Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Jake Arrieta.
When Santana and his huge contract went down with a serious injury, he could not successfully come back. When David Wright and his huge contract went down with a serious injury, he made it back in time for the homestretch and postseason. In Game 4, Wright's leaping grab of a Starlin Castro liner with the bases loaded and none out in the fourth prevented the Cubs from getting back in the game.
Now, instead of having to wait a cicada life cycle for another Mets World Series, Met fans only have to wait a few days. Amazing!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
NLCS Mets-Cubs Game 3: Things are going great, and they're only getting better
It was 2-2 in the sixth inning with two outs when Trevor Cahill struck out Michael Conforto. The inning was over and the Cubs were still in good position to win and cut the series lead to 2-1. Except for one thing - the Cubs are cursed. The strikeout pitch got away from catcher Miguel Montero and Conforto ran to first while Yoenis Cespdes raced home from third with what would prove to be the winning run. Now the Cubs are down, 3-0, and only one team has ever come back from that deficit (Squawker Lisa, I'm drawing a blank - can you help me out here?).
As if to underscore how cursed the Cubs are, on the very next play right fielder Jorge Soler fell flat on his face failing to field a single by Wilmer Flores. Conforto raced around to apparently score an insurance run, but had to go back to third when the ball was ruled dead after rolling into the ivy covering the outfield wall. At the time, it was a big break for the Cubs, but it only underscored the cruelty of their curse by giving them false hope. Instead, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber continued the Cubs' shaky defensive play in the seventh, giving the Mets two more runs and a 5-2 win.
Bryant, Schwarber and Soler are three of the Cubs' rising young hitters. Before the series, the debate was the Cubs' young position players vs. the Mets' young pitchers. As Casey Stengel said, good pitching will always stop good hitting, and vice versa. But there's no vice versa here. The Mets pitching staff has a 1.67 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and a 29-5 K/BB ratio in 27 innings. The Cubs are hitting .158 with a .492 OPS.
And good hitting is not going to have a chance against good pitching when those good hitters are fielding as poorly as the Cubs were last night.
Today is "Back to the Future Day." In the second movie, made in 1989, Marty McFly traveled to October 21, 2015. In the movie, the Cubs win the 2015 World Series, a fact frequently mentioned recently as a potential good omen for the long-suffering franchise.
Naturally, what could now happen is that Back to the Future Day will mark the Cubs' latest elimination and heartbreak.
Speaking of "future" references in popular culture, "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)" came out in 1986, a year in which the Mets' future never looked brighter. The song was meant to be cynical, not inspirational, but in the 2015 NLCS, I'm taking the lyrics at face value: "Things are going great, and they're only getting better." Indeed they are!
Tonight or soon after, the 2015 Mets will be able to sing "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Goggles to Keep the Champagne Out of My Eyes). Let's Go Mets!
As if to underscore how cursed the Cubs are, on the very next play right fielder Jorge Soler fell flat on his face failing to field a single by Wilmer Flores. Conforto raced around to apparently score an insurance run, but had to go back to third when the ball was ruled dead after rolling into the ivy covering the outfield wall. At the time, it was a big break for the Cubs, but it only underscored the cruelty of their curse by giving them false hope. Instead, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber continued the Cubs' shaky defensive play in the seventh, giving the Mets two more runs and a 5-2 win.
Bryant, Schwarber and Soler are three of the Cubs' rising young hitters. Before the series, the debate was the Cubs' young position players vs. the Mets' young pitchers. As Casey Stengel said, good pitching will always stop good hitting, and vice versa. But there's no vice versa here. The Mets pitching staff has a 1.67 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and a 29-5 K/BB ratio in 27 innings. The Cubs are hitting .158 with a .492 OPS.
And good hitting is not going to have a chance against good pitching when those good hitters are fielding as poorly as the Cubs were last night.
Today is "Back to the Future Day." In the second movie, made in 1989, Marty McFly traveled to October 21, 2015. In the movie, the Cubs win the 2015 World Series, a fact frequently mentioned recently as a potential good omen for the long-suffering franchise.
Naturally, what could now happen is that Back to the Future Day will mark the Cubs' latest elimination and heartbreak.
Speaking of "future" references in popular culture, "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)" came out in 1986, a year in which the Mets' future never looked brighter. The song was meant to be cynical, not inspirational, but in the 2015 NLCS, I'm taking the lyrics at face value: "Things are going great, and they're only getting better." Indeed they are!
Tonight or soon after, the 2015 Mets will be able to sing "The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Goggles to Keep the Champagne Out of My Eyes). Let's Go Mets!
Monday, October 19, 2015
NLCS Mets-Cubs Game 2: Daniel Murphy and the One Hot Hitter Theory
So much for being Eeyore - I thought Game 2 was over in the first inning when the Mets scored three times off of Jake Arrieta, who had not allowed a first-inning run in his previous 25 starts. But Arrieta now had to contend with the October version of Daniel Murphy.
Before the playoffs, which scenario would seem less likely - Murphy homering off Arrieta, Clayton Kershaw (twice), Zack Greinke and Jon Lester in a span of seven playoff games, or Murphy being walked intentionally in favor of pitching to Yoenis Cespedes, which happened last night? And now people are starting to argue over who is more important to re-sign - Murphy or Cespedes.
(In the interest of keeping Eeyore banished for now, I am refraining from commenting on the Mets' likelihood of increasing payroll next season, though I did pause the 2016 season-ticket ad to try to determine which Mets depicted in the promotion are certain to actually be on the team next season.)
Cespedes has cooled off after his torrid few weeks and Lucas Duda has been ice cold after a couple of hot streaks of his own. But with the Mets' amazing starting pitching, which continued with Noah Syndergaard striking out nine and allowing one earned run in 5 2/3 innings, the Mets seem to need only one hot hitter to carry the lineup while the starting pitching does the rest.
Murphy isn't doing it all by himself - Curtis Granderson is hitting .357 in the postseason with 7 RBI and started the first-inning rally with a single. Juan Lagares has five hits in 11 at bats with five runs scored. But Murphy has been the difference maker, while Cespedes is now hitting .214 and Lucas Duda (.095) and David Wright (.087) are not even on the interstate.
If the Cubs do start pitching around Murphy, someone else will need to step up. Since this has been such a magical run, why not Wilmer Flores?
Obviously, anything can still happen (see Murphy, Daniel). But with the Mets up 2-0 and deGrom pitching Game 3, the magic certainly looks back. Let's Go Mets!
Before the playoffs, which scenario would seem less likely - Murphy homering off Arrieta, Clayton Kershaw (twice), Zack Greinke and Jon Lester in a span of seven playoff games, or Murphy being walked intentionally in favor of pitching to Yoenis Cespedes, which happened last night? And now people are starting to argue over who is more important to re-sign - Murphy or Cespedes.
(In the interest of keeping Eeyore banished for now, I am refraining from commenting on the Mets' likelihood of increasing payroll next season, though I did pause the 2016 season-ticket ad to try to determine which Mets depicted in the promotion are certain to actually be on the team next season.)
Cespedes has cooled off after his torrid few weeks and Lucas Duda has been ice cold after a couple of hot streaks of his own. But with the Mets' amazing starting pitching, which continued with Noah Syndergaard striking out nine and allowing one earned run in 5 2/3 innings, the Mets seem to need only one hot hitter to carry the lineup while the starting pitching does the rest.
Murphy isn't doing it all by himself - Curtis Granderson is hitting .357 in the postseason with 7 RBI and started the first-inning rally with a single. Juan Lagares has five hits in 11 at bats with five runs scored. But Murphy has been the difference maker, while Cespedes is now hitting .214 and Lucas Duda (.095) and David Wright (.087) are not even on the interstate.
If the Cubs do start pitching around Murphy, someone else will need to step up. Since this has been such a magical run, why not Wilmer Flores?
Obviously, anything can still happen (see Murphy, Daniel). But with the Mets up 2-0 and deGrom pitching Game 3, the magic certainly looks back. Let's Go Mets!
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