First Euphoria, Then Despair: The $43 Million Disaster

You have to admit it. The Mets had you fooled for five wonderous innings, coasting along on a 4-0 lead looking every bit the part of the new NL East favourites whilst a guy they hadn't even imagined would make the Opening Day roster was tossing a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings. In the back of your mind you weren't even entertaining it's too good to be true kind of thoughts.


(Mets apologist Cliff Floyd, shown here not making a terrific catch to rob Guillen of a homer, was philosophical "A guy can throw 150 mph, and if he catches up to it, it can go a long way," Floyd said. "Billy didn't come here to be a savior. He came here to do a good job. He didn't lose none of my confidence.")

Well, he didn't lose mine, yet but hey, let's not push your luck.

Even a shakey 6th inning and Nick Johnson's 3-run homer failed to shake that confidence much. Sure, Bannister was tiring quickly - it was his first start of the season and after all, hadn't GM Omar Minaya spent the offseason shoring up the woeful bullpen specifically for this reason?

Duaner Sanchez did his part, pitching a perfect 7th to maintain the Mets 4-3 lead and perhaps one might have expected that perhaps, just perhaps, this formidable batting order with Reyes, Lo Duca, Beltran, Delgado, Wright and Floyd would fair better against a Nat bullpen than a scoreless 4th-9th innings, but there wasn't huge cause to worry. There was still two innings to go and one of them would be devoured by our ace closer, Sandman Wagner.

Thus when unwilling bullpen delegate Aaron Heilman escaped a blemishless 8th with only a single marked against him, we were feeling pretty happy, pretty close to being in the clear. Three more outs and Wagner to shut it down.

But one game after his debut was virtually saved by Jose Vidro's foolish effort to turn a 9th inning single into a double, Wagner came undone without a chance of redemption, surrendering a leadoff 9th inning homer to Ryan Zimmerman on a 3-2 fastball to tie the score and dispel any notion that our closing duty neurosis had been cured, before finally retiring the side, one batter too late.

And so what had once been a glorious 4-0 lead on what appeared to be headed for a 2nd consecutive victory to start the season, had now become a deep-rooted bowel irritation of dread.

And as for Wagner, think there will be even more inane controversy about his choice of music to enter a game? Will Enter the Sandman be replaced by some horrific rendition of Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go?

Right, is it Billy Wagner?



Or Billy Wham?



All we can say brother, is redemption better be quick...

And it should be noted not the entire loss should be blamed on Wagner, even if he blew the save. The Mets still had three outs with which to score a run and when the ageless Julio Franco singled whilst pinch hitting for Wagner, giving us little palpatations, there was a little room for prayer. Just another lucky night to get us through. But the Mets attack, silent since Carlos Delgado's massive two-run homer, fizzled in the end when Paul Lo Duca, with the bases loaded and an apparently frozen crowd at Shea screaming their excitement simply to keep warm, lined out to right off Chad Cordero to end the rally and the inning.

So, if to underscore the futility of at least one of Omar's offseason moves, Jorge Julio, the Master of Disaster hung a slider right over the middle against Jose Guillen with a man on to give the Nats a 2 run lead, further compounding what turned out to be a horrifically predictable, Looperesque meltdown, allowing 5 runs (and let's not bother to point out that only 2 of them were earned,) and four hits in a mere 2/3 inning of work for a brilliant 27.00 ERA and to rightfully earn the loss.


New Poster Boy For the Great Bullpen Wank?

Well, ok, we could point out that butter-fingered Lo Duca in a rather frightening reprisal for Opening Day's umpire fooling act, let strike three get away from him which should have been the second out of the 10th, but let's face it, the damage was done and Jorge Julio's subsequent meltdown thereafter was a mere afterthought to the disaster which had already hurtled through our twilight like an express train to oblivion.

But not to fear because from the glorious Book of Schadenfreuden, whilst I type this from a secret location in England at 6 in the morning, I have the pleasure of simultaneously listening to a Yankee bullpen meltdown that has them heading for the 2nd consecutive loss of the season.

*****

Bannister became just the second New York starting pitcher to make his major league debut in one of the team's first two games of the year. The other was Tom Seaver who had a no-decision on April 13, 1967 against the Pittsburgh Pirates...

Pedro will take the mound for the Mets in the rubber match tonight but knowing that Pedro should probably only going to be good for about half the innings required, knowing that it has now been confirmed the Mets bullpen might be laced with poison, it will be time for the great offensive juggernaut, thus far squeaking along with great timidity.

Pedro will be facing Ramon Ortiz who is 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA against the Mets.