Archie Bunker's Army

Glavine is 2-5 with a 6.75 ERA in his seven career postseason starts on fewer than four days of rest. Still, he's looking forward to pitching to Pujols, who dissed him after Game One: "I have a ton of respect for Albert. He's a great player. It's a great challenge when I face him individually. If he truly didn't think I pitched well the other night, then I hope I do something (Monday) night to really impress him. That would be a good thing." Scott Spiezio's blonde tattoo: gracias bump shack More crowd bashing from Cardinal fans ... Mets half of first inning, 2 out, 2 on, 2 strikes. I stood and starting cheering on Reyes. A male 30-something 2 rows behind me in a half empty section yelled at me to sit down. I said there were 2 outs & 2 strikes ! He replied, I paid for these seats and want to see. I sat down. Of course as soon as we got the third strike, the usher called me out and lectured me and said I could not stand during an inning. That set the mo...

This morning marks a very rare opportunity for the Army, a chance to see the Mets on the telly rather than imagining them through the internet radio waves. The UK's fifth terrestrial channel shows live or quasi-live broadcasts of what is usually ESPN's Sunday Night baseball game all season and this morning, it is the FOX Channel live broadcast of Game Four of the Mets-Cardinals series. Thus for the first time all season I'll be watching a Mets game in the comfort of the living room, just like the rest of America and jotting handwritten, illegible notes as the game goes on. Unfortunately, I awake from my late night nap a little tardy and it's already the bottom of the first inning, 0-0 when I click it on. St Louis 1st - Carlos Delgado drops the throw with Pujols coming up knowing Pujols hits Ollie Perez well and the first thing to imagine is jesus, we've got that kid out there starting his first playoff game ever and get the veterans, knowing what a dodgy propositi...

I suppose you could say that at least this one was disappointing right from the start to relieve you of any unnecessarily frayed nerves, broken furniture or misguided false hopes. Bewildered, worried or shaken? And perhaps like the symptoms of a 24 hour bug, the last trail of vomiting losses, the final sphincter twitches of diarrhoeal miscues have now ended at this disappointing 5-0 loss and the Mets will be ready to resume regular programming for Game Four. And I'm perfectly willing to believe that. I really think it would have been difficult for any team to overcome their closer exhibiting a complete choking meltdown of skills at home and blowing a game that could have been a pivotal victory for them with a trip to the enemy's city looming on the horizan. I didn't expect the Mets to win Game Three. I hoped they would of course, and that hoped lasted even through an early 2-0 deficit but if you want to know when I stepped away from the computer broadcast and allowed my...

The Army confesses. You'd think a game starting at a little past one in the morning would be late enough to catch it but frankly, it being Friday night over in this universe, the Army was marching elsewhere so the Friday night game is brought to you courtesy of Saturday morning with a swollen head and a cuppa. And just to keep the readers guessing, I'm changing the reporting format for Game Two to random notes, even more random than the live notes because I am after all, traveling through time, listening to the past... The pre-game show finds an ebullient Willie Randolph making jokes like, "maybe Maine will pitch a 9 inning shutout..." and for a moment, you get an inside look at a giddy clubhouse. INNING ONE John Maine loves to work quickly. POOOOO-jols. 1-2-3. Chris Carpenter is a New Englander, big fan of the Patriots. More reason to despise, not to mention, bursitis in the pitching shoulder and the one thing I'm thinking is ALL those people, myself include...

A little past one in the morning over here and to help stay awake for the game, the Army will do a bit of in-game blogging...Cliff Floyd makes the starting lineup, gimp and all...what was he, 4 for 9 with one homer and nearly another v. the Dodgers? A good sign. First things, Prediction - with two micro managers running this show, expect some very loooooong games... 1:26 am - two outs, pitching to Pujols? Indeed. Pujols 9 for 20 v. Glavine (.450)... 1:27 - Pujols down on strikes! 1:32 - Cards starter Jeff Weaver lifetime 86-101 won/loss record. 1:35 - Mets go in order as well. Maybe this game won't slow down until after the 6th inning... 1:39 - Cardinals were 23-34 v lefties this season...and they say the Mets struggled! At least we had a winning record against lefties. 1:41 - Floyd can't reach a foul ball a few rows into the seats. Must be the sore wheels, harhar. Second or third ball hit Floyd's way already. Are the Cards testing him? 1:43 - Six Cardinals...

Rain was not the friend of the New York Mets. Most importantly, it erased one easy solution for the Mets, (and oh how we rejoiced at Chris Carpenter being used in Game 4 of the Cardinals ALDS against the Padres,) and created a potential problem on the horizan for Game Two, namely now that there is an option, who will it be, Jeff Suppan or Chris Carpenter. "The sooner that Chris pitches when he's ready, the better off you are," said the world's most despised manager, tony la russa. "And he happens to be ready Friday." Why you smug little law grad tart. Have spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations been created for the possibility that it will be raining Yankee pilot pitchers from the skies again tonight and another game postponed? Have you calculated the trajectory of a David Wright homerun searing through your vacant bullpen? Have you penned the anthems of bile and ridicule the Shea crowd will sing for Braden Looper in the bottom of the 9th? It seems...

This was the NLCS most of the baseball world thought least likely. The Mets, decimated by shocking injury to half of its starting rotation, were expected to wobble and fall over under the weight of the disappointment and shock etched in losing Pedro and El Duque within a week's time of each other, just before the playoffs were to begin. The Cardinals, who had held a strangle hold over the NL Central for most of the season, fell prey to a sudden and mysterious collapses (three losing streaks of seven games or more,) which nearly ended their season prematurely and saw a 7 game lead blown over the final 13. Although they survived the regular season, just, everyone was certain they would be over and done within three or four games maximum. And yet here these two teams are in the NLCS, still standing, a testament to either the courage and teamwork required native in a winning side or the weakness of the NL West, the division that spawned two playoff teams and two surprise losers. So ...

So now there is only one New York team left in the postseason. Shawn Green, with 3 hits and 2 RBIs at his former stadium, led attack The Mets knew with Steve Trachsel taking the hill for them in Game Three of the NLDS they were going to have to score early and score alot if they were to hold the momentum. The problem was of course, that facing Trachsel and the Mets lineup was going to be Hall of Fame shoo-in Greg Maddux . Hey auld man, wanna play two tonight? "What we need out of Greg (today) is exactly what he's going to give us," Dodgers' meat head manager, Grady Little confidently swooned before last night's game. "It could (be) 60 pitches in the fifth inning. It could (be) 80 pitches after eight. ... We are confident in the fact that whatever he gives us out there is going to be the very best he can give us for as long as he can." OR, it could be...23 pitches in the first inning alone; five consecutive singles with David Wright, Cliff Floyd and Gre...

The initial storm has been weathered. After losing Pedro and El Duque and with the howls of the jackals of media predicting their demise loudly in their ears, the Mets calmly did what they've done all season - win. Last night's 4-1 victory over the Dodgers was perhaps not as surprising as the Cardinals pair of wins in San Diego, but it served to silence a multitude of schadenfreudists and lighten the hearts of nervous Mets fans. Game One's story was multiple; a massive baserunning gaffe by the Dodgers in the second inning, Carlos Delgado's explosive post-season debut and most importantly, a victory that would appear to have righted a leaky Mets ship. Game Two's story was singular; the lone Mets starter with experience left standing solidifying his legacy. Tom Glavine's six shutout inning Mets postseason debut was just what the doctor ordered for this one-two punch; a steady and predictable veteran performance that effectively dashed another breath from the...

(Pay attention because by the time you've gotten towards the bottom you will doubt your own reality...) 21:17 - three up three down. I think I've coined a new phrase! 21:18 - dying over these commercials - colour copies at UPS store? What's up with that? 21:20 - I'm going to try the triple crown of baseball experience: 1. Type ongoing blog entries 2. Type ongoing Metsmerized chat room. 3. Speaking on the phone trans-Atlantic to my mate who is also a Mets fan. (adding one more, doing all three whilst drunk on wine...) 200 homers by the Mets, 41 of them from Beltran. 21:23 - Delgado takes a huge turn at first, as if. Still, first and third, two outs, David Wright to the plate... His first at-bat in post-season. Wonder if he imagines what he's doing... 21:26 no runs. 21:33 Maine working into trouble missing slider by a wide margin...loss of focus in middle innings taking effect already? 21:34 FECKING HELL! TWO outs at home plate! 21:37 oops - you can only give ...

"It's only a game. It's not like nobody's gonna die here or anything like that." -- Carlos Delgado trying to play down El Duque's calf injury just prior to Game One of the Playoffs. Nobody's gonna die? How does Carlos Delgado know this? At the rate the Mets starting pitchers are going down they might be well advised to take out a few extra life insurance policies. So El Duque injures his calf jogging in the outfield and might not start Game One for the Mets. This is the price a team pays for an elderly starting rotation. Although the Mets to a man seemed to be nonchalant there is almost no way this can not bring them down a hair. Or perhaps it will reinstill their determination? Time will tell but this newest blow is almost too much bad luck in one month for the Mets rotation and even though they've had a wild array of names cast in the starting roles this season, with the playoffs here there is no time to recalibrate. Here's hoping that if...