More photos as pertains to Tuesday, below, with brief comments. (The eyes… not so much. There’s some sweet halo action goin’ on. Ev’rybody done Risen!)
First off, I was negligent in assigning full blame for Tuesday night. The order is fine, because of the atrocities committed. Nevertheless, Frankie Rodriguez came on to face the bottom third of the St. Louis order at the top of the ninth, and retired no one he should’ve.
Is he a public enemy? No, not yet. Frankie Rodriguez hasn’t so incredibly blown a hold or a save in the WAYS Sean Green has, and neither he nor Green would have the misplaced aggression to bring in Brian Stokes for ONE PITCH, then Pedro Feliciano to load the bases, then Green to fold faster than Kozmo.com. All in one damned inning.
But there were some serious negative waves going on that night. A friend of seatmates managed to join us for the game–a serious Mets fan if ever there were, but who somehow found it necessary to tell me to “shut up” whenever I attempted a “Let’s go, Mets!” chant. Classy, man. Real classy.
…And not in a loud, obnoxious “shut up,” kind of way. Dismissive. Granted, it was not looking good. But I refuse to apologize for being hopelessly optimistic.
I wouldn’t even mention it if it hadn’t happened more than once. What moods do you fly into when something so right goes so horribly wrong? I get unpleasant, but I don’t go snidely fatalistic.
Cow-Bell Man (left) and Big Man (right) were all smiles throughout, but the woman between them gave another friend a dirty look at the beginning of the game when the Geico Gecko came out to accompany the man tossing the first pitch:
Readers, no matter how much we may disagree on the issue of first pitches and their backslide into commercialism, let us not lose sight of the fact that on-screen, the Geico Gecko is a cute creature with a delightful accent, and who loves clams.
In person, the Geico Gecko is a felt-and-velour monstrosity with a sewn-shut mouth and a b.o. that recalls clams left on rocks steaming in the hot Newark sun. He should be booed, and soundly so.
I have a photo of Gary, Keith, and Ron broadcasting in the booth. For no other reason than to spend a moment on their general excellence, here it is:
Listen, any game that begins with Rihanna’s “Disturbia” blasting from the PA is destined to be problematic. But to leave with such a sour taste in the mouth… awful. Just awful.
Anyway.
**
This report from Doug Miller (himself from MLB.com) does not paint the whole picture regarding Jose Reyes’s injury. David Lennon’s initial report on his blog does a little better.
But if you’ve been living with this as most ardent followers have, the best I can do is give you the lowdown as presented over the months (MONTHS!) by Metsblog. As Slick Rick would say, here we go:
May 15th: Reyes has a stiff right calf.
May 18th: Reyes misses three straight games.
May 19th: Reyes misses five straight games; won’t go on the DL.
May 20th: Reyes plays.
May 21st: Reyes is out again; flies to New York.
May 21st: Later that day, we learn Reyes has tendinitis behind the right calf and is day-to-day.
May 26th: Reyes does light running (I do some light running sometimes).
May 31st: Reyes, on DL (since May 26th but retroactive), goes to Port St. Lucie.
June 3rd: As far as Jerry Manuel knows or has been told, Reyes didn’t tear anything.
June 4th: Reyes leaves a rehab game with discomfort in his knee.
June 4th: Now Reyes has a slight tear in his hamstring.
June 5th: Mr. Cerrone’s sources suggest Reyes will be out until after the All-Star Break.
June 5th: Reyes’s treatment goes Innerspace (or, if you prefer, Osmosis Jones).
June 16th: Some with the Mets think it’s gotta be the shoes.
June 22nd: Reyes runs. No, he doesn’t.
June 23rd: The fire truck incident.
July 1st: Reyes will run the bases in a week.
July 9th: Reyes, having had a cortisone shot, still isn’t running; it’s been over a week.
July 13th: Reyes runs. For realsies.
July 18th: Reyes doesn’t wanna run. You can’t make him.
July 21st: At some point, Reyes swung a bat at something called a “baseball.”
July 24th: Reyes will play in a simulated game.
July 28th: Reyes will play in a rehab game soon. So sayeth the buzz.
July 31st: Setback!
August 3rd: Reyes will do some light running. I’m out of jokes.
August 4th: Medic!
August 5th: Scar tissue, and inflammation.
My thanks to Mr. Cerrone. I’m tired. That took forty minutes to compile.
Tired and angry.
omniality
Section Five Twenty-Eight 