Friday, June 02, 2006

Let's Play 2: Notes From Saturday's NY Times

One of the nice things about being on West Coast time - being able to read the following days' editions of East Coast newspapers online before most of the East Coast has had the chance to do so. In that spirit, in Saturday's NY Times, Ben Shpigel's article - here's the link - entitled "Seems Like Old Times: Doubleheader For Mets" brought me back a lot of years, because as a kid, I loved doubleheaders more than anything! One Mets' game was amazing - 2? Two meals of hot dogs, fries, Cracker Jack, RC Cola, etc.? 2 chances to get dad to buy me another souvenir? A chance to read and memorize the entire Mets' yearbook (again) between games? Nothing could have been better at the time, and I went to so many doubleheaders I couldn't even begin to remember how many. What I do remember is the patience my dad had with my brother and I, and only if the game was well in hand, one way or the other, would we leave before the 8th or 9th innings of the second game. It's things like that which I will always remember about my dad, and about my childhood, and about baseball. I wish I was in NY tomorrow, because I would do whatever I had to do to get tix (oh yeah- my god-sister is in ticket sales with the Mets- I wouldn't have had to do TOO much...) and would use the day to commune with the baseball gods and get over 6 hours of this beloved game in...I guess I'll just have to tape the Dodgers game on Tuesday and rewatch it when I get home!

Apparently, the doubleheader will not be a single-game doubleheader, and tickets from Friday's game can either be exchanged for tickets for both games or for another game. Apparently the Mets were too worried about getting the fans out and back in quickly enough to start the second game on time with rain still a worry for them. Sphigel reminds us that the scheduled starter for both games that have been rained out for the Mets this year were Glavine's starts, and Glavine joked about using the down-time to develop a spitball!
Additionally, Sphigel speculates that either Darren Oliver or the returning John Maine could start next Wednesday's game in L.A., or Glavine could go again on 3 days rest if his pitch counts are watched on both days. Finally, as we discussed earlier, Carlos Beltran could not have played on Friday, as he needed help from his wife in order to go up and down stairs. He feels he'll be able to play on Saturday, and that's a big plus for us as he's already missed 11 games this year. For tomorrow, let's call on that old kids' song- Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day, the little Metsies want to play...and win 2!!!!

4 comments:

Sid said...

How do you guys feel about trading Cliff Floyd. Strengthening our farm system for a major trade could work out well in the longrun. And we might be able to resign Cliff in the offseason.

David Rubin said...

As much as we'd love to get a pitcher like Zito, we'd hate to see Floyd go even in his walk-year. He's just starting to get hot and he's a gamer, and an important figure in the clubhouse especially as it pertains to David Wright. Cliff carried us last year, and if we are the pennant-contender we all think we are, Floyd deserves to see this year through as a Met- at least, that's our opinion. I don't think we'd resign him, especially with Nady & Milledge to surround Beltran, unless either Nady bottomed out after he returns from his injury, or Milledge can't adjust to major league pitching yet. We'd rather have Floyd then signing someone else's retreads, a la a Reggie Sanders-type.

David Rubin said...

And the chancs of receiving a top prospect for Floyd are rather slim...

David Rubin said...

It's a great suggestion, but I think we want to go for some major league-ready pitching if we were to trade someone of Floyd's caliber, even if he is in the walk-year of his contract. What other options do you think we have, Sid? Let us know and don't forget to always check out our Sunday wrap-up post!