Results tagged ‘ Inconsistent Ollie ’
Shoulda Won….
First off, I’m blogging while trying to watch the game on MLB.tv (I know it’s on ESPN2, but I just love watching Gary, Keith and Ron so much more!) so sorry if this is a little scattered, but I’ll probably be taking a bunch of breaks to watch.
I know I haven’t blogged in a while (OK, it was just a few days, but now that we’re into the season, missing a few days is missing several games!) so I’ll try to include my thoughts on the past two games.
Easter Sunday, Mets lose to Marlins, 2-1. SERIOUSLY??? I’m sorry Johan! Hey Major League Baseball, can we give Johan a no-decision with an asterisk for stellar performance, and transfer that loss to Murphy? Don’t get me wrong, I looove Murph, but that loss was all on him. He completely flubbed a routine fly ball, and that cost us the game. However, I guess Mets fans can look for the bright spot and say that Josh Johnson was really good (and he was!) but I can’t help but think of last September, and how any one loss we had all season cost us October. We really can’t afford those “shoulda-won-but-didn’t” games. Of course, it IS still early in the season, and the Mets can still get it in gear and win the division by a mile (if only!).
Home Opener, Mets lose to Padres, 6-5. DEJA-VU, SERIOUSLY??? Well, no “I’m sorry Pelf” here, but apologies to Brian Stokes, it wasn’t your loss to take. I will say this though, the balk by Feliciano did not lose us the game, don’t forget the next batter hit a double that would have scored the run anyway. Still, definitely a big disappointment on an exciting day. Of course, that’s not to say that the game was totally “unenjoyable.” (Is that a word?) First off…Mike Pelfrey tripping off the mound? First, I shot straight up terrified he was hurt. When I found out he was fine, I joined the rest of the Mets infield laughing really hard! Was anyone else recounting Big Pelf’s golf cart incident early in Spring Training and the helmet he wore to practice the next day? I certainly did! And Wright’s homerun lead to me jumping and dancing around my dorm room (good thing I was alone, I was pretty excited!). Too bad the bullpen couldn’t hold onto the tie and give the Mets a little momentum for the rest of the game. Again, I’m trying to stay optimistic and keep in mind that this is the beginning of the season, but I can’t help but think how it can come down to one game for October ball.
And for those of you wondering, yes this “curse” is still going. I watched all of both Sunday and Monday’s games, and we lost both. I tried to miss some of Monday’s and after Wright homered to tie it, I ran and took a quick shower, but I guess missing 4 outs doesn’t count as missing a significant amount of the game. I’m seriously considering taking a walk during the middle of this game…thoughts?
A few thoughts on tonight’s game so far:
Is it just me, or is SNY putting up a really negative broadcast? I mean, Reyes comes up to bat and the graphic states that he doesn’t have a steal this year. Then Murphy comes up and it notes how he has one hit in his last nine at-bats. Last inning, Sheffield comes to the plate and the graphic reads, “No player has every hit Homerun #500 in a Mets uniform.” Seriously, guys, we Mets fans have already had a rough season so far, how about putting up some uplifting stats?!?! Is that really too much to ask?
The San Diego pitcher can’t bunt….three foul pop-ups in a row??? Scheider caught the third one, and that denied Ollie the K….karma hurts, doesn’t it?
After Ollie pitched 2 scoreless innings, I was about to text my mom and say that maybe we got good Ollie, but my recent memory stopped me. Three decent innings so far, but I’m not counting on ANYTHING. Get me to J.J. and Frankie and I’ll show you a little faith on the mound.
OK, I’m going to give my full attention to the game now, I’ll try to blog later. Let’s Go Mets and win the first of many, many, MANY wins at Citi!
Ouch Ollie Part Deux
Well, the first series of the season is over, and all-in-all, it was a great series for the Mets. A few notes:
Watch out J.J.: there’s another prankster in the bullpen. Frankie thought he’d joke and kid with the fans in the 9th yesterday and loaded the bases with one out. Then he decided to close it quickly, striking out one and then (in dramatic fashion) getting the final batter to fly out to the warning track. Nice that you’re easing us into this whole idea of being comfortable with any size lead in the 9th.
I hate Indiana: apparently, my area of Indiana is close enough to Cincinnati so that I get blacked out for all the Reds games, even though you’d never find them on TV. I was forced to follow the game via radio, and although I loved listening to Howie, it just wasn’t the same.
Big Pelf: It was nice to see him settle down after the first. Yeah, he did give up four early, but he was able to get out of it and follow up with four scoreless innings.
Kevin Burkhardt fails at life: pre-game he interviewed Bruce, post-game it was ’09 Met killer Votto…can you not find any Mets players to talk to???
Difference from ’08-’09: a bullpen that can actually save games (even the ones Johan started), come from behind wins…with all these changes, it’s nice to see that there is some consistency between these two years (because regardless of how ’08 was portrayed, we were pretty good): Ollie is still…well, Ollie. Oh geez, 8 runs in 4.1 innings? Against the Reds? Yep, that’s the Ollie I lost my beautifully manicured nails to last season. Don’t worry, nails are gone already in 09! His next start should be against the Padres…looks like we’re in for another rough game (remember, he pitches to the competition).
HD Rocks: after an overnight train ride, I made it home in time to shower before the game, and then enjoyed my first Mets game in HD of 09…and let me tell you, it is amazing. How am I ever going to go back to watching games on my tiny computer screen? One month until I’m home for summmer!
I’m not too worried about this loss. This wasn’t one of those games that we’re going to look back on down the stretch and be kicking ourselves for letting that one get away. No team goes undefeated, and even the little guys beat the good teams many times over the season. If we can take 2/3 of every series, I will be a happy camper.
I’m home for Easter break (yay) and that means that I get to watch 4 Mets games on TV. Yeah, I watch them via MLB.tv at school, but you miss pre and post game and it’s slightly delayed…I’d much rather watch them like I watch them at home. Plus, like I said, not too many Mets fans at school (although I did get in a shouting match with a couple of Phillies fans at a party Friday…don’t worry, I held my own).
In other news, I am still sick (just a sore throat now though) and am aware that I am probably contagious. Apparently, other things are contagious too. What, you may ask? Bad bullpens. You know that one kid that comes to school sick one week, sneezing over everyone? And then the next week, he’s perfectly healthy but three or four other kids are sick and blaming the first kid? Yeah, well the Mets bullpen is the first kid, and Atlanta is one of the others (hopefully there will be plenty more to follow). But seriously, did even the 08 Mets bullpen give up 8 runs in one inning????? (if the answer is yes, please don’t tell me!) I mean, you can’t even say that the Phillies won that game, they just sucked less. Which, ironically, is exactly how I wanted this series to go. Congradulations, Phillies, you are excellent at watching Atlanta pitchers self-destruct and walk like 3 guys on 13 pitches. Trust me, I doubt Frankie and JJ will be that kind.
Hey, a .667 record isn’t bad…it got us a World Series ring in ’86, maybe it’ll do the same in ’09!
Ouch, Ollie!
This weekend was a big one for the Mets, as they tested out their new stadium for the first (and second) time. I say TEST, because I am adament that all of the “firsts” will occur on or after April 13th. No, that random St. John’s player was not the first batter, that will be the lead-off batter for the Padres. And the first pitch? Mike Pelfrey will be throwing that. I anticipate Pelf to get the first strikeout, Jose Reyes will have the first hit and stolen base, and I think he’ll be scoring the first run…part of the first homer at Citi, hit by David Wright. Ok, so maybe not all of that will happen in the first inning next Monday like I’m hoping, but still, anything that’s happened in Citi Field yet is not a “first.” I just want the first game there to be perfect (and of course, a Mets win…but isn’t that obvious?).
Anyway, the first exhibition went great. Livan pitched three good innings, and J.J. and Frankie were (almost) lights out. I guess we need a little excitement in the 8th or 9th, as long as it doesn’t cost us the game! Plus, as Mets fans, we are so not used to breathing during the final innings of the game, so if it was too easy, then we might not be sure this is our team! Oh, and watching the game……Citi is GORGEOUS!!! Omg, I cannot wait to get there this summer for a game or two! And gotta love Kevin Burkhardt for testing EVERY concession stand…Gary, Keith and Ron were joking that he’s going to be 250 lbs by the All Star Break (but I bet it’s worth it).
Yesterday’s game was a little different. First off, it was EXCRUCIATINGLY long, but that may have been because Ollie had maybe the 2nd worst outing I’ve ever seen. He gave up 6 runs in 2/3 of an inning. The only time he (beat?) it was that time in San Francisco last season when he gave up 6 in 1/3 of an inning. I’m hoping he’s just getting it out of his system. Yeah, I know that I cannot expect Ollie to be consistent…ever… but this was exceptionally bad. Hopefully when it’s time for him to have a bad outing, it won’t be THIS bad. But the silver lining is that now he’s due for a really good outing Friday against the Fish, right? Let’s hope so.
On to other news….
GARY SHEFFIELD? Seriously, Omar? I’m trying to trust you on this one, but I just can’t understand it. We already have a 26 man roster (with Nick Evans getting pushed to Buffalo) so why add another guy? It looks like Marlon Anderson will be joining Evans in Buffalo and talent-wise, that’s not a horrible plan, but I feel like Marlon is such an important guy to have in the clubhouse. Have we forgotten how he was the guy that with 100 games left, challenged the Mets to make it to 92 wins? On the other hand, maybe Gary will be a really great thing for this team. Maybe his horrible spring was just stats-wise, and he really improved…if nothing else comes of this, at least if he gets 500 homers, it will be with the Mets. I’m the eternal optimist, so I’m trying to see the good in this.
IT’S OPENING NIGHT! Yeah, the Mets don’t play for 22 (!) hours, but tonight starts my baseball season, as I root against the Phillies. I didn’t let myself stop cheering for Chipper and Brian McCann from the WBC, so I’ll be rooting for them, but mainly I’ll be rooting against the Phillies. Aren’t rivalries great?
Next Saturday, I’ll see my first professional baseball game of the season! I’m going home for Easter and my family has tickets to the Home Opener for our Triple-A team, the Rochester Red Wings (Oriole’s farm team). I’m super excited, as my last professional baseball game was last July at Shea. Also, the guy throwing out the first pitch is a police officer that went to my high school (he graduated before I was there, but I graduated with his sister) and was shot in the back of the head about 2 1/2 months ago. It was a really awful story- he was walking away from some minor dispute without even making any arrests and a 14 year old just shot him out of nowhere- anyway, the doctors said that only 15% of people who suffer this time of brain injury even survive, much less return to a normal life. He has a chance at both, and he’s already out of the hospital. Doctors are calling his recovery stunning, and it’s going to be really awesome to see him throw out the first pitch. Of course, he is a Red Sox fan, but I can overlook that!
Is it horrible I’ll be taking my computer to class with me tomorrow so that I can follow the game? I have a class that gets out at 1:40, so I’ll be in class for the first half hour of the game. I figure I can just have the game tracker on and keep an eye on it. Then I’ll sprint back to my dorm to catch about an hour of the game on ESPN, and then I have another class at 3. This class I won’t be able to take my computer to (it’s a discussion) but I’ll make sure my mom’s texting me score updates. I guess it’s back to the struggle of catching the day games with my class schedule, but I’ll do my best to deal. Hey, I only have 16 more class days, so it shouldn’t be too bad! Actually, I just looked at the schedule, and Monday is the only afternoon game that conflicts with class….yes!
Anyone else beyong thrilled Spring Training is over? I know I will hate myself for feeling this way come November/December but it was just so long this year! I am more than ready for competitive baseball (sorry, WBC, you weren’t enough for me!) and I can’t believe it’s finally here.
Happy Opening Night everyone, I’ll be sure to blog tomorrow on the big day!
Go Braves, Beat Phillies! Well, more like, go Braves, suck less than the Phillies!
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