Adding insult to injuries

Leaving a lot of hanging promises on the blog these days (still trying to get around to reading more of that health care bill), so I have to deal with at least one of the unfinished stories from last week.

Went to Citi Field last week for the first time. Beautiful stadium, but as many Mets bloggers and fans have complained about, noticeably devoid of Mets historical artifacts. (Not that there's much history being made lately, at least the kind of history we'd like to have recorded). The game was against the Phillies, whose fans must have bought up every available seat on eBay and Stubhub. Thanks to injuries to almost the entire starting lineup, the Mets fielded a team that was barely recognizable to the casual fan. But the game featured the return of Pedro Martinez to NY, which alone was enough of a storyline to provide some intrigue for what was otherwise destined to be an old-fashioned beatdown of the home team.

It started off just that way, with the Phils jumping toa 6-0 lead in the first inning on two three-run bombs. But rather than allow us to be miserable, the Mets insisted on feigning competitiveness by chipping away at the lead one or two runs at a time. An inside -the-park homer, a few triples, a terrific diving catch in right, Phils manager Charlie Manuel getting tossed arguing a call... all great things to watch that kept the game interesting and kept us from leaving early.

Bottom of the 9th, score is 9-6 Phillies, Mets get a leadoff triple courtesy of an error, then score a run courtesy of another. A weak single followed, setting up runners on first and second with no one out, down by only two. Mets fans are now on their feet. The Phillies fans in front of us, who were gloating and loving life for most of the afternoon, suddenly were a miserable anxious mess. Runners take off with the pitch, line drive up the middle caught by the second baseman, who then steps on second and then turns to tag the runner from first. Three outs, inning over, game over, thanks for coming to the ballpark today, drive home safely. The Phillies fans are silent in disbelief. The Mets fans are silent in shock. Then, realizing what just happened, all 38,000+ yell in unison- some in joy, most in despair- and process out of the stadium together trying to explain to themselves what just happened.

Unassisted triple plays had occured only 16 times before, and only once before in history had one ended a game. It was amazing to watch, and something I'll remember forever. Unfortunately, it means I'll wind up remembering this season too, which is something like most Mets fans that I'd like to forget.