Catching Up

So before I get to the debacle that was the opening game of the 2012 Mets/Yankees Armageddon series, some words about the previous series against the Nationals:

Tuesday’s loss was disgusting … no doubt about it. When you’re down to your sixteenth string shortstop who really isn’t a shortstop at all, these things are going to happen. And Daniel Murphy’s flubbed grounder on a double play ball also killed the Mets. I’m just glad that Murphy hasn’t cost them thirty other games in the field. But Tuesday did remind me why I’m glad that Terry Collins is running the ship and not certain other people.

The one thing I wondered from Tuesday was why Collins sent in lefty Tim Byrdak to face righty Ryan Zimmerman in the eighth. Zimmerman singled (and should have been erased on the double play ball to Murphy. Collins had a simple answer: Zimmerman had bad recent numbers against lefties. Okay … I can deal with that. Some may legitimately disagree, but Terry came up with an honest answer. Ask yourself what Snoop Manuel would have said when asked that question. Then imagine the non-sensical rant that would have followed the words “that’s baseball”. And then try to understand the punch lines of the many jokes he would have told as he would have clearly tested his off-season material on the beat writers.

As for Wednesday, I saw someone rave online (not with glowsticks) about how Bryce Harper puts so much spin on the grounders he hits. Really? We’re giving him credit for this? Screw that. Ike Davis has to catch that baseball … spin, no spin, or valde spin. Catch the damn ball. (You too, Jordany.)

Which brought us Thursday, and R.A. Dickey’s series saving performance. Tell me all you want that it’s only June and that it wasn’t a must-win game. Crap. That was as must-win as a June game can get. That win Thursday meant losing two out of three to the first place team in the division on the road. No shame in that. Getting swept? All of a sudden the Mets then get that “not ready for prime time” tag. So yes, that was a huge swing win for the Mets. (Games in June count towards the standings too.)

Which brings us to Friday night and the opener against the Anti Stub Hubs. (Yes, I’d love to get on a moral high horse about the Yankees bitching and moaning about Stub Hub, but then the Mets had to announce that they were selling reprinted ticket stubs for Johan’s no-hitter for $50 each when they couldn’t sell the actual tickets for ten bucks … and with those tickets, people got a game absolutely free! All corporations … which is what the Yankees and Mets are … are greedy. Never forget that.) Explore:

• Francisco Liriano threw a 123 pitch no-hitter in 2011. He got six days rest. His next start: three innings, four walks, four runs, 59 pitches.
• Edwin Jackson threw a 149 pitch no-hitter in 2010. He got six days rest. His next start: five innings, three walks, four runs, 88 pitches. Somehow he got the win.

Johan Santana got six days rest after his 134 pitch no-hitter. Five innings, six runs, just one walk, four home runs given up, and one Lastings Milledgesque performance by Nick Swisher, who was probably just doing his impression of the cat copter. Terry Collins blamed himself:

“I am responsible for the way he pitched. He was rusty. The command of his stuff was not as sharp as it’s been the past three or four or five starts. It was my doing tonight. We erred on the side of caution, and it cost us the game.”

Okay, cost the Mets the game. I’ll buy that. And I appreciate that the manager of the Mets is willing to fall on his sword in the name of self reflection. But what was Collins supposed to do? Risk Santana’s health to keep him sharp? Was that risk worth the reward of Santana pitching instead of Jeremy Hefner on Wednesday? This stinks, I know. The Mets are 1-4 in this latest stretch and 5-7 in the middle of this stretch of good teams (Phillies, Cardinals, Nationals, Yankees, Rays, Reds). But I’m not sure that the Mets have been in a position to succeed to begin with lately. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. And if you manage the Mets, damned if you breathe wrong. Santana was awful tonight. Maybe it was Collins’ fault. Maybe not. We might never know. Guess what Santana is not? That’s right, on the disabled list. Maybe Terry Collins deserves credit for that. And maybe not. You can only do what you think is right at the time and learn from it for the immediate and distant future. He’s learned a ton so far and he’s still learning. And the learning process hasn’t cost the Mets a season ending injury yet.

And if it eventually does, I’ll just find a way to blame Jason Bay anyway.