Alternate Intelligence

I feel like I’m in some sort of Twilight Zone … an alternate universe where the Mets do things right. I don’t know how to handle this world. I mean … I woke up, it was rainy and windy, and Jacob deGrom was scheduled to start a completely meaningless game.

In the world I know, deGrom would have thrown 110 pitches over six innings in the rain and experienced elbow discomfort three days later. His season would end. But this world … this world I awoke to was different. The Mets decided to not pitch deGrom in a potential start and stop game and let Corey Oswalt start, followed by Drew Gagnon and others.

And they put a serious dent in another team’s playoff hopes, which is a world I haven’t been familiar with since Craig Brazell. I can remember a world where it was the Mets who lost games started by relievers and other assorted ham and eggers while watching their season slip away. But this time, it was the Phillies who let a huge opportunity slip from their fingers as not only did they lose a team employing the bullpen strategy, they then watched as their chief competition scored six runs in the ninth (along with a home run by Lucas Duda as a Brave … which just proves the existence of the ultimate timeline) to and go four and a half games ahead of them. This, a game shaped by a smart decision that the Mets made, is the one the Phillies will regret.

Charlie Brown is currently living in his alternate timeline too. If Charlie was a good pitcher, he’d be Jacob deGrom … lights out on the mound but has to deal with an outfield of Lucy, Frieda and Violet. If you don’t believe me, this is from the Peanuts’ wiki:

(… While the team is often referred to as “win-less”, it does win at least 10 games over the course of the strip’s run, most of these when Charlie Brown is not playing, a fact that Charlie Brown finds highly dispiriting..)

Maybe this is deGrom’s alternate timeline. He’s Charlie Brown, and the next time he pitches against the Marlins he’ll face Peppermint Patty. Good grief.

Today’s Hate List

1. Chase Utley
2. Shane Victorino
3. Brett Myers
4. Pat Burrell
5. Jimmy Rollins