Can We Trade For Piazza Again?

It was fun to see 31 go up into the rafters forever. Mike Piazza, along with being the most prolific home run hitting catcher of all time along with being the leader of the late 90’s early aughts Mets, is probably the second most popular player ever to put on a Mets uniform and is almost universally loved by fans. And part of the reason that he’s loved is because he loves us back … always taking great care to mention us and not just in a throwaway manner. Mike Piazza comes off as genuinely appreciative of the fans and people of this city. That puts him over the top here. And 31 deserves to be in the rafters because of it.

But am I happy 31 is retired?

No.

But that’s only because I wish it was being worn by Piazza tonight because we need his bat in the lineup.

Piazza’s family was all there to support him, and obviously former major league outfielder Justin Ruggiano must have snuck in with them, because it took me until the third inning to realize he was a Met. And as a Met he went 1-for-3, just missed making an incredible catch, and just missed making a routine play on a ground single to center field in another disheartening loss  … 7-2 to the Rockies. The Mets had a 2-0 lead when it all went to pot: A run scoring on an infield single, a home run by super prospect David Dahl, and a two run single that escaped Ruggiano, who Marlins president David Samson once intimated that people were clamoring to see play in the All Star Game instead of Bryce Harper. Bartolo Colon pitched on three days rest and it probably showed. Two sac flies put the game out of reach.

The capper of the night … and this is hysterical … came when Wilmer Flores hit a home run that a fan reached out and grabbed from the awaiting glove of Dahl. Now, I’m of the belief that ballparks should be constructed in such a way that fans don’t have the opportunity to grab home runs out of the field of play and be able to lean over fences to interfere. Because, as we saw, people are going to do it. If I brought a glove to the game I might do the same thing. So for that, I blame ballpark construction. But once that kid went into full taunt mode like he was Dikembe Mutombo after doing that, I lost all sympathy. And honestly, I was hoping the home run was reversed just to make him feel small. And sure enough, the umps called Flores out. I’m sorry for Flores because it probably should have been a double, but not sorry for that kid. Now get off my lawn, because that was an important run that could have turned the game around if the Mets could hit at all.

But they can’t, and they won’t … because Yoenis Cespedes left in the middle of the game with a mild flare up of “falling apart at the seams”, and Jonathan Lucroy looks like he’s headed to the Indians after Milwaukee balked at a deal that didn’t include Flores this time around. So now the Mets are apparently turning their attention to America’s consolation prize, Jay Bruce. But don’t worry, he’ll probably go to Cleveland too which will leave us with Ruggiano, who is just as exciting.

The Nationals, meanwhile have put the division out of reach by getting Mark Melancon from the Pirates and put Jonathan PapeLOLbon out of his misery and out of the ninth inning. Oh well … good job and good effort guys.

Today’s Hate List

1. Roger Clemens
2. Guillermo Mota
3. John Smoltz
4. Andy Ashby
5. Kevin Millwood