The Alternate Universe: Padres at Mets 7-3-2020

We’ve all been depressed about what’s going on in the world regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, and baseball has become collateral damage. The 2020 baseball season is set to begin in late July. Until then, you can read this blog in the alternate: the one where global pandemics were a myth and baseball was around no matter what. We’re imagining the 2020 Mets season as if everything was normal. Enjoy these works of fiction.

This battle was lost,

Pete Alonso went 0-for-3 against a very fired up Chris Paddack on Friday night. But the real drama came in the first inning, after Paddack struck out Alonso swinging after he gave up base hits to Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil to start the game.

It was obvious that Paddack was probably a little too fired up for his own good when Alonso found air on a 3-2 pitch at the letters. The crowd was hitting a crescendo at that point (pace yourselves, amateurs!) and Paddack responded with a fist pump (pace yourself, amateur!) that whipped the crowd into a little bit more of a frenzy. It was almost like when two people have no beef with each other, or one which had long since subsided, when a third party whispers “hey, you hear what that guy said about your mama?” in each of their ears. It was Paddack vs. Alonso, but it also seemed to be Paddack vs the Citi Field crowd at that point.

Paddack followed with a walk to Michael Conforto to load the bases, with most of the pitches that missed landing just off the plate. Now up comes Wilson Ramos, who is now obviously fired up to clear the bases in the first inning off a pitcher who is nibbling the edges of the zone and stomping around the mound like a lunatic. So Paddack is fired up, Ramos is fired up, the crowd is fired up, and guess what? The first pitch came up and in and flipped Ramos back. At that point, all it took was a long stare back from Ramos to cause a little bit of hell to break loose and clear the benches.

“I’m obviously not trying to hit him with the bases loaded and one out. He can think what he wants.” -Chris Paddack

“Of course he’s not trying to hit me. But if one comes at my head, I’m going to be upset. Forgive me.” -Wilson Ramos

“Get a haircut, Paddack. And while you’re at it, Go f**k yourself.” -Random Mets fan in section 126

So things calmed down with no punches thrown and everybody got back to the game at hand, a 1-0 count with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the first inning. Paddack, whose face is still red, tried to throw a ball that traveled 141 mph. His fastball reached that mark, but only after hit made contact with the bat of Ramos, who launched it into the second deck to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. The Free Shirt Friday crowd was in a frenzy. Ramos almost broke McNeil’s hand at home plate with his high-five. And SNY’s close up of a red-faced Paddack breathing through his mouth while Ramos was rounding second is something that most Mets fans will never forget.

Paddack was lost the rest of the way, giving up five more runs in the next three innings, which makes it even more surprising that Alonso was the only player to not have a hit off him in three at-bats. The Mets had a 9-2 lead going to the fifth when Steven Matz was starting to get hit around a bit, giving up a two run single to Tommy Pham in the fifth to make it 9-4, and Fernando Tatis Jr.’s two run single off Robert Gsellman in the sixth closed the gap to 9-6. But the Gsellman, Betances, and Justin Wilson kept the Padres off the board through the 7th, setting up Alonso’s three run HR off Emilio Pagan to make the final score 12-6, winning this latest war just innings after losing the personal battle against Paddack, who was losing enough battles on other fronts to make it all good. With the Mets on a four game winning streak, I’m willing to downgrade Paddack from a Joker-like enemy to a low level thug like Grama from Rounders.

I’ve been the one trying to downplay this Paddack vs. Alonso matchup, but maybe all these war references I’m using makes me part of the problem.

Today’s Hate List

1. You’re begging me to put Paddack on the list.
2. I just don’t see him as a villain.
3. Hyped? Yes.
4. A little too emotional? Maybe, but that’s not my business.
5. All right, fine. Chris Paddack