Another Slip-up Pushes Mets to Brink

All those wins during that memorable cruise-control summer mean nothing now. The Mets can become the latest regular-season juggernaut to fall in the postseason with only one more defeat. After a disheartening 4-2 loss to St. Louis on Tuesday in which they couldn't solve Jeff Weaver or the Cardinals bullpen, the Mets head home needing both games to win the series. To make matters worse, their Game 6 starter is the sometimes-shaky John Maine, and their Game 7 pitcher is To Be Determined.

First, the bad news: St. Louis' raggedy pitching staff has managed to check the Mets. Give some credit to Weaver and Jeff Suppan, but don't let the Mets off the hook. Their bats haven't devoured their opponents' arms like they did in the regular season. To make matters worse, the Cardinals throw their ace, Chris Carpenter, in Game 6. On the mound, New York's patchwork staff has had its seams worn, and the bullpen has been taxed enough to make it ineffective. Mets relievers will not be fresh entering the final two games.

On the other hand, Carpenter hasn't been his dominant self of late, and the Mets had no problems with him in Game 2. Behind Carpenter is a bullpen that is not as deep as the Mets'. New York would be happy to get more cracks at it. If and when they do, they'll have to take advantage, or they'll face a long winter. Lashes hits a bloop to left and Edmonds advances to 3rd. Now Ronnie "I have bad hair" Belliard is up. Anyone thinking 6-4-3?

Photograph of players surrounding pitcher Tom Glavine as he gives the ball to manager Willie Randolph by Charles Krupa/AP

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By Tom Boorstein on October 18, 2006 12:00 AM

Comments [rss]

anonymass

Russo has a voice made for print media.

Tim N.

I totally agree, Kevin. As Francesa himself would say, his bad call in the ALDS was huge... huge. But he does know his TV stuff.

And it's actually Russo who roots against the NY teams with a vengeance. On Saturday he went nuts on the Mets, something to the effect of "I've been giving Yankee fans grief for a dozen years, you think you Mets fans are immune? Yanks are gone, Mets are losing, it's bombs away!" Sometimes you want to throw stuff at the radio, but for some reason they are pretty darned entertaining.

aloha higgins

I know two fans who wants detroit to win,

Thomas Magnum and that Hawaiian Detective.

EricGewiz

You're right, not many people watched that World Series - and though its easy to say that it's because no one outside of NY cared, I think an alternative to that is not many people outside of NY wanted to see the Yankees play again.

I lived in Phoenix at the time, and everyone I knew had the same general feeling - ambivalence to seeing the Yankees again.

Kevin Walsh

I meant ALDS of course.

Kevin Walsh

>>>On FAN, Francesa was saying that a lot of TV people are rooting for Detroit/St. Loo.

Ah, yes, Francesa...the man who called the Tigers "a duck on one leg" before they faced the Yanks in the NLDS.

It's really odd that NYC's #1 sports talk radio show features two guys who have no use for the Mets, or the Yankees, for that matter....

...and it's also odd the the Mets haven't made more of Pujols' ungracious comments about Glavine in Game 1. Remember the Dodgers in '88 after Cone called one of Tommy Lasorda's guys a "high school pitcher"...

www.forgotten-ny.com

tien

i hear that TBD is the best starting pitcher the mets have.

J

Yes, and who could ever forget Roger Clemens flying into a roid rage, and throwing the broken bat at Piazza in the 00 series..?

Tim N.

Regarding ratings... what matters most is not who's in it but how long the series goes. Series ratings grow with every game.

And Kevin is right, the Subway Series pulled very low ratings. No one outside of NYC watched. A Tiger/Card series would probably draw pretty well, with two underdogs and a bona fide star like Pujols in his first WS (remember Jerome Bettis at the Super Bowl?). Plus you'd have Bob Gibson and Al Kaline throwing out the first ball and all that crap.

It would totally blow for NYC, but the TV people would be very happy. On FAN, Francesa was saying that a lot of TV people are rooting for Detroit/St. Loo.

And frankly, I thought the '00 World Series was pretty entertaining, with poor ol' Al Leiter just throwing pitch after pitch after pitch after pitch after pitch...

EricGewiz

Kevin - one can also make an argument that the 2000 WS wasn't as interesting since the Yankees were playing for the 4th time in 5 years. Who wants to always watch that!?

EricGewiz

It's like the Mets have a "Pedro Cerrano" complex - they can only hit fastballs, no breaking balls - which is what the entire Cards pitching staff has offered them for 5 games!

STL - DET would be an okay WS, though I'm biased as a Mets fan. Though, those two teams did meet in '68.

Kevin Walsh

>>>st louis vs detroit may be the lowest rated world series in history!!!!!

The 2000 Subway Series was one of the lowest-rated. The rest of the country had NO rooting interest...

www.forgotten-ny.com

Dude

#2 - kil was referring to the TV ratings, not whether the WS would be interesting or not. Without a big TV market team, the ratings are going down the toilets.

J

Even if the Mets don't make it to the big dance, you still gotta watch..! St Louis & Detroit would be great...two old school teams..

The Mets lack of starting pitching will be the difference on who wins tonight...

Mark

kil - the rest of the country doesn't require a NY team in the world series for it to be interesting.

gothamist - it would be nice if you included the score in these write-ups.