Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Game 32 - Mets

Mets 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 2
Record: 14-18

Let me get this straight. You're telling me Pedro Astacio outpitched Odalis Perez, the bullpen tandem of Weathers-Stanton-Strickland and yes, Benitez threw three scoreless, one-hit, no-walk, three-K innings, Tony Clark hit another homer, Vance Wilson followed suit, Rey "A Little Off the Top" Sanchez had a pair of hits and an RBI, and no errors were committed as the Mets topped L.A.? Come on. Really? This sport is ridiculous.

By the way, every time Tony Clark does anything good, you can be assured of reading about it here. You see, Tony Clark was a BoSox signing that excited Mr. Russell last spring, and he had visions (delusions, with the benefit of hindsight) of T.C. rapping doubles off the Monster righty and sending taters into the short porch lefty. He even put his money where his mouth was, wagering on 30 HRs and 110 RBI. The final 2002 stats: .207, 3, 29. So when the Mets signed Clark to a minor-league contract this offseason, a nasty-toned good-riddance chuckle was all my cohort could muster. But now that Clark has doubled his home run output in 1/6 of last year's at-bats this year, he has added insult to Rob's injury of losing a six-pack of beer. He may not reach base again this year, and yet he has given the bird to the Squirrel. (I think it has something to do with his admitting that he sucks -- the first step in recovering your game -- and wearing #00 this year.)

As a follow-up, the not-very-clever moniker given to Rey Sanchez has to do with the recent flap about his allegedly receiving a haircut in the Mets' Clubhouse during a game. I believe it was hours, not days (maybe minutes!) after my May 5 plea for off-the-field distractions to swing things around that the story broke, and it included how Mike Stanton was "flabbergasted" about this incident. A little tension, a little bad press, an unlikely 3-2 win over the Dodgers. Am I the only one here who recognizes my genius?