Misery Loves Company: Two Guys Watch Baseball

Game 21 - Mets
L.A. . . . M.E.

Dodgers 3, Mets 2
Record: 8-13

Steve Trachsel only made a couple of mistakes, but that was enough to beat the back-to-reality Mets. A two-run dinger and a solo shot gave the Dodgers three, and a Kaz Matsui leadoff homer plus a sac fly gave the Mets two. And there you have it. The Mets left nine on base, including a pair in the ninth inning, and grounded into a pair of double plays. And the overriding theme is that I knew they'd do this. The impressive aberrations can't extend to a series or even consecutive games; very quickly it's back to the Expos-esque run production. (The Expos scored four last night for the first time in eons . . . and lost.)

In response to a recent posting of mine which lamented the same ol' same ol' long, hard season with too many similarities to the '03 version, Mike Piazza replied:

"I'm really sick of talking about last year. We're a different team."

Not better, just different.

Last Year's Mets:
- Mets cast-off Marco Scutaro is now hitting .338 for Oakland, leading the A's regulars. Perhaps it has something to do with their announcers pronouncing his name with the proper Venezuelan accent, as opposed to Fran Healy calling him "Scooter-oh."
- Jeromy Burnitz, dumped at the deadline last year, has six dingers and 14 ribbies for Colorado. Granted, it's Colorado, but those numbers would lead the Mets by far. (No Met yet has double-digit RBI's.)
- And Armando Benitez is now 10-for-10 in save chances with a 0.66 ERA.

But not all of them are thriving:
- Robby Alomar and his .222 average are on the shelf for 6-8 weeks after being hit in the hand with a pitch and breaking a bone.
- Timo Perez is hitting .269 but is short of playing time -- he has only 25 AB's so far, playing behind Aaron Rowand in CF.
- Roger "Over and Out" Cedeno made just five plate appearances (0-for5 with a K) before injuring his hamstring. He's making $5,375,000 this year. Five million, three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. FIVE MILLION, THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE MILLION DOLLAREENIES. I thought about just typing that and typing that and typing it until it made any bit of sense to me, but I don't have that much time left . . . in my life.

This Year's Mets:
- Jason Phillips is hitting .131. Another reason Piazza needs to play more 1B?
- Scott Erickson is nowhere near coming back. Don't know whether to laugh or wince, but either way it'll be vigorous enough to induce tears.
- Jeff Duncan is batting at an .083 clip. I'm actually headed to Norfolk this weekend -- if he can get to DC, I can give him a lift down there.

This is almost ugly enough to make me watch the NBA playoffs. Not quite, though.