Yippee.
Mets 4, Expos 2
Record: 48-51
The sting of a very bad loss to a team you should beat doesn't heal with one unimpressive but effective victory over the same team. These are troubled times in Met-fan-land, people; the division title is looking more and more like the only in-road to the playoffs, while also looking more and more like the Atlanta Braves' in-road. The trade deadline is the latest over-hyped topic, and the Mets appear to be on the outside looking in where it's concerned. They quickly went from buyers to possible sellers, but it looks like they'd do best to sit tight and watch. The notion that a solid starter might propel them into postseason contention melted away along with the defense and bullpen work of the past few weeks.
Meanwhile, in the Bronx, they're working around the clock to bring Randy Johnson to the Yanks. I think I've used the adjectives ridiculous, ludicrous, and preposterous to categorize the Yankees and the MLB pecuniary structure before; today we'll go with risible. I am soliciting from you readers a new, more outlandish descriptor to encapsulate what crap this all is. Johnson himself is as much to blame in this instance, specifically asking to be dealt to the Yanks. Following in the footsteps of Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, and loads of others, the Big Unit isn't satisfied with a challenge and instead would rather play for the odds-on favorite. That Johnson won't financially benefit from this move (like some of those other free-agent signings did) is only marginally redemptive. He's already won a World Series -- aided in great part by the D-backs organizing a squad good enough that he could lead them to the title. Peter Gammons continually reminds us that the Big Unit hasn't pitched for a sub-.500 team in September since 1992. He can't handle one year of injury-riddled misery and wait for a regrouping in Arizona this winter? Part of me is like Rob and hopes he does go to the Yanks and they still lose, adding to the mockery. But the other part of me doesn't want their already excellent chances of winning it all improved, and the Big Eunuch would be a huge addition.
It seems Peter Angelos has reared his hideous snout again. According to WTOP News:
Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos estimates a baseball team in Washington would cost the Orioles $40 million dollars a season. Angelos told WBAL's Sportsline another team in Washington or Northern Virginia would hurt the team. He says "There are no real baseball fans in D.C." Angelos says the fans are mainly in the Maryland suburbs, and those pushing for a D.C. or Northern Virginia team are trying to steal Orioles' fans.
This guy just keeps getting better, doesn't he? He's trying to say he'll lose $40 million a year from the residents of Montgomery and P.G. Counties? I know what he really means, that he'll miss those luxury boxes from the D.C. firms once the Expos are around here. It's still stupid for two reasons, though. For one, that's a slap in the face from every D.C./Virginia fan who ever supported the O's, and there are a million, dating back to a time when Peter Angelos was just an ambulance chaser without any affiliation with the Birds. Second, he's had twelve years to endear D.C. and Virginia fans even more, but he has instead meddled incompetently and driven folks away.
And here's what most asinine about his comments: wherever a D.C. or No. VA team would play its games, considering the traffic around here, it'd be much easier for any Maryland suburbanite to get to Camden Yards than the D.C. park. The Orioles would have the upper hand of local legacy, a better team (in theory), big draws like the Yankees and Red Sox, a beautiful stadium, and proximity! The only thing going against the O's for residents of the Old Line State? Peter Angelos.
In addition, his comments were just nasty and unnecessarily incendiary. I live here, and I'm 50 times the baseball fan he'll ever be. He probably can't even name every good G.M. he's canned. This little curmudgeon thrives on alienation and a swollen Napoleonic. He should be embracing a friendly -- maybe even unfriendly -- rivalry to come, but as it stands, the neo-Senators probably have a greater chance of improvement than any club run by Angelos. He relies on bullying weaker owners, some of whom just want to concentrate on running a baseball team. Which must seem silly to him, who clearly spends very few of his limited logical thoughts on how to enhance the Baltimore Orioles. Somebody sick Michael Moore on this bastard.
Anyway, back to the Mets. They won. Hooray. The Mets have me in no-man's land right now; they're still lurking at the edge of competing for the division, meaning the few wins they're getting aren't enough, but they aren't so bad that I'm back to appreciating those few wins like I did last year. Either get into it or get out of it. Oh, well, I heard somewhere that misery loves company, so I'll appreciate Rob Russell's misery when the Sox drop a winnable one to the O's tonight.
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