Game 4 Recap

            The Mets did not lose tonight because of their pitching, (though I've seen as much of Tyler Clippard as I ever want to see again). They did not lose tonight because of Daniel Murphy's $h-tty fielding. They didn't even lose tonight because of Terry Collins awful managing or Yoenis Cespides' bone-headed base running (and BTW- whether or not we win this World Series, let someone else overpay that guy)

               No, the Mets lost tonight because they COULD NOT HIT. They couldn't hit a washed up bum like Chris Young, they couldn't hit anybody in the Royals bullpen, and they couldn't hit the closer, Wade Davis. Yes, they got two hits in the 9th, but Murphy's was cheap. I knew 3 runs wasn't going to get it done in this game, I freaking knew it. There was no way. Michael Conforto hits two home runs tonight, accounting for their entire offense. To have to depend on a 22 year old kid who started this year in Single-A ball? Are you kidding me?


                So I am now left with no choice but to make this desperate plea to the New York Mets. Because this is what I have been reduced to. Now I have to beg, because the Mets have put me in this position.

Whatever you do, do not lose this game on Sunday night.

         If you are going to lose this Series, don't lose it here in NY. Make the Royals go home and win it in Kansas City.

         I know you guys are capable of coming back from 3-1, I know you are. I've seen you guys down many times this year, and when I thought you were out,  you came back. It's happened too much for me to say you are done.

         But what I can NOT stomach is another 5 game series loss in the championship round. That would ruin my winter. That would make me break my promise of not losing my $h-t if you guys don't win. Losing this series in 5 games would send me over the edge.

Why?

       Consider this. In the rare moments that a team of mine advances to the finals, the series has ended in 5 games, with my team on the short end. Check it.

1999 Spurs-Knicks Spurs win in 5
2000 Yankees-Mets: Yankees win in 5
2014 Kings-Rangers: Kings win in 5.

         The Spurs dominated the 1999 NBA Finals. All the games in the 2000 World Series were decided by one run. The Rangers lost 3 of their 4 games in double OT. Know what that means? NOTHING. Because the record shows that all those teams just got lucky to win one game. Only a nerd like me knows those other details, and the rest of the world doesn't care.

           I don't want to see the Royals celebrating on our field Sunday night. I don't want to see another one of my teams lose a 7 game series in 5 games. If that happens, then as far as I'm concerned, you got swept.

          Noah Syndergaard showed some guts Friday night. He took the fight to the Royals. You blew it tonight. Now it's time to show some pride, show some guts. Us Mets fans have swallowed a lot of $h-t, these past few years. We've been incredibly loyal. You owe it to your fans to make this right.

Don't get eliminated at home.... In 5 games.

Editorial : Thor attacks Royals

          At the Halloween party last night, I was talking to a fellow Met fan, who was saying that although it was killing him that the Mets were having such trouble with the Royals, he couldn't get a full head of righteous steam against them. "It's not like the Dodgers, who hurt one of our players, or the Cubs who were saying "we're gonna kick their a$$es. (which I honestly don't remember) The Royals don't talk any crap. They're just really good.

          Unbeknownst to us, probably right at that moment, Noah Syndergaard was throwing a high heard one up and it to Royals leadoff hitter Alcedis Escobar, prompting much bellyaching from the Royals bench, especially their big mouthed third baseman Mike Mouskakis.
Welcome to Queens, a$$holes!

           All the scouting reports said that Escobay loves to swing at the first pitch. Shoot, all we heard from Buck, Reynolds and Verducci, was how could Harvey and DeGrom even think about throwing a first pitch fastball to him. "He always swings at the first pitch."
Try swinging at this one, beeeotch!

            And before I start getting the calls and e-mails about my hyprocrasy, let me clear the air with some talking points.


1) Yes, I was plenty pissed off when Roger Clemens beaned Mike Piazza on July 8, 2000. But I once heard someone say of Clemens,  "he could nail a mosquito on it's ass from 60 feet." In other words, Clemens control was pinpoint. He wouldn't hit someone unless he wanted to.
Now Syndergaard has a ways to go before he catches up with Clemens, but one of his criticisms is that he throws too many strikes. In other words, his control is pinpoint. If he wanted to hit Escobar in the head, he would have.

2) I don't believe in headhunting,  unless there's a good reason .  Having someone went into your shortstop is a good reason. Thus my call for someone on the Dodgers to get one in the ear. Again I don't believe Syndergaard was looking to hit anyone. He just wanted to back them off the plate. The Royals were talking about doing that to Daniel Murphy.

If I'm Steven Matz, I'd do the same exact thing tonight, if it pisses them off so much. Tough spit if they can't hack it.

Welcome to Queens

Game 3 Recap

        So the reason I missed the first pitch tonight was because I was at a
Halloween dance at Timmy"s school. The Mets make it to a World Series again
eventually (maybe) but Timmy is never going to be seven years old again, so I got to take
these opportunities when I get them. 

         I tried to follow the game on ESPN Gamecast, and I felt great when Noah Syndergaard struck the first hitter out with his high heat. Of course I felt sick when the Royals scored first. And then I embarrassed myself by dancing after David Wright's home run.

          I drove home and missed the Royals scoring two runs in the top of the second, I put Halloween shows on the TV for Timmy and Tara and I watched the rest of the game on my phone. I may have to do that for the rest of the Series, for no soone than I did that, than Curtis Granderson hit a homerun down the right-field line to give us back the lead. The rest of our runs came off singles, solid base running     and some sloppy fielding by KC. In other words, we beat them how they beat us. 

          But the man who saved our season tonight was Noah Syndergaard. Yeah he got roughed
around a bit in the first and second innings, but once he settled down he did
exactly what they said we couldn't do....and  that was strike these guys out. That
was the thing that scared me so much with those games in Kansas City. It just
seem like the matter what Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom threw,  these guys
hit it.  But those six strikeouts tonight show that even these guys can swing
and miss sometimes. 

Of course we're not out of the woods yet not even close.
We're going to need another big game tomorrow night from Steven Matz. But
tonight guys, we're on the board. I know it's cliche, but to win four, you have to
start with one.

We got it tonight. 

Game 2 Recap

October 21, 1986. 

That was the night of game three of the 1986 World Series Mets versus Red Sox. It was also the night that I made confirmation. One of the most important nights in my life as a Catholic, and the first World Series that I can remember that my team was actually playing in. You want to talk about torture? Some of you were there with me you know exactly what I'm talking about. 

Why am I bringing this up tonight? Because tonight was CCD night at Saint Anthony's Parish in Oceanside. Of all the nights the pic tonight to have the meet and greet with Timmy CCD teacher. But first we were treated to a rambling speech by the principal, and the 15 minute speech via DVD from Bishop Murphy. (if you want to know anything about Bishop Murphy, read Jimmy Breslin's book, The Church That Forgot Christ).

I tell you I damn near converted to Judaism tonight. This lady was telling us when you go to church make sure you genuflect. "You need to show reverence. You're going to church and not a park" Look, I'm 42 years old I am married I have a child and I have survived a heart attack I do not need a speech like that from you. 

The only reason I didn't walk out in the middle of this thing was because I wanted to meet Timmy's teacher. Also we were promised to collect some artwork that the kids had made and the thought of coming home empty-handed because Daddy wanted to go get home for the World Series was too much to handle. 

So I charge through the whole thing. For the record, Timmy's teacher was lovely. And he did a nice job with his art project. I just had that same feeling tonight that I did 29 years ago. Not good. 

Trivia Question:

My team had the lead late in Game 1. The other team came back to tie it up late, and then win it in heartbreaking fashion. The other team then won Game 2. I am referring to. 

A) The 2000 World Series
B) The 2014 Stanley Cup Finals.
C) The 2015 World Series
D) All of the F-cking Above! 

Of course the answer is D. In other words here we go again. 

Jacob deGrom was done in by a disastrous 5th inning, where he allowed 4 runs. And that wouldn't have been a big deal if the Mets didn't make Johnny Cuerto look like a first ballot Hall of Famer. Credit where credit is due, the Royals totally out classed us tonight.  But the Mets are better than this.

And they need to start showing it.

Fast. 

There's really nothing more to analyze or say besides that. 

Game One Recap

Bizarre

            That is the word to use to describe this game, a 14 inning loss to the Royals in Game 1 of the World Series. I mean things happened in this game that haven't happened in over 100 years. An inside the park home run? Is this the World Series or the CYO?

          Then there was the news that Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez father passed away, and everyone except for the poor guy knew. That just felt weird.

          Then in the most truly out of this world moment, Fox's coverage of the game went dead. Are you kidding me? One of the biggest sporting events of the year involving the biggest media market in the country and you allow that to happen? That is just plain old inexcusable. Though thanks to MLB connecting their international feed to us we got a break from Joe Buck. (I don't hate Buck as much as most people do, but he can grate on you, especially if your team is losing.)

           And then our lights out closer gives up a moonshot in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings. What a kick in the chops THAT was. Jeryus Familia has been our rock all season and in this post season in particular. Watching that ball fly out of Kauffman Stadium off the bat of Alex Gordon brought flashbacks of rotten bullpens of yesteryear .

           We scratched and clawed in this game. Juan Lagares had a couple of nice at bats. As did David Wright (his getting thrown out stealing in the 9th didn't help us any) Wilmer Flores drove in the go ahead run on an error by Royals first baseman Eric Hosner. Curtis Granderson went deep and made a hell of a defensive play in the 11th. and Daniel Murphy of course had a couple more hits.

            But they left a ton of guys on base, and was it just me, or did Matt Harvey seem to be uptight out there tonight? The inside the park home run seemed to rattle the usually unshakeable Dark Knight. He did have a stretch where he settled down and retired 11 in a row, or something like that, but something was off with him tonight. And maybe Familia was due for a stinker, but lets hope he got it out of the way.

             Kansas City is a tough place to play if your the visting team. The fans are ridiculously loud, and the demensions of the ballpark are weird. It's imperative that the Mets come out of these first two games with a split. I really feel the Royals have a big advantage in their park, and the Mets need to take that away from them. It's up to Jacob deGrom to even this thing up tomorrow (or later on today) For now, we all have to try to trudge through our day tired and miserable.  That was a $h-tty way to lose.

But it's one game.

One Bizarre Game.

Weekly Mail October 25 2015

What a WEEK!


          I thought that the Mets NLDS series with the Dodgers was going to be tough, having to deal with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Grenkie. And it was, but somehow they managed to beat them in 5 games, including twice at Chavez Ravine.

         Then I thought that the NLCS with the Cubs would be a drawn out slugfest. An epic battle of great pitching vs great hitting. The Mets arms against the Cubs bats. I never in a million years expected the Mets to sweep that series.

           So here we are now, World Series bound against last year's World Series runner-ups, the Kansas City Royals. And I am done trying to predict how this is all going to turn out. Because even the Mets Dodgers series, which I knew would be tough, I sweated through that Game 5.

            I mean, if the Mets keep pitching the way they have been pitching, and Daniel Murphy continues his Ruthian like hitting, and Lucas Duda goes on one of his epic tears (following an epic slump), if all that happens, who can stop us?

            But it can't be that easy can it? 15 years, I've waited for a return to the Series.... 21 years I've waited for one of my teams to win it all, 29 years I've waited for the Mets to do it. I'm just asking, is this really going to happen?

            The Royals as previously mentioned, are back in the Show for the second year in a row. They made it all the way to Game 7, before losing to the San Francisco Giants. You know how hard it is to get all the way back to that spot, and to do that and have a chance to change the ending? You know they are going to come at it full throttle.

             I'm sticking to my guns on this though, I'm just going to really enjoy this. The last time we were in the Series, it was against the Yankees, and I'll never forget something a friend of mine who was a Yankee fan said. He said he would have rather lost the ALCS to the Mariners than to have made it to the World Series and lost to the Mets. I thought he was nuts. A week later, I saw his point. It was brutal. It should have been a fun time in New York City, instead it was very edgy and ugly. From the Mets sloppy play in Game 1, to that steroid pumping a$$hat Roger Clemens throwing a bat shard at Mike Piazza, to our Mayor openly rooting for the Yankees, it just was plain ugly. And what could be worse than having a victory parade in your city after your team loses. Yeah, I got what my pal was talking about.

          But this time, it seems like the city is united in blue and orange, even most Yankee fans I know are pulling for the Mets. (With some notable exceptions-and you ingrates know who you are)* It's going to be a fun week here, one that we'll remember for a long time.


NEWS ITEM: Joe a No-Go.

             Vice President Joe Biden announced this week that he will not toss his hat into the ring to be the Democratic nominee for President, paving the way even smoother for Hillary Clinton to claim the nomination herself. It's a shame, because I feel as though he would have been a good candidate.

             President Obama was ridiculed by some for choosing the Delaware Senator as his running mate in 2008, being that Obama was running on a platform of change, and Biden was one of the most tenured members of the Senate. But the knowledge and experience that Biden brought to the ticket would prove invaluable.  An article I read about Biden over the summer talked about how in the early days of the Obama administration, world leaders who were getting to know our new President would find the initial meeting easier if Biden was there because "everybody knows Joe." All his years heading the Senate Foreign Relations committee had paid off.

           In addition to his wealth of knowledge and his long formed relationships with world leaders, Biden is a fundamentally decent man, a family man who has had to deal with some unimaginable tragedy in his life. Having lost his first wife and a daughter in a car accident, and most recently, lost his son Beau, to cancer. Having had cheated death myself just a few days earlier, watching Beau Biden's funeral was especially poignant for me.

             To be sure, I don't agree with all of Biden's positions and policies. He has a tendency to spout off unexpectedly, and at age 74 on inauguration day 2017, his time may have passed. But I can't help but think that he may have been what the doctor ordered for this country. A man with friends on both sides of the aisle, a non-polarizing figure who has the brains and the touch to get things done. I can tell you one thing for sure, looking at this list of candidates still standing, in both parties.
We could do a lot worse. We probably will do a lot worse.

RELIGION: The Gospel according to Timmy:

          Timmy started CCD a couple of weeks ago, and he is now learning about the Gospel. Every week, his teacher previews the following weeks gospel. A couple of weeks ago, the gospel told the story of the man who came to Jesus asking what he had to do to follow Him, only to have Jesus tell him to give up all his possessions.

(20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”)

Here was Timmy's version of the story

"So this guy came up to Jesus and said "What do I have to do?" And Jesus said "You have to get rid of all your toys and all your stuff, or if you want, bring all your stuff to me, and I'll make sure that it goes to the poor. So the guy said he would do it, but he lied. HE LIED TO JESUS, because he didn't give any of his stuff away. I mean, who lies to Jesus? "

I don't know if a career in the priesthood is in his future (though the older I get, I find that it's a tough job to beat...free housing and food, for working one day a week, with a salary to boot) but I'd rather hear him break it down for us than some of these priests we have now.

I plan on blogging throughout the World Series, even if it means I don't get to bed till 2 AM. As I said, I want to enjoy this and capture it as best I can.

Lets Go Mets!!!
Have a Great Week.

*I'd just like to point out that I rooted for the Yankees in the 2009 World Series.

Weekly Mail October 18,2015

Hey Peeps:

So yeah, I'm holding off on the final installment of my heart attack special because well, we got other things going on. Again to all who responded with love and good wishes, I promise I will inbox you privately with thanks and gratitude. But for now let's get to the important stuff.

SPORTS: NLCS Game One goes to the METS!

WOW!

        So during the regular season, the Mets couldn't beat the Cubs. 7 games all went to the boys from the North Side of Chi Town. But that was before we got Cespides, before David Wright and Travis d'Arnaud came off the DL, before the Mets became well the Mets. 

        Before the game, TBS asked their so called panel of experts for a prediction, and Pedro Martinez picked "Chacago" because he wasn't sure which Matt Harvey was going to show up. It was a fair point, his performance against the Dodgers left something to be desired.

Last night, there were no issues.
Last night he was AWESOME!

         His fastball was blazing and his slider was dancing. It was vintage Dark Knight, the type of start us Met fans have been dreaming about when we missed him last year. It was just what we needed.

          And speaking of what we needed, how about Daniel Murphy? Getting us on the board early with another moonshot. That man is on a mission. And then that play he made at the end of the game. Shoot, for a guy who can't hit, field or run the bases, he certainly has made an impact. And those same idiots (especially a certain overweight afternoon sports talk show host) who have said the aforementioned about our man Murph, are also the ones figuring he's going to hi tail it out of here after the season. I hope not. He's what this team is all about.

          Although Jeryus Familia made things somewhat interesting in the 9th, he managed to nail it down. (after TBS play-by-play man Ernie Johnson compared him to Armando Benetiz.) So the Mets have already won more games against the Cubs this postseason than they did all season. Awesome!

             Sunday's game is going to be a tall order though. Jake Arrieta is as good a pitcher as Kershaw and Grenkie. Lucas Duda and David Wright need to start hitting and soon. As I've said previously, this Cubs lineup is full of lumber, and with their ace going for them, this game is going to be tough. But man, how sweet would it be to go up 2-0 heading to Chicago?





News Item: Aunt sues nephew

       So this story made the rounds of the media (social and otherwise)..... Jennifer Connell of Manhattan was at a party three years ago, when her then 8 year old nephew ran and jumped into her arms, causing her to fall and break her wrist. Connell sued the kid for $127,000.00 dollars.

        When I first saw this story, of course I was outraged. What kind of shrew would do that. When Connell gave her explanation, it became a bit more clear. The incident took place at the child's home in Connecticut, and in order for her to get money to pay her medical bills, she had to sue the homeowners, and not merely put a claim in against their insurance. She didn't want to sue her poor nephew, she explained, she had to in order to cover her medical expenses. And there were a few legal eagles on line, poo-pooing the media for jumping the gun on this story.

Still I have a few questions....

           Like why sue for $127,000? My freakin heart attack didn't cost that much, and I was a guest of South Nassau hospital for three nights. You mean to tell me that all that cash was going towards her bills? Even factoring in the notion that you always sue for more than you hope to get, this still seems a bit much.

          And really, you mean to tell me that this was the only way to go about this? Didn't this woman have her own health insurance? And if not, why didn't she have Obamacare? (Hey if I didn't blame President Obama for this, Donald Trump surely would have) Anything has to be better than dragging your kid nephew into court.

     I'm probably a bit raw on this because I am the lucky uncle of three beautiful nieces and one prince of a nephew. The thought of taking them to court would never cross my mind in a million years, I wouldn't give a spit if they knocked me over to give me a hug. Shoot, I'm just happy when they give me a hug without looking like they're about to record a hostage tape. Not to mention that the a$$-whupping I would get from my parents and in-laws would be far worse than any damage I would have sustained at the hands of my nieces and nephew.

News Item: Is nothing sacred?

        This week, Hugh Hefner announced that Playboy Magazine will no longer publish photos of naked women. Is it just me, or is this a bit like McDonalds not serving cheeseburgers anymore?

        According to US Weekly online, "There will still be a Playmate of the Month, but the pictures will be “PG-13,” the magazine's content manager,Cory Jones told the New York Times. 

         They went onto say that for those horn-dogs who still need to get their T&A, they can always thank Al Gore, because as Playboy CEO Scott Flanders told the Times "You are now just one click away from every sex act imaginable." So once again, the Internet comes to the rescue. 

         And the magazine will still march on for those of us who just read it for the articles. Think I'm lying? Once a long time ago, some friends and I came across a stack of Playboy's from 1973. While my buddies were oogling the babes of the early 70's I was perusing the Playboy Pigskin Preview. My friends couldn't believe it... "What the hell is wrong with you? What are you reading?"  Whoever wrote the article wrote of the 1973 Jets..."If Namath can stay healthy, they might make a push, if not they won't."

         For the record, Joe Namath got hurt in the second game of the season and the Jets finished 4-10. (Thank you Pro-Football Reference.com)

News Item: The Democratic Debate:

          I know that I should have at least recorded the debate Tuesday night, but to be honest, with Game 4 of the Mets-Dodgers on, and my DVR filled with shows I need to catch up on, I couldn't muster up too much interest. Even now, while I'm writing this, I'm telling myself I should find a replay of it on you tube and watch some of it, and still I can't bring myself to do it.

         The stories that I've read about it have said that it was civil and grown-up in contrast to the mudslinging, name calling circus that was the Republican debates. Here's what I'm curious about: I'm also hearing that Hillary was the clear winner; did the others lay down for her? I know Bernie Sanders defended her on the e-mail scandal, but did anyone go after her about anything? Or are these other candidates just window dressing for their parties presumptive candidate? I should bite the bullet and watch the stupid thing myself, but to tell you the truth, I'm just too damn lazy.

On a side note, if you get a chance, please watch the cold opening from last night's Saturday Night Live. It was hysterical!


I will try to blog as much about the NLCS as I can. Otherwise I'll just keep posting my pithy comments on Facebook.

Lets's Go Mets

Have a Great Week!

Weekly Mail Special Report: 2015 NLCS

               Want to start off congratulating the Mets for their gutsy performance the other night. I really should have written this on Friday when the euphoria of beating the Dodgers was fresher than the anticipation of the battle ahead with the Cubs. Still....

          Thursday night was one of the most nerve racking nights I have ever spent watching professional sports, and this is coming from someone who lived through the 10th inning of the 1986 World Series, I never felt confident the whole game. Sure I can sit here and say that I knew they had it in the bag because I'm a good and loyal fan, but that wouldn't be honest.
 
           First of all, when Jacob deGrom gave up those two first inning runs, my mind went back to Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS, also at Dodger Stadium, The Dodgers scored three early runs and the Mets were never in it. This had all the makings of the same result. (Someone told me that Joe Beningo said the same thing on his WFAN radio show on Friday) But deGrom kept pitching into and out of trouble the whole game. And as the game went along and the score remained tight, I worried that the Dodgers, with last licks would win in walk off fashion, which would have been worse than getting blown out like they did in 1988.

            Daniel Murphy's swipe of third base, which led to their second run, served two purposes... 1) It made the Dodgers look like fools, and 2) it exposed a soft underbelly to that annoying defensive shift. There were some rumblings about having the higher-ups at MLB outlaw the shift. I wouldn't go that far, but the best way to eliminate it is to render it ineffective. Daniel Murphy took a step in that direction. The Dodgers broke one of Karl (The Ace) Ludwig's cardinal rules of baseball, "Make sure all the bases are covered (godammit)"

            I thought Terry Collins was crazy for bringing in Noah Syndergaard in the 7th inning to replace deGrom, and then taking him out after one inning. That was really the only second guess I had of Collins all night, Thank God he was right and I was wrong. I couldn't believe how easy Jeryus Familia made it look. Besides that deep fly that was hit by that lowlife Chase Utley, the rest of it was easy peasy. Hell, Howie Kendrick barely looked like he was trying in that last at bat.

           And speaking of Utley, having had a week to digest what he did to Reuben Tejada, I want to clarify a few things. Number one, I don't have a problem with someone sliding into second to break up a double play. That's part of the game. My issue is where did he start his slide. You can slide from a distance where you can disrupt the throw and still not break the shortstop's leg. IMHO, Utley failed to do this. He started his slide too close to a vulnerable Tejada. The other issue I have, (and I have yet to get a good explanation for this) was out could you rule Utley safe if he never touched the bag? If the explanation is since he was ruled out, he didn't have to touch the bag to be ruled safe, then the play shouldn't be reviewable.

          In any event, Utley and the rest of those bums are home, and now it's on to the NLCS for our boys. We are facing the Chicago Cubs, probably the best of the four teams still standing. The Cubs have one awesome pitcher, and a solid lineup, led by Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo. The Mets also lost all 7 games they played against the Cubs this year. Of course the caveat to that is those games were played before the Mets added Yoenis Cespides, Michael Confoto and Kelly Johnson. This is a far better team than the one that played the Cubs earlier this year.

         Still its a tall order. The Cardinals, who the Cubbies beat in the NLDS, was stacked. Hopefully the Cubs used all their magic in that series. Once again, I want to appraoch this as an unexpected gift from the baseball gods and that I should be grateful for whatever happens.

But as my cousin in law, Ryan O'Shea put it. The Mets were not supposed to be here, but since they are here.....why not stay here a little bit longer.

Indeed! 

PART TWO: THE HOSPITAL STAY

      In the recovery room, the first thing I remember was feeling hungry. Of course I was terrified to eat anything, knowing that food was what most likely got me here. I once watched the Morgan Spurlock movie Super Size Me, particularly the part where after having McDonalds for breakfast lunch and dinner, Spurlock tosses his cookies. I turned to Tara and said, "he calls this a film project, I call it "Every Tuesday while I was in college."  To get me to stop drinking soda, I would have had to check into the Betty Ford Clinic. And I started most mornings at work with a jug of Snapple and an egg sandwich.  And besides from running around with Timmy's soccer team, I didn't much exercise anymore.
         I always thought I was safe, because, despite my poor eating habits, I never once smoked, I stopped boozing after Timmy was born, and as I so eloquently told that nurse, I've never done drugs. I was 41 years old. This couldn't happen to me.
Until it did.

And now, the only thing I could do was make sure that it didn't happen again.

          But that battle would start in a few days. For now, I had to recover. So I spent the night in the ICU. When I first got there, I couldn't believe it was past midnight, all sense of time had been lost. All told, from the time the ambulance came till that moment, was about three hours And as I said, I was feeling hungry. So the nurse gave me some graham crackers which tasted great and filled me up. Then I managed to doze off. .
         A nurse came in a couple of hours later and asked me if I wanted to go to the bathroom. I said yes and she handed me a bottle. Man, you don't know what helpless feels like till you have to try to pee while lying on your back. Plus every couple of hours, they drew blood. I'd just be getting some zzz's and I'd feel a stick in my arm. That, and my BP was being taken every hour. So I felt my arm getting squeezed. But after having a heart attack, that kind of pain is nothing.
          Tara came to see me early Tuesday morning. She had gotten in touch with my family and told Timmy what had happened. I felt awful, having put everybody through this, But I was still alive and I was feeling better already. I really felt like I was out of the woods, especially when the nurses allowed me to sit in a chair. The only pain I felt was a dull pain in my leg where the incision was made.
         But while I was sitting in the chair, the pain in my leg really started to throb. Tara asked me what was wrong and I told her my leg was hurting. All of the sudden, I felt like I couldn't breathe and things started to go dark. I said to Tara, "am I gonna make it?" and then.....

       The first thing I remember was one of the nurses saying, "Bill there are better ways to get women to fawn all over you."  Another nurse said "Oh, your sweaty, lets dry you off." Another said, "He must have spilled something on this shorts" Yeah, thanks for trying not to embarrass me, but that's what we call in the Gallagher house "An accident". For the first time in my nearly 42 years of life. I had fainted.
       According to Jimmy, a former cop turned nurse practitioner, (and one of the smartest medical people I've ever met) my blood pressure had taken a sudden drop, causing me to pass out. Tara said I was out cold for about two minutes. And now I was scared again.
        I got back into bed and tried to relax, but it was hard. I was wondering if I would ever get better.

       A CT Scan with and without contrast would show that everything was OK. After the CT scan, my parents, Tara and Timmy came to see me. It was good to see the big guy. He came up to me and said "Hey Dad, I heard you had a heart attack." Yep, you heard right. His next question sent my mom into laughter, "So Where are all the doctors?" All morning, Timmy heard I was in the hospital with a battery of doctors working on me. So where the hell are they? as my mom interpreted Timmy's question. He went on to tell my mom and dad that if  they needed him to, he could interpret my monitor for them. Thank God he came to see me, he is my world.

       But when they left, and I was sitting there by myself, the enormity of what had happened hit me. That and just laying there by myself, with this melancholy music playing on the TV, I just kind of lost it. I didn't want anyone to see me or hear me, but one of the nurses did, and she came to make sure I was OK. "Look you just went through a  traumatic event, this is perfectly natural." Nothing felt natural at all. I was dependent on strangers (albeit they were the most wonderful nurses I could ever hope to have) I couldn't walk or even stand. This was the worst.

          The TV in the ICU only had 4 channels. One played that awful music, the second was an channel with hospital info, the third was tips on recovering from heart trauma and the fourth was Telecare. Telecare is the official channel of the Catholic Church, and at 6 PM, they replayed the 12 noon Mass from St.Patrick's Cathedral. I couldn't believe what a comfort watching Mass on TV was. Tara always says there are no atheists in the ICU. She's right.

        And even the programming after Mass was interesting. There was a show about people who went away and came back to the church which at least passed the time. Then there was a show about the Knights of Columbus. The host interviewed Grand Knights of different chapters, and on this night, they interviewed the Grand Knight of the Knights in New Hyde Park, and Brother Thomas Liddy, (who I'm assuming is the father of my Postie brother Tom Liddy). That was pretty cool.

        Then they had a priest hosting a cooking show, and at that point I fell asleep. The next thing I know, they were waking me up to take me to the step down unit. I was thrilled to be going somewhere else. The light breeze that I felt as they were wheeling me out felt like I was sticking my face out of a car going 70 MPH. When I got to the step down unit, there was lots of good news. The first being that I was somewhat free to walk, and my first walk was to the bathroom. Secondly the TV had more channels, so SportsCenter here I came.

         I didn't sleep much that night, but it didn't matter, I had my TV and my ability to take short walks and I was starting to feel like a human being again.


*****************************************************************************

           The next day, I met my neighbor in the bed next to me. What a gentleman he was. (I'm not going to mention names and if I do they'll be aliases because I don't want to violate any privacy {or HIPPA Laws as we say in the biz}) But my bed neighbor was really cool. And he helped me get through my day.
          As did the nurses who took care of me. Yes, it helped that I was married to one of their colleagues, but I saw what they did for everybody and I have to tell you these nurses are amazing. I can't say enough about how well I was treated there.
           On Wednesday morning, I was sent down for an echo-cardiogram, and the technician asked me to raise my arms over my head. What came out from under my arms was to quote Vincent Price from Thriller, "the foulest stench". My father in law once told Tara and I a story about when he was stationed in Colorado during his army years, and he was in a general store standing behind some folks who obviously hadn't bathed in some time. "They were RIPE!" he said. I that's the voice I heard when I took a whiff. "I am soooo sorry" I said to the technician.
"For what?" she asked
"Look, even I'm offended by my BO. I can only imagine what you're thinking."
"oh I don't even notice it. You get used to it."

If she wasn't bullspitting me, than God love her, and anyone else who has to deal with patients. I'm surprised they couldn't smell me coming down the hall. What these nurses and radiologists have to put up with, it's incredible.

Tara and Timmy came to visit me again. Timmy brought me a get well card he had made himself, which of course set me off on another John Bohener tear storm. What was worse was that he was off to soccer practice after his visit, where I'd normally be helping out the coach. I was a mess. And my neighbor was trying to cheer me up by telling me how awesome my son was. I thanked him, and I also whispered. "I know he is."
            My neighbor said a decade of the rosary at 12 noon and 6 pm. I joined him for the 6 PM rosary and then I watched Mass with him. He was such a nice guy, which is why I felt kind of guilty when Karl "The Ace" Ludwig showed up and screamed "Dude! What the f-ck happened?"
            Honestly, when Karl and Ray came in, it made my day. They had me cracking up the whole time, which is exactly what I needed. It really helped pass the time. Plus I knew I had one more night in the hospital, and then I was heading home.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Baseball Playoffs

       The Yankees season came to an end last Tuesday with a 3-0 defeat by the Houston Astros at Yankee Stadium. I realize that the Yankees officially were considered a playoff team, but I believe that a team that loses the play-in game shouldn't be considered a post season team. (And please before you start killing me on this, please understand I would feel doubly that way if the Mets were in that position.)
        That said, I think you would have to consider this season a rousing success for the Yankees. They got bigger than expected years from A-Rod and Mark Texiera, solid starting pitching from Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi and Luis Severino, and their bullpen was pretty strong as well. DiDi Gregorious stepped into an impossible circumstance (replacing the sainted Derek Jeter) and more than held his own after a rough start.
          And by not going out and spending a trillion dollars on past their prime talent, they've put themselves in a position where they have some youth on their side. The above referenced pitchers are all under 30, As is Mashahiro Tanaka. This kid they called up to replace Texiera, Greg Bird, seems like a keeper. Gregorious is 25 with a whole year under his belt as Jeter's replacement. And who knows, with CC going into rehab, a fresh start may rejuvenate his career.
          In other words, there were many steps forward for this team. Of course you have those George Steinbrenner disciples who yell "World Championship or Bust!" but that's not reality. Reality is, sometimes you need a couple of years to reload. And I think that is what we are seeing here. If I were a Yankee fan, I'd be excited.

But alas, I'm a Met fan and Friday night's game against the Dodgers was as exciting as they come. Jacob DeGrom was unbelievable; scattering 5 hits and striking out 13. He had to be that good because Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw was unconscious himself with 11 strikeouts through 5 innings. That was as great a post season pitching matchup as I have ever seen.

And then it looked like we may be going up 2-0 in the series, having bested both of their out of this world pitchers in their own ballpark, with Matt Harvey going in Game 3. Then disaster struck. First and  Third one out, a ground ball to Daniel Murphy who flips the ball to Ruben Tejada, who proceeds to get nailed by a dirty slide at the hands of Chase Utley. Tejada gets his leg broken, and to add insult to injury, the moron umpires overturn the out call! They said that Tejada never touched the base..... guess what idiots NEITHER DID UTLEY!

What is it with NY vs LA that turns the officials into WWE imposters? Two years ago, the Kings scored a goal against the Rangers whilst a Kings defenseman was atop Henrik Lunqvist's back. It boggles the mind how you can have such poor officiating in the biggest games.

As far retribution goes, I believe it is definitely in order. But I wouldn't plunk Utley, who 1) knows its coming and 2) is really just a part timer now. I would go after that ugly troll Justin Turner. That guy did squat for the Mets, then went to the Dodgers and has been killing us. They took our SS, we'll take their third baseman. That's how I would deal with it. But I wouldn't be sorry to see Utley carted off on a stretcher either.

Depending on how the playoffs shake out, I may delay in getting part three out. Thank you to all who wrote and sent your love, prayers and concern. That story has a happy ending, lets hope the playoffs have one as well.

Have a Great Week

Weekly Mail Special Part One

Hello All:

                 So I've been going back and forth on this.... There are tons of reasons why I stopped writing every week. The lack of sufficient time to write not being the least of them, but also because now that I'm a husband and a father, I have to be more careful about what personal things I want to discuss. I had no issue in my single days ranting on about my various nights on the town, complete with details of drinking and debauchery. Depending on who I was with was really all I had to worry about.

         But of course now my life is all about my Tara and Timmy, and I'm not all that comfortable dragging them into my stories. For one thing, I think I have the greatest wife and son in the world, but so does any husband worth his salt. And maybe they don't want their lives to be an open book.

       So I've kept my rants to a few blurbs on Facebook. But I miss my writing. And I had something happen to me that I debated if I should make public. I would have rather told everybody in person, or even over the phone, but that would have been tough, if not impossible. So, I'm hoping this is the best way to do it. Some of you already know, for those who are about to find out, I hope you understand.

         On May 29th, the Rangers played the Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. For the second time in the series, they made Lightning goalie Ben Bishop look like Jacques Plante by getting shut out at home, ending a President Trophy winning season without even a return trip to the Finals. At some point during the game, I had read that a colleague of mine at the Post, Rob Walsh, had died of cancer. I had been trying to find out for months where he had gone, and couldn't get a straight answer out of anyone. I ended up having to read about it in the Post the next day. It didn't help matters any that I polished off a few Miller Lites that Ray, Karl and Auggie had brought a couple of months earlier. (My drinking days have gone the way of my writing days-so this wasn't smart)

         The next day, Tara, Timmy and I were going for a walk on the boardwalk in Long Beach. Timmy ran out and almost got hit by some a$$hole on a bike. "What's wrong with you people?" the bike riding dickwad yelled at us. I was just happy Timmy was all right, but after I yelled at Timmy for running away from us, all I could think of was tracking down that scumbag and beating him senseless for nearly injuring my kid. I pretty much carried that with me the rest of the day.

         All day Sunday I had a persistent heartburn that I figured was the reminents of my three beer binge on Friday night, combined with the Rangers, Rob, and that evil bicyclist. And it was still there on Monday when I went to work. It was June 1st, 2015.

       I slogged through work and I figured it was just a case on the Mondays after a rough weekend. When I went to pick Timmy up from after school, I had to go up two flights of stairs, when I got to the top, I felt like I was going to pass out.  I shook it off, took some deep breaths and continued on. But I started to think something may not be right.

        I went home and had dinner with Tim, and I stayed on the couch till it was time to get Tara from work. When we got home, she asked me to go across the street to get some stuff for Timmy. To get the to the store I had to cross a street similar to Queens Boulevard (AKA the Boulevard of Death) Well, I felt like death when I got across. It was the craziest feeling I ever had. I sat down on a bench at the bus stop and waited till the feeling passed. Then I went home.

           Tara had just gotten home from working at the hospital, and Timmy had just gone to bed. The last thing I wanted to do was upset anybody, so I just silently prayed that whatever had happened to me on Long Beach Road was just in my mind. But after a few minutes, the pain and dizziness came back and I finally said to Tara, "I'm having bad chest pain, I think I have to go to the hospital."

          Remember when I said I think I have the greatest wife in the world? Well read on and see if I have a case. Tara called 911 and very calmly told the dispatcher what was going on. Then, she made sue that I took three aspirin. A cop came to the door with oxygen and hooked me up till the EMT arrived. Another cop came and they helped get me on a stretcher. By this time, the chest pain was really bad. Tara was reading the monitors and telling the EMT the readings. At no time did I look at her and see any panic, though I knew she had to be dying inside. My father in law came to watch Timmy and he and the cops were joking about how the Rangers were to blame for this.

          The ambulance rushed me to South Nassau Hospital. I remember the EMT, Tommy wheeled me in and said "Good Luck Bill." He looked like he had seen a ghost. Tara had a poker face, but that worried look on Tommy's face made me think that I was knock-knock-knockin on heaven's door.

The ER nurses confirmed what I kind of already figured, that I was in the throes of a full blown heart attack. They paged the cardiologist immediately and he got there quick. I heard one of the nurses say "Oh he's so sweaty" Man I was dying here, sweating was the least of it.

      I asked the doctor if he was going to put me out before he operated on me, and he said "No way Bill, you and I have to talk while this is going on."  I couldn't stand it anymore. I felt like about 10 people asked me my name and date of birth. I tried to ignore the last person who asked but they got right in my face and demanded I talk. I think they do that so you don't pass out. Another person asked me if I used cocaine and I said no. When he asked me if I was sure that I didn't use cocaine, I was honest with him. "I can't afford cocaine" I told him.

       Lo and behold I was on the operating table, and awake and alert the whole time. The only pain I felt was in my leg where they were running the stent up to my heart. The second that the doctor said ...and we GOT it" moving the blockage from my artery, I felt immediate relief. I have to admit it was pretty amazing. One of nurses looked at me and said "That feels better right?" as if they had just put a band aid on a cut. Yeah, it felt A LOT better. I could breathe easy again.

     They wheeled me out and took me to recovery. Tara called my job to tell them what happened. I was going to be out of commission for a while.

The first day of the rest of my life was upon me.


Next Week: PART TWO: The Hospital Stay.

A couple of quick notes..

1) It's almost as if the Mets saw what I wrote last week and said "HA! We'll see about THAT!" I promised that winning the NL East was accomplishment enough and that I wouldn't freak out if they didn't advance in the playoffs. Of course I didn't expect them to mail it in against the last place Phillies and get no-hit (for the second time this season) by Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals either.
For goodness sakes, show some pride guys!

2) The incomprehensible tragedy in Oregon last week has once again triggered a new round of debate between gun activists and gun opponents. I'll get more into where I stand on this next week, but obviously, our hearts go out to the victims and their families.

That's all from here folks.
Have a Great Week
Bill