Hi There:
So we have come to the end of July, another summer flying by us.
I once read someone described August as “the Sunday of the summer.” Makes sense. But I like to use the term Sunday Funday. So hopefully we’ll all have a great August and enjoy the rest of the summer of 22.
Onto the week that was…
BASEBALL: THE SUBWAY SERIES (PART I)
There have been several seasons over these past 25 years that as a Met fan, I have essentially considered our two annual series vs the Yankees as our own World Series. Too many times, more than I care to admit, the Mets were going nowhere fast, while the Yankees are in perpetual pennant contention. So, knocking off the crosstown rivals and making a dent, albeit a small one, in their postseason hopes and dreams was all I was left to hope for.
2003 is one season that particularly sticks in my craw. We lost all 6 games to the Yanks, the last one, a blown save by Armando Benetiez, who after that game became the only Met I have ever booed upon the announcement of his name*. I did that till they traded to useless turd to (of all teams) the Yankees a few weeks later.
But this year is different. Actually, (and I have to admit I was surprised to read this) this is the first time in the quarter century history of interleague play, that both the Mets and the Yankees are in first place at the time of the series.
The Mets are having an incredible year, and the Yankees are having and even more incredible year. And in a lot of ways, that took the edge off of it for me. I'm hoping that we're playing for more than bragging rights this year. This year is shaping up to be something special. I'm more concerned about holding off the Braves and the Phillies. Don't get me wrong, losing to the Yankees at Citi Field would have stung, would have hurt, but I believe I could have shaken it off more quickly than I would have un years past. Especially those years where, like I said, this was the highlight of our season.
Fortunately, we'll never know. because the Mets took both games this week.
Game one looked like it was going to be a long night. With one out Tijuan Walker gave up a no doubt about it home run to Aaron Judge. I realize there's no shame in giving up a homer to Judge, who is on pace to catch a couple former Yanks names Ruth and Maris, but then Walker gave up another dinger to Anthony Rizzo, and before you could settle down, the Bombers were up 2-0.
But then Starling Marte matched Judge with a home run of his own. Back to back doubles by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso tied it up. That was followed by a two run homer by Eduardo Escobar. We gave up two, we got 4 back.
Thankfully, Walker settled down because I'm not sure any team in the league, including my Mets can match the Yankees in a run scoring jamboree. The final on Tuesday was 6-3.
Wednesday night the Mets jumped out to the early lead. a solo shot from Pete Alonso in the second and a run scoring single from Lindor in the 3rd, and we had a 2-0 for most of the game. I knew though, even with Max Scherzer dealing as he was, that two runs was probably not going to be enough to win.
It wasn't.
David Peterson has been invaluable for us this year. He has filled in admirably while Scherzer and Chris Bassitt were out with injuries or illness, not to mention Jacob deGrom's myriad of issues. But coming out of the pen on Wednesday, Peterson didn't have it. He walked Rizzo on 4 pitches, then gave up a homer to Gleyber Torres. People on social media were all over Peterson, but again, I can't get on him too much, he's been really good for us.
Seth Lugo on the other hand has been very up and down this year, and lately more down than up. Thankfully though, he came through on Wednesday, bailing out Peterson and holding the Yanks at bay until the 9th, when Escobar led off with a double, was bunted over by Tomas (positively) Nido, and scored on walk off single by Marte.
So yeah, it was a damn good week to be a Met fan around these parts. There's two more games in the Bronx coming up August 22 and 23. And then, who knows? I realize the Astros, Dodgers and Braves may have something to say about it, but right now both of our baseball teams are looking real good. There's a chance we may not be done with this rivalry for 2022 after August 23, that's all I'm saying.
Couple of random thoughts before we move on..
1) WFAN's Evan Roberts tweeted on Tuesday that when they announced Yankee third base coach Luis Rojas, he was roundly and soundly booed. I get it, but I thought that was a tad unfair. I mean I wouldn't have given him a standing o, but booing him?
Don't get me wrong, he made his fair share of head scratching moves, but I also think he was a victim of circumstance. He was only hired after the teams first choice was embroiled in a cheating scandal. One of his GM's were fired for sexual misconduct and another fired because he decided to take a siesta while driving in White Plains. I love Buck Showalter and the job he has done, but Buck's also had a much more stable front office and an owner with a full year under his belt. I still think Rojas has what it takes to be a good big league manager. Not many could have succeeded with what he had to work with last year.
2) A lot of my fellow Met fans were crowing about Scherzer striking out Judge 3 times the other night..(even I referenced that perhaps Judge should have worn the sombrero that Marte was sporting after the game Wednesday night) But I have to admit, he is something else to watch. Most of his home runs are highlight reel worthy, and he's a real good fielder too. Plus he just seems like a good guy, easy to root for. I might be singing a different tune if he hits a bunch of homers against us in a couple of weeks. In any event, the Yanks should get his name on the line that is dotted ASAP.
BOBCAT BOP- Caught in West Islip
Authorities on Friday morning captured a wild cat that had been on the loose in Suffolk County.
Earlier in the week, pictures had been posted of what animal experts thought was either a lynx or a bobcat walking around west Islip. Residents were advised to keep small pets and children indoors, and the wild cat, most likely frightened and hungry was considered dangerous.
The Strong Island Animal League (seewhattheydidthere?) were out looking for the cat, and had decided to call it a night when according to PIX 11, it darted in front of a car at 3:30 AM. And all I can say to that is thank God I wasn't driving out there 3:30 in the morning on Friday. Can you imagine driving at night and having a large cat like that jumping out in front of you? I'd probably head to the DMV and turn in my drivers license.
The Strong Island animal League is taking care of the cat (who they believe is more of a lynx than a bobcat) and the authorities are looking for whoever owned this as a pet. Cats like these aren't meant to be kept as pets, especially here in NY. The people who had the cat and lost it could be fined and or thrown in jail. Why anyone thinks it's a good idea to keep wild animals as pets is one of those things I will never be able to understand. But they do, and this $h-t happens way too much.
OBITUARIES: Tony Dow
The actor who played Wally Cleaver, the older brother of the Beaver on the TV Classic Leave it to Beaver died after a prolonged battle with cancer at the age of 77.
I first saw the news on Tuesday that Dow had passed while I was at work. As I was driving home, I heard on Sirius/XM that Dow had in fact not passed away. I got home and saw all the corrections and unfortunately I made a crack that Dow's condition had been upgraded. That was probably in poor taste, but I was more mocking the reporting than the illness. His family confirmed his passing the next day.
And for this I blame the internet. I really believe that the speed in which information travels now, the focus is more on getting it first than getting it right. But what's the rush to have an obituary first? It's not like it's a scoop, especially when it's someone who has been ill for a while.
This happened with Tom Petty, it happened with David Cassidy, and it happened with actress Tanya Roberts. I realize 4 out of millions is a pretty good percentage, but I fear this is going to happen more and more in the future.
Paul Sorvino: These past few weeks haven’t been kind to Hollywood gangsters, by my count, Sorvino’s passing is the 4th, joining James Caan, Tony Sirico and Sorvino’s fellow Goodfella, Ray Liotta.
Reflecting back on Sorvino’s career, two of his roles came to mind besides the aforementioned Goodfellas. Both of them Showtime movies. The first was a movie called Curveballs Along the Way in which he portrayed Yankee manager Joe Torre. The movie was about the 1996 season and all that Torre went through including the death of one brother and another brother’s kidney transplant. The movie got mixed reviews, but I thought Sorvino played a very good Torre. (Much better than Phillip Seymour Hoffmann as Art Howe-but I digress.)
The other Showtime movie I thought he was great in was the 1999 remake of That Championship Season. He was also in the 1978 original as one of the ex-players. In the remake he was the coach. I thought he was hysterically over the top playing a serious role, but I loved it anyway.
I had forgotten till I came across it on IMDB, that he played Henry Kissinger in Oliver Stone’s Nixon. He had that accent down to a T.
I know he had plenty of credits but those are the 4 I enjoyed the most. No question he was a tremendous talent.
As we were going to press, we saw that Boston Celtic great Bill Russell and Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols died on Sunday. We’ll discuss them in detail next week.
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The Mega Millions was $1 billion and only one winning ticket was sold? I’m sorry you can’t convince me that’s not by design. I’m not buying this random numbers crap.
Two more after this one.
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
*As I’ve said before, I’ve booed performances, but not players. Benitez was the only time I ever booed a player on my team.
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